Have just typed this and will post it first thing in the morning. Thank you so much Brig, I will keep you updated when I get a reply from them!!

Well low and behold sat in work today and some goon from Welcome Finance has phoned me, so this must have been who the call was from as I have never told Welcome where I work!!! Im furious Ive missed my payment on the 8th due to changing jobs and my mobile has been broke!! Ive just had a warning off my boss for receiving private calls!!

My husband has just gone out to South Africa to work, all his accommodation was paid for, his medical insurance, his visa and work permit, his flights and they also sent a £50 bank draft to cover expenses for him to get to Heathrow!! On arrival he was met by a chauffeur and day 2 was given a hire car, all with no expense to us!! The only money he had to find was his 1st weeks living money and he received that all back yesterday!! This sounds very very dodgy!!!

Just to update you all, I've spoken to HMRC no one from there has contacted me!!! Surprise surprise!!! Still no email to get my bank details so can only think this has to be a DCA who will now either contact my employer or come to my work place!!! Im so worried now!!

Now that really would make my day!!! Haha.

I will do Citizen B and thank you both again!! I will ring tomorrow and post the outcome!!

I am paye and my NI is indeed deducted from my earnings!! After the call I did indeed realise he should obviously know my employer if he was from HMRC!! Definitely think this is a DCA!!!

Citizen B and Brig thank you both so much for your help, will warn my boss tomorrow and ignore any emails, if I do get any!!

Brig he did say to keep checking my spam mail for the update request as it needed to be printed off filled I'm and posted back as it couldn't be returned to them via email???

Brig he didn't ask for any of my bank details, he was only interested in where I worked, wanted company name and post code!! I would never give out bank details and he's most welcome to my £900 overdraft!!! Lol .

Ok thank you both very much for your help I will ring 1st thing in the morning!! I'm very very worried now though that they will contact my work place as I'm not working tomorrow,, I've only been there 3 weeks and this is going to be dreadful a DCA chasing me there!! I want to cry!! Thank you again both I will do as you both suggest.

The number was withheld, but what made me think was that after I had spoken to "Paul" my 17 year son came in and said "the tax people rang you today and said you had overpayed them and they need to speak to you" now I think I'm correct in thinking they wouldn't discuss this with my son? And I have definitely not had 3 letters from HMRC about NI, and the gentleman said I definitely wouldn't owe them money, if anything they would owe me and I would get a rebate!! I certainly do not believe this is the case as I only work 20 hours and pay very little NI!!

I have today received approx 15 phone calls to my home and mobile phones, that I did not take as I was out, when I eventually did answer had a man saying he was Paul from HMRC and that they had sent me 3 letters about my NI contributions,, he asked where I worked so I told him. He then said ok well we'll email you an update form to fill in so I gave him my email address but I haven't received anything. What made me suspicious is that the last call was at 5.40pm and I would have thought that HMRC would be closed then. If this is indeed a DCA as I'm 2 payments behind with capital one and vanquis, due to recent job loss, but have now got a new one, will they contact my employers as if they do start harassing me at work I would lose my job!!! Feel so stupid now for giving the man the information but he seemed genuine!! I could kick myself!!!

Makes me laugh that everyone on tv seems to be saying "aw well we've all done it!!". Excuse me!!! ,,, but my children are 17, 10 & 4 and I can honestly say I've never left them anywhere let alone in a pub!!!!

Please can anyone help before he signs off tomorrow???

After 3 years of being on JSA for my 25 yea old cousin has just thankfully landed himself a job in a new superstore!! It will only be 24 hours a week to start,, but what we wanted to know is will he be entitled to claim anything when he starts as he has to do 2 weeks before he gets paid. Even though he will get a uniform he will have to supply his own shoes and trousers and also pay bus fare back and forth to work and also pay for dinners whilst at work. He started work last Saturday and is due to sign off on Wednesday, so really we just need to know what he needs to ask his advisor for as tbh he's not very helpful!!! Thank you for any help given.

Brilliant news msutherland,, it's always good to see an outcome where common sense prevails!!!

Hi thank you Lee he has emailed you via the form. Look forward to hearing from you soon!!

Sorry to butt in on your thread but my hubby is going to Johannesburg on Sunday to work for 3 months, he phoned Vodafone and was told by the customer service advisor to leave his data roaming on!! I always thought he would incur huge charges of he did this,, please can you tell us what you did whilst our there (obviously before your phone was stollen) to stop yourself incurring huge monthly bill?? Sorry again for hijacking your thread.

I don't want to get into this debate as we all have our own opinions but I just want to say to Tonycee "no I've never left my children alone!!! I get a sitter if I need to go anywhere, if that proves difficult I take them with me!!! I can certainly say I've never left them to go for a drink and a meal!!! Even if we have a BBQ and ate out the garden when it's time for the children to come in then so do the adults!". Can I also say I'm really sorry for your loss x

Good luck Mattyhants, please could you let us know how you get on as I am in the same position with a van which I bought and within 3 weeks of purchase it needs a new engine!! I'm hoping though as I bought it from a business (it was a shops van) on my debit card I will have some grounds for recompense!!! I'm waiting to get an appt for legal advice on this!! So best of luck to you!!

Hi Gildo well when I mentioned appealing I was told that I could do that but if I did they would look to take the overpayment back to when I started claiming in 2006 (which was when we split)!!! I can't offer any more evidence than I have already given so tbh what's the point of appealing??? I will end up owing them about £36,000 instead of the £12,000 for the last 2 years!! They really are a law unto themselves!!! I can't claim as a couple as my ex and I are most definitely not together, and his new partner would go spare if we did!! He has however said that he will try and help me a bit more now as can't believe the outcome of this!!! And I have very good parents so I guess I will be ok!! I'm probably luckier than most in that I will get help from my family until i can get a full time job and totally support myself, but really they shouldn't have to do this!! But on the bright side look at the money the government have saved by stopping my claim!!!! B@$*%

Hi all exactly the same thing happened to me, ad to send my evidence in by feb14th, sent them ex's tenancy agreement and letters from work at his new address but because he owns the family home and we have an experian connection from 2004 tax credits deemed us a couple!!! Unbelievable!! Anyway I received my decision this week so I've waited a full 2 months for their decision!! So now my tax credits will be cancelled and myself and 3 children will be living on £140 a week part time wages!! This should be fun!!! NOT!!! Good luck to the rest of you, I have a feeling you will need it!!

Please can anyone help me with this!!

Hello all and happy easter Hope someone can help me, I bought a van for work 4 weeks ago, the van was bought from a small business, it was the shops van which was used to collect stock from the warehouse. When I bought the van it had tax and 12 months MOT, i took the van for a test drive and it all seemed fine, except it was missing but owner told me that it needed new plugs and a service. I paid for the van on my debit card through the shops card machine as the owner said it needed to go back through the business as it was the businesses van, However because the van had a high mileage I had the timing belt and a few plugs and points changed at my own expense in the first week of ownership and a full service was carried out. At the time of the service the mechanic told me he thought the engine wasnt in "marvellous condition". Now 2 weeks after the work has done the van will not start at all and after taking it to another garage I have been told it needs a new engine and a few more minor jobs done which will cost about £900. So what I want to know is as I paid for the van on my card and it was bought through a business, albeit not a garage, do I have any protection or am I basically stuffed as I would be if it were a private sale. Many thanks for your help. BEZ.