Some sort of compensation would indeed be nice but if everyone who has ever been wrongly hastled by debt collectors was entitled to compensation, those debt collectors would soon go out of business. Nice though that would be, it isn't going to happen.

In my view, you should phone up someone at the ombudsman's office and ask what sort of things they are expecting you to ask for. If you asked for a letter of apology, for example, that would be reasonable. The ombudsman should be able to tell you whether it's worth asking for more.

Was wondering if anyone could provide any advice. I was recently chased by a debt collection agency for just less than £300 from a non payment of a HSBC credit card. However I was 100% sure that the debt had been paid over seven years before.

I contacted HSBC for proof of the debt and was told I would have to pay £10 for the privallege. Anyway, after several months of long winded correspondence with the debt collection agency and HSBC, HSBC admitted that they had made a mistake and that the debt had been paid and didn't infact exist when it was sold on to the debt collection agency.

I was so enraged by the way I was treated and the fact that I was treated in this manor (just before I was due to get married - you can imagine the stress!) that I reported the incident to the financial obudsman.

The case is finally being dealt with and I have been asked by the obudsmen what sort of response I wanted i.e. compensation - What should I do / expect?