Just came across this on the Guardian's website. Great to see that it's finally being publicised that you can say no to these kinds of payments : http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/feb/24/continuous-payments-authority-know-your-rights?newsfeed=true

Can I just check - are you saying that you can withdraw authority even if you owe the company money? I'm having horrendous problems with a payday loans company, with whom I have been trying to come to terms, but who are refusing to negotiate. I want if possible to keep my current account open (although I have moved my pay cheque to another account), but this is proving difficult as any money I pay into the account is snatched immediately by these sharks. I have withdrawn permission via email and have forwarded it on to my bank. They have said that they can dispute transactions, but didn't appear to hold out much hope either to refund payments or to stop the transactions happening. I do want to pay the company off, although I'm disputing the total debt - but I want to do it in such a way as is fair to everyone and that doesn't bankrupt me.

Latest update to the situation is that I've now come to terms with nearly all the people who I owe money to. Situation has been slightly complicated by the bank managing to pay the mortgage company twice this month, which meant that QuickQuid's payment bounced - they're not happy, but there's not much I can do about it! From the end of February everyone should be receiving regular payments, only problem (you won't be surprised) is with Mini Credit. They are resolutely refusing to come to any arrangement, are now threatening to take me to court, and are currently saying that I owe them £1500 (around £1k more than I actually owe them). One complication is that one of the companies with who I have a payment plan won't take payments off my prepaid card, and are insisting on taking the money from a debit card, which has to be my old bank account. This would be fine, if it wasn't for Mini Credit leaping in and grabbing the money as soon as it hits the account. I've withdrawn my authorisation to the recurring payment authority for Mini Credit. But according to the bank this makes no difference, as they've got to give them the money, and I can try and contest it after the event (these are their words). Does anyone know if this is really accurate?

Hello again, Latest news is that Clarity are finally being sensible and I've started up a payment plan with them. Only company I am still having major problems with is Mini Credit (no surprise there). I have written to them and emailed them and am getting either completely silly replies or letters that suggest that I've never written to them at all. Am also slightly confused by the situation with Lloyds - the one debt was passed to AIC, who appeared to agree with my repayment plan, but now appear to be saying something completely different. So that's still in process of being sorted. Quick Quid's repayment plan should have started a few days ago, but there's been a complication. My bank inadvertently put through 2 payments to my mortgage company instead of one, I will get the money back but until it's sorted there's no money for QQ. I'm just trying to fend them off for the moment and hope to be able to put the payment through next week. Why does life have to be so difficult???

Have just had a horrible call from Clarity at work. My Swift Sterling debt was held by one company to whom I'd written to try and sort out a payment plan, in the meaning, unbeknown to me it had been passed to Clarity. They weren't abusive, but the call has left me feeling quite shaken - they just nagged on and on, while I was trying to get off the phone as the whole conversation was taking place in front of my boss and work colleagues. Very embarrassing. I've come to an arrangement with Wonga and Open Door Loans, and am trying to sort something out with Quick Quid (who have generally been fairly helpful - although they won't give me their bank details - any ideas anyone? so I can set up a standing order), Mini credit (who are unhelpful), and Swift Sterling (nuff said)

Was going to write to MiniCredit today. I've just received the following email from them : "We would like to remind you that your MiniCredit overdue loan balance is £848.00. If we are unable to recover full amount within next 10 days we'll send Your account to THE DOORSTEP COLLECTOR and You will incur extra costs. We may also contact Your employer and start legal action against You. We also report the status of Your outstanding account to Credit reference agencies. All this process affects your credit score adversely and ability to receive credit in the future." Minicredit balance should be £528, so they've evidently slapped on yet more charges. They can't/won't approach my employer, will they?

All great advice people. Thanks Kev for the Mini Credit address - a pizza takeaway - that is bizarre! I've now taken out a prepaid card and seem to be able to do most things on that - I'm just having a problem setting up some direct debits (has anyone else had probs?), but it's early days yet. Everything else seems to be working fine. Wages should all transfer to that end of November, so at least I'll be able to eat next month! Great idea Ivan re transferring the money - my footwork wasn't quite nifty enough to get the new account set up before my wages went in otherwise I would have followed your advice, and I too had the experience of the PDL companies taking it out chunk by chunk. I have still received NO acknowledgement whatsoever from the Bank re my letter exercising my first right of appropriation. I know it's been delivered, so a strongly worded letter is enroute to them.

Hello all, Just to update you on the latest : still dealing with Wonga who have been helpful so far, both they and ODL want "proof" of my inabillity to pay preferably by sending them some bank statements - does anyone have any thoughts on this? I feel a bit uncomfy about it even though I can see where they're coming from. Quick Quid - had a very strange phone conversation with them in which I was told that they couldn't set up a payment plan for anything less than £197 a month - which I can't do, she then said that they were willing to take anything, but it would have to be as a one off payment - I took this to mean that it would have to be a phone transaction off a card, which understandably I'm reluctant to do (can't do anyway this month as I have nothing). Not sure where to go with this, as I would like to give them a token payment (or if possible even a bit more) next month, but don't want to give them my new card details (have gone for a pre-paid card arrangement) Swift Sterling - conversation would have been funny if it wasn't so serious. "I can't pay this month - I have sent you an email offering token payment, and then larger payments from next month onwards etc. etc." SS "Well, we'll have to take action and will send out bailiffs immediately" Me "Well, you can, but I still haven't got anything" SS "Oh, bye" Which still leaves me no better off knowing how to pay them, and they're adding charges on as fast as they can. As are the worst of the group Mini Credit - I'm having no luck contacting them via email, I can find no postal address, and emails keep re-directing back to website to phone or skype them. Does anyone have an email/snailmail address for them? Thanks everyone for your advice

No - not rude at all Jon, but as I'd been advised elsewhere that it could be construed as fraudulent, and I thought it looked doubly so as I'd already warned companies that I was going to default, and had sent in a First right of appropriation letter, I felt that I wasn't in a position where I could cancel my card. I will contact the bank, I've had no response from them at all, which seems very odd, especially as the letter was sent guaranteed next day delivery.

Latest update : Wages went into account. I had posted (online banking) a first right of appropriation letter to my bank, but they appear to have ignored it, as most of the wages as of 8 am this morning have immediately disappeared. Payday UK as anticipated have grabbed half the money, and another company/ies have taken most of the rest. Managed to withdraw £200, and have a little more coming to me later in the month, so that should see me through the month for food and petrol. All the other DDs including mortgage, insurance etc are going to bounce. I had negotiated with one of the major creditors to start paying them this month, but it looks now as though that isn't going to be practical - I feel dreadful about this as they've been so helpful, but I don't have the money. I feel as though I've reached rock bottom....

Thanks both for your advice - all PDL companies are now aware of the problem, several haven't responded except to offer me even more money(!). Goodness only knows what will happen on Wednesday - the day the money is due to go in and out of my account. I've got a little saved in cash, and there's some more money due to go in towards the middle of November, but it's currently looking quite grim. Jon I would have cancelled my card but was advised elsewhere that this could be construed as fraud - have I got the wrong end of the stick there?

One thought - I have a savings account - balance zero - with the same bank, would moving my pay immediately into that, stop it being raided by the PDL companies, or would the bank take it from there anyway?

Hello, I feel a real fool and am desperate. I was in a DMP with CCCS for some time, it didn't work terribly well - budget was too tight (have very high car expenses as I live in a remote area, and have a long commute to work every day). Finally decided last month that enough was enough, and am now going it alone. Have written/emailed creditors from the DMP and so far, they're being reasonable. However since starting the original DMP I've run up horrendous debts with 8 payday loan companies. mainly through borrowing from one to pay off another. I've now emailed most of them to let them know that I'll be unable to make the payments which are due the middle/end of next week when my pay cheque is due to go in. Payday UK have now got back to me to tell me that they have to attempt to take the payment out before they can put the account into default, but if they do this (and certainly if all the companies do this) I'll have no money left in my account for anything else in November. Any ideas what I can do? It's too late to get my company to put the BACs payment through elsewhere (even if I had an account ready opened) - would a First right of appropriation letter work? or is that too late too? and if it's ok, what's the best way of doing that? I had major financial problems earlier this month through having to pay a large bill and waiting for it to be refunded hence why I wasn't able to change bank accounts earlier - although I will be moving my account asap.

Thanks all of you for your advice. Am going to post off Tingy's letter (recorded delivery - nightowl, thankyou), and will let you know what happens next. And, yes, I will follow Bazooka's advice if that doesn't get me anyway. Many thanks again all of you - watch this space....

Thanks Tingy for your advice - I did intend to do what you suggested re following a template letter.

Thanks for your advice. The account is not being used any more, I transferred elsewhere just before I entered the DMP. They know I'm in a DMP, but have never made any attempt to reduce charges in spite of being asked, meanwhile CCCS have said that I should phone Lloyds about this, but like you nightowl, I was reluctant to do this. I'll write to them again and let you know how I get on.

Hello, I've been in a DMP with CCCS for just over a year, they reckon it's going to take 14 years to clear the debt, which is part credit cards, part bank loan, and part overdraft. The LloydsTSB overdraft is actually the smallest part of the debt, and stood at around £1200, a year ago. I've been paying them via CCCS about £5 a month. However they've continued to add on massive overdraft charges and interest - currently standing at nearly £28 a month. Clearly at this rate the debt to them is never going to be paid off. Is it really legal to charge this amount of money every month? and is there anything I can do about it?

I'm having similar problems with a DMP and am wondering if I've done the right thing. Lloyds are continuing to add massive interest on the overdraft which is basically wiping out whatever I pay each month. The DMP people I'm with have told me to contact LLoyds direct about this, but they're completely unhelpful. At this rate it's going to take me around 14 years to clear the debt. Meanwhile, the DMP was set unrealistically high to start with, I did tell the DMP people that I did very heavy mileage because of my daily commute, but this wasn't really taken into account - I've just had to pay £400 for the car to be MOT'd, and have come back from visiting some relatives to discover that someones nicked 6 weeks worth of heating oil, so that's another £377 that I don't have. I've already had to borrow extra, even though I know I shouldn't have, just to keep the car on the road - I don't know what to do.

Thanks chaps, I had originally booked in for them to do the work - but made it clear after the conversation with the mechanic (nice one, not Mr. Bear) that I needed a rough idea of the cost before they could go ahead with the work - am going to write to them - and then have some of Sam's cider!

Thanks Sam, Sorry you got shortened! I was beginning to think on the same lines as you that it would be better to put it in writing than to phone. What about the situation re them wanting to charge me for the parts - could they do this? Any ideas? And yes, I am definitely going elsewhere, am thinking of getting the AA to do me a quote, which they can do without tying me to them, and can then go and get quotes elsewhere if necessary with a bit more confidence.

Would like some advice re making a complaint to a garage. I've been going to a local garage for about 2 years for MOTs and servicing. First couple of times I went they were pretty good, but the last time there were a few minor problems - nothing serious, and I didn't pursue it. Anyway.... About 5 weeks ago my car refused to go into reverse, the RAC came, diagnosed a broken reverse gear linkage and did a temporary fix (which, fingers crossed, is still holding). I booked the car into the usual garage for a repair, and then had to cancel because of problems at work, I gave them plenty of notice, and re-booked immediately to today. I was told to take the car in any time during the previous week so that they could check out what parts they needed, so I went in last Thursday. A young mechanic, who was very pleasant, had a quick look at the car, said that I would need a complete set of gear cables, and that the job would possibly be quite expensive, as it was quite tricky. I had thought up to this point that it would be straightforward, but now realised that it looked as though it was going to be pretty expensive, I asked him if he had any idea how much it would cost, he didn't but said that the chap in the office should be able to tell me. Back we went to the office, he explained to guy who was then in charge what the problem was, and I asked him for a rough estimate. And he told me he had no idea. I pressed him, saying that he must have a rough idea of the time that sort of job would take as they had done it before, and he growled "3 hours, £160 + VAT", so I then asked how much the parts would cost "No idea", I asked him to give me a ring once he knew how much the parts were, so I had some sort of an idea as to whether I could afford the job or not. He really didn't want to ring me, I was given the impression that it was extremely difficult to find out the cost of parts, and that I was being an extremely unreasonable woman for wanting to have an estimate. I gave him my works number, impressed on him that was the number that I needed to be rung on, and waited to hear from him. He didn't ring. I rang later on Thursday, and had my head bitten off, Friday there was no message, I rang towards the end of the afternoon, but everyone had gone home early. Saturday I decided that if they were so cagy about their prices, and rude into the bargain I didn't want to go to them, so I phoned up and cancelled. This evening I happened to check my mobile, which I very rarely use, and discovered 2 messages on there - I'd used my mobile yesterday so these messages hadn't been left prior to the weekend. 1st message was from Mr. Happy, who shouted down the phone that the cables had arrived, they were £100 + VAT, and that as I'd cancelled unless I phoned to confirm I didn't want the cables they would be charged to me, and with that he slammed the phone down. There was then a second message from someone else at the garage, saying that the cost would be £250 fully fitted. What I want advice about is how best to permanently cancel and make a complaint - should I phone or would it be better to write, and do they have the right to charge me for the cables (which incidentally seem very expensive - I found a comparison site with cables much cheaper than that) when I had made it quite clear that I wanted an estimate? Any thoughts/help would be much appreciated.

R&J - no, "the guy" who was appointed is the person who got what was my job, so female boss, male deputy (four of us were interviewed for the job, and it was the sole male who got the job). I had a feeling that constructive dismissal might be hard to win - thanks for the advice.

R&J - I'm female (as is the newly appointed boss). Sunflower - I did ask on several occasions for more money - in the past it had always been common practice (according to one of my colleagues, who has been here for many years, and been through several interregnums) for extra money to be given when department was in an interregnum. Requests on this occasion were ignored and there was no feedback re this. I was interviewed for the job - which is according to the management technically a new job (because of the merger) - but differs from my old job to the same extent that the boss's new job differs from her old one - her post was not put up for interview, mine was. And, yes, none of the feedback explained why I was good enough to run the department for a year (and deputise for 7 years) but not good enough to continue to deputise. I was also told that I had taken it upon myself to run the department and that I had received lots of help - this sounds like a contradiction to me, and also I did not receive lots of help, although the management seem to be re-writing what actually happened. Thanks for your advice.

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me some advice, i.e. what rights do I have? or is there anything I can legitimately complain about. Basically what has happened is that I've been the Deputy Head of a department within a large institution for much of the last 8 years. Over a year ago my boss retired and I ran the dept with no extra pay or additional job title. I wasn't officially called deputy head throughout my contract, but my job description says that my primary role is to deputise for the Head of Dept. A few months after his retirement another staff member was made Acting Head, but did nothing, so I still ended up running the dept. Then a few months ago we were merged with another dept on another site, the Head of that dept was made Head with no interview process as her job wasn't considered to be a new job, my job however (which differed from the new role to the same extent as the Head's job differed from his old role) was advertised, and was given to someone else following an interview. I was given no satisfactory explanation for why I wasn't given the job, I apparently gave a wonderful interview, but other chap was wonderful too. The fact that I overheard conversations earlier in the week of the interviews saying that all the staffing problems would be resolved following the interviews, which wouldn't have been the case if I had been appointed, rather suggests to me that there was actually never any intention of giving me the job. New guy is taking up the new deputy's post in a few weeks time, in the meantime we're now having staff appraisals, and have been told that although this is not an opportunity for re-writing job descriptions, it may be a good time to do so, obviously I'm concerned as to what is going to happen to my job description. Other problem is that although I am applying for other jobs, I'm concerned as to what exactly to put on my CV as once other chap arrives it will look as though I've been demoted. Money, by the way, is currently staying the same - although new chap is being paid 3k more than I was for running the department. Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks Blueda, that's very reassuring - thanks too for the advice re phone - I'll make sure that everything is in writing, and will pass on all letters to CCCS.