Thank you for your prompt reply. I am still a little unclear about the statute barred system, I will try and find more info on this site. Should I send these letters to Barclaycard and Mastercard or the new claimants; Calder and RMA?

Two credit card debts Barclaycard and Mastercard were defaulted on many moons ago when I became too ill to work. They agreed to revoke the credit cards, stop interest and let me pay £7 & £10 per month respectively. Over the last 10+ years, cccasionally, I've missed a payment and got final demands which I've successfully re-negotiated to continue my payment plan, but not this time, they've "had enough". I've now got two demands from two different DCA's which I've since learnt are actually Barclaycards in-house, namely Calder Financial and [EDITED OUT DUE TO INACCURACY]. MrMT. I've read many relevant posts but am still unsure how to proceed. The last post I read was from an ex BC employee who said if I withhold payment for seven years, it will be written off? Is that true? I am on long-term disability benefit and my future income is unlikely to improve while household bills have rocketed, I just can't afford to pay them. What should I do? [Rant]It's fine for the Gum'ment to bail out the millionaire bank bosses but why can't I have my debts written off, I've surely paid back all I borrowed plus a lot more in interest while I was earning? [/Rant]

Hi, can anyone please advise me? Due to my oversight, I've been using electric for a year without being billed and now there's a demand for the full amount. I called the electric company and asked if they would set up a direct debit account so the arrears could be paid off as well as covering future bills. They refused my offer and told me they cannot set up an account until at least 50% of the arrears are paid. I am long-term disability so do not have that sort of money spare, what are my options as the representative couldn't offer any alternative.

My sister advised me to complete the DLA form but I failed to express myself well so never did submit it. I know I'm losing out but I've had some really bad experiences just trying to keep my I.S. with disability allowance! The last straw was having to appeal to a tribunal and the stress of waiting etc.

I thought I might add my own experience on this topic, having been stopped driving a car that the police computer said was not insured. The asked me to step out of the vehicle "assisting a crime?" and to get in the back of theirs "arrested?" and explained to me the reason for stopping me lawfully going about my business. When I told them I had FC on my own car they checked it using the VRM which showed I was telling the truth. They then began questioning me about a recorded event some 20+ years ago tagged to my name but subsequently released me without further action.

Hi, I moved last year and, like you I "overlooked" changing the address on a SORN'd vehicle. It came to light when I rememered my omission last month and immediately declared SORN online. Then I called DVLA and spoke to a helpful woman that informed me reminders and subsequent penalties had been sent to the registered (my old) address which I obviously didn't receive. I'd been fined £40 which doubled to £80 due to non-payment. She was willing to allow me to pay £40 "due to my circumstance of not knowing I'd be fined" so I gratefully paid there and then. Case closed. Basically, put aside your fears and talk to DVLA asap is my advice.

Hello Hopeful1 Without any obvious reference I had to accept their "advice" even though I knew deep down something more could be done. Having found this website and forums, I'm a little better informed and so decided to register and make my post. I shall take your advice about complaints procedures and take it from there. Thank you. Rooster-UK You can count on that! Thank you too. Mike

Hi, am I so glad to find this forum and all the kind and helpful people it takes to run it. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Looking at other's claims running into thousands of pounds I feel I'm making a mountain out of mole hill but I have two good reasons for being here. Firstly, I dislike bullies and secondly, I am long-term disabled living on a poverty income so every penny counts. So what am I bleating about? A failed DD charge levied on me for not having adequate funds. How did it occur? I use online banking and thought I'd amended a current DD mandate that was set up to pay my monthly rent. While I thought I'd altered the end date payment to co-incide with the last rental payment I had to make, according to A&L I had actually setup a duplicate DD payment which resulted in them trying to pay my rent twice. As I don't have spare money the second DD failed leaving me with a charge. I initially called them to protest but they refused to discuss it because of the ongoing test case. I enquired again earlier this year at a local branch to be told the same thing. My argument is that I did not create a second DD or if I did, then I would like to see how and why I made such a costly mistake. Without knowing exactly what I did enter on the webpage (my memory isn't photographic!) I cannot lay any blame on them. So my first plea for help is to ask how can I get a record of what exactly was entered or clicked on when I created said DD? Secondly, is a failed DD charge regarded as unfair/overpriced and can I reclaim it? Thanks in advance, Mike

Hi, new member just joined. Are you still in need of these T&C's? I don't know what I have, if any, but are they dated so I know what I'm sending, if and when I can? Mike

Hi Lex, Sorry it's Alliance & Leicester so I'm off to that forum now. Thanks! Keep up the good work Mike.

Hi, I'm Mike, an angry and frustrated consumer who is fed up with Rip-Off Britain bullies treating us like cash-cows. I have initially joined this forum to see if it can help me reclaim or avoid costs I can ill-afford. This post concerns a "mistake" I made and the subsequent penalty incurred which, when queried, was told could not be dealt with (2007) because of the outstanding court case on bank charges. I think the case has now been concluded so wish to learn more. To sum up, I wanted to amend a direct debit payment I had previously set up to pay my monthly rent as I had been given notice to quit the address. Unbeknown to me, instead of amending the end date, they tell me I actually set up a duplicate payment which was presented that month, after I'd paid my rent hence it was declined because of lack of funds. They charged me for a failed direct debit payment and refused to discuss the issue because of the ongoing court case. What, if anything, can I do please? Thanks in advance, Mike