Sale of debt

[MikeHarding]

I am hoping I can get some advice here - I am in court in a few days to try to get a CCJ set aside as the applicants solicitors instructed me not submit the acknowledgement of service whilst they sought instruction from the applicant - both were aware I intended to defend. However, the main arguement is one far deeper!
Sainsburys Bank (confirmed in writing) wrote off the balance of a debt in June 2104 after I requested this the month before. They have written to me stating"" As we'd been unable to collect payments we wrote off the outstanding balance on 25th June 2014. We updated the credit reference agencies to confirm the account was closed and settled in full."
On the back of this I have obtained a mortgage. I found out that 2 years and 3 months later they sold the debt to Cabot Financial UK Limited. I understand that they can sell a debt to settle an account but this is not what happened. They confirmed it was written off and sold, the account closed and settled in full. (my credit file recorded the account balance as "£0" and the defaults stopped and the debt as delinguent.
My arguement is that they have sold over two years later a closed account with a zero balance and that the sale was not in any way related to the closure of the account. Surely legally the two transactions have to be linked in some capacity ? I had other debts on my credit report and my mortgage lender insisted that I was clear of debt to achieve the mortgage. There is no way it can be claimed that this debt was settled by it's sale to Cabot as they were 27 months apart.
I really need to understand what legislation is in place surrounding this. I believe Sainsburys have mis-sold this and Cabots action should be directed to them and not me.

[Amethyst]

the applicants solicitors instructed me not submit the acknowledgement of service whilst they sought instruction from the applicant

Was that in writing at all ? Who was the Solicitor - Mortimer Clarke or Restons ? or someone else?

" As we'd been unable to collect payments we wrote off the outstanding balance on 25th June 2014. We updated the credit reference agencies to confirm the account was closed and settled in full."

Great. That should really be the end of the matter. You have that letter and have provided it in your Witness statement for the set-aside as part of your draft defence/evidence ?

[MikeHarding]

They told me over the phone, (Mortimer Clarke) but I do have in writing at a later date (after the deadline for acknowledgement of service) where they say "we suggest you now send it in"
The next part of the letter says "we sold you account to Cabot on 15 September 2016 " and that they wrote to me (never received that or I would have been jumping around). They simply then say that Cabot own the debt and its nothing to do with them. And that in the year previous 13/14 they should have been updating my credit file and didn't - the whole thing is a shambles. They go on to say when they sell a debt they mark the credit file as settled and zero balance - but my arguement is they did not sell it. They wrote it off. the sale to Cabot was 27 months later when the account was written off and closed. I think i am trying to get the point of law that expresses how this works - I cannot see how they can sell it over 2 years later and say it was that sale that closed the account 2 years before