This is by way of a courtesy to all those who offered assistance at the outset of this thread. I was most grateful. The fact of the matter is that the claim made against me were a try on by the debt collection agency. Their correspondence is carefully designed to scare the hell out of the reader and the agency, apparently, works on the assumption that recipients of their letters will be so shocked that they'll either pay up or unwittingly make an admission and then end up having to pay. The reality appears to be that if the debt is six years old or more any attempt to collect is a tongue-in-cheek exercise! Again, many thanks.

Thanks, Gizmo. Thick is right! Regards Alex

Sorry to be so think, Gizmo, but what's a CCA? i.e. "send a CCA and see waht happens"

To assist those trying to help me... The bank was, originally, The British Bank of the Middle East, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates which was, along with Midland Bank, acquired by HSBC. To the best of my recollection, UAE law is modelled on UK law. Regards Alex

Very many thanks again, Andrew. I'm confident the copy of the agreement is genuine even though it is not a "certified" copy. In the Middle East, a copy of a passport is required as part of the application process. What astonishes me is that there has been no contact whatever since my ex-chum was making token monthly payments to a USA-based debt collection agency. I have not received any correspondence, or a statement, from anyone until CCI reared their head earlier this month. A statement of account should show the payments made in 2001. It may be an important point that these payments were not made by me. I'm confident that contact between the bank and/or their USA agents directly with me did not happen and, therefore, could not be proved. Certainly not within the last six years. I've had no notification about the debt being sold although it seems to me that the USA agents had some vested interest and from what I've been able to gather my ex-chum was making payments by cheque made out to Worldwide Adjusters Inc from his bank at NatWest in England. In other words the cheques were not made out to HSBC. It is clear that CCI is acting on behalf of the bank. I no longer have access, or contact, with the bank and so I don't see how I could initiate a Subject Access Request. Subject to your thoughts, which I really do appreciate, my inclination is to ask CCI to obtain from their client a statement showing how the debt arose. Once I get this, we can think again about the way to proceed. Kind regards Alex

CCI has now replied with a copy of my passport and what seems to be the last page, with my signature, of an application form dated 11 December 1996. It's hardly a true copy but looks authentic enough. CCI say I must now pay, in full, by cheque payable to HSBC Bank Middle East. Interestingly, they don't give any timescale so I'm not inclined to reply overnight. Any ideas? Regards Alex

Got the inevitable follow-on letter which is stamped "NOTICE OF INTENDED PROCEEDINGS" stating that unless I pay they will commence proceedings in seven days. I've acknowledged and replied along the lines of your suggestion and will wait to see what happens next. Regards Alex

Thanks again, Andrew. I'll post a progress update as and when. Regards Alex

Very many thanks, Andrew. Most helpful. The firm is CCI Legal Services. It embarrasses me to say that I was so annoyed when I got the letter, especially when it said I had failed to respond to an earlier letter which I have not received, that I ripped it into minute shreds and binned it! No doubt I'll hear from tham again.

Many thanks, Rooster.

I lost my job in the Middle East in 1997 and when I returned to England ended up owing the British Bank of the Middle East £6,000 on two credit cards. The debt was largely run up by one of my then colleagues who, when I was chased in 2001 by a debt collection agency in the USA, started paying the agency £30 a month. This was always by cheque sent to the USA. He did this for about six months and then fell [again] on hard times and couldn't pay any more. To my surprise the collection agency appeared to forget about it. UNTIL THIS WEEK! Now I've received a demand from a UK debt collection agency, for £17,000! Can this be right? Alex

I lost my job in the Middle East in 1997 and when I returned to England ended up owing the British Bank of the Middle East £6,000 on two credit cards. The debt was largely run up by one of my then colleagues who, when I was chased in 2001 by a debt collection agency in the USA, started paying the agency £30 a month. This was always by cheque sent to the USA. He did this for about six months and then fell [again] on hard times and couldn't pay any more. To my surprise the collection agency appeared to forget about it. UNTIL THIS WEEK! Now I've received a demand from a UK debt collection agency, for £17,000! Can this be right? Alex