No offence taken, thanks for the help. I'll be back...

And I will, but why do you keep saying if I want an answer?

No same direction...

Is there any point of doing this whilst I have no income?

I've had letters from debt collectors but I don't think I've had a letter specifically saying I've been passed over.

What is a Notice of Assignment?

ok cheers

Initially a standard current account, then increased to an ultimate Reward current account when the bank made changes and it was working out cheaper for me to switch, has since (I have been told) knocked back down to a standard current account.

For £501, only accrued after my benefits were stopped.

So these guys have called me regarding my debt with HBOS. I explained to them that I've talked to my bank on many occasions about my debt and that I can't make any payments right now as I have no income. Still, they call. A couple of weeks ago the bank were going to take me to court now I'm back in the hands of a debt collector? Who has the debt, my bank or a DCA? Am I going to court or not? I'm disabled, and the DWP are messing me around with my benefits, I haven't had an income for nearly a year as a result, which has caused the debts in the first place.

Right. That's all I wanted. Thank you.

I'm not stupid I know they only want my money. I also know I still owe the money to them regardless of my situation. I don't need to be told any of that. I just want to know how is the best way to proceed, in writing, with sorting out my situation with them so that I can get them paid back then freed from my contract? That is all. I'm not going to argue, this is not turning into a flaming thread.

I never took out the contract as a necessary evil. I could afford it at the time and it was way cheaper than using pay and go at that point in time for me. I respect the help, but I think I need something other than to be basically told well it's your own fault. I didn't ask to be in this situation, after all.

Hi all. I've recently had all my disability benefits stopped, and I can't work right now due to ill health. I currently have no income, and my partner has taken a hit in wages which means he cannot afford to pay my bills like he used to. I've dealt with everyone else as far as I can right now, but Orange, whom I wrote to first to let them know of the change in my circumstances, told me they couldn't help, could I just phone them instead. I've got no income and can't pay for my contract anymore, so I need out, or need at least to work out something with them to get them the money that I owe them. According to my bank, they paid for it last month but obviously that won't happen this time. I'm due another bill out in about a week. All I want is to leave a paper trail behind me and work something out with Orange without just letting the costs build up and up because they say sorry no money no help. Is there a letter I could write informing them of my circumstances? I really can't handle being on the phone to them all day - I have a mental illness that makes that extremely difficult, and arthritis in my hands so I can't hold the phone very well. And of course with no money I can't buy a speaker phone. I would greatly appreciate help on this one as fast as possible please!

Ok, I can't really see many threads about banks and charges here, maybe I'm not looking in the right place. I also don't want to hijack someone else's thread. The story is, I had my benefits (ESA) terminated in June, after an appeal where they claimed I was lying about being ill. I'm not. I applied for DLA shortly after that seeing as the doctor and lawyer said I should, that was the correct benefit for me. That was turned down within a week and a half purely on the basis of my ESA appeal. Ever since then, I've had literally no income whatsoever, and am struggling greatly to find suitable employment for myself that I can actually cope with and do without exacerbating my condition, and therefore reducing the hours I can work. I've cancelled all direct debits, so the problem will not get any worse, according to the bank. I'm 31 over my arranged overdraft limit. From July til a few weeks ago, I've been able to just about stay afloat as my partner has been able to give me money to pay in to get my bills paid. This kept me within my arranged overdraft and because I was put on the Ultimate Reward account back in January, again because of my financial difficulties, I should not, and have not to my knowledge incurred any charges whilst within my arranged overdraft. So in theory the problem should not get any worse because I've cancelled all direct debits. But at the end of every month, there is a monthly fee for 12.50 that gets taken out. So the problem WILL get worse. According to the bank, I owe them 75 this month all from charges, and next month I'll owe them 225 all in charges. The only thing they could say to me is we are not freezing anything for you these are standard charges we have a right to take. It's not our problem you have no income, just pay the money in like a good little girl and sort it out. Just give us our money basically. They want me to find money I have no access to (my partner had to stop giving me money for my bills because he's just had to take a hit in wages himself and can no longer afford to pay my bills as well as his) to pay into my account to bring it level. They basically want my partner to keep on blindly funding my account, even though the money is not there on his side either, and they have also been made aware of this several times. They say that is the only way they can help. They're just going to let the charges keep rolling on and threaten me for the money. I don't know what to do, I've tried to sort it out with the bank and they're no use, I've called everyone that was taking money out of my account, they're all saying the same thing because I don't have an income they can't help I've just got to find a way to give them their money. I called a debt management company, they said they can't help me either until I have an income. With me being disabled it could be a very long time before I find a job, and any money my partner can pay in will be very few and far between. The debt management company I thought was very helpful, until they started saying they can only help me if I call with my partners full financial details and they can work out a way for him to pay my bills. They also sent me what I thought was going to be a very helpful information pack full of template letters and such, this is what I was told by them, all it is is a dead link that goes nowhere. The page does not exist. Seeing as they say they can't help me until I have an income anyway, I'm loathe to call them back. I'm in a real bind, my debt is just getting worse and worse by the day as I desperately try and find work that isn't going to kill me or make me so bad I can no longer work at all. There's got to be something I can do to stop my debt piling up and up in the mean time surely? I don't want to wind up having to be in debt for the rest of my life because the DWP doesn't believe I'm disabled and doesn't want to talk to my doctor and get the evidence either...

So I sent the letter. I got my reply this morning. They're telling me that I can easily get out of my contract before term is up. But only with a medical certificate, and a cheque for my arrears. The cheek! So this means I have to write another letter, right? They're treating me like I am slow by saying that your contract may be with Energy Zone but we handle their finances. The contract is still null and void though, right?

Advice duly noted, Slick. But what does my anonymity achieve, and does that mean also removing my membership ID? Currently, I fail to see how anonymity would help. Surely they would have no way of knowing which case file they were dealing with?

Thanks muchly. I know they will continue to send threats. They will even launch a poor credit rating against my name. The purpose of my letter is not to try and stop the threats it's to leave a paper trail. If you have been reading all of the Ashbourne threads as I have no doubt you have since you are also in a dispute with them, then you'll also see that most people fighting them have won their cases. ;-)

Right. I've now drafted up a letter, requesting termination of my membership with Ashbourne/Energy Zone/Whoevertheflipitis. Please do cast an eye over it, I need it to be perfect before I send it off. Recorded Delivery, of course. Letter to Ashbourne Management.doc

Antone is quite correct, White_glass. It states very clearly in any documentation you can get for ESA that for the first 13 weeks (or 91 days) of your claim, that you will be paid the assessment rate, and no more. That's what everyone gets in the first 13 weeks, regardless of how bad their health is. The DWP are not liable to back date you pay that is surplus to what you received at assessment rate if you pass your medical. They are only liable to back pay anything if you are entitled to the benefit and they STOP paying you for no good reason. Whatever group you get put into, if any, you will get a little more, but nothing will be backdated except on the grounds above. I agree, the rates do extract the urine a bit, given how expensive it is to live, but that's what you agree to when you look into and actually claim. They don't raise the rates just because a few people want to say to them hey - give me more money! The govt would be heavily out of pocket if they hugely upped the rates just because people wanted it, and that's something they really don't like! Did you actually do any research into this benefit before submitting your claim? I don't mean to come across as harsh, apologies if I have, but it sounds currently like you've heard only a tiny fraction of info, assumed it was the benefit for you and applied. unfortunately, the DWP catch a lot of claimants out this way.

Hi Slick. I posted on here with my issues after reading all of the Ashbourne threads, including the one you posted that Fatdog wrote. They all seemed to be almost identical cases to mine, all pointing toward the same thing of I could get out of my contract on the basis that a contract that offers 100% protection for Ashbourne's clients (the gyms) and 0% protection for the customer is an unfair one. I also read somewhere on here that someone said that you can't just cancel a contract just because you change your mind and don't want to go anymore. Whilst that is not my reason for wishing to cancel, I do believe wholeheartedly that people SHOULD have the right to cancel if they just feel like it, but with the proviso that they pay up the remainder of the contract, e.g the 12 months remaining of a 36 month contract. I really appreciate your advice Slick, and I'll most likely make use of that template in the near future. Fatdog, what do I want to do? I want to terminate my contract on the grounds that since taking on said membership, I have not only lost the job I took on the membership for, I have now gotten worse health wise, and have also lost my disability benefits, so currently have no income whatsoever. I did see the threads that have been put up, and saw that you have indeed wiped the floor with them, which is what gave me the confidence to put this thread up in the first place. It feels like I'm having to fight everyone right now. But thanks very much for breaking it down in very simple terms for me. I really needed someone to come along and do that. I'm not keeping too well right now so I'm really not firing on all cylinders! But I see what you mean about the admin fee - they've tacked on a tenner, when it says £5.50 in the contract. So yes, I'll do what you say I think and ask them to not only give me my money back but terminate the agreement with immediate effect on the grounds you have set forthwith. Thanks for the help so far, and I'll keep you up to date. I'm really struggling to keep on top of this one right now!

OP - The fact that your wife is on ESA also may also be used against you at some stage, if it hasn't been already. They will, quite simply, use the logic one of them being sick? Ok maybe yes. But the both of them being too sick to get JSA but not too sick to work? Yeah right! Grumpyoldmen's experience, as well as my own, is sadly all too common right now, so I'll back him when I say do not for the life of you apply for JSA if you want to keep applying for ANY disability benefit. No matter HOW badly you need the money. After all, that's what they prey on. The fact that we need the money, that's the trick to "catching us out".

Ok, here are the links http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y345/Tina_Paterson/Ashbourne%20Contract/scan0002.jpg http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y345/Tina_Paterson/Ashbourne%20Contract/scan0001.jpg I don't want to pay any more than I already have. I just meant in my previous message that if I am required by law to pay any more then I will, I don't want to be going telling Ashbourne that I will give them their money they will just have to wait for it. I want to terminate completely. Do I write and ask for a copy of my agreement now, or do I head straight for asking them to terminate my contract? I've read most of the threads relating to gyms but I've totally lost the one(s) with all the templates and I'm really not feeling well tonight, so in no fit shape to go hunting again...

Do you know what coniff? I am very silly! I STILL cannot believe they've had two years worth of money out of me, with me being blissfully unaware of how dodgy they are! I'm normally well clued up on this sort of thing! But then, my health has gotten worse since then and part of it does greatly affect my logic and reasoning... (My physical condition is fibromyalgia, my mental is clinical depression and suspected, as I am still undergoing investigation, schizophrenia). Anyroad, so I should write to them and ask them for a true copy of the agreement? Is there any way I can get the address? I still have a copy of my contract, but it's worse than loo paper, it's on carbon paper, and since I have arthritis in my hands, I obviously wasn't pushing hard enough with my pen for the writing to come out terribly well on my copy of my contract. The T&Cs on the other side take the grand total of half a page. And as expected with Ashbourne, all it says about cancellation is I must complete my three years, at the end of which they WILL keep automatically renewing it. Is there a way I can upload a copy of my contract onto here? Then you could get a look at it... Oh, and you think I should NOT pay up then? Thanks for the help so far.

The DWP may not be supposed to use the fact you claim for JSA against you, but they WILL use it against you. They will say oh I see you applied for and got JSA on this date... now you're telling us you have been unfit for work since this date... so how is it you can manage to be fit enough for work to receive JSA? Them telling you you can "safely" apply for JSA and nothing will happen to you is a load of toffee.