Be interested to hear of any HFO cases that have been dealt with in this court.

Hello, I would really appreciate some advice on what to do about a letter received yesterday from Turnbull Rutherford regarding a Barclaycard debt which goes back to 2005. A few months ago they started with the phonecalls hassling both me, my family and they even rang my boss and asked him for my current address! I had googled them and learnt of their unsavoury practices and so decided against giving them any information. I did not confirm that the debt was mine, nor did I give them my address. They had found my place of work somehow, and now they are writing to me at my new address. I am not on the electoral role that is available to the public, so in the first instance I am concerned about where and how they got my address? Can anyone advise me on this, and whether it is legal practise? The debt is showing as a default on 08/12/2005, therefore 6-years on 8th December. Their letter states that their date of assignment was in June 2006, so why have they waited until 2011 to make contact with me? They have increased the original debt of £3619 to £5972 and I have no idea what to do? I was ill at the time of the default and spending time in hospital, which I advised Barclays of at the time. At no time did Barclaycard chase me. Now I allegedly have until 23rd November to respond or they are threatening court action. They say if I respond in time, no further action will be taken. As this is only 16-days before my debt become 6-years old, I am confused about the legalities of this? Is this something I have to worry about? Is responding to them in my best interests at this time? Thank you in advance for any advice! Isla

I checked my credit report today and was suprised to see a default account on there! When I saw the name HFO Services and the amount in question I knew straight away that it was for my BarclayCard in my student days. I did a little research and found out HFO were a vile debt collection agency and that I was not on my own. I also remember receiving a letter from First Logistics several years ago, googling them and discovering that they are a shower of, well not very nice things, and ignoring them. Furthering my research I discovered the best option was to start a thread and seek help on my situation, as each one varies. So, this is my post and any help will be much appreciated. I will of course donate to the site in due course and update the thread as actions progress through the different hoops I am sure, and willing, that I will have to go through. I am also looking to get on the first rung of the eternal debt machine of the mortgage, and this will of course hinder my progress!

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and no expert by any means on computers but I've read similar stories to my own on here. A couple of weeks ago I received a REMINDER NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT from HFO Services for an old Barclaycard debt sold to HFO Capital Ltd, stating I owed just under £5000. The number stated by them as the original account number on their letter was incorrect. I therefore wrote to them, recorded delivery, stating I had not received a Notice of Assignment and had no record of the account number stated. I have since received a second letter saying they have attempted to contact me several times, I never answer witheld numbers, though they have acknowledged receipt of my letter on my mobile answerphone. I have also noticed a number of missed calls on my home phone. In the second letter the amount has increased by around £15. I rent my bungalow from the local authority and have been unable to work for over 5 years due to illness, which is how my debts originally arose. I have noticed other threads adising tto ask for CCAs and SARs but in this case the account number is incorrect. I have suspected multiple sclerosis which makes matters like this hard to deal with so would appreciate any advise. thanks Badger

Hi Im hoping somebody can help. I bank with barclays and have a credit card with barclaycard. I pay the minimum amount each month on my C/C which is approx £20 on the 14th ish of each month. i checked my statement this morning and it showed £100 DDR First Payment DDR Barclaycard Visa payment on 5th december (today), then straight after it showed the same payment as a credit with UNP next to it. So this payment was firstly out of the blue as i normally pay £20 on 14th to £100 on 5th... I am also confused at the fact it said 'first DDR payment' - when i have been paying this credit card off for at least 18 months now. Can anybody help? Thanks

Hello all, I was directed here by a few different websites saying this was the place to help with HFO trying to recover a debt I wasn't aware of from Barclaycard. I received the letter yesterday and it was dated the 3rd October 2011. I have never received any other notice from HFO or Barclaycard about this debt. As far as I am aware I never defaulted on a Barclaycard and I do not have one now, although I did have one many moons ago. I have looked at my credit report on Experian, Equafax and CreditCall, the only reference to the debt is on Equafax which states it is a Credit Card from HFO Services Ltd. The start date was 31/09/1999 and the default date was 04/08/2006 and there is an updated date of 16/07/2008. The amount is only for £178.06 according to HFO Services but the default/delinquent balance is £116. What do I do next, having looked around the web HFO seem to have a bad rep. and every bit of advice told me not to talk to them directly and to come here for help? Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi, no doubt if this post is in the wrong place someone will tell me, and hopefully point me in the right direction (or move post for me). As yet I'm not wanting to reclaim mis-sold PPI but actually make a claim on the policy itself in regard to its sickness benefit clause. I didn't even know I had PPI (hence the possible refund claim route), but it appears when I took out Barclaycard Visa in 1989 at age of 20 somehow I ended up with PPI. I didn't know then what it was, don't know now how it came to be included (ie can't remember if it was forced on me or I was strongly advised to take it or that I had to specifically say no). Don't have any of the original credit card application paperwork and certainly nothing that said it was an insurance document which I would have kept as I’m normally very thorough on things like that. Having said that I only have credit card statements in question going back to 2003 (think some were lost in a house move at about that time) and sure enough each month from 2003 til now PPP (as they call it) appears to have been deducted. I have had other credit cards with Barclaycard and other providers and unsecured loans and even secured loans with various banks since and never asked for PPI so can only assume that at the naive age of 20 I was somehow duped. Anyway, when I phoned Barclaycard this week saying I'm taking CCCS debt advice and will write with income/expenditure to offer a token payment as all I can afford (citing recent diagnosis of life-long medical condition as the reason I can only work 1 hour a day, am medically entitled to ESA but don't have enough NICs and hubby works more than 24 hours pw so don't actually receive any benefit money), I was told that I have PPI and why hadn't I claimed on that? Incidentally no-one had ever given me that information before even when I have had periods of struggling to meet payments in the past. Given 0800 number that diverts to Dublin and told to phone them. Lovely Irish lady said that I should have claimed under sickness clause at the time I ended up losing my previous job through illness and was there a period of up to 12 months during which I was in receipt of sick notes from dr, and/or in receipt of ESA letter that said I was in either support or work-related group that meant regular sick notes weren't necessary. I said yes. She then told me to claim and pointed me to Barclays website for insurance claim form. Told her that as I didn't know I had PPI until I'd been told minutes earlier obviously I don't have any paperwork like policy number, start date etc. She said that she'd send in post. Told me that for a maximum 12 months the policy would pay out 10% of outstanding balance. I should backdate my claim to the relevant 12 month period starting from when illness first struck and that as it was a backdated claim I would get all 12 months payments in one go. My card balance back then was much higher than it is now (I did manage to sort out our finances a while ago and paid a significant proportion of outstanding amount off, but Barclaycard immediately lowered my credit limit to just £100 more than amount left outstanding so that left me with just £100 credit available and cos I'd paid them every last penny I had it started the ball rolling with the situation we are now in (ie up to our earholes in debt again). If my claim is upheld I will get at least enough to pay off current balance outright with hopefully a bit left over towards other debts, including a Barclaycard Mastercard (which doesn’t have PPP/PPI). What I really want to know is am I better making a claim for sickness benefit under the policy, or should I make PPI refund claim for 22 years of PPI that I never knew I was paying for? Which has best chance of success, and will either impact my credit score which surprising isn't that bad considering the mess we are in now. Thanks.

Hi, I've been recommended these forums by a friend and hope someone can offer some advice? In June 1998 I was self employed and had both my personal and business accounts with Barclays; having just moved to a new town I asked for a loan, and was turned down due to my self-employed status, however I was told I could have a Barclaycard, which I got. At the time, I was advised (by the Barclays 'salesperson') to take out the Barclaycard Payment Protection plan. In May 2009 I was unable to work, and contacted Barclaycard to let them know - at this point I found out that the plan was useless, as I was self-employed. In the six months after telling them this that it took me to get another contract, I accumilated around £2K in costs on the Barclaycard - mainly in interest payments, and late payment fees, as well as the PPP which they kept taking, despite me asking them to stop. By the time I started work again, the account had been closed and the final balance of just over £7500 passed over to a debt collection agency. I now have an arrangement in place with the debt collection agency to repay this in full, however, after talking to a friend in the financial sector, he said that I may have a case for claiming back the payments, as well as interest and penalties incurred due to the policy being missold. Looking at these forums, I'm getting slightly confused about the procedure here; it seems to me that I need to: 1) Get a copy of the original agreement; 2) Get a copy of all statements showing the amounts paid over the 11 year period; 3) Put in a claim However, I've noticed that there's several threads referring to Barclaycard having already contacted people who were missold - I've received no contact whatsoever. I'm also now a bit confused as to who I should be addressing: Barclaycard or the Debt Collection Agency? To complicate matters further, I moved from England to Scotland a couple of years after signing the agreement, and am also wondering if this affects anything (there seem to be different procedures for the two domiciles). If anyone's been through similar, or has any advice (even if it's to say "No, there's no case there"!) I'd be gratefully received. Thanks, Dave

This site is truly amazing, I've learned a lot all ready. Full Respect to you all - including Coledog Broken Arrow and all the others in the HFO Fan Club! I have read the HFO Barclaycard thread posted yesterday and think mine is very much the same and just wanted to talk through what I think I should do, from what i've read here. 1. This week My father receives Phone call from HFO asking for me - I haven't lived at home for over 10 yrs. Dad doesn't give any details. 2. Whilst at work on Weds (I teach), Reception takes a message for me to 'Ring Ahmed - it's personal - He's not trying to sell me anything' 3. I've received a 'Reminder of Notice of Assignment' Yesterday (Sat 12th Feb). This is the first I've ever heard of them. I've certainly not received any information from them before, as they state 'As you have already been informed...' 4. I have had no dealings with Barclaycard (even though I do have a barclays account!) for 10 years at least. Maybe even longer. I have moved house many times, but the statements were always to my home (parents) address and my parents never heard from Barclays. From all your expert advice I've read so far I think I will.... 1. I would ask Barclays for a SAR 2. Then Send the letter M to HFO 3. Hopefully, never hear from them again! Does this sound a correct course of action. Many thanks for all your advice. Stuart

hey guys i owe capquest abt £520.06 from an old barclaycard student visa from 2005 but defaulted 2008 on 10/9/10 i phoned to arranged payment with them of £26 a month even tho they wanted more i wanst' budging from it , i even annoyed them when they asked for contact number,employers details,income&outgoings i said no comment then they said we need these to have acceptab;le arrang,ment i said you dont need them as i am telling you how much i will be paying not you telling me what i can afford.so they went in a wee huff then they asked for a payment to setup it up i said no i want it in letter the terms we guranteed they said just £5 will save you going to court in meantime i said do you have a hearing problem i said no till i get written agreement so he said ok why wont you do i replyed cos i dnt trust you he said but we can say the same but you i said yeh but you just have to take my word for it he said ok you get the letter in 3 days then will you pay i said yes today guess what no letter so i phoned them up using 141 before their number i got from saynoto0870 website as i not paying a premium number. spoke someone to say i hadnt recieved my letter, he turns around says oh we didnt send one out i said well i was told you were,he said we dont send out written payment agreements and you owes us this amount what the chance you pay today,i said i not paying till i hVE WRITTEN AGREEMENT nope we still dont do it . i said well you wont get paid till i do ,he said we just take you to court ,i said i have tryed to payment arrragment but you won accept the judge will look favour to me, he said perphaps they will but we dont know ,so i ask few questions to him to see wot they say first question was --do you have my orginal cca he turns arounds says no we dont barclaycard still does and we can ask them if we want to then i said but you bought the debt from barclaycard so you should have it he said we dont have to have it as we are debt recovery company we dont need it -------- is this right? second question : can u pass me to h l legal dept to sort this out he sorry we cant you have to 0870 sumthing i said why he said they are different company i said thats weird i pretty sure the guy next to you is h l legal?????? they guy kinda laughed and sayed perhap he is and perhaps he not i turn around and sayed but capquest owns h l legal monkey's plus few other names he said thats correct but he might not be next to me ???? sorrys guys for the long story but please help as i do want to get rid of this debt

I need some advice on a long running dispute with Barclaycard. In early August 2008 I requested documents from Barclaycard under the 1974 CCA. When they failed to produce the documents I notified them that the account was under dispute, and no payments would be made until they produced the documents. Despite repeated requests they failed to do so, instead claiming that I had defaulted, and handed the case to a series of debt collection agencies. Each time I was approached by an agency I informed them of the facts, they replied saying that they would no longer deal with the matter, and handed it back to Barclaycard. Now I’ve received a letter from Barclaycard that contains the following: “As previously explained, one of our obligations as a lender, is to share default information about our customers with Credit Reference Agencies when a formal demand for payment is made and the account is then closed. During an internal processing error on our part, the updating of your Barclaycard Credit Reference record within your credit file hasn’t happened. To correct this, and to bring your credit file up-to-date, we are now passing a default record for your Barclaycard account to the Credit Reference Agencies.” It’s my understanding that since the account is already under dispute Barclaycard cannot pass a default record to the CRAs: am I correct? And if so can anyone point me to the exact legal wording that forbids them doing this, and also tell me which authorities I should report them to if they proceed. Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Hi, I have an old Barclaycard debt that I think is over the 6-year mark but am not sure. I have moved around a lot over the last few years and have not thought anything about it for a long time. Out of the blue I got a letter from HFO Services, which was sent to my parents house where my bank account and other credit cards are registered. I am not listed on the electoral roll as living at this address or any mobile phone bills, utilities etc, so I don't know how they traced me to my parent’s house. The Barclaycard was never registered at this address. The original Barclaycard bill was for between £400-600. HFO want £1238.52! A telephone agent from HFO called my Dad last week, he told them I did not live at this address, even though I do at the moment. The agent said they would report him to the police for allowing me to use the address illegally. Can I find out if this debt is statute barred without contacting HFO? If it is still active should I ignore the letters until I reach the 6-year mark? Can they apply for a CCJ against me without my acknowledging them? I really don’t want to mess up my credit. They have sent me out a letter, which I assume is “standard” informing me they will seek a Warrant of Execution against me. I would appreciate any help with this. Thanks

Hello, first post here, I owe £2,800 on one card and £900 on another On my larger amount owing my minimum repayment is £48 and my estimated interest is £50. This means i would be paying £48 and my outstanding amount would go UP by at least £2!! I questioned this in a call and cited their responsibility under the lending code but I may as well have been talking to a wall. The supervisor I spoke to said either pay it off, pay an amount at least equal to the minimum or dont pay (and face the consequences) I have just been made unemployed and currently have no money at all. I have had this card for years. I am wondering whether to go down the line of writing for proof of a signed agreement or contacting CAB or CCC such like. Im struggling to get my thoughts clear on what action to take and what my best options are and could do with some advice please. I hope one day to be free from this companies grip.

Hi, We have a bit of unusual situation here and dont know how to deal with it properly and will appreciate your expert opinions and comments in this regard. My girlfriend and i moved to an Asian country almost two years ago for work. We were going through some financial hardships in UK and my girlfriend sought advice from "clear you debt" [problem] company who has run away with over 4000GBP since without solving the matter. Anyway, since we have ben overseas we have successfully negotiated full and final settlement with MBNA (RMA) and Egg (ARC Europe Ltd). We have one more credit card debt with barclaycard which we were hoping to negotiate in next few months. The reason we have them at the end was because every now and then barclaycard will take out £170-200 from her Barclays account. The total debt is around £7700 and a default has already ben placed in her credit file since early 2010. YEsterday "Apex Credit Management" people called at her work place, i dont know how did they trace her number down as we live in an Asian country now and left her colleague a message to contact them. We contacted them twice yesterday. They took our details and promised to call us back within couple of minutes. We however, did not receive any calls from them to which i dont understand the reason. Can someone please let me know what would be the right course of action in this situation. Should i approach barclaycard directly or send them a full and final settlement offer or wait to hear back from Apex. Also if someone has dealt with them before regarding full and final settlement? How understanding and co-operative they are in this regard? Thanks in Advance, Bowden

Hello, i am in desperate need of help. I got home the other day to find a notice of assignment of debt from HFO for a barclaycard i apparently took out in 2002. ( i have never even had a barclaycard) I phoned HFO immediately asking about this debt, they say that i took out a card in 2002 spent £500 and now the debt has been purchased by them and i owe nearly £900 with charges. i asked for the original credit agreement to be sent out. i then got a credit report and it shows HFO have put a default against my acc in 2007 for the debt. this is really worrying me as i have been saving for a mortgage and now i am worried i won be able to get one with a default on my acc i sent a letter to HFO with postal order asking for the original credit agreement, the original default notice and the proof of sale from barclaycard to HFO. all they have now sent me is a photocopied student application form to barclaycard. since then they have been phoning regularly ( i havent answered the calls) they have left voice messages saying that as they have sent me what i asked for i must phone them to arrange payment. i dont know what i am supposed to do now? as im worried about this defauly. i have read on here something about sending an SAR to barclaycard? any help would be much appreciated as this is worrying me terribly thanks so much misspolly

I have recently sent off my initial letter to Barclaycard claiming that I had been missold my PPI on my Credit Card. they have responded with a letter containing a questionnaire. Some of the questions refer to how I made the original application etc... Sadly I do not remember a lot of the information they are requesting. Is it my responsibility to answer these questions (even though they presumably know the answers themselves) or should I ignore it and go to the next stage? In addition I would like some advise regarding over limit charges. I have ALWAYS paid the minimum repayment on my card each month. however, at some stage a year or so ago my card has gone over its limit. This must have been to do with charges as I have not paid for anything on the card for many years. As my direct debit is instructed to take the minimum payment surely this should always take enough to avoid my account rising above the agreed limit. I am now being charged £12.00 per month along with PPI insurance and interest. It is staggering and because my card is over the limit I am unable to take out a 0% deal with MBNA. My credit file is otherwise unblemished and (for what its worth) currently reads 999/1000 with Experian. Please advise!!!

I will try to keep it short as an sure you have heard it all I recieved a letter from HFO on 12/9/2010 saying they were sold my debt by barclaycard etc, gave me the date it was sold to them, how much it was and now is. Lets say it is nearly a mortgage! in the Tens of thousands. I called them spoke to them, asked for more info and denied all over the phone. A week later i get a letter saying the last payment was made on the account to barclaycard on 24/9/2010. I knew it was nearing satute barred period. I wrote them asking for credit agreement clearly stating i do not admit the claim. I did not sign the letter and included a £1 standing order. It has taken them 1 month to reply with a front sheet of the agreement with my signature on it which i supposed bought me more time.nI got the letter and credit agreement yestarday 28/10/2009. Clearly 1 month and 4 days after the last payment date. of to put it into the limitatons act law, 4 days after "the cause of action accrued" I understand the cause of action as the day you missed first payment which is 1 month after your last payment? (please correct me if i am wrong) I now know that as i have not admitted the claim in the 6 years, have not paid in the 6 years and they have not taken me to court in the 6 years, is it statue barred? I know their is no court claim against me as i did a credit check and it came clear on court cases and i actually asked HFO if they had taken me to court yet and they said no. HFO say no it is not SB as they wrote me in Sept 2010 and i recieved the letter and that is when i contacted them, therefore it does not matter that i did not admit the claim so they will see me in court. What are my chances of winning if i go to court and should i be getting a solicitor involved? They are blooming expensive! Anyone konw something i have missed so far and any other actions i should be looking to take or is it just wait and see time?

I feel the need to share my experience with digitalHDMI.co.uk. I cancelled an order for a TV (£1200+) with these guys after nearly seven days having not received a delivery date or any replies to emails or telephone calls. I did so under the provisions of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 . I then did get a phone call from them promising delivery in a further seven days. having already found bad reports about the company elsewhere I stuck to my guns and insisted on my right to a refund. I have just received that refund eight weeks after requesting it. This followed many telephone calls, invariably to an answerphone and no return call, and unanswered emails. Eventually, on the advice of the West Midlands Trading Standards I wrote to them again, recorded delivery to 6 Pattingham Road, Wolverhampton, WV6 8DD, threatening court action. Then recently, miracle of miracle someone picked up the phone when I rang them. It took all my willpower to remain polite, but I did, and got a promise of some action. Two weeks later I have my money back, but no apology. I have no proof that they wilfully retained my money, but I do suspect it. I am absolutely certain that their customer service is absolutely appalling. They might be a few pounds cheaper, but I would strongly recommend not dealing with this outfit. Incidentally I made my payment via Barclaycard, who were also absolutely useless. They took weeks faffing around only to decide that, as I had cancelled the order, I had breached the contract and so the liability that they shared as the credit provider no longer applied. From reading elsewhere I see that PayPal have a different attitude, which is encouraging.

1. The issue I bring to CAG is a matter of alleged harassment of a Debtor by a Creditor. In that My wife and I allege that the course of conduct complained of constituted a course of conduct which on the balance of probability a reasonable man in possession of all the facts would consider to be harassment. 2. The Legislation The relevant language of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 reads as follows: Prohibition of harassment. 1(1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct— (a) which amounts to harassment of another, and (b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other. (2) For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other. Offence of harassment. 2(1) A person who pursues a course of conduct in breach of section 1 is guilty of an offence. (2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both. Civil remedy. 3(1) An actual or apprehended breach of section 1 may be the subject of a claim in civil proceedings by the person who is or may be the victim of the course of conduct in question. (2) On such a claim, damages may be awarded for (among other things) any anxiety caused by the harassment and any financial loss resulting from the harassment. Interpretation of this group of sections 7(1) This section applies for the interpretation of sections 1 to 5A (2) References to harassing a person included alarming the person or causing the person distress 3. We also allege that sections of both the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the OFT Final Guidance on Debt Collection have been breached. As well as breaches of our right to privacy and BC's implied obligation of confidentiality owed to me, the First Claimant their customer. 4. To summarise, starting in mid 2006 I began to suffer some ill health. By November of 2006 I had been off work a number of months and my condition was still deteriorating. During November of 2006 I wrote to BC with whom I had a Credit Card account, requesting that they accepted a reduced monthly repayment on the ground of my suffering financial hardship due to the health issue. 5. From this point on and until approximately mid 2008 the account concerned was serviced in the varied manner. Then during the summer of 2008 BC bought up another debt in my name from another Credit Card Company.(Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Card Services) I claim that from this point on there followed a catalogue of utter confusion, errors and the alleged unlawful harassment acts on the part of BC. 6. Our case is that BC made mistake after mistake with the account, sent bill after bill and threatened the me with letter after threatening letter. 7. The Debt was then passed between a number of agents, and I then began receiving repeated, frequent and duplicated demands from them all. Each company vying for the payment. 8. We allege that there then begun a campaign of telephone calls and texted messages, again frequent and duplicated from the numerous companies, these calls, numbered into several hundred calls and spanned over two years. Starting in Approximately September/October of 2008 and continuing until February of 2010. 9. We claim that us and our witnesses will give evidence to demonstrate that nothing any of us could do, would influence or stop it. We will offer the court a large quantity of written communication all of which supports my case. I will argue that matters got so out of hand by the autumn of 2008 that I declined to communicate with BC by telephone, instead, I insisted that BC write to me. 10. We also allege that the calls received from BC and their agents were received on two different numbers, calls to our home telephone and calls to our son’s mobile. The calls then took four forms; Silent calls, manned calls, left messages and texts. Due to my poor health; a walking disability and my daily use of an IPAP lung ventilator for 9 hours a day, it is claimed that it was normally my wife who had to go to answer the home telephone. This disturbing both her rest and her work. Our son had similar experiences, receiving repeated and frequent calls from BC and their agents. The threats, texts and demands made to the son’s mobile telephone were similar in nature to the ones received by my wife and I on our home telephone. 11. It is claimed that the basic thread of the demands and threats was; that unless I made full payment of an outstanding balance of almost £9000 then BC or their agents would start legal proceedings, BC would send out a debt collector to our home and, BC would keep ringing until they got what they wanted. 12. We for our part wrote letter after letter to BC and their agents (Mercers and Calder) pointing out that I was very ill and that I was unable and unwilling to discuss matters over the telephone with BC. Instead I suggested in my letters to BC that they contact me in writing and by so doing, there would be a clear record of what was said and done by both parties. I allege that BC very rarely responded to my letters and that when they did they evaded my points preferring instead to make their demands. 13. In 2008 when the calls and texts began I wrote to advise BC that they were in fact texting and telephoning my son on occasion and that this was causing both father and son embarrassment and breaching my right to privacy and confidentiality. There followed a number of other calls and letters on the subject but again nothing could stop BC's calls and texts to our son. This so much so it is claimed that the last call and message received from BC in February of 2010 was received on the mobile telephone which our son had been using. 14. My wife has given evidence that on two occasions she tried to telephone BC with her complaints, (with all the difficulty of getting through), but to no avail. Mainly her efforts and my efforts, letters and calls received no response. 15. Sometimes during the calls I claim we received apologies and assurances from BC that the calls would stop. Unfortunately we will give evidence that any comfort taken from the assurances made by BC was short lived as invariably the calls restarted usually within hours and the bills and threats continued. 16. Finally in January 2009 I complained to the Financial Ombudsman’s Service. I complained that our Christmas 2008 had been devastated by the barrage of calls received from BC and their agents. My complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service was upheld and the Ombudsman ruled in my favour in July 2009. 17. During the Ombudsman’s investigation it became clear that BC were ignoring the Ombudsman’s communications too. On this I will offer the court copies of the chase up letters sent to BC by the Ombudsman. Which we believe will show the Ombudsman’s frustration. I suggest that these letters, and the Defendants lack of concern and response, demonstrate just how off the lead and out of control BC's attitude and ethics are. 18. As a result of the Financial Ombudsman intervention BC ultimately agreed to delete mine and my sons mobile numbers from their systems and agreed to change the preference on my account to written communication only. It was suggested by BC that they had taken these steps to avoid future issues. Unfortunately we allege that even before the Ombudsman had finalised his case BC resumed their calling and texting campaign again. There followed several hundred more calls. These calls climaxing again around the Christmas holiday of 2009, with us receiving 10, 12, or 14 calls in a day on some days and that these calls and texts continuing to the early part of February 2010 which is after the issue of this Claim. 19. I have stated that my wife and I have wasted many hours writing to BC in an attempt to communicate with them and stop the harassment we have suffered, more importantly, both of us were brought to a state of considerable anxiety, frustration and distress by the constant calls. I lived in constant fear, not knowing whether debt collectors would call at any time, whether I would have legal proceedings served upon me or whether the calls would just keep coming. It can be seen that even after giving assurances to the Financial Ombudsman Service that BC still continued with their campaign of calls and took my wife and I to the point of having to issue the current proceedings to stop the calls. 20. We claim that BC's course of conduct amounts to unlawful harassment contrary to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, that BC have also breached the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and have breach virtually every aspect and rules laid down by the Office of Fair Trading within their “Final Guidance on Debt Collections Activity”. 21. We claim £0,000 for distress and anxiety and £0,000 for financial loss due to time lost, loss of enjoyment of their home and their home life in dealing with BC and their agents. My principal object is to end my relationship with BC. 22. We believes that BC's debt collection policy is one based on harassment, that BC use the illegal tactics complained of in this matter and do so , knowing full well the levels of distress and damage they are causing. We also believe the acts we have witnessed have formed a cycle of events and that we have, during their long period of harassment, gone through almost three cycles of BC's harassment machine. 23. We believe that BC cannot blame their information technology or blame their acts on simple mistakes and omissions. We believe we can satisfactorily demonstrate to the court through witness and documentary evidence that BC knew of the impact their alleged actions. Or at the very least “ought to of known” the impact of their actions. And that the said actions complained of by my wife and I do so constitute a deliberate “course of conduct” and that the “course of conduct” amounting to the harassment complained of and was of sufficient “gravity” to be likely to cause distress, anxiety and loss to us, the Claimants, which is the test we have to satisfy, on the balance of probabilities. 24. I feel sure we are not alone in their suffering and that BC should be forced to change their business practices and policies complained of and, that this enforced change would be in the public interest. We maintain that BC were responsible and liable for not only their own actions but for the actions of their agents and had a duty to ensure the acts of all others were compliant with the law. We contend BC wanted all of the profits from the accounts but were unwilling to accept any of the responsibilities. 25. BC state that they deny each cause of action relied upon by us and puts us to proof of all matters alleged against BC. 26. I allege that it was I who had an account with them failed to keep up with repayments and that this resulting in arrears developing and consequently charges were levied and debited to my account. These charges were added to the balance each month. 27. BC make no admissions in relation to the operation of the second (Morgan Stanley, Goldfish) account which they claim they took over control of in October of 2008. BC claim they wrote to me in the January of 2009 stating that they acknowledged that a repayment plan which was established in June 2008 was in existence in relation to the Master Card account. 29. In the Defence BC make no admission as to the relevance of any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service concerning the matters giving rise to the claim. BC makes no reference to the findings of the Ombudsman after his investigation or the alleged assurances given to the Ombudsman by BC in relation to their conduct towards me. 30. BC deny making calls to me in the October of 2008 and further more it is denied that any such calls were made by BC to me amounted to pursuit of an unreasonable course of conduct which amounted to the harassment of me. Instead they state that there was a default under the repayment plan agreed and that accordingly BC were reasonably entitled to attempt contact with me, so as to discuss the default and to make an arrangement for the default to be rectified. 31. BC make the point that both of the accounts I held and referred to in the Particulars of Claim were not linked. 32. BC deny that they harassed our son with “almost hourly” attempted calls from November 2009 onwards as has been alleged. 33. BC do admit that I had written to BC that BC was at all material times fully entitled to demand either a full or partial repayment of the balance due on the Platinum account and the Master Card account. 34. BC have denied all of the Claim stating that they have done no wrong; that they have done all that is required of them. BC contend that their conduct was all part of their normal business activity in an attempt to recover debts which were owed to them by me. 35. BC maintain that it is perfectly acceptable for them to treat consumers in the manner they did. BC impugn the allegations made in full and have argued that some of the incidents complained of by my wife and I simply did not happen. 36. BC have put me to strict proof and deny all of the Claim. If anyone in CAG land has any ideas, law I could use or advice I would welcome serious input. My case is set for court in November and my battle against the Giant BC will begin in ernest. Does anyone know of a Barrister that will take direct instruction on a case like this. Does anyone know a good cheap barrister? Wish me luck!!:mad2:

Spoke to an uneducated muppet at BC this morning on a unlisted private telephone number (available upon request) in Kirby (Liverpool) which was thier IT & Data department, regarding the release of statement data and other sensitive info to HFO Services Limited. He did not ask me who I was nor attempt to carry out any ID verification process. He asked me what it was regarding, so I told him it was relating to release of data to a DCA for an impending court case. After I told him the names, (you all know who Im talking about) he said, "Oh well thats OK 'cos they are the same company". I said, "how can they be the same company when they are quite clearly listed at Companies House as separate legal entities, have separate DPA Reg numbers and separate CCL licences." He said, "well I thought that they were the same company." He tried to defend them in every way even attempting to use the analagy that Barclaycard and Barclays "are the same company". I corrected him and informed him that Barclaycard is a registered trading name of Barclays Bank PLC, and that the only other company which closely resembles Barclays Bank PLC is Barclaycard Funding PLC, which as the name suggests does exactly that, provides money (or should I say make believe computer money) to presumably fund the Barclaycard operation. He then made no comment. He further stated that regardless of who 'phones up from DCA's and asks for data, we will supply it if appropriate. This is the intelligence level of some of the people working for these financial institutions. Clearly this idiot should seek admission into another type of institution, not the financial variant I may add !! Have taken the matter up with Barclays Legal, ICO, OFT, FSA. He also gave me the Directors office details to make a complaint to. They are located in Pavillion Drive, Northampton. He claimed that any correspondence received by this office has a turn around time of 48 hours !!. Can pigs fly ? I await thier comments.

hey guys , what it is i have few debts which has 2-3 years left till statue barred as they become 5 years without payment (i live in scotland). is worth me paying them small payment every month or just ignore the threats of the debtcollector's and so called solicitor's letters .they are all under £700 being most only between £200-£500 as i cant pay them in full and trying to support myself partner and 2 dogs on £1200 wage every (security job doing abt 60 hours a week) but it seem few i havent heard from a while is now demanding plus adding interest ? especially capquest who bought my barclaycard student visa from 2005 but defaulted in october 2008 abt £520 they are threathing me with court for ccj as they said they did a credit check found out i havent got any ccj yet trying to get me to pay up.i heard somewhere they might not be able to enforce the agreement due to it was signed in 2005 if they have it ? but something todo with an 2007 act etc on credit card agreement any enlighting would help cheers