Thanks for that. I don't know about a new contract. I was on an assured short term tenancy which started out as a six month affair but for the past five years I had taken a twelve month lease which was renewed every year. I had a clear out when I knew I was moving and disposed of anything over five years old, so do not have the receipt from the additional amount I paid, or any of my old agreements etc. It does concern me that the agents have got my rental due dates wrong i.e. 26th instead of 22nd. I have old bank statements which show I paid regularly on 22nd and of course they have deposited £475 with TDS, rather than the £450 I paid them originally.

Just an update - the letting agent still insists that I owe an amount of rent. The amount is now £108.77. They have come up with a reason for the under payment which is that "at sometime in the past" I changed my due date from 16th of the month to 26th. I in-fact changed from 16th to 22nd and paid the additional amount. I then changed my due date to 1st, again paying an additional amount.

Also, I moved into the property on 16/05/2004 but when I use the TDS reference number they sent me, I notice the deposit was registered with them on 12/05/2010 with my tenancy starting on 30/04/2010 (I do not understand why those dates come up). The amount of deposit is also £25 more than I originally paid.

As it's now over 7 weeks since I moved out and I really do need the money, any comments or advice on speeding up the process would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

They have just informed me that they are going to go through their archive to find when it happened. I will not dispute when it happened, rather I dispute that I did pay the amount when I changed my due date from 16 th to 21st of the month right at the beginning of my tenancy. I can provide them with a list of all direct debit payments which will show the dates rent payments were made, (never on the original due date) therefore, if I had not paid the £109 they would have contacted me every month saying my rent was late, which they did not.

I rented my home through a private letting agency for the past 10 years and have just moved out. Shortly after moving I received a letter from the agent saying that I owed them £109 in rent and they intended taking this from my bond. When I queried this, they explained that they transferred all accounts etc. to computer about three years ago and that the amount must originate from before that time, although at this stage they cannot tell me when it does originate from.

When I signed up for the house the rent was due on 16th of every month but I asked if it could be paid on 21st of the month, as that was when I got paid. They agreed to this and requested the additional 5 days be paid, which I did. The problem is that after 10 years I no longer have a receipt for the amount, so cannot prove that I paid it. I have tried to argue that if my rent had been in arrears for the past 10 years, I would have had reminders every month (the agent is really strict on late payment) for the amount owed.

They are now saying that I cannot have my bond back until I agree to their taking the £109 from it. I know I paid the amount originally but cannot prove it, other than to show that my rent had never been paid on the original due date and so my failure to pay the amount would have resulted in my rent being in arrears each month.

I really am stuck as to what to do next, as I object to paying something I do not owe but until I do, they will not release my bond.

I didn't know exactly what my balance should have been. I was pleased I had a little more available than I thought I would have had, but the amount didn't ring any alarm bells. I certainly didn't think there had been an error, after all the amount is not huge.

This is not my main bank account by the way. It's an old one I was using to save for my holiday.

I had a letter from my bank saying that a cheque for £346 had been paid into my account in error and they want me to pay it back. I understand that I am responsible for this sort of thing but my complaint is that between the cheque being paid into my account and my going on holiday and spending the amount, I did not receive a statement. I am not registered for on-line banking, so simply checked at an ATM machine that I had a good amount of money available before I went. I trusted the balance to be accurate and so went on holiday, spending the money (perhaps I should be a little more aware of what I have in my account). The bank are of course requesting that I pay back the amount and if I must, then I will however, I do feel particularly badly done too, as I had no way of knowing that my balance was wrong, as I had not had a statement.

Hi there - sorry if this rambles a little.

Some months ago I was unfortunate enough to drop my son's laptop down stairs.

I contacted the Techguys who collected the laptop.

The unit was returned unrepaired a couple of weeks later with no explanation,

I contacted them to be told that the damage was, they considered, excessive

and as such not covered by the terms of the "Whatever Happens" insurance.

I wrote to a Mr Perryment for an explanation and was told that I have abused, misused or neglected the item

and as such, they would not be repairing it.

To cut a long story short, I challenged this and for the next few weeks letters flew back and forth until

I was contacted by one of their claims investigators who conducted a telephone interview with me,

telling me that he would report to DSG, who still insisted that the damage was excessive.

I replied by threatening court action and did indeed issue a claim through the Small Claims Court.

I also sent off £10 to DSG for copies of all documentation relating to my claim, which they sent to me.

I have just received an Allocation Questionnaire and copies of DSG's defence as they are defending my claim.

Within their defence they refer to my cover being cancelled, it was not cancelled,

I changed bank accounts and they did not process my new bank details correctly.

I only discovered this when I rang to book the Laptop in for repair and was told that my cover had been cancelled.

I then rang another number to sort this out (it seems they had mistyped my new account number,

hence no payment was made the previous month and my contract was cancelled).

I paid the payment and was told my contract had been re-instated

I again rang to book the laptop in for repair.

The rest of their evidence centres on their opinion that he damage was excessive and abuse, neglect or misuse is not covered by the policy.

The intention seems to me to portray me as some sort of opportunist, only reinstating my cover when I needed it and then trying to defraud them.

Your comments on my case would be appreciated, along with any tips on what to include in my evidence for the hearing.

Thanks

Geoff

Hello - I have been having the same problem with my son's laptop which I dropped down stairs. I have exchanged many letters and had the telephone 'interview' with their claims investigator and they maintained that teh damage to the laptop was excessive and that I had abused, missused or neglected the laptop. I wrote telling them that I would take action for replacement of the laptop and would consider a seperate action for defamation. I took out an action through the small claims court and have just heard from the court that they are, through their solicitors, contesting my claim! I requested all information that DSG had on my case, which cost my £10 and amongst the documents I received was a report from their claims investigator, which said that I seemed an honest person, who gave no indication that he was telling lies, but given my past history with DSG (I had a laptop replaced about 2 years ago as they could not repair it in time) he suggested they persue this claim to its conclusion. I am now awaiting documents from the court to presue the claim further.

Great news - I just got a letter from the Financial Ombudsman who has found in my favour, instructing St Andrews to pay all monnies due +8%. He has also instructed St Andrews to work on my behalf to have any default notices etc. removed from my credit record.

Hi there I'm new to the forums, so plese forgive me if I ramble on a tad.

I have a credit card and a personal loan with two different companies, each of which is covered by a PPI agreement issued by St Andrews Insurance. About twelve months ago I was made redundant when the business I was a director of closed down. I claimed under my PPI and was amazed to be told that under the terms of my PPI, I was not elligable for cover on either of my policies. I challenged this decision with the insurance company unsuccessfully and so complained to the financial ombudsman, who eventually decided in my favour. I have not yet received any correspondence from the insurance company to this effect, but expect to do so in the near future. My problem is that I was unable to maintain payments on my accounts (I had, I thought taken the responsible course of action in taking out cover in the first place) and as such, each account went into default, despite my explaining that I was awaiting a decision by the Finance Ombudsman, and has as far as I am aware been sold on to a debt collection agency.

Now, I am confident that each debt will be settled just as soon as the insurance company pays out on my policies, but of course my credit rating is now destroyed. My question is: is there any way I can get these defaults and any other negative comments removed from my credit history, and not just marked as settled when the outstanding amount is paid? I do not feel it is fair that my reputation should suffer as a result of a poor decision made by an insurance company.