This is exactly what I'm going through with Link. Paying them back monthly and was tricked/forced/threatened into them securing a Charging Order on my property. Despite regular payments they obviously want my money quicker. I'm telephoned on average 5 times a week by them and this has been going on for 3 months. I don't answer any of their calls (from an 029 number) and despite them leaving 'friendly sounding' messages asking me to call back, I never do. If it's so urgent, surely they'd write to me? I've said it before but I really cannot stand this bunch of crooks. Them and DLC, I wish they'd go and fall off a cliff somewhere and take their bullying, torturous tactics with them.

Since receiving the original letter I sent a reply which they should now have, questioning their campaign of harassment an threats, asking that they didn't take legal action given my payment record to them. Today I received a letter (dated within the 14 days they gave me to repay in full) which is from Aplins in Oxordshire but the envelope was marked Northants which is where I believe DLC are based. The letter says they are now going down the CCJ route because of the oustanding debt, and seeking a Charging Order against my property. PLEASE HELP and let me know my options should this letter be true..... 1. Is Judgement likely to be enforced despite my repayment record to DLC? Naturally I don't want my credit record destroyed for 6 years if this takes place. 2. How can they give me 14 days to pay in full then write to me in 12-13 with their "right, that's it" attitude? I'm naturally concerned. I absolutely f**king hate DLC for what they're subjecting me to - especially as I've faithfully been paying them and cleared around 60% of the original debt. Please help and let me know the possible outcomes and likely action. Thanks

And one other thing. May be nothing but it seemed/seems suspicious to me..... A couple of weeks ago my doorbell went and when I looked out of the window there were two men at my door. One was suited and appeared to be holding a clipboard of sorts with some papers and leaflets... the other was menacing looking in jeans, tracksuit top and baseball cap. I didn't answer the door. The men went into the street and stood looking at my house and talking to each other, and pointed to one window at some point. They hung around for about 5 minutes before making a phone call to someone, then promptly left. I made a note of the car and registration number and details of both men. Now it may be nothing at all, but I'm wondering if this is another tactic for DCAs to add pressure and harass / threaten debtors?

DLC / Hillesden Securities.... I've posted a fair few times here about this bunch and how, despite an immaculate repayment history to them, they harass me on a regular basis with various demands and threats. Almost every time they put this down to automated processes, letters sent in error blah blah. This morning (less than two months since my last threat) I received a letter from Aplins Solicitors saying: "We have been instructed to issue legal proceedings against you for the above overdue amount unless payment in full is received immediately The claimn is for the amount outstanding as at today under the Banking facilities provided to you by our Client. Payment must be sent to..... (usual address etc) If payment has not been received within 14 days a Claim will be issues against you in the Northampton County Court together with a claim for interest and legal costs" I've made monthly payments to DLC without fail and have repaid over £5,000 to them, making a huge dent in the original balance. Yet they continue with harassment and threats on a regular basis. Please can someone let me know if I should genuinely be concerned over this latest threat? Personally I can't see the point in DLC pursuing this course of action. Okay so if it goes well for them, I'll have to pay them the amount outstanding - but this will be in instalments. At the moment, I'm paying instalments to them every month towards the debt.... so what's the point?!?!! Advice and guidance much appreciated. Thanks. P.

Thanks for the reply silverfox. I'd be okay if it was a statement that showed an opening balance and closing balance, or just a statement that showed the balance. This however implies that I'm hugely in arrears with DLC which I'm not - and the fact that they've enclosed the OFT leaflet backs this up. I just need to make sure that it's not a precursor to something else they're about to send me. If it's not and this is just a standard tactic or practice then fine - but I just don't trust this lot as they've been shown up as liars many times already.

You may have seen a recent thread I started regarding DLC/Hillesden and their latest batch of intimidation letters (http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?283790-DLC-at-it-again-help-please!&p=3213352&highlight) Today I received yet another letter but this one is new to me. It's entitled.... Notice of Sums in Arrears This notice is given in compliance with the Consumer Credit Act 1974 because you are behind with your payments on the following account.... It then goes on to state my account details and states that the account is with Hillesden Securities Ltd, formerly Egg Banking Plc. It shows the opening balance (my current balance to them) then underneath that, it shows Arrears - and again shows my balance with them. It then says: Notices For so long as you continue to be behind with your payments by any amount, you will be sent notices about this at least every 6 months. We are not required to send you notices more frequently than this, even if you get further behind with your payments in between notices. With this letter/statement they've enclosed an OFT leaflet about being in arrears and what you should do. The thing is this..... I've been paying DLC regularly for a few years and payments have always been timely (and not one missed). My balance with them has been slashed by a good few thousand pounds and I am not in any arrears with them. Yes there's an outstanding balance, but I've never fallen behind with payments to them. This letter makes it look as if I've not been paying them and that I'm in serious arrears - which is factually incorrect. To me it seems like yet another form of psychological harassment/intimidation from DLC but would they (yet again) use the "it's an automated letter" excuse? I just want to know if anyone has come across this tactic before from a DCA and what it all means. I'd appreciate guidance on this i.e. why have they sent me this and what should I do? Thanks,

* Interesting... is there any information available on here or elsewhere detailing DCAs getting into trouble over Charging Orders? Any links/evidence would be very helpful and welcome.

I had similar letters from them, eventually. The debt was previously chased by Intrum Justitia (who were very threatening), Moorcrofts, and I'm sure some more, before Aktiv got their hands on it. I received every kind of threat in the book from these various firms, and somehow the debt managed to creep up from around £5,800 to just under £8,000 (not much creeping there - I'd call it 100mph increase!) by the time things came to a head. The debt was Statute Barred and that's why Aktiv started to get 'generous' towards me. They stopped the THREATENING BY WRITING IN BIG HUGE CAPIAL LETTERS approach, and stopped writing on bright orange paper to try and grab my attention and scare me. They started offering 10% off the balance if I paid in full, and this 'discount' gradually went up and up. When I ignored their kindness they started "writing up legal papers" blah blah, so I sent them the SB letter. Got back the most beautiful letter I'd ever seen them write, with: "We can confirm that legal action on this account would be statute barred under the Limitations Period. We have therefore taken the decision not to pursue this matter any further. We can confirm that the account is now closed and you should receive no further contact from us with regards to this matter." I cannot tell you how happy that letter made me! Finally I'd got the better of the ba$tards who work in the debt collection industry. One small victory but still more debts to pay off (which I am paying off) and yes I got railroaded into a Charging Order with Link, but this victory was sweet. And talking of Link, that reminds me - of late, they keep leaving me phone messages to call them. All very chirpy and friendly with happy tones etc. but it appears they flatly refuse to write to me when I don't call them back. My monthly repayments to them continue and I assume they're at their usual trick of trying to talk me into upping my payments. They can keep those calls coming in for all I care.

An update on this one.... Received a letter from Hillesden Securities this time (why did they send it, and not DLC?) which says they haven't been discussing my account with anyone else, that the last contact with me was March and they apologise if them saying "recent payment offer" gave me the impression that they'd been speaking with someone else. They then go on to say that the letter was generated as a result of them receiving new information regarding my financial situation, and that the Charging Order is purely to get a form of security on the debt - that they can't use it to force a sale of my property. The letter then asks me to phone their collections department to discuss the matter further, and that the call should help eliminate any fears I had of them speaking with someone else about my account. Sorry to keep asking questions, but can anyone shed some light on DLCs thought process here: I don't like the way they've implied I'm in the wrong for questioning them saying "recent repayment offer" and more or less said "It was referring to March contact with you - sorry if you thought otherwise". For the record I don't believe there was contact in March anyway, but their tone here seems off with me when it was them who have clearly been telling lies. I'm sure their argument "We meant March - you misunderstood" won't stand up bearing in mind March was 8 months ago and is by no means recent. This whole "We've received new information about your financial situation" thing worries me. What could they have found out? I've not come into money and my repayments to them have been prompt so I'm not failing to pay them, so it seems to me that they're just getting itchy and trying to ensure they tie me in for the remaining balance. My argument is that I've paid a LOT of money to this company, and paid in a timely manner, so why are they being forceful? Why can't they explain to me in writing this new information about my financial situation? They're clearly trying to get me to phone them but why? Will they try and talk me into something which suits them? I'm clearly concerned about this Charging Order thing, as anyone would be. I don't like the "don't worry, it's only for security" line - it's a serious matter and them threatening to take me to court to obtain one is by no means friendly. Anyone would be concerned at being threatened with court action! Any advice on past experiences with anything like what's happened above would be very helpful. Also any advice on what I should do next and any links to letter templates that would apply. Thanks,

I do wonder how these firms can be allowed to trade in this manner. Last week I sent them a letter saying that I had not been talking to them, and requested copies of all correspondence because I believed identity fraud had taken place. Also said that I cannot afford any more than I currently pay, and that I had paid a huge chunk off the debt - which was originally and unfairly loaded with penalty fees anyway. The letter was sent recorded delivery and I have proof of receipt at DLC. I then get a letter from them dated a few days after mine, saying: "We have previously written to you to advise that we have received new information regarding your financial situation. We have not received a response to this letter. Please contact us as a matter of urgency on the above telephone number to discuss this situation. Failure to respond to this letter may result in legal action and additional costs being added to your balance." Now, of course they have received my letter and completely ignored it. This latest letter is yet again another threat from DLC and surely a form of harassment. I'm sick of this company attempting to bully me when I've been repaying the debt and cleared a large chunk of it. They want the balance quicker? Well tough - I can't afford to give it to them any quicker. Please can someone suggest my next course of action on this? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the reply - however they're not asking me to fill out any form. They've just said that they reject my offer of monthly repayment and that they're going to go for a CCJ ultimately to obtain a Charging Order. I have been paying regular monthly payments and reduced the overall debt by half, and have had no correspondence with them whatsoever of late, talking about increasing or amending my payment amount - so they're clearly lying through their teeth. I'm just concerned that they'll go down the CCJ route and mess up my credit file, bearing in mind the amount I've repaid to date.

Have a repayment plan going through DLC relating to an old credit card debt. Have reduced it from approx 9,000 to 4,000. Every now and then I get irregular letters from DLC saying they haven't received payment, ones demanding I up my payments etc. and whenever I contact them it turns out they were "sent in error" blah blah. Now got one today saying that they don't accept my revised offer of repayment (I made no such offer) and that they plan to go to down the CCJ route to demand payment, and ultimately obtain a Charging Order on "the" property (they haven't said which property) because they need some security against the debt. Aside from the CCA route (I see from here that they're very, very slippery with those) do you think there's chance of them going down the CCJ route? Seems very unfair to me when I've never missed a payment to them and have made great inroads into the debt. Or is this yet more DLC scaremongering? I've seen a LOT of it from them over the years but of course where CCJs are concerned it's not something to take lightly and ignore. Thanks in advance for any help.

Out of curiosity, did Egg come up with the goods?

The debt doesn't show on my credit file, but is there a way they could cause more trouble? Just need to make sure they don't start getting nasty.

Thanks for the advice. Just to give some more detail, the card was with Egg, and on their letters, DLC always quote Egg, and Hillsden Securities - although I'm not sure if they've bought the debt or simply are acting on behalf of Egg. Looking at my old Egg login, the card debt hasn't showed there for a good few years, so I'm assuming Egg have washed their hands of it. Apologies if this seems lazy, but this site has so much content, it's difficult to exactly locate the guidance and letters for the CCA process. I'll start looking but if someone can point me in the right direction it would be a great help. I think it's time to go down the CCA route, my mind has been made up. And to be honest I've paid DLC around £5,000 already so if they did buy the debt, they'll have already made a profit out of me. Time for it to come to a halt.