Hi Andrew About the bank forcing me to take a loan. The year they gave me an overdraft of £2000, I only went over this amount twice (they charged me £60 in total for doing this). Since the overdraft as gone the charges have gone to £1500 a year. But I will wait with this one until I have claimed the charges from Natwest. Danler

Hi Andrew1 Prelim letter sent 01/03/2007 for Natwest for a Limited Comp account we held between 2003/2004. This account is really the tester as it's only £330 (still, better in the companys bank account rather than theirs) I have Barclays to hit soon, probably in the region of £5000 (This will cover the loan I have with them) so I am hoping to pay them off from the charges. At the moment Barclays have increased their Referall Fee from £10 to £30 so I know they are going to charge me quite hefy in the next quater. The annoying thing about Barclays is they will allow me to issue chq's upto £1000 overdrawn but charge me for the process. A year after having an £2000 overdraft they took this off me and forced me into taking a loan. I will let you all know the process of how it goes. Danler

yes, addition and littlewoods are the same company, but littlewoods work on the finance of the goods (ie- pay over some many weeks).

Hi, don't know if anyone can give me a little advice. Bought a house from a couple in November 2003, I have had numerious letters still sent to them at my address. Today my husband opened a letter by mistake addressed to them. It was from CapQuest Debt recovery, demanding £2890 payment within 14 days. My husband rang Capquest up and they said that the woman in question had verified that she still lived at my address in September 2006. The last thing I want is baliffs turning up to my address. I can always take them to where the couple live as it's not far from where I live. Is there anyone I can report them to as I am sick of recieving letter for them? Are they committing fraud? Will this affect my credit rating (I know it shouldn't but you never know). Thanks in advance Danler

A similar think happened to me, I paid a chq into my account for £2200 but they only credited my account with £22. I phoned customer services who told me to go into the branch with the stamped stub. The branch were useless and after 5 days still no money. I phoned customer services told them I was unhappy with the branch and the person who was dealing with the matter and by the end of the day the money was credited to my account.

NPower are terrible for not updating the meter reference numbers. I changed from British Gas to NPower who put a normal meter in, however they never updated the meter reference. After about 7 months I changed suppliers again as the NPower bills was the wrong reference. I do owe them for 7 months gas but until they can provide the correct meter reference I won't pay it. It's nearly 12 months since I last heard from them and it's nearly 2 years from me recieving the wrong bill.

As for the holidays, when did you start work for them and when did you finish? And how long did you have off sick during this time. I am presuming that the holidays ran from April to March or was it Jan to December. You can roughly work out how many holidays you are entitled to by law.

Maybe you could? Or inform them that you will report them to HM Revenue and Customs. I might be reading it all wrong or jumping in feet first but if there is a difference between your P45/P60 and what you was actually paid, they could be trying to fiddle the tax (ie- putting your wage through as minimum wage and then paying cash in hand for the rest) If you've never seen a wage slip then you won't know what they was actually putting through the books.

Hi Photoman Yes i did mean an account for a Limited Company. A while back someone did draft a letter for a Limited Company but I never saved it and I can't remember who posted it. I'll just have to keep looking. I don't need to get copies of my statements as I have them all to hand and I am just awaiting for my accountant to return some. It's just the initial letter for a Ltd company I'm looking for. Danler

Hi When you left the company did they give you a P45 or did you recieve a P60 whilst you was there??? By law they have to provide these. Does the amount add up to the wages you were paid or is there is difference? If there is a difference ask your previous employer for a detailed breakdown of your wage records, they will have these on record otherwise how will they know what NI and tax and Employers NIC was to be paid. As for not recieving a contract of employment they are breaking the law, a company no matter how big or small needs to give their employees a contract. As for your holidays being from a previous year, a difficult one without a contract as some compaines allow carry overs some don't. Danler

As for business accounts I had calculated my charges and there is £330 from Natwest (2002-2003) (limited account) £3000 + from Barclays (2003 - present day) (limited account) £1000+ from Barclays (2001) (Business account sole trader) Does anyone know where I can find a template letter for a Ltd account. Thanks in advance Danler

Hi All I run a small business selling sporting equipment. A customer (martial arts gym) ordered new flooring covering for their judo area. The customer paid for the floor covering in advance and our supplier made the floor covering to their dimentions. The floor covering was delivered and signed for. 2 weeks later the customer rang up and said that the floor covering was too short. I mentioned that my supplier had never got sizing wrong in all the years we have been using them. I drove up to see the customer (200 mile round trip) to make sure that the floor covering was the correct size, which it was. The customer then said that the floor covering was too slippy. I decided to get the floor covering remade to keep my customer happy. Another man in the gym then mentioned that they had bought a second hand floor covering which they were now using. I ordered and paid for new floor covering now the customer will not accept the new floor covering and is demanding a refund. So now I have floor covering which is marked and stained which the customer used for 2 weeks and new covering which the customer won't accept. The customer said if I don't refund him within 7 days he will report me to trading standards. So basically the guy has bought the floor covering from me, used it for 2 weeks then bought second hand flooring covering for 1/2 the price and installed that. Tried to say thay I've supplied faulty goods (which I havn't) I had the covering remade to keep him happy now wants to cancel the order and get a refund. Does anyone know where I stand with this one??? Am I obliged to give him a refund?? I don't know if this will come under consumer rights as it is business to business. Many thanks in advance Danler

Yes you can. Look in the FAQ, it'd basically the same process for personal but you cannot rely on consumer law. Good luck

Just looking through some paperwork and came across a settlement statement from a mortgage we had with the Halifax. Amount owing £36745.00 Repayment Admin Fee £175.00 ERC £375.00 At the bottom of the letter is states "If you take a new mortgage with us, we may, subject to conditions, be able to waive some or all of the Early Repayment Charge." Don't worry I won't be going for a claim against them, with what has happened recently. Danler It's just annoying that they can hold you to ransom. Luckly the ERC wasn't in the thousands.

Has anyone had any dealings with the VOA and Business Rates, or can anyone point me in the right direction into getting some help as the VOA won't help. We moved into a premises in 2001, and converted what used to be a Dance School into a Martial Arts gym. The VOA was contacted (by phone) about a change in use however we was told that usage was valued the year before and will still stand as it is a similar business. Never thought anything of this (apart from the high business rates we was paying for the description of OFFICES AND PREMISES). Now as a Dance School and a Martial Arts gym there was never the amount of offices it stated. In 2005 the rateable value went up again but was informed about the small business rates relif, however we didn't get the 50% relief because of the high rateable value. We started a appeal to get the description changed in May 2005. In Jan 2006 we sold the business and the new occupied got the description changed no problem (dating back to April 2005). We telephoned the VOA to inform them that we were no longer the present occupiers and the appeal to be droped (as the descritpion and rateable had been changed). Last week we recieved a letter from the VOA stating that the appeal has been lost due to not turning upto the hearing - but it got changed last year??? Anyway I submitted another appeal to get the 2000 listings changed, but recieved an email the following day saying basically "sorry but you're too late, you should have asked for the listing to be changed before March 2005". But we asked this when we moved into the property... If we had been paying the rates at the current rateable value it would mean that we have overpaid £12500 in 4 years. When you're running a small business £12500 is alot of money.. Does anyone know any laws or can give advice of what to do now. I have 4 weeks to appeal the VOA decision before I can go to appeal. Thanks in advance Danler

I have banked with Barclays for over 8 years (business) and 15 years personal. I asked for a merchant account with them 4 years ago and got refused because of the products we sell (sports equipment), they said it was a too risky business. I then went with WorldPay which initally help me out, but as the business grew and the sales increased, waiting 4 weeks to get paid became a problem. I took a 2nd bank account with the RBS in order to get the charges back from Barclays. I set up Streamline with RBS but at the last minute change the bank account back to Barclays. So far it's working OK, and streamline did not have a problem with me using my barclays account. Protx do some good deals if you use them, get in touch with streamline direct rather than going through your bank. If I remember correctly they didn't do a credit check when I signed up with Streamline.

The problem I had with WorldPay is that it took 4 weeks before I got paid for a transaction. I asked for a reduction in time which they reduced to 3 weeks but would not reduct the time anymore It only takes 3 days to get paid out from Streamline and Protx.

As for the commission charges, such items as paying in money and clearing a chq (about 64p) no you cannot claim. But on your statement of commission charges they charge you £10 for every chq they clear whilst you are overdrawn (referral charge) - you can claim on these. You will need to get hold of your commssision charges statements to get these figures. The unpaid out (usually £35) yes you can claim these aswell. Regards Danler

Are you a membert of the FSB (Federation of Small Business's). If you join them before you set up your streamline you get a better rate on the fees that streamline charge. Ring streamline and ask them what is their normal rate for accepting credit / debit charges. Then ring the FSB and ask them what rate do you get for going through the FSB. Regards Danler

Sorry to bother you all again but I am trying to get my head around the 12 year rule with mortgages. If late payment charges on mortgages are applies dating back 10 years, does this come under Section 20 of the Limitation act or os it like other charges which have 6 years timed barred?? Thanks Danler

HI All I've decided to tackle my husbands old mortgage with the Yorkshire Building Society. The charges on his account date back to 1994. I wrote them a letter asking them to refund nearly £600 of charges between 1994 and 1998, plus the mortgage exit fee of £125 which was in the year 2003. I recieved a letter and a cheque for £125 for the mortgage exit fee. However the letter says under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 I cannot claim back earlier than 6 years. Shall I send a letter back stating the Limitation Act 1980 Section 20. Say thank you for the partpayment of £125 and I am carrying on with my claim?? Thanks in advance Danler

Hi All I have just recieved from Commercial Credit Services, acting on behalf of BT saying I owe them 449.56. They are about to commence court procedings on the 1st of Jan. As far as I am aware I do not owe BT anything. The telephone number in question was a tempoary line that was activated for 2 weeks last christmas. I telephoned Commercial Credit Services who said call BT, and BT said call Commercial Credit Services. I have altered a SAR letter ever so slightly. Is this the correct letter to use?? Shoudl I send it to both companies?? Thanks in advance Danler

Hi Blitz RESULT - my auntie [who's camera it was] took the camera back to argos, spoke to the manager who exchanged the camera for one priced 10 pound more and which has sound recording, at no extra cost to her. She's very happy now. Thank you Danler

Hi Blitz The actual camera is the Panasonic DMCLS2B 5MP Digital Camera.. Here are the spec's which is taken from the internet site Silver. 5m pixels. 3 x optical zoom. 4 x digital zoom. 2in LCD colour screen. Extra optical zoom 3.8x for 3MP. Mega optical image stabiliser. Venus Engine Plus. SD/MMC memory card compatible up to 2GB capacity. 14MB internal memory. Video output. Movie capture and sound recording. USB connection. 2 x AA batteries supplied. PictBridge compatible. Accessories included in box - Video cable, USB cable, Strap, CD-ROM, software. Software compatibility - PC. Weight 186g. Size (H)5.3, (W)11.0, (D)3.9cm. Battery life 250 pictures. Still and movie images in 16:9 mode. High sensitivity mode (800-1600). Manual focus joystick. Compatible with conversion lens. Burst shooting mode 3fps on full resolution. Multiple scene modes. Self timer. Colour effect modes - cool, warm, black and white, sepia. Unlimited consecutive shooting. Built in flash. Leica DC Vario lens. Simple mode for beginner. I have looked in the catalogue and it doesn't mention anything about sound recording but the internet does. I ordered the camera over the internet so never looked at the catalogue until now. I'll take it back to the shop tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks for your advice. Regards Danler

Can anyone please help with this. I bought a digital camera from argos, which clearly states that there is Movie capture and sound recording. However it clearly states in the manual that you cannot record sound. I have phoned argos and they have said to return it to the store where I bought it from, they will make sure it doesn't record sound and give me a refund. I don't want a refund I want a camera that records sound but the cameras with the same spec are much more expensive, this is why I chose this camera. Does anyone know the consumer issues into buying goods and they are not as described. ie - I want the camera exchanged to one that records sound.. Thanks in advance Danler