Please help! Making 'offers' to creditors

Apple_2

file_wizzard wrote:

Regardless of the fact that the debt is assigned to a 3rd party the original creditor always has a duty to correspond with you, and directly accepted settlement if offered

file wizzard, are you talking about a debt being chased by a collection agency or one sold on? My O/H has a debt with Mbna which they 'sold' to Direct Legal. DL have obviously been chasing it and we have been in correspondence with them. I believed DL 'own' the debt because Mbna told us they sold it to them, I assume they assigned it. Surely we cannot now deal with Mbna or make an offer to them ? I thought we could only deal with the current owner of the debt ie DL - am I wrong ?