I cant trust anyone, if that seems harsh then i am sorry. My mum died because she had a stomach ulcer that went undiagnosed, and was sent home being told she had a water infection. It burst later that day, she had an op, which was unsuccessful. she then had another operation where they were supposed to remove her whole stomach, (being a long term steroid dependant asthmatic there was no way her body would of been able to repair itself from just a patch up job) They did a patch up job, and her body couldn't repair itself. She then had an asthma attack, which we told the doctors she would have (her attacks were always associated with her monthly cycle) they didn't increase her medication, then followed massive organ failure and the machines being switched off. It may seem harsh that i don't trust healthcare professionals, but during the whole time my mum was in hospital 16days, they told us she was getting better, then for them to turn around and say "we don't know what you have heard, but she is never going to get any better" and to hear that at 16 makes me bitter, and untrusting. The doctors admitted that they were negligent, but killing someone has a capped compensation,and all we wanted was for them to admit it was their mistake, and to take better precautions in the future. With my son, the way i was dismissed as an overprotective mother, and his symptoms dismissed as a virus "couldn't possibly be anything else" I can't trust people who have caused me so much pain, and put my family through so much heartache. If it was you, and your family, im sure you would find it hard to be trusting again.

Thanks for your response Poppynurse, I see what you are saying, but with your medical background in mind, if you saw a child that was having seizures (constant eye & mouth twitching in jacobs case) with a stiff arm and leg (just realised i forgot to add that bit to story, soz) would you say it was a Virus? The fact that it was all dismissed as a Virus wasted valuable time, im sure your aware that anurisyms are a time bomb, and the increase in pressure from increase bleeding from it caused more seizures, and the bigger the clot the more brain damage etc in his case. On part 3 the anurism did undoubtedly cause the damage, it was bleeding, but the increase in bleeding delayed the diagnosis, the clot was so big that the only way to locate the anurism was the carotid angiogram. So on this case i am unsure whether it counts, because the anurism did do the damage, but the delay in diagnosis allowed it to continue doing damage, as they couldn't find the cause because it was hidden. I know the case will be hard to prove, one way or the other i am not expecting them to accept liability, i just want some justice for my son, and for his suffering - daily seizures, medicine that stops him doing all the things he wants (it makes him so tired after taking it he has to have a 2hour nap, i have forgotten to give it to him on time before, and then i have my happy smiling boy back) I would like to think i can handle the tedious legal system in order to have something for him. I think at the end of the day I know how close i came to losing him, and if i had continued to take his advice (even when i knew his diagnosis was wrong) then Jacob wouldn't be here at all today. I just think some people are so accepting of what all professionals say that they doubt their own gut feelings, and this could lead to all sorts of unnecersary suffering.

Firstly i would like to say that I have no faith in the NHS, GP's or any health care professionals, please don't take it personal if i come across as being vindictive. I lost my mum due to gross negligence of her surgeon performing the wrong operation on her, and ignoring her medical history when treating her, i was 16 at the time, and i admit that i am bitter about it all. My son was 7 weeks old when i took him to the GPs emergency afternoon clinic, he was listless, had no appetite, his eye and mouth was twitching on one side and he couldn't stop dribbling (he wasnt teething).My GP dismissed it as a virus and he said "it couldn't possibly b anything else other than an extremly rare stomach disorder, which in my opinion its not" From his tone he viewed me as an overprotective mum and someone who was wasting his time. That day he didn't improve, in the end i called NHS direct who put me straight through to a doctor, i described Jacobs symptoms to her, and she immediately called an emergency ambulance for him. He was given anti-convulsants, and given an EEG the next day, which showed he was having 'silent seizures' (ones that were not visably apparent) He later went for a CT scan which showed a large haemorrhage on his brain, he was transferred to a specialist hospital that night with a childrens neuro ward. He underwent many more scans, MRI, CT and monitered carefully. Due to the size of the clot they were unable to see the underlying cause. In the end they had to perform a carotid angiogram,where they found a massive anuryrism on his brain. So when he was almost 9weeks old he had to undergo major brain surgery. The anuryrism was the biggest that his surgeon had seen in 20yrs of neurosurgery, so big he took pictures for training purposes (it was huge and a nasty pic, and very wierd to see a picture of your 8 week old babies brain) Anyhow, he was home on anti convulsants shortly after, he stayed on them for 3 months, then was taken off of them. Then a few months later he started having motor seizures again, and had to spend another week in hospital, where they put him back on anti-convulsants. Since then we have had it confirmed that due to the extent of the clot on his brain he has slight brain damage. Although being only 2 now, we dn't know the extent to which it will effect him. It is likely that he will have to spend the rest of hs life on anti-convulsants which make him moody, and very sleepy, and there are no guarentees that his seizures may not get worse as time goes on, so where do i stand? We have contacted a firm that claims for medical negligence, and awaiting to hear from the solicitors. But i am not sure what it all intails, and whether misdiagnosing something like this, and the fact that the extent of the blood clot caused brain damage (which may of been able to be picked up earlier) and if the clot had been found sooner, and smaller then the anuryism would have been picked up and not done so much damage. Does anyone have any experiance of medical negligence or haemorrhages etc. Or have any idea how i go about proving that my silly GP was negligent.

My husband works for E-on, (which is Powergen) and he said did you give them regular readings? If not it is likely that this sum comes from them underestimating your gas usage. If this is the case then E-on will continue to try to recover this debt from you, as strictly speaking (from thier point of view not mine) it is your responsibility to ensure you give regular readings so that you are not over or under charged. And as far as they are concerned you used the gas. Did this come from the last bill, before you changed suplier? It might be an idea to trawl through bank statements from that time (if you have them and paid by DD) Its not uncommon for them to make the odd mistake (although i never said that ) especially as they have been taken over by e-on. Hope this helps.... if not feel free to ask a few more questions and i will bug my hubby for answers Emmie

Hi Emma, If you were on benefits at the time you recieved the charges and this shows up on the account clearly (eg they were paid directly by the dss or the tax credit people) then you can still claim this money back, as legally they were never allowed to touch it in the first place. Try this letter out.... RE: Unlawful bank charges following wrongful appropriation of welfare benefits – request for refund for [name], Sort code: ******, Account number: ****** I write with respect to the application of the charges to my account (see overleaf) I am of the view that your charges are irrecoverable in law. As you know the monies in my account derive from [Child Tax Credits, Child benefit, Child Support and Income support etc]. This is confirmed by my bank records. The Law Commission concede that social security benefits are exempt from wrongful appropriation in terms of section 187 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 & Section 45 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 is an identical provision to the said section 187 of the 1992 Act. It is therefore trite law that tax credits and other such maintenance or social security benefits are exempt from arrestment. The case of Woods v Royal Bank of Scotland is authority for the proposition that where exempt monies are paid into a bank account, those monies remain exempt from arrestment insofar as such monies can be clearly identified within an account. Accordingly, you have erred in law in arresting exempt monies in my account. You cannot impose administrative or penalty charges for your legal error. I would therefore ask you to refund said charges to my account within the next 7 days, failing which I will commence an action for payment and wrongful diligence without any further notice. Yours faithfully If that fails you can always complain to the financial ombudsman who agree that this law still applies, and they will forward on a complaint to the bank on your behalf. It can be long winded, cos the FOS will only properly interviene (sorry rubbish spelling) after 8 weeks, but the banks will be forced to refund the money after this time. Also it is worth noting that the OFT test case has a hardship clause so that genuine cases of hardship are dealt with, and if natwest don't do this then the OFT will withdraw the waiver for them (so i understand it) If they have confirmed that you are a genuine hardship case they are NOT allowed to put your case on hold till after the test case! Good luck! Emmie:)

Bit of a long one here, so please bare with me.... I have a joint bank account, and recently used my first right of appropriation to ensure that the money going in to it (cheque for housing benefit) would remain in my account to pay council tax arrears. The bank were very good about this, spoke to the manager the following day, discussed what DD i wanted to go through etc. My husband has a managed loan with the same bank, which gets paid monthly through our joint account. Unfortunately a year and a half ago we defaulted 2 payments due to moving and a period without ajob. The first time we were made aware of this was a few months ago when the bank started to call us demanding payment. Which due to having three small children and more pressing bills we couldnt afford to pay. ANYHOW for the past few months we have been harrassed by the bank constantly over the phone for this money, and they have never appreciated that we can't afford to pay off anymore money each month, so i sent them the harrassment letter off of CAG. The other night the bank phoned again, for the fourth day in a row, and i answered the phone, the woman said she didn't want to discuss it with me as its not my loan. I refused to let her speak to my partner, as per the letter requiring written corespondance. She told me "we will continue to phone until we talk to your husband" I just replied that i would report them to Offcom. I thought that would be the end of it, but i looked at my bank account that evening and the account showed that the arrears had been taken from my account, without my consent. Went to my branch, they were great, and showed me that the person who i had spoken to had written down that we had agreed to pay off £107. Which we had not, and she didn't even speak to my partner about the matter, and he (as the bank keep telling me is the only one they can talk to) didn't even talk to them. I have the details from the bank about who called, and reference numbers etc, and they refunded the money and put a note on my account. I thought that would be the end of it, but the bank have ignored my branch and taken the money again! Heres the thing.... If neither myself or my husband agreed to the money being taken out, and this woman made it up (which she did) then where do i stand from a legal point? I want to make her pay for all this hassle, Im not vndictive, but for someone to just take my money without asking and say we said they could! Is this fraud? can i sue them for this? etc... Any help and advice welcome, and sorry for waffling!

I took in a letter of appropriation to HSBC yesterday when i paid in a cheque for housing benefit, which i need this money to pay off council tax arrears by the 31st (or else i will be in court that day) Had a call from the manage today asking me what i wanted to go through DD wise, told him to send them all back as i needed the money. Just checked the bank balance and the bank have taken money for the managed loan arrears. This was never agreed upon, in fact i have told them repeatedly that we can not afford to pay the arrears (which is only £106.60, and we will have finished paying the loan off by August) I don't really know what regs they have broken here.... anyone know? I am going to go into branch tomorrow to kick up a huge fuss, and drag kids along too, but i don't know what to say to them, well nothing that isn't swearing and bad language. Please Help!

Got some GOOD NEWS I just thought i would share with everyone here about my interesting day! Had an awful day, arguing with Abbey about the rights of appropriation and taking my kids money (child benefit) for punitive charges, thus leaving me with no money to buy my children nappies etc. Anyhow... as per usual with Shabbey i got the usual rubbish reply, 4 weeks to sort out etc. I soon got fed up bashing head against a brick wall talking to them, and letters would do no immediate good. So i called the financial ombudsman to put in a compaint about rights of appropriation and Abbey not observing mine. I also asked about benefits, and social security act, tax credit act etc and They said, and i quote "the law regarding social security administration act, and tax credit acts still stands (in the UK as well as in Scotland), and are not covered by the OFT test case" therefore you can reclaim your charges from benefits! They are now writing to Abbey to tell them to refund all of my benefit money taken from bankers charges. So if any of you have had problems with benefits being taken from your bank account in punitive charges then contact the financial ombudsman! The law stands, and they will ensure that the bank adheres to it! HAPPY DAYS The reason i write this is because there is much confusion about benefits and charges! just passing on some good news from the FOS

My hubbys ex wife was a thief, she stole money that was set aside for tax as he was self employed, which left him with over £6000 debts to the inland revenue. (which she admitted to) She decieved him when it came to money matters, it is partly his fault for not paying attention to bills coming in, and letting her deal with it, he has always been far too trusting. She even hacked his hacked his emails to find out what he was doing after them being separated, an told his family about him having a girlfriend (me) which meant his family no longer talk to him (they are very religious) Although it may not sound believable, or libellous infact, but this is the truth of the matter his relationship was not built on trust in the end, just the coldness of someone elses actions, which led to over £20,000 in debts. Which i have to deal with, his burying his head in the sand hasn't helped matters. I don't have any statements from the account, and it hasn't been used since they just before their divorce came through (April 2003) It no longer exists. But Abbey have passed the debt to a collection agency. My husband has hardly seen any information on the account, other than a piece of paper showing a forgery of his signature. Emmie ps they have been separated for 5 yrs.

I recieved this reply to a standard appropriation letter that i sent last week, and I just want to know if anyone knows what abbey are on about... We are writing to let you know that we have received your complaint. Thank you for contacting us and telling us about your concerns. At Abbey we want to keep our customers happy, however we know that sometimes things can go wrong and we welcome complaints as an opportunity to improve the service we offer you. In the first instance, your comments need to be addressed by the area of Abbey you have an issue with. As some of our products have specialist complaint teams, I have forwarded your complaint to the relevant department to be investigated. We try our best to resolve complaints quickly. If we are unable to do this within 4 weeks, we will contact you to update you with our progress. To find out more about the Complaints Procedure we have set up to make sure you receive a quick and fair reply - please visit our website: www.abbey.com and search for ‘Complaints' using the search facility in the top right-hand corner of our homepage. If you would like to talk to us about anything else please give us a call. To find the most appropriate telephone number, please visit our homepage, and: · Click on ‘Contact Us' in the top right-hand corner · Click on the relevant product type · Click on the red ‘By phone' tab They sent me this pile of rubbish through email, and failed to honour my request for appropriation. Soooo now what? letters are useless, and to be honest i can't even afford a stamp at the moment. so where do i go from here?

Im afraid this is a long one.... and complicated. My husband used to be married to a EDIT, she was an edit woman, who has been the bane of our lives since we met. Basically this (EDIT chucked my husband out (because she was having an affair, go figure!), leaving him with nothing. Then when they divorced she took him for every last penny he had, and pennies he didn't had. He ended up having to get a 10k managed loan, and his parents had to get one to help with the loans too.... Anyhow, recently he has been recieving letters from a debt collection agency claiming he owes money from an Abbey account he supposedly opened up, problem is he has never had an Abbey account. He has seen a copy of his "signature" from the bank, but although its not his signature, he can't prove it. This account was from 1999. Does anyone have any idea where to go from here? does he really have to prove its not his signature? is there a way to do that? He tried to contact the police who sid without any proof he couldn't prove that the EDIT did anything. any idea what the next step is? Surely he shouldn't have to pay back money that he never spent! Any ideas gladly recieved

Hiya Lee, There is always something you can do, and breaking the data protection act is a big deal! If abbey has broken the data protection act (and from what i have read they definately have) then it might be worth telling them that, and pointing out the distress it has caused you, and that you intend to complain to the Information commissioners office regarding the matter. You will probably find that Abbey are more approachable, and more willing to listen when faced with an investigation from them. Its also worth noting that you can claim compensation for distress caused by this whole charade. But theres lots of info on the ICO.gov.uk website, worth checking it out... Hope this helps a bit more Em:p

Thanks for that info, i get tax credits, and working tax credits, housing and council tax benefits. My hubby is only on £15,725 per annum, so we don't have a lot coming in, but we have a lot going out, and i just can't afford to pay to get the money back i need to live off of, thats what really sucks!

I want to take abbey to court for taking £3000 out of my benefits, but in order to do this through Mcol i would need to pay out £120, but i am on benefits, and because the banks continue to suck up my benefits despite me using letters of appropriation and informing them of my hardship i have no money to pay this fee... yet i can't afford to live without this money! So i just want to know if there is anyway to make a claim without paying money, or whether it is possible to pay it over time? Any help gladly appreciated! Emmie:confused:

Ps. its only too late if the money was taken over six years ago, and if you contact moorcroft its best to write to them, as my experiance with them tells me they dont bother to listen, and can be very demanding bordering on intimidating