I phoned the csa today and the woman I spoke to said if I had a Deduction of earnings on my wages then it must have been because I wasn't paying the csa, thats why they put applied a DOE. Is she right in what she says, was a DOE only applied to wages, back in 2000, when one didn't pay up? From memory I recall a DOE was a automatic process. And wouldn't they have sought to recoup those arrears while I was working instead of ignoring them. From what I recall now they were taking £60 per week for one child, but it later dropped to £40 pw when I pointed out I had my child sleep over several days per week.

Thinking about it I don't know how I could be in arrears, if I was unemployed and or working wouldn't the csa have been making their usual DOE? Why do you thing a SAR will be effective, have there been cases where the csa try it on? Its an absolute disgrace the way the csa hound fathers for payment, no time limit on chasing the debt. 18 years is an inhumane length of time to be chasing up a debt, but its worse than that they can chase csa debt even after death. They can confiscate a fathers drivers licence or passport if they wish, force a sale of a fathers home to recover debt, call in bailiffs, and even send a father to prison. The whole system is archaic, something you might see in the Victorian era. If capital punishment was still law I'm sure some sicko would be calling that fathers be put to death for non payment.

Hi All Ok, today I received a letter from the csa for arrears dating back 18 years from 1999-2000 for a sum of £472. My daughter is now 28 years old and earns more money than me. I can't remember details 18 years ago. The only thing I can imagine is I went through a period of unemployment, but as far as I can remember I paid my csa payments. How in hell can it be after 18 years they come chasing after an 18 year old debt that there is no way I can verify, don't think I own anything 18 years old. I could really do with some advice on this, I certainly don't want to be coughing up £472 for a debt I know nothing about. Any info on what I should do would be most welcome.

Brilliant!! Ka POW!!

Thanks dx, thats good advice.

Right, had a letter through the post this morning from Hibu listing all the debit and credit transactions on my yell account from September 2011 to December 2012, so I got on the phone to them and progress has been made, after a bit of prodding. When I phoned the DCA yesterday they sent me a statement with a breakdown of unpaid amounts that should of been taken from my bank , totaling £764, but were not because the direct debit had been cancelled, by me, after yell had taken what I owed them and I switched bank accounts. So Yell were taking money, or trying to take money from my old account for items I had not agreed to and for items that had been waivered. However, at the end of the period yell by mistake thought they had been paid for these items, and so they credited my account with £764 to refund me. Now, this was not apparent with the statements I had, or from the ones obtained from the DCA yesterday. These statements made it look as if yell wanted payment for items I never agreed to. The statement from this morning made it all clear, showing the credit refund to my account. What a mess, but in all fairness, Yell where acting honorably after all. But if they had not messed up my ad's to begin with this wouldn't have happened. Good job I had negotiated a settlement with the DCA the other day to pay only half the £764, they gave me 48 hours in which to accept the offer, which I accepted today. Stressful, but not such a bad outcome after all.

They seem to be acting on behalf of hibu, and I intend ignoring them from now on. A question about the £450 I've paid in 2011 by direct debit, do you know if it would be possible after this length of time to make a "direct debit indemnity claim" to recover the money from hibu? ?

Thanks for the reply. I contacted the DCA yesterday and they emailed me acknowledging that I am disputing the amount and requesting further information from hibu. Contacted hibu today and Trading Standards.

Hi all, Right where do I start, oh yes at the start. On in Feb 2011 a Yell fieldsales rep called to my home and I agreed to take out Ad's with yell to the value of £1800, contract signed. I have the original contract. The order was for - two yell.com Ad's in different categories and two book Ad's also in different categories. However, on 8 Sept 2011 I had a phone call from Yell asking would I like to take out an Ad with them for the year. Explained I had already done so, and the guy looked into it and said the rep who dealt with me in Feb 2011 had left the company along with the computer and all the orders. On the 12 Sept 2011 I was emailed a two new orders for a total of £1222, to complete the order I had to email back two letters from a password, no signatures are on the actual orders. I have the two emails with attached Order forms, which allegedly where a binding contract. This order was for- two yell.com and two book Ad's However, unknown to me at the time the two book Ad's were incorrectly listed as being in the same categories of the book. The plot thickens. Received an Invoice for the Ad's from yell on the 12 Oct 11 totaling £1644, this invoice listed - Two yell.com ad's in different categories and three book Ad's, two of which where in the same category as the order of 12 Sept 11, as above. Then I have a phone call from yell saying they are sorry but they have made a mistake and put my two book Ad's in the same category of the book. I was offered various things for their mistake but I refused them since they were for listings on yell.com in areas I do not cover. I had numerous phone calls from yell all saying how they were looking into the matter. I recall they said I would not have to pay for the book Ad's and I was satisfied it had all been sorted out. In all I made three payments totaling £450 which covered the cost of the yell.com Ad's. The plot takes a twist, in March of this year (2013) I have a phone call from hibu (yell) saying I have an outstanding debt of £764 for five unpaid invoices for Ad's in the period 2011 - 2012. I asked them to look in to the mess they made with my advertising and ignored any calls or letters from them, until a debt collection company contacted me. The debt collection company sent me a copy of the five unpaid invoices and they are for - Two yell.com ad's in different categories and three book Ad's, two of which where in the same category as the order of 12 Sept 11. But remember, the contract which was completed on the 12 Sept 11 by email was for a total of £1222. I don't believe they lost the original contract, what I think happened is the book went to press and they realised their mistake too late. A phone call to yell by me revealed the deadline for advertising for my area is 20 August. Yell where sending me a new contract 12 Sept 11 with two orders in the same incorrect category . The book is sent out in October. I have a letter from them dated 20 Sept 11 - "Please note that all the adverts in this package have already been sent for print...". I've taken a close look at my documents and have noticed the yell.com and book items are listed as combined packages and I now feel I shouldn't have paid for any of this so called contract, they have messed up and caused me a lot of stress as well as ruining my advertising for that year. Any information would be much appreciated so I can sort this chaos out once and for all.

Note sure if this is the correct place to post this! On Tuesday afternoon I parked my car outside my house as usual and noticed a lorry up the street delivering goods to Council sub contractors who are doing work in the area, its a residential area not really suitable for HGV vehciles. At around 1:30 I saw another lorry coming into the street, cream in colour and it looked as if it was struggling to make a right turn into the opposite road, I heard a bang and notice the back of the lorry was close to my car as it made the turn. However, my pregnant girlfriend phoned me at that point and distracted my attention away from the lorry and my car. After an hour or so I noticed the lorry had gone and noticed glass near my car, I checked my car only to find the drivers side had been ripped open like a sardine can and the rear side window was smashed, basically the car is a write off now. I know only 3 lorries made deliveries in the street that day, I know one of the three was not involved. I don't have a reg number for the lorry and the only thing I know is that it was a cream coloured vehicle and it has left some of its paint work on my car. What I would really like to know is can I make a complaint for compensation with the Council, the Sub Contractor or the Delivery company or do I have a choice or no choice. My insurance wont do anything until I get a reg number I've been in contact with two of the parties and they just seem to be telling me that they are trying to contact the delivery company for the reg number of the lorry, but I know it doesn't take all day to do that. Any ideas what I can do to get these shower to get something done?

Indicative and None Exhaustive List of Terms which may be Regarded as Unfair Schedule 2 reg 5(5) 1 © making an agreement binding on the consumer whereas provision of services by the seller or supplier is subject to condition whose realisation depends on his own will alone. Isn't the bank by paying an unauthorised overdraft an example of unfairness as defined above, especially given that the terms of contract where none negotiated. There is a significant imbalance and detriment to the customer in the Conditions because the customer is charged if the bank chooses to pay unauthorised overdrafts. The bank is not compeled to pay an unauthorised overdraft, so there is no garentee the bank will pay a unauthorised overdraft, for if there was a customer would not need to arrange any overdraft at all. Its the banks own will alone that it pays for unauthorised overdrafts on a customer account. And so it is the Banks will alone that payment of an unauthorised overdraft that causes a significant imbalance to the detriment of the customer. Anyone

When you get it, send them a recorded letter back, stating that as the laws allows for all Terms and Conditions to be individually negotiated... Is this a correct interpertation of UTCCR. I don't recall the law saying that you have to have a individually negotiated contract/terms; only that some contracts have terms that are individually negotiated. If the latter is true then the bank will not accept the contract terms you offer.

As an example - you purchase goods during late night opening in M&S (one of the worst offenders) on a Friday night and spend your last £50. The problem maybe with M&S having a slow or delayed system not the bank.

Unless terms and conditions with your bank have been negotiated and agreed on an individual basis then those T & C's cannot be used against the consumer because this puts the bank in an advantageous position. Clause(5)(1) is about fainess and if a contract has not been individually negotiated then it can be regarded as unfair if a contractual term causes a signifacant imbalance to the detrement of the consumer. The question is do the banks new T&Cs cause a singinficant imbalance to the consumer. if so then we have a case because the contract was not negotiated.

I live near Chester if the baliffs are going in could you let me know when, I would so love to be there to see that.