Sounds like the debt collectors were bullshitting you re the name change//data protection act stuff. You should have kept her name change secret from them and then she could have just denied being that person if/when they went to court. Very funny, and costs them money as the court papers are useless and costs are awarded against them for wasting court time.(posted 8296 days ago)You can probably wait on the basis that if they want any money, they have to come back to you. Keep the SARN stuff until they do - no sense in provoking them in action. Come back to Q&A at that point and ask for a SARN format letter. I'm sure you'll get some examples. When you do get round to SARNing, it's important to SARN your original lender as well as both the previous and current bunch of debt collectors.
Viz how the debt ended up with these people, well my guess is that they are one of a number of people who take debt recovery on as a no- recovery, no-fee option. They can be quite difficult to shake-off, but don't tend to know anything about the intricacies of the law in this area.
Next, the advice from CAB. It is possible that a lump sum will be rejected, but offering it is still a good idea. The worst they can do is say no, and provided you word your letter appropriately (full of 'without prejudice' and making clear you don't admit the liability, you could be no worse off. I'd have offered them £1000 though - let them work it up to 2K. If they reject it, ask them how much they do want. I don't know how good the CAB people are that you saw and it might be worthwhile either going seeing a solicitor, or asking for a specialist at CAB. Get them to have a look at this site.