Hi I recently requested a CCA from Link Finance regarding an Abbey Loan. The request was initially made on 10th February 2009 and follow up letter was sent on 16th March 2009. I received a letter back from Link Finance saying the account had been put on hold for the time being. Last week I started receiving calls again from Link Finance, I didn't answer, they requested I call them, which I didn't. This week I received a copy of what appears to be the CCA, it is an extremely bad copy of what looks like itself to be a copy. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what to do next? I have attached a copy of the CCA returned, can someone tell me if it is enforcable, especially considering the time it has taken to produce it and the legibility of the document. Any advice would be greatfully appreciated.

Received a few letters from Buchanan Clark and Wells who say they are acting on behalf of Aktiv Kapital. This is for a debt from New Look which was defaulted over 6 years ago. It was at a different address than my current one, don't how they got my present address. I've been ignoring the letters but the latest one is a 'notice of impending further action'. I figure they're unlikely to take court action as I presume this would have been done before now. I don't want to go back to receiving threatening letters constantly, only just got myself sorted out and my credit rating is starting to improve again. Question is should I send a CCA request or a statute barred letter to them? I'm in Scotland so the time limit is 5 yrs, I'm pretty sure but not absolutely positive its been 5 years since I had any contact regarding this debt. I have absolutely no paperwork for it. And can they put this back on my credit file? Thanks

hi, have an outstanding amount of over £1500 from greenwood personal credit, home collection loan, now passed to buchanan clark & wells, i emailed to say i have serious illness and now disabled and they would get £2 per month as all our other creditors are getting with the help form payplan, BCW have written back they require evidence of medical condition, i know its probably easier to just give it to them, but are they entitled to it? do i HAVE to comply? a ny info or help would be most grateful, also no point cca BCW is there as greenwood would def have a signed agreement? alot of the amount owing i think is interest on the loan.

I (stupidly) had a payday loan which got passed on to BCW Group / Red Castle Recoveries. I have acknowledged the debt (they have proof of it ). They've written to me again stating they need a response in 7 days so I've written the following: "I have taken independent advice and, following this, and a review of my income and expenditure (to which you have no legal right of sight), I am able to offer a token payment of £5.00 until my circumstances improve. Please send me a standing order form so that I may start these payments forthwith." By "independent advice" I mean this website:roll: Is this satisfactory? All charges/interest etc has been stopped.

Can some one please advise, I had wrote to these muppets BCW Group and received the below response. They had threatened with a door-step call and i sent them the standard letter and go this reply. Client: Aktiv Kapital UK Limited Client Ref: xxxxxxxxxxxx Final Response Dear xxxxxxxxxxxx I write with regard to your email of xx November 2012 issued in relation to the aforementioned account. I can confirm we have undertaken substantive investigations into your claims and have concluded that your complaint has been refuted. The reasons for this are detailed below. BCW Group acts in good faith on the information and instructions issued to us by our clients. We are passed this information on the basis that the information provided is true and correct at the time of issue. We were, at no time, advised by our client of any ongoing disputes or unresolved complaint issues. In this instance, we were passed an account in your name with instructions to pursue for the full balance accordingly. By passing the matter to this office for debt recovery purposes our client was satisfied that the balance is due and collectable. I have duly noted the comments made in your above referenced email. The attached correspondence has previously been investigated and responded to. The response has been attached for your consideration. The case you have referred to is not applicable to your circumstances. As part of the credit agreement that you signed and entered into, you agreed to repay the full outstanding balance and that where necessary the creditor could recover the debt by outsourcing the debt to a third party, which included by way of doorstep collection. We are entitled by law and under contract to recover monies outstanding and we are allowed to take reasonable steps in accordance with regulatory guidance to recover such monies. The OFT’s Guidance on Debt Collection reference to making an appointment on field visits relates to, where say, the Agent has called round and advised by the customer that it was not a convenient time, then he should make another appointment. An appointment is not necessary for the initial visit. If however, the customer is not there at the agreed time, then the Agent can call again at an unscheduled time. The stage in which we issue a Debt Investigation Officer forms part of our automated collections process. This is pre-determined by our client. A visit from a Debt Investigations Officer is only proposed when every other available means of contacting you has been exhausted and an amicable resolution in this matter remains absent. We have attempted to contact you on a number of occasions prior to our letter in which we advise of our intent to arrange a personal visit from a Debt Investigations Officer. We are therefore satisfied that we have afforded sufficient opportunity for you to contact us to discuss this account. I have enclosed herewith a copy of our internal complaints procedure. Should you remain dissatisfied with this response, you have 6 months from the date of this letter in which to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service to facilitate resolution. Details on how your complaint will be handled by the Financial Ombudsman Service can be found by following this link: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/consumer-leaflet.htm Please do not hesitate to contact us on 0845 111 0411 should you require any further assistance. You can also e-mail on [email protected] Yours sincerely, Miss Ashley Douglas Quality Assurance Administrator BCW Group

Hi there folks, I am new to threads etc but here is the deal.. . I have been dealing with this company for a wee while now and i am starting to really question the legitimacy of their ways. I have attached a visitation letter that i received this morning (17/9/12) stating i have dishonored their agreement blah blah. I had a direct debit with them for £20 per month and everything was hunkydorey until i lost my job last November (2011) due to my health. I was unemployed until June 14th of this year, i have struggled to keep a roof over my head and even eat, my student loan was the only thing keeping me alive (just barely) and i have been living off around £40 a month.....but i still payed them!!! All of a sudden my direct debit seemed to miraculously stopped for no known reason, there was always money in the account to pay them (i like the easy life and have far to much to deal with right now than lovely red text letter trying to force me to give them money). I contacted them in April asking why they stopped the direct debit (because the bank didn't and i certainly did not). I was given no real answer, just another disgruntled Glaswegian call centre worker reading his pre made script. I told them why i lost my job (i was diagnosed with a spinal disease that is incurable, im only 26), to my surprise they seemed quite compassionate and i thought everything was fine. We arranged for a direct debit to be set up again of £20 per month so happy days. NO! far from it, i started to receive text messages saying i must contact them urgently etc, so i obliged, phoned them, got another disgruntled worker, who read their script, and spoke to me which can only be described as a piece of excrement on the end of their shoe. He told me we are going to visit you etc. Now under Scottish law what is the deal with these visit letters? I am in the process of contacting the bank who the debt was originally for as BCW wont give me any official proof that they have this debt contract on the bank's behalf. I have no money, behind in rent, planning a wedding, no savings, no property (as i can only just pay rent), no assets, plus i am trying to put myself through my final year of college (HND sound production). As you can see the debt is for £717 or something, and never seems to go below £700. I will try and get other letters from the year to draw comparisons. Can someone please help me here? what can i do, who can i talk to or see? Its beyond a joke and they are not professional at all. I live in Scotland, i am Scottish, but i dont know too much about Scottish debt laws etc. Please help. Thank you

In the year 2000 i got a car from Yes car Credit, after 18 months the cars gearbox went and i fell into arrears so i eneded up with no car and yes car credit pursuing me. Later in the year 2006 i got a letter from Aktiv Kapital saying that they had purchased the debt and they pursued me for the debt. in 2008 Someone phoned me and i foolishly did not think and they talked me into making a token payment of £50 which would have destroyed the Statute barred angle. These past few weeks i have been getting letters from Buchanan Clark and Wells saying they have been assigned to collect the debt on behalf of Aktiv Kapital. this morning i got a final notice before action letter from BCW so i have sent off the standard cca request letter today, My question is what do i look for on the agreement to check if its enforceable?

Hi There I had a credit account with H&M Online, I've been having trouble paying the monthly amount due to not having a lot of money and job troubles, I did inform them of this and offered to make a smaller payment a month until things improve the balance currently stands at £315.45 most of this interest and charges. They assigned the debt to a company called Gothia/BCW Group I've never heard of them before, I'm not sure if they've brought the debt it just says legally assigned to them, they sent me a letter today asking me to contact them and log on to the website to see exclusive offers etc. Money is extremely tight I can't offer a lot, they've threaten bailiffs and court action which I don't want to happen but I'm just unsure of what to do, any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi there, I am a first time poster, since last week I have been receiving daily calls from BCW GROUP but as yet have not answered any of them as I don't have any debts that I'm aware of & haven't had any outstanding debts before. (but I have moved house a few times so maybe a utility bill could have requested payment at an old address or something.) Should I call them? What information should I ask for? What information can I give them? (I don't think they have my address) Should I sign up to a credit report site and see if anything is listed on there first? Sorry if these are basic questions or this is not the right forum, thanks.

Hi All my partner is having trouble with a renewal of a mobile telephone contract with Talk Mobile, we declined the renewal and opted for a new contract with O2. just to make sure i am on the right track please see copy of letter to Talk Mobile and Buchanan Clark & Wells. to BCW Dear Sir Furtherto your correspondence date 27/2012 could you please supply me a copy of theclosing balance together with a breakdown of anyadded fees or interest that may have been added, also an understanding of howthe fees/charges have been calculated? I am requesting this under the provision of the CSA codes ofpractice and Office of Fair Trading debt collection good practice. Also could you please supply me with a copy of your complaintsprocedure and that any further communication to be in a written form by RoyalMail. Thankingyou in anticipation. And to Talk Mobile Dear Sir TheTwo year contract on the above ref expired in December 2011; I visited yourretail outlet Carphone Warehouse on the Snipe Retail Park Ashton under Lyne inDecember with the intention negotiating a renewal of the contract. After Two hours intensive discussion Idecided to forgo the renewal with you and opted for a better deal with O2. Unfortunately we were unable to port the samenumber but were allocated a new number. Onthe 1st of March I received the first ever invoice from Talk Mobiledated 26th. February 2012 (ie lifetime of the entire contract). As per the previous paragraph I am mindedthat the contract expired with yourselves in December 2011 and was clearly notrenewed, evidenced by my action and instruction to your agent CarphoneWarehouse. Also could you please supply me with a copy of your complaintsprocedure and that any further communication to be in a written form by RoyalMail. Thankingyou in anticipation. Any comment before posting, thanks

Hi folks...this is my first time posting anything of this kind of nature so I hope I don't say wrong things or cause concern where it's not really warranted. This is my situation, and I am not positively fed up to the back teeth of it. I'd not had any kind of problem such as this with any other energy providers so I am at a loss on how best to deal with this situation hence seeking guidance here. I started renting my current property back in March 12th of last year. I was informed by my first bill that my energy was being provided by Spark Energy. For one month's electricity - as that is the only energy I get in my flat - they wanted me to fork out £245. I immediately took issue with this, as I have never known ANY provider charge that much for a month's rent on a one bedroom flat. And I've lived in plenty of 'em to know. I contested the bill with Spark who were none too keen to negotiate or rectify the situation at the time, and decide to call their heavy mob, Buchanan Clark and Wells. I immediately once again, get in touch with Spark Energy and attempt to sort the debt out through them, having told BCW I'm dealing with Spark Energy and not them - I did feel inclined to say that I'd read numerous reports of their shenanigans but decided against it. So the payment plan agreed (not inexpensive, but I still have problems with the bill being that high), I proceed to act accordingly in a manner of someone trying to pay off a debt. Then one day I decide I need to phone Spark Energy to tell them that one payment (actually it would have been the second payment in the plan) was going to be late, and the delightful person on the other end of the phone actually said "hold on your bill looks really wrong". To that end, I thought "maybe there's a bit of light at the end of the tunnel". We chat and it's decided the plan need not be bothered with, they'll talk to my current providers to find out what the readings were before the supply started and what they were when the supply they themselves provided ended. This was said to have supposed to have taken four weeks. I heard nothing. Not by phone, nor by letter, nor by e-mail. Last week I get a letter from BCW threatening legal action (the first week of Feb.), so I send Spark Energy an e-mail "saying what the heck is going on?" They refuse to call me, want to deal with me by e-mail (which isn't happening, I'm going to insist on letters through the mail), and they say the letter from BCW was sent to me because there was no record of any activity regarding any change to my "read dispute". I am now still stuck with a bill above £200, and on the very day I receive the e-mail from Spark in response to mine, I get yet another letter from BCW, this time threatening a debt officer visit. I have been to hospital twice in the last two months, I am not at best a very calm person, but the letter I received from BCW in the first week of February was certainly enough to cause me considerable grief. I ended up going to hospital on the same day as I received it. Do I lodge formal complaints (and with who?) and/or can I sue either/both Spark/BCW and under what relevant Acts and how do I go about it, having never been involved in legal proceedings of any nature before? Any help whatsoever would be really useful and I would definitely appreciate it.

Hi All, Looking for a little advice regarding some communication from Buchanan Clark & Wells over the past couple of days. I've got a couple of debts with them for EDF Energy (Gas & Electricity) for less than £400 and £250 respectively. They sent me two letters dated 23/01/2012 stating that I could settle each account for a payment of £1 (Specifically the line "As such and without prejudice, we will accept £1.00 in full and final settlement of this account.") I am only paying £1 per month for each account, and for the amount outstanding, it didn't seem all that outlandish that they may want to just get rid of the accounts (they are a couple of years old now). I rang them today to accept the offer, but was told that the letters were a mistake and the real settlement figures were about £100 less the balance for each account. I then received my post for the day and got two more letters dated 27/01/2012 stating that the other letter was incorrect due to an "administrative error". It seems to me that if this sort of activity is acceptable, debt collection agencies could send similar letters out to gain contact. Can I accept the first offer as written and force them to accept the payment, or is the second letter stating it was a mistake enough to get them off the hook? Even if I am still liable to pay the remaining balance, is this something worth reporting? Many thanks for your time!

Hello Caggers, I hope you can help me. I have an old Barclaycard debt which I started paying through JB Debt Recovery in December 2011. I made a card payment on condition that they sent me some paperwork detailing what I owe, what payment arrangements were in place, etc. I have received no paperwork from JB whatsoever. However, as well as the initial card payment, they started taking further payments from my card. They took two payments on successive days (charging me an extra £1.50 per transaction) and did the same again 2 weeks later. I was away over Christmas so I couldn't deal with it until my return. I contacted JB on my return and explained that not only had the paperwork not arrived, but the payments were taken incorrectly. They said they have sent the paperwork (which I still to this day have not received) and that I had authorised running payments on the card. I am sure I didn't do this, but even if I did, I would certainly not have agreed to taking payments on successive days. Who would do that - make a payment today (and get charged for it) then make another payment tomorrow for the same debt, and get charged for it again. I stopped the card payments and set up a standing order directly from the bank account. As far as I was concerned; that was that - I just make the payments each fortnight until the balance is clear, and put the problems down to being a blip. However, last week I received two calls from Buchanan Clark and Wells (BCW) saying that I owed Barclaycard (the same debt) a sum of money and that I have paid nothing. I told them about what happened and that I was currently paying JBDR. They insisted that they had held the account since January 10th, and that no money had been paid. We argued back and forth, and I have now received a formal demand from BCW for the balance. I rang BCW and they insist they have received the debt from Capquest (who acquired it from Barclaycard as far as I know) and I should cancel my payments to JBDR and start paying BCW. My personal choice would be to cancel the whole thing of course, but if I have to pay someone I would rather pay BCW as they have been more professional about how things are handled. BCW are ringing me back tomorrow expecting the debt to be transferred to them. Where do I stand in all of this? What rights and responsibilities do I have, and what would you advise me to do next? If it matters, the balance on the account is just under £2,000 and I am on state benefits (ESA and DLA) so money is tight.

Hi guys I'm new to the forums and was wondering if anybody could offer me any advice on the following... Yesterday I received a letter marked 'Final Demand' from a company called Buchanan Clark & Wells who claim that I owe £1,178 to Aktiv Kapital UK ltd from an account held with HSBC. From what I remember I held a student account with HSBC which I closed and arranged a standing order to repay in 2004/2005, shortly after this my health took a turn for the worse and I lost my job. Since then I've not heard from HSBC or any DCA's regarding the debt until this letter. I have no details of the date of the last payment I made to HSBC due to moving house several times and paperwork being mislaid and lost, all I know is that it was somewhere between 2004-2005. A friend of mine said that due to the age of the debt it falls under a 'statute barred' act? As you can probably tell I'm very new to this and would have no idea what to do next in regards to dealing with the matter. Any advice would be gratefully received, Dubsey

Had a phone call from our dear friends at Buchannan Clarke & Wells,went as follows: Hello is Mr padja there? Who is calling? Its Buchannan Clatke & Wells over a business matter. Hold on.............Mr Padja says he doesn't know you Can you confirm your address I'm not Mr Padja, so no Ok I will send a letter Awww thats nice Endo of call I await the letter with great anticipation.......ahhhh I've missed BCW

Hi I rent out my 1 bedroom flat and have had a notice of pending legal action from BCW DCA it was addressed with my name but to the flat's address taht I rent out which was forwarded to me. Obvisouly I have not lived there in years and never instructed Scottish Power to supply me with their services. I phoned BCW and tried to explain I do not live there and asked for the dates to narrow down the tenant which the debt relates to. There was 2 tenants between these 2 dates so I have emailed one of their tenancy agreements and the other tenants Scottish Power account number which was settled as this was my sister with no formal tenancy agreement also I sent the second tenants moving meter readings all to general at bcwgroup.com with my reference (as instructed by the rude adviser). What annoyed me was that the adviser threatened my credit rating would be punished if I do not provide this information. Is there anything else I should do to make sure here is no further back lash on myself as the debt is not even mine? Thanks in advance.

Hi, I'm a first time poster on CAG, but I've used the advice given on the forums on several occasions. I am being pursued by United Utils for about £500 in allegedly unpaid water charges, dating back to 2007-2009. Initially, I was contacted by post by a DCA called 1st Credit acting on U.Utils behalf. Obviously, I immediately replied in writing asking their client to prove the amount stated by providing me with all billing information related to the alleged amount. I then received a letter from 1st Credit acknowledging that I had raised a query with them and that the billing info would be forthcoming from their client. About 3 months elapsed without any contact from either 1st credit or U.Utils before I began getting phonecalls from another DCA acting on behalf of U.Utils, BCW or Buchanan, Clark and Wells (I must stress that I never deal with these people by telephone as it is an extremely futile exercise - I normally wait until they bother to write to me before responding by letter and making it clear that I will not enter into any negotiations by telephone - written correspondence only.) Anyway, once BCW had written to me using all the usual threatening language, I replied with a 'prove it' letter and explained that I was concerned that U.Utils had passed the debt onto them despite my already having requested full billing info. Again, i received a letter from BCW stating that I had raised a query and that their client would be providing me with the billing details asap. Yet again, another couple of months elapsed with no contact whatsoever from either the DCA or U.Utils. Now I have began to receive phone calls which turn out to be from a DCA called SRJ on a London-based number (obviously I haven't answered the phone to them) and which I assume to be the latest of U.Utils attempts to recoup the debt. As far as I am concerned there are only two possibilities here (the latter being the most likely) - 1) that the DCAs have not bothered to return to U.Utils to request the billing info or 2) that U.Utils cannot, for one reason or another, locate or produce the billing info related to the acount on which they allege the debt is owed (it is relating to a previous address of mine). So, to cut a long story short I would like perspectives on what my next course of action should be. I can, of course, wait until SRJ contact me by post and then send them the same generic 'prove it' letter I have sent to both 1st credit and BCW. However, I would much prefer to put this matter to bed by writing directly to U.Utils and tell them to either put up or shut up, backed up with the threat of legal action/OFT harassment involvement. I wonder if anyone knows which department of U.Utils I would write to and what I should include in the letter (or if there is a standard letter anywhere on CAG that I could send)? Moreover, I am acutely aware that every time U.Utils passes this debt on, my credit score is being affected by DCAs viewing my credit file. - searches should not If U.Utils cannot prove the debt, can I pursue them for damaging my credit score and force them to either put it right or pay damages for the distress they have caused? Can someone tell me where I would stand within the law on this matter also? Many thanks

hello all, This is a copy of a previous posting; I had posted it under another Buchanan Clark + Wells thread and was advised to start a new thread.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well I see BCW is a popular topic in these forums. So, I'll add my own little story to the mix and see what everyone can come up with. I've been contacted by them, have received two letters thus far - 1. Formal Demand 2. Final Notice. Also, of course, about 15 phone calls which I have duly ignored on the advice of numerous posters. Ranging from about 7am until 8pm I might add, quite a pain. I have been to their website and contacted them by email, got hold of a Hunter Milligan (probably not a real name, lifted straight from Mills & Boon to make them sound heroic, shame...). In the emails I have mentioned that the amount in question, due to O2, was approximately 2 years ago. Since the initial contact by O2, I spoke to debt advisers, who then wrote to O2. Being on benefits and unemployed, I was advised to offer them a token payment of £1 a month. I agreed with my adviser and the letters were sent off. All of this was more than a year ago; I have the emails and letters saved regarding my liaisons with the debt advisers. There was another debt at the time, which initially took a while to hear back about, but eventually I got Wescot Credit Services to accept the token payment I offered - this was another debt remember, but I am currently paying it back. Anyway, O2 didn't respond to my offer, which I took in good faith as legally acceptable seeing as my actions were advised by a debt professional. Now, 1.5-2 years or so later, O2's attack puppies Buchanan Clark + Wells have roused themselves and are nipping at my heels. I informed them, by email (after tracking that down, I emailed 'Hunter Milligan', as mentioned before). He ignored my detailed explanation of the steps I had taken and said 'call us now' (a real rock of a man...). I then mailed back reiterating my belief that I had acted in an acceptable manner and in good faith by following the advice of my adviser and offering payment to O2 many moons ago. (I also emailed O2 with the same details, as mentioned - they also contacted me and said to call them, with account details for the phone bill in question, which of course I don't have now). So, another email or 2 to BCW, along with their incessant nuisance phone calls, and 2 text messages... I have now finally received an email back from Hunter Milligan, saying that I should get the documents/info that my adviser sent to O2, and send it to them. I have duly contacted my adviser to ask for these documents, so that I can send them (should I?). However, since then I have been called even more vehemently, morning and night - and received the 'Final Notice' letter, and a text message telling me to call them with a reference number. Of course, I asked Rock Hudson or whatever the name was again to ensure that my phone number was removed from their system, and that we could correspond either via letter or by email - not done, suffice to say. So, here I am now. Am I right in holding out, seeing as I took steps to clear the debt over a year ago, and could very well now have cleared it if they had responded and agreed to my monthly payment offer? Of course I am not flush with cash and definitely can't afford to pay it now, I still have other debts too as mentioned. It seems that now that 'Hunter' has asked for this info, it's a kind of acceptance by them that they may be in the wrong and need to heed my actions...or am I being too hopeful? Well, let me know anyone...appreciate any and all advice you can give. I must also say that having heard about the threats and nonsense they use during their phone calls, and that they 'lose' recordings when you ask for the information, I thought it might be funny to record a phone call from them from my side - I could then see if they make silly threats and say things they can't substantiate, and then I would have it recorded my side in case they decided to 'lose' it... could be quite good, and I could upload it to Youtube or something for people to listen to - or at least have it as proof of their antics should I need it... Thanks, take care W

Hi guys after a little bit of advice, so the story, about 18 months to 2 years ago my sister recieved a letter for me at her address, bearing in mind i do not and have never lived there, for link financial saying the usual about an overdraft debt with abbey national, they were gonna this that nd the other, after send them a bogoff he dont live here letter, they started there usual tricks of phoning neighbours nd leaveing telemessages, anyway to cut a long story short they were given my address in scorchio land, i then started to recieve their drivil here which was quite usuefull as it made good kindling in the winter, they eventual sent a Stat demand second class post to my house in the middle of nowhere, i promptly ignored it, then heard nothing for over a year. Yesterday my sisters recieves a nasty letter from BCW addressed to me, i recieve the same letter today saying if i dont pay up the gonna take me court have my posessions seized personally remove nd sell my kidneys etc. Ok i never heard of BCW are they another DCA that link have sold the debt too, If so can they sell the debt if they already sent out an SD? any ideas wot i should do with these aholes, I will first off get a letter sent to them telling them to remove my sis address from thier database or else, any thing else i should know, thanks for your input.