If payment for work done previously is received after someone has started receiving Pension Credit, does it have to be declared? If it is declared, will the Pension Credit be docked?

Could someone please help me with the following questions: 1. If payment is received from previous work after someone has started receiving Pension Credit does that payment have to be declared and will it be deducted from the Pension Credit? 2. If a person starts a part-time job while receiving pension credit will wages for that job be deducted from Pension Credit, or is there a certain amount that can be earned before deductions kick in?

Can someone who is knowledgeable on pensions law please tell me whether Pension Credit payments have to stop at the age when a person would normally qualify for the State Pension or can they continue as a 'topping up' measure if the person concerns does not qualify for the full retirement pension?

WHAT is the position is someone is (a) receiving pension credit or (b) the old-age pension?

IT might not be much use to an individual but it would be extremely useful to anyone in the media investigating bailiff abuse!

THERE is no need to be terrified. As long as you have not previously granted permission for the bailiff to enter your home, he is POWERLESS, and he knows it: that's why he was so angry when you spoke to him. If a bailiff or anyone you suspect of being a bailiff calls, do not open the door and do not even speak to them, and of course make sure that all doors and windows are closed so that he cannot gain entry. The charges he is trying to extort from you are grossly excessive. The correct charges are £24.50 for a first visit, plus £18 for a subsequent visits. Your best bet is to complain in writing, in the strongest possible terms, to the council about the threatening behaviour of their bailiff, pointing out that as the bailiff co is under contract to the council, the council is responsible for the bailiffs' behaviour. Asl at the same time for the council to take back your account, and start paying them anyway, in affordable instalments, electronically or by standing order. DO NOT send money to the bailiff and deal only with the council. Once you have started paying them, they are not going to refuse your money.

British Gas are threatening to charge me £14 because I have not been able to settle my bill, despite paying £10 weekly. As this is less than they have demanded, they have taken me off their instalment plan and are demanding I pay the balance in full and have given me ten days to do so. My questions are as follows: 1. Is the £14 charge legal, or is it something that needs to be taken to the courts in the same way as excessive bank charges have beeen? 2. How can I, and others in the same situation, launch a legal challenge against British Gas over their excesssive charges? 3. How the hell can tBritish Gas expect anyone to pay their penalty charge if they do not provide proof that the amount asked for actually represents the true cost to them of sending out a reminder, etc? I believe that £14 is a grossly exaggerated charge and that they are cynically and immorally trying to extort unjustified extra profits from people who are genuinely unable to pay. 3. I intend to complain to British Gas, telling them that I refuse to pay the £14. If they refuse to cancel the charge, who can I complain to? I believe there used to be a regulator called Energy Watch, but I understand that they no longer exist. Any advice would be appreciated.

IF the council are stupid enough to send back your postal order, send it straight back to them with a note saying that you demand that they accept it for the year that you have specificied. And to make them see sense, complain about their silliness to your local councillor. In future, though, it would be better to pay them by Standing Order if you have a usable bank account or, if you have a credit or debit card, you can pay online.

It seems from your first post that the bailiff only made one visit to your home. If that is the case, he can only charge for one visit, i.e. £24.50.

IS there any way you can hide your car? If not, perhaps the best thing to do is to TEMPORARILY go on dealing with the bailiffs but, at the same time, gather together all the evidence you can about their unlawful behaviour, such as their illegal letter charges, and report them to the council, saying that, as the bailiffs have tried to defraud you, you demand that the council take back the account. If the council refuses, you can then complain to your local councillor and get him/her to intervene on your behalf. From what you have said, the correct bailiff charges so far are: £24.50 for their first visit (if such a visit has taken place) and £18 for their second visit (if it has happened). As they have not succeeded in levying on your property they cannot add on extra charges, no matter how many times they call at your address. To stay the bailiffs' hands as far as your car is concerned, I think you should send them a strongly worded letter about their illegal charges and demand a breakdown of what they claim you owe.

I THINK you can take it as read that the £250 went straight into his pocket. Ask the bailiff company for a breakdown of your account. You need to be free of these vultures, so I suggest that you ask the council to take back the account and that you put them in the picture concerning the bailiff fees and your personal difficulties. If you have difficulty in getting the account taken back, speak to your local councillor. If you are eligible for a 20 per cent student discount, then obviously you should point this out to the council.but are you sure you should be paying council tax at all if you are a student? Full-time students are often exempt from council tax.

MY understanding is that if, for example, a bailiff looks through a window and spots, say, a computer or TV and puts it on a WPO but it is not signed by the home's occupant then it is not valid. In any case, as the bailiff in such a case would not have gained entry, the WPO is UNENFORCEABLE. I

BEFORE you do anything else, you need to find out how much the bailiffs are trying to charge you in fees over and above the amount owed to the council. The chances are that they are over-charging you - a common bailiff practice - in which case you will find that you owe less than you previously thought. Also, you need to find out whether the Walking Possession Orders are valid. Have you, for example, actually signed a WPO or are the bailiffs trying to charge you for a WPO you have never signed? And have the bailiffs ever been allowed into your home? Do you know the name of the bailiffs that have visited? if you do, you can check with the Ministry of Justic whether they are properly registered. Sometime it turns out that they are not! One other point: the bailiff is lying when he says your husband will probably be sent to prison. As you have not deliberately refused to pay and have made what you consider to be reasonable offers, that is simply not going to happen.

THERE'S no law that says you have to deal with bailiffs. They are no more than tinpot private companies who happen to have a contract with the council. I would advise you to break off all contact with the bailiffs and start paying the council direct (they are not going to refuse your money!). Eventually, Jacobs will get the message and return the account to the council anyway. If in the meatime the company attempts to contact you, refuse to speak to them. They are not the police, and they have absolutely no hold over you (unless you choose to let them). Forget about them, and solve your problem by paying off your debt, at a more reasonable rate than Jacobs would charge you, direct to the council.

I would suggest you report this to the council. Do it first personally or on the phone so that they know about this as soon as possible and then repeat what you have said in writing, and make sure you keep a copy. As for your question of where did the bailiff get his extra charges, the answer is almost certainly that he concocted them out of the blue because he was hoping you would be ignorant of the law! And, as others have said, don't open the door if he pays a visit or if you suspect any visitor is a bailiff. Finally, treat the bailiffs with the contempt they deserve. In other words 'sack' them and deal only with the council.

YOU pay the council anyway, but only what you can reasonably afford, and you continue paying them in affordable amounts until the debt is clear. They cannot refuse to take your payments, but pay them by Standing Order not by Direct Debit, as in the latter case they can unilaterally change the amount taken. Bailiffs, by the way, cannot charge your for letters: they are just trying it on. Have you ever let the bailiffs into your home or signed a Walking Possession agreement? If you have not, then the bailiffs cannot enter your home unless they find an open door or window, but you should try to hide your car, if you have one, as they could take that. The only amount they can reasonably charge you are, first visit £24.50 and £18 for a second visit. No matter how many times they waste their time calling after that, they cannot add on extra charges.

The DWP have told me they are going to deduct £3.25 from my Pension Credit, as requested by my council in connection with council-tax arrears. They claim in their letter that I have 'no right of appeal', and I want to dispute this. 1. Do I have the legal right to challenge the 'no right of appeal' ruling on the grounds that it is a violation of my rights under the Human Rights Act, and do I have any other recourse? It seems downright authoritarian and utterly unacceptable for these people to reach a decision behind closed doors and then attempt to deprive me of the right to query it, and I intend to use every available avenue to do so. 2. Is it possible to challenge the deduction on the grounds that I received no prior notification from the council of their intention to apply to the DWP for the deduction to be made?

THE fact that he levied on a broom and other odds and ends outside your house does not give him the right to break into your home. He's just trying to frighten you. You should, however, try and hide your car, if you have one, as he would be able to levy on that if he found it. BUT, the best bet is to get the council to call him off and to write a strongly worded complaint (by email and recorded delivery) to the bailiff company in order to scare them off in the meantime. And PLEASE, as you were threatened, PURSUE THIS MATTER WITH THE POLICE. As you've got witnesses, it looks to me that you've got a very strong case for having the man arrested, but the police will not do anything unless they're pushed.

My understanding is that, even with a WPO, they first have to notify you when they intend to come and take your goods, i.e. they can't just turn up without notification. But, if someone's circumstances change after they have singed a wpo, their best bet is to go back to the council and explain their difficulties and ask for the bailiff to be called off. But the best bet of all is NEVER to sign a WPO in the first place.!

I suggest that you report the matter to your local councillor and ask for his/her assistance in having the account returned to the council, which should be possible as it seems that you are a vulnerable person. Moreover, even if the council refuse to take back the debt, there is nothing to stop you from paying them anyway, either by cheque or standing order: there is no law that says you have to deal with the bailiffs, and I would advise you to refuse to do so. I think, also, you should get back to the police and insist that, as a victim of threatening behaviour, which can be verified by a number of witnesses, you want the bailiff to be arrested. Please don't be fobbed off and, if you have to, insist that you speak to a senior officer. Make sure, too, that the police give you a crime number, and keep plugging away at the police until they do something. To stop the bailiff returning, you should also write a brief complaint to the bailiff company explaining that you refuse to deal with a company that behaves in such a manner, that you are a vulnerable person and that you have complained to the police and the council. My guess is that, once they know you mean business, they will back off and give up. If, however, the bailiff or one of his cronies again visits your address, don't open the door and don't even speak to him through the letterbox or window. He is powerless, and he knows it!

I'm not sure about that. Locking everyone inside almost certainly constitutes the crime of UNLAWFUL IMPRISONMENT. I don't think the police, even though they are generally useless on bailiff law, would have allowed that, and I think that the bailiffs concerned should now be prosecuted under the criminal law.

YOU don't have to pay 'in full', i.e. in one go, and you don't have to pay the bailiffs. If you wish, you can make all future payments direct to the council, and YOU should make the decision regarding how much you can afford. Don't let anyone else tell you how much you should pay. If you want to pay the council direct, pay by Standing Order (not by Direct Debit). They cannot refuse to accept your payment. If the bailiffs turn up at your door, ignore them. They are paper-tigers. They only have a right to enter and take your property if you let them in or if they find an open door or window.

THERE'S no need to inform the council about the Standing Order. They will find out soon enough! As for your fears of a confrontation with the bailiff, this is understandable but please believe me when I say that these people are all bluff and bluster and have zero powers as long as you don't let them into your home. After they have found out that you are paying the council direct, they will eventually give up when they find that you are not going to change your mind.

HAVE YOU let the bailiffs into your home and signed a Walking Possession Order in respect of the latest council-tax bill? If the answer is no, then the bailiffs are powerless and there's no need for you deal with them. Although the council may not accept a payment plan, they cannot refuse to accept any payments you make to them direct (the best way to do this is by Standing Order. You need to decide how much you can afford, which will probably be less than you are paying the bailiffs, and make regular payments to the council. Providing that you have never let them into your home or signed a Walking Possession Order, you should refuse to have further dealings with the bailiffs. If they come to your home, ignore them; don't open the door and don't even speak to them. Remember, they are only pretending to have power over you. One other thing: check their charges, to see by how much they have attempted to over-charge you, which is often (even usually) what bailiffs do, and if you find they have tried to defraud you come back to this site for advice on how you can make them pay you back. The correct charges, when no levy has been made, are: £24.50 for a first visit and £18 for a second. They cannot charge for subsequent calls, no matter how many times they visit.