hi. im pregnant and have recently been in hospital due to a stomach infection, during this time i fell behind with bills, very.co.uk being one of them. they have now added two £12 charges to my account for a debt collection letter and missed payment fee, and now want the total of £333.62 by december 27th. i have rang and apologised and explained my situation and offered them £40 which is the most i can pay but they are refusing? im thinking of borrowing the money to pay them but deep down i know thats a bad idea. im really stressing now ive ran into so many problems recently and am having a horrific pregnancy, please help!

Hi Guys In the event of requesting a CCA or DSAR and sending payment for the requested information, they attempt or align it to the debt to reset the SB 5 / 6 year period etc. While we all know that it doesn't... A certain DCA I've come into contact recently assisting a friend has aligned it to the debt and claimed that a £1 payment has been made to reset the SB period. What's they best way to combat this? If this was to hit court then how would you defend this?

So I've been using Very for just over a year and a half never had any real issues with them until recently. We had purchased a couple of items from then opn buy now pay later deals and have been paying money off monthly to clear them. Before we had finished paying off a set of bunkbeds we ordered a couple more items. One day out of the blue i check and see that i have been charged interest on items which should have been payed off. I thought that as i had been paying money monthly it would have payed the item off first before it started working on the new items added. I rung up and queried it but was told that unless i choose the "Take 3 payments" option or the " minimum payment" option it wouldn't count towards paying them off the money would just come off the general debt amount on the account. Also they said when i make a payment i should ring them and advise them i want it taking off my buy now pay later deals but not to ring them and make payment with them over the phone. I have a payment due of £96.69 on the 7/2/2014 i payed £130 on the 29/1/2014 and received the confirmation email but the website still states i have a payment to make by the 7th of feb. Is there anything i can do about this? Should i have to ring them every time i make a payment online and advise them i want it paying off the buy now pay later deals and not just to reduce the overall account balance? Any help would be appreciated. steve

I was having a chat with my parents about various benefits and it started a big debates on DLA and Mobility. I don't know if anyone can help ... basically my parents (both 68 years old) recieve DLA and Mobility component plus their pension and housing benefit. They are worried that DLA and mobility is changing and worry over losing this benefit as it is a large amount that contributes to their bills and general expenses. My Father who is ill gets the top rate on both components and my Mother who is also unwell but not as serious gets the middle rate on both components. They are worried sick as they keep hearing some elements are being cut or reassessed but I said as you are genuine recipients I think the government are mainly focussing on working age 16-64 year olds. They have claimed DLA and Mobility for around 15 years in total. Does anyone know how (and if) they will be affected or as pensioners with pension credit and genuinely unwell with various conditions they will be expempt from reapplication and PiP etc? If any of them lost a large chunk of money they would basically be homeless! Many thanks

Over two and a half years ago I contacted the CSA to request that my sons father be assessed and asked to pay Child support. To cut this long and frustrating story very short, the CSA made an administrative error, which they have admitted to, which meant that I lost out on payments from Jan 2011 until Dec 2012. In Dec the admitted to this and also paid me £50 compensation for the delay in dealing with my complaint. After my ex had paid six months of CS payments I asked to be referred to the Special Payments Department (on the advice of the Complaints Resolution deparment) to resolve the financial loss I suffered through their mistakes. After much "faffing about" and delay tactics this case has now been refferred to the mysterious Special payment Dept, (they arent allowed to speak to me or the CSA main office....just emails apparantly), and have been waiting for 30 days so far. i have no written acknowledgment of this refferal, although it has been confirmed several times on the telephone, and I appear to be sat in limbo waiting for them to make a decision. Does anyone have any experience of how long this particular stage of the process should take? i have read their guidelines to the payment officers, but cannot find any reference to time limits. i have already spent hundreds (literally) of punds on phone calls during this battle, and cannot seem to find any other agency or body to help. i do not wish to involve an MP as, reading others accounts, this only seems to complicate matters, and I believe that ICE only get involved once a decision has been made. So sick and tired of being penalised for the mistakes of an incompetent and poorly administrated Govt body. I am clearly one of very very many who are suffering because of this. Any advice is appreciated.

Not all benefit payments, but some (JCP says 32,000 claimants affected) have failed to receive payments due today. These people are urged to contact the DWP urgently to arrange payments. Sorry I didn't see this story earlier.

hi experts, i am soon to be retired on ill health grounds and am allowed to take my pension early. my first question is - if i take the 25% lump sum will it have an effect on my benefit entitlements which are currently child tax credit and contribution based employment support allowance for which i am in the support group. my second question is - i have a capital value of £63000 built up in the pension but the transfer rate i have been quoted is £84000. shouldn't these figures be the same? regards

Not sure whether this the right board (perhaps someone will redirect if not) I've been making payments in accordance with the terms of a court order and the debt will be cleared in 13 years. The (new) DCA says my arrangement is due for review and wants me to complete income and expenditure together with an outline of my circumstances and where I expect to be in 12 months! Should I do this? I thought once a court order had been set only the court could vary it and then only if one side made a suitable application. I recall the CCCS telling me that as an unsecured debt the DCA wasn't entitled to such info as they are now requesting. Is that correct? What should I do? Thanks

Hi, I've been getting spammed by text message and phonecall by Moorcroft. They didn't identify who they purchased the alleged debt from. They did leave a reference number in a text message, which allowed me to log into their website and submit a message along the lines of: "Your communication by text message and telephone will cease immediately, and you will contact me in writing. Failure to comply will put you in breach of the Protection from Harassment Act 1999, and s.127 of the Communications Act 2003. Any future communications will be recorded and logged to be used in evidence." They responded by letter saying: "Thank you for your recent correspondence, I write to confirm we require a monthly repayment proposal you can afford and maintain, to enable us to assist you further." This seems to imply they won't stop texting and calling until I agree to hand over money to them.

Has anyone any experience of payments being paid early thus leading to a default? My friend is facing repossession proceedings because RBS say she has not stuck to her arrangement. They are saying that she missed payments in June and September. However from the statement it is clear that she did not, she just paid them early and the statement clearly shows payments made on 30th May and 30th August, and thus shows two payments in both May and August, but no payments in June and September. But the arrears are where they are meant to be (in fact she is a little inside as she has genuinely made a few small overpayments from time to time) The mortgage has 13 years to run and the arrears are exactly £2,400, and the agreed payments are the regular payments plus £100 per month, so it should be cleared in two years. Is there any case law in relation to this? Thanks in advance

This is on behalf of my sister, I'll keep it short but the story is as follows; my sister split up from her husband 18 months ago, my sister remained in the family home with their 2 children, she wasn't working at the time, but following the split she was forced to claim benefits as her husband gives her money for the children, but nothing else. Therefore since the split he has not paid any of the mortgage or any of the bills, he now lives in another property with a loan he took out. As my sister couldn't afford the mortgage repayments alone I advised her to ask for the Halifax to put her onto an interest only mortgage until she decided what was happening. She then received income support and child tax credit, together with some housing benefit which meant she could meet the monthly payments. The mortgage is for £110,000 the property was last valued at £180,000 so she has equity in it. She has since found a part time job so now receives no housing benefit Halifax have now told her she must return to paying her full mortgage repayments, they refuse to allow her to remain on an interest only mortgage. She informed them she wishes to sell the property (marriage is over) but the house requires some building work finishing that her husband started, before she can sell. The refuse to help her in any way So she has today asked the following Can she extend the term of her mortgage to 25 years - they said no Can she put the mortgage back onto interest only until she sells - they said no Can she apply for a holiday from her mortgage - they said no She called me and was very upset, I told her to call them and ask for an appointment at the branch and I will go with her. I'd read some info on the Council of Mortgage Lenders Website about their members offering all avenues to help out their customers. So she rang them back to make an appointment, the manager at the branch has refused to give her an appointment!!! Told her she has to ring up and there is nothing they can do anyway!!! I'm furious! So they will force her into arrears despite her informing them of her difficulties and then repossess her home!!! I've since been onto Halifax's website where you can make an appointment online to go into your local branch about your existing mortgage! So I'm unsure of exactly what is going on! Any help please???

Hi there, Hope someone helps... I had 2 credit card (Virgin & MBNA) accounts since 2005. I was regularly making the payments until June 2011. I missed some payments since then & later the accounts were on defaulted, because i lost by job. i have explained the situation to my lenders but they did not want to accept any token payments and sold my accounts to Bryan & Carter in Jan 2012. B & C started chasing me for full payments. Explained them the situation and told them that im self employed and can do only token payments for now as i have to take care of my family as well, but they dont agree either and letters started coming in... (I haven't seen anybody so RUDE !!) After few months in July 2012 i received 2 CCJ's from Arrow and Global. As per court order I have agreed to pay £50 on each of the accounts and it was direct debit. After 12 payments until July 2013 they have cancelled the direct debits by themselves and passed the accounts to Wescot. This happened when i realised that i had payment protection cover on both the accounts and filed a case with MBNA in June 2013 and later it went to FOS in Aug 2013. Since last month i started getting calls & letters from Wescot about the full payments. Spoke to the lady and told her what has happened. She said that she is not aware of any payments made to Arrow Global and she is calling on behalf of Arrow Global itself as Wescot is acting on behalf of Arrow Global !! i spoke to someone in Arrow Global, he said that my file is with Wescot and i have to speak to them only and they can't help and futher. Now my point is.. 1. why did Arrow Global cancel the direct debits and passed my file to Wescot. 2. Will i be in a trouble again as the CCJ's were issued and that i was paying them and now that they (Arrow Global) have cancelled the DD and transfered my file to Wescot who are not receiving any payments at the moment. 3. Should i continue to make payments to wescot ? 4. Is there any other way to go for legal on these DCA's as they are harassing me with calls and letters and with all those transfers between companies.... Please advice. Thanks

Okay so ive not had many this year, but I have held a QuickQuid account for a few years, for short term loans, never missed a single payment etc. On September 28th I took a loan out of £50 with interest £62.50 due to be repaid on Friday 11th October, however the Tuesday before this I was laid off in questionable circumstances from my job, subsequently my wages were not paid into my bank as expected on the Friday. On the 13th of October I emailed quickquid explaining my situation and stating I had no monies whatsoever coming into my bank until I can find another job or sign on, in the meantime I am seeking employment and awaiting a benefit date but please bear with me until I can agree a payment plan and rest assured you are a priority creditor. I recieved a notice of overdue payment on the 14th, to which I re-sent my original email. I recieved an acknowledgement the same day to my email stating I need to contact them. I replied to this email explaining I havent a penny not even phone credit or a means of contacting them presently only email and to please give me time to sort my monies and benefits out to begin payments. The usual acknowledgment email was sent on the 16th October... Today my car insurance is due, luckily my mother had transferred the money into my account (to repay when I find work) as its due by direct debit, closer inspection of my bank statement those sickos at quickquid have been trying constantly to take money out of my account, they managed to take £15.90 on saturday and the remainder of my balance has also been taken out today Monday, I recieved the automated email saying thank you for your payment your account is now considered cleared. I now have no money for my overdue car insurance, as far as I was concerned these payments were unauthorised and very unethical!? Im not sure where I stand on this, im extremely annoyed and now worried, without a car I cannot seek work or attend interviews or begin work (trainee electrician).

Well today I have received a letter from DWP, claiming that I owe over 6k pounds. They also said not to ignore the letter. If I cannot pay off the amount still I need to contact them and arrange a payment agreement. They also threated me saying I don't they will eiter pass this to debt collection agency or recover from my employer and this will affect my credit scoring. They also said they conted me before but as far as I know I claimed JSA back in 2008 for several weeks as I was made redundant so to keep my NI contribution I claimed JSA and after about 3 to 4 weeks later I found a job so infomed DWP and stopped JSA. I would be grateful if you could please confirm whether they have the power to recover the sum from my current employer. Thanks very much for your attention. Kind regards Monmoy

hi. I`m self-employed working for an employment agency. Used to work for them on day rate £120/day and then I was paid at 1,5 for Saturday and double time for Sunday. About three weeks ago they changed how they pay and now I`m on £16/hour. Sounds great, but since they changed it they don`t pay me extra for Saturday and Sundays, which means I`m paid through all week at the flat rate of £16/hour. For example, before changes for 60.75 hours I done I was paid £840 after tax, after changes for 61.5 hours I done I was paid £787.2. how can I make them to pay me at rate 1,5 for hours done on Saturday and double for hours done on Sunday? can they change things like this without telling me? thanks ps. I have pictures of all time sheets signed by manager and all the payslips

Hi advice really appreciated ? I have just returned to work 16 hours a week but have now realised as im no longer recieving Job seekers allowance that my mortgage interest payments have stopped . If i were in rented accommodation i would get help but im not . Obviously as a single mother with two kids , keeping a roof over their head is my main concern. So stressed its a nightmare !! do i go back and say im not able to take the job , although i started last week , do i get the sack which then goes against the grain as i want to work ? anyone else been in this situation ? Tracy

Hi im not sure if i have posted this in the right place, but need some advice about the continous payments, I had quite alot of paymnets taken from my card costing roughly £600, I tried to cancel this so many times and changed my bank card but they still managed to get my details and take payments again, i closed the account and opened a new bank account, i just wanted to know if it was [possible to still claim the money back as i no longer have the account .I would have stayed with barclays but as they wouldnt stop the payments going out it was my only option to change banks

Throughout the governments Welfare Reform in respect of Housing Benefit, there has been repeated reference by the government to Discretionary Housing Payments as a safeguard for those affected by: - Housing Benefit reductions in private sector the extension of shared room rate in private sector the introduction of the under occupation reduction for social tenants I thought it might be helpful to provide some basic information about Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs). Since 2001, each Council has had a discretion to offer extra assistance to those in receipt of: - HB who require additional financial assistance to meet their rent costs. CTB who require additional financial assistance to meet their council tax costs. The amount that a Council can spend is set by the DWP and varies by Council and by year. details of Council's funding limits for 2013/14 can be found at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/s1-2013.pdf Please note that with effect from 1 April 2013, DHPs will no longer be payable to assist with Council Tax costs. It will solely be for help with rent costs, and will be available to those in receipt of HB or Universal Credit. If you are not receiving HB/UC, you will not be eligible for a DHP. If your HB/UC meets your full rental costs, you will not be eligible for a DHP. DHPs are not part of the normal Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit schemes. As the name suggests, any payments are made at the Council's discretion. The DWP guidance advises that DHPs should not be used as a way to get round the application of any standard HB restrictions or the government's Welfare Reform. There are no rules that give anyone a right to a payment, but the Council may be able to pay you Discretionary Housing Payments if they believe that you need extra financial support. Normally to be awarded a DHP, you would need to have unusual or extreme circumstances which are causing hardship or mean that you're at risk of becoming homeless. Situations where DHPs may be payable include: - Foster carers who require additional rooms not allowed for in HB Disabled people living in significantly adapted properties People who are unable to pay the shortfall between rent and HB due to other unusual circumstances DHPs cannot be paid to meet service charges that don't count for Housing Benefit - things like charges for water, heating or meals. As there is only a limited amount of money available to pay DHPs, most awards would only be paid for short periods of time to allow the person to make alternative arrangements to meet their rent costs. I am aware that there is currently information being circulated through social network sites advising that anybody affected by the 'bedroom tax' can have the shortfall met by DHPs. This information is simply not true. The amount of money that the DWP have allowed for DHPs is a fraction of the reduction in HB caused by the 'bedroom tax'. So most applicants would be unsuccessful.

Hi there. Ran into difficulty paying my t-mobile bill, which has now ended. Contacted by a company called Buchanan Clark and Wells demanding payment of £155.21. I checked my t-mobile account, and am still able to pay off my balance on their website, which comes to £140.21. I emailed BCW saying if I can pay them, why should I pay a DCA? I then to be safe set up a payment agreement at BCW's website, and paid on the 14th September by bank transfer. Received however a letter today stating that they would be making a home visit as the agreement has not been honoured, despite having my own evidence that I sent the bank transfer. Despite this, the balance has not been changed to reflect this. I have sent an angry email along these lines to ask why a payment has been ignored. I refuse to communciate with them by phone, only be letter or email. I will soon have enough money aside to pay off the tmobile bill, shall I just pay tmobile directly and tell BCW where to go? Thanks!

hi Hope this is in the right section, basically i had a bill with british gas so they told me to pay in installments every month to clear the outsatnding balance, i was told that this wouldnt affect my credit file and i set up DD, payments were made and 1 payment was paid a few days late by card, and then also another payment was a week late.4 months apart i was told that it doesnt affect my credit file. i was checking my credit file and see i now have 2 missed payments on my file. i have contacted BG and they apologised for the information I was given and said theres nothing they can do i even went to the energy ombudsman who said they cant do anything and that bg offered me £25 compensation for the bad service. they tried to locate the recording of the information i was given b ut coulddnt locate it, so my tough luck my problem is i dont want £25 so i refused it and they couldnt close the case as i wasnt satisfied. i want to clear the late payments on my credit file as i was told by a bg rep that my credit file wouldnt be affetced i have never recived a t & c, or signed any agreemeent any options how i can sort this out thanks ang

We moved into this house in March this year the supplier was for the gas supply was with British Gas, I had tried to change suppliers to another company, however they blocked it claiming a bill hadn't been paid, this bill was for £16.68, and yes I had missed it, the letter they wrote stated that the reason for blocking the supply was this unpaid bill which was fair enough even if it was only for a pathetic £16, this was then paid and I thought nothing more of it, and expected the transfer process to go ahead. I next received a bill at the beginning of August from British Gas for £372.24, stating this payment is due by the 9th August, things went into a panic as there was no way I could afford that. I had never agreed a contract with BG, and tried to move away from them, I am also on the standard tariff which is far from the cheapest. "then followed a letter which says in large bold letters across the top Your gas is now at risk of disconnection" My wife called their very unhelpful call centre and offered all we could manage right now which was £70 every month starting on 15th Sept (payday), he said no chance and they want £150 by the 20th September or it would be going to court. I wrote to them following this call letter below clearly expressing the fact that we could only afford to pay £70 per month I received a response to my letter basically saying they are refusing to set up a payment plan (the spelling/grammar mistakes are not mine) I have no intention of calling them after they way my wife was spoken to on the last call, they were extremely rude abrupt and demanding, and wouldn't listen to a single thing she said, simply saying that the offer wasn't enough and action would be taken unless we agree to their terms, we only use gas for cooking and hot water, we hardly ever have the heating on, the only reason this bill was as high as it was is because we had a burst mains water pipe in the loft causing a lot of damage, the heating was on full for around 3 weeks constantly to try to dry everything out before work could begin on replacing the electrics, sorting the plaster out and putting new floor down. When she called he also said there's no way we know that you have set up a Standing Order so you could be lying to get more time, so we sent a printoff from online banking showing the payment was set up as she told them. There is also no way they are fitting a prepayment meter, I have had them before they are terrible, and also much more expensive. Now today (our anniversary which should be a happy day but has just been destroyed) received another letter from BG, the paid was made successfully on 15th for £70 we said it would hence the lower balance. If they had switched suppliers at the start after I paid the pathetic bill I received then this wouldn't have happened, I forgot to mention that in my letter, after the bill was paid they had no legitimate reason to block the transfer, they also never contacted me to set up onto a tariff at any point they simply started billing I had no idea how much we would be paying until the bill came through the door. This isn't we don't want to pay, its that we cant pay the amount they are demanding, as I have said we have set up a SO for the most we can afford right now, yet they are refusing this, can they do that? Also can they refuse payments simply because it is a SO and not a DD which they can set to whatever they want without us having a say in it.

Could someone please explain the pro's and con's of making these payments. Does it improve my credit record etc. The account was defaulted about 6 months ago, and I have very little chance of making meaningful payments due to long term ill health. Making these payments on time mean no hassle for a few months, but am I just delaying the inevitable - account being sold on and on....... If the account is sold on, is there a way in which the token payments could be a condition of the sale. Don't know how to explain it better but I'm sure you will understand what I mean.

Well, apologies for what is going to be a very long post, but tbh my head is fried and a few weeks ago attempted to call my life a day sadly. Selfish i know, but half way through stopped and went to hospital - mainly due to me finding my ex cheating on me. I am in a very awkward situation and I am not sure where the law stands, where I stand and until i find out cant sleep - not even with the anti depressants i am on. My Situation I am 38 I have 2 children from first ex aged 15 and 13 They get £150 a month (private agreement) 1 child aged 5 from my recent ex gets £75 month (private agreement but dont trust her hence why on here) We were not married. My Finances Earnings are £33k before tax and a £5k Car Allowance on top (due to the mileage i do) Take home pay therefore is £2300 a month Outgoings come to £2200 leaving me £100 month for clothing and going out (altho if i stop smoking this will help) All bills (which are a struggle) are paid like amenities, mortgage, council tax, fuel, food, catalogues, phone, house insurance etc My House We bought the house in joint names in 2008 from Barratts on a 75/25 scheme. We at the time bought the house for £158,400 which was the 100% value. However the mortgage payment is £550 for the £123000, and the other 25% is held as a second charge on the property of which during the next ten years following purchase means a remortage to pay the oustanding sum. The property is now in £33k negative equity which doesn't help The issue She has never paid a pennny into the mortgage or towards any other bill - not even a tin of paint. I have proof of this. She states that the CSA have told her she is entitled to £355 a month due to my income She states she can have that as I didn't go through official channels for my other 2 children from previous ex Ive explained that if she wants that money i cant afford the mortgage which means she would have to be half liable to the property -( is that right?) costs - she seems to think that as she isnt working she wouldnt or couldnt afford to pay it. So for the time being she has agreed to £75 month the same as my other 2 get. She lives with her mum and dad now with my little boy. I have no idea what she is claiming benefits wise She cannot get a property with the council as they have refused her application as her name is on the mortgage. She cannot get her name off the mortgage beacuse of the negative equity plus my credit file shows a few late payments from other stuff (not the mortgage) I believe that if she does get her name off the mortgage she will then go to the csa screwing me over. Child Arrangements I have all 3 children from Friday - Sunday 3 weekends of the month. This week due to BH and the fact i am off from work for a week, I will be having them from Friday until Thursday. We shall be going out for day trips, plus obviously I need to feed them both when out and both when at home. Due to her going to her mum and dads and the fact that our son has some learning difficulties it has meant the fact that he has had to move to nurrseries and is unable to get a school position until Janauary 2014. I dont seem to be fully informed about any progress of my son and what is happening Other She bought a pc for me for xmas in 2007. She fell behind on payments etc. Cut a long story short, she got a ccj, then a charging order on the property we are in . The finance was in her name. Her mum and dad have forced me to sign saying that I will pay it at £25 a month. I am stuffed beacuse if i dont pay it then HFC will or can enforce sale of the property. So like i say, I aplogise for this massive amount of information, but i think its important that I have divulged everything. I just need to know where i stand. I am so confused and my head is so battered and well due to work commitments Ive just not had chance to speak or see anyone and I am certainly not in a position to pay I am confused as according to the CSA calculator I need to be paying £58 a week which i cant afford and is odd that that seems to be a big difference from £355 she had been quoted. Like i say I dont know what she is claiming, and according to it, if she is claiming various benefits and given the amount of nights my son is here, I dont need to pay anything?? Please can anyone help me with any of these issues and questions i have raised? I am so confused with it all. Thanks in advance Ian

After joining CAG I realise DCAs have cash cowed me for years. I'm about to CCA them. Can I claim back payments I've made if they can't produce an original CCA?

I currently claim JSA as well as visiting that dreadfull place Ingeus! I also get mortgage interest payments from DWP (when I'm not sanctioned). My wife is a pensioner and should be able to claim pension credits. So, should I be able to sign off JSA, thus dumping Ingeus, and rely on my wife getting pension credits instead? There should not be much difference payment-wise.