Anybody ever heard of them? I have recieved a phonecall with an automated message asking me to ring them they didn't even ask for a name. I have done a quick search and have only managed to come up with Buchanan Clarke and Wells in Glasgow, the accent on the message was Scottish. Are they of the same ilk as, (spit ) Mackenzie Hall, or is it just another name for (spit ) MH? BTW I have not rung them up.

Thanks Tom. As you rightly said, it is quite a large amount that they are asking me to repay.Looks like I will be making an appointment with the CAB tomorrow.

Thanks Gizmo. I'll let you know how I get on. I wish I had found this site ages ago!

Thankyou for the reply Tom. I am well aware that it was fraud so I don't particularly want to go into the morality of what I did. BTW I was taken to court and pleaded guilty. I just want know if they can claim for money that I am paying back as I said in my previous post. Without the IS, my income was so low that I would have received full housing benefit anyway. Come to think of it, even with the IS and the undeclared income, my annual income was still under £10k.

This is a long one so sit comfortably. Back in 1994/97 I was receiving Income Support (single parent blah, blah, blah,) and was claiming housing benefit. I was overpaid the Income support as I had undeclared income ( I am thoroughly ashamed about this but I was so **** poor at the time). Anyway I accept that I was overpaid IS and am quite happily paying it back. Now I have recieved a letter from the council asking me to repay all the housing benefit paid to me for that period. However they have not got a complete set of records for the said period and are asking me to repay the whole amount back. My arguement is however; a) Without the IS, my income was so low that I would have received full housing benefit anyway. b) As I am paying the IS back then I do not see how that can be classed as income for said period and think that that should be diregarded in the council's calculations. c) Do they not have to have a complete set of records in order to reclaim any housing benefit overpayment? I have replied to them in writing saying the above. I was just wondering where I stand. Please don't judge me for making a false benefit claim, as I said I am thoroughly ashamed of what I did but unless you have ever been so poor I don't think you can understand what a miserable existance living on benrfit is and how it is impossible to manage. Thanks for any replies.

So how do I go about finding if there is a CCJ. Do I just go to the County Court and ask them?

There probably was a CCJ but as I have moved several times I have never heard anything from the creditors.

I have just received a letter form MH about "matters personal". I was instantly suspicious when I saw the term "investigation team" and there were loads of visa/credit card symbols at the bottom of the letter. I did a Yell search for debt collection agencies and ,yup,there they were. I phoned them up (instantly regretting it as I put the phone down) and told them that I did not exist at that address. I have walked away from debt but they were about 9/10 years ago. Am I still liable for them?