Well Done DMD!

Just found a picture of a typical DCA training seminar...can you spot the 1st Credit/ Rob Way and Lowells attendees?

Signing on for support....

Nice one Tifo, I'd just like to draw the OP's attention to the last sentance about secure delivery....in the current climate....I had a SAR from Barclays and they sent the stuff so flippantly, anyone could have got hold of it, the envelope was torn and damaged. Put that in big bold letters!

Hi there Welcome to the site. If you can/feel comfortbale giving a few more details, we might be able to give you some relevant advice. You may like to invest in the BT choose to refuse service as well if you are really getting fed up of the calls it's £3.35 per month but ask for the first month free if you call them here's the link Premium Features | Calling Features | Personal | BT.com You can cancel after one month, in which time, the DCA should have got the message, it blocks numbers from calling you.

Luminol Welcome to CAG and I hope you feel slightly more empowered about going after HSBC for the CCA's. My husband is in an almost identical situation to you, he has HSBC Loan (17K), Credit Card (3k) and Overdraft(1.5k) and last week he sent for his CCA's on all accounts. Today he received his first response, from the Loan DCA (CL Finance) and they simply sent him a statement. He is also asking for the PPI which was sold with the loan, to be refunded, you may like to check to see if your loan had PPI added, I know in years gone by that HSBC used to front load their loans so you pain their interest and PPI first. Also, when you received you SAR documents, you may find charges on all accounts, you can claim credit card charges and get those back. Many bank charges claims are on hold until the January test case, but get your figures ready so you can go straight into action if the ruling if favourable. Whatever these DCA's throw at you, CAG is always here and someone will always be able to help. Best of luck to you TF xx

OK, write to Red/Lowell/whatever they call themselves these days with the statute barred letter, ensure it goes recorded delivery, you get an electronic signature after a few days via the Royal Mail website so you can track your letter and who signed for it. Secondly, if Link are calling are you manage to answer a call simply ask them to put communication in writing and not to call you. If they genuinely believe they have your details, they will write to you in due course. Of course, if they are calling a mobile or you have caller ID you don't have to answer. BTW, if yu do speak to them by accident, I'd never advocate speaking to them myself, and they ask you to confirm your address, refuse, say you don't give out your address to companies, who obviously aren't sure of your address in any case. Lowell/Red/Mackenzie Hall seem to be quite expert in wasting their money and buying statute barred debts!

Yes indeed they are as my OH found out today after calling them from his work. Interestingly....they claim OH owes £16,000 on car credit and they can help him refinance...well my OH bough his £600 car in cash and could never afford £16k for a car, so he told them where to go.eally over the top with their sales calls, he had 16 missed calls from them today and 6 texts. Thanks fellow CG-er, you do indeed rock! r

I am sure that 'Telogram' wouldn't appreciate you sending them a 'Telogram' asking if one of there named directors lived at a certain adress, so I would ignore this. If another debt collection agency contacts you regarding this, you can take it from there but don't be conned into ringing this company, they would probably take any phone call from you as an admission of owing money.....

I would just like to add my experience... I had, some time ago, a letter from Westcot saying I owed a huge amount to 'Hutchinson 3G Mobile', initially I had no idea who the company was but after digging on here, they are a mobile phone company, 3, in fact. I sent the letter which was provided on page 1 and they have ceased any action, well I've not heard anything since mid year. There seems to be a lot of mobile dodgies about, husband has had a letter about an Orange debt, he's never had a contract phone either, always PAYG, he also sent the letter and he received a letter saying 'Matter is closed based upon further evidence', that was DLC debt collectors. To me, it all seems very strange, mobile contracts don't come under the CCA rules, yet lots of letters are being sent to people saying you owe £X to X mobile phone provider yet if it is not covered under the CCA rules, how, if you have a persistant DCA can you prove it is NOT your debt (obviously if it genuinely isn't!) aside from sending the letter wich has been posted. We all know some DCA's are much more persistant than others, I can see how it grinds people down!!

I haven't ODC, our nearest BT box is 2 miles and we have no car at the moment and I've just had surgery so I don't fancy the walk/bus in the rain, OH said he might try to call from his work tomorrow..... In other words, he won't!

My OH has been getting bomarded with calls over the last week. Basically they call his mobile, ask him for personal details, he refuses until they disclose who they are, then they hang up, he won't call them, even with 141 before dialling, he believes that they will get his number somehow! He's had debts from HSBC passed on from Metropolian to CL Finance, (although all his debts are with Payplan and have been for a year or so now) Any one who knows who these are, please let me know... 01204 466415 01204 466422 01204 446618 22 missed calls on his mobile since last Friday, caller doesn't leave a message.

Yes, absolutely, detail all your account number and as Dave has suggested, make the point very clear in your letter. Keep us posted and good luck.

Great news, signing on for some light entertainment against AK

I know what you mean Markt20, I had the same problem with GE Capital a number of months ago, regarding my hubby, they rang at 8am on a Saturday morning (I'm not even alive then!) and frequently they called past 8pm. I think normal society call centres close at 8pm, I suppose with a DCA the managers make the sslaves sit at their desks until they have frightend, harrassed and bullied enough people that they can go home for the day, obviously you were met with someone who hadn't done that for today. Normally,call centre hours are 8am-8pm, unluckily, they have phoned you outside of these hours. Aside from the telephone harrassment, I think it is wise to await their inevitable correspondance. You don't really want to get into a dialogue with them on the phone, if they call you again, obviously ask for you by name and you feel up to a challenge, I would ask them before confirming your name, to confirm their name, company name and nature of buisness. Once you have confirmation it is a DCA, then simply ask to receive communication by post only and hang up. I hate advising to talk to them, I really do, because I do not feel it is appropriate to talk to these people, however, you have a problem in as much as you don't know who this is (for certain) or for what purpose they are calling you for and you obviously haven't had any written communication. You may also want to look into the BT's choose to refuse service, normally free for the first month, you can bar certain number from calling you, in this time, the DCA should cease in calling you, then cancel the subscription.

Most work until 8pm to be honest, in my experience, I would just awit letter from them to see who it is that they alledge you owe money to, then hit them with a CCA letter.

This is a very interesting case, it shows how, potentially, different utility companies deal with utility debts, which is becoming more and more common. Can I ask, how are you paying BG at this time? They may be able to spread some of your debt into monthly or quarterly payments.

Hmmm, Have they not consolidated your debt into your current payments, ie you pay so much a month in addition to your normal monthly payments or you pay some off each quarter or you have a prepayment meter. The issue here is that if you owe money they could apply for a warrant to enter your property and remove the meter and enforce a prepayment meter upon you. However, it would seem strange to pass it out to a DCA as these matters are normally delt with by their in house collections team, although I know Swalec used to initially farm out to a DCA, then it went back to them, got on the wrong side of Swalec once, so know from experience!! I'm loathe to deal with DCA's, in your case, it may be wise to investigate with BG, their billing system should have details of whether your account has been farmed out. If anything, it could prove to be a process of elimination if nothing else, I know you may not want to communicate with them, but in my opinion, it may be best to.

I believe, from memory, it was about 3 weeks, obviously urgent then! I would say though, IF it is your British Gas debt, these are not covered by normal CCA rules, if it is for the service of gas or electricity, you cannot CCA them, unfortunately. Can I ask if you are still with British Gas for the utility which you believe the debt relates to?

Westcot could have sold your debt to another DCA, it is a common occurance in the DCA world. I believe this DCA, from the number, is DLC, AKA Direct Legal Collections aka IQOR, although it may have been someone else, it just jumps out at me as being a similar number. I would not speak to them, under any circumstances, if it is truly important, they will write to you, normally via second class post!!

Would the £200 possibly be some form of excess or maybe take home medication that would not have been covered by your PMI. I ask because I used to work in one of the theatre as an assistant in one of the private hospitals, it was not uncommon for this particular hospital to ask you to pay your insurers the excess before admission to the hospital, having been a patient in a different private hospital, this was not the case, you settled your excess at the end. Are you still covered with your PMI? Could you possibly check what amount was settled by your insurer and ask them to investigate why you are being sent demands for £200, it may be a mistake on their part.

I have to agree with ODC on this one, my husband, who has never been one to look at his CRA, did so, this year. He chose to go through all 3, this must have been in about January, since then, debts which he currently has managed with PayPlan, have been sold on again, he's had erroneous debt chaser letters, like the one I mentioned above, he's had so many letters for consolidation loans and IVA's. I'd never heard of this before, until I joined CAG, it seems too much of a coincidence to me. I did check my CRA regularly and I regularly get debt chase letters from DCA's, more often than not, it is for someone with same name or initials or date birth, but I don't check more often than neccesary anymore, maybe every 6 months or when I get a letter saying a default has been issued for an erroneous debt.

Hi Dave Just signing on for support, I have read many of your threads with admiration and this thread is no exception, I hope that you can get a good, reduced F&F. TF x

I had a phone call, a number of months ago, from this number, it was DLC and they answer the phone with 'Thank you for you call, may I take your reference number please', it wasn't until much interrogation on my part that I found out they were DLC, I had witheld my number before ringing them and I did not give any information, I just stated I had a right to know who was calling me, asking me to call back and I told the stoopid chap on the phone if he didn't tell me I would launch a claim for telephone harrassment on him personally, as it was quite a fight to get him to conceed! As Jean (post 2) has quite rightly said, they will write if it is important, don't call them back, quite frankly, don't waste your money ringing them back. If they call you, and you happen to answer, just calmly state 'Please address all communication in writing' and hang up.