I am rather confused as to your comments Retrochick.
"The thing you did wrong was pay off some of the debt in the first place, thus confirming the debt."
We held the credit card for 5 years and endeavoured to pay it off even though our business was in difficulties. When the credit card company sold the debt to the other company, they knew full well that the debt was ours, hence them issuing a claim for Statutory Bankruptcy being made against us/my late husband.
If we had ignored that letter he would have been made bankrupt by default, by not turning up at the court.
As the judge said at the time, "it's a wholly unsatisfactory way of pursuing a debt." It is purely a scare tactic but one that if not tackled, head on can have awful ramifications.
I stand by what I said in the first place. Don't ignore it.