Hi - I am using your help on this site to get my son back to 'normal' and this week he came over and has agreed to a debt management programme(cccs). This has involved him listing (and admitting to) everything he owes. last week he had received a demand on behalf of On Line Finance via Shoosmiths for £4,400 for his car which they took back. Today he has received in the post a court claim from Northampton in respect of this debt and it is now £6,834.78. I feel like crying. His debt remedy pack is not through yet, but I did send a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to Shoesmith on monday of this week with my £10 cheque quoting the reference they had used on the back, and I know that this has crossed with this court action. The car was £5k and he had paid £4,902 - this is listed on the court document but they are still claiming nearly £7k. The response to the claim has to be completed and returned asap - I want to point out our request for the breakdown of this account, but there isn't anywhere in the response to do this. I was reading a thread on here where someone defended their case against a car finance company, but his revised court date isn't til January 2007 and I need help to complete this response now! Help please.....

Hi Parasite Swatter! I have been looking around the site for advice to sort out my son's debts - most of which are because of car finance etc. I am committed to getting him on the straight and narrow before his next Birthday which is January. He has had his car taken from him and he had paid for two years. The DCA (which is also a firm of solicitors) are claiming £5,885 - he originally borrowed £5,000. Reading your thread was a revelation. I hope to send off an S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) today to the DCA and ask them for the full breakdown of this account, I just hope this isn't a waste of my time as I'm not really sure if they have any obligation to respond to it? Will they just see this as stalling tactics. I am hoping they will respond with a reduced figure offer as in your case. I hope you get your legal advice from the Law University and that you get to court in January and win this case!

Thanks, Mutzi - he has all his post, so I shall have to meet him and look at the letters from tesco. The Drake's letter was sent off to them yesterday. I am not so sure about Moorcroft calling him though - shouldn't we receive a written response to our communication? I sent the letter to be signed for, so I will suggest we wait the 12 days and then send out a 2nd notice - which one should that be?

Hello all and thanks. I shall copy the letter to Drakes and get that off to them asap. You are right about them adding on £200 for themselves. I think my son was more worried about them coming for him at his place of work and just gave his card details. He is very image conscious (aren't they all?) and anything like this would mortify him, truly. No claim has been reported on the insurance to his knowledge, certainly not by him and as I said, the car is off the road in the garage. Somebody from Kirsty has just called on an 0161 number saying she was from MDR (Moorfield Debt Recovery I presume) so I have given her my son's mobile and text him to let him know she will be calling. I have asked him to asnwer her but to say that he has been advised to communicate in writing only. The DCA letter we sent to them has not been replied to. I bet he's quaking in his shoes now!

Hi lynzee - have you thought about registering as a childminder? It doesn't suit everyone but I decided to take it up when my youngest started school and I didn't have childcare for her - and didn't want to work just to pay for childcare. You can get details of where to start looking into this from the ncma and you will be given a start-up grant too. Involves an ICP course (intro to childminding practice) which runs for 6 or 10 weeks - it's not an instant answer but maybe something you could consider to fit in with your partner's unpredictable schedule?

News just in!! I have just received a very posh House of Commons envelope containing a letter from my MP. He has kindly handwritten my name and his signature in a flourishing blue pen but the content was very disappointing. "I am afraid I have not seen the television programme to which you referred and I am somewhat surprised as most bailiffs are law-abiding and well-disciplined, I am not aware that ********* Borough Council is using bailiffs at all, but I will certainly pass on to the Council your concern that they should not do so. Thank you for writing to me on this subject." Written 27th October - almost a month to the day of my original mail to him!

Well done to everyone - I sent my email on 28th September and to date have heard absolutely nothing - except for an email asking me if I had received any response from my MP! Not too impressed actually.

I have read other threads on here regarding Moorcroft and they all seem to involve writing to the company for a copy of the credit agreement. I have done this with a £1.00 postal order (yesterday) and I faxed them the letter too, keeping a copy of the transmission report as their deadline to contact them by is 10.00 a.m. today. I hope this will put a stop to their demands. In the meantime the letter from Tesco advised my son that by cancelling the policy he had incurred charges - and also that the payments were taken a month in arrears. I don't think he disputes owing them money but, as mentioned above, his outgoings are much higher now than before and it's all becoming a bit of a juggling act for him. I am prepared to pay the first third of the outstanding debt to help him out, but I don't want to get involved with a DCA and end up paying much more than the figure owed.

Hi - sorry to have confused two issues here. My son agreed to make payments to the court for the fine imposed alongside of his ban. He made two payments and then the third was rejected by his bank and that is when Drakes became involved. They charged him the balance of his fine and £200+ which he had to make to the bailiff directly on his card. The Tesco Insurance is a separate issue but resulting, obviously, from his driving ban and that's where I have linked the two together. Until the ban he was fine, he called Tesco advising them of the circumstances and he did receive a letter from them. I really just wanted to know if he has to deal with Moorcroft at all? Are they just out to scare him and add charges on top of what Tesco say he owes? I have suggested he send a cheque for a third of the balance to his insurance and a letter outlining his intention to clear the amount over three months. He has had to move nearer to his job as he had no transport and our links (rural) are non-existent. Consequently his disposable income is now minus £500 per month!! His car is in our garage.

Hi all - haven't been here for a while, but my son was visited by Drakes because he hadn't paid his fine to the Magistrates Court. He was banned from driving for being over the limit and sitting in his car, and he has just finished his six month ban. He rang Tesco insurance and advised them of his circumstances, and told them that the insurance policy was not required for at least that period - and probably was not valid in view of his ban anyway. He was paying monthly. He received a demand from them for £143.65 and he rang to query it as he thought his payments were up to date. He now has a demand from the pre-court division of Moorcroft demanding this sum and telling him that he must pay by November 3rd - we received the letter on 31st October and this was his 7 days notice. I have read another thread on Moorcroft and have printed off the template letter asking for a copy of the credit agreement and have this posted off today encloseing £1.00 and sending via Royal Mail "for signature". Does my son have to pay Moorcroft? This must be one of the worst experiences he has had in his life - can't wait 'til he's settled down and not a youngster any longer!

Whoops! Did it via the very efficient email link given on this thread - but pretty much demanding that they cease to employ these thugs knowing that they are now captured on film threatening and terrorising the weakest families in our communities. Will post the reply though!

Hi, we signed with talk talk - not for bb but for telephone- as they were recommended by the Uswitch site. Our bb is with tesco, and rather than muck up email addresses etc we have stayed with them. I am so glad we did after reading this - however not overly happy with talk talk, you can't talk to them and you have to 'request' every service that we seemed to have automatically with bt. Any recommendations on who to move to next as we don't feel this was our best move!

Ultimately, though, whether you have it investigated or not, will you get anything back? These people seem to have a different law than the rest of us. They produce an invoice, rightly or wrongly, and it seems to become 'legal'. You miss a payment and they charge excessive amounts for admin and calls relating to the missed payment. Is it any wonder nost of us feel it is hopeless - in most cases it is!

Hi there - I have been on holiday, but thanks for your responses. My son had a call from the bailiff on his pay day and he agreed to split the payment into two, so he now has to pay the 2nd half next pay day. He was told during that conversation that his next action would have to be a warrant for my son's arrest. He only called here once on the day I mentioned above, so the cost of a letter which he says was sent out and that visit was £200. It sounds like a profession for people who think they are perfect and never mess up. My son has been foolish but he certainly isn't a criminal, he is just short of money due to all the additional costs his stupidity has brought on him!

I am new to this site but have spent the last two hours reading the threads on baliffs. My son was fined in court and was allowed to make payments - of which it transpires he has only paid the first one. He is not living at home but all his post comes here. Last week a bailiff arrived (Drakes) and told us he needed to speak to my son urgently - I called him on my mobile as I knew he would answer. He spoke to the bailiff who told him he had to pay £543 by debit card on the phone to himself today (son's payday). This is £200 more than the fine. Can my son actually go to the court and make a payment on the fine or will they refuse to accept this and force him to pay the bailiff? He is staying with his (fairly new) girlfriend as this fine was because he was sitting in his car, over the limit(1st offence) and he has been given a 6 month ban aswell as this fine. He cannot get to work via public transport from here. He cannot afford £543 in one payment and I cannot pay it for him. What can he do?