I was recently diagnosed with Bi Polar 2 disorder, I am wondering can I reclaim my bank charges under some sort of disability clause?

So I originally got involved with a bank recharge company over a nationwide debt and trying to reclaim charges. Around the time the whole bank charges thing kicked off I aked Nationwide to cancel a DD, they didn't do so, and I was charged, they refused to refund it, and said they couldn't find any paper work to validate my claim. I told them (thanks to the advice of the original company) that the charges were illegal and I would not be paying it as they refused to be reasonable about paying back the debt I couldn't afford. I told them that the account was in dispute until such time as the charges were argued in the courts. They then opened another flex account for me, and said whilst the bank charges were being debated in court I could use the other account. They then decided to continue adding charges until it was over 500.00. I went back to the bank and told them that it was wrong of them to charge me whilst waiting for the decision as it was being dragged out by the courts, and they agreed to stop the charges and put the claim on hold until after the court case - I have the letter for this, two in fact. I then heard about the hardship fund and tried to apply for it via the bank, but they refused it and basically were totally out of order in the way they treated me. I then received a debt collection letter, they had refered me to a debt collection agency, even though I had told them the account was in dispute, and they wouldn't try to collect on the debt. I spoke to the debt collection agency, who after a bit of arm twisting behaved quite reasonably and went back to nationwide, I then eventually got the reply that they would not try to persue the debt until after the court case. My response to them, was that the debt was in dispute, and twice I said if Nationwide wish to recover any money then they are to take me to court for the money, as I don't believe the outstanding monies is a fair reflection on what is owed. I even said this to Nationwide before the debt collection letter, I had said it all along to be honest. Now I suppose my question is, can a debt collection agency continue to ask for money when I have told them to tell the people they are acting on behalf of to take me to court, and if nationwide refuse to take me to court, can they then keep forcing debt collection upon me?

Update: So I waited and then ended up going to the store. It got pretty ugly, but now they seriously got my back up. I spoke to Consumer Direct, and The Office of Fair Trading, and we ended up agreeing to send a letter via recorded delivery, but I have sent an email first as the laptop is in for inspection. The letter is below: REF: SALE OF GOODS ACT 1979. To Whom It May Concern, & The Managing Director, I am writing in reference to a laptop I brought in October 2007. It is a HP G5000, and it has been sent for inspection via the Torquay Store of Comet to your repair centre (it was sent on the 04/11/2009). I had an issue with the laptop when I first brought it, and then last week I tried to turn on the laptop, but it said the battery was drained, even though it was switched off and connected to the mains. I left it for an hour, came back turned it on, it loaded, until the homepage, and then a warning light came on, and it switched off again. It hasn't been able to turn on since. I thought it might be the battery, so I rung HP, and I asked their technical team about it, after they advised me to take the battery out, the laptop still did not work with just a mains connection as it should do (this was the first time I had heard of this feature as I had never needed to remove the battery). They advised me it was a hardware component failure, and it was not thier issue to deal with, but it was Comets, and to go back to yourselves. I spoke to someone in your head office (I did this twice to confirm what I was told) and was advised me that I should take it back to the store, and for £49.95 they would inspect it, and if found to be faulty they would replace, refund, or repair the laptop free of charge under the terms of the sale of goods act 1979 as it had not lasted a reasonable amount of time. The people I spoke to were from the Hull Head Office, and they even said 6 yrs was what Comet classed as reasonable. However, I took it back to the store, and Julie (a manager) told me that she couldn't deal with the request as there was not anyone who knew how to deal with it, and to come back tomo once I knew who I spoke to at head office. They would then refund the cost of any bus tickets as a thank you for the return visit. Now in the meantime I have an external hard drive (A western digital 500gb external harddrive brought from PC World around 18months ago), it had been connected to the laptop at the time it died I took it to my brothers pc, it didn't work. I looked on three other laptops, and after a friend looked at it who knows a little about computers, he confirmed that the hard drive had been damaged beyond repair due to the defect with the laptop. This meant all my backed up files are now lost and I am a further £89.99 out of pocket. I spoke to a lady named Claire at your Hull office, who basically said I should take it back to the store, they would inspect for the £49.95 as previously mentioned above, and it would be repaired if found to be faulty. We also agreed that she would ask the store manager if they could look at an immediate refund if the tech guy instore could see that it was damaged beyond repair, but this would be at the discrection of the store manager so not to get my hopes up. She was going to send them an email request which she said to call back after 10am to get a response if I had not heard from the store. I waited till 10am, and did not hear anything, I spoke to Michael at the store (another manager), and he told me he had not received the email, so I decided to go back to the store and deal with this in person, as I felt it was the only way to resolve the issue. I took the morning off work, I returned to the store, and I told the manager what I had been told. This time I spoke to Michael, as Julie was apparently too busy to talk to me. We had issues getting hold of Claire from the head office too, and after almost two hours of being passed around both instore by the management team, and by your head office, we finally got through to Claire only for her to say she never mentioned that the laptop would be repaired without costs involved if it was found to be faulty. You can understand my frustrations at this point, and after speaking with another person from head office I have now agreed to put the laptop in for inspection (Order number 16003293, transaction number 3276), and Comet would advise of thier position once the laptop has been inspected. Now I have spoken with The Office of Fair Trading, and Consumer Direct, who informed me that I was covered under the sale of goods Act 1979 to ask for a repair, replacement, or refund, if the product is found to be faulty, as it has not lasted a reasonable period. They have also advised me that due to the defect with the laptop, I incurred a loss of my hard drive which was of £89.99 value, and that I could request this to also be added to the value I feel I am owed. I have met the requirement for me to prove the laptop is faulty by paying Comet to inspect it, I also have the original repair order documents to back up my claim of the laptop being faulty when first purchased, and the original reciept for the cost of the laptop when brought instore. I wanted to put in writing what I feel is reasonable, and to ask that someone takes over the dealing of this issue so that I can be refered to a single point of contact, as it seems the interaction between the store, and the head office is simply not good enough. I feel that if the laptop is NOT repairable then I would look for a store credit to the full value of the laptop, which I will then buy a new laptop with from your store. I would consider this as me meeting the company half way as I would not pursue the cost of my hard drive, and the costs invovled with loss of work, and travel should this be agreed. However if the laptop IS repairable, then I would look for the cost of the hard drive to be put into store credit so that I can buy a new one. I am willing to take this matter to court, however, I feel under the circumstances, we could resolve this without the need for court action, and would welcome someone contacting me on 07906995129 (between 12:30-13:00pm), or on 01803 393289 after 5.20pm to discuss this matter further, and to come to an arrangement that will be honoured by both parties. If I do not get a response within seven working days I will re-send this letter via recorded delivery, and will look for a response that way, however I do feel we can come to an arrangement. I have kept a record of this letter, including the time, and date it was sent, and I have also made notes in regards to the interactions between myself, the store and head office, and have all the previous paperwork as mentioned above. I look forward to hearing from you soon in regards to this matter. Many Kind Regards, Tim Knight.

UPDATE: I have to say I am actually pretty impressed with the way Comet are handling my complaint. I called the Head Office this morning, and spoke to a really nice girl, I explained the problem, and even that the original repair wasn't for the same fault, and SHE informed ME that as far as Comet are concerned if there is a major fault with the PC or Laptop within 6 yrs then they will replace, repair, or refund the cost, as they deem this to be a reasonable amount of time under the sale of goods act. She then wrote a long email to the store manager at Torquay explaining everything we had said, and put forward the suggestion in the email that if I brought the laptop instore and their tech guy could see there was a major fault ie: Like it not turning on, then to offer me a refund rather then go through the repair route. She then said I should hear from the store manager by 10am explaining what she was prepared to do, based on the advice from head office... You got to admit, that is pretty fair of them, I expected a lot more of an arguement with them, even if they repair it, its still pretty good that it could happen. I guess its now time to wait until I get a phone call from them.

I brought a HP G5000 laptop in June 2007. It was faulty and I returned it within two weeks for it to be repaired. Fast forward to a week ago, and I turned my laptop on, it said the battery was totally drained, even though it was plugged in all night, so I left it for an hour, I came back and turned it on, it came on, loaded, and then just after finishing the loading process the battery warning light came on and it switched off. I presumed it was the battery, so I rung HP who said I would need to buy a new one as it was out of warranty, but I could still use the laptop by plugging it into the mains, alas though no I couldn't and the hard drive componants had failed according to thier tech guy, the laptop is screwed. They told me to go back to Comet where I brought it, the head office for comet told me take it back to the store, they would take a look at it for 49.99, and if it was the hard drive componants, then they would replace the laptop for something of equal value, or repair it free of charge. I took it back to the store, and they said they couldn't do this as the person instore didn't know how to, and I would have to come back tomo when the correct guy was in, but according to a guy from thier comet oncall service that the lady instore spoke too, I wouldn't get a replacement without getting additional charges, which isn't what the head office said originally. Now I know the EU rule is up to two years to return it, but I read that if you can prove the laptop was faulty when I purchased it (which I can), then I have up to six years to return it under the sale of goods act? The thing is, I have never had a reason to not use the battery, so I didn't really know if the laptop was still faulty when it came back. I plan to speak with the comet head office tomo, and I am thinking that I tell them I want them to replace it, but can anyone help me with specific sale of goods act info that I can throw at them? The laptop also blew my external hard drive as well, I lost over six years of stuff, and a 100 page document for my charity website being launched in six months. I have to start again, and I am seriously unimpressed. UPDATE: I found the old paper work for when I returned the laptop originally and it was an audio problem and it was quality checked then and passed. So does that blow any claim out the water?

Payplan are an excellent service, and if he is being made redundant all he needs to do is let them know and they will let the creditors know, to be honest I would ask payplan to ask the creditors what a settlement fee could be on each debt and see if you can afford to pay them now, rather then later, or perhaps just get a few re-arranged. But speak to them and they will re-organise things for you.

Have you ever considered autism as a possible situation for your son? the symptons differ in people so don't take the link as gospel, but you never know. The truth is only a doctor will be able to diagnose anything he may have. And there is nothing wrong with asking for help.

Ok so I have had some major issues with Virgin, the problem is thiere tv is so good, and with the deal I have in place it was simply to good to leave them, however thier lack of customer service meant I felt I was forced too, see these previous posts: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/digital-tv-services/203230-virigin-sky-tried.html http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/digital-tv-services/225325-virgin-tv-saga-continues.html http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/digital-tv-services/226747-heres-new-way-attack.html For those who don't want to read the old posts the basics right now is that they gave me 150.00 in credit for a V+ install, then took it back two months later without my knowledge, this meant I had such a high bill they cut me off and they wouldn't negotiate over it. They were so rude by the end of it I gave them ten days to collect thier equipment. So I got a call last night, and they agreed to call me back this morning to settle this once and for all. Heres what happened: A guy named James called back and told me they WOULD lift the restriction on my services, and they WOULD agree to my initial payment plan to them that I had tried over a week ago to get sorted. Now heres the surprising thing.... I would now only deal with James, he gave me his contact details, and all the various ways to get hold of him, from now on, I ONLY deal with someone that knows what thier doing, and is nice to deal with, this way everyone wins, they get thier money, I get the customer service I was after, and as long as I pay the bill, and they don't cut my services we can all be one big happy family. (or more likely I am on the little **** list) I never wanted to avoid paying the bill, I just wanted to pay in a reasonable time, now they have seen sense, as they know I was right, we can finally lay problems with Virgin to rest Persistance overcomes resistance never forget that

Bump Bump Bump

I remember reading on here a post about someone who got a legal document signed to stop bailifs taking their stuff, it cost like 10.00 and I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction as I am looking for it for my mum

I wanted to say something, but it seems its all answered

An update: Virgin phoned me tonight, I refered them to the clause in the contract, and the fact that I was never behind with the bill, just over thier credit amount, which was thier fault, and that although I didn't want to leave them, it was thier fault for such soddy service. We went back and forth for ages and finally the guy on the end of the phone agreed that I should have been given more time to pay the bill, and said that there will be a call from him tomo morning when he had more time (it was almost the end of his shift) and he would give a final yes or no to applying a credit to my account to restore services, on the agreement I would pay the outstanding balance in full over a set agreed period of time. I don't believe him, but we will see. Can anyone direct me to any legal reference in regards to virgin being able to apply and take away credits on my account without my permission? I can't see anything in thier terms and conditions, and finding it through google etc is a nightmare, I can't find a thing!

Just to say after being ignored by Virgin I have sent off a final letter to warn them I will be walking away from the contract, only this time I have suggested they read thier own terms and conditions which state the following: You can cancel your agreement with 30 days notice in writing on the condition that you are affected for the following reason (see J3 on the Virgin Terms and Conditions): "We (Virgin) make significant changes to the services so the services you are entitled to receive in return for the charges you pay are significantly altered or reduced." Game Check Mate. Virgin significantly reduced my services due to a change they applied on my account. I win. Hooray for me

To be honest its one of those difficult situations where there is no right answer or magic wand to be waived to resolve the situation. I would say I agree with everyone else here when I say that you should get legal advice and go to the interview with a solicitor and hope for the best. It may be worth looking into the recent action by the child poverty group that successfully challenged certain types of benefit overpayments. They may not be able to help and whether or not it applies to you is another matter, but who knows. I'm sorry I can't be any more help as I have more experience in general benefit knowledge rather then fraud matters. I will go to work tomo and see if there is anything else I can provide to help you. Mental health is a tricky subject to deal with, so try to stay positive ok

Possibly look at www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp for help with your mortgage, and if you can no longer claim ESA, then what about Income support or JSA? Income support your partner can't work over 16 hours, and you cannot work over 24 hours, as well as needing to be in a defined client group such as bieng sick or disabled, a carer, lone parent, etc, check out www.direct.gov.uk and it is full of information that can help guide you through this. It will also give you information on how to deal with appeal process as well. I hope that helps a little

Heres the thing, I don't have an issue with paying it back, I got my head around the situation and understood why they did what they did, but, it was when they cut my services and refused to put it back on unless I paid them before the grace period was up that got my back up. I've now got to go for weeks without having any cable because they applied the credit this way, i made an offer of payment, and they refused to accept it, so that is why I want to tell them to take a running jump.

Ok so if I have one question... Virgin media applied a £150.00 credit to my account without my knowledge or permission, they then charged me for it two months later and have cut me off. Now as far as I am concerned they didn't ask me permission, and I didn't request the money in any kind of credit agreement, so do I really have to pay it back? I'm looking at it as Virgin gave me free money which I didn't ask for, would you pay it back? http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/digital-tv-services/225325-virgin-tv-saga-continues.html That is the original link....

*BUMP* I spoke to them today as letter writing may take a while, but I guess is defo the next step... You see I got cut off, even though I am still within the payment period, they said the usage is too high, and everything is gone. They have refused to budge on the situation, and its driving me nuts now. No service until the end of the month, and thats only if I get someone who has compassion at the end of the phone, anyone know how to get out of the contract?

I'm coming to the end of my 6yrs this month, so I will let you know what happens

Ok so Virgin to me offer the best television, but thier customer services are horrendous. I won't go into loads of details as I don't want to bore you anymore then I need too, but for the last six months there has not been a single month where we haven't had problems with Virgin. They missold a V+ box, an engineer cut our telephone line by accident, they over charged us, the customer service agents spoke extreemly rudely to me, and it seems to me that is nothing more then a gang of non-trained rude people trying to get money out of you. Now in thier defence they have on a few occasions risen to the challenge and offered refunds, and goodwill gestures, and you would think this would be enough, but sadly, even the goodwill gestures have come at a price. We told them we were thinking of leaving, so they re-arranged our services to give us all the tv (minus sports and movies) V+ Box subscription (for the box we already owned), plus another V+ box, talk unlimited, and phone line, with 20mg broadband all for 51.00pm.... We then called back as our v+ box broke, and changed the deal to up the broadband to 50mg for 61.00 a month... good deal right? Wrong... In the process of sorting all this out we had a few issues with the bank, so our DD wasn't paid, we called virgin and they told us due to goodwill gestures the bill had 12.00 outstanding left to pay, so we did that and we paid it. Now this was a 2 months ago, we get to now and we got a letter saying our bill is so high they may restrict the services, we look online and find out its over 270.00!!!! Basically what they did was give us a credit of 150.00 in August for the V+ box they installed, this brought our bill to nill, and with some other credits applied it meant our Sept bill was covered minus 12.00. Now when we spoke to the advisor he told us goodwill gestures applied meant we had paid our bill minus 12.00, we naturally assumed it was the gestures for the bad service, as we had no idea they would do this with the box... So we get this massive bill, I spoke to a customer care agent who called me a liar, was rude, and basically played me around refusing to help. I don't want to leave Virgin due to the television service, but the customer service is horrible. My question I guess is can I get my phone line cancelled without it affecting my other services, and are there any ways I can refuse to pay this 150.00 they believe I owe, as it is not my fault they worked the system like this, and misadvised me with my other bills?

Ok, so theres a few things I need to go over, so I know what the next steps should be... I have a debt with HSBC from when I was a lot younger and very loose with my money. They have passed it onto debt collections agencies, but as of 20th Oct 09 it becomes statue barred, so hopefully this will make it go away. I then have a debt with nationwide from bank charges, they charged me, I refused to pay as I couldn't afford too, so they opened another account for me, then let the one with the charge on run up to over £440 which they then said they would continue to add charges, but would not put it to a debt collector until the court case was finished with (bank charge one). I contacted them under the hardship fund, but they said it wasn't nationwide that caused my debt issue. (even though it actually was). I then told them that I would welcome court action if they wanted to pursue the debt, but otherwise then the debt was in dispute as I felt I was not legally responsible for them. I got a letter stating they would not be taking it any further, only to then start getting debt collectors letters through my door. I contacted the debt collector, pointed out I had the letter from nationwide stating they were not chasing me until after the court case, and they have now backed down stating they have passed the debt back to Nationwide after I threatened them with court action! (YAY ME!) I am now going back to Nationwide on Monday, and letting them know I have made a complaint with the financial ombudsman for harrassment, and that if they do not take me to court, or wipe the debt which is pure charges, then I will not recognise them as a debtor and take action against THEM under a civil case if they do not leave me alone for harrassment. Is there anything else I can do? Or anyone have an idea about using a different tact? Also, and lastly, I am taking over my partners debts, and sorting them out so that we are financially secure again. She is behind with payments, but not in default as far as I know. (Although she has eluded to the fact there might be some things on her credit file I would not be happy with)... Given our situation at the time she did the best she could, and to be honest I could not have done any better, however I am now stepping in to sort them out. I plan to contact each lender, which I believe is Natwest, Provident, and Littlewoods, and tell them that I will have a payment arrangement sorted for them. What I plan to do is give a regular token payment to each of them, and then tackle a each debt in turn to wipe them off in order of what is left to pay. As an example Provident is on £500 so I plan to do it one go, but then that month only give the others £20.00 each so that the following month I can then attack natwest o/d with a large payment and go somewhere to clearing them. I guess my question is, if I then say to them I will give them this set payment, can I say that I will only clear the debts as mentioned above if the lender agrees to clear anything bad on the credit file once we have paid the debt in full?

Would it be worth though rather then reversing the bankruptcy, maybe he could still ask for the money to be returned on charges etc? If the loans were illegal, or would you consider that too much hassle considering he is already bankrupt?

My mum just called me and asked me to send her a letter stating that the possessions in her house are mine and I want them returned. I drafted a copy that states the individual items, and sent her the letter, but I am not sure if this will even help or have any impact. Basically my mum can't afford her council tax, and the silly cow has hid away and not paid them for over two years, so now the bailiffs are coming and they have already said they are going to take her belongings. I am just wondering if there is anything people can suggest to stop them from removing goods. She can't afford to pay them, not a penny at the moment, and so a payment offer is no good, and to be honest even if they take her stuff its not going to get anywhere close to the debt that owed. any thoughts anyone? That letter that is stickied sounds like a good idea, but what would happen if she can't stick to the payment plan, the simple maths is she is earning less money then her bills actually are, so whatever payment offer she makes will be a major stretch.

Hmmmm, to be honest password or no password virgin are defo at fault here. I would refuse to make an offer of payment, and threaten legal action until they can prove YOU authorised the installation of television services, and I would do a sars request. At the very least once you threaten legal action, and refuse to continue with payment they will take notice.

My mum just called me and asked me to send her a letter stating that the possessions in her house are mine and I want them returned. I drafted a copy that states the individual items, and sent her the letter, but I am not sure if this will even help or have any impact. Basically my mum can't afford her council tax, and the silly cow has hid away and not paid them for over two years, so now the bailiffs are coming and they have already said they are going to take her belongings. I am just wondering if there is anything people can suggest to stop them from removing goods. She can't afford to pay them, not a penny at the moment, and so a payment offer is no good, and to be honest even if they take her stuff its not going to get anywhere close to the debt that owed. any thoughts anyone?