I'd issue the N1 anyway, they have taken liberties and need to be clobbered. Capquest are very slow at correcting their own mistakes, which surely should come under the FSA complaints department....

With renting you get ALL of your rent paid straight up if you need to go to the DSS... with a mortgage its six months then a portion of the mortgage is paid - how unfair is that? I'm now renting and its much better for me - no worries about finding money I have'nt got for repairs etc..

I have just the item to stick up a visiting DCA's rear end - and it's legal to have this item. My favourite story though about a Walking Possession was somebody who calmly listed various vibrators on the form and posted it back as requested.... No reply to my email sent on Sunday as yet, will post reply here when it does arrive.

Good luck with this - I will be there with you in spirit on the 10th - last time I was in court the Judge had 'strong words' with the solicitor - who refused to speak to me after the hearing...

Go to your local post office and ask for all mail in his name (or variations of his name) to be returned immediately as he doesn't live there. I had that a long time ago when somebody previously at my old address moved and was using the address up to 6 months after leaving. I even had the British Transport Police round after her as she hadn't paid her fines for fare dodging on the underground. The letters stopped after they visited.

Send an SAR Request, this is the next stage asking for full account details, it should give you an idea of how old the account is, if it is 6 years from the date of last payment or delivery then the debt is statute barred... the SAR request costs £10. Again, put on the letter "I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS DEBT" and "THE £10 IS NOT TO BE TAKEN AGAINST DEBT" (as if....) If they don't comply after this report them to the FOS for harrassment and to the Information Commissioner.

Thanks, I don't think the poor guy realises how much hassle people have from DCA's and their so called allies the CRA's. Neither lot come under much governmental scrutiny as they are supposed to be independent... if this is so why does Experian own Westcot? I thought he might like to see what happens when a debt is thrown out of court and a company still tries to collect on it - I'm going back to the originating court on Wednesday to show them the documentation - should be a fun trip! I don't know how many other people will send him an email - hopefully everyone who's logged into this link.

Capital 1 didn't turn up when they took me to court for a card I never had. And they still continue to chase despite the Notice of Disassociation. Complaint with FOS about them. This lot play dirty - if they DON'T turn up you could try claiming costs and wasted time.... it's worth noting down everything and not getting side-tracked by their legal team - I've had solicitors told off in court now because they kept side-tracking away from the main points of the case....

Both signed

Following email sent to mailto:ishepard@hurlstons.com I'm convinced that any DCA writing to you should enclose a copy of the last bill sent or a statement of account - would help stop them chasing dubious debts and statute barred debts if they checked what they were churning out and had to work harder to send letters out. Dear Sir I think you should not be appearing to support the above event. DCA's are not worthy of such awards by themselves to themselves and for you to be seen supporting this event will damage your company's reputation. It is sickening enough that one of the largest Credit Reference Agencies actually own one of the DCA's who will be at the event - something again that smacks of "sleeping in the same bed" - is it any co-incidence that the CRA in reference requests people to check their credit records every three months - if we don't apply for anything where does this need come in? All it does is alert them that somebody has looked at the record. Please do not attend this event as it is a self-seeking publicity event for a group of organisations who regularly work outside the law - I have documentary evidence of this should you require it.

I'd love to see his (your Official Receivers) face - the amount of tripe these people come out with is amazing - I'm with you all the way on this one - if it really is a £20,000 debt from 1997 then it well and truely is statute barred, would it relate to any mortgage arrears because that might not be statute barred yet (12 years on land).... Perhaps you could get him to draft a letter to the appropriate authorities stating the inaccuracies in their intimidating twaddle.

By the way, if they send you an Income and expenditure form, put NA and the dater on every blank line you DONT fill in otherwise they will forge items on this (I've had it done by another company - added £400 pm car expenses and I don't drive and haven't got a licence)

Point out to the that in the T&Cs of a Step account they can't charge for going overdrawn as overdrafts aren't allowed and they are breaching their own T&Cs.... Had the same with them, paid in cash at 8.50am in their City branch, was told the following day that £38 had been taken as I wasn't in credit at 3.30pm. Pointed out that I had paid in cash, therefore should have instantly cleared... was told cash was not processed until 4.15... did get my money back though. The DD was for £15 and I was £2 short, so I had paid in £20 to make sure.... "inappropriate withdrawing of funds" in their language - in my language "theft...."

Its illegal to charge for debt counselling under FSA rules. check it out on their website. I got stung for £100 and pointed out that the guy lied through his teeth - stating I had a £200 a month car charge when I don't even drive. This is still ongoing... don't let them fool you, complain directly to the FSA as they have broken their rules.

Go for them, I.m currently being chased for something which will be statute barred this September and am ignoring all mail form various companies. I now have a list (thanks to this site) of which companies use which PO box addys and am not replying. I fully believe that if a DCA contacts you about a debe they should include the last bill or statement you received from said company... wouldn't that put the cat amongst the pigedons.....

Copy their letter to Trading Standards and the Information Commissioner. I understand that once the debt has been handed back they 'cannot keep your record for 6 years' as they never should have had it in the first place... this also comes under the Fraud act (so I was advised).

I've got a Step account and when they charged me £35 for being 1p out (despite paying in money that day) I pointed out they should not be deducting charges from the account as the charges were for credit services and that didn't apply. Have had every charge reversed almost on the day it was incurred... none of this "will take three working days to go back" for me. If they don't have properly trained staff chasing debts then they should be reported to Trading Standards. I too tell them the call is being recorded before going through security, I also point out that I have different security answers depending on which company it is.... that confuses the little dears at the start... they don't really want to reveal they are NOT from the company but an 'agent working in a call centre'.

Chasing statute barred debts seems to be MH's speciality, I had one recently and sent it back asking for copy of last bill sent and cca request - letter received saying debt returned to clients requesting no further action. Wonder who will pick up that debt next. Similar situation, lots of old debts, which DID get paid off eventually but still being chased for the odd one - 9 years later in the last case!

BTW if the DCAs are taking money via a debit card ask the bank for a new card as somebody is misusing your trust.. the bank should comply as they could be held liable if you incur charges through somebody taking an amount you did not request.

Capital One, Notice of Discontinuance received after they didn't turn up in court, no paperwork ever received from them but 8 chasing letters from Heatons LLP, Scotcall et al AFTER the Notice of Discontinuance received. Claim in with FOS and now with Information Comissioner.

I've stopped any DDs on my account and now pay everything online due to this problem, I've had three charges for a £5 dd which ended up in £90+ charges, which I DID get refunded. Okay I might get the odd £5 fee for non payment by DD but this can be challenged on the basis that you DON'T pay by cheque and use the online services and it doesn't say that the £5 is for anything other than payment by cheque.... The DD guarantee isn't worth the hassle as it can (and DOES) take up to 40 days for money "inapproprately withdrawn" to be returned to you.

I'd fight the set aside as YB didn't ask for more time to file their defence and therefore are abusing the court process. There is no clear way they can state that they have a very real prospect of winning in a case which hasn't been heard yet (and won't be for some time) so a stay would not be beneficial to both parties. Also state that any stay would escalate costs on both sides and again be an abuse of process. List all the corresponence you have received and in the order it was received and that should form part of your claim. Good luck on this.

Tell them you are changing your phone number and give them a DCA one, should help stop the calls for a while. Or, if not a DCA try something like the local trading standards office....

Write to the companies and state that clearly they have the wrong person now and stop harrassing you - if they won't change their inaccurate data report them to the Information Commissioner, he would be very interested in their requests for marriage and birth certificates. My way of dealing with requests of this nature is to request a personal meeting with a representative of the company so I can show them the originals and they can verify the copies are true copies of the originals. This has worked several times now.

I would make out a costs order for them listing the following (just in case it is granted) 1 How much per hour/day you earn 2 £100 for secretarial services/printing supplies etc 3 Travel costs to the court ie petrol per mile and parking charge This I believe is the minimum you can claim, not sure about no 2 but I know it has been allowed in bank charge cases... also a Wasted Cost Order might apply to Grosvenor ask the Judge if they can grant this to you.