Hi All, We have had a family problem with Alliance & Leicester for years. Long story short...... We bought a family house for about £50000 in 1987. My dad passed away in 1990 (a couple of months before he passed away he cancelled his life insurance as the recession of the 90's was kicking in). We had a very hard time keeping the house over our heads. Alliance & Leicester were not very helpful. My mum with 4 kids to raise went on benefits to help. Over the years (mid 1990's), we made extra payments to Alliance & Leicester so that we would'nt struggle towards the end of the mortgage term and could finish the loan quicker. After years of hardship we ended up paying £10,000 extra in payments. Alliance & Leicester put this extra money into an seperate account. Instead of deducting £10k from the mortgage, put it against the mortgage and raised the mortgage to about £60k. One year my mum forgot to re-apply for benefits so Alliance & Leicester started to withdraw money from this account. They did so until the money ran out. We were never told that they were going to use the £10k like this. Now, in about 12 months time, our interest term finishes and we either have to pay the full £60k or risk losing our family home. I was under the impression we were on a repayment mortgage as I have letters to say that our balance was £47k at one point. I am in the process of doing a S.A.R once we have all necessary documents, we intend to seek legal advice with a view to taking legal action against Alliance & Leicester. I was wondering if anyone had any advice before I take this huge task on! Any little help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I will do my homework into it again. try and see if I can get one. Will let you know too. I live in East London. Sighs, I need to hit the bed as i have an early start in the morning. Nite Nite

Very True!! Another set of numbers is 090... these baby's would be £1 per min! But, its a little harder to get these numbers, unlike the 0871 one's... Where you the UK you from? P.M if you want. Thanks,

You start giving that number to all the utilities companies and banks etc, then, when you get into trouble, thats the only number they have for you. The other way is, if you know they have phoned you on your home number, tell them you are changing it to the 0871 one. I have given out that number since day one. You wont make millions, but it should start paying off eventually. If it dont, you know that when these ppl contact you, you know in your mind you are getting one over them. Like a feel good factor i suppose!!

Yes I am Wingus. Have you got one too?

Anyone find a cheap recording device? If anyone has, could you P.M me please. Thanks

Hi Having_A_Knightmare, I will P.M you the company I use... Its NOT expensive. £9.99 plus VAT and divert to any landline number of your choice. You get 1 free go to divert to your number. If you change the end number, you have to pay. Not sure what that charge is.

Hi 42man, You DONT need a seperate line as you can divert the 0871 number to any landline number you want. I have a seperate work line at home now. Before, It was diverted to my home line, I told wife and kids what to do and expect. Cost is very cheap, just buying the number for around £10 plus V.A.T Hope this helps. SuRfInGuS

Hi ALL, A few years ago I purchased a 0871 number (which diverts to my landline) which makes me pennies for receiving calls from the utility companies (All Adds Up) Recently, I have fallen behind with a couple of payments with Thames Water. They in turn have used CWC, a Dept recovery Company who in turn have used Intrum (in)Justitia. For the past couple of days, I have been getting call from Intrum (in)Justitia. Reading the posts from everyone on this site, they [intrum (in)Justitia] are as everyone is complaining. Cut a long story short, I am happy to take their calls and keep them on the phone without confirming the security questions they ask me. Much to their fustration. They make money out of us for ringing them using 0871 numbers, so, I decided to fight back and have my own 0871 number. If anyone rings me and I am asked to verify my home number, I always say to them " It's the same as on your file on me, check your records ", another thing I do is to pretend I am calling me and put the phone on the side and carry on with I am doing..... (NEVER give them your proper numbers.Tell family at home too). Hopefully you get the picture I know this might not be the best way to go about doing this, but, it's one way to beat the system- trying to get something back. [EDIT] Thanks for reading my post SuRfInGuS

Thats Ok Ammani, I am glad I can help. i will make a thread of it for others. Surfingus

Hi GodMother, If anything, it IS a fun option! I have 2 office lines at home as I work from home. You have to be careful, as you would have to pay extra money IF you need to change destination numbers. The 0871 numbers are quite cheap nowaday's Have a look at, 0871 Numbers Reference HCS16321S Any problems, gimme a shout. Do you think I should open a new post with this? Have fun Thanks,

Hi ALL, I have joined this site today after doing research on Intrum (in)Justitia. A few years ago I purchased a 0871 number (which diverts to my landline) which makes me pennies for receiving calls from the utility companies (All Adds Up) Recently, I have fallen behind with a couple of payments with Thames Water. They in turn have used CWC, a Dept recovery Company who in turn have used Intrum (in)Justitia. For the past couple of days, I have been getting call from Intrum (in)Justitia. Reading the posts from everyone on this site, they [intrum (in)Justitia] are as everyone is complaining. Cut a long story short, I am happy to take their calls and keep them on the phone without confirming the security questions they ask me. Much to their fustration. They make money out of us for ringing them using 0871 numbers, so, I decided to fight back and have my own 0871 number. If anyone rings me and I am asked to verify my home number, I always say to them " It's the same as on your file on me, check your records ", another thing I do is to pretend I am calling me and put the phone on the side and carry on with I am doing..... Hopefully you get the picture I know this might not be the best way to go about doing this, but, it's one way to beat the system- trying to get something back. Thanks for reading my post