I received a letter a few days ago from DWP debt recovery saying I owed £410. Somewhat confused I called them to ask what it was about and apparently it's from a budgeting loan I had when on benefits over 12 years ago. I paid this back by taking 4 cash instalments into my local jobcentre (now closed) when I first returned to work. The person I spoke to asked if I had receipts etc. Well I did but it was 12 years ago - I've moved house 3 times since then!! Who keeps receipts for 12 years? I understand that the 6 year statute of limitations doesn't apply to DWP/HMRC but is there anything I can do? I mean they could say whatever they wanted really - there's no way anybody could prove otherwise.

Thanks guys, I'll get it done today

Thanks. What's the prove it letter?

Hi all I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on what my next steps should be here. I received two letter from this company last week - one for T-Mobile for £80.95 and the other for 1st credit for £259.89. I did have a contract with T-Mobile a few years ago but when I ended the contract the account was cleared and, to the best of my knowledge, I owe them nothing. I have no idea what the 1st Credit one is. I sent separate letters requesting the credit agreement, using the template letter from this site last week. This morning I have received another two letters from them. The T-Mobile one reads as follows: We are in receipt of your request for a copy of the executed credit agreement in accordance with Section 77(1) and/or 78(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The account agreement to which you seek is not a regulated agreement under the Consumer credit Act1974 and the provisions of this Act do not apply to this debt. Our client therefore has no obligation under the provisions of the Act to supply the information requested by you. We would therefore request you contact us on the number below to put forward your proposals to settle the outstanding debt. And the 1st Credit letter reads as follows: We refer to your request for a copy of your original credit agreement in accordance with the provisions of Section 77(1) and/or 78(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The account from which the above amount is due relates to a bank account that you held with 1st Credit. While this account is a regulated agreement I would refer you to Section 74(b) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 whereby any requirement to supply a copy of the agreement is exempt for current bank accounts. We would now request that you please call the number below to arrange re-payment of this debt by return. I'm not sure what to do at this this point. I do not owe T-Mobile anything and I've never held a bank account with 1st Credit so obviously I'm not going to pay anything but I'm not sure how to word the letters back to them. Any advice would be very gratefully received!

Thanks for that - I've just ordered my bill for that period from BT so hopefully that will persuade them that I did indeed call them. Don't worry I've learnt my lesson - I'll be putting everything in writing and sending it recorded from now on ( most expensive lesson I've ever had to learn though!)

Well to cut a very long story short I got nowhere. I called them, somebody said they'd call me back and didn't then I couldn't get through so I drove down to their office. I saw an incredibly patronising woman who insisted that there was no record of me informing them that I had moved and wouldn't accept that I had informed them. Stupidly on my part - when I informed them I did it by phone (which I've always done before when I've moved with no problems and is the method they encourage you to use) of course this means I have no way of proving that I informed them. She said that I would have to pay the amount demanded to the bailiff then write a complaint letter to the council asking them to reimburse costs. I pointed out that it was through their incompetence I was in this position and once I had paid the money out I was not naive enough to believe that the council would ever reimburse me. Anyway she refused to budge. I then spoke to her manager who had the exact same take and then I spoke to this second persons manager who seemed to have a degree in condescension. The upshot is that they would not contact the bailiff to remove the account from them, they would not acknowledge that anyone in their department could possibly make a mistake, they treated me as if I was some kind of criminal and I am now in a position where I am going to have to pay the amount I owe (fair enough) + the court costs + the bailiff fees in order to avoid the bailiff turning up again and adding more charges. I will then have to go about attempting to recover these costs from the council and frankly I think there is more chance of pigs flying. I went into the council office with the intention of speaking to them in a reasonable and polite manner and by the time I left I was a seething ball of fury. I now feel entirely defeated and also very stupid as I know full well if I had informed them in writing that I was moving then I would have the proof I had informed them and they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. However as I informed them by telephone it's my word against theirs and it seems that it is automatically their word which is accepted. Obviously I will write to them and also drag in my MP and local councillor but I'm not holding my breath. Any advice would be gratefully received but for now I'm going to hide in a corner and lick my wounds.

I am going to put it all in writing but I'm trying to contact them by phone first so that I can ensure they contact the bailiff today! Anyway they haven't yet called me back and now I can't get through on their phone number so I'm off down there! I can kill 2 birds with one stone then - make sure they call the bailiff and put my case in writing and hand deliver it - don't worry I'll get a receipt! Wish me luck!

I've actually phoned the council rather than written to them initially as when I spoke to the bailiff yesterday he said that he would return Thursday so I wanted that dealing with immediately! The council have said they'll call me back as their computers are playing up - hmmm. So I'm just waiting now. As long as they call the bailiffs off I'm happy. I can pay what I owe them next week and dispute the court costs etc in writing afterwards. My main concern is that I don't get any more bailiff visits and that I don't end up paying additional costs because of their incompetence!

Several weeks ago I received a letter from a bailiff company called Rosendales regarding an amount owed for council tax in my previous property. I was a bit confused by this as when I moved I contacted the council and the person I spoke to said that they thought I was up to date with my council tax but if there was any outstanding amount they would send a final bill to my new address. Anyway I hadn't heard anything so assumed all was well until I got this bailiffs letter. I called the bailiffs immediately and explained the situation and told them my next step was to call the council. I called the council and it turned out that not only had they not forwarded the final bill, they had also carried on charging for my old property for 7 months after I moved out. I told them the date that I moved (again) and they said they would "call off" the bailiffs and recalculate the amount owed. I didn't hear any more from them for a couple of weeks so called them again and the muppets had been sending the correspondence to my old address!! The woman I spoke to took my new address (again) and informed me that the balance I owed included court fees of £56. I objected to this on the grounds that they sent all requests for payment, court papers etc to my old address after I had informed them I had moved so why should I be liable for the cost of court proceeding that had only arisen through their incompetence. The woman said that when I received the bill from them I should write to the head of finance and explain my position. I finally received the final bill from them on Saturday. The amount I owe them is £95 and they have added £56 to this for court fees. My plan of action was to forward payment of £95 to them when I get paid next week along with the letter explaining why I am disputing the £56. HOWEVER...... I got home from work today to find a letter from the bailiff through my door saying that the attended today to seize goods to the value of £194 (the £151 + his fees). So now I plan to phone the council tomorrow to explain: 1. that I can and will pay the amount I actually owe in full next week 2. that I will not be paying the court fees and why not 3. that I want them to "call off" the bailiff as they originally said they would 4. that I will not be held liable for the bailiffs fees on the same grounds as the court fees. What does anyone reckon my chances are of persuading them that I'm in the right? I sooo do not want to have to deal with these people on my doorstep!

I've paid sky with a solo card several times

Thanks for the replies. I'll just ignore the letter as I intended originally. As far as I am aware they have no business with me or partner and if they're trying to trace previous owners of the house I have no information about then anyway (and wouldn't tell them if I did!) What I'm worried about is are they likely to persist with this (more letters, phone calls, even visiting the house) and do I have any recourse if they do?

Why address it to "the occupier" then rather than using our names? Am I right to ignore it? I object to a speculative approach if they have genuine business with either of us!

It's not a postcard it's a proper letter in an envelope. As far as I can recall I've never had any dealings with these people. Also if it's me or OH they want to contact why not put our names on the letter?

I have recieved a letter today from Regal Credit Consultants Ltd addressed to "the occupier" asking me to call a Mrs King regarding "a very important matter". I haven't called her and don't intend to but I wondered if anybody else has had one of these letters and may be able to shed some light on what they're up to?

I have recieved a letter today from Regal Credit Consultants Ltd addressed to "the occupier" asking me to call a Mrs King regarding "a very important matter". I haven't called her and don't intend to but I wondered if anybody else has had one of these letters and may be able to shed some light on what they're up to?

I wondered if anybody had any thoughts on this? My youngest son is now 6. Since he first started school (about 2 years ago) I have suspected that he has had difficulty hearing. I have mentioned this to our old GP (we have since moved) and his school. His school nurse did a hearing test about 9 months ago and said everything was fine. His teacher said that she also thought he has hearing problems and associated speech problems and referred him on to a speech therapist. The speech therapist was less than helpful (another story!) but did refer him on to audiology for a full hearing test. This showed that he did have significant hearing loss and he was then referred on the the ear nose and throat department of our local hospital. The consultant he saw there told us that he has glue ear, which is fairly common and easily treated. The problem is that because he has been untreated for so long the "glue" has damaged his ear drums so that one is wafer thin and the other is partially collapsed. The consultant wanted him to have grommets inserted and for it to be done quickly to halt any further damage and my son was in surgery 3 days later (fairly impressive for NHS!). Since his surgery (2 weeks ago) he does not appear to have any obvious improvement to his hearing but has a follow up appointment in December. The nurse we saw for his pre op assesment showed us the graphs produced at his hearing tests and they were basically flat lines so it's not as if this was a borderline problem - he was almost completely deaf! I have some ethical issues around litigating against NHS but obviously if he does turn out to have long term problems as a result of this problem being ignored for so long I want him to be compensated for this.