Hi there - I'm an American, now married to a Brit, who lived in the UK for about 10 years. In my first few years in the UK I did not make very much money and foolishly ended up getting into debt with credit cards and a loan in order to keep my head above water. I ended up amassing about £10,000 worth of debt, which I ended up facing up to in 2006. I contacted creditors, set up payment arrangements and all that stuff. Thanks to the help of this forum I ended up getting several of them written off, and I paid the ones I believed I was legally obliged to pay. In January 2012, I moved to the United Arab Emirates with my husband, and late last year I realized I was living in another country and had been paying those debts for over six years (original plan was to pay for five). So I stopped paying them. Fast-forward to yesterday. I received an email from my in-laws in the UK, who have received a letter from MK Rapid Recoveries, claiming I owe £1500 for a Barclaycard debt from 2006! I did have a Barclaycard debt and had reached an arrangement with another DCA in 2007, and paid them until late last year. I investigated this today and have discovered that Barclaycard listed me as "in default" in 2009, in spite of the fact that I had been making regular payments on the debt, and now list the debt as settled. Interestingly though MK Rapid Recoveries have ALSO put a default for the same amount and the same year on my record! I know this was not there before. I have never actually lived at my in-laws but I this year I did work a temporary job in the UK this summer and I had to be CRB-checked. For paperwork purposes I needed to give them an address and so I had to put my in-laws down, and this included updating a CC address. I then forgot about it and I am certain the DCA found my in-laws' address by pinging my credit file. I intend to post some letters stating that I do not acknowledge the debt, have never lived at this address and requesting that any correspondence regarding this account be sent to my UAE address. I updated my in-laws and was thinking that was the end of that. BUT THEN this afternoon they contacted me to say they have received ANOTHER post from ANOTHER DCA (Moorcroft) attempting to confirm whether I not I live at this address and sniffing around in regards to a Nat West debt which I believe I have paid off - it is not even on my credit file! I know I am responsible for the debt I accrued back in the early 00s, and I am willing to deal with the DCAs. But I do NOT want my in-laws dragged into this. They have been frugal all their lives, have excellent credit and I know are terrified of being dragged due to debt they had nothing to do with! I do not believe I owe either DCA anything and am unafraid to get in correspondence with them or give them my UAE address. But I definitely do not want them bothering my in-laws! What can I do to ensure they do not harrass my in-laws? Thank you for your help!

I am new to this forum and hope that someone could guide me. I got into financial difficulties back in 2001 with credit cards and loans. Between my wife and I we had debts of £ 76k. In order to resolve matters we went into a DMA with Pay-plan and from 2001 until 2008 managed to reduce the debts to around £ 46k. We have never had any CCJ's against us and made no use of the cards since 2001. I have not had any credit since that time. In 2008 my wife and I separated and divorced in 2009. As we had no assets the Divorce Consent Order was that I would continue to repay debts at £ 638 per month and my ex-wife at £ 50 per month. I did this until falling ill with Stage 4 Advanced Bowel Cancer in early 2010 and I have been off work since June 2010. I stopped paying into the DMA in November 2010. I was contemplating bankruptcy but had difficulty getting the deposit together. In the process of preparing the Bankruptcy forms however, I found that at least two of the creditors no longer had any record of the debt. I am now only being actively chased by 4 of the original 8 creditors. Two of those creditors were joint with my ex-wife and she has continued to make small repayments throughout. I am now 60 and I do have a small pension fund which could release about a £ 20k lump sum. I am conscious that until I draw on the pension, the fund will not be taken into account in a bankruptcy. So I am reluctant to call on the money unless I really have to. I am contemplating moving the fund offshore to protect it from the UK creditors. My questions now are:- 1) Because I entered in the DMA I understand that the Statute of Limitation does not apply to the four creditors not pursuing the debts. Therefore they could at any time suddenly demand payment. Can I extract myself from the DMA to start the 6 year clock running and just deal with the four creditors pursuing me? 2) Alternatively can I negotiate outside of the DMA with the four Creditors who are chasing to try to reach a Full and Final Settlement with them and get them off my back using the £ 20k? Their share of the debts amounts to about £ 17k, all old credit card debts. 3) I have had a couple of Statutory Demands while I was ill and have done nothing about them. To be honest if they want to make me bankrupt at least it saves me £ 700. Should I be contesting the SDs? 4) Before my illness I was in a well paid job but I don't really want to return to it with the stress involved. I have now remarried and my new wife has no debts and is not involved in any of the arrangements. If she works, will her income have to be taken into account in the DMA even though she is not party to it? I also now have a 12 year old stepson that we need to support. 5) All of the debts have been passed to DCAs. Sometimes, it appears, more than once as I get letters from people I have never heard of. I am not at all sure if any of these transfers have been correctly completed. Is it worth using the CCA route to try to remove some of the debts or has entering into the DMA and paying off such a large portion of the debt already prevented me now challenging any of them? Given my age and health I am really reluctant to have to go back to a highly stressful job, just to pay back credit card debts which arose mainly though exorbitant interest rates and charges. Any help and advice you might be able to give, would be truly appreciated.