Hi everyone. I had an agreement with Advent through Clydesdale Bank which I think is either Barclays or a 'sister' company of Advent (can't remember). The loan began in November 2006. Can I still claim back PPI? If PPI was even part of it, I'm not sure but from reading here it seems like it was. Just wondered if it was possible to get anything back. To try and make things a bit clearer, the agreement was with Anglo Capital so I was not tied to Barclays / their offer of a new course like some others. I'd be grateful for any input/update on this.

People with Anglo Capital agreements should cancel their direct debits immediately! Also reclaim the amount paid for February since they are not allowed to take it! Advent / Anglo Capital / Access 2 Careers have stopped trading. Save your money, I doubt you will get any letter from anyone. And if you/we do then we have a point of contact and someone to chase for the money. My philosphical approach is 'at least I won't have to pay the full £9,300' which it would have been in total. And what is this about Advent not being able to afford an Insolvency Practitioner? Why don't the directors sell those assets they nicked from the Mews building!? This Advent agreement will be the first and last I ever sign up for. It's just not worth it. It's obvious that my money wasn't being invested in the company (majority of study materials were word processed with clipart pictures and printed on low quality paper) and was going either directly into the Directors' pockets or to Stourbridge Rugy. Half the study materials had spelling and grammar mistakes too. Just a really shoddy job. You'd think with millions of pounds they could at least use spellcheck.

Anglo Capital are Advent and Access 2 Careers is Anglo Capital's new trading name. WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information Previous Names: Date of change Previous Name 07/12/2009 ANGLO CAPITAL LTD If you want money back from them you will either have to wait for the insolvency practitioner and see what you are allotted (which probably won't be much). Or launch a court case. I had an agreement with Anglo too. Maybe we could band together?

I don't even like rugby! This is getting ridiculous.

I think how it works is you have to notify the insolvency practitioner of your claim and then they may or may not apportion you an amount. Course I'm not really sure myself. But I'm pretty sure you will need some sort of receipt of payment or other proof that you've paid what you've paid.

There are two sides to this situation Side 1 People with a Finance Agreement / Loan with a bank or other financial institution. These people are being offered alternative training and may be able to get a refund due to the financial institution also being liable for the breach of contract (breach of contract may have to be argued in court) Side 2 People with an agreement directly with Advent (aka Anglo Capital) or who paid Advent directly in cash. Side 2's money was pumped directly into Advent; was not "ring-fenced", trickled or anything else which may or may not have happened to Side 1's money. Side 2 people are in a much worse position regarding any type of resolution or possible refund. If Advent is insolvent then what little money they have will be even further reduced as they are low on the list of priority. Also, the equipment that the Directors stripped out of the Mews building could have gone towards increasing the insolvency "pot". Isn't that illegal or at least amoral for them to do that?

Advent are not trading anymore! And since Anglo Capital is a part of Advent, neither is Anglo Capital! Barclays Clydesdale told me this very fact and it is evidenced on the Advent website, BBC news etc. Advent have stopped trading. I've just been to my bank and cancelled the Direct Debit to Anglo AND claimed back my fee for February which will be back in my bank overnight. Just tell your bank that the company has stopped trading since Jan and should not have taken the Feb payment. Note that this advice only applies to people with Anglo Capital agreements, NOT Barclays, Hitachi or anything else.

Guess I'll stop at the solicitors' on the way to the bank then.

Okay so here is my issue: People with Barclay's agreements have some sort of insurance in the form of alternative training and possible refunds. But what about people like myself who had agreements directly with Advent / Anglo Capital? If they're both insolvent does that mean I have wait for the insolvency practitioner to refund me a few pennies or a few pounds? Is it possible to sue the directors / other companies ran by Advent's directors for the course Fee which I am entitled to in the event of a breach of contract? The outlook is pretty bleak for me now. I don't hold out much hope of getting any money back :-| At least the Barclays and Hitachi people can hold someone liable and have some chance of positive progression.

Okay it was an oversight on my part. I actually have two copies of the Enrolement form. One was to be used if I had a guarantor (in which case the payment method would have been Clydesdale / Barclays). This had been pre-filled out. However, what happened was I could not find a guarantor and therefore had to sign up to the Student Finance Plan (listed as SFP on the enrolement form). Under that agreement the terms specifically mention that payment is to be made to: Group Company which is defined as Advent or a subsidiary of. Therefore my payments are going to Advent in essence. Surely this is fraud now? I'll be cancelling the Direct Debit on Monday and hopefully will reclaim at least February's payment.

Just rang Clydesdale (thanks for that) And the woman said there was no record of me having an account with her. She mentioned Barclays Partner Finance and said that people with those accounts are being offered alternative training. I did ask her if any of those had Anglo Capital on their bank statements and she couldn't really answer but I'm guessing they didn't. She said if I did have an account with Barclays/Clydesdale then I should have an account reference number on my bank statement. eg Anglo Capital 0000000000000 But I have never seen that and never see anything that said Barclays or Clydesdale on my bank statement. She did inform me that Advent / Anglo Capital are no longer trading. Guess I will have to see what my bank says tomorrow. It seems like something has gone wrong here. Like they've neglected the administration or mismanaged the accounts. It seems harder than it should be to find out where my money has been going and is still going...

Okay now I'm confused. On my agreement it says Payment Method: Clydesdale. Everything else is about Advent / Anglo Capital. Does this mean I have an account with Barclays? If so I haven't received a letter from them. Does this mean I can still cancel the direct debit and/or reclaim the amount that has been taken for February?

Just one more bit of evidence. Advent (Directors) claimed to know nothing of the company's financial situation until mid January. Yet for some reason they changed the name of all their companies on 7th December 2009. Which suggests that they knew at least as far back as then what was going to happen and maybe even planned it.

But my bank statements always read Anglo Capital and I have never heard of this First Capital. Is it okay for me to cancel the Direct Debit taken in Anglo Capital's name and will I be able to reclaim February's Direct Debit payment to them?

Just a quick question here: Advent have taken (or will take) the £76.08 Direct Debit out of my bank for 1st Feb. I spoke to the bank today and the woman said that I could reclaim that amount through the Direct Debit Indemnity Act. I have heard from another person though that the Indemnity does not extend to loans. However even if that is true, my money has gone somewhere and if it has gone to Anglo Capital/Advent then surely this is fraud?

I think legally you/we have a right to do that. The issue is that Barclays are in breach of contract the way things stand currently. They are trying to remedy that (and avoid paying out) by providing you with another training provider (or saying they will). Joint legal action is the way to go I think. Strength in numbers

Blog with info: Advent IT Training [problem]

Sticky1 do you have a phone number for Barclays Clydesdale? I assume that's what the Clydesdale means on my finance agreement. It says Payment Method: Clydesdale. I would like to contact them.

You will have to pursue Advent for breach of contract. For you it may involve legal action / suing Advent or its representatives. Hopefully Watchdog will get on the case though and apply pressure.

I'm from around Manchester too and saw Robin Furness as well!! I have an old business card of his and his mobile number but its from 2006. I can PM it to you if its of any use. Not sure how involved Robin Furness is in the company though. Apparently Watchdog are watching the Facebook Group about this so go post there too with your stories. There''s also a picture of Advent's accounts for the last two years. They made -2M in 2008 and +3M in 2009 making a net of 1M. Gross profit however was 17M in 2009. Somehow it got taxed down to 3M net.

Correct link to Watchdog: BBC - Watchdog - - Got a story Also, join the Facebook group!

My agreement just says Clydesdale on it which I assume is a bank. But the agreement was clearly for Advent to provide me with the MCSE certification which they have not done. I'm definitely seeking legal advice tomorrow!

As I have said, Advent have acted very shadily. I will be contacting Watchdog and however many other organisations I can tomorrow. Also I forgot to mention that Consumer Direct told me that since I have begun the course - despite not having finished it or received the "complete" service as outlined in the agreement(s) I am not entitled to a refund. But hopefully she was wrong. She said there may be grounds to sue but it depends on the terms and conditions etc. In a letter I have from 2006 the typed signature says: Ashley Jones Training Director But is signed (in writing) J Whitehead. If I have time tomorrow I will take all the documents and info I have to a solicitor and ask for advice. And will report back here. Looking at my Student Finance Plan Agreement it states the following: Name of Supplier Advent Consulting Ltd ... The agreement also gives you a number of rights (2) If you have obtained unsatisfactory goods or services under this agreement then you MAY have the right to sue us. Terms: 8.1 You and us both acknowledge that the Student Finance Plan is to be used as payment of your fees FOR the course MICROSOFT CERTIFIED SYSTEMS ENGINEER offered by Advent Consulting Limited. Note: MCSE actually involves a number of separate courses and I am not MCSE certified so as I see if the goods/services are unsatisfactory and have not been delivered. So as far as I can see my finance agreement is with Advent Consulting and payment is taken by Anglo Capital Limited. I will recheck the documents though because I think I did see an Anglo Capital agreement of some sort. We should all post as much info as possible and JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP

BBC News article stated that the MD of Advent was Ivor Allchurch. Suspicous as Companies House lists it as John Whitehead. My Finance Agreement was with Anglo Capital Limited whose address is the same as Advent Computer Training / Advent Consulting. According to Companies House, Anglo Capital changed its name to Access 2 Careers Limitedon 7th December 2009 at the same time that Advent CT limited changed its name to Advent Consulting. This is all very suspicious and I hope there is some powerful action; legal or otherwise against Advent. Also I know that last September Advent were pestering me to pay the lump sum (£3000) and to take out a credit card in order that they could have more money / liquidity. Which suggests to me that they knew the situation was not good as far back as September 2009. I have correspondence evidencing that fact. Consumer Direct informed me that: 1. If you cancel the direct debits from Anglo Capital / whoever is financing the course then YOU are in breach of contract. 2. In order to stop the payments you need to send Anglo Capital a letter stating that Advent have failed to provide the service they were contracted to. I'm sure Anglo Capital know this. Anglo Capital should then stop all payments and/or provide you with a different training provider. 3. If Anglo Capital do not respond within 14 days then Consumer Direct should be contacted again. 4. In the letter you should state that Payments made from this date (date of letter) are made in protest. So that any payments taken since that date can be reclaimed. According to this: WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information John Whitehead - whoever that is was appointed Director of Advent (Consulting) Limited in 2009. Full details of the company: WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information A Whois Lookup from the Access2Trade website: Access2tradecareers.co.uk - Access 2 Trade Careers - Plumber and electrician training with access2 trade careers For a company with no funds (as Lindsey claims) they seem to be very active and have no problem setting up multiple companies. WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information I think that one may be related also. I am form Greater Manchester and would be VERY interested in some sort of joint legal action. Info on Anglo Capital Ltd / Access 2 Careers: http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/0c171ac58a2669f30b015b536f4cf27c/compdetails I don't think these are the actions of an honest company, individual or persons.