My account has recently been passed to a DCA from the bank to whom I have been paying regularly £160 per month for a number of years. Needless to say this was presented as a 'fait accompli', I received a letter from the bank and the DCA on the same day in the same day, the bank saying they were within their rights to do this without notice(which of course the are), the DCA offering an assurance that there would be no change to the terms and conditions (i.e. no interest or charges) attached to the repayment schedule. As an aside, the DCA have issued a new account number and called it a 'loan account' a bit naughty to do in my opinion seeing as I have never had a loan account with the DCA. I requested a full and final settlement amount from the DCA who only quoted the outstanding balance owed to the bank. I wrote again requesting a full and final settlement based on a factor related to what they had paid to accquire the debt, not on the 'notional value' assigned from the original creditor. They replied stating that they would only consider an offer base on me providing them with a full financial statement detailing, a complete breakdown of assets, income, shoe size (joke) etc., they also stated that if they were magnaminous to accept my offer, they would only mark my credit file as .partially satisfied'. I have replied in the following manner 1). I have no intention of giving them details of my financial position 2). I made an assumption as to the value of what they accquired the debt for, and made a generous offer of a full and final settlement based on a multiple of what they accquired the debt for. 3). I have also stated that if they only mark the account as partially settled I want a statement in writing that the balance will not be passed on to another DCA for further attempts at collection. I do not know what others on this forum think, but I believe the law should be changed such that any settlement with a DCA should bear a correlation to the amount paid for accquiring the debt rather than the 'assigned value' passed from the original lender. The DCA trade association will tell you that their members cannot tell their clients what they paid for a debt as this is 'commercially sensitive' information , that being the case then policing is required from OFT to achieve two aims 1). Protect the DCA industry such that good rather than excessive profits are made 2). Give clients a better change of clearing their debts 3). Divest the DCA business of the cowboys who only want ecessive profits rather than reasonable ones

Here are a few things that have helped me in my battle with Nicotine. There is a lot of help out there from the NHS etc, but I feel everyone who wants to stop should read Allan Carr's very good book 'The easy way to stop smoking'. To start with here is a run down of what happens to your body after you stop smoking, it's a sort of check list as time goes by and helps keep you on track :- I found it helpful to print it out and leave copies where I could easily see them, by the computer, fridge etc...... Within 20 minutes - Blood pressure and pulse rate start to return to normal Within 8 Hours - Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in blood reduce by half. Oxygen levels return to normal. Within 24 Hours - Carbon monoxide will be eliminated from the body. Lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris. You won't believe the gunge that comes up at first as your body begins to re-grow cilia, the tiny hairs that line your airways and help push up impurities from your lungs - your smoking destroyed these. Within 48 Hours - There is no nicotine left in the body. Ability to taste and smell is greatly improved Within 72 Hours - Breathing becomes easier. Bronchial tubes begin to relax and energy levels increase Within 2-12 weeks - Circulation rapidly improves Within 3-9 months - Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung functions are increased by up to 10%. Personally, my smokers cough actually disappeared after 4-5 days! Within 5 years - Risk of heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker Within 10 years - Risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked