I've been using Credit Expert on and off for years now and received the same respsonse when I queried the insurance as I didn't want it. Personally, I don't think anyone should have to pay to view info on themselves.

Does this mean if I arrange to pay £1 per month token payments with the creditor on an account that is not yet in Default then they cannot register a default as long as I don't miss a payment?

Hi and thanks for the quick reply. I forgot to mention that the account was in dispute for various reasons although I've heard that being in dispute doesn't really matter anymore. The default would have dropped off in a few weeks (it's been almost 6 years since it was registered). If a new creditor adds a default in their own name will the default date be same as the original date or will it be the date of the new default and on file for another 6 years?

I check my credit file two to three times a year. Last time I checked was in August and had 3 defaults as expected. I checked again today and one of the defaults (unsecured personal loan for just over £16000) was marked as settled in October 2013 - I have had no communication regarding the debt since January 2013 and was making token payments up till November 2012 but had to stop due to my finances getting worse and having to deal with priority debts. I left that address in October 2013 and my mail has been getting redirected to a relatives address. I checked Experian, Equifax & Call Credit. It is the same on all three. Has this account been sold on or is something else going on that I don't know about? I mentioned it to my sister who suggested that a creditor may have bankrupted me and that is why it's marked as settled but I checked the Insolvency Register and there is nothing on that, there is also nothing on my Credit File regarding any court information. I also checked Trust Online and there is nothing registered there. I'm trying to tidy up my Credit History as I'm looking to move into a rented property soon due to starting new work in April. The agency that renting the property say they may do a credit check so don't really want anything adverse on it. Everything else on my Credit File with all 3 agencies looks good and nothing out of place but I do find it unusual that a £16k default would be marked as settled and no communication from the creditor.

Just a quick update, T-Mobile have finally responded regarding this issue and I now have a final bill and PAC code on it's way. They deny receiving any letter from me (I have proof they signed for the letters), but hopefully this will be the end of it. Thank you all for the advice, I really appreciate it.

I received one of these in my spam folder this evening but googled it and decided it was probably best not to open it. It got deleted unread.

Hi the contract permits termination with some fees. I have copied this from the Terms & Conditions that came with the contract: "Terminating this Agreement. You can phone or write to us and give 30 days notice to terminate this entire Agreement with effect from the end of (or after) the Minimum Term. You may have to pay a Cancellation Charge, totalling the rest of the Monthly Charges for the remainder of the Minimum Term, less 4%. (See points 7.2 and 7.3 of these terms and conditions.)" The contract was for 18 months minimum term and I was with them for close to 27 months so I assume I was on a renewed contract. The reasons I asked to have the contract terminated and a final bill forwarded to me is due to financial difficulties. I never once went into arrears with my mobile contract but my circumstances are changing (not for the better) and felt it would be better to cancel and settle what was left on the contract to stop going into further financial difficulties but I feel that it has not worked out this way.

Hi, I sent an email to the CEO on 9th November but haven't received any reply. I also sent a letter to them by Recorded Delivery which was signed for on 12th November but have yet to receive a response. All but one of the letters I sent were Recorded and signed for by them but none were ever replied to. I've wrote another letter and have wrote a formal complaint which I'll post to them by Recorded Delivery on Monday. I also sent another email to the CEO today.

I'm looking for some advice regarding an issue I'm having with T Mobile. I had a contract for nearly two years (mobile phone & mobile internet). I wrote to T-Mobile in July 2013 asking to cancel my contract, forward me a final bill and give me the PUK code so I can transfer my number. About a week after I sent them a letter to cancel I cancelled the direct debit. The only response regarding the account was in August when I received a letter from a Debt Collection Agency trying to claim a lot more than what the final bill should have been. In August 2013 I wrote another letter to T-Mobile requesting that my contract is cancelled, no response but the letter was sent by Recorded Delivery and they did sign for it. I wrote another letter in September 2013 requesting that my contract is cancelled and I also requested a copy of their complaints procedure. This letter was also sent by Recorded Delivery, they signed for it but still no response. I also sent an email and letter to the CEO but they didn't reply either. It is now December, five months after I originally requested my contract to be cancelled and for T-Mobile to send me a final bill. This morning I received a letter from Buchanan Clark and Wells regarding this account, they claim it is the second letter they've sent me but it's not, it's the first. The letter is a "Notice of Intended Visit" and the wording would suggest that they intend to visit regardless of whether a debtor agrees to a visit or not (surely these type of threatening letters should be banned). The letter also had a balance which is about five times more than I believe is actually owed. I personally have no problems with a visit but the address isn't mine, it's a relatives, I'm only using it as a mail address as I'm currently sofa surfing. I checked my Credit Report this morning with all Credit Reference Agencies to find that T Mobile is now updating my file on a monthly basis as 'Payment Late' when the contract should have been cancelled and settled by now. They haven't yet registered a Default. My credit history is poor but I'm trying to clean it up and I really don't want another default so would like this sorted out sooner rather than later. I'll be looking for permanent housing after the New Year so would like as clean a Credit File as possible. I've made several attempts to contact them and can prove my attempts to contact them but feel like they are making no attempt to respond to my letters. Very poor customer service from them. I'm really not sure what to do now regarding this account or if there's much I can do.

I have an update regarding this... Now checked all CRA files, nothing from Lewis Group on them. Received two letters this morning dated early July, turns out postie put them through neighbours door and neighbour been in the hospital for some time now so just received them this morning. They are trying to chase an eBay debt of £82. I've been making a token payment straight in to my eBay account every month so don't know why Lewis Group have taken a sudden interest. I've no intention of dealing with DCA's and only pay direct to the creditor. I'm now considering making a complaint against Lewis Group for the home visit as I had already told them in the past that if they wish to visit me at home they should make an appointment, they made no appointment and there was nothing about any home visit on either of the two letters they sent me. A friend suggested reporting to the police but I'm not sure the police could do anything or would be interested. The balance that Lewis Group have on their letter is considerably more than what I actually owe eBay so I believe there has been charges or interest added by Lewis Group.

I've just checked my credit report with Callcredit and Equifax and both look ok, nothing from Lewis Group on them, I've ordered a report with Experian and should have it in a few days.

Hi and thanks for the replies, I've just ordered my credit reports so will check them as soon as I have them. I've never had any catalogue debts but do have a loan with Halifax which is in dispute but I've not heard anything of this since last year from Halifax.

About a year ago I came home to find a card from a doorstep collector collecting on behalf of Lewis Group, I sent of a letter withdrawing any implied right of access to my property, I never heard any more from them after that until today when I came home (I've been working away from home since January so been away since then) and found another card from a doorstep collector on behalf of Lewis Group. This card had something about a Pre Enforcement Visit on it, and had the same name and number as the doorstep collector on the other card. There was no date or time on the card so I don't know when this visit was. I've got a few debts but none which are being handled by Lewis Group and I can't recall any other correspondence from them - I keep all letters regarding my money problems but nothing lately from Lewis Group. As I've already sent them a letter withdrawing any right to visit my property is there anything else that can be done? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

I don't know if I'm posting in the correct forum or not but here goes... Last week there was an unauthorized debit card payment taken from my account from an online software company I used to receive a service from, I cancelled my account with them a long time ago but for some reason they took a payment from my account with no notice. I emailed the software company to ask them what this is all about and was told the money would be refunded but as of today I'm still waiting. On the day the payment was taken the monthly payment for my car insurance was due, I always make sure there's enough in the bank to cover payments but this unexpected payment being taken from the account meant the direct debit for my car insurance wasn't paid, my bank has also charged a £12 charge for the privilege. The car insurance company tried again to take the direct debit last Friday but there was insufficient funds and I haven't been able to get the money to put in the bank to make up for it... no doubt I'll get another £12 bank charge for this too. I received an email from the insurer this morning which is a notice of cancellation which will stuff things up for me as I rely on my car to make a living, it's my only source of income. I'm going to email the insurer to ask them if there's any way they can cancel the cancellation and wait till Thursday to take the direct debit payment as I'll have the money by then, I hope they would do this but not sure if they will. I'm not sure what to do about the software company? Is there any way I can ask them to refund a bit faster and is there any way I can ask them to repay the bank charges I will receive because of their unauthorized debit card payment? Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm looking for some advice regarding a problem I'm having with rent and council tax. The house I live in is owned by a relative and I've been living there rent free for several years now as I've had problems and that was the agreement we had but it was only meant to be temporary, the owner of the house has now come into financial problems of their own so are now looking to rent the house out. I'm self employed but my income is poor (was good when the business first started out but last 3 year everything has gone down hill). I am in the process of looking for full time work so I can give up my business but having problems finding regular work, I did have several offers of work 240 miles away but was unable to take the work on as I could not find accommodation (couldn't raise a deposit for private rent, currently on the waiting list for a housing association property but been advised that as I'm not high priority I may never get an offer of a house). One of the employers is keeping the position open for another few weeks to give me a chance to try and find somewhere to live. I've looked into housing benefit and council tax benefit but have not applied as I've read through various articles on the internet which would suggest I would be refused as I'm related to my landlord and not considered as a high priority person (single male with no kids). I currently have arrears on previous council tax years and have fell behind on the 2013 tax year due to a further drop in my income. On top of this I have various other debts which do not help the situation but I have made arrangements with creditors and have been making token payments.. What I would like to know is there any help I would be entitled to help with rent and council tax until I can find full time work, once in full time work there would be no problem with rent or council tax. I currently receive working tax credit which helps a lot with the cost of living. I don't know if I've posted on the correct forum or not but I do apologise if I haven't.

I'm trying to contact T-Mobile to change my address but having a few problems... I tried to change my address through the online account area but keep getting error messages. They have removed the online contact form from their website and I can't find an email address so can't do it this way, I tried phoning several times but get cut off after a certain amount of time, I sent them a message through Twitter but was advised they couldn't help me and that I should phone or write them. I have tried to get a contact address from their website but all I see is pages saying that there has been a server error or this page is not available. Does anybody have a mailing address for customer services? For a communication company their proving to be hard to communicate with. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I received a tax bill of just over £800 earlier in the year from HMRC (sole trader income tax), I didn't have the money available to pay in full so started paying weekly instalments through my banks online banking, about 5 weeks ago I received a reminder showing what's still owed so I sent a letter back saying I'm unable to pay in full but will make a weekly payment with the intention of settling in full within the next few weeks. I continued to make weekly payments and heard nothing more till this morning when I received a letter which says: Over the last few weeks I have paid off about 40% of what is owed but can't come up with the total amount between now and 17 September. When I wrote to them I never sent an Income & Expenditure form, I should of but I didn't and kicking myself for it now. My total business assets are valued at about £900 and if they were seized it would leave me with no income as I rely on them, I have a car I use for my business (also worth about £900) which is also relied on for business. The registered address for my business is my home address. I have very low earnings and once I pay council tax, bills, food etc there's usually none or very little left so I can't see what difference HMRC going to court would make, the amount I can afford to pay every week would still be the same. Would it make any difference if I was to write another letter to them offering weekly instalments but include an Income & Expenditure form this time? Would they accept it or just go to court anyway?

Hi Rebel, thanks for the information. Had a look through the links and I believe I have experienced a few of the examples of unfair treatment. I was mis-sold PPI on the loan but not sure if I should claim back the PPI then complain or include the PPI in the complaint.

I'm considering making a complaint with Halifax/Bank of Scotland, I've been considering doing this for some time now but mentally I'm in a better place now (having a few personal issues). I had a Current Account with Bank of Scotland for over 20 years then a few year ago I made a few mistakes and ran into a few problems, got a load of bank charges and ran up a lot of debt. I found the bank to be very unhelpful... at the time I was receiving a lot of harassing phone calls, a lot of bank charges (I was receiving charges for charges when there wasn't enough in the account to pay them), despite only having a £100 overdraft I managed to end up with the account being overdrawn by a 4 digit amount. I wrote several letters to the bank at the time but they claim to have never received any of them. In 2008 I eventually managed to get a response from the bank and claimed back some bank charges (the charges were over £3000 but only managed to claim back about 10%). Over the period of about 2 year I wrote to the bank several times asking them to close the account to stop the debt with them increasing further, they wouldn't do this. Around about 2008/2009 with the account still overdrawn I managed to have the account closed and the negative balance written off. I also have an unsecured personal loan with Halifax/Bank of Scotland which has been in default since 2007 (no default notice was ever received) and has been in dispute since earlier this year and it's been the same story... lots of harassing phone calls, no reply to any of my letters to them (they claim no letters were ever received but still managed to cash the cheque that was sent with the letter). I eventually managed to get through to them (I had to write to the CEO as it was the only way I could get a reply). Now when I write to them all I receive in return is a letter asking me to call them to discuss things further. I CCA'd them a while back but the Credit Agreement I received was almost unreadable and there was bits missing. There was also a lot of misleading phone calls regarding the unsecured loan... they were asking me how much I can afford to pay towards the defaulted amount, I would agree an amount that was affordable to me but they would then take an amount that was quite a bit higher and as there wasn't enough in the account to cover it the payment wouldn't go through. This happened mostly with the loan but did happen on several occasions with the current account too. I believe this to be unlawful but don't know how to prove it. I also believe this had a knock on effect which has caused me financial hardship in so many other ways... I fell behind with rent, council tax, gas payments, phone etc. This is still something which is affecting me to this day. I very quickly learned to keep all communications in writing and not to phone them. What I would like to know is can I still complain regarding the Current Account if it is now closed and can both the bank account and loan be put into one complaint as they were both with the same bank? I have copies of every letter sent to and received regarding the loan and most letters regarding the bank account.

Hello all, I've recently had some help from CAG which I've really appreciated but now finding myself looking for a bit more advice. I currently live in temporary accommodation but have now been given a date to leave (end of July), I have been offered rented accommodation but won't be available till mid September so I'll be living in a friends caravan between July and September. Unfortunately I won't have a postal address during this time. I have 3 debts, one priority, one non priority and one in dispute. I'm making token payments to the priority and non priority debt but have not made payment to the debt in dispute. Do I tell the creditors I will no longer be at the address and will have no mailing address until September or do I just wait till September and update them with a new address? I will continue to make my monthly payment as normal.

Quick update - This has now been resolved, it would seem there was a possible miscommunication between the Council & Sheriff Officers but all sorted now. Thanks for the advice, it's been appreciated.

Hi, I was just about to phone the bank when a letter came through the post this morning from the bank advising that the account has been served with a schedule of arrestment and that no funds have been set aside as there are insufficient funds available. The £25 court order fee is a bank charge for the processing of the arrestment. I've emailed and sent a letter to the Sheriffs Officers which they should receive today asking why they have arrested the account when the payments in the time to pay order have been met.

I've just double checked to see that all payments have been met just in case I maybe made a mistake and missed a payment but all payments have been met. Are all Direct Debits automatically cancelled if the account is arrested? I have a Direct Debit due in a week for car insurance, it's likely to cause me a lot of problems if the payment for insurance isn't paid.

All payments have been made on time but yesterday I received a letter from the Sheriff Officers which said: "We have recently executed a funds arrestment in respect of the debts detailed above. This means that you may not have access to funds held in your bank account or due to you by a third party. It is essential that you contact us immediately on the above telephone number to prevent further action proceeding against you to obtain release of any arrested funds to our client." I awoke this morning to find that £25 had been transferred from the account, it had Court Order Fee next to it, I assume that this means the account has been arrested? There's never more than about £80 to £90 in the account at most but use it to receive payments from customers, pay bills and the monthly instalment for my car insurance and monthly token payment for creditors, if the account is arrested can I still do this?

Hi dx, thanks for confirming the bit about ppi, I'll look further into it. I can remember signing the agreement but can't remember anything about ppi. I appreciate the advice.