Last year - months ago - I put in a complaint to the FOS because Santander totally ignored all correspondence regarding my son's situation of hardship & his payment offer and then defaulted him on the whole debt. I sent all clear evidence of this to the FOS - who eventually wrote back two months later to say that Santander had done everything they could reasonably do as a bank to help my son including accepting his offer of £1 per month!!!! I immediately asked for it to be escalated as Santander had blatantly lied in so many ways and the FOS had clear proof of this. The adjudicator responded to say he'd ask Santander to comment. 2 months later I wrote again to say that it had been going on for too long and I wanted it escalated and felt that given all the distress and hassle, Santander should do the decent thing and write the debt off (it's not that big in the great scheme of things but a huge chunk of it was charges - remember the £40 for going overdrawn by 5p?) Adjudicator responds to say he's in regular contact with Santander and will get back as soon as he's heard. Nearly another two months now and I'm really fed up with this. I'd really like to name and shame this 'person' but I won't. The guy who helped sort out my complaint with Barclays worked very well and fairly with me taking on board everything that came to light as a result of my complaint and acted really quiet promptly. This 'person' is just messing with our lives - he didn't even bother to check that Santander had lied - didn't even bother to read what I had written and all the evidence submitted!! So - can I complain about him at all?

I think that Santander have now closed the loopholes. If it's getting really bad - and Santander are appalling - get another bank account asap and transfer everything over to them, and then pay off Santander if you can. The only way you'll be able to make any claims is if you can show they've mismanaged your account in specific ways - it's no longer possible to simply claim on just the charges.

Hi Onslowette Unless you can show that they've done something specifically wrong, then the charge can still stand since the Supreme Court ruling. Did the DD remain unpaid or was it represented and then cleared as funds were in the account? How soon after 21 Dec were more funds put into the account? For example, I have been told this week by my local branch of another bank that, if a DD is due on xxx day and there are wages or other BACS payment paid in on the same day which will cover the DD (assuming the account was too low the day before) then the banks have to honour that DD and if they levy charges, you can argue for them to be returned. They said that this was a recent change as technically as long as the funds were in the bank account before "say 3pm", then the bank are supposed to honour the DD payment. So, if the money was in the account the same day but later, then you should be able to argue for the charge to be dropped. Failing that, just try arguing it anyway and seeing if they'll agree to waive it this time around. If you have any hardship, raise that too.

Hi redstar Can I also recommend you contact Shelter too for advice. I've been through months of hell with my son getting our local council to provide housing for him under the relevant act and as already mentioned, gatekeeping is widespread and deliberate. If things get very difficult, you may be entitled to legal aid for help with a solicitor to force the council to abide by the law, so it's better to have all the facts and support sooner rather than later. Again, Shelter may well be able to give you more helpful local info on this.

Hi Erika Thank you for the response - that is very helpful. The money would not be a loan at all as he would have no way of paying it off. It's whether a family member could help ease some of the problem so it's not such a worry for both of us. It wouldn't be anything like as much as £6000. The amount would be around £300 or less right now. He is on Income Based JSA and I don't know how long that goes on for. It's still hypothetical at the moment as I haven't even asked for the help as yet, and it may not even be possible. I just wanted to know without raising flags unnecessarily in case nothing could be done to help us. I'm finding the JC really unhelpful with my own situation - they don't tell you anything until it's too late and when you try to sort out the mess, you get so much conflicting information that puts other benefits (such as HB) at risk. So I'm trying to get all the facts straight before I even begin to try to get help. Thanks again.

I've read that several times in the past - but it's got nothing to do with my question here. I'm not asking about the banks at all. Thanks.

Information not requried - this is not a question about banks!!!!!!

I sympathise with you both - it can't be easy to keep positive in this situation for either of you. Have been in a similar position but no mortgage involved and everything in my name. It's not clear how it will benefit you if the house is sold? If the house has to be sold for the asking price to clear the mortgage, then you'll surely be worse off as you'll have no home at all and still be in the same financial position? How long has the house been on the market and how long with the current agency? Is it worth taking it off the market for a short while, doing a bit of tarting up and then giving it to another agency?

Hi Does anyone know what the situation is regarding a person's debt being paid off by someone else, whilst they're on Benefits? My son is on DLA and JSA with bank debts which I have been sorting out in terms of the correspondence and getting the monthy payments down to a very small sum per month but involves constant communication and problems when the debts are passed on etc. (one with the FOS is causing major headaches). This is very draining for me and I'm trying to see if I can find a way to pay off at least one or two of the smaller sums owing to get rid of the barstewards. This would involve someone else in the family paying the debt. So, if that could be arranged, would this affect my son's benefit payments? He also receives Housing Benefit, being in supported housing with a HA. So, if he lost any part of his JSA benefit, would that also mean he'd lose his HB too?

Elsa - have thought of that, but I'm not sure how I feel about it - if we can't get it sorted for him to feel he is in control of his payments (which is important for him) then that's a route I'll have to consider. However, first we've got to get their bank details from them, or an agreement for him to pay it into NatWest as he did before. Jason - 3 years at £1 a month - love it!!!

Hi Hardup - he's got a basic account and managing that online would be very stressful for him as he only has internet access from the library or my machine which he gets very frustrated with. It may be something he could take on board eventually but not right now as is. It would be the ideal solution because that's how I manage my own payments despite the DCA not liking it. Madwoman - nice thought for a laugh, just that if the PO goes walkabout, we'd have no proof of posting or them receiving it.

Sorry - when I said Rockwell had lost the contract, I meant their contract with NatWest as the DCA - it was passed to another DCA which I won't mention so it's not searchable. The problems with the site are nothing whatsoever to do with bookmarks!! It's because whoever opted for this new site failed to ensure it was still useable for people with older equipment and spec. The debt is an outstanding bank account. We have been supplied with copies of the bank statements so there is nothing to demand from them in the way of credit agreements. Thanks Cartaphilus and Halibutt - that's very helpful and gave me some extra stuff to work with so I can send off the letter today. Barstewards the lot of them. I will be taking up the refunding of the payments with NatWest directly as they will really be the only ones who can explain what they did and why they did it when the debt was being handled by Rockwell and the money was paid into NatWest every month. Many thanks, guys.

Hi Can anyone help me with a DCA who has agreed to accept a payment of £1 (after receiving a letter demanding full payment, ignoring correspondence and sending one back putting them on notice to provide outstanding info which has only just come to light about previous payments). They rapidly sent a payment book. However, it has to be paid into the Post Office who charge £2.50 fees!!!! As this is for my son, I need to fire off another letter demanding that they give a payment method that does not increase the burden of debt and allows him to just pay his £1 per month. Can I do this - can I insist they allow him to pay directly into a bank (by cash - he has no online banking facility)?? If not, what are our options to sort this out as there is no way he's going to be paying £3.50 every month!! The debt, BTW, was originally with NatWest and dealt with by Rockwell who seem to have lost the contract?? We are also trying to find out why payments made in 2008 were reversed 14 months later. Is there any mileage in harassing NatWest again and putting the account in dispute??? Many thanks. Should also just point out that I have extreme problems using this site as so much is either not visible any more (eg I cannot sign in from the main page as the ID and password boxes are not visible - have to click on a link in an email which takes me to my messages and sign in that way) and cannot see other data at all. So I may find it difficult to get back here.

Have no idea when this thread was first started as I cannot see the dates or times on the left hand side any more. Erika: A wider consultation for a reform of the Social Fund is planned for late 2009. Dates not yet known. Did you mean late 2010???

Final word - what did look promising this morning has become a horrible mess. Whilst this site is a free and valuable resource, it's not going to be of any help for people who come here, with varying degrees of problems, most likely at the end of their tether and highly distressed, only to find a forum that doesn't load properly, is very hard to read or find anything, requires a 'know how' to tweek anything so they can make it work and that's without the very noticiable lack of help that's being given in recent months. And - I've adjusted the options in my settings with absolutely not difference whatseover.

I can make the fixed text at the top of the forums smaller using Vies/ Text Size - but the text in the posts remains the same.

The ctrl and anything else is not working on this forum either for me.

I don't have 'paint' or anything else like it. And something else has changed since this morning - the text fontsize in all the posts is bigger - whereas this morning some posters were complaining about it being too small I was not having a problem with that. Now, everything is scrunched up or misssing at the sides - it's become a total mess and very hard to read/ post etc. And - it's slowed right down again.

I've got the same thing now as midenmess - that bailiffs book has just appeared on this thread, page 7 and pushed everything out of shape. Even as I type this, the text goes behind a blank grey bit where the pge 7 of 7 then Something is very wrong with the layout. It's only working for certain pc/laptop/mobile set-ups and a whole load is just not visible. As for youtubes in posts???? Ghastly - and I think they'll cause more problems than ever.

The reason he gets away with breaking the law is because no-one reports him. Talk to Trading Standards - tell them the story and ask them about where to report this guy. It's not about you just taking him to court, it's about him being prosecuted by authorities and being fined. You've stood up to him this far, going the whole hog gives you nothing to lose.

Nope - all I can see in the grey bar is the post number - eg #69 on the right. At the very top of the page I cannot see the menu bar that I think begins with Library? I can see a bit of that button, Reviews/ Wiki/ CAG webmail - so maybe it's not set to work with older machines? And no - I'm not changing my browser or monitor settings as they're running at the best settings that work for everything else. Also, in Quick Reply there's no option to format anything such as bold or underline. And - have just seen something about adding youtube into a post rather than a link - this will be horrendous - won't be able to view pages with youtube vids in them.

Being sacked for such a disgraceful reason should not be held against him if he did need to claim benefits. I take it he has not got this in writing? If not, he could ask the CAB to write to the company concerned and request clarification on why his job has been terminated. He could also, perhaps with your support, writ to the company to say that he is very disappointed to be losing his part-time job which has meant so much to him simply because he turns a year older and would be eligible for increased pay in law. He should ask them to reconsider as the position means a lot to him both in helping him pay his way and in holding down a continuous part-time position whilst at college.

That's a disgraceful 'diagnosis' - a real cop-out. My adult son had a 'diagnosis' of "odd" because his GP didn't give a fudge about his condition - and now we have at long last got the formal diagnosis (and iffy support) for Asperger's. His GP's response was along the lines of "what difference does it make anyway". It has made the world of difference, even with the little support he is getting, it's helped him enormously. So, I'd press for another assessment and refuse to accept such an incompetent and belittling 'diagnosis'.

The seller has the opportunity to reclaim his final value fees from eBay so therefore he has not lost out. He has to prove that he failed to sell the car to someone else because with a classified ad listing, he would not have received bids, but (non-binding) offers of interest. Even if webmonkey's was the only offer at that time, then the seller has still lost nothing - the classified ad fee was payable whether the car sold or not - it's just an opportunity to advertise - an invitation to make offers. If there were other offers, the seller will have to explain why he did not then take advantage of those offers.

Also, it's nice to see who is on browsing the thread and the Paypal link to donate has gone.