Hi everyone, I moved into a rented house June 2018. Recently I received my first water bill, and it shows me that my average use was around 600 litres of water a day. So the amount to pay is £186 (for 2 months - June and July!!)!! That is a complete nonsense - only two people live in the house, and we don't use water more, then anyone else - we never leave the taps open when not necessary, never take shower more than literally 3-4 minutes. But here comes this bill... Thames Water acknowledges that the amount of water consumption is really unusual . They suggest me to contact some "Homeserve", and sent me a leak allowance form to fill. Well, I reported the matter to the agency i'm renting the house from. But it looks like they are a bit reluctant to sort it out. They didn't say "no", but more than a week passed since i reported the problem, and they still didn't arrange anything to establish if it is an external or internal leak.

5 months into a 6 month AST, they are over 2 months in arrears. LL knocked on the door last night and the house is empty. All of their stuff is gone. Tenant unresponsive by phone has blocked numbers etc. Questions: 1) What to do about what seems to be surrender of tenancy? LL obviously wants to get in asap clean up and re-let, however I think ti is not as easy as that? I "think" that if we can get tenant to sign a "surrender of tenancy" form then that covers it? But I am unsure. 2) I assume small claims to recover the monies owed?

I have received a letter today from Latern (formerly Motor Mile Finance) about some old short term loans from around 2012. This really is out of the blue, I've heard nothing from them for as long as I can recall and this letter was actually sent to my previous address but was re-directed. It is quite a jovial letter, it reads "So, dust off the BBQ, enjoy the sun and take this opportunity to clear your debts before winter approaches". They're offering up to 60% reduction. This is a summary of the debts: Quick Quid £512 - Last payment date: not shown Northway £838.88 - Last payment date: not shown Think Finance (UK) Ltd t/a 1 MONTH LOAN: £350 - Last payment date 19/06/2012 At least one of the debts (probably all) are 6 years since last payment / taking out the credit so are possible statute barred. None of these debts appear on any of my credit records (Experian / Equifax / Noddle / MSE credit club) 1. What is the best approach with these to avoid acknowledging but ensuring it doesn't escalate to CCJ for example? 2. The address on the letter is my previous address (moved 1 month ago) and the debts relate to an address before that one. Should I do anything about this? I have a postal redirect in place for next 6 months but don't want a door knock at old address because the new tenants know me and my new address. Note that since these bad days of pay day loans in 2012, I have taken responsibility for my finances. I'm a long time YNAB user and have my finances under microscopic control. I have no CCJ's but I do have a some defaults from 3 years ago that are now either satisfied or in a steady arrangement. I'm on the way to cleaning myself up so I don't want to make an error and set myself back. Any advice is welcome.

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I had a court decree for a credit card (approx £6000) I used for expenses in a business that went bust It did not get paid back in approx 2006, Just checked my credit files with all agencies and nothing showing up, must be more than 6 years ago. I get letters from a solicitor every few months asking for a payment or they will enforce the decree. I have never responded to any of them as I have no income, no assets and no means to pay, Over the last 6 years they have sent debt collectors/tracers to my home 4 times and all have been told the same thing re my circumstances and if they wish to bankrupt me then go ahead and do it. The question that I have is how long does a Scottish decree remain live and enforceable. If they could enforce it what can they do and what am I actually obliged to tell them. Many Thanks David From Hawick

In the main area of the forum a few days ago, a debate took place regarding a question from a member of the public regarding a letter that he has received from a firm of bailiffs in relation to a Liability Order granted 6 years earlier. The OP wanted to know whether the Liability Order was statute barred (which it is not). Another poster advised that a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman should be considered and that the LGO may likely make a finding of 'maladministration'. The following two LGO decisions would indicate that a complaint to the LGO would not amount to 'maladministration'. and furthermore that a Liability Order is not covered by the Limitations Act.

I’ve started a small claim against a builder to recoup money paid in advance for work not done. I’ve sent two letters as per process and he disputed the claim, saying the money paid in advance was put towards cost overruns on other work he did for me. This was not agreed with me in advance. I’ve since hired another builder to complete the work not done. Now legal action has been launched he has decided not to dispute the claim. However, rather than acknowledge the claim he has contacted me directly to say he is selling his house and he is willing for me to have a charge on the property to the value of the claim (including costs) but he wants to do it out of court so he doesn’t have a CCJ against his name. I can’t see the property on the market via rIghtmove.co.uk. That doesn’t mean it’s not for sale though. He has told me that the mortgage company has a charge on the property but there is enough equity to pay the claim after the mortgage. He says he can’t afford to pay the claim outright and can’t get a loan. The claim is around £7.5K so I doubt he has movable assets that could be sold to that value which means, even if I did pursue the claim, the best I would probably get is a charge on the property. I want to settle this amicably as possible. I don’t think he’s a crook, he’s just disorganized, got out of his depth on a large job and let the budget get out of control. We had a good working relationship for two years before it fell apart on this job. So, questions: 1. Does this seem a reasonable proposal and how would I go about implementing this? 2. How can I check the value of any charge the mortgage company may have? 3. How much does it cost to put a charge on a property and how can I do it? 4. I assume I should seek some sort of written guarantee of his proposal? 5. I also assume I should apply some sort of time limit to selling the property at which point I would reinstated the claim if the house is not sold – maybe 3 months, or 6? 6. What should be done on MCOL? Should he acknowledge the claim saying he does not dispute the amount or would that result in a CCJ? Or should I just leave it dormant for three months then request a judgment it if the sale falls through? 7. Would it be safer to decline this proposal and proceed with the claim?

I've been getting inaccurate roaming data on my Vodafone bills since February. The charges are correct but the itemisation is wrong. The bill lists countries I never went to. I've complained to Vodafone and they said since bill amount is correct there is nothing they can do. They don't control the roaming itemisation (despite me roaming on a Vodafone overseas network). So I filed a complaint with the ombudsman and they agreed with Vodafone. I have been offered £60 as compensation for the inconvenience and the fact I was not informed I had the option to go to the ombudsman but, on the substance of the complaint, they agree with Vodafone that the roaming itemisation is out of their control (apparently it's fed back from the SIM of the roaming phone) and as long as the amount on the bill is correct there is nothing to be done. I declined their resolution stating that I was connected to a Vodafone network overseas so it is within Vodafone's power to fix this. Also since the SIM is provided by Vodafone this is also their problem. They rejected my reasons and restated their offer of £60. I now have the choice of accepting it and take the £60 or rejecting it, loose the £60 and take further action myself. The question is, what action can I take? I'm not really interested in £60. I just want an accurate bill which I don't think is too much to ask. Do I have any chance with trading standards, companies house or HMRC? Surely there must be trading rules about providing accurate invoices? Or should I just take the £60, put up with the inaccurate invoices till December and switch provider when my contract is up?

George Osborne today announced he is quitting as an MP but will carry on “fighting for that Britain I love” as editor of the Evening Standard. In a letter revealing his decision to Conservatives in his Tatton constituency, he said he was thrilled to be taking charge of “a great newspaper”. The former Chancellor, 45, made plain that he intends to stay active in political debates on issues he is passionate about. And he hinted he could make a political comeback in future, saying he was leaving Westminster “for now”. Stepping Down-Quitting all the same to me. http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/george-osborne-quits-as-mp-saying-he-is-leaving-westminster-for-now-a3518001.html

Hello everyone at the CAG forum, this is my first post here. I'm hoping to get some advice with Marston / Collectica after a bailiff visit today. I wasn't home but they left a hand delivered Final Notice. Let me give some more information; I have a Further Steps Notice from London Collection and Compliance Centre dated 18th November, amount owed £580. I did not open and read this letter until yesterday. Around two weeks ago I received a Notice of Enforcement Distress Warrant from Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service, it stated the debt was £580 but now £660. I did open and read this letter, I thought it was due to a recent CCJ from an unsecured Vanquis debt from over 3 years ago. Based on this thought, I believed this was just a normal scare tactic letter taken to the next level (bearing in mind at this point in time I had not opened or read the Further Steps Notice letter) with the belief that this was from an unsecured debt I also believed that if anything they would just send a standard bailiff to which I could just politely refuse to open to door and ask to leave, having no vehicle or property outside that they could take. The due date of this Distress warrant was 16/02/2017, 14 days after the issue date. Today (well yesterday now) 17th Feb, I arrived home to find the bailiff Final Notice letter, with an added fee of £235. At this point I decided to reread the last letter I received, the Distress Warrant. This is where I started to worry and have doubts that this was actually the debt from Vanquis. I had a look around and found some unopened letters, one of them was the Further Steps Notice. Upon reading this I soon realized it was unlikely that this was the Vanquis debt. Reading about deductions from my salary (I work myself so don't think they could apply this?), but more worrying 'issuing a warrant for your arrest' surely Vanquis can't get a warrant for my arrest issued due to unpaid debt with them? This must have come from the Magistrate's court? I got thinking, last year (I'm not sure exactly when, but now I'm guessing around April or just after) I received a council tax letter out of the blue saying I owed £200 or £300 for unpaid council tax. I live at my Mums house, and for over 15 years the council tax has be debited from her bank every month. I mentioned to her that I received a council tax bill in my name and she said it has always been in her name there must be a mistake, she said she will talk to them about it. She has always paid the council tax and never missed a payment, it comes out of her account automatically. We both thought it was strange a letter arrived in my name, she was adamant it should still be in her name and they must have sent it in error. Unfortunately she forgot to call them to speak about it, I think due to the fact she was sure it was just an error and still in her name, also a very close family member became very ill and sadly passed away late last year. I also forgot about it and did not remind her at anytime about it. Since receiving that letter I have never received another letter from the council or anyone regarding any council tax bills/debts. After all this thinking I call her and ask if she ever spoke to the council about the letter in my name and she doesn't remember it, and ys its in her name always has been. I ask if she can check her bank statements to make sure because I can't figure out what this debt is for, it can only possibly be due to this. She calls me back and is unhappy, the council stopped taking payments from her around April last year. Now I am pretty sure this must be due to unpaid council tax, even though I haven't received any other letters, I know that unpaid council tax can go through the Magistrate's court and a warrant for arrest issued if it came to it, also that these bailiffs could actually enter my home. After doing some research online I have read of people receiving the same letters but due to DVLA fines where someone has used their name and DOB. Now I am not sure if it is council tax or something worse? In the morning I plan to call bailiff on the mobile phone number he left on the Final Notice and ask him who the debt is from and hopefully find out if it is due to council tax or something else. Also no one will be home now until Tuesday or Wednesday and I will let the bailiff know this and that as soon I get back we can sort the issue out. Does he have to tell me who the debt is from, and is there anyway he can come back and enter the house whilst no one is home? Obviously we are going to call the council first thing Monday to sort out the council tax problem, we have no problem paying the back taxes that we owe, and have only realized tonight that they stopped taking payment last year. If this is due to council tax, is there anyway we could contest the added fines/payments? Neither of us received any other letters regarding council tax since the one last year in my name, no other arrears or court letters until the Further Steps Notice. If it turns out it is due to DVLA or something else what would be my next steps? I have not received any parking tickets or traffic offences other than a parking ticket on 10th October from Civil Enforcement LTD which I contested and they sent me a Confirmation of Cancellation letter confirming it had been cancelled. If its council tax there is no issue paying, I can afford to pay it but I would rather not pay the excess as I did not receive any other letters about it. In this case should I try to contest first then pay the council or courts directly, or pay the bailiff inc the excess and try to contest after? I am now worried the bailiff will not tell me who the creditor is but just try to get me to pay, then I will have to wait until Monday to contact the council or courts to find out. Thanks for reading and any advice anyone can give.

I am currently receiving ESA support group which i appealed over a year ago and won. I have recently moved back to my mortgaged home ( it was empty due to pending repossession process), I am currently pregnant but we are not together, we have never been in a long term relationship, he has his own property and doesnt live with me, he will pop in on occassions to check how the pregnancy is coming along, we dont get on and know that being in a long term relationship just for a child would not work. The DWP advised that an allegation has been made that he lives with me and i have to attend in two weeks. Can anyone shed any light on what they will ask me? Thanks in advance

Hi guys. Catalogue debt (applied online in 2005) of £4000 when defaulted due to personal circumstances in 2013. Been with Capquest since. Was paying after agreement but, after receiving a 'you have not paid we will take you to court' letter 6 months into (the fully honoured by myself) agreement I stopped paying and challenged them. Since then heard nothing until recently. Sent CCA but received a reconstituted agreement (typical no sig/dodgy T&C's). Now debt is showing at more than 5000 than original default sum on credit file! Question: what is my next step? SAR and/or claim charges interest obviously added to the default sum? I f so, how do I go about this and whom do I contact? My hunch is that if Cr$pquest had viable documentation that they would have gone to court before leaving an extended gap between the agreement failing (on their part) and contacting me again after a period of 16 months. Any help gratefully accepted.

Hi, apologies if this is the wrong place to post this but just thought I'd ask for some help. A few weeks ago I was referred to Steps to Success (N.Ireland) with Ingeus being the provider. Having heard bad press about them I Google'd a lot and came across this great forum. The massive Ingeus thread was a massive help and calmed my nerves and I've saved a bunch of information from it such as Freedom of Information posts, operational guidelines from DWP, etc. giving me more confidence on how to deal with them and not be bullied into doing anything I don't have to do just so they can earn a few extra quid. I'm just wondering does the operational guidelines posted from the DWP cover the work programme over in N.Ireland regarding Ingeus? The reason I ask is when I went for my referral meeting I didn't sign the form that allows them to send your data to companies as a lot of people on here said not to do. Of course, the person tried to lie to me and say it's mandatory and I need to sign it, but I pointed out that it said on the form itself that I could withdraw my consent at any point, so the form can't be mandatory and it was dropped. The only issue now is that the whole form signing thing has popped up again and I just wanna make sure those operational guidelines about me not having to sign this form cover me in N.Ireland so I can continue to refuse to sign it? Thanks. tl;dr... Does the operational guidelines for the work programme posted by DWP cover the work programme in N.Ireland in relation to Ingeus?

After some advice and any feedback from anybody who has needed to seek a court order to have their data ceased being processed. I have issued a S. 10 notice that was delivered by hand to the director of a small company, they have so far attempted to involve a third party to put pressure on me to back off but have failed to abide by the notice. I have also sent a Subject access request which I am expecting them to ignore as well. Being a small company this could just be down to not knowing what to do etc however I am now in the position of having to decide my next steps. Has anyone pursued a S.10 notice as far as the courts ?

I have a CCJ hearing on Wednesday about an outsanding "finance gap" debt after repossession of a vehicle last year. Would be grateful to hear of relevant precedents/case law. I bought the vehicle under an HP scheme, transferring in a part-ex finance gap from a previous car. Payment problems after loss of business caused me to default and the vehicle was repossessed last October. Court date is Wednesday. My initial defence was that the price they gave for the auction figure cannot be sufficient, that it is unjust to take their word and they had produced no hard evidence of the auction price. The finance co's solicitors have since come back with documents justifying the auction price. I want to argue the 1/3 paid issue (repossession was without a court order and under some duress off private land and without my consent, so there may be other issues to argue as well) but there seem to be many views on what precisely constitutes the "1/3 paid". These are the figures: Original total price (April 09) £ 34,001 Part-ex in from previous vehicle £ 3,848 My initial deposit £ 7,500 Balance due (this was financed) £ 30,350 Charge for credit was £ 9,024 60 monthly payments of £ 650.15 Claimant's solicitor is arguing that I paid a deposit of only £ 3,651 as the remainder was to cover the previous finance gap from the part-ex vehicle. This is almost certainly false, as the documentation clearly shows me paying a deposit of £7,500 regardless of how it was used. Prior to repossession, I had repaid approx. £ 6,500 in installments. Therefore the total of my installments + initial deposit was roughly £ 13,500 which appears to be more than 1/3 of the total sale price. Would be grateful for any suggestions!

A friend received a final steps notice (FSN) from their local Court 2 days ago. The text asked them to contact the fines Officer to sort the non payment of fines out. This was passed to me to assist with. I called the Courts this morning, the conversation was as thus. Fines Officer: (FO) your account has been passed to Marstons for enforcement we cant help. Me: Ok then please can you arrange for the defaulter to be put in front of a Magistrate to hear a means enquiry hearing. FO: Why is that? Me: The defaulter wants time to pay but cannot make an SD as was already aware of the case. FO: Ok why can they not pay? ME: I explained the case was heard in their absence and a level of fines was issued, no account was taken as to the level of the repayment was taken in to account (MC100 form) not being completed. FO: Let me check Me: wait Moments later the FO came back and asked for the debtor to come to Court to show an I&E form as to how much they can afford. No problem we are here right now. Then the FO came out and spoke to us, read the I&E form and took it away. Sometime later they returned and asked if allowed to pay by instalments when could they pay and how much. Me: I said we have £50 cash now and can afford to pay £15-00pw from next week. (debtor working with 2 LO's in place with rent arrears and other non priority debts. FO: As it is out to Marstons I will call them and have the order returned to us and we will agree your repayment plan. (result). We paid the £50-00 online then and there, FO saw this. FO: goes away again the recall the warrant from Marstons. Then returns to us and explains this can be the last time you default as next time we will not hear anything from you. Me: I thank you for your time on this matter and your considerations. FO: We will issue you a fines card or you can pay online weekly this amount will be £xx-xx pw and your 1st payment must reach your account by **/**/2016. Me Once again thank you for your time in this matter... We all walk away from this mess happy knowing that I have just saved this debtor a £75-00 fee and a possible £235-00 fee as well. So with this information it goes to prove that what I have said many times over the years you can get a great result from your creditors only if you speak to them before or immediately after the FSN. Note to admin this could do with being in the bailiff section as well, ? Sorry for the long read!!

Hello I bought 20 toys from someone on ebay. We arranged a sale outside of the auction site as I only wanted 20, rather than the 50 the seller was selling (as a bulk lot). They cost about £100. When they arrived, one toy was completely different to that of the agreed list. I notified the seller straight away and they said they would look at their stock and get back to me. They never did, I started a PayPal claim for £5. The seller then emailed me asking why £5, I said this was the price paid, divided by the amount of goods bought. The seller did no respond. Upon waiting for PayPal's time scale, I escalated it to a dispute for the full amount (£100). The seller did not respond, despite regular emails from PayPal to do so. After the time limit, PayPal awarded me the full amount refund. The seller has since contacted me and asked for me to "please pay for toys" I have not responded. Within days, they had begun finding me on Facebook, contacting me through ebay, and now finally they have written to me (recorded delivery). The seller has no interest in sorting it out in the beginning, which is why I applied for a full refund. i am still in possession of the toys sent. I originally said I was happy with the other toys (as I still am) and happy to receive a partial refund (of £5), why am I not re-paying? The seller had every opportunity to respond and help resolve the situation but didn't It is only since PayPal refunded that they are now fully into action. The details of the letter are: Stating they will be taking me to a small claims court (already threatened this by email/ebay messaging). Interesting that the CAB website states the usual (and reasonable) amount of time for this is a calendar month. The seller has given me 7 days from the date of the letter, so 6 days after I received it - not exactly "reasonable". Charging me postage for the letter they've written. £1 per day of interest, starting the day I received the full amount back. Charging me for any legal advice they may need to seek. Charging me for the cost of sending this to a small claims court. The seller states I proceeded "without notification" to make a claim for the full refund, when this is not true. The initial PayPal claim was for £5, but as this was ignored, I escalated it to the full amount. From what I can see, PayPal emailled the seller on numerous occasions. The timeline from PayPal is below: 26 Feb 2016 - Buyer: Dispute opened 26 Feb 2016 - PayPal: Email sent to buyer 26 Feb 2016 - PayPal: Email sent to seller 1 Mar 2016 - Buyer: Dispute opened 1 Mar 2016 - Buyer: Dispute escalated to claim 1 Mar 2016 - PayPal: Email sent to buyer 1 Mar 2016 - PayPal: Email sent to seller 8 Mar 2016 - PayPal: Email sent to seller 12 Mar 2016 - PayPal: Email sent to buyer 12 Mar 2016 - PayPal: Email sent to seller I have italiced the dates in which PayPal contacted the seller. What are my options now? I plan to respond, by letter (although I may email the letter instead) asking a number of questions as to why the seller did not bother to mediate when they had the chance - and even now, they have not asked me to repay the £95 - just going all out and telling me this and that. Sorry, I know it has been a long post.

Dear forum members, I'm looking for some advice on the next steps I need to take with two companies, Robinson Way and Capquest. I have three debts, two with Robinson Way and one with Capquest. The two with Robinson Way are Welcome Finance and Barclaycard and the one with Capquest is Royal Bank of Scotland. All three of the debts have been ongoing for approximately six years and some payments have been made to all three. They have been passed around several DCA's during their existence. And, regrettably, I have often ignored them. However, after the recent letters I have received concerning them I want to do something about them. I know it should have been something I should have tackled earlier but I can't change that now so I hope I can get some advice here. I have been reading around some articles but I am a little overwhelmed by the amount of information on the forums. I'm not sure if some or all of the advice applies to me. I am happy to provide further information and know that I will need to do so in order to receive help from people but I am unsure what to provide at this early stage. I have read about an SOA (Statement of Affairs?) but I would appreciate any help an experienced forum member might be able to offer. Thanks for taking the time to read this! And this is also a copy and paste of a message I put on moneysavingexpert but I wanted to 'reach out' to as many knowledgeable people as possible, so sorry if some people are reading this twice.

I looked at the Daily Mail online site earlier and thought to myself whether i gained anything positive from my visit. Most of the articles are celebrity gossip or are promoting products or promoting interests of the Daily Mail. The Mail was once a great campaigning newspaper, with some really good journalism that uncovered information, that was useful to consumers or society. But recently i have found that the articles on interesting subjects are no longer there and have been replaced by celebrity rubbish and general news which is not often factual or interesting. Positive step to remove the Daily Mail bookmark and to not bother visiting their site. Are there any activities you might do on a regular basis that are not positive or useful ? And i don't mean doing household tasks.

Good afternoon, Having just joined the site I wanted to introduce myself. I've just turned 35. Am married with 3 kids. This is important because I nearly lost them. I am a recovering compulsive gambler. This isn't seen as an illness to anybody except another compulsive gambler. My last bet was march 2014. I actively attend GA meetings to prevent relapse. Its taken me this long to rebuild trust in my family. My life is miles away from the despair it was in when I gambled, but I still have evidence of my problem in the form of a mountain of debt. Although I signed up to a dmp with stepchange in july 2014 my head is still firmly in the sand when it comes to finances. I have joined this site to gain control of my finances having gained some kind of control over my gambling. I haven't looked into reclaiming bank charges or PPI or anything so I guess that's where I'll start. thanks for listening, i'll keep you 'posted'

I didn't want to hijack the thread I started responding to (Which is where information can be found concerning my unfortunate experience with a HCP Physiotherapist.) I'm opening this new thread to put my voice out there for others to see how the new Ingeus 'steps to work' programme doesn't seem to be working for people who are medically unfit. So after the Physio said she couldn't work with me because I refused to sign the consent form for her to not only store my assessment but to provide my consent for a number of other things I went back to the Employment advisor who said nothing about my previous experience. I wasn't asked to provide another assessment, or sign this form again. http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x351/MaulIce/IMG_0002_zps274791c5.jpg This time I was asked to provide my email address so that the Employment advisor can converse with me. Not sure if I have to provide it? Also asked at my next interview, to just wait in the private room and then move to sit in the main office. I feel they are now trying to provoke me to see my reactions because I have numerous stress issues in busy places. They don't have laptops in this private room so I think the Employment advisor wants me to go to the main office to access the desk computer but I don't know what for. I said I didn't want to speak about anything personal in a public office, I was told I wouldn't be speaking about anything personal. I also got the impression that the frequency of my appointments is going to increase after my next appointment which is a few weeks away.

Hello, I just received this through the post. I honestly have no idea what it for but looking at the amount it seems old. Can someone advise what I do next.

Hello all, Sent separate CCA requests (recorded delivery, have sigs) for separate pre-1998 loans bought by Erudio, and no response in the 12+2. Haven't yet deferred, though will easily qualify, but the deferral period is up in next few days. Having read through all the recent related threads, I'm still not 100% sure on what's best to do (or not) next: Do I... 1) Wait until they contact me [in writing] - whether that be to respond to the CCA requests, or to tell me I am not deferred and need to start paying - and then take it from there? 2) Send in the deferral form now (minus the info I'm not prepared to provide)? 3) Something else entirely. My main concern for taking option (1): should the CCA requests be successfully answered, am I given suitable extra time to defer (from a legal standpoint, or due to account being in 'dispute') and if so, how long? The concern for option (2): acknowledging the debt (via deferral info) before they've provided proof of its existence via the CCA requests. Any advice much appreciated.

An acquaintance has today been contacted by a DCA and I found their approach unprofessional / bordering on harassment. My acquaintance was severely upset by their behaviour and attitude. I would appreciate your advice on the general situation (though not necessarily the rightness or wrongness of either party's claims). Is there anything my acquaintance should be doing at this point or should they be awaiting further contact? I am not a lawyer. Context: This acquaintance is a director of a limited liability company (A). That limited liability company paid for services from a third-party (the supposed creditor - B) and in turn had an exclusive franchise for a specific region. The understanding was that the franchise was perpetual and of a similar form to all other franchises provided by B. All contracts / agreements were oral though there is c10 years of historic precedent supporting the existence and nature of those arrangements. Approximately 2 years ago B decided to disenfranchise A and enfranchise a new third party (as it was financially beneficial for B to do so) thereby ending A's sole revenue stream. At that time, an agreement was reached with B that an alternative franchise would be provided though that never materialised. A may have owed B a low five figure sum for services rendered before the termination of the franchise. Following negotiations, as no new franchise was provided, it was understood by A that any sums owed to B were to be cancelled. None of those discussions, or details of sums owed are documented. B did not subsequently send requests for payment. Currently, A has negligible assets and six figure liabilities (including a significant debt to my acquaintance). Any sums owed by A to B were unsecured. Both B and my acquaintance have not been in contact for over 18 months and no requests for payment have been received in that time. Today, a DCA contacted my acquaintance informing them that they required immediate payment. DCA are a small firm (3 family members) and, as far as I can tell, are legitimate - they have a website and no negative media results. From their website, I cannot however determine their company number or if they are a member of any trade associations. As part of the 45 minute conversation between my acquaintance and DCA DCA said: 1) Threatened my acquaintance with criminal prosecution and a potential jail sentence for robbery 2) Spoke in legalese referencing c15 different forms and procedures with no intent (/ability) to explain 3) Had no knowledge of the arrangements between A and B 4) Assumed that my acquaintance was fully liable for A's debts and repeatedly stated that claim 5) Became forceful / insistent to the extent that my acquaintance burst into tears I have recommended that, next time they make contact, my acquaintance do the following: 1) Request they contact them in writing 2) Request that they stop contacting by phone 3) End the conversation at that point 4) Note key details of the conversation Any advice would be hugely appreciated given the distress my acquaintance is experiencing. Thanks, Ben

I started receiving letters from a collection agency for a loan taken out in 2009 This loan defaulted hence the letter from the DCA. I sent a CCA request which I received today and the agreement has not been signed What is the next step? I believe there is a template letter for me to send but I can not remember where to find it Thanks in advance