hi all, not really got time to go into too much detail right now with the background of how this all came up (will give details tomorrow when I can) but due to changes in circumstances certain benefits got stopped last year and took quite a few months to be restarted again. .the same has happened over the summer this year and both of these instances have resulted in a build up of debt. I am on the verge of being taken to court for repossession of my home (local authority) but have paid the majority of what I owe with back payments of the benefits I have just had reinstated. I have recently gained employment, a year after graduating last year as a mature student with 2 children and will get my first pay on 30th november. My most urgent problem right now is that, despite telling british gas of my situation re benefit non-payment, on and off for over a year, as well as my rent arrears this has caused, they are refusing to stop court action (on thursday this week, to cut off my supply on 20th november) despite my application to the british gas energy trust and my offer to pay a substantial amount to both my gas and electric bills on the 30th of november and every month from then on now I am working. I know this is very last minute but I really dont know what to do. My home phone is incoming calls only until I can pay that bill which I have told them so email is the only way at present that I can talk to them..they have given me a freephone number but the only pay phone near me has glue stuck in the coin slot!!! Any advice would be truly appreciated. .all I want to do is get out of this mess ..if only they would give me 2 more weeks and I will have been payed and will be able to pay them!!! Thank you for any help you can give ..to be honest I just wanna give up. .really seems like theres no way out, they just wont give me the extra week or two to come up with the money..

will do thank you!! x

Thanks dx, Sorry to sound a bit dumb but what counts as notified arrears?..x

Hi all, Sorry for going quiet for a while..things have been getting a bit much to cope with but we have been to CAB for advice and had a few appointments with a lovely man who really took the time to listen to us and explain all the options and how things work...for anyone needing one to one advice I couldn't recommend CAB enough!!..After discussing things with the CAB I saw my OH smile a real smile for the first time in ages! Anyway after exploring all the options available he said that bankruptcy is really the only way we're going to be able to get out of this mess. The only problem with that is the £700 fee so I asked if reclaiming mis-sold PPI would be a good idea to raise funds to pay for it which he said would be a very god idea. I do have a question (which I didn't think of asking at the time!) which I hope you can help with... Because my OH is only making token payments of £2.00 a month to each of his creditors would they be able to keep whatever the claim is worth to reduce the debts? I have just written the SAR letters which will be posted tomorrow before starting the claims and one of them is for a Barclay loan that has already been paid off in full so I assume that cannot be touched but one his creditors is Barclaycard so maybe not? The other two are for Virgin CC and MBNA CC - the Virgin card was taken out online before they stopped using boxes that had to be un-ticked for PPI and the CCA from MBNA (also applied for online) shows the box for PPI was not ticked but they have still been charging for PPI. As for the Barclay loan, he was told he would not get it if he did not agree to having PPI on it so I think he has valid reasons on each for re-claiming! We really need to sort this out asap before it takes any more of a toll on our lives as stress levels, especially at each knock on the door and letter dropping through the letter box, are rising and at times causing stupid arguments over nothing when we should be standing together! We dont mind some of the money (if the claims are successful!) going towards the debts but do you think it is possible to reclaim without creditors taking the lot as this is the only way we can afford to raise the fees? thank you all for previous help and in advance of any advice you may be able to give Wando Pondo Pops xx

One other question I have is do all debts have to be included in a DRO or an he just include any that take the amount to just below the 15K threshold?

Thanks Gez and Sarge, I've had a look at the cccs website about DRO's and it looks like the way to go but we'll SAR MBNA and Virgin CC's to reclaim the PPI first, as suggested by Gez, as he's just over the 15K limit. Any idea how long reclaiming PPI takes after getting the SAR response? I know things will get better eventually but it seems a long way to go right now!! x

Hi everyone, Sorry for not posting for a week or so but we had no internet 'cos we couldn't afford the bill - something that needs looking into as Virgin Media are charging a fortune!! Sammy sausage, thank you but I applied to BG energy trust a while ago (it was unsuccessful). .I need to check the date as I think I can re-apply either next month or the 1 after. We had a letter today saying we have been over payed housing and council tax benefit since August last year which has just added to the panic about everything. Things are so bad right now that me and my OH are on 1 meal a day (mostly beans on toast with a bit of cheese on top when we're feeling extravagant!) so that we can feed the kids (3 of them between us). I have (finally) completed an I/E sheet which is really quite scary and composed letters for both British Gas accounts which I will post during the week when I can afford to send them by 'signed for' post. As for the credit cards: We wrote back in early December requesting CCA's from all credit cards and got them back from MBNA and Virgin while Halifax sent a reconstituted one with the promise that the real one would be sent ASAP.. .we still havent had it sent. As for the MBNA CCA, it shows that my OH didnt request PPI (online application and the box wasn't ticked) but they have been charging for it anyway and the Virgin card was taken out in January 2006 which, after a bit of research, was before all companies agreed to stop using boxes that had to be un-ticked for online applications in July 2007. I know it's a lot to ask but we need urgent help and advice on all of this.. we're both in quite a panic at every knock on the door or phone call from a number we dont recognise! thank you all again, x

Thank you National Debtline, I will pass on your number as we need all the help and advice we can get...feels like a downward spiral with no way back up right now! I know things will get better eventually but even after cutting back on everything we can it's still a struggle to even afford food some days! thank you everyone for your advice and support x

Thank you both for your advice! The whole IVA proposal seemed very wrong on a lot of points with mistakes in income and the fact that benefits I get for my daughter were included as his income. You have both confirmed that it's right that he holds back on that as the way to go and reclaim PPI and see what's left to pay after that. I have been working on doing an I/E for us but it's taking far longer than I first expected because there's no point in it unless I do it properly and go through the last years worth of bills to get an average monthly amount for everything! Hopefully I will get it finished tomorrow and also send off the SAR letters to start reclaiming. I have one question though, he has already signed and sent off the permission to act forms so can Payplan still go ahead even though he hasn't sent the signed proposal back? Also would it be worth sending Payplan a letter saying he withdraws his permission for them to act just to make sure? thank you again! x

Hi everyone, I started this asking for help with the constant telephone harassment my OH was getting from credit card companies and Albion about his debts but need advice on IVA's (among other things) now! Albion advised my OH to get in contact with Payplan which he did and they started putting together an IVA proposal for him based on his debts: BARCLAYCARD: £5886 HALIFAX: £4366 VIRGIN MONEY: £4262 MBNA: £1490 SANTANDER: £2188 He also has a couple of bank accounts with overdrafts that total about £-1000 in debit. He received the IVA proposal a few days ago but parts of it seem very confusing and I havent even got through reading it all to the end yet! Firstly they seem to be counting my income as part of the income/expenditure form which they have used to calculate his disposable income. The things they have included are the very small amount of maintenance I get from my ex-partner for my 16 year old daughter - they say it is not enough and the creditors may tell him to ask for more, the child benefit and child tax credits that I get for her and have also questioned why my 20 year old son makes no contribution to the household income (he had his JSA stopped for missing 1 application form out of the reams of paper they gave him every time he signed on). We have a small amount of rent arrears (tenancy in my name only) which my local housing authority have agreed to me paying it back at £10 extra a week. Other arrears (also in my name) include Council tax and British Gas (dual fuel). Of these only the rent is listed as a priority debt. After reading other posts on IVA's I'm not so sure this is the way to go. We have CCA'd them all and it looks like PPI has been charged on the MBNA card even though the box for it wasn't ticked and after a bit of research, any Virgin Money credit cards taken out before a certain date required a box to be un-ticked to opt out of PPI which applies to my OH (both were applied for online). We recently sent letters to all of his creditors explaining he was experiencing financial hardship and had been in touch with Payplan to rectify the situation asking if they would accept token payments of £2.00 a month until a payment plan was put in place but unfortunately we forgot to ask them to stop adding interest although thats easily sorted with another letter! He also had a loan from Barclays which has been paid off but was told at the time he applied for it that he would not get the loan if he didnt have PPI on it. Their reply to the CCA request was that they had no legal obligation to send it as the account was no longer active. From the look of the IVA proposal we will have no money spare for 5 years and the money I get for my daughter is expected to go towards paying off these cards. The amount Virgin were charging for PPI was about £40+ per month with MBNA charging about £20 a month. By reclaiming this those debts can probably be reduced by £1000's which at the moment seems like a much better option than paying £143 a month for the IVA - an amount I'm not even sure we can afford right now but after agreeing to the IVA it looks to me that if we reclaim PPI, it will go towards the debt but it will still run for the full 5 years and he will have to still pay the £1950 Payplan have included as costs - money that we would rather put towards paying off the debts! Any advice on where to go now would be great..feeling quite confused about the best way to turn Thank you x

Just checked the paperwork and after sending a request for his CCA in December (received by them on 19/12/2011) he got a reply enclosing a "copy of your reconstituted version of the exevuted agreement comprising both the original and current terms and conditions together with a signed statement of the account" It also said "I have requested a copy of the original signed application form from the relevant department to comply with your section 60/61 request. You will receive this shortly under separate cover". This was the last we heard from them so have yet to receive the original signed agreement so we're not too sure when the card was taken out. He has been making monthly payments but they have been far below the minimum monthly amount for the last 3 or 4 months. We will check his credit reference files tomorrow and get back to you. Thank you for your advice so far Wanda

Thank you, He has already spoken on the phone to them today but won't from now on. I hope that by talking to them today has not caused any damage though..I was out at the time but as soon as he told me I said to do nothing else until I had checked with the lovely people on here!!

Hi all, My OH also has a credit card with Halifax which he has been struggling to meet the minimum repayments on as his working hours have been cut with the total debt being £3965 with minimum payments being £374 a month. He had a call from a company calling themselves Albion who were apparently very friendly and helpful and who offered to try to sort out a payment plan once he has given them an income/out goings expenditure form and also called a company called Pay Plan to get a reference number. After reading other Posts about Albion I am a bit dubious about him dealing with them so wanted to ask your thoughts about this. Should he talk to them or should he keep all contact about this debt between him and Halifax? Because our financial situation has, much the same as many other people, gone from bad to worse we will be asking them to accept a token payment and freeze all interest until our situation improves as well as reclaiming PPI from other creditors that are charging it but Albion have told him he must ring Pay Plan tomorrow and ring them back straight after to arrange this proposed payment plan. Any advice would be so appreciated, thank you!! Wanda x

Hi all, Thank you for your help so far and sorry for not getting back sooner but we've only just had the CCA's back even though we asked for them in December!! We will be sending SAR letters to reclaim charges and also PPI especially as my OH's SAR from MBNA says he didn't request PPI but they have been charging it anyway and his Virgin card also charges PPI but I'm more than positive it wasn't asked for as I did the online application for it and have always thought it to be completely pointless! I have another question though - My OH also has a credit card with Halifax which he has been struggling to meet the minimum repayments on as his working hours have been cut with the total debt being £3965 with minimum payments being £374 a month. He had a call from a company calling themselves Albion who were apparently very friendly and helpful and who offered to try to sort out a payment plan once he has given them an income/out goings expenditure form and also called a company called Pay Plan to get a reference number. After reading other Posts about Albion I am a bit dubious about him dealing with them so wanted to ask your thoughts about this. Should he talk to them or should he keep all contact about this debt between him and Halifax? Because our financial situation has, much the same as many other people, gone from bad to worse we will be asking them to accept a token payment and freeze all interest until our situation improves as well as reclaiming PPI from the creditors that are charging it but Albion have told him he must ring Pay Plan tomorrow and ring them back straight after to arrange this proposed payment plan. Any advice would be so appreciated, thank you!! Wanda x

My 20 yr old son was claiming jsa but just before he started a temporary Christmas job he was told his payments would stop until March 2012 as he hadn't applied for a job they had given him details of. It was an honest mistake as they gave him so many bits of paper every time he went to sign on and he just overlooked it. They gave the reason for stopping his jsa on the grounds of him not actively seeking employment because of this mistake despite the fact he was applying for up to 40+ jobs each week!!! He started working for Royal Mail as a Christmas temp and is hoping to be kept on but if not he will have to claim jsa again so my question is; will the decision to stop payments on his last claim be carried over to any new claim he makes? Thank you in advance for any advice

He doesn't have all of the statements or know exactly when each was taken out but I had some success a few years ago reclaiming charges from barclaycard and capital one before the final court ruling put a stop to most claims. I had to request statements going back years for that so will do the same now. From what I remember I had to enclose a payment of £10 for this but neither cheque was cashed in the end. All telephone harassment letters and CCA letters are written and ready to post tomorrow but think from the advice given/questions asked so far we should request all statements too so will get on with that tomorrow! One of the reasons the late payment charges built up on his cards, and also the monthly charges spiraling out of control, is because we only got married in July this year and started living together not long before we were married. During the address crossover time he arranged royal mail re-delivery (first class post) but more often than not a whole bunch of letters would turn up for him (sometimes 10 or more) in one go sealed in a plastic bag almost like they had saved them up until it was worth the effort to deliver them. This meant a lot of late payments as he hadn't received the monthly statements which led to a lot of the whole out hand financial situation going on now. Can we get some kind of compensation off Royal Mail? I have taken on some big organisations in the past when I felt they were wrong and so far not fared too badly.....with your help this will be the next success!!!! this is the 'stop the telephone harassment' letter that I shamelessly ripped and mixed up a bit from the ones on this site...any thoughts or suggestions for amendments would be very welcome.... Dear Sir/Madam Re:− Account Number: XXXXXXXXXXXX I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company to both my mobile number as well as the number of my employer, which I deem to be personally harassing and causing unnecessary stress. I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only. I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) section 127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine. Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company, to either of the numbers mentioned above as well as any other telephone numbers you may have on file for me, will be recorded and used in any future legal action against Virgin Money. I will not under any circumstances discuss this matter verbally over the telephone or in person. Cognisant of the ever increasing threat of identity fraud and theft of personal financial information and data, it has been our family policy , for quite some time now, in dealing with all our bank , service and other financial providers that we never give personal security information or a part thereof to inbound telephone callers , nor do we discuss financial matters verbally. The above policies also apply to personal uninvited callers to our home and for this reason I would also ask you to note that I would never agree at any time for you, your agents or representatives to call personally, at my home or work address, nor would I ever discuss this matter with an uninvited personal caller, therefore please do not ask to make any such appointment. In light of the above it therefore follows , given that any further calls by telephone or personal uninvited calls from you, your agents or representatives would never “get past” confirmation of identity nor would any “security “ information be disclosed , any further attempts by you to contact me in this way can only be seen (by a right thinking person) as an attempt to continue to cause further harassment and distress. It may be the case that you were unaware of the reasons why I will not accept telephone calls and/or personal callers, however now that you are fully aware of the reasons , if you continue to ignore my request it will be at risk of formal complaints and possible legal proceedings and claims for damages. It is also our family policy, in respect of dealings with bank , service providers and other financial providers to insist that ALL communications are in writing in order to avoid any dispute as to what may or may not have been said or done and to provide an audit trail of events. This can only be to our mutual benefit. Whilst I appreciate that this is a very formal way of contact it does in fact allow the matter to be dealt with in a more efficient and businesslike manner. I undertake to respond to written communication (excluding letters asking me to call you on the telephone or to make appointments or “threaten” personal calls to my home or employment address) normally within 7 days and certainly no longer than 14 days of receipt. As a consequence of the foregoing you may therefore assume that any written communication from you which is not responded to by me within 14 days is likely to have not reached me and you may wish to re send the document- particularly if it is considered to be an important one. May I also remind you that as holders of a licence to operate under the Consumer Credit Act it is your responsibility to be aware of and act within the rules of the CCA and OFT rules and guidelines and it is not for me to have to quote the legislation to you I trust I have made my position clear and that we can now try to resolve this matter more amicably and efficiently. Yours faithfully Mr XXXXXXXX

OK here goes with the name and shame!!! Virgin Money, MBNA and Halifax - are the culprits of constant phone calls.. I have just written letters about the telephone harassment at work (which is to both the work number and my OH's mobile) which will be sent tomorrow by signed for delivery. If they ignore the letters then do you have any advice on the next steps to take? I have also written the CCA request letters to them all and realised just how much interest and PPI he is paying each month: Virgin charged £30.37 PPI and £89.11 interest on the last statement (the balance on the card was £3814 for that month) MBNA are charging around about £12 for PPI. Thankfully no PPI for the Halifax card. Should I also write letters now to ask for interest to be stopped or wait for the CCA's? The worst thing is he never wanted a credit card but was bombarded with letters and phone calls offering credit and finally said yes followed by them all regularly increasing his credit limit... now things are tight all he gets is constant harassment!! Thank you for your help. Any other advice would be very much appreciated - just knowing there are people out there that have either been there themselves and beat it or that can give advice has made my OH feel like it's not the end of the world and something CAN be done!!

Hi all, My husband has a number of credit cards, 2 of which are under control but 3 which has gotten out of hand with repayments due to interest rates they are charging. He is getting up to 6 calls a day from them at work which is causing him huge embarrassment especially as his boss takes great delight in gloating about this situation! I had a look at the national debt helpline site and was wondering if anyone has advice on DRO's and if it's a good route to go down? After reading other posts on credit card debt I think the first step we should take, if he doesn't apply for a DRO, is asking for CCA's from all creditors but what do we do next? He has PPI on 2 of the problem cards as well as on a loan (fully paid off about 2 years ago) which he is going to start the process of claiming back but he could really do with having the interest and any charges on the cards stopped so should we request the creditors do this at the same time as sending the CCA requests? Thank you for any advice you can give...our situation is getting desperate now!!!

just wanted to check something if you can help.. When I applied for help from the British Gas Energy Trust earlier this year my gas and electric accounts were put on hold until they had made their decision. Would still be this be the case this time seeing as things have got as far as they have? I do hope so as this would give me more time to make regular payments without the threat of disconnection!!

Thank you rebel11! It doesn't look like I am eligible for the Warm Home Discount Scheme. I applied to the British Gas Energy Trust earlier this year but after checking it looks like I can apply again as it's been over 6 months and I wasn't successful last time (although I'm not sure why). I'l submit a new application in the morning when I can see my gas meter in daylight!!

I'm in desperate need of advice! I have arrears for both gas and electric mostly due to estimated bills and really can't pay what I owe in one lump sum as I am on a very low income (not benefits). I received a letter from British Gas last week for my electricity bill of £373 that said they would be applying to the courts for a warrant of entry to access my property in 2 weeks time unless I make immediate payment in full. Today I received another letter saying the same but this time for my gas account for the amount of £596. I made a payment of £100 off each bill at the end of October which I hoped would keep them happy for at least a little while but obviously it didnt! I have worked out my annual usage and from this my weekly electric usage is almost £14 and gas is £16 so here is my question... I can, at a stretch, offer to pay £25-30 a week off each bill to cover usage and pay off the arrears and plan to write to them (and send by recorded delivery) my offer of a payment plan but will they/do they have to accept this rather than go ahead with court proceedings? I am going to start making the payments I am offering as of today rather than wait for a reply - that way if it does still goes to court I can show I am making an effort to pay the amount I owe. I really don't want a prepayment meter if I can help it after having one at my last address so any advice about if I am going about this the right way or not would be most appreciated!!

Hi all, I'm new to this site but hoping someone here can help me. Earlier this year (March) I applied, unsuccessfully, to the British Gas Trust as I could not afford my gas and electricity bills and BG were threatening to cut off the supply. As part of this application I had to submit up to date meter readings which were way higher than the previous estimated bills meaning I owed more than I already couldn't afford to pay! I received emails from them on 17th July to let me know my new bills were available online which, I must admit, slipped my mind as I graduated from uni and got married the week after so had a lot going on! I have heard nothing more from BG either by post or email since then but then got a letter from Allied International Credit stating that BG had authorised them to contact me as, despite several reminders from their client, the outstanding Gas Contract bill remains unpaid and I must contact them immediately to make full payment. I have had dealings with DCA's in the past for council tax so panicked and paid £100 towards each bill online to BG (as much as I can afford right now) and have ignored the letters from the DCA. I am currently unemployed and my husband is on little more than the minimum wage, with 3 children between us to support and other mounting debts (both priority and non-priority) although not as out of hand as some people who have posted here. Any advice on how to deal with this would be most appreciated..do I continue to ignore the DCA and pay what I can direct to BG as and when I can? Thank you for any help