well for something that isnt covered they paid me £2341 plus costs!!!!!!!!! they must be running scared!!!!!

ye gads!!!!!!!!! checked my bank balance today! £2341 + costs and interest! credited to account! it dawns on me............. IVE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i phone my brother in england.... theres a letter for me from the bank. He opens it. Its a long letter (he skips to the bottom) he just says "yeah youve won" :grin: :grin: Should get it tuesday when ill know the details! i can hardly believe it tbh! i feel like david before he's going into the ring against goliath and being told that goliath has pulled a sickie ergo i win by default Soon as i sort out the details donation is on its way, thank you soooo much to everyone who has helped!!!!!!!

well i am paying it but its just in his name i think (his direct debit). So i personally dont get any forms or receipts.

yeah im thinking about asking nicely for a tenancy agreement but then he might decide to make it higher rent just in case something like this happens again. (ie unexpected price increases etc) Like a sort of buffer zone of £30 - £50 quid (ie profit for him). I'm not having a go at him or anything as the rent is an excellent deal. I wont get *anywhere* this cheap for the quality. regarding council tax i havent signed anything and my brother is the owner of the house so the council wont come after me for it will they?

Hi i currently rent a property from my brother. It is pretty good value for money (electricity, gas and council tax included with rent) However i dont have a tenancy agreement? Does this seriously disadvantage me? (obvious answer is probably YES!) moved in on August 2006 and he emails me today to tell me he is putting rent up by £20 coz the electricity bill was higher (coz electricity company apparently put their prices up) Any advice? btw i let out a room to a lodger (brother is fine about it)

thanks Sarah and Arachnae. I will begin drafting a letter to SP and GPB detailing the dispute.

the saga continues................ got a letter today from Geoffrey Parker Bourne solicitors acting on behalf of clients Buchanan Clark and Wells NOTICE OF PENDING LEGAL ACTION 20/10/06 Dear ..... We represent the above named client who inform us that despite repeated requests for payment your overdue account for the sum shown remains outstanding. We are instructed to write to you at this stage. However, in the absence of either receipt of your payment or firm arrangements for repayment, we are to contact our client after 7 days, at which point LEGAL PROCEEDINGS may be issued against you. This may result in Judgement being obtained and the appropriate enforcement action being taken to recover the debt. If you reside within the Jurisdiction of Scotland, then our client's Scottish agents, Messrs Harper MacLeod LLP may be instructed to raise an action in your local sheriff court. Should you wish to avoid this you should telephone our clients on 0871 700 1840 and one of their advisors will talk to you. blah blah blah And here is me thinking that it was sorted!!!!! when i spoke to Scottishpower last i was ASSURED (yes assured) that they would get the required information/evidence from the council (my leaving date from the flat). But clearly this has not happened. I made the mistake of phoning scottish power today and end up having to retell the whole tale twice and then being passed through to different departments twice as they each assure me that im through to the wrong department!!!!! They also said they had put a hold on my account pending investigation...one of the customer agents says this is effective for 10 days and another one says 28 days arrrghrghhh! I would like to write a letter to Scottish Power asking them to stop their harassement of me (via their clients Buchanan Clark and Wells and respective solicitors) when i dont owe them any money!! Can i take any sort of legal action asking them to cease and desist their harassement? I fear if this gets to court a judge will just rubber stamp it and a local sheriff will just come round my property (with police if necessary) and proceed to take my belongings or even arrest my wages!!! Why are they allowed to do all this? I didnt live at the property. Ive explained how Scottish power can get evidence of my time at the property from the council so why do they continue to come after me? edit: phoned council and they said they will fax off the information to scottish power. (again another assurance that it will happen...how many times have i heard that) So we shall see what happens...

Hi, i think the 28 days are up from around the 7th or 8th November so they have until then to enter official defence. I think at the moment they may be considering what further offers to send me If they defend and i have to travel down to england ill ask them to pay my travel as well. One concern i do have is that they may ask for the case to be heard in scotland (BOS terms and conditions)and because its over £750 try to get it dismissed under small claims. They may not try it but ill be ready for them if they do. Cant think of anything else feasibly substantial for them to use. In any case i gave them my mobile number so i perhaps should expect a call at the last minute (prolly on same day as court date etc)

i dont think they are bailiffs? they are a DCA company i think. But im not bothered im just dealing with Scottish Power now. Life would be a lot easier if companies (ie scottish power) commmunicated and confirmed themselves that a client DID in fact owe the money before unleashing the hounds on them.

hi sarah just thought id let you know. BC & W sent me a threatening letter. VISIT BY DEBT INVESTIGATION OFFICER apparently my agreed commitment to settle the outstanding amount has been dishonoured so now they will come to my address. I phoned them and the lady i spoke to was very impolite. They said there was no note to put the account on hold (its like everything you say previously in previous correspondence they have no record of!!) but basically i decided not to talk to them anymore as they were just not accepting anything i said....muppets tbh. Phoned scottish power they said they would phone BC&W as a matter of urgency.... and they had phoned the council to get my particulars of leaving date etc so no dont worry. Hopefully thats the end of it..... *sigh*

hey thanks for replying i sent it off to the legal services division at trinity road. As i have sent all my previous correspondence to them and it is their address on the MCOL form as well. But i think they will be defending (see my thread) so i need to make sure i know my stuff when we get to court.

ohhhhhh BUGGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:o got a letter forwarded from my english address which is basically the hard copy version of the ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE. (HBOS acknowledged claim) however...... they have the defendant down as : the Bank of Scotland, The Governer and Company of AND they have ticked that they are intending to defend all of the claim! a MR A O'Brien (RAH) Solicitor acting on HBOS behalf Head of Legal Services. Balls! what happens now??? they havent said they are defending on the MCOL site...but i suspect this is because they are waiting to see if i accept the offer they gave me hrmm edit: posted acceptance of offer as partial settlement ONLY. 20/10/06

yeah, you dont need an english address if you are filling out the n1 form manually afaik. (not through MCOL) But the case will probably be heard in a court local to the defendants. Perhaps possible to get it switched to an english court nearer you though. Not sure coz i havent went through this procedure so cant say for sure

sure as long as you have an address in Newcastle you could use should be fine.

Sorry this is a double post but thought it would get more attention here? Also it might be an idea for a template letter to be drawn up for responding to partial offers during court action. (the one in the bank templates is for before court action). Im not sure whether i need to amend my MCOL claim if i accept this partial claim as well? ---------------------------------------------- Hi folks, is this letter ok to send to HBOS saying i accept their part payment but it wont affect or stop my claim going through MCOL (ie through the courts) Also should i send it to the below address (Rachel Hinchliffe at legal dept HBOS) or should i send it to the guy who sent a letter to me with the offer e.g. a Chris Hale, redress assessor customer relations from Dunfermline BOS branch!!! Or should i send it to both?? Halifax Bank of Scotland Group Ms Rachel Hinchliffe Legal Services - Retail Trinity Road, Halifax West Yorkshire HX1 2RG Re: Account number XXXXXXXX Response to settlement offer. Dear Sir/Madam Thank you for your letter dated 16/10/06 I respectfully decline your offer of settlement and request, once again, that you return to me all charges imposed on this account, totalling £2341 (not including court costs and respective interest charges see enclosed documentation) I will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that this will not affect my claim currently proceeding through the courts (via MCOL). You can contact myself on the following number should you wish to come to an out-of-court settlement on this claim prior to this action being heared in the respective county court. ______________ I trust this clarifies my position. yours sincerely etc etc