Too true. I followed the advice of this page and sent them a 'stop calling' letter. That seemed to work. The debt is not stat. barred. Close but no cigar.

Student Loans passed on the debt. I'm not sure about ownership. I'll send off the template letter and get some answers. I was out of the country and wasn't aware that the debt had been passed on. MH just keep telling me the debt is overdue and the full amount is required. Glorified telesales.

This all looks great. Thanks for the help... About the bump - I thought it meant something along the lines of 'get this idiot off the forum'!! I will take care of all this, this weekend. All MH seem capable of is firing out auto generated letters. I will post what happen re: their response, in case it helps anyone else. Thanks for the help, links and the bump! Have a good weekend, Paul

>bump! meaning?

Hi, I have started making payments to the parasites at Mackenzie Hall. They demanded the full amount (few grand), I told them that was not possible, and went ahead with payments of a couple of hundred a month. All this was explained in a letter I sent them. They still pester me with final demand notices, but I just put those on the pile. What bothers me is that the figure on the final demands seems to indicate they're charging me about £100 a month. I'm not sure, as they just give the one figure. No break down. In my letter to them (previously mentioned) I requested they halt interest. Is this normal? Probably. What can I do about it? Thanks for the great site. I got a lot of useful advice on my original posting. Paul

Thanks again. I was on the phone to the National Debt Line today (0808 808 4000 - very useful). The lady there told me that the six year limit is not up (pre 98 loans are counted as ordinary loans)... The clock starts ticking from the time the debt is due to be repaid. As I understand it, if no payments or acknowledgements of debt are made six years from that date... Times up. Mine would have been 'up' next summer ! I will be sending them a letter asking them to take my number off their database. Also, a letter asking them to accept my offer of a monthly repayment plan. Oh, in answer to your question... They weren't bullying me for more than I could afford - they were bullying me for the full amount. They said on the phone that anything less is unacceptable. I'll still send the letter. Recorded delivery of course. Thanks for the help. I'll post again if I have any questions.

Are they just trying to scare me into borrowing the money from a bank or relative? If it did go to court I still don't have any assets to sell, and I would still only be able to pay the amount I've offered. If it did go to court... Does that cost me? Would they charge me? Anyone reading who has experience of debt/court, please send a quick reply letting me know what's involved... Thanks in advance

Thanks for both of your replies. MH have just called me at my workplace and told me that full payment needs to be made otherwise they will be taking legal action. I will send off the above letter today. Is legal action likely? They said that making monthly payments is not an option. Thanks again.

Hi everyone... Thanks to all the contributors to this site. Definately a calming experience after reading letters from Mackenzie Hall! Anyway, my situation is that my student loan debt has been passed over to MH. I was AWOL for some time and did not keep in touch with the Student Loan Company. The debt is less than 6 years old, so it's legitimate. My question is... How do I go about starting repayments? On the phone (I'll follow advice and stick to written communication from now on) the guy told me that they would only accept the full payment (six grand), legal action was probably the only other option, and that if that happened, my debt would probably double with legal fees. This was all after I offered them a monthly repayment. Oh, and when I told them that I couldn't get the full amount to them this week (!?) he suggested I borrow from a friend or relative. I'm happy to start repaying the debt, but what do I do now? Do I write to MH with an offer? Do I need to supply a budget or evidence of income? I was going to send them the template letter asking them to prove ownership of the debt first. Thanks again to everyone who gives advice. And to everyone else... Don't worry about all the guff they say down the phone. I used to do telesales (I'm probably being punished by God for it) and the way the guy talked seemed similar to the stuff we used to say - i.e. and answer for every response the 'customer' might have. Better still, listen to the guys here, and don't call them at all. Also... Once repayments start, how do I keep track of the debt? I've heard of people saying that the debt collectors refuse to acknowledge any payments. Cheers!