Hello, I’m trying to get an answer regarding the changeover from dla to ESA/pip. My friend’s mother suffers from severe borderline personality disorder; she has been on dla for over twenty years! and did have until recently home-help (Although I believe this is no longer the case) her daughter recently took her to a atos/maximus assessment from which I understand it was specifically because Dla is changing to pip and they are medically ‘re-assessing.’ People that are changing over? 1 is this correct? 2 I assume if this is correct will she afterwards be on esa + PIP, as other claimants are? Or just PIP. 3 she recently (because of this changeover) was asked to attend a medical assessment for PIP. From what I gather the PIP assessment is different/ more difficult than the esa assessment? Is this correct? 4 I believe that her daughter does not know how the assessment really works? The main question is if she fails (as we have been told many people do, first time around), are the procedures for preparing for the tribunal and/ or mandatory reconsideration the same as ESA? 5 In case of FAILURE, are the papers you request i.e. details of assessment, assessors etc and papers and forms and the names, codes of the paperwork, assessors etc exactly the same protocol as if you were requesting documents if you failed an ESA assessment? I.E if she fails could she be on no money until her tribunal appeal? thanks 6 I have also been told that the onus of providing the paperwork, evidence of the claimant’s illnesses is the responsibility of atos/maximus/ capita / etc rather than the claimant? Is this correct? 7 I also believe my friend was not armed with the correct information regarding assessments to benefit her mother as well as required- can anyone suggest anything? Thank you very much

Hi everyone . I want to thank everyone in advance and also apologise in advance - as I realise my questions are probably very common here, but I have very little time left and I am overwhelmed with so much info on internet , while trying to do my duties at work and as a father. Summary : 1.My debts are in the region of 4,000 for a loan, credit card, overdraft and phone account. I started missing payments in 2010 due to family separation and depression, stopped making payments and stopped contact with lenders in 2011. Meantime paid some sums, made some agreements, paid some money on those agreements, on some haven't, don't have good recollection , don't know if i owe some of the debts, if they are for correct amount, if some of them are statue barred, unfair charges etc. 2.All of debts are now being owned by various debt collecting agencies, sometimes changing hands more than once. some already started offering me full and final settlements of 50-60 %. 3. For one of the debts(Cabot, original overdraft from Halifax in region of 1000, now 1400) a court proceeding has started december 2016) -claim form has been sent to Northampton county court. Currently I haven't sent any form back to court, as i called the solicitors representing Cabot - Mortimer Clarke Solicitors LTD and they agreed to give me time until 31.01.2017 to prepare my expenditure form and make offer for repayment and/or full and final settlement upon which they said won't continue with court proceedings as it is up to them to request them. Unfortunately they refused to give me written confirmation of that (twice) which leaves me in a situation where they can decide anytime to request court decision and court won't even know I am in contact and agreement with them while issuing the order. 4. My credit report has inaccuracies- default dates are years more recent than they should be and one of the debt collecting agencies (Cabot) opened a new account with same default date and amount of original debt, but no markers that this is debt bought from original lender, which might lead to confusion this is different debt imo while accessing my credit report. What would you advise me in this situation? My first aim is to get relevant and accurate information on debts, so i know where i stand. Do I have the right to ask the dca for all the info or need to contact the original lender ? Does the dca has the right to redirect me to request the needed info from original lender or they are obliged to provide it as the new owner of the debt. Also templates I found so far are just for one issue or used long time ago. I need a template which requests original agreement, payments, any voluntary arrangements we had, so I know if i owe anything, different amount or if it is already statue barred. What should be the fee i have to pay ? What will happen if they cannot provide the requested inf o- will debt become unenforceable until they do ? Can I use that also to correct my credit report ? I am not sure what template to use for debt for which there is already a started court case - I am afraid that when i send that request to the dca in question they might instruct their solicitors to request immediate judgment. Thanks again

Hi, seeing there are so so many problems with cancelling the membership with Xercise4Less. I am about to cancel mine with a full month notice, therefore I want to do it the best and right way to avoid any kind of harassment. I have read the "Cancelling your Gym Agreement - Get it right!" Post at the top. So my plan is to have 2 copies of the same letter handing to the gym staff with them signing the letters(Hopefully they will sign that). But I have no idea what I should include to make this letter "legitimate" in a manner of speaking. Here is my letter------------ To whom it may concern. Dear sir or madam, I would ask that this letter serves as my notice of cancellation for membership with Xercise4Less ___ Gym. As prior to 19th January 2017, my membership have been monthly rolling contract ever since I first joined Xercise4Less ___ Gym on 19th June 2015. Therefore I would like to inform Xercise4Less that, I choose to terminate my membership after the next direct debit payment on the 19th January 2017. Given a full month of advance notice and will not be responsible for any further payment after that. By signing this letter, it is served as a confirmation that both parties (Xercise4Less ____ Gym and Member _________) acknowledge and confirm the request of the membership cancellation on this written date. Xercise4Less Signature: ________________ Print name : ________________ Date : ________________ Cancellation requested individual Signature: ________________ Print name : ________________ Date : ________________ --------------------------------- Please let me know if this is a good letter for the job. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

-IDEM Services replied that debt is unenforceable as they are unable to provide CCA paperwork, but they refuse to release me from my financial obligations. (£2000) This debt does show my on credit file, defaulted 09/2001 Not sure what to do here, please any help info on next steps??? stop paying ? wait for it to fall off credit file? offer full & final???

In August this year I received a letter from Ross & Roberts saying that I owe council tax to Gosport Borough Council , As I left Gosport over 12 years ago I was taken aback by this. As far as I was aware the rent and c/t was all up to date. I wrote to R&R to tell them that I was disputing the claim. I sent a letter about not knowing about the debt and also about CPUTR 2008 and guidance on debt collection , also I have requested from GBC, under the FOI anything to do with this. What I want to know is: Can they still visit if its in dispute! Can they still add on any charges! Can they force entry to where I lodge and remove property (non of it I own). I ask this as Someone has been round and put a note through the door when no one was in. Two days latter they were back when my landlord was here and they have threatened him with forcing entry and remove goods . He was in such a panic about it that he gave them £500. Can they do this!!! Until the information from GBC turns up I don't know if I owe it or if they have mucked up some where. Thanks in advance

Hello, we have a car loan with a company and in the last 12 months we've received two email both containing a lot of attached letters that contain personal information on a significant number of people. They contain name, address, bank details, car reg details and so on. I'm a bit concerned about this as I worry that our details have gone flying around to others! I also feel sorry for the people whose details I'm seeing! I've alerted the company each time and just received an email back saying "sorry about that, just delete", very offhand about this! Is there anything else I should be doing? I'm concerned that I've received this info but more so that they're doing this and not bothered about it. Thanks for any advice.

Hi All, I need some help regarding a problem buyer from eBay. I sold them a phone on 21 Sep 2016 for £95 (Pink iPhone 5C) It was on the Vodafone network and then unlocked when the contract had ended (tested from my end with a few sim cards one being the 3 network) A month later the buyer opens a case saying the item has never worked with a 3 sim card, so I thought "here we go," I begrudgingly accepted the return knowing that the item was working and I would most likely get a smashed phone back or something completly different. So I get the phone back it is sort of in the same condition a couple small marks had been added but nothing that was major, the phone was dead so I neeed to charge it and when turning it on he had added an icloud account to it and I could no longer reset it, after several messages he finally admitted the following; Adding the icloud account and even confirmed the email address used (but wouldn't give me the password.) The sim card did infact work (I knew this anyway becuase you need it to activate the phone to get as far to put a icloud account on it.) Had been used for the time that he had the phone (even though he initialy stated he had been working away.) Ebay decided the case in his favour giving the reason there was no evidence of him doing it, so I have since appealed the decision telling them that there is proof of him admitting to it in the messages we had been sending each other, I am still awaiting a decision on this one. If it doesn't get overturned I will then be out of £100 and have a nice Apple paperweight, so my question is who would I need to take to a small claims court eBay or the buyer and if so how likely do you think I will win ? This isn't the first time I have been messed around by a buyer and ebay and I now want to follow through with this to prove my point. Thanks in advance

A new financial guidance service to provide advice on pensions, managing debts and other money issues is to be created by the government. It will replace the heavily criticised Money Advice Service (MAS) as well as two pension advice services. The government thinks a single advisory body will be more efficient but has yet to decide how the new service will actually work. The abolition of the MAS was announced in the Budget in March. It was criticised for failing to help those who needed it most and paying its staff too much. No timetable Like the MAS, the new organisation will be paid for by a levy on financial services companies. The new body will also take on the roles of the Pensions Advisory Service, and Pension Wise - an organisation set up in response to pension reforms introduced in 2015. The government looked at setting up two bodies to replace the MAS and pensions services. But industry and consumer finance groups raised concerns over how they would work together effectively. The new body as yet has no name and there is no timetable for its creation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37597567

Hi All, I'd really appreciate some advise please, I'm in court next week for a set aside hearing. It's in relation to a Cap 1 cc claim for just over 1k, the court papers were sent to my old address so I never received them, I'm certain I gave my new address to all concerned back in 2007/8 but cannot prove it. I don't think it's statute barred but I can't find when I last made a payment. I sent a SAR to Cabot and have received it back on a CD, there is no default notice or credit agreement on the CD, I've read that they are not obliged to send these with a SAR in their response to my request they state "We may not hold information such as your credit agreement or statements on file. In order to obtain this information, we recommend you contact the original lender. However, in the event that the original lenders have supplied us with this information, the documents will be included with your SAR. I guess my question is can I use this in my application to set aside the judgement and CCJ, as just relying on the fact the papers were sent to my old address may not help me get a set aside? Many thanks

Hi all, Have an interest only mortgage with 11 years remaining and our mortgage company we have been with changed us over to someone else. Well we need to sort this mortgage out asap and switch to repayment but the company that now holds our mortgage does not allow changes like this. We contacted a mortgage advisor whom finally came back to me today and said due to the amount of unsecured debt we have the only company whom looked at ourselves said no and now we are stuck up a creak without a paddle. Does anyone have pointers, advise etc. We have never missed a mortgage payment in 9 years of having this mortgage but our outgoing are high and if we contact our creditors with reduced payments that will stuff our chances of a re-mortgage. HELP.

I am taking a deep breath because I've always adopted the Ostrich approach to dealing with my debts and as that didn't work too well I am trying facing them instead. A few years back my marriage dissolved and I was left with the majority share of the financial burden from that marriage. When the house was sold I cleared the majority of debt as far as I was aware and got on with things accepting that my credit rating was poor. I am now happily remarried and my husband has no debt and pays everything on time. I expected my credit rating to have hugely improved however last night I did a credit check with Credit Expert and found numerous things on my file. A couple of missed payments for two lots of mobile bills with Hutchinson 3 that are showing as default (dates of default 2011 and 2013), a Lowel finance default in 2011 (I suspect the Lowel one and one of the Hutchinson 3 ones are the same item) and a T mobile (default 2010) and a Cap One (default 2010) These are not huge amounts and even though they are defaulted I could pay them now but reading around would it benefit me to do so? As I understand it once an account is defaulted it will come off my file in 6 years? If I phone up and pay these amounts will it make things better or just stay the same? I also got a CCJ in 2011 but after the CCJ was passed I actually paid the full amount of that so I had hoped that would be gone now. Some of the defaults are marked as 'Satisfied' and some 'Settled'. I don't know what the difference of these means. Impulse says to pay off the small debts but if it doesn't actually change my rating what's the point? One of them is Hutchinson telecom (3). If I pay it would they remove the default? Is time the only great healer of my credit rating? I feel pretty hacked off that I ended up with ALL of the debt of that marriage and worked so hard to pay it off and I'm the one that ends up with a still rubbish credit rating while my ex husband enjoys a flawless one

Hello, My house is a semi detached, next to my garden fence is a piece of land of which I m trying to acquire . What it is, is that there is public footpath which runs diagonally across it next to my fence. But then round the edge of the land is a ready alternative foot path too Which people also use. I have tried contacting the council, they own the land, but it has been adopted by the Essex highways they said, because of the footpath. One of the reasons for wanting the land is because passers by keep kicking and damaging my fence as the said path is just next to my fence, I have children and does not feel safe leaving them in the garden. Also because of the lay out, dog walkers without lead always stun us when leaving the house. I have reported the fence damages to the police and have a reference number. Another reason is because I have a very substantial garden and an additional portion of this piece of land will give me an opportunity to build a new property on it, I have invited an agent who has done the measurements and would only need like one third of this land. Is there any one to advise on the best way to approach this please?

Hi everyone! Sorry to be one of 'those' people who join in the hope of some free advice but I'm in a bit of a pickle and would really, really appreciate any advice. I'll try and keep it short, I promise. I have recently moved into a new house and as a result, my wife and I bought ourselves a new TV from AO.com. BIt cost £750. In short, it's rubbish - it's slow, it feels and looks cheap, and the optical output doesn't work which is a term which means to me: no sound out of our soundbar. I called AO this morning to arrange a return, and have been told they don't accept returns (despite this being plastered all over their website) unless the item is faulty, and that they will accept taking it back, but will only refund 55% of what I paid as it is now 'used'. Surely this is illegal? I have been advised to look at the Consumer Rights legislation, which I have done, and am awaiting a call back with some advice from Trading Standards but as you can imagine, we're ever so keen for any sort of additional help and someone suggested I come here and try. Thank you so much in advance!

Good Afternoon all, Having been a keen reader for many years now, only now do I feel the courage to take on these ghastly payday loan companies which left me in such disarray in late 2012 and early 2013. To provide a bit of context, I got myself in a bit of trouble gambling (which I have not touched since 2014), was on anxiety medication from 2012 to 2014 and often found myself taking out payday loans to make sure I got through and able to pay for my rent, council tax, travel and living costs. I often was scrabbling around, pawning items, going to pawnbrokers and also applying online. I have been following everyone's advise (it's most appreciated) and have reached out to all the Payday loan companies asking them for all my statements during that period of time. Everything has been paid off (I fortunately got approved a personal loan from Nationwide in July 2013) While I am waiting for every payday loan company to respond, I also trawled through all my accounts and estimated the total amount of loans that I took out in a period of a year. Please note that this is just rough figures, a lot of the time I took money out in person, then deposited into my account. 1st Stop Pay Day - £1500 Bonga - £1600 Cash Converters - £3000 Dosh Express - £700 Early Payday Loans - £160 Microlend - £300 Moneyshop - £1000 PDUK - £1000 Wonga - £1400 Wizzcash - £1140 Several of these companies all performed credit checks so should have been able to see my spending/loans but approved me nevertheless. Would you classify this as irresponsible lending? Too many times did I have to roll over or take out another loan simply to pay another one off. When I got my personal loan through, I paid the pending ones back: 90, 139, 185, 195, 333, 366, 366, 520, 317, 200, 500, 1000 (cash converters extortionate personal loan of 568%!!) which amounts to me having 4200 of loans with extortionate rates. At the rates, 1000 of payday loan - 300£ interest? So I was paying £1200 a month in interest alone. I was earning 1600 a month from work... Please advise if I have a case to put forth to either the companies themselves or should I refer this to the Financial Ombudsmen? Furthermore, is there a chance that I can get these removed from my credit file? I was not aware that these types of credit agreements would stay? No one told me that they would, i was ok with the credit search but I'm not too happy about the black mark on these. Many thanks for your help, Appleguy

Good Afternoon, Firstly I appreciate everything you guys do on here, I'm a first time poster and would appreciate any advise you can give me - I'll give as much detail below in relation to my situation however if you have any questions let me know; So, at the moment I have a defaulted loan outstanding with Tesco Finance to the amount of - £ 8,900. I defaulted from the loan in October 2013 and haven't been in contact with Tesco Finance since. In January 2013 I moved to Australia to complete a two year working VISA, at the time I had enough money in my UK account to cover my repayments with the intention to transfer funds back to the UK when my UK money ran out. I contacted Tesco Finance from Oz around February 2013 to update my address (when I got a fixed abode in Oz) - however after that it went a bit pear shaped. I ran into financial complications due to a health issue in Oz which I had to cover myself meaning I couldn't repay the loan, I contacted Tesco to advise them of this in June 2013 - however after over 1.5hrs on the phone they wouldn't allow me access to my account as the aforementioned gentleman who updated my address entered it incorrectly (house number and zip code). They asked me to fax over proof of address which at the time was impossible, and hence a stalemate ensued (wouldn't accept email, I tried). I returned to the UK in December 2014, financially I am now working full time, renting privately and have a bad credit recovery credit card however not in a position to repay currently due to other commitments. Its been over two years since the default and I'm at a point now where I'm afraid to contact Tesco Finance in case it kicks things off again. My question is; is it naive to think Tesco Finance has just stopped pursuing (i.e should a DCA have been in touch by now?) and will the fact that the account is still registered to my (incorrect) Oz address affect anything else on my credit account? Also what would people say are my options? - Once again thanks for your help and time.

Hi... I booked a ticket through flight centre with an agent. This guy was hurrying me up for a week to offer me this special deal which apparently closed by 6pm on Friday. I eventually booked it on the day...and paid over the phone. Prior to that I received a terms and conditions note, then paid for the ticket. I received the itinerary confirming the flight and ticket two days ago. The agent then asked me if I was still looking for hotels and I said I was, asked if he could help with that as well... a day later he sent me an email saying: "I only ask because the airline informed me that the special price I gave you can only be offered if booked with a hotel , if you don't book a hotel I will have to refund your ticket as it will be invalid ". Now at no point did this agent mention anything about the price being linked to a hotel booking., and he knew I was seeking hotels but made no mention of it,, instead he was calling me all week to get this special offer. can he really cancel my ticket? I have received it, the money has left my account... Shouldn't he have been aware of the ticket conditions. .that's if he's not just trying to scare me into booking a hotel ( I don't need a hotel and its in NY so it will be very expensive.) If I booked a ticket and changed my mind I would never get a refund. What advice does anyone have for me to pursue this. .as I do not want my flight offer cancelled. Nothing in any paperwork or ticket conditions say it must be booked with a hotel. Thanks very much

I got a laptop from Currys on 15.8.2015. At time of purchase, it had windows 8 and was prompting to upgrade to windows 10. Windows 10 has grown larger in size in recent months now and has currently reached 29 GB. I think soon windows 10 will be larger than 32 GB which is supposed to be the size of my hard drive. Programs cannot uninstall because they need writing space while they uninstall, thw laptop keeps crashing. Currys keep taking it for "repair" which takes 3-4 weeks a time. They say they are just doing a system restore when they have to also reinstall the bios options which have disappeared. I feel this model is a defective one because the hard drive is too small for windows 10. I asked them if they would replace the hard drive with one having more space for money and they said they wont do so under any circumstances. I dont feel as time goes by windows 10 doing all its updates will grow smaller-it is already too big to fit in my hard drive. This is a new model with only usb input and incompatible with older versions of windows. Yet the hard drive is too small for the windows it is supposed to carry. As its become obvious the model is a defective one having too small a hard drive to run the windows it is supposed to run, what are my rights? I am for all purposes wihtout a laptop What are my rights anyone?

hi i was wondering if anyone could please help with some advice we had to move home about 5 weeks ago due to the wifes sister having cancer and we being out of work but actively seeking work the new house is a bit more costs to run and with cuts in our own money we sort of fell into a black hole with our payments to brighthouse when we got a letter a couple of weeks ago we had make choice that way things have been recently we had no option but to call the store n ask if could return the items we had but could i hell get the guy behind the counter to understand we were really at the end of the barrel sorta thing but kept offering to get us go in and redo the contracts with cheaper items but when asked if could return em he said it does not work like that we had 4 contracts with the for the sofa - kids tv and washer somehow the idea was if im falling so far behind to send em back get outta debt with em n replace what we had we borrowed money to replace kids tv and saving for sofa those easiest to go as only had those for 6 months would have been hardest for the washer though as got that in june 2014 so thats over half paid for after 2 weeks of not wanting rewrites of contracts they not been back in touch since but yet the bill gonna be building up i know its not the most ideal situation but due to the wifes sisters cancer and running back n forth to hospital appointments for chemo n specialists just alot has taken its toll lately and really dont know weher been comming or going at times

I have two credit card debts, one of which is the subject of a CCJ some 9 years ago. I have been making payments in accordance with the CCJ and voluntary payments in respect of the other. Both defaults are over 6 years old and no longer appear on my credit reports. The DCA have offered to do a deal and accept less than is outstanding in full and final BUT if I agree does this deal appear on my credit report (as of the date of the full and final payment for a lesser figure) or, as the date of default is over 6 years ago, will my credit history be unaffected if I choose to pay a lump sum in full and final? Thank you.

Hello all, this is my first time posting on here. I have been sick with worry regarding working tax credits and the new rules. I am self-employed and have been claiming WTC since July 2014. It was very helpful towards costs and I am not disputing that BUT the new sanctions were causing me anxiety. I renewed my WTC last Fri but telephoned today to withdraw the claim. The guy was very helpful and I explained that I am going back to college in Sept and will be doing a lot of unpaid placements, and, as such, my working hours and income will fall. He withdrew my new claim but said I will have to pay back the money they have been giving me since 5 April this year. No problem, I thought as much, and so I won't spend it. But now I am reading horror stories about people being charged extreme amounts in over payments and I am worried this will happen to me. I have always been above board with my claims. i.e. 2014-15 I only earned £1880, and 2015-2016 I earned £3214 (declared on the WTC claim I want to withdraw). I think I am within their £2500 limit when it comes to an increase in my income, but I am so scared. I was receiving just under £54 a week. Can anyone advise what the likely outcome will be? I am a self-employed author and so my hours were indeed long (proof as the books have been consistently coming out since early 2015). Sorry to ramble on, I have high functioning aspergers and quite bad anxiety and the people who I turn to for emotional support are not here at the moment. So this is a very worrying time. Thanks in advance.

Hi All . after some advise on this please. I received a Cliaimform today from cabot financial (claimant) with the address of mortimer clark solicitors as the address for sending payments and documents listed underneath , for the sum of £557.68. this debt is i think form a old hp agreement from five and a half years ago when i split from my ex (she moved out and all debts where in my name she was the main wage earner ). to be honest i cant even remember what it was for or what company it was (says Hitachi nova on the particulars of claim). i know this and a lot of my other debts are nearing the 6 years statute barred point i think the last payment may have been about Jan 2009. I had this ccj thing crop up 3 years ago for another difrent debt with bryan carter (phoenix recoveries ) this is what i did for that one . i filed a deference with the court saying that i did not know what the debt was for and had no knowledge of it, bryan carter then sent back a letter telling me who the debt was from, after researching the net and different forums i sent back the following letter to bryan carter solicitors CPR 18 - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION After a few weeks i had a letter from them stating the claim had been discounted happy days . the above letter was the only one i sent. and have heard nothing since as the probably did not have all the info required. Now to my main question (sorry about the long winded post) should i do the same with my latest Claimform from cabot , mortimer clark or have things changed since my last success against the debt collection company's Many thanks for all help and replies Vauxman

I have just received a court summons with three options and need a little advise on how to act. On the morning in question I was in a carriage on the Thameslink service from Bedford to Brighton along with 7 people and two kids. We were asked to provide tickets by an inspector which I did so. The inspector took my rail wallet which included my work ID to access my building and previously purchased tickets. I asked for my wallet back to which he refused. He talked to two other passengers before speaking with me and ignored a woman and two kids opposite which I thought was strange. He then asked for my name and address. I questioned this to which he replied that I was in first class. I said I wasn't aware I was and asked for my wallet back. He refused to which I asked if we could resolve the matter at St Pancras as I was very embarrassed and still wasn't sure he was correct. He agreed. When i arrived at St Pancras I waited with an assistant and explained what had happened. After two calls and a search of the platform it was clear the inspector never exited the train. I waited 45 minutes while various members of staff tried to contact the inspector but all failed. I then was cautioned at work for failing to provide my ID that morning. I returned that evening to be told that no one could help and was best if I go to Luton to speak to the shift manager. I was given a free pass to get me there. Once there I was advised to purchase another season ticket and given an address to write to in order to receive my work ID and train tickets. He also informed me that he had spoken to the member of staff and that he thought I was getting off at Farringdon. My belongings were returned by kings cross prosecution department two weeks later. The inspectors statement says I walked away from him. This is not true. He also states that he was asked to meet at city Thameslnk. This is not true. What am I to do? Any advice would be welcome. I know its a bit long winded but I will seek legal advise if all else fails. Thanks for all your help in advance.

Hi I was wondering if someone can help me with what i can and cant claim for? I rented a property of the local council which have a management company. I got a mains water leak which was reported straight away. The company sent loads of wrong men out and then said it was fixed when it wasn't. I had to call and harass so many people to get them to listen that the leak was not fixed. I was called a lier and ignored. All complaints logged disappeared. They then said they would not fix unless i sign a disclaimer which I refused and then i went to the local MP for help who assigned me a local councillor. He went straight to the council to fight my corner and got me moved. This went on over 4 months. It would have been longer if I wasn't so persistent. There was black mould and damp that had risen up the entire house. I did get evidence of it all. I hired a dehumidifier as the council didn't seem concerned to help with any of the smell and dampness. I have a 1 year old and a 8 year old with autism. It not only effected our health but the stress having to fight every day to get my children somewhere healthy to live. I have been a good paying tenant for over 5 years. As I moved the extent of the damage became apparent. not only had they ripped my wooden flooring for no reason as it was under the kitchen but the damp and mould had spread to the kids room and mine. A lot got thrown but also I have to get all my suits dry cleaned as have mould all over them as they were in a built in wardrobe above the kitchen where the leak started. So why i am on here is i need advise on what i can put into a claim. I asked the council for basic money back for the stuff damaged due to them saying it was fixed when it wasn't and also hire of the dehumidifier but also rent for a property that was inhabitable. My son fell through the wall it got that damp. This is a list of the stuff I asked for: Wood Floor £940 (quote from a company to replace flooring from old property) Mattress 5ft £374.99 Single mattress £94.99 Cot mattress £34.89 Hire of Dehumidifier £504.00 inc VAT 7 Weeks Rent from 21st August 9th November £1169.96 Cloths in the bedroom above kitchen all need dry cleaning as suits and coats, what i can wash in my washing machine i have done 13x @ £6 =£ 78 Sofas £1200 Babies cot £150 rope storage box £40 I did not put compensation as I just wanted to replace what got damaged. They came back with 500 good will and 500 off rent. Can you put in a claim for things we have not replaced as of yet? IE wood floor? All advise welcome. Thank you

Hi everyone , i am looking for advice on how to proceed with this nightmare. I bought a car with 6 months warranty included , it had service history & the last service had been carried out on 3/12/2015 I bought the car on the 21/01/2016. On Monday 14 it just stopped with no power in the vehicle [ had to push it home] . I called out a mechanic who said it needed a new starter motor as he could get the one i the car to turn & he advised i needed a electrical diagnostics service due to my description of how it lost power & stopped, new starter fitted under warranty & the diagnostics but has today informed me the the engine has seized , we checked the oil & it was dry as a bone , bearing in mind the last service on the 3/12/2016 is stamped " oil & filter change" . At no time did an oil light come on to alert me but the diagnostics guy said this does happen when oil can sometimes cover the sensor but he thinks whoever did the supposed service that they forgot to top the oil back up after draining it & he said he has come across this a few times from garages. My question is i have had the starter motor fitted under warranty , paid for the diagnostics my self but can claim the cost back. How do i proceed in regards to getting my money back & returning the car , what proof do i need from the mechanic & diagnostics guys . The engine is totally seized & that is the fault of the garage IMHO . Any advise will be very appreciated , thanks .

HELLO your advice would be highly appreciated please as I don't know how to handle this .. Late last year, we had a guy knocked at our door and proposed to fix our driveway, we told him we couldn't afford it as we were getting our windows replaced in a couple of weeks. . He said we could spread payments that he understands besides he has many people owing him anyway that he knows we would eventually balance him .. he said it would cost £1800 , bear in mind that we already had the cobbles kept in our garden which we agreed would be for half part of the drive way. He came 1 week earlier than scheduled! ! We just heard a loud machine outside our window. . Anyway he completed the job the following day.. to our utmost surprise he demanded for his total money!! Face changed.. no more jokes level .. we reminded him of our 6 months payment. . Anyway we paid him £800 because we had the money that day and mainly to reduce the balance. . Then he started calling almost everyday, demanding for his balance, sometimes turning up at our door uninvited. . We paid him another £500 .. But then we noticed grasses growing out of the oobbles laid part! He gave us 5 year Warranty. . Also the edge of the pavement was patched with cement instead of coal tar .. we told him that the 6 months ends at the end of March 2016 and of course not paying until he fixes the problems .. He started threatening to come over and remove bricks ... at this point I had to report to the police ... and then he called us back that the police can't stop him because it is a civil case .. then he said he is a GYPSY that he would bring his gang ( his words ) to remove the bricks .. at this point I got very jittery. . I ve got 3 young kids 7, 5 and 21 months and live in Essex. . I called the police again and they assured me to call them if he shows up with any problems. . ( I never had any personal issues with travellers in fact I always stood up for them at work .. but now ... ) Anyways I told him on one of his numerous calls that he has no right to step on my property uninvited and that would be trespassing I called his bluffs ! Then he called one day to fix the patch , apparently there was no membrane under the cobbles! They just dug up soil and spread the cobbles directly on it .. I questioned this cos all he wanted to do was ask his boys to just pick the weeds.. he went off to get the membrane and ask the boys to fix it . Then I asked his boys why they were topping up the grasses on the edge round the pavement with coal tar .. they told me the heat would kill the grass .. less than 2 weeks now grasses are sprouting through the coal tar in fact it is unbelievable within a short period of time .. I got a call from the police for update of which I explained the situation, they told me to call them when he comes for his balance at the end of the month. . To my shock, the police called and left a message for me yesterday that because the builder is making EFFORTS the case would now be dropped and filed.. I wish I could upload a photo to show the grasses. . I think it is unfair for me to just cough up £500 balance just like that .. please what do I do ?