The gararge seem as if they have something to hide. I can only suggest that you contact the franchise and the above people and that you go through the Insurance Ombudsman. They can advise with any further action and take up the case on your behalf. Have you also contacted your M.P? That is what they are there for to help with many situations especially if there is a legal question. You have every right to have the inspection of your car and there are officials that the gararge cannot refuse entry to. You need to get some proper advice and remember that going through a complaints procedure takes longer than 2 weeks frustrating as it may be. Log everything and keep a copy of everything. That will help with your case. Good luck.

You are actually partly at fault here. You should never have accepted that the car was repaired and should not have driven it home. You will now have a difficult case proving that the car did not have other faults. The car should have been properly assessed visually by a qualified assessor from your insurance company. You should have also used one of their approved repairers and submitted three estimates. You should also have read your insurance documents to see what you are covered for carefully. The other driver may have admitted fault but that is nothing. It is between your insurance and theirs to determine fault. In the case that it is clear cut: as it was here that they reversed into your car; then your insurance should have recovered everything from his company and paid out to you in full. You should have also claimed for out of pocket expenses and the hire car; and you did not have to use the company hire car. You are entitled to have the gararge povide a hire car or provide one yourself or through the insurance company. If the gararge has done work not to do with the accident did you know and authorise this in advance? You should not have authorised extra work without being certain it was needed or that it was seperate from the accident. You should only have authorised what you knew was from the accident and you should have had an independent assessment made from the insurance company visually to make sure that nothing was done without it being authorised. You should also not have driven an unsafe car and actually you committed a criminal offense if you knowingly drove an unsafe car on the road as you could have killed someone or yourself. You are very lucky to have got away with this. You should have left the car where it was until everything had been fixed and the repairs all sorted and guaranteed. If there was some other problem with the car that was not the result of the accident, then I am sorry to say your insurance company are quite right not to pay for it. If, however, you feel that you have been poorly treated and have been through the company's complaints procedure as far as you can go; you have one more avenue left to you. You can complain to the Financial Insurance Ombudsman. They are independent and they will look again at the claim and the loss. They will look at the other parts of the claim and if either the gararge or the company acted incorrectly or inapproprately. They will also look at the situation with the extra repairs and if you have a case here as well. They will not take any direct action against the garage but they can advise you what to do about this. They will decide if the insurance company are wrong and should pay for everything. They may order a fresh assessment but you will need to tell them the truth: that is you drove the car home before all the work had been completed and about the engine problems on the way home and the smoke. The gararge may be responsible for this and may have to put it right or another one put it right and the first one pay for it. You have to tell them everything and please do not tell them you are the victims of a corrupt and evil system: they will not take your case seriously if you do. I know you are angry here; but you are also very fortunate: the car is a piece of metal and no one was hurt in the accident; so do not get carried away over this. You must remain calm and outline in order everything that has happened and then they will take it from there. If they need any other information or documents they will ask for them. Follow their procedure and be patient. It can take several weeks for them to investigate and for them to work things out with the company and the insurance and the third parties involved before making a decision. You may have further redress against the gararge. Are they to blame for the other damage? Your car was not in a dangerous state blowing smoke before the accident or when you took it to them so what has happened while it was in their hands? Ask the AA to do a full inspection of the engine and of the work that the gararge carried out. They know what to look for and can ask questions you may not know about. You are not a car expert or an insurance expert so this is bound to be a shock for you. But be realistic: you are not the victim of a corrupt system; just one that has not done its work correctly or been fair in dealing with you. It happens all the time and yes it needs to be made simpler and easier and reformed but until we do this in Parliament insurance companies and claim assessors will continue to get it wrong and mess our lives up. But I repeat: none of you have been hurt; you have suffered financial loss and inconvenience and nothing more; it can be fixed but it takes time. You may not get all of your money back or your car; you may have to write it off and get a new one with the financial settlement: that is something that you may be asked about if the car is beyond reasonable repair. If the car was in good shape and maintained as you say then you have a better and more substantial case against the gararge. Find out who is the owner: complain; then who is the parent company and ECO complain; if not then find out the party who governs gararges who do not do a good job and you can complain to them in the same way you have the insurance ombudsman. This has been a trying time I am sure but take your time over the letters to the insurance guru and to the gararge and get a third party to help write the letters if you do not have time or are unsure. Get some intervention from an MP or advice like the CAB or other party to help you to write the letter or contact them on the phone. They are there to help. Do not claim conspiracy theories: believe me keep it simple and straight forward and honest. It may take time, but in the end it may be worth it. If you get nowhere: then Don't Get Done Get Dom. Write to the programme. You never know Dom Littlewood may be able to sort them out on the BBC. Good luck.

Pay the bill. Tell the bailiff to go to hell. Do not let them into the house. Tell them to send the account back to the council and ask the council to recall it. You may have to pay the fees but don't. Tell the council you have paid the bill and cannot afford the fees. Do not phone the bailiffs and do not allow them into your home. Shut and lock all doors and windows if out and make sure they cannot climb in through any open windows but get the bill sent back to the council and refuse anything to do with the bailiffs.

The DWP had our documents sent to them to inform them my husband now gets a pension from medical reasons from his former employers that he left five years ago. He is now 60 and has been on the support group of ESA for some time now. Our benefits gone from £315.00 every two weeks to £139.00 every two weeks and now we get £411 for the pension every month. We sent them a letter from the University and the pension people four weeks before it was to start in July. The letter and the documents got lost. So we sent them again and got copies from the University again. They did not respond so we followed with an email to the manager and a phone call. The DWP woman looked for them and phoned back two days later to say she had found them.. This was fourth week in July: first payment due end August. We were asked in a letter and on phone to send the first two months pay slips. The University Pension do not provide payment slips so we have to write and ask them for them. It we want more they charge us. So we explain this to the DWP. We go to see Benefit Max Person on 30th July with a copy of same letter sent now three times to the DWP. They tell her that we have not told them about the pension. Lying swines! She write us insulting letter saying it is her duty to break confidentiality and tell DWP about the pension they already know about so we make complaint about her. Never get response about this complaint but heard no more about what she threatened us with. Nasty person and she is meant to help us! Followed up another letter confirming the details from the pension; no response. Sent them the breakdown in August and end of September a letter and a follow up email to them with the slips and a cover letter and more details they asked for and again the letter from the pension people. MId October no response so we decide to send a follow up email with help from Age Concern and send it on 15th October and get no response by 28th October so make a formal complaint. 1st November get letter showing new payment notice and what we will get and how much it is reduced by backdated to 3rd September and nothing else. 15th November get a letter dated 4th November asking for more details. They asked us the date of first payment and how much: excuse me this was on the payment slip that they have and have not returned to us. They ask are we still paying tax. Are they idiots? It is a pension we will pay tax on for the rest of our lives. Tell them yes we are still paying tax. They ask when the lump sum began and how much it was? Excuse me this was in the five letters we have sent to them and on the document from the university and the tax people have also contacted them as have the university pension people. It also said when it started and it was tax free. We also put all of this in the varied emails to the manager. So we now send another one to them on 15th Novemeber with all the information again and we want our documents back please! They still have not sent back our documents Get no response from this email and now 3rd December get three letters stating that they have had no response from their letter of 4th November. They sent them again so I scribbled all over them and told them to refer to my formal complaint and to the varied emails and to my documents as to be honest some of the information we cannot give them as they have all the copies of the documents and we do not know the infromation without them. I know that they got my last email as I also asked for compensation in it and got also today another letter from Ian Morrison the head of Customer Resolution apologising for how we have been treated and granting £100 in compensation. Surely the idiots at Birkenhead/Wolverhampton should be aware of this and now stop asking us for the same information. I have also today sent another email complaint. I can only do it via email not phone or long mail: do you have an email for a further complaint please as this is getting boring now; writing to the same person and nothing being resolved.

As I used to work for an insurance company for many years in motor claims: the court has already dealt with the offence but the owner has the right to claim from you all out of pocket expenses not covered by their insurance and any other loss or injury if they received any personal injour. This is a civil matter, not a criminal one. I will not go into the insurance, but basically when you told them, it may not have been covered at once if you wrote to them or emailed them as they may not have picked up the message for a couple of days. You are covered from when they put you on cover. You should always phone a company with a change of vehicle or driver and tell them that you need cover to begin at once as you need to tax a new car. They will ask you if you have brought the new car. They can then put the details straight onto the computer and issue you with a cover note and confirm that you are covered and the time that you are covered from. Even if you do the change on line it is not wise to drive the new car until you receive either a cover note or the full new certificate. Most certs these days have a dedicated reg no of the car: the old ones used to have any vehicle but you still had to notify of a change of vehicle and get a cover note. There must have been a delay in your telling them of the new car and also of them issuing cover. It is a common mistake by the public but it is your responsibility to read the terms and conditions and the certificate and the cover documents to know how you are covered and your duties to the insurance company. Insurance documents are legal documents and you have a legal duty to inform of a main change such as name, address, occupation drivers, cars, vehicle being garaged or not, accidents, driving offences and so on. Have you infomed your insurance of your conviction? If not it is vital that you do so at once. The fact remains that at the time of the accident at which you seem to have been deemed at fault you did not have the insurance and so the person and their insurance company cannot claim all excess or cover back of your insurance. They can only reclaim their loss of you. Under the Road Traffic Act they can claim their excess which the court ordered. The private party can also claim the full loss. why should they be out of pocket if you caused the accident? Now he could just claim on their insurance but his or hers insurance will go up and they will lose part of their no claims bonus for something not their fault. That is not fair on them. They have to tell their insurance company about the incident: they do not have to put it on their insurance. They can claim the loss from you. That may seem unfair but that is the way it is. You had no insurance so how are they meant to claim their loss? Now when they go to court they will have to prove off course that they too where insured and that they did not have the loss covered by the insurance. They can still claim the differences such as how much it has increased at renewal due to a loss of NCB that they cannot regain. They can claim for the excess which you have paid. They may be able to claim for any other out of pocket such as a hire car. I would not bother to challenge this if I where you. I would challenge that the insurance did not pay for their own damage. You may get some of the claim reduced. It is only a civil claim in your local court. The CAB can help you with a defence and the forms to defend the case. Just answer with the truth, do not evade or lie and ask if the insurance covered anything at all. That is something that the judge should find out. You may then only have to pay part of the claim. It is up to the court not the person making the claim. But yes they do have the right to make this claim. Finally, I am sure that you will not make this error again and it is only a minor offense. It will affect your premiums in the future so be prepared for that and make sure you are aware of any companies policies on this and stick to the bigger more decent ones; many of the smaller ones will not insure anyone with a motering offence, many of the larger ones will. Try to put this behind you and if you cannot afford the claim then fill in the means form with it and explain that as well and agree a payment plan with the court. Good luck. It is not the end of the world. You will get to the end of tis, and the hearing will only be 15-20 mins at most. It is quite informal so do not worry. Cheers

Why do you need off road parking? Can you not park in the road? Are you sure you have measured correctly? It may be worth asking for the other residents to get together to apply as a road. What about how wide is the pavement that you want to block with your cars? What about pedestrians? People have to be able to walk along pavements and not have to move around your cars, you know! What about older people or disabled people? If you are going to have the council consider you having room to have your car parked off road, then it has to consider that it does not block normal access on foot on the walkways as well. There are a lot of issues, but still well worth the application.

I have heard of cases when it has happened yes, and then the points are transfered from one to the other. They are recorded at the court and the DVLA and it is good that you will plead guilty. That is a good start. if they take payment by direct debit the first time then they will normally do so at renewal but if they are not doing the same policy they should have offered or been able to offer another quote for another policy and at least given you the chance to shop around. Never assume anything with an insurance company. They do not act under the normal laws of man, they act often according to their own rules, but also within the complex laws of car insurance. I can understand why you make the error, but that is how the courts see it, no insurance and they really do not care why. But it would be better to get more practice first and sort this out before your test. I think you probably have enough to worry about, get the court out of the way and then take your test, if you are able to; you can and may well get a ban no matter what license you have. It would be better to start afresh in another year or two. After so many years you can also have them removed. A solicitor will be able to tell you more on this. All the best.

Your insurance can cancel your insurance but they have to give you 7 days written notice. They should not have done it before the 7 days and they should may-be have given more time for the information. However, they have cancelled it and they believe they have acted correctly. You should at once get more insurance with another company and do not attempt to drive a car unless you have valid insurance as at the moment, right or wrong you do not have this. Then you need to write a strong letter of complaint about the cancelled letter and that you gave them the information as soon as you were reasonably able to do so. You should complain to them that you acted in good faith and that they have not produced one piece of evidence to support their claims of fraud. Ask them to do so and to refund your money. If they do not then take the complaint to the underwritter and then to the ombudsman. I would not go back with these people. The other problem you now have is getting new insurance as you will be asked have you ever had a policy cancelled or terms applied. For goodness sake do not lie! That will invalidate your insurance. Explain what has happened and that you have made a complaint: that will mitigate your application and will help to clear the way to new insurance. If they ask you to send them any documents: make sure you do so as soon as you have them or on request. If you do not: then contact them and tell them you cannot send the information in 7 days but will get it for them within 28 days. Send it recorded delivery! I am not being funny: but the application form is a contract between you and the company and it is based on a term called utmost good faith. You have to be honest with them or it invalidates the insurance. And yes, in certain circumstances they can and will cancel your insurance if they do not believe the contract has been made under that term. But they should also treat you fairly and not just cancel because they have not had some information and certainly before the term they say is up. You can also ask for more information and ask them to prove any claims that they make. Good faith is both ways. Whatever you do, make sure you have proper legal insurance before driving your car, and then make sure you complain to the horrible company that you have been with.

Sorry, got no sympathy for you! You have done three dumb things all illegal and the fact you know they are dumb makes it worse. The insurance is your obligation to be fully aware when it is due! If you are responsible on the car for the insurance as it is your car then you should have some idea when it is due unless you are in your grand old age or something! The insurance should have come out at least 14 days before and if it did not then you should have contacted the company and asked what your renewal was and taken care of it. You say this is dumb, well fine you got the points and paid the price. Fine. But then you got the provincial with 6 points and drove without a qualified licensed driver. Then you were speeding which is even more dumb. You own up to the fault but what is the point if you do not learn your lesson? First of all you should not be allowed to take a test until you are proven sensible enough to do so! You are a dumb person and you need to learn a harsh lesson! I would postpone your test and when you go to court plead guilty and I must warn you, you can and probably will face a ban for this. You will lose your license if you have 12 points and I am certain the speeding is three and the other offense is at least three or more. I am sorry but you will not be able to take your test as you will face a ban of at least 6-12 months. You may as well get a train or bus pass instead. When you go to court plead guilty and apologise and forget about your test for now. Grow up first and then take it in another five years or so. Cheers.

Dear ST Which country are you in and do they have a debt management system or debt helplines there? You may have the same rights as you have here. You can only pay secured or priority debts first and must make a list of your such creditors. Do income and expenditure and find out what the law is in the country that you are? You must also work out what bills you need to pay and prepare a standard letter to send to your creditors explaining you do not have any income and so on. It will most likely be some time before they trace you, but it is best to have some information to hand to send them and stand to on your rights. Do not give them personal information and do not give them any documents. Do not panic. They cannot force you to pay what you do not have and I assume you do not have any property here that they can seize. You are more likely to protect your own future credit if you can come to an honest arrangement with them that they will accept. If you can afford no money then you can do an income budget form and have it sent to them with an offer of £1.00 a month or week. If you cannot pay this then you have to say so and refuse to be bullied by them or their third parties. Make a note of what you know you owe and the last statements from them. Then if they add interest or charges ask for these to be removed due to your circumstances. If there are any debt agencies you can contact, ask them to get in rough with your creditors or help prepare above. Do not deal with them except in writing and direct. DCA do not have any legal powers and are not bailiffs and in any event these have limited powers. Try to deal with the original creditor and force them to prove you owe the debt. If you cannot afford then you do not have to pay. But you must make sure that you are clear in the law and your rights in the country you are in. Good luck

Hi Jamie B I can read it fine and that is not the point: sounds very distressing for you. I only wish you had found this site before sending or agreeing any money with the bailiffs as you may not have had to pay them anything or could have found out more information first. You obviously have agreed more than you can afford and you need to get them or the court to agree lower payments that you insist you can agree. If you are able to find out the information from them and to give more information about the court hearing or is this the first you have heard about this matter, then we may be able to give you better and more specific advice. If you live in a block of flats or on top of Mount everest the court and the bailiff have a duty to make sure that the legal papers and their letters are in the correct name, correctly spell your name and address and they are not just addressed to the correct address, but are delivered to the right person. I have a question for you? Has the bailiff been inside your house to your knowledge, not the block of flats; your actual flat? if not, then do not allow them in under any circumstances, not even to use the loo. Tell them you will not deal with them further on the phone or in person at the door, you refuse them entry to your flat and close the door, even if they attempt to thrust their foot into the door. They cannot force you to let them in and they cannot push the door open or put their foot into it and claim entrance. They can only come in if you allow them to as long as you have not allowed them in before. You may want to train your kids to not open the door to them at all. If you are worried they may come round keep all doors and windows shut and lock them when you are out. They cannot take stuff if you do not allow them in. In any event you are unemployed with kids and you are vulnerable. The bailiff should be made aware of this as should the courts. If you deal with them again, do so only in writing and keep a record of their visits. Get a list of the charges and the fines from them and the court and make out a income and expenditure form. Send it with the offer you know you can afford to the court and a copy to the bailiff. Ask the court to recall the bailiff and to deal with them direct as you knew nothing of this matter. If you can afford nothing then you can afford nothing but if it is a fine you will need to pay something over time. Pay it direct to the court and get receipts. Ask the bailiff to return the case to the court and try to deal with them in writing direct. If there is something that you can sell privately that may help with the fine, give it serious thought. You can always by another Ipad. I know it is your sons, but he will have to learn to do without it. That is called sacrifice. If there is something else, fine, but the ipad is not an essential. There are some things that they cannot take, such as clothing, the cooker, and washing machine. They have to leave you something to sit on and to sleep on. I do not know about your kids things, but they may not consider some items essentials. You may do better selling some things yourself to ease the burden a little. I do not know the full list but I am sure the site guys can help there. Try to find out if there are any papers that the court sent and if they have copies. I do not know if you can have anything changed or set aside, but that is for the legal department. But if you can get more information, that also may help. Hope you come to some agreement or resolution. Good luck.

It is not fraud as she has mental health problems and cannot be judged to have made the decision in her right state of mind. If you are being given the money: then it is now your money and not your mother's money. There is no reason why they should know anything about it, and if your grand mother intended you to have the money, then your mother is just a temporary custodian of the money that is meant for her. How long is she to have the money; a couple of days at most? The DWP can go to hell for a couple of days. In any case some inherited money is not seen as income or taxable. If you have the money directly sent to you then the money is no longer her property and it is now you money. It is not fraud: the money belongs to you the moment it is transferred to you name. I would not give it another thought and you cannot be seen to have given away money you are meant to live on as her mental health problems may preclude her from doing this in her right mind. Accept the money and you can always use it to help your mum when you need it. Cheers

The only way to conduct yourself in court is with honesty and respect. Do not use any excuses and just tell them the truth and apologise. Do not insult the other drivers by calling them names, be respectful and admit that you made a mistake, well a couple of mistakes actually. Just own up and say you are very sorry. You may get a heavy fine but you may also escape imprisonment if you are honest and humble. if you own the problem and apologise and take full responsibility then the court will have some compassion and be lenient. This is not a fine for not having a TV license: you drove a car, a weapon at hight speed and undertook dangerously. You could have crashed and killed yourself or someone else. The sooner you accept the gravity of what you did and admit it to yourself, the duty solicitor and the court, the better. I assume that you are sorry and upset, which is good, but there is no reason why you cannot face the court yourself and just make a statement. Ask that as a plea of guilty that a statement of responsibility be entered into the record. Accept full responsibility, apologise, state that you intend to reform, accept a driving rehabilitation course as part of the punishment, and that you have learned a valuable lesson. What you did was foolish and you realise that someone could have been seriously hurt, but you have taken that on board and ask the court to help you to do better in future. They have ways of doing this as part of the ban. They can send you on a course instead of to prison: take it if they offer this. Again, do not make any excuse, just apologise and ask the courts indulgence. It may sound like crawling, but five minutes of humble pie is nothing and life is too short to be too proud to admit you are wrong. The court has a range of things that they can consider. They are more likely to consider the less draconian ones if you are sorry and responsible and willing to change. Learn from this experience and do not repeat it in future: it is not smart and next time, they will throw the book at you. If you have no money to pay any fine then you can ask the court for time to pay and make sure they have a detailed income and expenditure form with your plea form. If they allow you time, thank them, consider yourself lucky and move on: but for heavens sake stick to the payment arrangements. And if you have any religious conviction, can I suggest you get yourself shriven before going to court: trust me, it will help.

Hi Horsen, what a ridiculous statement! Morons like you should be banned from this site let alone the driver from the road. This is not a laughing matter. This dumb ass could have killed someone. i know your tasteless joke is in reference to the driving while banned affair with Tevez but that was their idiot being done for a much lesser offense of driving while banned: it only brings a fine or community service. The initial offense of drink driving gave him a ban the same as everyone else. I suggest that idiots like you keep your idiot jokes to yourself and realise the gravity of this case. An idiot is speeding and undertaking at speed and abusing a consumer site by asking for help to get them off. They should just own up, confess up and stop wasting the courts time. They should also use the duty solicitor on the day if they need legal help or get someone to do a two hour service for them for nothing. You do not need a solicitor if you are going to plead guilty to this crime: you need to speak up and be honest, not make excuses and apologise. Only then may the courts be compassionate. I have no time for speeders of this nature. It is not as if it is a case of doing 35 in a 30 zone: they were doing in excess of 90! The sooner morons like this are off our roads the better. And idiots like you only encourage them.

Tough! Should not have driven like a maniac then. If you to the court early you can get a free solicitor on duty. I am sorry, but you only have yourself to blame! You should have thought about this before speeding at plus 100 miles an hour and undertaking at 60 miles an hour. Just what if you had killed someone? What you did was dangerous and you are getting off lightly. You could be done for dangerous driving. You are going to lose your license in any event so you will save money by selling your car as you cannot drive it while you are banned. The duty solicitor will tell you the same and so will anyone. Stop blabbing and wasting time. Plead guilty and throw yourself on the mercy of the court. That is all you can do. Sorry, but this is your own stupid fault. You do not need a solicitor: you need to own up and be honest. Then they court may have some compassion, but I doubt it.

You can get the duty solicitor on the day at the court or a no win no fee one, or do you qualify for legal help? In any event you do not need a solicitor as you are pleading guilty. You are also guilty of careless driving or driving without due care and attention. Stop wasting the justice systems time and public money. You should not have been speeding, so own fault, you should not have undertaken, could have killed a person coming off the pavement or hit someone, or killed a child. If you were going 100 miles an hour, shame on you. If you were doing more than 40 shame on you. Have got no sympathy for you. Hope you have learned your lesson and that you accept your due punishment with grace. Then mend your ways and do not do it again and move on. Lesson learned. End off

Rubbish! The worst thing that can happen is that they now treat you as a couple and they make a couple of wrong assumptions. As long as you can show that he does not have an income and is not on other benefits it is very clear that these people at the DWP will have to re-instate your benefits. It may take a few weeks, but instead of wasting time on here, go and get correct welfare benefits specialist legal help: there are a number of them out there. Take someone from there with you and find out what they have on you. They will not tell you unless you go down to an interview. If you want to consult more: find out what they have then postpone the rest of the interview and get counter proof. Take copies and when you go back with your rep take the evidence that he does not have income and then they will have to re-consider their response. I am confident it will work out. It does not matter that you have someone living with you. It matters that you attempted to conceal the fact or not and if the person is on any income. I am married and as I have no income we can claim benefits. My sister was able to claim even though her partner moved in as she could show he had no income. You need to be three steps ahead of these people and inform them of any changes. That is what has made them suspicious off you; someone with a grudge has rung the benefit fraud line and reported your partner staying over. You need to sort this out or they will come to your home and his and search it with the police. Do not mean to frighten you, but you cannot sit, winging on a consumer forum and hope this goes away. It will not! Get help from a proper welfare advisor and show them all the documents. On here we do not know your full story and can only guess what it is. You need to be completely honest at this point with anyone who will represent you. If you just forgot to tell them someone had moved in then admit it. If you believed him staying over every so often was not constituted as living together and it was not something you needed to report to the DWP, then say so. Get the appointment moved to a time and date you can bring a representative and do not go unless you have them with you. But do not just put it off. This is serious. Fraud is a crime and the fines and imprisonment are harsh. I know you are not committing fraud but at this point this is how the DWP see it. You will need to go to an initial interview with your rep and find out what they have on you and why they believe you are living together. Then explain your side of things and if you have any proof then show it to them. If you need more time to provide them with proof, ask them to halt the interview and postpone it to an agreed later date and ask for time to get the proof. If you need extra time then write again to them and inform them you are still waiting for the information and to arrange the interview for another time. Push your spouse to get the proof and if he does not then throw him out and stop living or staying with him as he is putting you and your kids in jeopardy from the DWP and council tax people. They can and will stop your money and take the matter further, even to court if you do not show them that your partner has no income. He may have to be the one to get the proof. If there is no other way to prove it they will ask him and you to make a statement on a special form that you have no income except these benefits. This will be under oath on the form and is a serious matter if you lie on this form. If he has hidden savings or something tell him to declare them. They can and will find out! Sorry to sound so dramatic but having been through the process and won, I know something about it. It has changed since 2005 in that they now involve the police if you do not co-operate with them. At this point you will need a solicitor but it does not need to get that far. Follow the steps above and make sure you co-operate with them and get correct advice. If your partner will not co-operate then do not let them into your home unless he does. At that point you are no longer living together. From what you said before it sounds as if he will not be a problem. It is important that he gets what proof he has or fills in the declaration as soon as he can and you go down with it. The sooner you both do this; the sooner this nightmare will be over. Try not to worry too much; I am sure that with the right help and co-operation from all parties: you, partner and DWP plus welfare help, you will be able to resolve this in a few weeks. They have made assumptions that they clearly have no right to make: but they are a law unto themselves, they can be over turned and you can win this. You do have rights and if the only problem is that they think he is living with you, as long as he does not have enough or no income that can affect your benefits I do not see what the problem is. They may be annoyed you did not tell them of his staying over, but you have a good argument to state that you did not believe this to be important or you simply forgot as he did not have any income you did not see a problem. I think that will then be case closed: benefits restored and back dated. If not, throw him out and claim as a single parent.

Even if she has been done in her absense, which is probably not likely as she would have to tick if she was going to defend the action or not and they cannot proceed without this response. They have to show you are watching live TV and they cannot do that without one of three things: they have seen it for themselves and sworn a statement to that effect; they have spoken to you at the door and you have been stupid enough or frightened enough to sign the statement form that they make out at that time, saying you were watching this TV and this is not something you seem to have done: or you have admitted the fact at some time. They can get evidence by climbing up and looking through your window and this is controversial. There is not a clear case here. I do not think they have a case had you gone to them at this time, you would have had a good case to do it. But they also have to bring a case against an individual and they cannot do this if they do not have your correct name. It seems to me that they have charged a person who in law does not exist and so they would not be able to follow this up. Next time you get something that you do not need to respond to: ignore it and you would not have been in this ridiculous situation. I know that sounds easy and we have all been there. I complained about something recently when I could have just ignored it and they took some ridiculous action that they could not have done had I not responded to them. I stopped the action with a preemptive strike, but I could easily have avoided a lot of stress and two days of migraines by ignoring them in the first place. You cannot and do not have to prove an negative. They have to prove that you are watching live TV. I do not know the law on getting this quashed or over turned but I am sure that it could be over turned if you get proper legal help. You may find that TV Resistance Website can help at this time. I advise you give them a look and tell them your story: you will be interested to see that there are ways around the TV license legal attack. I got my husband off having to even attend and the case was thrown out by submitting 18 legal challenges and the fact that we had a license and he was on morphine at the time they came to the door. He only said in the statement that he believed we had a license and their records said we did not. I had to even ask it to be heard at a closer court as they wanted it 30 miles away. At the time he was attatched to a cathetar and to various tubes. He could not even leave the house: let alone go to court. With the help of the TV Resistance people I won my case without it even being going to court. The judge at the first plea hearing threw out the case. They did not even apologise: just threatened me that if we came up on their records again they would bring the case again. I reminded them that I had won the case and demanded a full apology. I had one three days later and the assurance that no future action was being considered as the payments were clearly being paid and they had clearly made an error. They were even forced to admit the case should not have been brought in the first place. It is well worth making a challenge to the judgment against you as it was made without you even knowing you had a court date. That and the business of proof, plus the name thing is reason enough to have it reversed. Give it a go and good luck.

First of all you need a license if you are watching TV on a TV other than just on demand or video! That I know is not the problem here; you have got a letter from them with the wrong name on. Have you told them they have the wrong name and that you are not married to the other person. A TV License is for the address by the way not a person, but you are correct they should only converse with the person who made the arrangements for a license or in your case, responded to the letter to say you do not watch live TV. That was your first mistake! You should have continued not to respond to them as the occupier is not specific to anyone, as there are more than one occupier in your home. I am really baffled as to how they have taken you to court if they have not spoke to you at the door! I would also think that there is no such person as they have addressed it that they cannot enforce anything. They have to issue any legal letters or documents to the correct person and if they have not then they have the wrong person and can do nothing about it. Send them all back as you have NO SUCH PERSON AT THIS ADDRESS BY THIS NAME and continue to ignore them. Do not get involved in this. If they address stuff to the wrong person, or incorrectly that is their problem. If anything else comes then stick to your guns they have addressed it wrong: that is all their is to it and if you do not watch live TV then you could also argue that you do not have to have a license. If you want specialist advice on this there is a website called TV LICENSE RESISTANCE They are excellent.

Why can you not just open the door: state at once that you do not buy or sell and are not interested no matter who they are or just no thanks and close the door? It never ceases to amaze me how people get themselves sucked in to conversations at the front door or on the phone. If you have a notice, just say NO Thanks and point to the notice. If they continue to come, then ask them to put their credentials through the door, close it on them, make a note of who they are and details and phone their company and tell them in no uncertain terms that you have a NO CaLLLers notice and if one of their staff disregards it again you will call the police. Believe it or not but in some areas door to door selling is actually illegal as the residents have got together and have had the road declared a NO Sellers area. Notices are put up at the ends of the roads and these people can be removed if they come to your door. I would also get a spy hole: look through it and if there is someone you do not know: then tell them from your side of the door: NO THANKS AND WALK AWAY. You do not have to open the door to them and you do not have to listen while they babble on. You did the right thing in not falling for it and asking for ID, but why put up with them at all? If you have a notice, they should respect it and if not, teach them to respect it.

Have I missed something, but what is the problem if he does not work or claim benefits and has not got any income that can affect your claim for benefits? If they assume that he is paying maintenance for the children, which I think may be their problem, or that he has an income, surely you are able to show that he does not and is not supporting you? When there are kids involved they seem to assume that the father or partner is supporting or should be supporting them, that is the first thing to clear up, what his financial status is. If he has his own address, does he have anything that can show that he lives with parents or at another address: that may be something he can get to prove that you are not living as a couple. If you are now separated, then I would assume that the stupid council officials and the DWP would still think it right that your partner as the father of the kids comes around to visit with them and has access to visit them. I would think he should be commended not punished for doing so: the DWP should pin a meddle on him for helping the way that he does. The world is upside down and the rules about partners are old fashioned rubbish! Having said that if he does not have any income, I really do not know what their problem is. It sounds as if they are acting on assumptions that can be dis-proven and not on the facts. You really need to get to a welfare solicitor or specialist who knows the rules on this. To answer should you just go down and tell them everything and go alone: NO! You do not have to tell them anything and you do not have to answer any questions. Take someone with you and do not go until you have legal assistance with you. Do not answer anything until you know exactly what they have on you and what they are actually asking you, which they will not tell you until you go to the interview. Make sure you make notes and have some statements ready, but do not answer anything you do not want to; make them prove it. Take your legal person with you and if you want a break to consult at any time stop the interview. If you want to leave at any time, stop the interview. If you can get hold of anything that will support your claim then also do that, but do not just hand it over; do it through your representative. And if the date they want you to come is not convenient change it. Hope you find out some help and get them to change their minds. Good luck.

These people are complete morons. I am disabled and my husband has just had treatment for prostate cancer in hospital but Southern Electric still sending out disconnection letters and for the last 2 and a half years have refused to agree a payment plan that we can afford, despite putting it in writing in emails and two letters that they agree we are on income related ESA, have special needs, are registered as priority and vulnerable customers and have filled out two forms to get the rebate. This year the rebate was put on two weeks ago and we have been granted £200 towards the bills by them as well. That was after I got upset and threatened suicide as I suffer from deep depression and anxiety and could not get them to listen. Now they have agreed a payment plan, found several lost payments that they lost, and after consumer focus got onto them for the third time in nine months, agreed that we can only afford a small amount each month. The arrears is in dispute because the meter is running fast but we are in the process of having that tested. We have also completed a trust fund form. We finally get them to admit we are right and to agree to a payment plan and send out a new amended bill two weeks ago: and hey presto today they send out another disconnection notice: so the merry go round goes on. I am sorry to hear about your situation: get onto Alison Slone: the head of customer services and consumer focus. They have an obligation to come to some form of payment arrangement you can afford. They will still send out the letters even if you have an agreement as they are lazy, do not do their jobs properly and do not care.

I do not think the 35 hour rule applies if you have a disability. Surely it only applies for those who can work these hours and have been on JSA? You will need to find out the rules from the DWP and go to your local Job Center Plus place and then ask them what about help they can give you to get back into work. If you work less that certain hours, surely you are also still entitled to some benefits and to credits in work and to help if you are disabled through Access to Work? I have also been thinking about working limited hours as from next month, but have a long term disability, health problems, am a full time carer and my husband is recovering from cancer treatment; I have no idea how the new rules will affect me but I am keen to find out because if they can help me back into work: I intend to go for it.

Can the bus driver actually do this or is this technically discrimination as most disabled people do not have wheelchairs? It is not access for wheelchair users; it is access for disabled people, whatever they have that limits them. And push chair parents have taken advantage of this. You should see the size of some push chairs and double prams! They take up the entire floor space! It is technically illegal to refuse outright access to public transport based on disability, but there is a safety issue here and there is a statement about reasonably practical. This means that if there is a safety issue then they can say no to access. A scooter! Some scooters can fold and go in the boot. If this is a national express bus then that is fine, they can load in the boot and passenger on the bus. If it is public transport this is not possible as they do not take luggage in boot space. They have limited space in any event. I have to admit this is a new one on me and I would really love to know what happens if the disabled passenger made a formal complaint via a disabled tribunal or authority against the bus company. I also feel sorry for the driver and he or she is probably correct: safety of the other passengers is a problem here. I assume that the scooter does not have a break although actually they do: you have a key that turns them on and off and they can be immobilised safely! But what if they were not done correctly: they are quite large items and could cause some damage. There have been a few incidents with scooters being driven into the path of someone and an accident happening and injuries were quite bad. I have used scooters in the centre of town and believe me as hired items they are not easy to use and get out of the way: I had to use the horn a number of times as people wander into your path and are not aware you are there. There may be some issues here on the bus and safety would be one of them. The issue, however, is: is this legal, can you refuse access to disabled people in scooters? I would assume that the issue has not been looked at very closely as you would not get many people on scooters getting onto a bus: but I can certainly, even as a disabled customer, understand if a driver refused. I also have seen mums told to put the pram down as it takes up room for other people and you cannot get past to get off or a wheelchair user may get on and this is quite right as they have a choice: a wheelchair user does not and has priority on public transport. Those are the rules. I have had pushchairs run over my feet to try and force me to move from the disabled seat on the bus and refused as I cannot stand and this was when there was enough room for the chair and me in the same space. I also had to ask a bus driver to help me up as a mother had hysterics as I was sitting where she wanted to put her huge pram. The driver got up and abused me! I told him if he wanted me to move then he needed to assist me and he soon shut up and told the mother to move instead or put the chair down. It was only when a younger person moved from the ordinary disabled seat at the front that I was able to actually move in any case! No, I will not stand while a mother gets on and takes my disabled place with her tripple brat mobile. To get back to the point I would actually move for a wheelchair: I would not move for a scooter either: there is no need for a scooter on a normal bus. A national express bus can put it into the boot in a special department: the local bus cannot. Sorry, but even at the risk of having every other disabled person in the world attack me, law not withstanding, I believe the bus driver acted in the interest of safety, was being practical and he was thinking of the other passengers. The law may well say otherwise: I am not sure; but I feel the drive acted correctly and was not discriminating in any way.

Bailiff fees are outrageous and they are often illegal and made up as they go along. If you get a fee from a bailiff then they should be able to provide a comprehensive transparent list of all of their charges and all charges have to be regulated. They should not be allowed to charge for visits not made or invent charges or hype them but they do. I do not know rules for commercial but for homes do not let them into the property even to use the loo. They cannot come in unless they have made peaceful access before. They can apparently come in through open door or window, not a closed or locked one. They cannot break in and they cannot put foot in door and force you to let them in. You do have rights. Some bailiffs play fair but most do not and Westminster were on that programme about them and they have been subject to several complaints of late about fees. There must be someone who governs bailiff activity and charging surely? If there is, then make a complaint in writing. Do not deal with them at door or on phone and if coming to an agreement then say you will contact the office in writing with your proposals. Make agreement you can afford in writing only. Bailiffs are scary people, but it is all for show! If possible film them if they come to the front door or to the business premises!