Yeah i did let them all drop which is a shame as being from Scotland, some are now over 5 years....I will try sortng through all my paperwork and getting each action started again - am lucky i still have the original emails\spreadsheets in a folder...just wish I had kept them going them but I started full time work then after being off for a years maternity and didnt seem to have much time or energy and what I had left, I spent with my daughters! Yes it sounds sensible that if i take action on all my old debts, loans, ppis and charges that it may in fact turn out that my debt is not such a mountain and I may even be able to avoid LILA...I know i have to try to get energy trust to send me out forms for my old gas debt - I never got them in when I tried, and when I left msgs asking for the forms (several times) none were sent out!! Anyway I will see if I can do some paperwork and maybe kick off some threads tonight once kids are in bed! Would be nice to start taking control of some aspects of my life again! Thanks.

I have a mountain of debts due to breaking up with my husband after my 2 daughters were born and my head being totally messed up as my husband played mind games with me while still screwing around while working abroad. I have been off work for the last 17 months because i wasnt coping well with working\hardly seeing my kids and my mum complaining she wanted a wage to look after the kids and at that time I was struggling to pay everything, let alone pay her a regular wage. She was living with me, the hosue I rented which she lived in too meant she had her own living room and bedroom, and i bought all the groceries and her cigs - and she is a heavy smoker. Anyway i understood my mums views so she got her own place and a job and I stopped work and had to move to a smaller place (another private rental)... I have debts including an Egg loan, credit cards, littlewoods, old mobile phone contract with orange, old utility bills from last property (Gas boiler was faulty and bills were huge and the £80 a month i was paying no-where near covered it).... At moment, 17 months later, i am getting letters from DCA's but nothing further but dreading the day things get worse....money is tight, i want to learn to drive as I stay in a village where there is no employment, and the nearest City which offers decent pay is about 45 miles away and takes a couple of hours each way on bus (service is not that regular outwith core times)....i do have my name down with Local Authoritys and councils for a local authority house but no joy so far. my kids are at nursery 2.5 hours a day and would like to return to some kind of work and also get divorced - am ready to move my life on, but still waiting for my husband who is in asia to find a lawyer and provide me with their details - he argues it isnt easy as he doesnt know when he will next be in scotland and has to meet one face to face to be able to get them to act onhis behalf. Anyway, what is best order for me to go on this - should i try and claim PPI's, Bank charges, credit card charges, then LILA and then divorce, or LILA first? If i do LILA first, would i get any of the money from the claims if they were sucessful or would it all go to my creditors? just this money would help me towards getting white goods and carpeting a property when I finally get offered it, as well as help with removal costs and maybe even help with me getting driving lessons so i could get a jb futher afield so that i could maybe use this as leverage to help in getting a house quicker (i.e. closer to where I work). i ahve no assets or savings - apart from the furniture in my house. Also, at moment my ex has been making regular payments into my account for the ids - he will not be happy if this all goes towards my debts and may stop the payments if this happens - with LILA would i have to make payments to the companies for a certain period of time? Would I then be able to update them if he did stop the payments for the kids (he says he would put the money into bank accounts for the kids for them to get when they were older?)... Thanks for any info and hope this makes some sense....obviously I will see CAB when i decide to go the LILA route (just a bit awkward as dont have easy access to childcare and kids go to nursery in afternoon so with public transport it makes it difficult for me to get to CAB and back and put kids to nursery so would mean i woudl have to take them off nursery if i had to go to CAB and take them with me - woud CAB be okay with that? TAs I said sorry if this is garbled, my brain functions are messed up due to stress\depression and concentration span is poor - new doc at surgery says i can come see her when i feel ready to discuss it further and see how she can help me so bit more postive about that as at moment I worry i couldnt do a demanding job as brain is currently mush!

Its a Worcester Greenstar 40 CDi - not sure if its a condenser as landlord organised it all. There is a Huge supastor tank beside it (About 5 ft tall and no insulation on it - clothes dry really quick on the clothes airer in that small room) which landlord fitted when he bought house - gas guys said it was something to do with landlords plan to put bathroom facilities on top floor and there is a small tank lwhich says airfix and some numbers on it....

That was my first problem and hence why getting accurate total bill has taken so long, meter readings on gas and electric were incorrect. This is supposed to be true readings now but she says bills are now looking like they are approx £500 a quarter but as I only have water on for aprox 4-5 hours due to baths and showers, and heating for approx 2 hours a day that seems excessive so may just have to switch boiler off and use immersion instead as will be only way I can reduce my backlog owing...just wish showers were electric and not using water from tank...

The £9000 was instead of him charging me for rest of lease - at that point 15 months at £1000 a month..said he is a businessman and didnt see why he should loose any money because I was struggling with higher than anticipated bills and problems with childcare due to high bills restricting my cash flow and the ongoing mouse infestation we had....still waiting for EH to check bait traps and see if all bait has been taken ....again....although havent noticed any for last coupleof weeks so fingers crossed.

It was the high gas usage - between £800 and £1000 quarter to heat water and radiators due I believe to a faulty gas boiler because he gas company say they have checked out meter and its fine...

I have been rentig a large, single glazed property for a year(Lease runs till July 2008). When i took out lease I asked what utility bills were like and was told average....Gas Boiler was replaced earlier this year due to me asking landlord if he had a Gas Cert and any ga maintenance due to me having toddlers and previous problems with cooker and other stuff. Anyway they came out and they basically condemned boiler cos it was over 10 years old....He got boiler replaced shortly after... I then queried my gas bills with British Gas, and after them testing my meter but not telling me the results, have now had my direct debit increased from £72.50 to £299. I am a single mum who has recently had to give up work and cannot afford this. I use gas to heat water and radiators. Cooking and everything else is electric. Currently since I stopped working full time my gas is on for heating for approx 2 hours a day, and for water about 4 hours as shower is not electric and have toddlers who need bathed - its a huge water tank (Listed building, 3 floors)...am seriously considering asking gas to disconnect my supply and relying on the immersion and perhaps calor gas heaters in the hall to provide some heat to the kids rooms when its chilly(High ceilings) but not sure if this goes against lease? My landlord doesnt know I am not working yet - since splitting with husband due to his actions and mind games I dont like confrontation - and have just spent last few months dealing with a mice epidemic. My landlord isnt easy to deal with i.e he doesnt like spending money....and when I previsouly asked to get out of lease he wanted £9000 - 6 months rent, plus council tax plus his fees for agent to find a new tenant.

I had to give up work due to my mum wanting to get a full time job as wasnt working with us living under the same roof, and I couldnt afford to pay her, just buy her stuff and keep her. I signed up for a 2 year lease in July 2007, and the lease is expensive - £1000 a month - was splitting up with husband at time, housing market was booming, and was advertised at £850. I had removal van and my daughters outside, had been packing all day after taking the day off from work to move, and didnt read lease as with marriage breakup and eerything my head wasnt screwed on right. Anyway a solictor says I canot get out of lease and would be liabile for rest of rent, council tax etc etc...Checking online I only get so much towards rent but read that in special circumstances they may pay more.... I am in process of claiming benefits but wondered what the chances are of them paying my full rent? If they dont I cannot pay the shortfall, I stay in a little village, cannot drive and would need lifts to be able to work somewhere that pays more than minimum wage orclose to it. If I had stayed on at my last job I would have needed childcare to cover from 6.30am to 5:15 and was already using my savings to subsidise the bills. My ex lives abroad and sends me money as and when - he hasnt paid since April as I think he is hoping I move abroad to him because I cannot support kids here, and will end up homeless.... To summarise, any chance they will pay all my rent? Or perhaps provide local authorty housing while I suss out financial avenues for paying off lease, and money owed to gas and electric over several years? Think my boiler was faulty before landlord replaced it cos BG wouldnt issue a cert cos BG have increased my monthly debit from £72.50 to £299 a month and I sure as hell cannot afford that but as its only used for heating and water I could technically survive without it over summer months if they switch it off...... Any advice as to other forums I could try would be great...may try phoning shelter once Ifind out when they are open! Nikki Oh yeah, I am in Sotland...

Yep got one. says it can take up to 6 weeks to fully work but hasnt been much use up till now in deterring them! Solicitor obviously felt bad about my terse reply saying that as I had asked her to do letter last Wednesday I thought landlord would have got letter by now and that i did not have his contact number. She has contacted him and he is going to take action. I have to phone him too and i hate confrontational phone calls.

Just got hold of my solicitor and although I asked her last Wdnesday to draft up the letter she hasnt done so yet. She now tells me i would be quicker to phone my landlord and cheaper as its costing me money every time she reads and repsonds to emails!! I am only mailing her cos I am not getting feedback from her as to whether she has done the letter etc...! Should have learned with the house purchase screw up not to use her as i already told her his phone number was in my old mobile phone which is broken. I got a quote from local environmental Health and she says i should just get them out but I already told her there is a hole in the outside wall leading into property so that will only be a very short term fix to this problem. I am tempted just to move out and move into a rental temporarily with my mum and reassess my situation....

I have a mice infestation - have been trying to deal with it with humane traps etc as i have 2 toddlers and didnt initially realise there were so many mice. We have caught at least a dozen so far. I asked my solicitor to send a letter to my landlord last week - still trying to get a hold of her to see if she has done it, along with other things we want fixed. Had a terrible weekend though. My oldest came across a mouse twice and was hysterical both times. They are coming ito my living room and I saw one squeezing in through a gap between a kitchen cupboard door and the unit on saturday. Today is final straw though. Just had my mum on the phone in tears as one ran across the kitchen wortop when she was in the kitchen and when she went to the loaf of bread ontop of the breadbin it seems that they have eaten though the bag and partially through the centre of the bread. She lives with me and is my childcare and is now threatening to leave. She says even if they get professionals in she will always be uncomfortable here. Last time I spoke to landlord before mouse business he wanted £9000 to cover 6 months rent and council tax and advertising and new lease drawn up if we leave early. I stupidly signed a 2 year lease with no early exit clause while going through a marriage breakup. if my mum finds her own place I will have to quit work as wont get childcare to cover 6:30-5:30 as thats when my lift picks me up and drops me off due to working approx 40 miles away. There are no decent employment opportuities in the area as its a small village, and I dont drive. My question is am I and my kids expected to live in a house in which my kids are now scared to wander about in and which I am not much better myself? It will be a pain in the ass to move quickly and not what i had planned but I really dont want to spend much longer in this place, the stress of this is having an effect on all of us and there are certain rooms my oldest daughter wont go in because she has came across mice in them. regarding the house I was going to purchase, the seller has gotten a new acceptable offer, so this is not the reason i am asking...

Okay - cool forgot about that. Out of interest I am in scotland so as we can only claim back 5 years is this also the same limit for them chasing us? And should things in Scotland only be kept on credit file for 5 years or does this come under English law and is therefore 6? Thanks for any advice - also i have a thread I am waiting for an updated response on for my si...if anyone can help with it that would be great - its for goods not received but company ognored letters and passed to a DCA....

I have an old debt - clubbie I think - fom two addresses ago in which I am owe them £386.90 - I must have missed out writing to them when I moved, and have been meaning to do something about it for last year but just never got round to it. Its been passed to a DCA who have sent me a letter before Action, And since then sent me an offer saying I can pay reduced figure of approx £115 (Letter is at home) to pay this debt off. This is quite a few years old - should I accept the reduced figure, or am I better to offer to pay the full amount? Its the only unpaid debt I have on my credit file - I havent made contact with them about this debt yet.

Have asked my solicitor to draft up a letter asking landlord to sort out mice problem (We have caugt 6 in last few days since getting traps) and there are still more (Gas engineer landlord used left whole in outside wall where old pipe used to be..which I think has contributed to this)...plus windows not shutting\not opening, plus sklylight which lets debris in, plus asking for copy of Gas Cert.. Have also asked her if there would be any merit in getting the local surveyors to give us a figure for approx rental income on the house I am renting cos I know they provide these for buy to lets and if its low then I can maybe use this as leverage with landlord to drop the rent? We both never read the lease properly so didnt realise till after it had gone up from advertised price of £850 to £1000 but landlord said lease is signed so he wouldnt revert price back, even though i told him I would struggle as was a single mum on a tight budget.

My sister has just had a debt collector round chasing this debt - looks like they have yet again ignored the letters. Are there are Acts etc I can quote when writing the next letter to make sure this goes away as my little sis is thinking of just paying this off so she wil not end up with bad credit history and to avoid further stress - even though she did not receive the items!! I said I would try and get it sorted for her......