Hi. I changed jobs about 2 and a half years ago, and my wage increased by 30k. I increased the payments to my ex as according to the online calculator, and this amount was agreed between us, as it had been for the previous 16 years. All good and well. I then hated the new job and left, and took a job with a 50k pay cut, and informed my ex accordingly and paid what the CSA calculator said to pay. I wasn't all that keen on that job either, so decided to go part-time - meaning that my wage was now 15k a year. I have no mortgage and no rent any longer, and my bills are minimal so this was fine. However, it wasn't fine by my ex who insisted that I take on another job. As my daughter was nearing an age where she was off to university, there was only around 8 more months of payments to make, so I wasn't about to take on another job just for 8 months. The job I had may not be available in 8 months, or they may not want someone part-time - I didn't want to upset the apple-cart. Suddenly, I get a call from the CMS who ask about my address - I hadn't heard from them in years - not even an annual statement which they have since admitted was "on hold" for some reason they were unable to tell me of (and still haven't). Fast forward to the date when my daughter went off to uni (pretty much last week) and is no longer eligible for CMS payments (I have been supporting her directly rather than through her mother since), and I receive an email telling me that I've been moved to "collected payments" or similar. I log in and see that they think I am in arrears of around £5000. I have never missed a payment, and there is a statement from the mother claiming amounts I have paid that are drastically less than I actually paid. I uploaded bank statements to prove the amounts I paid, as well as payslips from a later period when they assumed I was still earning a bigger wage, and said that I dispute the amounts that have been claimed have been paid, and that they still have my wage wrong. At no point did I refuse to pay, and was still waiting for instructions on how to pay them the money... This morning I receive another email telling me that I am now nearly £8000 in arrears they have sent a "deduction from earnings" order to my employer where they are asking them to take around 110% of my monthly wage. At no point have I ever missed a payment, and have always paid what was agreed between us - the lady on the phone from the CMS said "That's what we prefer...people using the calculator online and being adults about it". They have ignored all revisions to my wage, and still think I'm on the wage I was 2 years ago. They used to send annual statements to me, and if they had, I would have realised earlier that they had my wage wrong. I have told them multiple times in the past what my wage is, and have uploaded proof by way of payslips and have uploaded bank statements proving the payments to my ex are in excess of what she's claiming, but it's all been ignored. I've now resigned from my part-time job as at this morning, as there's no point working for £0; the firm is small and won't want the extra costs and effort involved with an attachment to earnings. I'll pay bills and eek out an existence until I can draw my pension to live off. What are my options here? Can I force it into a court or tribunal somehow, so that judge can see the evidence?

Cheers all. It's as I expected - ignore it until (or if) it gets a little more serious. To be fair, given that they didn't provide what was supposed to be included, I'd be wary of putting that in front of a circuit judge if I were them.

Hi, yes they do, and they have also sent a few threatograms there as well.

Hi, the last one was an email. It's pretty standard threatogram fare to be honest. It looks to be the uni itself that has instructed them. She's worried that they'll get a CCJ and it'll make her mortgage rate unaffordable when she has to remortgage shortly when her fixed term expires. ----- NOTICE OF POSSIBLE LEGAL ACTION Client: Canterbury Christ Church University Our Reference No:Mxxxxxxxx Amount Due: £*,***.** Dear Miss *****************, We write with reference to the above outstanding account and hereby notify you that our client may commence legal action against you, as you have failed to settle the above debt amount. Our clients claim can include costs, fees and statutory interest. In the event our clients claim is successful, our client will apply for a County Court Judgment (CCJ) to be registered against you. This may affect your ability to gain credit, obtain a mortgage or lease, and take out a mobile phone contract. If our client is granted the CCJ, an application could be made to enforce the CCJ in one of the following ways (subject to your personal circumstances): Warrant of Control for Goods Court enforcement agents will attend your property to gain goods, to the value of the debt, plus costs and interest. Attachment of Earnings Order Your employers will be written to by the Court and ordered to discharge a part of your salary directly to the Court in line with the Court Order. Order to Attend Court for Questioning Your means and assets will be examined by a Court Officer on oath and a Court Order may be made. Charging Order A Restriction Order will be registered against any property or land which is solely or jointly owned. Your property cannot be sold and no monies can be extracted from the secured asset until the Restriction Order is discharged. Immediate payment terms could prevent our client from proceeding further. We would recommend that you take this final opportunity to contact us on 0203 1500 150 to resolve this matter. HOW TO PAY Payment can be made by a credit or debit card over the telephone or via our website: www.actcredit.com. Alternatively, you may send a cheque payable to “ACT Credit Management Ltd” to the below address. You can also pay by bank transfer: Bank Name: Santander – Account Number: 41193555 – Sort Code: 09-06-66. Please ensure your reference number is quoted on all payments: Mxxxxxx. Yours sincerely, Legal Liaison Department 0203 1500 150 *If you would like us to call you - please text your reference number Mxxxxxxxx to 07418 342 114* Standard text messaging rates apply. ACT Credit Management Ltd Bank House 7 St. Johns Road Harrow HA1 2EE

Hi. My daughter started Uni at the start of Covid. She was told that another member of her (official student accommodation) room share had covid and was flying home a day early from Ireland to get around the "no-fly" rule which was due to start on the Sunday. She had a doctor's appointment for something unrelated, but asked the doctor about this as she has asthma. He told her not to go back (and also provided proof of this) At the same time, there was a problem with the internet connection - nobody could log on, and they had sent the wrong equipment - it was a comedy of errors), and the electricity would be turned off by - not sure who, but it was not the students, and I believe the maintenance dept. admitted fault shortly after - at any time the accommodation was empty - resulting in a lot of food waste. The uni then decided to move to on-line only lectures - which is fair enough - but there was no internet connection, and when there finally was, it was unreliable. My daughter tried to invoke the breaking of the contract on health grounds - as this was a clause in the contract - they asked for proof from a doctor that she had asthma, which she provided. They did not honour her request. At this time it was untenable staying in the accommodation as she was having to return home most weeks in order to be able to attend lectures on-line, it was at this point that she transferred to an on-line only university to continue her studies (as the 9k a year at the uni for them to provide the exact same service now seemed excessive), and gave notice on the accommodation. She refused to pay for the remainder, rightly in my humble opinion, as it wasn't fit for purpose. She is now being chased for around £1500 - she made a goodwill offer of £500 a month ago, but they have refused this and have said that they intend to continue to a county court claim. Does she have decent grounds to defend this?

Ah, I see. He does have a habit of doing this kind of thing apparently, from what I can gather. I was looking to warn whomever it might be. Well...I've warned him in a text that bailiffs might well be on their way soon. We'll see what he does/says next.

I found those too, but couldn't see anything he'd commented on.

I think that's him, yes. The address I had was in Sandway, so not a million miles from Ashford - so very likely. I can't find a post from him on there, so assume he has me blocked/banned (I don't really use Facebook much). Whoever it is needs warning!

Ha, well, fair enough. I've done what you said, and I've sent him a message saying that the next step will be to send bailiffs if he continues to ignore me. Time will tell... Thanks for the responses. Hope everything is going well.

This is the issue. I have obviously never met his mother - she might be a perfectly lovely woman who is concerned that her son appears to be ripping people off. I don't want to add that kind of stress to someone. I've been on the other end of it, and it's not much fun.

I think you're right. He seemed like a nice bloke, but I think he must have some kind of problem, as I was fronting him materials per room plastered (Aside from the doors), and then paying him on completion of the plastering - again per room. Almost immediately after paying him (a day or two), he'd have problems getting back to the job due to having no money for petrol. I helped him out with this on more than one occasion. The last thing I wanted was to kick a man when he was down, but then came across facebook posts of people looking for him - he'd supposedly taken £1000 as a deposit from someone's grandmother, and then not returned to do the job. Another claimed that she'd had to take him to court for £3000 for unfinished work etc... I'm in two minds. I still don't want to kick someone who's having a hard time, but I feel that someone with a skill like plastering at the moment, should be able to make a killing legitimately without having to resort to this kind of thing. I'm inclined now to go the bailiff route, if only to put the wind up him a little. If it means risking another 50 quid, so be it.

His name is Gary Kellar, and the claim (including costs), is now £386.00.

He does not own a house. In our agreement, the address he gave was that of his mother's house, as he was "in between" places.

Hi. I had a plasterer come to do plastering for me - gave me a quote which was very reasonable and I accepted. Unfortunately, the condition of the walls was such that he couldn't prepare them until they were dry (long story), and he levelled with me that he wanted to get the job done quickly as he needed the money, but couldn't, in all conscience start work when the walls were damp as the job would only be good for a few months, or a year at best. So, in the meantime, I was also replacing all doors and door frames. I asked him to quote me for that job too, and I accepted his quote and asked him to start on that immediately whilst the walls were drying (I had hired dehumidifiers). I gave him the money for the materials up-front: 7 door frame kits and 7 doors. After a few days he did not return to the job, and eventually messaged me to inform me that he had lost his driving licence for 4 months. I said, "tell me that you ordered the door kits, and I will fit them myself". He replied that he had spent the money. At this point, he and I, between us had removed all the doors and rotting door frames, so I had no doors at all. I begrudgingly fronted the doors and frame kits again - this time having them delivered directly. He then returned a little while later and actually did a reasonable job. I then wrote an agreement between us, giving him 3 months to return the money I had fronted him for the doors etc...which he and I both signed and had witnessed. Upon reaching the date in the agreement, he then said that he didn't have the money. I gave him an extra month to pay it back to me. Since then, he ignored all messages, and I, of course, still didn't have the money, so I sent him a letter giving him 28 days to pay up, or I would take him to court. He ignored it, so I started proceedings against him. It had now been another month, and there has been no acknowledgement and/or defence, and as such I applied for judgement and was awarded it. It has since come to light that he has done similar things to many other people, and for far larger sums than I fronted him. Initially, I was going to leave it there, but, in honesty, I feel that rogue traders like this should be taught that taking money from people then ignoring them is NOT on. Judgement was issued last week. So, my question is...what next?

Hi. Thanks for this. I will do exactly that. The losses to me are almost negligible - well, around 2k in interest etc... It's the extra stamp duty that the poor buyers of my uncle's property are going to have to stomach if this doesn't get sorted shortly, that is the big financial loss.

Well, I'm not having that luck. A quick google shows that I'm not the only one either. It's very hit and miss it seems. Currently, I'm looking for some recourse, as this is eating my and my sister's inheritance up in interest and government fees, when it should have been a cut and shut case.

I started by doing it myself. Did exactly the same (aside from the forms were actually online - they complete the same paper forms and you get a PDF that looks the same as if you had filled them in physically). Did the inventory, and then the tax forms etc... everything was fine until they lost the will (which was sent by the most recorded/tracked/guaranteed service as well - apparently didn't get there). Before I sent the will, I made copies (there was a copy already, stamped COPY), and I took a video of every page to prove it hadn't been tampered with in case it was lost. I must have had a premonition or something, as it was lost, but they sent me an email saying that they had received it, so I thought no more of it. I've taken the whole thing back once already, and then passed it to the solicitor (actually the firm that has been linked above). If I do it again, that will be the fourth time (one application, one lost will questionnaire and subsequent application, and the application from the solicitor). I don't think it will speed things up at all. I think the probate office/service has collapsed due to the "streamlining" and the shutting of sub-offices (in the middle of a pandemic - smart!). It's no longer fit for purpose, but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. My MP is as helpful as a chocolate teapot, the ombudsman is just as slow and has already said that delays are not worth looking into. Over 98% of probate solicitors surveyed by the Public Services Union, say the on-line application process isn't fit for purpose, and 57% have said that they have seen house sales fall through due to delays since 2019. There has to be someone in government that wants to sort this out.

That's my issue. I have no clue where we are and neither does my solicitor. It's like a black hole. I had to get a solicitor as dealing with the probate office (or rather the outsourced call centre) is hell on earth and I was not in a mental state to be able to deal with the incompetence any longer. I simply couldn't take the 2 hour queues coupled with the idiots on the other end when you finally got through. One even answered with "S'up blud?" on one occasion. Another told me to send documents to the wrong address and then another berated me for doing so. It was time to pass the baton to someone used to dealing with them. We're now 7 months down the line, which is considerably longer than the 8 weeks, or even the 3-4 months stated elsewhere. There appears to be nobody that can be contacted. I even wrote to my MP who said that he can't get involved, although to start with simply said "get a solicitor". There's a waiting period of something like 3 months for the ombudsman etc... so it seems that they can simply throw wills in the bin, ignore applications and just take the money and run...with impunity.

Cheers. Yes. When we applied, it was supposed to be delays of 8 weeks. That's now changed, but this seems somewhat excessive for a very simple application. There's no tax to pay, no other descendants, nobody contesting, and my sister and I are the natural beneficiaries in any case, "lost" will or not.

...or it would be if it were funny. Sadly, my uncle died in July of last year, at which time we applied for probate. I enlisted 3 estate agents to value his property so as to find a value for the inheritance tax forms, and was told by one of them to put it on the market as soon as possible as it takes as long to get a completion date as it does a grant of probate. Having never been through this before, I believed him (and to be fair, I believe he thought he was telling the truth). In any case, the property sold within hours of going on the market (Sold, subject to probate). I then saw a flat for sale close to where I live now, and asked the estate agent if I could put an offer in "subject to probate" - she agreed that this was quite common, and so I did. The offer was accepted. We then, after 8 weeks (the probate office refuse to talk to you until 8 weeks has passed) and much faffing around with hours and hours spent in phone queues, discovered that the email they send a few days after applying that says "we have received your supporting documents" actually means "We have your electronic application". I took the former to mean that they had received my uncle's will - which they hadn't. Someone, somewhere had lost it. The post office blamed them, they blamed the post office, yada yada yada... The short and curlies of it was that meant we had to them complete a "lost will" questionnaire, which we did, and then posted it special delivery (as we had the original will) to the address they had given. Another 8 weeks passed, and finally I was able to talk to someone...who informed me that they had given me the incorrect address and that I need to send a copy to Manchester, and also to withdraw my initial application as we no longer had a copy of the will. At this point, I gave up and enlisted a probate solicitor. They told me to withdraw my application, which I did, both in writing and then followed up by a phone call to make sure they had it (was in the phone queue for 2 hours and 16 minutes). Then, 12 weeks later, I am chasing my solicitor for an update (they had since changed the "Won't talk to you for 8 weeks" to "Won't talk to anyone at all until 12 weeks has passed"). At that point they were informed that they hadn't actually withdrawn my initial application, and that they were sorry. Sorry. Yes. So, every week since then, I have been asking my solicitor for an update as the buyers of my uncle's house, quite understandably want to complete before the stamp duty holiday, and it transpires that the probate office hadn't even made a start on our application. All the while, my uncle's estate is being eaten up in interest on a "equity release" loan that is still running. In the small print it says that they will apply for something or other to take control of the house if probate is not issued within 12 months of the policy holder dying. I thought at the time that 12 months was ample time for such a simple application, but it seems I was wrong. Our application has now been to the London office, then Manchester. I discovered that was in Newcastle, and today I received an email telling that it's on it's way to Cardiff, and nobody knows why. To top it off, the seller of the flat has since died, and his brother is now having to apply for probate in order to sell the flat to me. I realise that the probate office is under a lot of pressure, they claim to have in excess of 500 extra applications a week, but this level of incompetence seems criminal to me. Does anyone know what my options are?

Yes. Given how slowly every company and/or govt. institution moves lately, I felt it prudent to acknowledge the claim for fear of it tipping over the edge of the 14 days.

I've acknowledged the claim online, and have sent a copy to the insurer. My guess is that they've been phoned by some ambulance chaser, "Have you been involved in an accident in the last 2 years?" - they've said "yes, I have", and now they're clutching at straws to milk it for every last penny. I mean, the bike was a 15 year old 250cc Honda. The amount this claim is for, is for more than the bike is worth (which has already been paid out) - I am assuming it's for the helmet and leathers, which I know were claimed for, but no receipts were ever forthcoming, so I'm guessing that the insurance didn't pay for them, and as such they're coming after me. There's not a lot of point me uploading the claim - once the amounts and personal information have been removed, all that's left is "We want £x.xx plus interest as allowed under s69..." That's it. No breakdown of what is being claimed for. Just an amount.

Hi. I was involved in a car accident back in May. I pulled out of a side road and a motorcycle came around the corner, lost control of the bike and the bike slid onto my side of the road (I had crossed the road and the manoeuvre was effectively over - the bike was going too fast, he panicked, pulled the front brake and the bike went down then slid into my car, hitting it head on - the passenger, thankfully, had continued to slide down his side of the road avoiding any traffic and any injury). The police arrived and agreed that I was not at fault. The insurance company, however, took a different view, and decided that it was cheaper not to fight the claim and simply say that it was my fault. Both parties were paid out by the insurance companies. This morning, I received a claim form from the legal representative of the motorcycle rider, informing me that he is suing me for £700.39 plus costs, equalling £830.39. There is no mention of what these costs are, just that I will be furnished with them after 14 days. They are claiming interest from the day of the accident - which I find odd, as this is the first I have heard of this. Even if I considered that I was at fault and decided to pay up - I may have chosen to pay up on that day, so adding interest for the past 7 months seems extremely unfair/not lawful. Can anyone advise what I should do next please?

In all honesty, I'm not all that worried about it - it's not really my fault, although I could have continued to badger them for a bill I suppose - so, I don't really see anything to get wound up about. It it goes to court and I lose, then so be it. I have no problem with paying them for the water I've used, I'm just a bit miffed about the way they have gone about it, when it could have been avoided in the first place due to them simply sending me a bill to start with. I think I will defend on the grounds that the amount claimed is in dispute due to not having been billed and therefore not being afforded the many payment options in their code of practice. I'm sure they can 'prove' that they have sent bills over the years so I don't really expect that defence to stand up sadly, despite it being the truth. I'm not sure what I would say about ignoring the debt collection agencies letters though. I ignored them as they looked dodgy...I'm not sure how a court would see that.

I can't pay the £1800 currently. The interest amounts to just over £15 so it's not that big a deal. Like I say, I can't wholeheartedly claim they have the wrong address (at least until I receive the details of a SAR and see exactly what it is they have for this address), as I have never received anything from them - I have, however, received this summons - at the correct address (although this differs from the address on the electoral role), and had a couple of debt collection agencies letters to the same address that did arrive that I ignored as they had differing amounts in them and one even had the wrong name (it was my name, but spelled wrong and differed from the other one), so I didn't take them seriously as perhaps I should have. In their terms of service (thanks for the link), it states that I can arrange to pay monthly or twice a year - both of these options have effectively been denied to me by them not contacting me and claiming that I was not a customer of theirs when I originally contacted them.