Hi folks. Just a quick one. I've recently been made redundant, and Rosendale's bailiffs are swift on their heels coming to collect debts. The problem is I owe money to three creditors: HMRC, a parking fine, and a court fine. Rosendales are collecting the debts on behalf of all three clients. My question is, is this allowed? I thought a single agency can only chase an individual for the debts of one client; or have I misconstrued information somewhere? We're struggling terribly financially at the moment and Rosendale's agents are visiting at least once or twice a week. Three different Rosendales bods for three different debts. If I pay one then I still lose out to the other two. I'm in a no-win situation here and feel it's wholly unfair that I'm being harassed to the extent I am at the moment. To add, I've also got a disabled teenage daughter who's 19 years old living with us and she's about to have her first child any day now. The pressure we're under just to eat and pay for the roof over our heads is bad enough, and these leeches are making life almost intolerable. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Cheers. Craig

Cheers Smokiejoe I'll contact them and see what they're able to do. That's a very good idea. Thanks to you and everyone again for your help. Wishing you all a merry Christmas! Craig

Hi smokiejoe Many apologies. I think I've got the department names wrong. Yeah, it is HMRC. My daughter turned 20 in November, so no luck there. I'm just so angered that my family had to rely on food banks and family hand-outs for several months over summer, and the only income we had was £50.00 a week mistakenly given by Tax Credits. I'm angry that they want a few hundred pounds of payment we apparently not entitled to, but we cannot get the back-pay of benefits they neglected to pay us. I'm totally dismayed and really upset about all this. It really is breaking us financially as a family without adding this tax repayment to the mix. Thanks for the correction and advice. Craig

Hi Sparks_ She had been told by a friend there might be some way she can get more affordable scrips but we had no idea where to start. Looks like this could be exactly what her mate was referring to. You're a star! I've printed it off, and we'll get it filled and posted for tomorrows mail collection. Many sincere thanks for this. Craig

Hi martin. Yes my daughter does get DLA but not PIP. My wife has been told she's not fit enough to claim JSA but she's not ill enough to claim DLA. I now have to pay for her prescriptions in full. She has around 12 items of medication per month, and it's costing another £80+ a month to get these. Seems to me that being in work full time is proving harder to get by than being out of work. Well, that's providing a person does get the benefits they're entitles to. It's all so downright disheartening and frustrating. Many thanks, Craig

Thanks very much for your input folks. Appreciated!

Hi there dx100uk Yes. I am working now but I'm the only one who has an income out of three of us (wife, disabled daughter, and me). We receive no benefits of any kind. I earn £18,000 a year. During the time the DWP failed to deal with our join ESA claim, we accrued debt with rent and Council Tax. I'm now paying £600 rent every month, and £200 council tax. Add to this the DWP want to take out £320.00 per month from my income. This will literally leave my family with about £200 to live on for a whole calendar month. We're struggling without this demand from DWP as it is. Thanks in advance for your advice. Craig

Hi all. I'm hoping some of you caggers will be able to relate to my experience and hopefully provide some advice. I've received notification from DWP that I owe about £500 in overpayment of tax credits. A brief overview of the issue: We were claiming £53 per week while I was working. My wife was at home looking after our disabled daughter. I ended my employment some time in April of this year, and attempted to apply for JSA. I was advised that my wife would be better applying for ESA and having me included on the application, which she did. We informed DWP that I was no longer working, but they continued to pay the tax credits into our account. It was a good job they did because two months, and then three months later we still had not received any of the ESA or other benefits we had applied for. We basically lived on family handouts for months, and relied on the good will of our housing association as we began to fall behind on rent payments. Our arrears on council tax and also TV license all mounted up. Thankfully in June I returned to work and the tax credits payments stopped. Now I have received a demand for payment in full or they'll take it out of my wages. I've explained that their mistake in continuing to pay us was all we had to live on due to receiving no other benefits, but they aren't interested. I'm not denying we spent tax credits and I'm more than willing to make affordable payments back. However, what I do mind is the fact that they want their overpayment of tax credits back but that was just a fraction of the entitlements we were never paid. We struggled like hell as a family and now we're trying to get back on our feet and paying our way, they are forcing more hardship on us. I just want fairness and a level playing field. Any help or advice will be truly welcomed. Craig

Hi all Just want to thank everyone for their responses. I've got a lot of valuable information from you all as to how I should progress. In answer to the questions; yes it is Council Tax and we're running several paid accounts which are all up to date. We pay a monthly fee via DD, and they even take out 15% of my wife's income from the bank. It just seems that as soon as we get one unknown account up and running for repayment, Rossendales seem to magically summon another in its place. It's got so complicated that we just don't know where we stand anymore, or what, exactly we're paying for. So our next step will be to request the information suggested by the poster on this forum (thanks so much for the template!). My main concern was my wife. We have a disable daughter and my wife's health isn't great either. She's worried sick they are going to send us to prison. I just thought the letter of threats with prison from a debt collection company could be considered as intimidation. Thanks again so much everyone for your assistance. It means a lot and is sincerely appreciated. Best regards. CP

Sorry for my omission. Yes, it is Council Tax.

Dear all. I'm hoping someone can help me with this one. We've had a history with this business for many years. They seem to magically make new accounts appear from nowhere and up to now we have several. Anyway, this latest letter announcing a new unpaid account of more than £1000 has got me very angered. It's basically a letter threatening us to pay up or go to prison for up to 90 days. Here's a taster of the letter's contents: "As you have failed to make payment arrangements on this account with us, the next stage in the recovery procedure is to formally report this to the Local Authority, recommending that they make application to the Magistrates Court (their emphasis) for a hearing to consider your committal to prison. The Magistrates Court costs associated with this application will be £305.00 payable by you." Whether or not I do owe the money on the account is not for dispute at this time. However, my question is: can a bailiff company legally use tactics or language like this to encourage you to pay them money? I was unaware that debt collection companies were authorised to recommend non-payment for prison custody. I hope somebody clued up with this type of legal stuff could advise me as to the legality of this letter and what I can do in response. I can provide the full letter in full if required and requested. Many thanks and regards.

Hi all I thought the drama with VP Parking Solutions Ltd had been played out, since I've not heard from them for at least a couple of weeks. However, they're still hanging on like a reluctant piece of arse-fluff. It seems from latest correspondence received from VP Parking solutions, that they're well aware of the advice given to their persuees via websites like this, and they may well know that I personally visit this forum, as the latest letter from their solicitor attests: Roxburghe Debt Collectors Client AS Securit-T "We are fully aware of anecdotal information being presented via the internet and on various websites and you may well feel this guidance worth following. We strongly urge you to seek independent legal advice rather than rely on these opinions, and we would retrospectively suggest that you refer to the Civil Procedure Rules part 31*, and specifically parts 31.16 and 31.7." Okay, so firstly, who am I dealing with? Is it VP Parking Solutions or Ass Security? Strange that one. Secondly, they're obviously aware of their fabulous reputation and bully boy tactics and the power of the FREE internet. Ten or twenty years ago people being persued for debts they don't owe would feel there is little option available to them and pay up. Now, though, the worm is turning and heartfelt, sincere, and evidence based advice can be sought and retrieved as easily as a mouse click. No longer are the days when the bailiff and solictor could lie, bully, and threaten innocent folks in to paying them siginificant amounts of money they rightfully do not owe. These vermin must realise quickly that advisors on forums such as CAG have experience, knowledge of law, expertise in dealing with cases such as these, some Cagger are CAB advisors and lawyers. It really is reaching levels of desperation when a debt collection firm pleads with its victim to ignore solid, freely given advice and support on CAG and other websites. They obviously know me by now, and I say this to them: persue all you want. I've taken legal advice as suggested and I've been told to ignore you because at the end of the day it will cost you money to put me in court, and since VP Solutions have not even made any attempt to obtain the money from the speculative invoice in 2008, a court is liable to laugh you out of court, meaning VP Solutions will accrue the costs of the failed attempt. At this point I'd like to also tell them that my own solicitor is advising me on making a counter-claim against them for harrassment, and attempting to extort through deception. After all it's taken nearly five years for a company to ask a driver to pay an invoice? They could so easily have got my details from a database and decided to invoice me for something I've never done. Got to admit these guys are starting to **** me off. Please discuss!

Hi Folks This VP Car Parking Solutions Ltd, are bloody irritating the s**t out of me now. I've had another two letters from them in two days, basically saying the same stuff: PAY NOW OR ELSE! I've been reading a few of the threads on this forum and elsewhere and it seems many of these car parking solutions companies have very close associations with oneanother. Do Roxbridge Solicitors/Roxburgh Solicitors/VP Parking Solutions/Total Parking all share the same offices? If this keeps up I'm considering counter-suing them for harrassment. If these are nothing but invoices -not forgetting, they're also issued without cause - it's got to be unlawful surely; more akin to legalised [causing problems]. I think I might post them a voided cheque in a parcel full of my dog's 'bowel evacuation'. Thanks for your replies guys and gals.

Hi everyone. I received a letter (charge) from a car parking solutions company a week or so ago. I thought it was a joke to be honest. And today, a week or two later, I've received another from the same company. I've never heard from them before, but they're threatening me with court and bailiffs if I don't cough up £197.00 for a parking charge they say the'd issued me in 2008! Yes, you read it correctly...2008. As I said earlier, I thought it was a joke, but alas no, they are very serious. I ignored the previous letter but this one is personally signed by their General Manager and the letter is quite intimidating in its language. I have never had a notice from them prior to these two letters, and cannot understand why four years after the offence they have now decided to instigate proceedings (their words not mine). I could really be doing with out this now, I've got enough on my plate as it is. What advice can you give me about this and/or what action do you recommend I take? Thanks very much in advance for reading and any help you can afford me. I'm extremely grateful. BTW, the company in question is called VP Parking Solutions Ltd. Cheers:) Craig