Clarity - debt collectors

This may be of interest...

I had some debt problems in 2000/2001, and only last year managed to finally clear all the outstanding debts which I was aware of (having made arrangements with creditors to make payments as well as paying extra when I could afford it) - it took a long time but I'm finally back on my feet financially.

Anyway, on June 13th I received a letter for a company called Clarity, representing Arrow Global Ltd (Alliance and Leicester), demanding payment of just over £8,000 for an alleged debt. Firstly, I don't recall ever having had finance from A&L, and certainly not in the last 6 years. The letter contained underlined headers with their options if I didn't pay, phrases such as "warrant of execution", "charging order", "insolvency act 1986". A bold box at the end of the letter mentioned possible court proceedings after 10 days. Basically the letter was designed to scare me into paying.

As I had no knowledge or recollection of the debt, and could find no paperwork for it, I sent a "without prejudice" reply saying I disputed any liability, and in any case no acknowledgement or payment had been made regarding this debt for over 6 years, and that the Limitations Act 1980 meant that the debt was statute barred, the OFT would regard further pursuit of it as harrassment., etc etc.

Today I got a reply from them.

We are aware of the Limitation Act and the guidance provided by the OFT in this respect. Neither questions the right of a creditor to seek repayment of a contractual debt on a voluntary basis. As I'm sure you appreciate many people honour their contracts irrespective of whether there is a legal remedy to enforce.

Given the circumstances, however, I can confirm that we will be returning this account to our client and you will receive no further communication from Clarity.

Huh? They say it's ok to "seek repayment of a contractual debt on a voluntary basis"... well, given the unenforceable threats contained in the first letter, I'm not sure the word "voluntary" should be used in that phrase... it was expressly written to make people panic and pay up. Nothing voluntary about it!

Anyway... any bets on which debt collection agency it will be sold to next?