im lookin for some advice please. i moved my electric to british gas last year so that i was gettin both gas and electric from same company. I live in 3 bedroomed mid terrace house and only my central heating is gas but everything else is electric. I have combi boiler. ( addin this info as some people may ask) When i moved to british gas, my balance was clear from scottish power i started with £o balance but i set up direct debit to pay £ 145 each month ( the same as i was payin scottish power each month to keep my balance clear) things have been going well but husband asks me why our electric is going up every month when we have no new electrical appliances, we dont use cooker or washin machine any more than usual etc.... i queried this with british gas saying i think there must be problem with meter and can they check it please just to assure me nothin is wrong.... .The quoted me over £300 to come check the meter so i refused. our electric been goin up and up and up.. ...Its now sitting at £404 despite our monthly payments of £145 each month. I spoke to them again and all they did was offer a tool thing to put on meter so i can see what im using but because of where the meter sits ( right on the floor in cupboard which is kept locked), nothin will fit on the meter but i notice each time they come out to service my gas or fix and electrical appliances ( i have kitchen machines insured with them too at cost of £80 per month for 5 items), the gas man goes into meter, rips off grey selotape and puts new tape on the meter????? whats that about? Last month we had fraudeulant activity on our account all direct debits had to be cancelled as bank couldnt just stop them for one month until next wage went in debits were all stopped we had to borrow money to pay mortgage, council tax gas , electric etc all our usual bills. Yesterday i phoned british gas to make a payment and they told me they were applying for warrant to fit a prepayment meter in our house to collect the £512 electric we owe..... .. How the hell did it creep upto that amount?.. ..Im seriously suspicious now I paid them the £145 tellin them they are not putting a prepayment meter in here because we intend putting this house on market in february and it wont look good with prepayment meter.... .I asked what needed to be done to stop that action and they say they want full amount which no way in hell can i pay. They gave me date they will try to get warrant, can i go to the court or find out where it is so i can turn up with our bills and show judge so he can maybe order them to check our meter without those extortionate costs to us?... .. Im really gobsmacked by this and dont know what do to..... any help or advice would be appreciated...Im in scotland

im typin this on behalf of my mum who is sittin on sofa dictatin to me i am to tell you we are in scotland so people who reply should bear that in mind please also i dont know if this is right place to post this but i hope so mum said this site has been great help in past with her welcome finance fight which is still ongoin. Anyways, mum has severe arthritic joints, carpal tunnel syndrome, aneamia and diabetes type 2. she has enlarged spleen and her liver function is bad due to many years on medications. she is on various medications and may need spleen removed in new year as well as her ovaries. my mum works 16hrs per week in a supermarket but is holding onto the job by skin of her teeth due to absences which in my opinion are caused by her job makin her condition worse despite doctors givin her sick lines with advisor note to be moved from her current position. She works in chilled cabinets which causes her arthritis to flare up bein in the cold. mum applied for dla and was refused despite doctors and consultants fillin in forms. at appeal, the lawyer actin for mum asked for middle rate allowance but people at appeal said he only asked for lower rate and then he contradicted himself few times makin mums appeal a farce and she thinks this is why she was refused. she appealed the appeal and they sent her a cd but no list of reasons why it was refused,and they sent the lawyer a list of reasons but no cd. mum saw the solicitor today to discuss appealin again because in th appeal they said mum was workin so she is fit and healthy. mum only manages to work because she gets help to dress from my dad, mum cant use knives or lift heavy pots of water etc because due to carpal tunnel syndrome she has burned her legs and arms which she showed solicitor today where she dropped pot of water last week but she does this quite frequently because she is not one to accept she cant do things but she is learnin now she really does have problems. mum thinks she was indirectly discriminated against because she has a job ( which she may not have for much longer as she keeps droppin things and she cannot go up and down the stool needed for her job and she keeps havin time off due to knees and wrists) and because she has condition which varies from day to day even tho her medication doesnt. her doctor is shocked she was refused because with mums problems, she could not get in and out of bed ( arthritis in spine as well) if she lived alone even with the bed rail she got from physio nurse if her carpal tunnel is playin up because she has no power in her hands wen its bad...... so she needs dad to help lift her. she has swivel bath seat to get in and out of bath or shower because she cannot bend her knees properly. Mums mobility is takin a batterin over past year and she suffer bouts of depression over it which doctor does help her with. The doctor has said mums health is deterioratin and will continue to do so and if she lived alone she would be a risk to herself. He is even tryin to get mum amenity housin all on one level because she is gettin worse. mum has appoinment with neurologist next month to investigate her carpal tunnel syndrome more thoroughly as one of her hands looks deformed because she sits with it a certain way as she says its less painful that way. mum has worked all her life and refuses to give into her disablity but this dla appeal is causing her serious upset because her doctor told her to apply and he has filled in 3 forms for dla apparently sayin she is a risk to herself and she needs personal care durin nights ( dad has to help mum move durin night or her spine causin severe pain..... my parents spent £400 gettin orthopedic mattress to help mum durin the night as she felt terrible wakin dad to help move her) mum got herself a different car 2yrs ago wen she started havin pains in her shoulder adn wrist joints....she got car with gears high up and automatic handbrake because she started pullin shoulder muscles wen she was puttin her handbrake on...... dad got handrails put outside front door and also 2 new handraisl for goin upstairs..... they have spent fortune tryin to make life easy for mum without askin for help and mum made things worse by not tellin doc how bad she was gettin. Mum is not a cabbage, but wen her conditions flare up which is quite often now, she cannot function without any help. Mum is also deaf in her right ear, and this was in her dla form but at appeal they said they didint know that because mum just said she had to ask the people to speak up or look at her so she could lip read but they said that wasnt in her appeal notes yet it quite clearly shows it was in the paper she showed me. mum is askin if anyone has any advice for in scotland on how she can appeal again. she is told she needs a point of law to ask for permission to appeal to upper tribuneral but her solicitor thinks its best just to leave it and apply for somethin called PIP which replaced dla. mum is quite adamant she wants to fight this because she feels as she has variable illness and no diagnosis yet for liver and no decision made on spleen and she is holdin down a job that they have held this against her, her doctor is shocked as well because he says she cannot live alone without hurtin herself. can anyone help mum on this. She said it would be much appreciated. I forgot to add ( mum still dictatin to me) that mum cannot walk far and she cannot use walkin aids due to carpal tunnel syndrome and she obviously cant drive wen her condition is bad, but her car is her lifeline ( she has done under 2000 miles in one year) and she thinks this is held against her too. also the doctor who came to house to do check for dwp has said on his forms he was with mum for over 50mins and asked her to do several things but dad said he is liar as he was with mum at time and the doctor was in house for 23mins and never moved off the chair he sat on.... so is that not falsifyin a legal document or somethin.... thanks in advance for any help

what is an IP? I have e-mailed our trust deed representative or agent and he has not replied but Im sure he is on holiday so will phone his compnay tomorrow incase maybe he has left the company in which case Im sure he would have let me know and told me who was takin over in his place. Thanx for all advice and help

thanx dear... it will take while for me to get used to movin around the site coz I aint too smart on computer.....thanx

Dont know if Im in correct place but I need some advice. My husband and myself are both in trust deeds and have been since december 2007 which means its all due to end this december. We paid £100 each per month for first year to them for securing our property so our debtors could not force us to sell house to pay debts..... We also have been payin £150 each per month since december 2007 to trust deed people. Our debts at time of taking the trust deed on were around £15,000 We have a loan with welcome finance which is secured on our property. Anyways, a company which aint our trust deed company have now come along and asked us to sign papers givin rights to them to fight welcome finance for mis sold ppi and also any banks we have accounts with for bank charges etc. We have been fightin with them for over 2yrs now to get refunds on our account etc and this year they refunded almost £400 of daft charges they tried hittin us with..... I have been communicatin with the fos who dont seem to be any help really...... Anyways, I am still strugglin with welcome for refund of mis sold ppi and I dont feel we should be allowin this company to come along and decide that any refund we get for mis sold ppi (which welcome were goin to deduct from our outstandin balance and just re-adjust what we owe them and lower our payments etc), should go into their pockets...... This cant be right, can it? They say they will not close our trust deed till we sign the paperwork for this company but I really feel this is not right and its also strange that my trust deed advisor never e-mailed me about this beforehand because he always has e-mailed me prior to any letters being sent out to us..... It just seems strange. Can anyone help with this please....... thanx