She signed it because she thought she'd be helping her sister in some way. Both me and my partner warned her not to send it off, but stupidly she did! I appreciate your reply, and I think that we'll seek to get her some legal advice before going any further forward. Thank you,

So do you think it's best to be more open and honest and state the reason for lying (I.e. To get her sister out of some **** (or so she thought)), and to also invite them to investigate any accounts of my mums so that they can physically see that no money has been received into her accounts? They also ought to investigate my mums sisters accounts cos then they'll see that no money left her account for the said amount. What would you do? Mum's ****ting herself now bless her, and I know she meant good, but she's just created bigger problems for herself

Thanks for your responses and for the merging of the two posts. Here's the letter that I've prepared to send back as I feel that we need to do something to try to clear this mess up: START OF LETTER Dear sir/madam, I write to you regarding the above reference number and in response to your letter dated X August 2014, as well as the request to put my dispute in writing as per my telephone conversation with your offices on X August. There appears to be a misunderstanding on your part regarding monies paid to myself by xxxxxxx [mums sister]. I lent xxxxxx sums of money during the course of c.5 years. She was a struggling single parent, and being a sibling I did what the right thing was to do at the time. All monies were paid back to myself by Xxxxx during the same time frame. Xxxxxx's bankruptcy has come at a time after monies were paid back to me; I was the rightful 'creditor' to her during the time that monies were owed to me, I have not received any additional payments during the lead to her bankruptcy, nor have I received any payments after bankruptcy was filed. Your request under section 340 of The Insolvency Act 1986 therefore does not apply and I firmly request that you seek such monies owed direct from xxxxxxxx herself. I am a 60 year old lady of ill health who no longer works, so you can imagine what effect this is having on my health when a demand is received on my doorstep for monies that I do not owe. As of today's date, I expect no further communication from you surrounding xxxxxxx's bankruptcy and I expect you to deal directly with xxxxxxx for any monies owed to her creditors. Should further communication be sent to me, I will be forced to take legal action against your company. Yours sincerely, END OF LETTER Any thoughts???

Hi all, Please can someone help with this? I write this on behalf of my mother. My mums sister recently went bankrupt, however my mum signed a letter from the insolvency service confirming that her sister had giver her £XXXX. The truth is, this didn't happen and my mum was purely trying to protect her sister. My mum now has a letter from Clarke Willmott which reads as follows: START OF LETTER Dear Madam, We act for the official receiver who is the trustee of xxxxxxxxx in Bankruptcy. Having considered the details provided by the bankrupt, the trustee has identified that you have received preference. The trustee therefore seeks to restore the position. The liquidator has this right under s.340 of The Insolvency Act 1986. A preference can be described in basic terms as a transaction which places the recipient in a betters siting than they would have otherwise have been in the case of the bankrupt's insolvency, for example, receiving payment of a debt ahead of creditors. We have therefore been instructed by the official receiver to recover the balance of £xxxx from you, being the value of the preference that you have received from xxxxxxx. You are therefore required to make payment of £xxxx. Any payment should be made to Clarke Willmott LLP quoting reference xxxxxx. Details of how to make payment are provided overleaf. If you believe you have a valid reason for disputing this claim you are asked to provide full details to ourselves, quoting reference xxxxxx within 14 days. Details of how to contact us are stated below. END OF LETTER As I said above, my mum has never actually received any money and was simply trying to help her sister, but by doing so has got herself in a spot of bother! What can she now do get out of this? I was of thinking telling them that there had been a mistake in communications to/from them and my mum and that the money was actually a loan to her sister which she repaid over a number of years PRIOR to filing for bankruptcy?? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks in advance,

So if I was credit searched say after 10 years, does this default effectively become 'invisible'?

Hi all, Can someone help me with this? I have defaulted on a credit card payment to Smile (co-op) and haven't paid them for about 5 years. Can I request that this default is removed from my credit file beings it was some time ago? If so, how? Many thanks in advance, Lee

Thanks for that rebel11 - I'll make sure she sends a letter to them telling them they can't visit her. She acknowledges that the debt needs paying, but she's not in a position to, so what can she do in that instance?

Hi, I wonder if anyone out there can help, or advise what letter to send to the above? My niece (stupidly) took out a phone contract for her friend. They had a big fall out and my niece has had to put an end to the contract and a block on the phone. This has left her with a huge outstanding bill of just over £900. She has today received a letter stating the following:- "We regret to note your account with Telefonica O2 UK Limited for £xxx remains outstanding. You were informed in our last correspondence of impending further action. As a consequence of your failure to contact us and agree a resolution to this long outstanding matter, we must advise you that we are left with no option other tan to consider a personal visit to your home address in order to discuss and agree repayment of the debt." My niece is 20 years old and lives at home with her mum, so if they were to visit and think that they might take a certain valuable item as payment, then they'd be disappointed as my niece doesn't own anything in the house. In addition, my niece is out of work, so couldn't pay the debt even if she wanted to! I'd love her to be able to send the debt collectors around to her friend's house and get that stupid b**** to pay it, but can they enforce anything upon her as she's the one who run the debt up? I doubt it as it's all in my niece's name! If my niece was to offer say £1.00 a week, do they have an obligation to accept that? If so, what letter template can I use to send off to the debt collectors offering some form of payment? Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your help.

Thank you Silver Fox!! Will send it to the PO Box address then.

Last question before I send this off tomorrow... The address at the top of the letter from Fredrickson is a PO Box address - I can't send a recorded delivery letter to a PO Box address can I?? There is a registered address at the bottom of the letter which is in London (whereas the PO Box address is in Surrey) - so should I send it to the registered office address instead? Thank you all so far for your help! Regards, Lee

Is this the one I should send? Regards, Lee Dear Sir/Madam You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves. I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name). I am/we are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading debt collectionGuidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question. I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods. Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment. I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question. I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions. I/we look forward to your reply. Yours faithfully

Thanks for the info - but is there a letter within the template section that I should state the above on? Or should I literally just knock something basic up? Regards, Lee

Which letter in the templates section should I use? Thanks, Lee

Hi all, I've received a 2nd letter from Fredrickson International Ltd, this time it actually has details of who the debt is owed to! Here's what it says:- "Re Brand/Product: Additions Direct Balance: £800 (just over!) Our Client: Phoenix Recoveries (UK) Ltd S.a.r.l Dear Mr X, DO NOT IGNORE - IMMEDIATE PAYMENT REQUIRED We are instructed by Phoenix Recoveries (UK) Ltd S.a.r.l to collect the above debt which is now seriously overdue. You have failed to pay the balance of £800 (just over!) which remains outstanding despite previous repeated requests for payment. Our client now requires payment in full to avoid further action. YOU MUST CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY ON 0845 0349701 to discuss the matter further. Payment should be made to Fredrickson International Ltd quoting our full reference number. For your convenience, payment can be accepted by Maesto, Delta, Credit Card or Cheque. This is a serious matter and you may wish to seek independent legal advice." Now.....I do recall owing Additions Direct Catalogue a sum of money, but can't remember how much! It's been a good 3 or 4 years since I made any payment! What steps should I take next? I can afford to pay it (on my hubby's credit card!!), but of course I'd rather tell them to politely F Off if I can!! What should I respond with? Thanks for your help! Lee

Hi all, Out of the blue today, I received a letter from a DCA called Fredrickson International Limited, and all it says is the following:- "Dear X We have been instructed to collect the outstanding balance on the above account. We have made tracing enquiries for confirmation of your current place of residence and information has been received confirming that your address details have changed to this address. Please contact us immediately on 0845 0349711 quoting the above reference." It seems a bit strange to have received this, it DOESN'T mention who the debt is owed to, and the reference number on the letter has no relevance whatsoever! I'm not going to call them as I don't want to open a can of worms! I do owe Barclays a sum of money for a loan which a PREVIOUS debt collector tried to collect about 2 years ago, but they couldn't supply me with a copy of my signed credit agreement, so they wrote back saying they had closed the case. I also owed Smile a sum of money for a credit card, but haven't paid that for about 4 years or so nor have I ever heard from anyone chasing any payments! So what advice do you guys offer? Shall I just ignore it and see where it goes? Regards, Lee