Paid credit card debt sold to debt collector

imeldanash

Between 5-7 years' ago, I was going through a divorce and owed many creditors. Upon receipt of some cash from the proceeds of selling my business, I agreed settlement figures with several credit card companies and the ones who refused to accept a lower amount were moved to a CCCS account where they have been receiving monthly agreed repayments.

A couple of months' ago, I received a letter from Cabot Finance who have purchased debts from Morgan Stanley (one of the creditors I paid off) who seem to believe I owe them nearly £1,400. They were advised that this debt had been repaid but they contacted the CCCS behind my back and the CCCS (without advising me) agreed a repayment with them. When Cabot sent me a letter outlining the agreement they had made with CCCS, I contacted CCCS and told them that this was not a legitimate request and asked them why they had set up an agreement without informing me. They responded that because the account number quoted by Cabot (original Morgan Stanley credit card a/c number) was on my record, they believed it was "kosher" and sent ahead and agreed a repayment.

They have now cancelled these payments, on my request, but my CCCS statement no longer cites Morgan Stanley with the original account number but Cabot Finance with their reference - inferring a new debt has been incurred. I have asked them to remove this reference and/or revert to the original reference, but they seem unable or unwilling to do so although they have removed any reference to payment and "zeroed" the estimated outstanding balance.

I have contacted my bank to try to get a copy of the cheque so that I can prove morgan stanley were paid, but since I don't remember the date and have no idea of the cheque number, all they are able to do is send me three years' worth of statements for me to trawl through and try and find the appropriate one...

Can anyone suggest how I go about making a complaint about this situation - a template letter would be wonderful (!) and I wondered if anyone has experienced anything similar.

The CCCS informed me that even if you do a "full and final settlment" at a reduced amount (I paid 75% of all of my credit card debts that I could afford to pay at the time), they can, unless they have formally written and accepted this as full and final settlement, come back and demand the rest at a later date.

The amount in question, however, appears to be the full amount owed (and more!), not the residual 25%.

any help and advice would be much appreciated!!!