Generally speaking members of the public who are not seeking to trade under any specific name for business purposes tend to come under Distant Selling Regulations when not buying anything in person though there could be a debate as to whether insurance is a tangible item, being something you can hold in your hand, usually with DSR's there is only a seven day cancellation period unless otherwise stated. In business to business transactions there is a 30 day allowable cancellation period and the only letter from the insurance company is an acknowledgement that the payment process had been cancelled after 18 days which my relative assumed had crossed over with her letter of cancellation, though she was not worried as she had originally phoned in to query it. So even if they did make assumptions the payment process was cancelled well before the 30 day dead line. Yes I'll scan the letter (tomorrow) though I'll need to obliterate the address first.

I do appreciate your reply however there never was any debt at all. Her first payment was followed two weeks later by her second payment (one payment per month) and two-three days later she was forced by ill health to cancel her arrangements. Plus it was the compliance manager offering to bypass me (written permission from my relative being ignored) and talk to my relative on the phone.

I would prefer at this point to keep the names of the respective companies out of public view if only because I am going to take some unusual steps in order to try to force the issue. A relative who had cancelled a business insurance policy within the 30 day cancellation period was a year later contacted by a DCA claiming a fee of £91 for a non existing debt. Obviously I am struggling here to minimise the relative facts and details. Unlike most DCA's who in my experience run a mile at the mere mention of the phrase "this is a dispute not a debt" this bunch persisted. They obtained my phone number from somewhere initially sending threatening sms msg's followed by an auto ring back to their offices during which they insisted on speaking to my relative. I patiently pointed out that as my phone number was in a different county to the person with whom they wished to talk to I could not help them. Could I confirm my address? No because I lived in a different county therefore I could not. I contacted my relative and with the sketchy information deduced that the Insurance Company was at fault. However there are two ways of looking at this issue because certain things do not make much sense. Why wait a year before issuing a debt notice to the DCA yet no debt notice was delivered to my relative. Ok it could have been an oversight but don't they have access to their own payment records? I stepped in as my relatives representative with a written note emailed to both the DCA and the insurance company after all I was already getting pestered so why not? I stipulated that no phone calls to discuss this issue were permissable and so the insurance company phoned me. I sent them a stroppy worded email accusing them of treating this matter with contempt and for being obstructive. Then by return I got a smarmy patronising reply stating that they had called off the debt collector and would be happy to talk to my relative on the phone and more than happy to investigate this matter presumably to pass out a bucket of whitewash. Annoyed I responded with a threat to complain to the FOS (not likely cos they're a waste of time) and suprise suprise the debt collector resurfaced yet according to the insurance company it was the debt collector who had alerted them to the cancelled account. On the one hand I am toying with the idea that this is a stupid mistake by the insurance company and that it is so easy to jump to conclusions while on the other hand I suspect it might be an orchestrated insurance/debt [problem]. What concerns me the most is whether this is indeed the tip of an iceberg so I as I said am going to try pushing some buttons to get a responsive reaction (all legal and above board) I'll keep you posted. BTW one of the debt letters is blatantly in breach of the OFT guidelines because they pretend to have powers that they do not possess and its the kind of letter usually sent after a few weeks not as a second letter.

Bah what a load of old rubbish. I periodically get similar nonsense usually of a sadistic sexual nature from some sad person. NEVER Ever click on any links in this kind of nonsense

Yes that's understandable and very easily achieved. My response in writing was "this is a dispute not a debt so I strongly advise you to back of as you have no right to be involved in any dispute and neither can you offer to mediate which is illegal activity as you very well know." (Some DCA's will verbally offer to mediate which is basically just a ruse to get more money out of the unsuspecting)

Briefly BT billed me for 6 weeks service at the same figure for 12 weeks service as the final bill demanding £140 which I disputed in writing and in emails all to no avail. They refused to see their mistake and in came a DCA who duely responded to my suggestion to back off. I spoke in person to one mindless BT operator who told me that had I paid the final bill I would now be in credit...my answer is best left to your imagination... Eventually I spoke on the phone to someone who could count and when BT realised its mistake I received an invoice for £77.00 no apology though. Then I received a letter telling me that I would soon return to BT then came a couple of phone calls and I exploded with rage when one dimwit asked for an explanation as to why I wasn't interested. Then mail slots kept dropping through my letter box so I wrote a letter of complaint to BT and demanded that they remove me from their list. Then I got a phone call from someone claiming to be from BT she had a Durham accent which I recognised. Funnily enough the BT office which denied being responsible for the marketing call is also based in Durham though I had not specified anything about Durham in my complaint to TPS coincidence eh?

I had a similar problem which I will explain in due course. First write to the DCA and inform them that this is a dispute not a debt and that they have no juristriction under English law (assuming you live in England?) to get involved in any disputes. Keep your answer simple and do not bother to go into details. Write to BT and suggest that they re-examine your account also inform them that you dispute their alleged debt and that if it is forwarded to another DCA that you will take your complaint against them to anyone who will listen which could include CAG and BBC Watchdog.

When I graduated from Uni in 2010 at the age of 55 most of the online advice was considerably out of date so I in my innocence applied for JSA though I did have a business idea which required very little finance. My DWP job advisor was extremely unsupportive and dismissive and insisted that it was compulsory for me to attend a job program. I was informed that I would get a kitchen Hygiene certificate and be trained as a security guard. I informed him that I had no desire to work in kitchens or for that matter as a security guard. He then started rambling on about me getting a career in retail and I struggled successfully to keep my temper. The training staff that I briefly met at some pre-emptive interview avoided eye contact and mumbled at the desk top that I might as well get the training in case I changed my mind. So over a few days I researched the applicable company which only employs staff who have experience in sales as so called employment advisors and then I researched the DWP who had a points reward system for staff who co-erced clients onto a so called voluntary work programe which is only compulsory for clients who have been out of work for 18 months. My protest involved me not attending the program or signing on for a month though I did put my reasons in writing before hand. I was then fast tracked onto a self employment scheme which I completed in 3 months rather than 6 because I had to. By and large I was barely any better off aside from getting £30+ every fortnight for 3 months as self employment is a hard road at times. My so called advisor handed me instructions on what to do when I resolved to return to the system. I wanted to say with all due respect I do not need any paid help in order to get a crap job but I was worried about swearing so I kept my own counsel. Variously I had been tempted to work as a meter reader, a mail sorter, data entry and as a kitchen porter. I was told that I had set my own sights too high....no disrespects to anyone who works in those roles and I hope you move on when you can... but I refused to step backwards just so someone can tick boxes.