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!

Here we go again. I defaulted on my water payments last year due to more important debts to pay. I have had a payment plan set up with Moorcroft this year paying both lots of water bills. Our payment plan was £40 per month (based on a financial summery completed by the C.A.B) and occasionally i would pay £50 pm. With my husband being self employed and me losing my job we had no income this summer at all, nothing. so I rung Moorcroft and told them I would not be making payments for the next two months, they didn't like it but agreed I would contact them in October. I rung them in September to ask how much the debt was (having NEVER received a receipt from them) and was told £312. Come October Me and hubby found ourselves in the position to pay off the whole debt so I rung Moorcroft and was informed by a snotty so and so that I had to pay £530 and as I had made no payments for 2months I had to pay the outstanding balance now. 10 minutes later after lots of arguments and haggling I payed the £300 I was willing to pay anyway and set up a payment plan of £76.66 on 3rd of November £76.66 on 3rd of December and £76.68 on 3rd of January. Job done, sorted. So I received a letter this afternoon from Buchanan Clark & Wells It is a formal Demand to recover the overdue debt for United Utilities, in the sum of £530.00 I rang Moorcroft straight away and was told that UU had taken the account back and it had nothing else to do with them. So I rung UU and was put straight threw to BC&W (great!) After giving my reference number I was asked to CONFIRM my phone number I told them I preferred to be contacted via letter and asked what phone number they had for me, to which I was told letter would be fine I was told that the outstanding debt was £530 to which I told him that was wrong as I had paid £300, they had no proof of this. I told them I have Moorcroft letter stating that they took payment of £300 and a payment plan of £76.66 etc.. to which they asked if i could send them them letters, I said no I'll send you copies I then rang Moorcroft again and explained the situation and asked if they would send me a statement of all payments up to date. the guy on the phone seemed genuinely confused and concerned, and confirmed that £300 payment had been taken on the 3rd of October and had no idea where BC&W had got £530 from. I'm worried about getting involved in all this again as we've only just got bailiffs off our backs and our finances back on track, but there is no way BC&W can add £200 to a debt they've just bought is there? Also I do not have a water card so does any1 else know of a way I can pay money to UU directly. Or has anyone delt with BC&W before and have any advice.

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