hi thanks for the advice i am ringing the council on tuesday to try and sort something out. as for british gas i have begged and pleaded with them but they wont i asked them to put me meters in i thought i was paying the debt but because i didnt know they dent a letter a few months later saying that they made a mistake and now i must pay £32 a week off the debt and i just dont no what else to do they wont let me move and they wont let me reduce my payments i just dont no what to do

i am married my partner works we get child tax credits as we have 6 kids between us and all live together hope this helps

also i am unsure if british gas can take this much off us can any1 please help

Hi all can any 1 help me 5 years ago i was in alot ov mess my ex left and he left me in a lot ov debt IE council tax, rent, water, gas, elec when he left i found myself in even more trouble having to borrow money from 1 place to pay some where else until 3 years ago when i met my now husband i started getting my debt off and doing it well untill i fell ill a year and half ago i was in intensive care but for 6 months i was ill and to be honest and i know its stupid i just didnt do anything didnt really pay bills nothing. So the circle started again now am playing catch up british gas are now taking £32 a week off me through my meter and i cant afford it council tax needs paying from last year as i am still paying from the year befor and little things here and there i have had baliffs banging on the door so am finding it hard now. good news is nearly got my rent paid off and water but thats it. Can any1 please help me

I have started to draft a letter to the halifax in response to their letter Thank you for your prompt reply. It seams that you have not fully read my letter and just sent a standard reply letter. My first letter quoted the FSA press release, dated 27th July: "The FSA also expects firms to continue to help their customers avoid incurring unauthorised overdraft charges in the first instance and to continue to deal with hardship cases." "Consumers who are in very difficult financial circumstances - 'hardship cases' Banks and building societies will have to conduct a filtering process to ensure that cases of genuine hardship are still dealt with during the waiver period. Cases of hardship would still be entitled to be referred to, and dealt with by, the FOS." As I stated within my first letter, I believe that I fall in the hardship category as I am in receipt of Income Support and Child Tax Credits. At this point I should also point out that I believe that you are in breach of the a) s187 Social Security Administration Act 1992 regarding Income Support and Child Benefit, and b) s45 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 regarding Child Tax Credit because both these state that you cannot take these monies as they belong to the crown and not myself and this money is to meet the finical hardship of myself and my family. I shall therefore continue with my case against yourself and may also complain to the FOS as you are not meeting your agreement with them. Please could you all give me your view on it and suggest any amendments Thanks

Reading that about Benefits thanks Tilly Don't know whether to keep going with my claim as it is, or swop to using the benefit way or combination of both. Any help or advice would be great Should a write another letter of to the bank

Thanks Tilly, I will wait till the next letter is due out and send it adding the hardship paragraphs(s). Do you think I still stand a chance or is it getting harder to win your case now? If anyone anyone else has any advice on anything else I should add to the LBA letter before their time is up please submit it. I would be most grateful

Tilly just to get it right do you think I should send the letter now or should I wait till the end of the 14 day period I gave them in the first letter. Also do you think I shoud add about hardship circumstances so the waiver period doesn't apply to me. Thanks me

Thanks tilly i will get intouch with them just hope it works its hard with 4 kids being on my own an partly disabled so the money would help out loads just keep fingers crossed for me thanks again

Yes am still recieving Income Support as am a single mother. So should I contact the FOS. If so could someone please give me thier contact details. And let me know what I should write to them. Many Thanks

UPDATE received letter from Halifax this morning as can be read below Thanks you for your communication, we acknowledge receipt of your complaint about bank charges. We believe that your complaint concerns the level, fairness or lawfulness of the charges. If it concerns something else, such as an administrative error, please let us know. We believe the charges are fair, transparent and lawful. Please be advised the banks has not become involved in legal proceedings with the office of fair trading (OFT) in relation to bank charges which we believe will resolve the legal issues regarding the fairness and legality of your bank charges. It would be our normal approach to resolve your complaint through our internal complaints process as quickly as possible. However, until the determination of the legal issues in the above proceedings. We have asked the financial services authority (FSA) to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with bank charges complaints, and the FSA has agreed to this request subject to conditions that project your rights. We can assure you we have registered and stored your complaint. Please retain your bank records, as this will make it easier for you to support your complaint on resolution of the test case. Once the legal proceedings between the OFT and the banks finish, we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. We are sorry that we have not been able to respond in full to your complaint now, but we (together with the FSA and the OFT) think that it is necessary to resolve the key legal issues before we decide how we should respond to you complaint. Obviously exactly what will happen next will depend on the courts. We do not know how long the case will take – we have promised to proceed as quickly as possible but inevitably given the importance of the issues being considered this may take many months to finally resolve. But we can assure you that once the legal proceedings are completed we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. If at that stage you do not agree with our conclusions you will of course be able to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) (or the courts). Given this court case we have asked the FOS not to proceed with any other case they are hearing until the test case is resolved. FOS has indicated that as a general proposition it will indeed not proceed with cases which rely on the legal issues being considered in the test case. Similarly, you should be aware that if you choose to issue a claim in the courts, the bank will immediately apply to the courts for an order to stay your action until resolution of the bank’s proceedings with the OFT. Does anyone know what I should do next. when I sent the prelim letter I included the bottom paragraphe In considering this request for repayment, your attention is drawn to the Press Release issued by the FSA on 27th July, which states: "Consumers who are in very difficult financial circumstances - 'hardship cases' Banks and building societies will have to conduct a filtering process to ensure that cases of genuine hardship are still dealt with during the waiver period. Cases of hardship would still be entitled to be referred to, and dealt with by, the FOS." I believe that my personal circumstances fall within this category because during the time off charges levied against me I was in receipt of hardship benefits from the department of work pensions, proof can be seen on my bank account records So does this mean that they still need to act on my request or are to in the right. Please help I think that I have left it too long.

i will do thanks

yes thankyou again for the advice will keep you all up to date. I sent my letter off today 1st class recorded delivery, so gonna check royal mail website tomorrow. Then sit back an wait to see if they reply.

hope so fingers crossed

Thanks ukaviator, Can you change my username as well As am worried now Jo