OK - I've done a bit more digging and based on other people's cases, the situation seems to be: 1. They've rejected my original PPI claim - I was expecting this. Therefore they have automatically checked my claim against the Plevin ruling, and paid out accordingly. 2. In theory, I can possibly pursue my original claim by escalating to the ombudsman, but there is little chance of success (I have no proof, so it's just my word against theirs). Again, as expected, and partly why I never bothered making a claim before. 3. In the unlikely event that the ombudsman ruled in my favour, they would simply deduct the amount already paid. If the ombudsman ruled in their favour, I could still claim under Plevin. This would mean potentially up to 2 years of stress and waiting, only to probably end up with the same payout that I have now. I messaged all this to my brother, who is still being pushy, but I've told him I'm happy with the Plevin payout. It's going to really help me out and reduce the amount of time it takes me to being debt free. If I keep making the same card payments I'm making now, I'll be paying way more than the minimums and will clear them quicker. Which feels like a good start to 2019. And TBH one of the relatives I was helping out financially (part of the cause of my debt snowballing in the first place) was my brother. My sometimes unemployed, sometimes under-employed brother. Who, in his last pushy message, told me "But in theory you could be due [X amount] in which case you could give me a few thousand!" Yeah. No. I'm hoping the letter explaining things will turn up today. And the cheque, of course. I still have another claim in with a different credit card company, but probably won't get a response from them for about 7 weeks or so. I'm expecting a rejection but will be doubly happy if it's another Plevin payment.

Hi, A while ago, for various reasons (including being a doormat and allowing someone to leech off me) I got into credit card debt. Paying it back has been a nightmare. I live frugally and pay as much above the minimum payments as I can afford. The balances are going down, but slowly. It's been stressful and I hate thinking about my debt. My brother has been pushing me to make PPI claims for ages now. (The two worst credit cards are ones I've had for years, and at the time I got each one, the PPI box was pre-ticked and I was told when I phoned to activate each card that it was compulsory). I didn't claim as it seemed like stress and hassle and I figured I wouldn't get anything anyway. My brother has been really pushy, and last week pulled up the Resolver website and pushed me into claiming. So I did. One of those claims was with Capital One. When I made the claims, there were separate forms for Plevin claims and traditional claims. My brother told me to make standard/traditional claims, and said Plevin should be a last resort if the standard claims were rejected. So in both cases, I didn't claim under Plevin. Capital One have responded already, saying they are writing to me, they hope I am satisfied with the outcome etc. I checked my Capital One account this morning, and there are several debits and credits, each with the word "Plevin" in the description. Adding them up, apparently I am getting a cheque for nearly £2500. I was happy about this - I can make huge overpayments on these two cards, plus keep a little back to tide myself over this month. (Living frugally due to debt feels mentally exhausting, I was depressed about being the shabby aunt who only buys cheap presents and gives handmade gifts, so for once I went a little over budget on Xmas gifts for my nieces and nephews.) I told my brother and he's outraged on my behalf. He says he's annoyed that they've responded as if I'd made a Plevin claim, when I didn't. He says the fact they've coughed up so fast means they know I am entitled to more under a standard claim, and they are just trying to appease me and weasel out of paying the full amount I'm owed. Is he right? I'd assumed that they would have looked at my claim and decided I'm owed nothing, but have then looked at my claim again under the Plevin ruling and paid up there. My brother is convinced this is a "lowball offer" to make me go away, in the hope they won't have to pay out what he says I'm "really owed". Should I accept the Plevin payment and just drop the original claim? Or should I push back? My brother says a standard claim could end up theoretically leaving me with enough money to pay off a big chunk of my debt. He's convinced I'm due more. I have no idea what to do, and no idea how I should proceed. There are template letters for claiming and appealing claims, but not for "well, you've paid me under Plevin but that's not what I claimed for, so please look at my standard claim". Any advice would be much appreciated, as I'm really not sure what I should do. It seems daft to send them this cheque back and potentially end up with nothing, but my brother is convinced I'm owed more, due to being told PPI was a compulsory charge. He thinks Capital One know this and are just trying to appease me. I'm just confused... Many thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

Hi everyone, I'm asking this on behalf of my sister - she can't get onto the CAG website at work. She is frantic - any advice would be very greatly appreciated. This is a long story but I'll try and summarise: My sister and her other half bought a house from OH's parents 18 months ago, and her OH's parents moved out. My sis and BIL live there with their daughter, who is almost 2 years old. Her OH grew up in the house - his parents lived there for over 20 years. The next door neighbours have a long history of harassing her OH's family. The neighbours are council tenants. Past harassment includes verbal abuse (with lots of swearing, including against her OH's parents, and her OH and his siblings when they were growing up), playing very loud music at ridiculous hours of the night, and one incident where the neighbours were very drunk and tried to kick the door in. The police were called - the neighbours had gone home by this time. They denied everything. Nothing more was done. The harassment caused distress to my BIL's family, but the council said it wasn't serious enough for them to step in. The harassment did die down at once stage, and everyone hoped this was the end of it. This is the only reason my sis and BIL bought the house. My sis and BIL try to ignore it and be polite when they see the neighbours. If someone knocks on the door with a delivery for next door, my sis will accept it and one of them will politely drop it off when the neighbours are home. They have never retaliated. Last weekend the neighbours were playing very loud music, with lots of drunken shouting and screaming. At 3am this woke my niece. Considering the neighbours' behaviour when drunk, my sis and BIL were afraid to tap on the door and ask them to quieten down, so they asked the police to tap on the door. They emphasised they were not making a formal complaint, they just wanted a bit of peace and quiet. The neighbours have now retaliated - they've called the dog warden claiming the dogs are left alone constantly and bark all day (not true), the garden is like a rubbish tip (not true) and they also called child protection and said my sis and BIL neglect and abuse my niece (obviously NOT TRUE). The dog warden came round - when my BIL explained that he works nights and my sis works days, so there is always someone with the dogs (unless they pop out shopping for a couple of hours), he seemed satisfied and left. Child protection visited to inspect the house - they left after saying there are no problems, my niece is well cared for. They are satisfied the allegations are false and were made maliciously. My sis and BIL are extremely upset - as are all of our families. If these people will do something as serious as make formal accusations of child neglect and abuse, what else might they do? They obviously don't like the dogs - would they throw some poisoned meat over the fence? Will they start screaming abuse at my little niece, like they used to do to BIL and his sisters when they were little? They can't relax in their own home and are terrified for the future. I don't like to imagine how low the neighbours might go, when they see nothing wrong with attempting to get their child taken away by social services. My sis and BIL want to write a formal letter of complaint to the council but have no idea of the procedure, or how it should be worded. Do local authorities evict tenants who are harassing their neighbours? Is there a formal investigation procedure they have to adhere to? Is there anyone here who may be able to help with this? Any advice would be much appreciated. EDITED TO ADD: And they've just had a 3rd official visit - BIL rang my sis to say someone from Environmental Health turned up to inspect the garden an hour ago. The Environmental Health inspector said there is no problem with the front or back garden, he cannot see how anyone could think there was a problem and said he's baffled as to why he was sent out. The gardens are fine.