This topic was closed on 11 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 11 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 10 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 10 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 10 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 08 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 08 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

Hi, I'm having similar responses when phoning - I only seem to get people who just tell me someone will call me back and when pushed they admit they don't know a lot about who is actually dealing with my case. I can cope with stuff if I know what's going on, it's different not knowing and just having to wait. I've written a letter for my issue which I'm sending today to put across my side, but other than that I just have to wait

Thanks for the support. I was coping yesterday but no so well today. I used to almost enjoy fighting this stuff back when it was bank charges etc, nowadays I don't seem to have it in me any more. I woke up feeling very upset, financial issues I can deal with but it's the prospect of possible prosecution that really worries me - I'm CRB checked every 6 months because of what I do and my wife runs a Group of Brownies which she absolutely loves doing but she would lose that too with a criminal record.

I've finished writing my letter, to be posted tomorrow (recorded of course). I won't paste it here unless this issue goes much further as it's four pages long

Thanks, will look into that. Putting together a letter to send to them with all the details as I didn't get to mention most of the stuff I wanted to.

Thought I'd start a new thread rather than hijacking other people's. Basically I had one of the enquiry letters at the beginning of the week, stating what I told them my income was last year for the previous tax year was different to what they held on their system. It seems they never updated the system when I told them I had restarted work a couple of years ago so they assumed I was on benefits for the last 2 years. I stopped working int he April, so when the renewal stuff came through we filled it in stating about my not working and being on JSA. However I started working again in June and we called and told them. They said to send the offer letter from my employer showing the salary. We received 3 letters on the same day in the August, mostly saying 'Thank you for letting us know about a change in your circumstances'. Looking closely these letters either list no income details at all, or show the JSA income but then list the previous years income (i.e. proper job income) at the bottom of the column. So if you just glance at the bottom of the figures you see a figure that looks reasonable. There are a few silyl mistakes in these letters, the best one is a letter on the 28th August saying to fill in and return a form by the end of July. They also get our names wrong on several occassions. Assuming this goes to court which I have a feeling it will because of the amounts involved I'm hoping this helps to question their credibitliy and ability to keep correct information. They've overpaid around £12,000. I'll admit it was our fault for not noticing they were using benefits income. Basically we didn't check thoroughly enough and they didn't make the change we told them about. It really bugs me that they already have the information on exactly how much you're earning, yet they ask you to tell them every year. They're already trying to claim back tax I didn't pay last year because my company didn't tell them about one of my taxable benefits. And they had the information to discover the discrepancy. Surely just doing this for everyone woudl not only save the huge volumes of paper wasted every April but also remove any chance of discrepancies or the option for people to purposely lie about their income. This is also very annoying because I've just got back on track after having years of not managing financially. At the best though we'll be £143 per WEEK worse off because we no longer qualify for any of the tax credits, and we'll have to pay it back somehow, and the unpaid tax repayment this year is £200/month and there's presumably going to be a penalty. I've just called them and the guy listened for about a minute as I started going through my notes and then cut me off and said he'd pass the information on to the actual team who deal with these. I didn't get a chance to finish my explanation, and he said he didn't know anything about them anyway so couldn't say when I would hear back. I'll keep this updated with what happens.

P.S. sorry for hijacking your thread - I've started a new one now

I had one of these at the beginning of the week, it's pretty bad though. They never acted when I told them I had restarted work a couple of years ago so they assumed I was on benefits for the last 2 years. They've overpaid over £10,000. It was our fault for not noticing they were using benefits income (although the previous years income was listed below this in the same column and at a glance we saw that and it looked ok to us. Basically we didn't check thoroughly enough and they didn't make the change we told them about. I honestly don't know why they can't just look up the information on income that they already have because 1) they use it for the review and 2) they are claiming back tax from me I didn't pay for a taxable benefit last year (due to my company making a mistake).So they have the information on our earnings already there then waste time and paper asking me to tell them it each year. Anyway I'm abotu to call and explain it. At the best though we'll be £143 per WEEK worse off because we no longer qualify for any of the tax credits, and we'll have to pay it back somehow, and the tax repayment this year is £200/month and a possibly penalty. It's so annoying because I've just got back on track after having years of not managing financially. But as it's at least half my fault I have to deal with it....

We were on a standard shorthold tenancy agreement, started at 6 months and then just rolled on after that. We receieved a letter notifying us the landlords required the house back, stating 'due to family circumstances'. They didn't serve formal notice but did say we had a couple of months to look for somewhere else. Due to the rent actually being below what it was for other similar houses, we couldn't afford to move to another house that would have bene suitable for our family. I work 50 miles form where the house was so we decided after great deliberaiton to move closer to my work, therefore saving a lot of money in petrol and being able to spend the saving on more monthly rent.It has worked out well although we did have to pull our eldest daughter out of a very good school where she was very happy and moved away from friends and family who were all local and not many drive, so for my wife who doesn't drive she is having to try and make new friends etc. Having just checked literally a week after moving out the house has gone straight back on the market at a much higher rent. We had some issues with them before we got the notice, mostly that they didn't fix the water heater, leaky roof or a broken oven seal so we went at least 2 months with intermittent hot water, an oven that was basically unusable and water coming into the bathroom every time it rained. I'm wondering if we have any right to complain about this, as far as I know if they had served formal notice to quit giving the reason of wanting it back for themselves they then couldn't have rented it out again, but I'm not sure about our specific situation. I've also noticed amusingly they've photoshopped out subsidence cracks in the new photos on the property website - the council inspected it and told us it was subsiding which we passed onto the landlords but they ignored it.

Sorry but needed to rant a bit about this one.:-x:-x Have just written a complaint to BT after they put the phone down on me the other day. Easier to just post it here rather than explain, but basically we went back to them as they worked out cheaper for calls back in March, and they said we would get a free phone as well. Having regularly taken DD payments around the 1st, they suddenly in November tried to take out a double payment on the 10th, which failed due to lack of funds. Result = bank closing account, just before xmas paycheck. BT say they can produce bills any day of the month, they get round the DD gurantee by charging 10 days later (hence 10 days notice of a date change). Fair enough I guess if they actually notfied me. Also now having looked at this bill it seems they've been charging me 'equipment rental' every month for the free phone. Adn they just changed back to my old address (moved out over a year ago, every other bill has or new address). Here is the general gist of my complaint message - A couple of days ago I received a letter from my bank to say that a direct debit requested by yourselves on the 10th November had failed and as a result they are closing my bank account. Despite being on online billing the last email I received was on the 12th June regarding a missed payment. I called yourselves on the 21st November to find out more information and was told that bills are not generated on any set date - they can be prodcued on any day of the month. The payment would then be requested 10 days later, thus keeping to the direct debit guarantee of giving 10 days notice of a payment date change (just every single month in your case). However since the 12th June I have receieved no emails from yourselves, and subsequently was unaware of this situaion - as the payments have bene coming out between the 1st and 5th of the month I assumed this would always be the case, as it is with every single other company I pay by direct debit. The payment on the 10th failed because it was asssumed that all bills had already been paid and money left over was use dto purchase Christmas presents and so on for my family. Having now looked at this billl on line it seems not only an I being charged double the usual amount - regrading some change to your payment system - I am also being charged equipment rental for a 4500 phoen that was a FREE GIFT for returning to BT in March. I would like to point out it took a lot of telephone calls and 3 months of arguments to prove to yourselevs you had made this offer, despite hard copy evidence to prove it in the form of, ironically, an email sent by yourselves. It turned out the phone didn't work anyway but you refuse to acknowledge this fact and are now charging me for this phone. At the start of my call on the 21st Novemeber I was asked to press 1 or 2 to indicate whether I would like to take part in a survey, I choose 2 for no. Afte the phonecall with the quite frankly unhelpful man in your call centre I was called to take part in th esurvey. I decided having been asked if I was happy with the service to make a complaint. However when I started to explain my situation the man hung up th ephone on me. Hence I am writing this message. As my bank account will soon be closed, probably just before I am due to be paid, I shall have no more money for the foreseeable future to either fund Christmas for my family or pay your bill, as you seem unable to explain to me how to pay the bill without a Direct Debit in place. If you are able to send me a Giro slip and I am able to get hold of my wages I will make every attempt to pay the bill (minus the charges for my free gift). I also require a full explanation of the billing process that I can provide to my bank in the hope that they might reconsider the decision to close my account if they are aware of the situation that you have put me in. As an additional point, you appear to have gone back to using my previous address at xxxxxxxxxxx, I have lived at my new address, xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, for over a year now. I know you have the new address because that is where you eventually sent my free phone so I have no idea why it has changed back again.

New Update - The bank refunded the charges in the end as they decided it was an error that the first payment for the month was on the wrong date. Well pleased that the bank actually decided to be sensible in this case. Swiftcover sent me a copy of the Direct Debit Agreement, stating it as evidence that the notice period is only three working days. It is three working days because they have tippexed out the original number and written 3 over the top. Have forwarded this on to the OFT for investigation - they are very concerned that Swiftcover have deliberately changed a standard Direct Debit agreement. Also they complained because I sent them an email late at night and as the person has a Blackberry it woke them up. Must....not....instigate....evil....plan......

I'm not sure on the details of your case but check out the BACS website. I have a similar issue at the moment and havign a nightmare finding any decent information, but if a payment is incorrect it is definitely the Bank who are responsible and you are entitled to a full refund from them (assuming this is what your problem is).

Update - Nothing yet received from the FO so I'm going to call them today. I need to know who is liable for the charges - Everything on the BACs site points to the bank being responsible. REALLY need to know the legal status regarding DD agreements - I've been Googling but can't find anything useful. Swiftcover have now re-presented the DD twice more, so it's up to £90 in charges, plus overdraft interest. Maximum notice they've given me is 5 working days. I'm going to try and claim the money from them anyway and see what happens, as they've admitted it was their fault anyway that the DD date changed.

From what I understand there is a DD agreement with the bank to allow the payment to be taken on the set date. I know that if an error is made they have to refund it which backs up the argument that it definitely is a proper agreement. There doesn't seem to be much information available on the legal side of DDs so I've emailed the Financial Ombudsman to find out what they think. As companies regularly re-present DD payments when they fail there is potentially quite a large implication if I'm right - all re-presented direct debits would be covered and you would be able to claim for any charges resulting from these additional requests.