Call time on the bullies chasing old debts

Rising property values are leading mortgage lenders to believe that borrowers who left behind debts after repossessions a decade ago can now afford to repay them.

Presumably the lenders expect these people - often told that once they handed in their keys the matter was settled - to sell or remortgage their present homes to repay the debts. The matter is not clear-cut, but the law appears to allow lenders 12 years to pursue the debts.

Citizens Advice Bureaux are choked with people trying to fend off lenders' demands, and the National Association of CABs is campaigning for this to be cut to six years, which seems fair since such a limit applies to the pursuit of other debts. Until that can happen, bullying lenders must consider an amnesty on these longstanding cases or, at the very least, show leniency.

In the article 'A present for when the last post is past' we outline methods of sending money this Christmas. One such is the Barclays' International Money Order Service. As we were about to put the piece to press, an Observer reader complained that when he tried to use this service last week at a central London branch, he was told it was no longer available because there had been cases of attempted fraud involving the money orders.

Irritatingly, the clerk did not actually refuse to do the transaction until after an obtuse exchange about the £8 charge. Exit angry customer to call the bank, to be told that the service is still available. Barclays' press office agreed, and blamed a misunderstanding.

We are happy to publicise the Barclays service but want to hear from anyone else given the brush-off.