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Fenris

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  1. Hi all, I'm giving myself brain ache with this so I hope someone can help me out? Long (looooooooooong!) story short, my Aunt leased a retirement bungalow in 2011 from a company called Anchor. She paid a monthly service charge which went up every year. Sadly she passed away in June 2016, but the property only sold a few months ago. When my Mum, as the co-executor with her [utterly useless] brother, got the Statement of Account from the solicitor (who has NOT acted on her behalf in any way, shape or form) we noticed they'd paid Anchor almost £8,500.00 for a "Sinking Fund". We'd never heard of one of these so have been asking the solicitor what it was for. We received a letter from Anchor, via the solicitor, stating that they take this charge when the tenant sells the property. They included a lease from 1996. Yes, you read that right, 1996! It was not signed by my Aunt. Because she didn't buy the bungalow until 15 years later. We wrote directly to Anchor asking for the correct copy of the lease, including my Aunt's signature. Well, today we got what I grudgingly refer to as a response, which is to say they just doubled-down on what they'd already sent via the solicitor. *Le sigh*. Now, from the research I've done I believe a company like Anchor can charge either a Service Charge OR a Sinking Fund, but not both. Is this right? I mean, even if a Sinking Fund was set up in addition, surely you'd pay it whilst living in the property, not after you sell it? You'd not benefit otherwise. Not that my Aunt benefited anyway; she had numerous issues with the bungalow, including an ill fitting front door, damp and consequent mould issues to name but three and Anchor never addressed these problems. She ended up paying out of her own money to get them fixed! I read this article today: https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/cherry-trees It's interesting because this is also Anchor and in this instance the people did not pay a service charge. So it seems to me it's a one-rule-for-one situation. It's clear that, since they've already got the money thanks to the completely incompetent solicitor, they're not going to send the requested information, I mean why would they? So the next step is to get Mum's solicitor involved, but I'd like to know if I'm fighting a lost cause here. Does anyone have any experience with these funds at all? I'd appreciate any info. Thanks in advance, Fen.
  2. Thanks renegadeimp, that's what I was leaning towards but wasn't sure. I'll go next week and see what happens.
  3. Hi all, Hope someone can advise me what to do here. To cut a [very] long story short, I left my Samsung PC monitor at Currys in Lincoln at the beginning of June. They sent it off to the repair centre and it came back about a week later. Due to ill health I couldn't get to pick it up until last Thursday. When I did it was wrapped up in bubble wrap and I didn't have the time to unwrap and check it in store (BIG mistake!). I unwrapped it Monday evening and, to my absolute horror, it was covered in scratches! The whole of the bezel is just full of them; it looks like it's been laid on its front and then moved up and down on a desk, which is impressive as it's a curved screen! Now, I'm old-fashioned and like to keep my items in mint condition and this was no exception. The chap at Currys did a thorough check and confirmed there were no scratches on it before I left the store. There's a whole back story to this that I won't go into unless anyone really wants me to, but basically I'd been having a to and fro with Samsung Customer Services since before Christmas, so I emailed them Monday saying how angry I was and that this was not the monitor I sent them. They've fobbed me off and are now telling me it arrived with them with "general wear". How the hell does a monitor, which sits on a desk for it's entire life, get "general wear" over the entire bezel?! Not possible. They've told me they're not going to do anything about it and I should contact Currys. But Currys have record of it being in mint condition with no scratches! I should point out that, once I'd taken the bubble wrap off, I noticed that the bezel was covered in tape, you know, the stuff they put around new TVs for transit? I only took the top and half of the right side off, the rest is still attached, so the tape was applied after the scratches happened. So, before I lug it back to Lincoln I thought I'd ask here what the best course of action is? Take it back to Currys? Have it out with Samsung? I really don't know what to do. Thanks in advance, Fen.
  4. If it were a dog it would have bitten me! I just skim-read the the thread tbh. Great outcome though, give me hope!
  5. I'm in a similar situation, so curious to know how this worked out for you Nivag1961. Did Hermes defend or give in?
  6. Thanks for your replies! It was King's Lynn CC, but I moved after the tenancy expired and now live in Lincolnshire. I've not claimed any HB since we moved as my Mum bought the house we're living in outright. I don't believe I still have the award letter, I'll double check, but pretty sure it's gone. I know I was only getting £50 per week paid four-weekly in arrears, starting 20th August 2012 and finishing on 13th May 2013, the tenancy ran from 16th April 2012 to 23rd April 2013. You see why I assumed the payment on 13th May was for the previous four-weekly period? I'm not sure what the written statement of reason would be? Could you elaborate please? As I said above, I don't think I still have the award letter. I'll have a look later today and see, but I'm pretty sure I don't have it anymore. Am I right in thinking issuing a SAR to a council should cost me nothing? Think I read that in one of the threads here. I do have bank statements though, so that's one less thing to worry about! The problem I have is that I only had verbal confirmation from the lady at the council office, I had nothing in writing as far as I can remember. Payments just started after a few phone calls to find out why it was taking so long to get going. If I recall correctly they had a back-log due to computer issues at the time, so I ended up getting a large payment of £500.00 on 20th August 2012, then another £200.00 a couple of weeks later on the 3rd September 2012 and after that every four weeks until we moved. Is there a template I should use or is it just a case of writing to them as I normally would but add something like, "I'd like to make an official complaint"? Thanks!
  7. @ Scott: Thanks for the response anyway. Is there anyone that could help? Really need to get this sorted as I can't afford for them to be taking chunks of my ESA; it's the only benefit I get!
  8. Hi all, I've been trying to deal with this issue myself, helped along by other people's problems with alleged overpayments, but I think I need some direct advice please. Background: In April 2012 my Mum and I rented a house for 12 months. I didn't know I was entitled to Housing Benefit until I was talking to a friend who said I should apply, which I did in May. I explained to the HB people that I didn't know I could apply for HB and asked if I could back-date the benefit to the day we moved in, which was was agreed to. The HB should have been paid from 16th April 2012 (moving in) to 23rd April 2013 (moving out). The first payment I received was in August 2012, the last was in May 2013, all payments made in arrears. I notified the council that I was moving out of the property on the 23rd of April 2012 and provided my new address. This is where things get messy. I was paid a final amount on 13th May 2013. I believed that this was my final payment in arrears. However, in late May 2013 I received a letter from the council stating I had been overpaid by £146.00. They said that this was overpayment for the period 23rd April 2013 to 12th May 2013. I sent them a letter on 10th June 2013 stating that I did not agree with their calculations and that they owed me £150.00. They responded in late July stating I wasn't entitled to the back-payment (that had been agreed to in the office when I applied) and that the overpayment still stood. As I was also fighting a cut in my ESA at the time, I didn't respond to this letter; I just couldn't face another fight. (I know this wasn't the best idea, but I suffer from Clinical Depression amongst other illnesses and I just wasn't in the right mental state to deal with it.) And that was the last I heard... Until a few weeks ago when I received a "Final Demand"! Three years after the original letter, they'd started this up again! I replied again stating I was not going to pay this alleged overpayment as I believed it was my final payment in arrears. I also stated the following: “Recoverable overpayments 100.—(1) Any overpayment, except one to which paragraph (2) applies, shall be recoverable. (2) Subject to paragraph (4) this paragraph applies to an overpayment caused by an official error where the claimant or a person acting on his behalf or any other person to whom the payment is made could not, at the time of receipt of the payment or of any notice relating to that payment, reasonably have been expected to realise that it was an overpayment.” As I stated, my HB was always paid in arrears so I reasonably assumed the last payment was my last payment in arrears. Which I told them in the letter. However, they responded with a bundle of letters they say they sent me in 2013, one "invoice" they allegedly sent in October 2015 and the most recent letters from this year. They completely ignored the paragraph above though. They also said that the letter I responded to (10th June 2013) said I could appeal the backdating decision within one month of the letter, which I thought would be done upon them receiving my letter (10th June 2013), but seems it wasn't! I really don't know what to do right now. They say I owe them money, I say they owe me and never the twain shall meet! Can anyone suggest what I should do now? Cheers, Fenris
  9. OK, little update here: we've been back and forth with the Court and it seems the Cowboy has now given in; we got a letter from the Court saying if he didn't pay his fee before 17th May his claim would be struck out. He didn't pay, so that's what happened. But I wonder if I could pick some brains a bit more? We put in a Counter Claim for the money we had to pay for all the replacements we had to buy to get the kitchen up to scratch. Now that Cowboy has pulled out, do we still pursue the Counter Claim, or is the whole thing now ended? Not sure where we go from here and Google isn't helping! Ta!
  10. Thanks for the reply raydetinu. Having read the document in the link provided, I have some further questions: Obviously matey boy isn't going to agree to this, so I don't have to write to him asking for his consent do I? I'd rather go straight to the court as I'd like as little contact with this cowboy as possible. I know it says I can do either, I just want to be 100% sure I'm not going to have this Set Aside rejected on some minor technicality! The document linked goes on to say: "Either way, you will have needed to have prepared your proposed defence." Does this mean my entire defence? Including things like witness statements etc.? I've been to court a couple of times before, but in those cases (against the likes of Barclays Bank) I've been the claimant! I know there's a point where each side has to prepare a court bundle, so is that essentially what I need to send with the N244 form? Or is it just the initial defence I filed before? I don't know what form number that would have been but it says "Defence and Counterclaim (specified amount)" at the top and was what I got in the Response Pack from Northampton (CCBC) before it was transferred to Lincoln. If that makes sense?! I think that's all I needed to ask. Thanks again!
  11. Hi again, I need a bit more advice if possible. The kitchen fitter decided he wanted to take us to the SCC. We've done everything our end, stuck to all the rules etc. for filing a defence. Then, lo and behold, we've just got a letter from Lincoln CC saying, "It is ordered that 1. The defendant's defence is struck out pursuant to the order dated 17th February 2014. 2. Judgement for the claimant for £xxxx.xx plus court fees and costs of £xxx.xx. Dated 7th March 2014" I don't understand what's going on! The only thing I can think of is that we were sent an incorrectly worded General Form of Judgement Order dated 17th February 2014, which said we had to file a completed "Pre-Trial Check-List" before 26th February 2014 but we didn't have one. I found one online and, to double check, I phoned the Court to make sure that was the right form. Turns out it wasn't; what I actually had to file was an "Allocation Questionnaire". The lady said she'd send one out to us and the deadline was extended by a week to the 5th March 2014. The form arrived the next day. I filled it in and it was posted the day after, so it would have gotten there in plenty of time for the deadline! We've had another kitchen installer in to repair all the shoddy work and damage done by this cowboy and there's no bloody way we're paying him a penny! Is there some way I can appeal this judgement as it seems someone's dropped the ball at the court and we're now paying for that! Cheers! Fen.
  12. Hi again all! Well, after two years of battling Barclays I have now won my PPI re-claim! Woo! I've just received a cheque today! But I wondered, since they've faffed me about for over two years, and the compensation cheque isn't for as much as I'd worked out (they deducted 20% tax, apparently, but I'm not currently a taxpayer), can I now go for compound interest? They've gone the 8% route. Is it possible? I got compound interest on my Barclaycard, so why not on the loan? Also, say I bank the cheque today, does that mean I've accepted their offer and can't go on to claim compound interest? I know this probably comes off as greedy, but I really could do with the extra dosh! Thanks, as always, in advance! Fen.
  13. Yes we have photo's. We're also going to take measurements where some of the wall units are higher than others and take photo's of us doing so... if that makes sense? We haven't decided what to do regarding his payment; on the one hand I'm tempted to withhold all the money he wants; on the other hand he's already paid the sub-contractors he got in (plumber and electrician), so not sure where we stand on that.Whatever happens he's not getting anywhere near what he wants as we're going to have to pay the new fitters costs, plus replace some doors he's ruined, cornice, pelmet and, the most expensive bit, the worktops. I was going to price up and take the additional pictures today, but we had not one but two pieces of bad news, so I just wasn't up to it. Oh yeah, I got an e-mail from him yesterday (Saturday) asking if it's convenient to come around this week. So now I have to tell him we don't want him back at all. Should be fun!
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