Hi there - I'm an American, now married to a Brit, who lived in the UK for about 10 years. In my first few years in the UK I did not make very much money and foolishly ended up getting into debt with credit cards and a loan in order to keep my head above water. I ended up amassing about £10,000 worth of debt, which I ended up facing up to in 2006. I contacted creditors, set up payment arrangements and all that stuff. Thanks to the help of this forum I ended up getting several of them written off, and I paid the ones I believed I was legally obliged to pay. In January 2012, I moved to the United Arab Emirates with my husband, and late last year I realized I was living in another country and had been paying those debts for over six years (original plan was to pay for five). So I stopped paying them. Fast-forward to yesterday. I received an email from my in-laws in the UK, who have received a letter from MK Rapid Recoveries, claiming I owe £1500 for a Barclaycard debt from 2006! I did have a Barclaycard debt and had reached an arrangement with another DCA in 2007, and paid them until late last year. I investigated this today and have discovered that Barclaycard listed me as "in default" in 2009, in spite of the fact that I had been making regular payments on the debt, and now list the debt as settled. Interestingly though MK Rapid Recoveries have ALSO put a default for the same amount and the same year on my record! I know this was not there before. I have never actually lived at my in-laws but I this year I did work a temporary job in the UK this summer and I had to be CRB-checked. For paperwork purposes I needed to give them an address and so I had to put my in-laws down, and this included updating a CC address. I then forgot about it and I am certain the DCA found my in-laws' address by pinging my credit file. I intend to post some letters stating that I do not acknowledge the debt, have never lived at this address and requesting that any correspondence regarding this account be sent to my UAE address. I updated my in-laws and was thinking that was the end of that. BUT THEN this afternoon they contacted me to say they have received ANOTHER post from ANOTHER DCA (Moorcroft) attempting to confirm whether I not I live at this address and sniffing around in regards to a Nat West debt which I believe I have paid off - it is not even on my credit file! I know I am responsible for the debt I accrued back in the early 00s, and I am willing to deal with the DCAs. But I do NOT want my in-laws dragged into this. They have been frugal all their lives, have excellent credit and I know are terrified of being dragged due to debt they had nothing to do with! I do not believe I owe either DCA anything and am unafraid to get in correspondence with them or give them my UAE address. But I definitely do not want them bothering my in-laws! What can I do to ensure they do not harrass my in-laws? Thank you for your help!

Hi Dennis in debt here just thought i'd jot down my experience with the fos and lloyds..and the circus (DCA'S).. have a case with the fos since last december against lloyds treating me unfairly over a £1k o/d that i was paying back at £1pr month they passed to dca i stopped paying i got my final response letter last nov and all papers sent to fos...accepted ref given ...jan 2012 moorcroft writing telling me i must pay them i email back saying the case is with fos even quote fos ref..email fos they state that banks are allowed to carry on debt activity even though there is a case with themselves i email back fos stating i consider this to be unfair...their reply is that they have asked lloyds to discontinue collection activity and it stops for 3 weeks...then guess who...Robbers way start i inform them that case with fos same procedure goes on fos state they have asked lloyds to cease activity and last week letter back from rw saying they are no longer dealing with the account...point of this is that even in the face of a case being accepted by the fos and being investigated the very bank the investigation and dispute is with is allowed to carry on collection activities..there is something wrong with this system..thursday this week...guess who.....wesclots...so off i go again.....anyone else had the same experience..?.i will continue my battle against the circus.....

Like me, Have you been HFO-vered ?? Ive had dealings with this mob for over 4 years now on and off. It wasn't until recently when they started using other tactics. that they have really antagonised me big time. Ive had some dealings with DCA's in my time, but nothing along the lines and extremes as to what this lot will stoop to. Having researched them in considerable depth, I now have my own ideas why they operate as they do and the possible constraints placed upon thier workforce to produce results. These views are unfortunately too sensitive to state here. As is evident from the results of the excellent work of these forums, the only way to hit these people is on thier docs. Remember, the damage has been done, every document now is a matter of record and cannot be undone. It is now up to us, the victims, to sensibly collate these individual case histories and use it against them. There is a very true phrase in life , "Someones strength is also thier weakness". Thier docs are certainly thier Achilles Heel - use it !! Well, fellow Caggers, the time has come for the "little man" to strike back. Im absolutely stunned by the amount of postings on here regarding the strokes that are being pulled by this lot. What is required is consolidation of data and cases. The posts on here are excellent and the lengths that the more experienced caggers have taken to help others is admirable and is clearly total dedication to the cause. We all get in debt in life from time to time, some more than others, and when we all take out those accounts initially, it is all in good faith at the time. Nobody knows what the future holds and how ones' circumstances can change for whatever reason. Whilst it is accepted that DCA's and other forms of civil enforcement are necessary and are part of life, what I cannot and will not accept is the underhand tactics and M.O's of some of these companies. Personally, I am not interested in the morality of whether a debt is or is not due, that is a case for your conscience to deal with. What I am concerened with is fair play and correctly administered legal process and exposing abuses of the system. In respect of this lot, I have already made my own noises to various government agencies, as Im sure many others have, howver, none of us know what is going on behind the scenes, but hopefully they take our complaints seriously. That is your right as a consumer if you feel hard done by. In view of the above, I consider that it is right and proper to use all legal and ethical means to expose the operations of these companies. Clearly there is quite sufficient evidence in the public domain to prove that it is more than a few minor "administrative errors". I am in the throws of launching a website, which will be privately hosted in respect of who-is databases etc as I dont want HFO & Co cyber snooping. The aims of the site will be : Clear concise information taken from statute books to assist members of the site who can only be HFO "Victims" regardless of who the OC is. A database of all cases together with uploaded documentation, case histories etc. All documentation to be "privatised" by the owner so confidentiality is maintained. All info, docs etc will be marked with a case reference number so only the site webmaster, and you, the victim will know these details. You will be able to log into your account at any time to add, delete, update etc. All we ask from you is your co-operation in allowing your details to ultimately be used should any LEA or other lawful interested party require access to these case histories. Access to this site will be by invitation only, and strict verifications procedures will be required. All data will be SSL 128bit encrypted and the site will also be an https "Green Address Bar". Your anonymous data is therefore 100% safe, and you cannot be identified unless you wish to. Part of the site is written, its sitting on a server ready to be launched and will be well optimised and is sure to be found using all major SE by anyone researching our "friends" activities. I will make it perfectly clear here, that any info on the site will be harvested from reputable, factual sources, including the public domain. No wild conspiracy theories or hearsay data will be entertained, nor anything closely resembling libelous nor derogatory remarks. You must keep to the facts based upon your experiences. I am seeking comments and input from other caggers. All input positive or otherwise will be welcomed. I have superb influential contacts in media, TV and government departments, and I will be calling upon these resources as and when the time comes. You would have noted the username. I'm also on CAG under another username but only a trusted few will know that. ************************* ************************* * COMMENTS PLEASE ************************* ************************* * If our "friends" are viewing this post, all I can say to them is, this is not defamation, libel or whatever you may alledge. These are the facts based upon 100's if not 1000's of personal experiences. I call it Justice and Retribution for the consumer, which is well past due. The website referred to above is only for HFO / TR problems, however, should any other DCA come to light who operates in a similar way, then they will also be suitably rewarded with a similar dedicated consumer action site !

Hi All, Firstly, I would implore any other first-time posters to write any lengthy posts like these in a separate program and copy paste, as I just spent ages writing this, only to lose it all when I hit “Preview Post” as I had been logged out!!! :mad2: You never know, maybe this version is more concise!: Been reading this site quite a lot recently due to recent contact with Link. The sheer size and number of threads is a little overwhelming - especially for a "forum novice"! I'm after a little advice on my situation, so here's the rundown: 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98 - I took out three student loans. 1998, 1999 - I deferred payment. After this, things get a bit hazy (it was a long time ago!), suffice to say that I lost contact/failed to defer (between 1998 and 2007, I lived at 13 addresses!). Sometime in 2002 I was contacted by the "Student Loans Company" (I presume by this point, this was actually "Thesis"?). They said I had defaulted on the loan (a sum of about £4,400), and that interest had been frozen, but that I had to start making payments. As I was on benefits at the time, I set up a DD for £5/month. After this, I must admit, I just forgot about it, and the £5/month has been going out ever since. Last month, I took a call on my mobile that turned out to be from Link Financial. They asserted that I now owed them payment in full, as I had failed to pay off the balance within 60 months. They also stated that the balance was now about £5,600 (not exact figures, I don't have the paperwork to hand) due to interest and charges (I didn't think you could accrue interest on a defaulted loan?) As I had no idea of Link's DCA pedigree, I started off trying to come to some arrangement with them, saying that I would like to arrange to increase my payments and come to some payment plan agreement. This is when all the usual harassment tactics came into play, such as threatening "Bailiffs", "House attachment", "Criminal proceedings", etc. if I did not pay in full. This is when I started doing some internet research on my rights in general, and realised they had no grounds to make these threats. The last contact I had with them, just before I started reading these forums, I told them I may be in a position to pay a lump sum of £1000 when my next invoice was paid. This was mainly to get them off my back for a bit. I am possibly in a better situation than most, in that I could find the money and have done with it (though £5.5K is a lot of money in anyone’s eyes), though that hasn’t made me feel any less stressed about the situation, and makes me really angry when I think of all those who are in much worse positions and have to deal with these heavy-handed thugs. The long and the short of it is that I took the credit in the first place, and do not feel that I should be exempt from repayment. But I have endured 6 years of CCJ’s and bad credit in the past, due to my complete financial ignorance around my student days, and I would rather not go back there. Ideally, I would like to come to an agreed (greatly reduced) sum that I can pay off in full, and walk away knowing that the debt is settled (especially as I balk at the “interest and charges” that they say have accrued). Any advice on how to move forward?