Thanks for your response. Since sending the 'take me to court' letter, have had nothing from them other than a barrage of phone calls (which I don't answer) and a letter from unreliable collections saying my payments are in arrears 'can I please contact' their bullies and pay them straightaway - to which I have again sent copies of all my letters sent in the past two months, and said 'please stop ignoring my letters!' They have also been sent a telephone harassment letter (calls started to get ridiculous..... 8.30am saturday morning and 5.20pm sunday evening to name but two this weekend alone.... one day they called 15 times!). This is totally unnaceptable and remember this debt which is in dispute due to lack of agreement, relates to £250, others who I owe a lot more have accepted the £1 a month. I wont be bullied. I can't pay what I dont have!! I am so angry. However further steps have been taken to stop the phone calls so they'll have a surprise this week. Seriously what do they hope to achieve?!! Will keep an eye on this thread and let you know of any future developments.

ahhhh yes simply be/ reliable collections - I have been dealing with them for two years now and paying them (along with my other creditors) a token payment of £1 a month, for 2 years, recent dealings have included several 'threatograms' and a letter telling me my payments have changed to £6 per month - errr no they haven't and as I pay by standing order and not direct debit they wont! I am pretty annoyed as my circumstances are no different and I owe this mob the least amount compared to other creditors who have accepted the token payments. I have now invited them to sue me so I will have the opportunity of offering £1 in court. Will let you know what happens! (besides which they are in dispute and have been since the start, but I decided not to remind them of this!). Never speak to this lot on the phone either, total waste of time unless you agree to what they suggest. Don't let them bully you. I'll keep you posted with my outcome!!

I have found the only 'default notice' I had - which was sent to me after I first offered them £1 a month and they refused saying I could 'afford £60 I referred them to my income and expenditure sheet (again!) and said I could not increase my payments as it would be unfair to my other creditors (they are one of many!). Further to my thread on the debt collection industry forum http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/259892-m-money-gothia-now.html , this is what M&S Money claim is my CCA, is it? It looks like an application form to me plus this is for the chargecard NOT the &More Credit Card! It DOES have my signature (blanked out) and there's a separate printed sheet with some terms and conditions.

Thanks for your quick response, I am evidence gathering as I speak/ type! (just as well I have plenty of time on my hands ) . I have CCA'd everyone, I actually CCA'd Red Castle (Gothia) but then the ''CCA'' (application form) came from M&S Money, apart from that not heard from M&S Money themselves since February 2009, when they sent a threat-o-gram.. .. and I replied with my income & expenditure and 'I can only pay £1 a month' letter. Not too sure I have ever had a default notice, I will investigate my mountain of paperwork!

Hi I don't know if anyone has had much experience with 'M&S Money' . I applied for an M&S Chargecard in around 1996 (in store as they usually are!), at that time my credit limit was £500 (I was a full-time Mum, husband was working). I went back to work, somewhere along the line the card was 'updated' to an M&S Credit Card and my limit gradually increased to around £10k!! While working and paying for childcare I racked up lots of debt - the M&S one being the hardest hit (due to large credit limit and my stupid belief that I could afford it!). my debt caught up with me , I realised it had got out of control and there was no way I could afford to repay it all. Informed all the creditors, sought advice from CAB/ Payplan. I am now not working (couldn't afford childcare!) and paying all my creditors £1 a month - as recommended by Payplan. Most have done the usual, pass the debts from one DCA to another, none producing a valid CCA. M&S however have only just passed the debt on to a DCA, after 2 years?! Out of the blue I received a letter from Red Castle Recoveries (Gothia), the usual threat-o-gram. I sent a letter explaining my circumstances along with an income & expenditure sheet and also another letter asking for the CCA. I then received a letter from M&S Money with an application form (NOT a valid CCA) saying this was the CCA? On Friday a recieved a letter from Gothia saying they can't accept £1 a month and have referred my case back to M&S Money?! I can still only afford £1 a month (I have around £30,000 in unsecured debt accross around 13 companies, M&S being around £7000). I am not too sure what to do next. I never speak to anyone on the phone as advised by this wonderful site - that really was stressing me out, but this is worrying me. I know I can't pay anymore, but I am wondering what their next step will be, Court maybe? There was some woman outside our house in a car making notes the other day - I wonder if their next step would be to try getting a 'charge' put on the house . Has anyone had this happen? I am in the process of selling my house so technically there's not an awful lot they can do - and after the house sale I might be in position to make some F&F offers, but won't be left with much after legal fees etc. just didn't want a charge put on the house, particularly as it's too small for us (family of 6, 3 bed house!) - we will be better off privately renting. Anyone had a similar experience with M&S Money that can give me some pointers? Thanks.......

I am in an identical situation with Sainsbury's Bank and Blair, Oliver & Scott so will watch this thread with interest!! I have sent a CCA request to BO&S as I received their threat-o-gram shortly after being asked by Sainsbury's Bank for an up to date financial statement (they'd had one in April, nothing has changed!), they obviously decided the 'threat' tactics would be more effective as they didn't even give me time to reply before referring it to the DCA

Debt is a horrible situation to be in, and I can sympathise totally with all that's been said. The worst thing you can do is keep it all to yourself, we are all in the same situation in varying degrees, all of us have felt at some point I am sure that 'there's only one way out', I know I have, several times. Don't ever be scared to admit how you feel and seek help, I am on 'happy pills' and they do help me get things in perspective. Yes, it is very hard at times, with four children who really do not understand why we can't go out every day and buy ice creams and magazines and bits and pieces that they have always taken for granted until all this happened. Now the money is just not there, we have enough for essentials but that's it. I ignore the phone. If DCA's leave a message, I delete it. I have sent the 'telephone harrassment' letter to all of them, I am paying a token payment. That's all they can have from me. For your own peace of mind just gain some control of the situation, this forum has helped me so much during the past ten months. However bad you feel things are, speak to someone, vent your frustration on here, we've all been there/ or are still there, you are never alone.

Hi all, again thanks for all the advice on these forums, were it not for you lot I may well have gone totally mad by now. It's now July 2009, and still no different, still paying £1 a month, can't afford to pay more - still receiving threat-o-grams and phone calls (I ignore the phone) on an almost daily basis, just have the same routine of letters - local post office are used to me asking for £1 postal orders made out to various DCA's now , anyone would think it was a regular occurance!! My question really is where do I go from here? This could go on forever, no one wants to take me to court - despite threats that 'we may', I don't think they have plans to, yet. I have applied for loads of jobs but no luck so far so not likely to be in a position to pay more than £1 a month anytime soon. Is anyone on here further along than me in this whole spiralling debt situation? I am in no different a position now than I was a year ago. My house is off the market for now, CAB have said to just 'carry on as you are' (the letters, £1 token payment, not answering the phone to DCA's etc). My mortgage and all the other bills are not in arrears, it is all unsecured debt (credit cards & loans), we have a very basic current account with no overdraft, and things are hard BUT I am so glad not to be able to spend money I don't have , it's like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Yes, I am on happy pills which helps.. . but no matter how bad it gets I know I cannot pay what I do not have . That's it. I don't let them get to me, but I would like to hear from people who have actually dug themselves out of this hole, or are in the process of doing this.. ... and has anyone had charges etc put on their property, as this seems to be the likely outcome, eventually, although the CAB financial lady seemed to think this unlikely as despite the total amount is large the individual amounts owed vary from £250 - £7000.. . lots of questions I know, but also if anyone is at the start of all this and has just found themselves in this situation feel free to get in touch and I'll try to help with my tales of woe .

I sent all my letters out on 06/10/08 as advised by - offering £1 a month token payment. I have had a lot of phone calls since then, which I have ignored. Today a letter from Egg arrived (regarding a personal loan - I have missed ONE payment, due on 06/10!) stating 'this is a default notice' blah blah blah and the usual if the almost £3000 is not paid by 06/11 then they 'may' take action, courts, DCA's etc. I am really annoyed by this as I have only missed one payment, they have received my letter and the cheque for £1 as it has been cashed! Is this par for the course for these people? They have a copy of my income and expenditure, they can see I have no money left!!! How the hell can I suddenly become able to pay the debt - I wish I could! What should my next course of action be? I think this will be the first of many as well

Thanks for the quick response. I agree that we shouldn't sell the house, apart from anything else, the supposed 'equity' would now only just cover the debts plus solicitors fees etc. Originally the idea was to sell the house, pay the debts, rent privately and start again. Not going to happen though as zero interest in the house anyway! I haven't attempted to get the agreements from the creditors yet, I don't know whether to send the letters offering the £1 a month first? I don't think I have incurred bank charges until all this happened. I had never been overdrawn until last year, in 17 years! The warning bells should have started then really. The charges are mounting up now due to late payment fees etc on the credit cards. I had letters threatening the issuing of a default notice etc but that was before I paid the arrears last month. All that has done is delayed things.

Hi, I am so glad I have found these forums - I thought I was alone in all this and now realise that I am not and that there may even be some light at the end of the tunnel. My situation is not unlike most others. I was aware I was in debt (credit cards, unsecured loans) but had never actually sat down and added it all up, mainly as I was 'in denial' I think, I had hoped if I ignored it then it would all go away - very stupid! I was working full-time as was my husband, I think I assumed that as we were both working we should be able to do all the things we wanted to, but with four children, expensive childcare etc it was never going to be easy. I found myself living on credit cards as after paying all the minimum payments there was no money left for food! A few months ago it all came to a head when I realised I was up to my limit with my overdraft (the bank had increased the overdraft on our joint account two months previously - my husband didn't even know about this, they never informed him and it was a joint account!). I also realised at this time that our monthly salaries were due to be credited the next week - and would not even cover the overdraft. We owed money to all my unsecured creditors as well as to the childcare provider. Nightmare!! This meant I had to tell my husband what a financial mess I had got into, including the joint overdraft he knew nothing about! He was furious to say the least but accepted that he was as much to blame for spending 'above our means'. I had to give up work as there was no way I could work full time with no childcare (earnings were just above the amount to get help towards childcare from tax credits), my employers could not let me work part-time and were totally inflexible. The summer holidays were fast approaching so I was left with little choice. I have now found a part-time job (evenings and weekends) that I can fit in and not have to rely on childcare (just my husband!). We have only got through the past few months because we had items to sell (motorbike, laptop) which has just about tided us over. Now all the phone calls are going to start again from the creditors, demanding money we don't have. We went to the CAB as soon as all this happened , they advised us to try to sell our house (brilliant timing!!! Just as the housing market goes into freefall). It has been on the market since July but nothing happening there, no great surprise things being as they are. We then took their next suggestion of contacting 'Payplan', which we have. They were very helpful but just confirmed what I already knew. There is no money left at the end of the month for creditors so we have to make an offer of £1 a month! I have now got these letters to send, but am scared witless as I know as soon as they go out the phone calls will all start again - having just shut them all up with the money from the stuff we sold (enough for 3 months of minimum payments!). I wrote to all of them as soon as I stopped working, explaining the situation. Some were brilliant (M&S, Sainsburys), others were phoning 8 times a day (Virgin MBNA surprisingly!), we have changed our bank current account as advised by CAB and First Direct have been sending us letters ever since, despite being told of the situation. We now have to change bank accounts again as we had not realised some of the accounts are linked to the same organisation and out money is not safe! I realise from reading these posts that I am at the start of a long road, I don't know what to expect apart from having to go to court. 'Charges' on the house have been mentioned as being possible - but I don't understand this as the house is technically worthless at the moment - we can't sell it, we have tried! At the end of the day I cannot pay what I do not have , I accept that trying to has made the situation even worse. Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated. I just feel like having a bit of a rant! To say this is stressful is a gross understatement, I am currently on 'happy pills' which says it all really! For the record my creditors are Abbey (personal loan), Egg (personal loan), Egg credit card x 2, Virgin MBNA credit card, GE Money Asda Card, GE Money Paypal Card, Sainsburys Card, M&S Card, Argos Card, Simply Be catalogue, First Direct Visa Card, First Direct overdraft. Grand total £29k minimum payments amount to around £800 per month. They will be getting £1 each, from this month