Time for an update - they received letters on 29th January and I still have not received the CCAs! Well outwith 14 days methinks.. I did however receive a nasty letter from Blair telling me I was behind with payments etc etc, so I sent this letter back: Further to your recent communication: On the 29th January 2007, your company received two letters from myself. The first was a request for a copy of the signed consumer credit agreement pertaining to the above account. The second was a letter telling you to stop calling my home and to remove my telephone number from your systems. You have disregarded both letters. I informed you that this account was in dispute and that I would not be making payments until I had received the aforementioned consumer credit agreement. Despite this and despite your inability to provide the agreement, I received a letter demanding payment, and there has also been an escalation in calls to my home regarding this matter. As I informed you in the original letter, I deem these telephone calls to be personally harassing, and the cause of great distress to my family. To add to this, one of your representatives informed my father that they worked for your company, which is contrary to the Data Protection Act as it gives out personal information concerning myself. I will not be making any payments to this account until I have received a copy of the consumer credit agreement, as is my right under law. You have had ample time to provide this and have neglected to do so. By failing to provide me with this document, your company, as you are no doubt well aware, has committed an offence under Section 77 (4) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, summarily punishable by a Level 4 fine on the standard scale. Furthermore, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the Consumer Credit Act and is therefore a complete defence to any court claim that is issued. Please take note that any legal action you may contemplate will be vigorously defended and contested. If you continue to make telephone calls to my home after I have repeatedly told you not to, I will report this to the police. I will also report your company to the Data Protection Commissioner for failing to adhere to my wishes concerning my personal data. I trust that this clears up this matter. Yours faithfully I will admit to seeing red slightly...

Good luck Laiste, we're all rooting for you

I believe that defaults stay on your credit file for six years - you could claim back any charges they've levied on your account, anyway and possibly push for removing the default. If it's been passed on to a DCA I would imagine you have been defaulted, but Burtons could tell you this. If not, get a copy of your credit file ASAP to check!

Another update: Well, letters were all delivered by the 29th Jan and NO CCAs have been forthcoming. Tomorrow marks the 14th day since they received requests.

I'm not sure about finding out how much it was sold for - although it would be verrrry interesting. According to another poster on another thread they only pay about 2 - 10% of the debt. Don't know if that's true or not!

Yes, you would have to raise 2 seperate summary cause actions for this claim. Unless you can do it through MCOL using an English correspondance address?

No it won't - all of my letters were sent to the Edinburgh address but when I filed I used the address for the HBOS group. They're part of HBOS ergo it's also their head office! Bar stewards lol

Do you have to split the claim if it's over 5k on Moneyclaim? I thought it was any amount under 9k or something similar. BOS don't go to court, I received my full settlement today for just over 1.5k.

I added new charges to existing claim. I put in a new sentence that read "since my first letter I have been charged an additional x amount which I shall also reclaim" and added the new charges on to my charge list and sent it off to them. Stick to your timetable, so leave it for the 2 weeks if that's what you've said. I appear to have been the first person to file through Elgin Sherriff Court as they had no idea either, but they accepted it!

Looks to me like the DCAs are getting in-house solicitors to threaten legal action. Find out who the actual DCA is (should say on letter "on behalf of") and send off a request for a CCA to them. That'll answer question two for you, as well

Thanks! I'm absolutely delighted! Phoned the bank and they've told me they'll pay by cheque as the account's closed. Big relief! The woman told me that they pay back into the original account for "interest reasons" which I gave an internal snort to, but still!

As regards to the SAR - they have 40 days to comply with it and send you your information. After that you can complain to the IC, but they don't seem to be doing much about it. If they don't comply, threaten them with court action to force them to disclose your details. Are you asking if you can have them remove the default even though it was on a current account? I would say yes, especially if said default was result of bank adding on charges to account which made it go overlimit. They still have to tell you whether debt has been sold, makes no difference what kind of account it is. That's your right under the DPA. Have you sent off a request for the CCA to the collection agency?

I've signed it. Thanks!

They are such LIARS! One DCA accepted £10 a month from me on a £200 debt. I missed one payment due to being terminally confused over my pay date, and they phoned saying I was £150 in arrears. Interesting, I said, considering I've missed one payment for £10. They replied that they'd never agreed to that and I laughed hollowly and informed them I have a letter stating that they'd accept it. Idiots. Trying to squeeze more money from me, eh? Not bloody likely.

Banking ombudsman? Do they deal with these companies? Okay that was more a question than an answer, sorry! Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon

Does she have the address for these absolute scumbags? If so, print off a copy of the harrassment by telephone letter, get her to sign it, and send it off to them. If your mother's name wasn't on any of the agreements they have NO right to hassle her in this way. They are unprincipled scumbags who would love you to believe that everything they're doing is legal and above-board but it's NOT. Hopefully a more experienced user will be along shortly to give you more advice.

Hurrah! Received a letter from the bank settling for £1568.20, the full amount!! Of course they are trying to pay a third of it into my closed-for-a-very-long-time staff account so I'll have to phone about that, but WOOO!

Yeah, the Bank will never admit that they're in the wrong. I love it how they say that charges are fair but when you ask them how they can bounce a £20 DD when there was £19.99 in the account and then charge you £30 for the priveledge they say "Oh, it's all automated, nothing we can do." Oh, so the computer demands £30 for time spent bouncing our DDs, does it?

Sosii - how did you pay the original DCA the money for the overdraft? If it was by cheque or card you can trace this transaction to them and show IF that it was paid. I know what you mean about their so-called "customer service" people - they're nothing but unhelpful idiots.

Laiste I'm so glad I got directed to this thread. It's helping me a lot and making me realise I have to fight these companies. Also quite scared at the thought it might end up in court, but I'll tackle that if/when it happens! Good luck ducky and keep us up to date as much as you're able!

Howdy doody! Got a letter back from Blair etc saying they "don't charge for copies of the agreement" and returning my pound. Unsurprisingly, no agreement was in the envelope! Scotcall also returned my pound saying they were no longer dealing with my account and the new people would be in touch shortly. I bet they will! No answer/acknowledgement from any of the rest. Ha.

I see! Thanks for clearing that up. By the way, I honestly thought it said "I have to correct you on this little one" which did make me go "huh?" lol

Ahh, Salford not Salisbury... Ooops! Could they even try that, though, if it's going through the Scottish courts and following Scottish procedure? Not that it matters I suppose but I was just wondering

Hi there! If you want to claim back charges visit the FAQs. First step is to send the SAR and get your statements. Follow the steps from there on in DCAs are bullies, plain and simple. Don't let them hassle you and send them a letter informing them you won't talk to them by telephone, only through letters. The template for that is here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html Also send them a request for the consumer credit agreement for the debt. This costs a pound to do, and they HAVE to provide this by law. The template for that is also on the site if they don't have it, the debt is unenforcable through the courts. This is a really useful thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/56001-mike220359-blair-oliver-scott.html it outlines the steps Mike took to get Blair et al to drop his debt. Don't be scared of these people and take some time to read through this forum for people's experiences on dealing with DCAs.

I've been reading the threads below with interest, especially as it seems Citi intend to go to court for every claim. I'm in Scotland, and I would normally file with MCOL using an English correspondance address, but if Citi are going to the lengths of setting court dates etc I may pursue the claim through the Scottish courts so it can be heard near me. Would this also mean they couldn't try their normal tactic of trying to move the court to Salisbury? It'd probably annoy them good and proper to be forced to come to Moray! Especially as our local Sherriff is a bit of a grumpy old man who wouldn't take kindly to them dilly-dallying about...