Typhoon - have you posted this in the litigation section or the debt company section? You might get more knowledgeable people browsing those forums. You could also try Money Saving Expert too to see if they have any other ideas.

Banks can pass on a defaulted account to an agency for collection and generally do.

Well I've had some success at last! A very nice man phoned me at home and apologised for the delay, claiming that they hadn't received my first letter until the 27th January. He then said that "regarding your second letter," but I cut him off and told him that the only reason I'd sent the second letter was because the woman on the phone had been so rude to me. I told her what she'd said and he promised to "look in to it". Whether he will or not remains to be seen, I'm just happy that my statements are in the post.

abra - do you know anyone in England that would be willing for you to use their address purely for correspondance? That's what I'm doing in order to use MCOL, I've done it for 3 claims against BOS for my parents and a claim for myself against BOS. I did read somewhere about getting a PO box address in England, but not sure if you can actually do this for the purposes of MCOL.

I'm off to buy a recording device tomorrow, using the money I claimed back from charges no less. Can't wait for my next snooty phone call! In a completely random aside - Seminole, every time I see your avatar I cack myself..

Lou - the CCA is the consumer credit agreement, a document which debt collection agencies have to produce in order to prove that they own the debt and are allowed to collect it. If the don't provide the CCA, they can't technically claim the debt and it's unenforcable through the courts. Most DCAs cannot produce the document and therefor you shouldn't have to pay them. There is a thread on this board here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/56001-mike220359-blair-oliver-scott.html that details the steps he took to get the debt written off. I'm really bad with money, too, but this was quite straightforward and informative! Also, I loved his letters. I plan to use them for my DCAs if it comes to that

As I understand it a bank account can only be defaulted if the account is over the limit, or within the OD limit and no money has been credited to the account for some time. Banks usually pester you for the money for a while before defaulting it and moving it to a DCA..

Used to be the 15th for the Bank of Scotland when I worked there 4 years ago. This has probably changed by now

They only write to me after I told them to remove my telephone number from their database and sent them a very nasty letter.... According to another thread, they're not registered with the IC and shouldn't be holding your info anyway...

I would write and inform them that since they are unable to supply copies of the default notices that you require them to immediately remove said defaults. Tell them that you will take them to court and get the judge to FORCE them to remove the default if they don't. Give them a limit of 7 days. I would also send the letter that informs them that you will only communicate by letter, not telephone and that you require them to remove your number from their computers. You are legally allowed to do this under the Data Protection Act

Thanks Jonni! Means I can keep my pound safe in my pocket! I hadn't thought about that, actually...

Solari - you mean if your credit card has a positive balance ie there is money in credit on the account? I wouldn't have thought so as you're not due them any money and can't go in to default if you're not due them anything. Mind you, most cards have the clause that you have to pay £5 or whatever per cent of the balance, whichever is greater. I suppose technically they can say if you haven't paid a fiver (though you're not due them any money) for however many months that you're in default. I would contact them and explain, it could just be an error on their part.

Reeeally? That's very interesting considering I had a standing order set up with them... Hmm... Wonder about the legalities of that? I know that Mercers, Barclaycard's in-house DCA are registered as non-trading

They have to provide a consumer credit agreement to take you to court and win - without it they have no proof that the debt even exists, much less that it's yours. Could be worth finding out who owns the debt, as seminole asked, and sending them a letter requesting they provide you with details of it and also the copy of the CCA.

I sent a recorded delivery letter to the Rosyth address on Friday and it was signed for on Monday.

Hi and welcome! Well done for taking the first steps. A+L will take you to the wire before repaying, they did with me! If you find that they have entered a default or the like on your credit report, demand that they remove it as it was due to charges levied by themselves.

They must have microfiche, surely? Banks can't just go around getting rid of people's statements... I worked for the BOS and they DID keep things going back basically to the time an individual joined the bank. As Battleaxe said, they have to do this in case of money laundering or the like. We had to send off requests to a different department to get these old statements, but they did exist.

Sorry andy, just reread your original post and noticed that you did state it was your current account! The posting back of your cheque etc looks like a complete balls-up on behalf of IF and HBOS! Mind you, considering the BOS sent 75000 statements for other people's accounts to a woman in Aberdeen (but not her own one) it's not really surprising!

Hi - Have you claimed back your charges for this account? In the SAR template it contains a paragraph which informs them that you will be seeking a removal of any defaults as they directly related to penalties imposed by the bank. If the account went into default because of charges, this is another route to consider. I'm not sure about the legalities of the situation you outlined above, hopefully some of the incredibly knowledgable people on this forum will be able to help you! It could be worth you PMing Laiste, she's really good and is herself in the middle of a long drawn out battle with some DCAs.

No problem! I checked and Experian DO have a 30 day free trial period at the moment. Go to http://www.experian.com

That's what I thought, as well - that while the account was in dispute it couldn't be passed on to any other DCAs for collection.

Hi! Am I right in thinking that if a DCA cannot produce the relevant documentation regarding your debt they cannot legally default you? I have been defaulted by two DCAs (still waiting for my CCA) if they cannot produce my CCA can I ask them to remove the defaults from my file? Also, regarding the data protection act - am I right in thinking that people have been telling the banks that they are in breach of said act by giving their information on to DCAs, as this is done without the customer's consent? I'm quite new to this DCA business, so help would be fabulous!

Ah, BCW. I'm dealing with them right now. On average, they send about 3 letters a month threatening court action. Dream on, you loons...

Just noticed the best bit - they sent her details of 75000 accounts but not her own statements! ROFL

lol! What a bunch of idiots. I'm in Moray so I saw this in the paper