Hi, A first time poster and in desperate need of some advice over a very old debt that goes back 20 years. I met my wife some 18 years ago and she had previously held a joint mortgage with a then boyfriend. She moved out into her own private rental flat after they split but she didn't get her name removed from the mortgage. A mistake but she was young and not very worldly! It transpired that this guy hadn't been paying the mortgage and that the house was being repossessed. This was some 12 months after she had moved out. She actually tried to take it over but the Abbey decided she didn't earn enough. Ironic as her rent was more than the mortgage! Subsequently, he was self employed and declared himself bankrupt and they just decided to pursue my wife. Somewhere along the line the debt was taken on by DCL for around 25k. They froze the interest and she began to pay £28 per month back to them. This has been going on ever since. Throughout our marriage our mortgage has always been in my name but as they (DCL) hadn't been causing any hassle we got a joint mortgage in our latest home. Over the past couple of years they have written and rang every few months to ask to see my wife's income and even quoted the mortgage we have, which I wasn't impressed about. At one stage I wrote a letter to offer £2,000 to clear the debt of around 20k. They finally wrote back six months later and they asked for £10,000 of which was ignored. My wife is a lowly paid childminder and there is no way they are getting visibility of my earnings. Even if I won the lottery I wouldn't want to pay it off! It really worries my wife, which I can understand. I'm a lot more relaxed (more worried about my wife worrying!) and if it was my debt I was have told them to do one a long time ago! She has an excellent credit rating, has never been declined anything and this debt has never caused any fuss, apart from DCL chasing her and the £28 per month direct debit we could do without. We have been to citizen's advice but no-one has ever given us a definitive answer as to what the best approach is. Whether they are likely to take further action, send someone around, try taking it to court etc. My gut feel is that it is so old that they would have done it by now. Any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Hello, I am a new cagger and hope that someone on here will be able to help me? I moved home in February 2012 and called Orange in January to tell them about this, for delivery of my mobile phone bills, and also that I wanted a settlement figure to cancel the broadband they were providing as they could not provide a good enough reception. From the 17th April I started to receive my new mobile phone bills but nothing about the broadband so in May I called them again regarding the settlement, I was told I would receive a figure in the post. June arrived I called them, July I called them and was told the same as in May. Next thing I know about this is when I receive a phone message from DLC on 10th January this year asking me to ring them back urgently, not knowing who they were I did so. I was told that I owed them £244 for non payment of the broadband, a CCJ had been issued against me and I had until Thursday 17th January to pay or else. In total shock and fear I paid half the money on my debit card and just do not know what to do? I would like to add that I am suffering from depression and are under the care of a physiciatrist. They say that Orange have written to me, DLC have sent four letters and a court letter has also been sent, hence where the CCJ comes from, yet Orange knew that we had moved because I gave them my new address. DLC have had heaven knows how many months to contact me by mobile yet only contact me on the 10th January, a week before they threaten bailiff legal action. Please, please help me. Natasha