Ok I found my original tenency agreement and it does not have any clause about a new tenancy agreement requiring to be issued. I came into the property before 2007 and no new tenancy agreement had ever been mentioned in that time. So arguably the terms under which I signed have been agreed by all parties and I am unwilling to sign anything which is to my disadvantage. I still have not signed the agreement so no new tenancy agreement is currently in place and I have not yeat heard back from the agent. Its not my responsibility to do their job for them and remind them that I have not signed. If they come back to me I am going to say that I have studied the document but feel it is to my disadvantage to sign and will not be doing so. If they put pressure on me to do so I am going to say that I have sent the document and information regarding protection of my deposit for "further advice". The agent knows he has done wrong and that might scare him into quietly dropping the matter. Especially if there is mention of non complience and the consequences if this information is shared with legal and regulatory bodies. My information is that they have to belong to one of two regulatory schemes and the late protection (as well as all the other dodgy stuff) would not be a good look for them.

To answer your observations in turn:- #1 Yes it was the same letting agency. Im aware of the 2015 Deregulation act and they had until 2018 to retrospectively protect the deposit and did not do so within the required time frame. #2 No they have not given me a copy of the required particuloars of the DBS. Instead I got an email from the DBS but of course the agent had no way of knowing that I actually received that email. #3 yes I am aware of subject access requests and will beep that in mind for a later date. #4 I have not signed the new contract because I was previously on a rolling contract. The new contract has much more restrictive terms which are to my disadvantage and does not offer me anything. When I spoke to the LL about it she told me that they (agents) had told her that they cannot raise the rent unless I sign. I think you and I know that’s bovine excrement. How did they raise the rent before? The LL thinks the agent knows best in all matters and just wants to lay back from any kind of dispute. #5 I will note your advice about the dodgy electrician. It is just one example of maladministration and mismanagement by the agent. They tried to extort money ($950) from me for replacement of a 20 year old bath that had an intermittent history of leaking water into the room below. When the (new) contractor took out the bath he found evidence of faulty workmanship by the previous contractor which had led to the leaks and the pipes were mouldy, indicating there had been water leaking for years. #6 agents sent a young chap with a copy of the how to rent booklet, the dodgy EICR, the gas safety certificate and the energy certificate. I signed for them and then he put them back in his folder and took them away. I only realised that after he had gone and I don’t think it was “intentional”. When I emailed the agent to say that I had signed for something I had not received and therefore the documents were not properly served he said “ok I will send them back when he comes to collect the signed contract.” I understand there is now another version of the How to Rent booklet out and it has to be the latest that s issued to me.

Sory about the typos. I am 78 years old, disabled with arthritis and my typing is not what it was. However my brain is still here. If they put pressure on my I have rights under the Equality Act.

I will have a look to see if I can find the original contract. In the meantie I am just going to play dumb and not sign anything. Im less concerned about the terms of the contract than that the sneaky agent has only just relaised his error in respect of protecting the deposit and is trying to cover his ass.

It was so long ago that I dont recall. The original tenency began about 2002 and I dont believe I still have copies of that tenency agreement. The agent has also done some seriously dodgy things with regard to an EIRC certificate. Their electrician arrive (without any tools) supposedly to carry out the check last year. He left 17 minutes later. We have time stamped photos of him arriving and leaving. IHe stood there laughing and joking about how much a rewire was going to cost the LL - about 4-6 K. NDespite the fact that he checked nothing and carried out no work he subsequently issued a certificate to state that he had done all the checks and that the existing wiring needed to be replaced. On my advice the LL got another electrician to come in and carry out the checks. He took nearly 2 hours which would be average for that size house. He subsequesntly issued a certificate that the wiring was adequate but the consumer unit needed replacement. This work was subsequently done. So I saved the LL quite a few thousand by insisting she get another opinion. The agent send me several documents to sign for as part if the new tenancy. The EIRC certificate was the fake one! I signed to say I recieved the documents then in the confusion the staff member put them back in his folder and took them away. So I was bamboozled into signing for something I had not received. When I immediately broght this to the attention of the agent he said of well let us know when you ahve signed the new tenancy and I will send my colleague back with the documents and collect it. I havnt signed anything yet. However the point you made in your posting about the periodic tenancy is that it has run for about 20 years without the apparent need for a new one with more restrictive clauses.

I have been on a periodic tenancy for many years. For some time I have been aware that the agent had not protected my deposit retrospectively as required by the 2015 Deregulation Act. I kept this to myself. The agent has now suddenly asked me to sign up for a 6 month AST and has sent the deposit I paid to the DPS. I have not signed the agreement. My understanding is that if I do then the protection of the deposit coinciding with the new AST would wipe out the non complience for the previous tenancy. As it stands the no compliance would invalidate a section 21 unless my deposit were returned. And I do not have to accept the deposit back. The document I have been asked to sign is also back dated and would not give me a full 6 months AST - only 5 1/2 months. When I took thei up with the LL she said agent had told her that they HAD to do this in order to raise the rent however that is a lie. The rent had been raised at intervals during the periodic tenancy simply by issuing the required notice and I have never disputed it. I am reuctant to sign this new agreement because it contains much more restrictive clauses than the one I originally signed. What is the situation if I tell the agent I do not believe that its in my interest to sign a new agreement and prefder to allow things remain as they are?

I think there is a difference between items which were bought for investment and those which were bought for use, or as a hobby. Im not talking about diamond necklaces and such - but the sort of costume jewellery that your grandmother (and mine) used to just wear for everyday. These things were not bought for "investment" but to give the owner pleasure. Same with the other items "girly" items I collected over the years. At the time there was little monetary value involved but these items are now "collectable" and have rocketed in value if you know where to sell them. But unless you know where to sell a collectable item and who is likely to want to buy it then its difficult to assign a monetary value to it. Stocks and shares - bonds - these have an established monetary value and - were bought for investment. Similarly paintings and jewellery which are locked away in safe deposit boxes.

No i have been very careful not to exceed the savings threshold. Obviously if you have amassed a collection over many years then you are not going to have kept the individual receipts for all those items. Try asking your grandma to prove how much she paid for items she bought 10, 20 30 years ago. In my case I am fortunate enough to have written a book and several articles illustrated with my collections and dated over 10 years ago, so I can prove that I had large collections of items back then.

Thanks. I know you have to be careful not to let the total "profit" exceed a certain sum in a year as one would still be liable for CGTax - I believe the sum is £11100 per annum.

Does selling your own possessions that you have had for some years (eg jewellery, collectables) count as "income" for housing benefit purposes. Say you have amassed a large collection of something when you were younger and are now gradually selling it off on Ebay to pay for bills, household items etc.

I phoned up the office just now and asked about the reason for the letter. The poster who said it might not have anything to do with my pension was correct - it concerns another issue which I was able to explain. The compliance officer was very nice and because of my mobility and agorophobia issues has swapped it to a phone interview at the same time. Because he explained to me what it was about I will have time to assemble certain documents before hand. I can look through them and anticipate what he is likely to ask. I also told him I was happy to send him by post anything he wanted to see in person.

Ive already drafted a letter offering them a phone appointment and asking them to inform me in advance of the reason if different from above.

Ive already drafted a letter saying that I believe they were given the relevant documents and information last time so I can see no point in being put into a situation which will damage my health. Ive stressed my mobility issues and lack of transport and also offered to do a phone interview if they simply want to hash over old ground. This just sounds to me like some jobsworth. And why a totally different office from last time? This one is even further away than the previous one they wanted me to visit.

I claim housing benefit, CT and DLA. I am mobility impaired/housebound and also suffer agorophobia and panic attacks. Back in April I got a message to go to a compliance interview at local jobcenter about my HB. I wrote to explain that I am mobility impaired and suffer agoraphobia if I leave the house. I only go out to essential medical appointments. The letter asked if there had been any change of circumstances I had not reported to the local council. If so I was to discuss it with them. On examining my paperwork from with local council I discovered that they did not receive the statement I believed I had sent regarding a new occupational pension. I quickly sent them the paperwork, they recalculated my entitlement and I had to pay back an over payment of about £300 which I have now done. I was unable to reach him by phone (always voicemail) wrote to the compliance officer explaining all this and holding up my hands that I had been careless. I emphasized that I was too ill to attend an interview in a busy jobcenter. I sent all the paperwork they asked for and a full explanation. I emphasized that having to attend such an interview would probably bring on a full panic attack. I also emphasized that there was really no point as I had squared matters with the local council and the overpayment had been repaid. In due course the docs were returned and I heard nothing more. Obviously I thought I had heard the last of it. Ive just received an identical letter asking me to go to a different job center- this time further away. I am pretty upset because there have been no other changes of circumstances I have not reported. I though this was all put to bed 6 months ago but obviously someone forgot to put a tick in the appropriate box. In my previous letter I said I was willing to do a phone interview or a home visit but I never got an actual reply - just my docs returned. Ive tried ringing the number on the letter but it just goes to voicemail. I dont really want to talk to anyone on the phone as I am apt to panic in these circumstances. I am inclined to more or less write the same letter – emphasizing the risk to my health – and enclosing my previous letter which explained the circumstances of why and how I repaid the overpayment. I have a friend who says he can drop it in at the jobcenter so they cannot claim I did not contact them.

There is a follow up to the above. I never heard back from Bank of Scotland and decided to quietly wait for the debt to become Statute Barred in May 2014. More recently I heard from Lowells that they have purchased the debt from BOS. I sent them the "who are you I have never borrowed anything from you I demand proof" type letter." They returned a bunch of old credit card statements and a copy of the SAME document (the application form) which I originally received from BOS. I have heard via the newsletter that Lowells are getting nasty and sending quite a few people statutory demands for quite small sums. It seems they are using these as a debt collection tool. However the same newsletter advised that one can apply to have a bankruptcy hearing set aside if there was a serious dispute with the original creditor and/or they have failed to satisfy a CCA request. I have not received a SD from Lowell. However they now seem to think they can demand payment having sent a duplicate of what BOS initially sent. My inclination is to send LOWELL a CCA request to themselves, also explaining that what they have supplied is not acceptable as it is merely an "application form" and making it clear that I had a serious dispute with BOS over the alleged debt which was never satisfied. Any further advice would be appreciated.