I had a telephone call from British gas, they said is this Mr MYNAME, I said maybe, how can I help, they said they were from British gas and they need to settle my last bill because I have moved supplier and can they have my credit card details, they went on telling me how much it was and that they needed payment today to avoid legal steps being taken. I told them to send me a bill in the post and I will settle it when I get it, he again said I need payment today because if he issues a bill it will take 5 to 10 days to get here and he cant guarantee that legal proceeding will not be taken in that time. I said if you think I am going to give my credit card details to a random person who rings me on the phone you are very much mistaken, he then said I can prove to you that I am British gas and starting spouting all my past payment and personal details, I then told him that you have just rung a telephone number and you have not confirmed who the other person is and you give this person all my personal information, does the data protection act not apply to British Gas. I said send me a bill and I will settle it when I receive it, he insisted on getting my credit card details there and then, I repeated that I do not give my credit card details to anyone especially someone who has no respect for the data protection act. I told him again to send a bill and he just went over the same routine, he needs it now, I repeated my spiel about giving my details over the phone, I went around in this loop about 3 or 4 times and decided to cut him off. I have transferred from BG because they are carp, I am sure I need to settle the outstanding amount, but I want a bill to see exactly what I am paying, I will never give my card details to anyone who rings me over the phone. If someone rings me is confirming my name enough to satisfy the data protection act (even though I didn't confirm my name in this instance)? some companies ring up and ask personal questions to confirm that I am who I say I am, I always say that I am not prepared to give my personal information to random callers, and ask them for personal information about me to confirm that I know who they are, they never do (Except BG in this instance), if this is the case neither party can confirm who they are without breaking the data protection act rules or myself giving personal information which I am not prepared to do for basic security reasons, so therefore the call can not take place. I am expecting the usual threats of immediate payment or death by harrasment and quite happy to deal with iit until I get a breakdown of the charge and I get enough money to pay it. This was with BG in this instance but could equally be any other supplier or DCA.

Should I put my PO Box on the forum or email/PM someone, my PO box is all over the net on my various websites, I don't mind people ringing me to clear all my debts for £1000 down payments I get them all the time as long as its their telephone bill Im OK to chat to them.

Everyone has tried to be very helpful here, there have been a few posts that try to make me feel guilty into taking the gifts, I appreciate that these are meant in the best intentions but I have enough guilt and blame hanging over my head for being in these circumstances it really hasn't helped, as I have said I understand why they were said and continued without taking them to heart. I would be happy to accept your gifts, this would allow us to use the cash I earn to pay some outstanding debts, repair things that need repairing, (why does everything break when you don't have any cash?) toilet seat, lounge light etc. Would it be OK if I gave my company PO BOX, I am not too bothered about unwelcome visitors I am so used to them by now that we don't answer the door anyway. But please only send things with the knowledge that I will be getting my finances sorted shortly.

Well thanks again for your support, my last post was basically saying that I would accept your support but I guess the meaning got a bit lost in translation, sorry, as you know I have a lot on my plate at the moment. There is however some good new, I had just received a grilling from the other half about not getting the job I applied for, I went upstairs and there was a confirmation of start email sat in my inbox, I have a 6 month contract repairing computers, the daily rate is not as much as I used to earn but as much as I spend a month on food at the moment. I start on Monday. I am paid weekly so will get 2 pay checks before Christmas. Thanks again for your offers of help, you are the best.

Had a visit from the Bailiff today, knocked twice and waited 15 seconds left a letter and went away, then i got another letter in the post from Rundle and Co with very similar information as the bailiffs letter, the same letter that I have had loads of so far with red banners in different places, how did they manage before colour laser printers, I can just imagine them with their red felt pens filling in the boxes. Should I send a letter to the Council asking them that when they get the debt back to liase with ther assesment panel and see if they can reduce my council tax so I can pay my outstanding amount, they have reduced my charge this year but still expect me to pay an extra amount for the arrears, cant the 2 get together and work my arrears payments into my assesment for this year. Not sure if that sentance makes sense ask me if you need clarification.

You have all put me in a difficult spot, I don't feel as though I deserve all this help, I can not explain why but I feel like a fake and I shouldn't accept your help, I feel as though I should be the one helping, that is why I applied to be a PCSO I love to help people worse off than me or who don't know how to or cant look after themselves. But when I see my son all excited and saying what he will do when Santa comes, makes me want to accept it. You can not possibly imagine how difficult this is for me.

I did it myself, I didn't want the account moved over straight away just opened it so I had a safety net if things went bottoms up.

We put the trimmings up yesterday and he loved doing that, its a bit early but he is so excited. We invested in some Hyacinth bulbs for 90p and planted them so he can watch them grow, I think he wanted them to grow a bit quicker though. To set the record straight I am male and I live with my partner, she is a bit of a worrier so I am sorting the finances and she makes the most of the little cash we have for meals, currently £75 a month family allowance (or whatever its called now). I am a normally confident person, I applied for a job in the Police Force in May, had an interview 2 months a go and haven't heard since, their supposed to be a people company. I am trying to get a job as a computer engineer in the mean time. Despite my confidence I shake every time there is a knock on the door, A Bailiff came as I wrote this post, we never answer the door, even the postie gets ignored when he knocks, I feel so sorry for people without my normal confidence they must quake with fear. There is 1 thing that this forum has given me and that is I to not fear the post coming through the door, every nasty letter can be another nail in the coffin for my creditors.

The liability order was under £800 I will sort through my paperwork and find out for sure. The problem I have is the debt is last years debt, I have been assessed and have a reduction in this years council tax but when I was assessed they took into consideration that my company made a profit of £700, this money I wanted to invest in the company to buy stock and pay its debts, some £5000, £4000 of that to the VAT man. If I took the money out and used it to pay the council tax I would be in severe problems if the company was made bankrupt, this would have happened because I would have had no working capital to buy stock, because the money belongs to the company taking it would have forced its bankruptcy and I would be liable to prosecution being the director. The council tax benefit officer didn't know anything about limited companies, it makes me wonder how they can decide my financial situation.

The claimant is MBNA Europe Bank Ltd Unfortunately I am unable to post readable scans my limits are very restricted but I will try, I will try to attach a pdf see if that works. I am sure I have a default but I will need to locate it, I will come back when I have it. I keep all postage receipts and copies of letters. x20cgacopy.pdf

I have already sent the letter mentioned at the end of that link, they sent it back saying. I will keep the original letter as proof of their help to bring this situation to a satisfactory conclusion, not sure if it will help my case or not, I will send another copy requesting the information and print my name in ink, I will mark the letter final release not draft, see if they understand that. Does that sound fair? if not any better wording that may help?

I have just recieved a letter from Rundle al Co Ltd I assume this is in reply to fee irregularities letter I sent but it doesn't cover any of the information requested. Any suggestions how to continue? How long will it take before it goes back to the council?

I would like to thank everyone for your kind offers of help, sorry I haven't been able to reply I use the weekend for family time and avoid my computer. I can not accept your gifts, there are people with far worse problems than me, I still have a roof over my head and managing to keep the utility companies at bay, all I need is the support that this group offers, the best things in life are free. I will ensure my son gets a Christmas, I am not sure how but I will, your kind support has added more motivation to get things sorted, it is so easy to just give up.

I have copied this from my previous post on this thread. Date of Issue 14 Nov CCA went 26th November Do I need to do anything after acknowledgement of service, I have a receipt when I did it, will the courts contact me any other way or do I need to watch my time schedules closely?

He doesn't want a lot, he doesn't ask for anything because he knows were struggling, he just wants something from Santa so he can come in and open them on my bed Christmas morning. He has relatives who don't see him much and they will get him lots of stuff, I just want to keep the Santa bit alive for as long as I can. I will make sure he gets something if its the last thing I do. As is clear from this thread, children are so understanding, it would probably be more upsetting for me if he doesn't have some nice things.

My car is worth £300 If I sold it to pay my debts I would have no way to earn any more money, my business has failed, I am attempting to return to my previous career as a field service engineers that requires the car for work. No Car No Hope!

How do you tell a 9 year old that Santa is as broke as us and wont be coming this year? How do you tell a 9 year old that I have hidden my car because we are short of cash and the council want to sell it? How can I pretend to my son that it is a good world when as soon as you get problems everyone and their dog wants their pound of flesh and charge you for it. How do you deal with a 9 year old crying in the kitchen because he is hungry? I was on my own with my debt problems until I found this group, I now have the confidence to tackle my enemies, I now have the knowledge to play them at their own games, I know how to beat them and I have support from you guys. How do I tell my 9 years old son who I have vowed to protect for as long as I draw breath? How?

What I was saying is, because MBNA encourage (force) you to take more borrowing or transfer account balances to other cards when you are in difficulty that other card companies will assume some one transferring from MBNA is a bad debt and unable to pay. It is bad practice (probably illegal) for MBNA to encourage you to take out more debts if you are in financial difficulties but it is one of the first tactics they try to get your cash or dispose of your arrears. Once with MBNA you are stuck with MBNA it would appear, good luck with your quest to find another card company, this is a free bump for you.

This is interesting news, are they accepting transfers from other cards? Perhaps other card companies have heard about MBNA's incompetence and see too many people changing with bad debts. MBNA try to get customers in difficulty to transfer chunks of fees to other credit cards by threats and false promises, looks like the other card companies are getting the hump.

I am in the same situation, after Restons were involved I got my court papers about a week later with no warning so there is a good chance they will be along shortly to you. I am a couple of weeks ahead of you so you may want to watch my thread to see what is install for you in advance. Its entitled MBNA Settlement Offer, here is the link if it works.

When you sell something on eBay it is your responsibility to ensure it gets there safely, the insurance for transit cover is not for their benefit but for yours, You can not sell an item including shipping charges and hope it gets there in 1 piece. PayPal will refund the cash to the other party, even if PayPal do not take action, unless the payment was from cleared PayPal funds, the credit card that was paid to charge the PayPal account will. Put the shoe on the other foot, would you be happy to accept a broken item you purchased on eBay. I used to use the eBay community forums a lot and this was happening so often everyone had standard replies. To give you a clue about how good ebay customers are. I sell products on my website and eBay, on my website less than 1% of items are not delivered/lost in post, on eBay 4 to 5% of items mysteriously went missing in post.

I have had a response to my x20 letter from Restons Solicitors This gives me the impression they have no agreement. Any suggestions for a reply or just wait for the CCA request.

Thank scatz Does anyone know if I leave my car on a neighbours land can they enter their land and clamp or levy or whatever they do or should it physically be well out of sight. My car has a large company sticker on the back window and a personalised plate with the company name, My business is in bad state and I will be closing it when I have paid my company debts. I am returning to my old career as a field service engineer and that involves using my car to go to many customer sites, if I lose my car the chance of me paying my debts would just disappear, I have a contract for 6 months in the pipeline and my car is insured for trips in connection with my business.

Just received another Any comments, reassurance gratefully recieved.

Are A + L better than most? tumble weed all over the place on this forum.