Check out the readers comments on the Daily Mail's latest 'have a go at the workshy' article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2187039/Benefit-cheats-bonanza-Jobcentre-Plus-staff-pay-claimants-documents-just-shopping-lists-letters-saying-dont-job.html People are wising up to the spin, there aren't enough jobs to go around and everyone knows it.

Hi there and thanks for looking at my question my father( aged 74) took ill 3 months ago. mum was finding it hard to cope with him - his health has been deteriorating rapidly and the decision was taken ( as all family lived over 50 miles away) that they should move closer to me - to provide support and care to both. they live in their own property ( which was bought from the council under the right to buy- 20 years ago i think) the property has been well maintained however the area they live in has been in decline for the past 10 years - we struggled with the idea of selling and after much too-ing and fro- ing and given the urgency decided to sell to a home buyer co at less than market value - the property suitable to their needs was found and we need to put an extra £50K to what they have sold their house, we decided the quickest and easiest option was a buy to let mortgage using the proceeds of their property as the deposit. the question is, my mum claims pension credit - will the sale affect her benefits and would she be able to claim housing benefit to pay the interest on the buy to let?

The man in charge of reviewing the government's controversial fitness-to-work benefit assessments is to stand down, the BBC's Panorama has learned. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19046447 Source: BBC News.

Hi, I am due a payment of Incapacity Benefit on the 23rd July, I have for some time though been receiving it a day early in my Post Office Card Account in my case on a Friday. Yesterday was different however so I called and asked if there was a problem with my payment to be told sorry it wasn't released for payment until Tuesday 17th July. My calculation of the BACS system would mean that I would still receive it yesterday or am I wrong and the DWP are right that I should get it on Monday. The person I spoke to at the DWP did not fill me with much hope when she said that I should get it Monday, I emphasise should and not definitely will. The other thing that the advisor said to me which seemed strange is that my payment looked like it had been released later than usual and that she had received calls from some people in a similar predicament. My problem is not that I have to wait until Monday but rather I don't know if I will receive the payment then. I wonder if there is anybody here that works for the DWP or knows how the payment system works who could give me a bit of advice as to how long it takes from a payment being released to crediting an account. Thanks.

I'm after a bit of advice in a field I have absolutely no Knowledge in at all... My sister is a single mother bringing up three kids, she works with disabled children less than 16 hours a week and received tax credits and a small amount of housing benefit. She had no savings to speak of. 6 years ago she was knocked over by a dog whilst out walking her own dog and luckily the dog owner was insured, its taken 6 years for the case to finally be resolved and she has been awarded a lump sum to cover her medical bills in the future as they estimate she will need two knee replacements as she struggles to walk distances now. The initial plan was to have this money put into a trust which then wouldnt affect the benefit she receives and a solicitor drew up a trust form with two trustees (myself being one). When applying to the bank however they have declined to accept the trust and cited bad credit reports, both myself and my sister have bad credit files through various circumstances. so I wonder will the lump sum be taken as pure savings despite having a planned use? and hence affect the housing benefit. S.

I have just found out that banks are not meant to take benefit money to pay bank charges. We are charged around £25 a month for the interest on are overdraft would i be able to claim that back? My nan had a bank account with natwest for years which my mum helped to deal with but when my mum died my nan put me as a named person on the account, then about 8 years ago my nan put me as a joint account holder on the account. My nan died on the 11th of september 2006 and i wrote to natwest and said that i would like to keep the account and took on the responsibility of the £1,800 overdraft which was to the max as i had used it to pay a months rent in advance and a deposit. Since then i have lost count of how many times they have charged us for being over the over draft, not having enough funds to pay a direct debit and letters, and like i said we have been charged around £25 a month since 2004 for the over draft interest charges. For all those years i was receiving income support and housing benefit in to the account until i was transferred over to income related ESA with the support component this year, i also receive DLA so any monies the bank have taken have been from either housing benefit, esa or dla. What i would like to know please is can i request the bank to refund all the bank charges that they have taken since my nan died in 2006? and can i request the bank refund the over draft charges since 2006? Also has the bank take a over draft interest charge each month can i stop them from taking that or would i have to be left with no money so it has to cause hardship to be able to claim it back? Thanks

Can anyone help me understand my housing benefit please? I am on EMA and DLA, I have joint tenancy with my son of a 3 bedroom home,my daughter was away at university, when I claimed housing benefit they said I could only claim 1/3 of the rent as we only needed a 2 bedroom house, they said I couldn't keep a bedroom for my daughter! She is now home after completing her course, she is having to claim JSA as she is still looking for work. I will tell HB office that she is here, will I be able to claim for her or will she be able to claim HB in her own right? What annoys me is if I rented a 1 bedroom flat it would cost them almost double what they are paying me now and I would be better off, but I wont make my children homeless!

if getting a pension (from the husbands pension scheme) where their company pension scheme, allowed the widowed wife to have some of the pension monthly money after their death. (company pension, eg BT pension) if that is being paid to the widow, does that mean it can affect the decision to get bereavement benefit (after applying) - ie they can reject it ? or the decision to get Bereavement Benefit have no effect or link to any 'company pension' being paid Also: or if the Bereavement Benefit is got, could the Company pension be altered/stoped? or there is no linkage?

After all the trails of this last year with Housing benefit, they suspended my claim in January 2012,, the asked for evidence Bank statements going back to August 2011 wich were duly handed in. 2wks later they say they know of another account in which transfers were made from, which is true but was one back in 2009 but had no funds in the account when I applied for HB and JSA and in actuality I gave them the account details, it didn't come from them, plus all of which was handed into the compliance officer. So since February i've literaly been handing in the same documents, even when they moved the goalposts and have handed in statements from the begining f my claim, inlcuding the defunct account which is closed and has had no activity. This has caused horrid problems with my landlord a housin society who tried to have me evicted back in June, that was suspended until 2nd August when I appear in court again. I feel that I'm being harrassed and they are working in conjunction with the housing society (hence why the judge through it out the last time) now the investigator who wasn't available prior intiial evction hearing has since returned 3wks ago and despite several letters/phone calls has now told me that a formal interview is planned for 24th July a mere 10 days before my next eviction hearing. Where can I go for advice I've no money will the CAB be able to have someone in court with me, I've no idea what is going to happen, I literally cannot give any more information that asked for. I've proved I don't have or never have had the excess capital the statements bear that out and yet they still persist, I fear my eviction will go through on the 2nd August and why has it taken them so lon to resolve this 7 months. Help!! thanks

Hi So now even more pain in the backside housing benefit changes, denials etc! What the hell are they trying to do?, make everyone eventually homeless if they just happen to need to rely on a benefit!! FFS. Housing benefit entitlement for an under 35 living in a house! 1. Is it that the rates have been cut, or just if your living alone in a house, you now have to share? 2. Is this only for privately rented house/flat etc? I have looked at direct.gov website, MoneySaving Expert & Shelter & they all seem to pint out that these changes apply to just 'Privately' rented! Can anyone please clear this mess up for me please! gaz

A couple of years ago I moved in with a guy into his place. It was rented property and everything was in his name. It didn't last that long and 13 months later I moved out. I was self employed and worked and had my own business. He was fully aware of me doing this and how much I earned etc. Anyway, I received a letter through the door last month from the council benefit investigation team wanting to see me. It turns out after meeting with them that when I was there he claimed single persons allowance, housing allowance and incapacity allowance (only the latter i was aware of as I knew he was entitled to it). On top of this I paid him rent and paid some of the bills so I feel a bit of mug. This aside anyway, they are now investigating him. I helped in any way I could and provided them as much info as they wanted plus more. I then texted him to find out what the heck he was playing at and since then had a barrage off him ranging from abuse to playing the sympathy card to begging to ask me to lie to them. This of course I'm not going to do!!! I'd like to make that clear. It has been horrible. I know that assisting them and telling the truth is the right course of action and the one i'm going to stick to but I do feel like i'm the one with the noose around his neck. As wrong as he's done and he's stolen I also feel bad to be put into this situation. He wants me to lie and to say that I didn't live at the property and only visitied him from time to time and basically live on other peoples sofas and was mixed up. I paid the bills from time to time to help him out and that we occasionally slept together. I'm a self respected, proud and independent woman with her own successfull business so to be asked to declare this made me even more angry! Again, for the record... i'm not even contemplating lying for him! Anyway... I had my meeting with them and told them everything and helped them as much as I could. I told my ex after that i wasn't lying to them and that I told them the truth and that if he had any brains when he had his meeting he would tell them the same... Anyway, he didn't and stuck to his above story!! I had a call off the investigation team last week to say he refuted everything I had told them (i'd prewarned them anyway that he may do that). I fear he's just dug the biggest hole for himself and they'll throw the book at him even more. I have a meeting again tomorrow to go over what he said. I can probably provide emails or letters to show we were a couple living together. Morally I feel like i'm doing the right thing but I also feel guilt and that I'd doing the wrong thing! Like I'm snitching on someone and I really can't wait for all of this to be over. Looking into figures and what he would have received as benefits over 13 months my estimate is around £9k. What will be his consequences of all this and will I have to go to testify against him in court do you think? Thanks!

Hello, I have been a long time reader of this forum but have, in the past, been able to deal with the DWP and the likes on my own. Unfortunately a lot of problems have arisen over the past few weeks that I either don't know the answer to or I am totally confused. I will post each problem separately to make things easier for me to understand. The first problem has come about with a Pension Credit claim I made in late 2009. We (me 63 and my wife 67) had the following income when I made the claim. Wife - State Pension. Me - private pensions, DLA (up to Jan 2011 LRM, from Jan 2011 HRM & MRC), IIDB, WTC's & I worked part time (16 hours a week) self employed. All of that was disclosed (the Pension Service accepted quite rightly that I made a loss in the relevant year) and used to calculate the award. We started to get Guaranteed Pension Credit of £2.62 a week, which went up to £5.76 from April 2010. We had an AIP from Oct 2009 until June 2014 (when I will be 65) Everything went well until August 2010, when the weekly giros stopped. I heard nothing from the Pension Service despite repeated letters and telephone calls, until October 2010 when they started asking about proof of self employed income. It was explained to them that the accounts up to the 31st August 2010 would not be ready until early 2011. In Nov 2010, December 2010 and Jan 2011 I kept getting copies of the same letter, and replied using the same letter as well. Then in February 2011 they closed the claim down citing that I hadn't replied!!!!! They gave me no prior warning and not only that, they back dated the closure to August 2010 when the payments were stopped. What I want to know (and this is what they have told me) is that the payments were stopped by the computer and as such it wasn't a suspension but an inhibition due to them being advised (in Aug 2010) that I was receiving WTC's from HMRC!!!! I am trying to get them to accept that it wasn't an inhibition, it was clearly a suspension on dubious grounds as they had already used the WTC figure when calculating the award back in Nov 2009. If I can get them to accept that it was a suspension then they have failed to apply the 'suspension' regulations. The end result was that I did not supply the info re my self employment, but did write numerous times explaining why not. The evidence became available at the end of Feb 2011 (3 weeks after they closed the claim). They refused to deal with it as the claim had been closed. Has anybody any idea how I can prove that it was a suspension (and by their neglience they should now re-open the claim) and that they, no matter what caused it they should have complied with the suspension regs? They are holding firm and apologising now for using the word 'suspension' in all of their letters - it should have read 'inhibition' and as such the suspension regs then don't apply. OK the amount of lost Guaranteed Pension Credit is not a lot of money, the Housing Costs are! They amount to about £69 a week from Nov 2009 which were never paid as the bank didn't reply to the MI12 until the 31/1/11!! And only then after I threatened them with complaining to their CEO! It is now July 2012, and I am still arguing that I want the award to start up again from Aug 2010 and that the Housing Costs be paid to me from Nov 2009. The back pay I calculate up to date is £10,000!!! I haven't made another claim for Pension Credit as in doing so it will look like that I am accepting their decision.

Hello CAG, I would like to know how long income remains income in a bank account before it can be treated as capital.When looking below, please bear in mind that I know £6,000 is the lower limit, the figures used are rough and I also understand that DWP decides the first and last day of term irrespective of when they actually are. My wife (who is severely disabled) recently was asked to provide bank statements for last 3 years and for myself for 1.5years (the length of time she has lived with me). My accounts are always pretty much zero but my wife has a few savings, a large income from DWP and is also a full time student therefore receiving student loans/grants (in place of some IS during term time). So when you look retrospectively at our capital it would appear as if there are savings when in fact it is income. For example, one day My wife would receive £2,000 in the form of a student loan and grant that is to last the term and also the IS is reduced as the loan is classed as income of some kind. At the same time she would have about £4,500 in a saving account so it would appear when looking back at our daily totals that on that day she had savings of £6,500. Obviously on that first day it iseasy to prove that the £2,000 is income but this is to last the whole term (let us say 16 weeks to keep things simple) So I would like to know what are the laws regarding on this when DWP look retrospectively at capital: 1.) Does my wife have an obligation to spend an exact amount each week and any short fall of that amount becomes savings (so the £2,000 should become £1,875 through the second week, then through the third week it should be £1,750)? 2.) Similar; is it expected to be spent evenly over the three months monthly (£2,000 as income for four weeks then £1375 as income the next four so on, so forth) 3.) Is there no expectation in law for my wife to spend i tat a set rate so the full £2,000 could be savedand then spent in full on the last day of term with no problems and if not spent then it is treated as savings only after the last day of term? It is also the same question for the DLA she recieves as this is paid monthly. I appreciate your help on this but please may I ask that only fact and not opinion is used to answer as there willbe many opinions on what should be right according to how you view this. I will love to hear from anyone who went through the same with a large sporadic income being treated as income to reduce IS then afterwards being used as capital to further reduce IS Thank you for your time in reading this.

Well it says fraud in the title but apparently is not so! Many years ago my ex husband claimed Child Benefit for our youngest child, primarily to protect his HRP and to avoid being pressured to get work ( he was never fond of working and would try always to "play" the system) Long story short, he was not a good person and eventually left early in 2007. I am 99 % certain that I contacted CHB when he left to have the youngest child added to my claim ( along with 2 older children that I had always claimed for in my name) The problem is, I am sure I contacted them via email, which was work email, at a previous employer that I can no longer access. Letters from CHB over the intervening years have arrived, always with a total amount showing, and wording to the effect of "it has not been possible to show how the total is made up" so no breakdown by child, and in my naivety I assumed this was correct amount for all 3 children. It has come to light today that I have received no Child Benefit for youngest in all this time, but my ex has, and is still receiving it. At no time has he had contact, or any kind of shared or sole care, in fact he has served a prison sentence for offences against this child, and I have a residence order in my favour - for obvious reasons. So of course I'm kicking myself, for a) not using personal email and b) not noticing earlier... Speaking to Child Benefit today, all I can do is make a claim from now for youngest, and as I wasn't claiming the Child Benefit, he has not committed fraud???? After he left, I was working and in receipt of Child Tax Credit , including the youngest child, and I'm baffled that the discrepancy wasn't noticed then, but it seems as though there is no inter-agency communication, despite both being HMRC... He has never paid any maintenance or made any financial contribution to any of the children, although the Child Benefit advisor today tried to imply that as a non resident parent he could claim CHB as the child would still benefit from his financial contributions! Ideal world, I would get the money back, he would be prosecuted for fraud . Realistically no way that either of those things are going to happen No point trying any other way to make him repay, as he doesn't, never has and never will work. Any advice welcome, I know it stinks morally, but do I have any legal recourse at all?

I'm in a world of worry and really do not know what to do. I had been claiming benefits since 2003. I suffer from severe arthritis and had been in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, Housing and Council Tax Benefit up untill June 2011. I am still in receipt of DLA. Last year, a friend of mine offered to train me in an administrative job in his Company which I started on 1st June 2011. I subsequently signed off my benefits and started paying my rent and council tax. In April of 2011 I received a letter from the Council stating they had cause to believe that I had not advised them in a change in my circumstances and was under investigation. They have looked into my bank statements back to December 2006 and seen that more money has gone into my bank than I received in benefits. I explained the reason in writing to them. I am a single father of 3. I have joint custody of my children but my ex-wife has always claimed their benefits. This meant that I was not entitled to claim any help for them. It was impossible for me to do my bit for them on the benefits I received. My sister paid for their mobile phones, Sky TV and anything else she could for them. She gave me the money for this which went into my account to pay direct debits. Before my illness struck I was quite well off and built up various collections of memorabillia. I sold all these off over the past 5 or 6 years on Ebay or at car boot sales to raise money to support my kids. Paypal payments for these sales also went into my bank. I also sold things on my ebay account for friends. Not for profit, they paid the fees, thats it! These paypal payments also went through my bank account. I also had loans from friends and family, credit cards, etc. I am in serious debt. I have explained to the Investigator that just because money has gone through my account it does not mean it's all mine! Also, I don't see how selling my belongings to put food on the table can be classed as income, I sold things out of necessity . I was advised not to attend the interviews under caution due to my mental state. I have received a benefit overpayment bill of £17000:00 for the past 5 years and also an intimidating letter from the investigator saying he is pushing for a criminal prosecution. The stress from all the worry is affecting my illness which in turn is affecting my ability to work. I don't want to have to give up work and end up back on benefits. I don't know where to turn. I'm in the depths of depression and I know I couldn't cope with a court case. I need to know if loans, sale of belongings or financial help from friends and family can be classed as income? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi, I've received a letter today from Housing Benefit. They say they need some further details to "amend" my claim. I currently live with my 4 children, one is non dependent and pays rent and my 2 daughters are 18 and 13 and in receipt of child benefit and child tax credit. My other son who is 16 and left school just under a year ago, no longer receives child benefit as he isn't currently working or in training. He is registered with apprenticeship companies and connexions but as he has little qualifications he is finding it very difficult to find work. My question is where do I stand with his part of my housing benefit claim?? Is he a non dependent until he is 18?? The letter asks if my son is in receipt of a benefit and if not how is he making an income. I'm really confused and worried about this and would really appreciate any answers. Thank you.

I shall try and keep the story as short as i can. Over a year ago i went for a Caution Interview with Dwp, regarding having a partner stay with me, I ended up with a substantial overpayment which i have been appealling. My health deteriated and have had mental health issues. I got a lawyer, who took on my case, got legal aid through mental health grounds, had my tribunal hearing the other day but did not win, Facts, was told by lawyer everything the dwp had was circumstancial, no evidence at all, had staements and witnesses at tribunal, i.e. ex partner, their partner of 2 years, neighbour, landlord. Expartner whom is now a very close friend has tenancy agreements going back many years, he did stay the odd night at mine purely to care and help with my disability, however at tribunal, no paperwork was handed in, lawyer handed this in on the morning when my hearing was, should have been in weeks prior, did not state anything regarding my mental status and severe anxiety and that was why he was there, so during my interview i did get confused at times, and because of my confusion declined my case being successfull . I have done nothing wrong except letting this good friend of mine use my home for mail purposes only. I am at my witts end with worry, dont know what i can do next, but also have the problem where the council have now followed suit going only on the basis of what the dwp have told them and now have a large overpayment from them, there is no links no hard proof whatsoever just all circumstancial, oh and also because he was a named driver on my mobility car which was due to me not knowing anyone else that could take me to appointments etc and could drive PLEASE HELP AND ADVISE!!!! Feel as if the lawyer did not have a clue as to what he was doing, should have also mentioned did not get all witness in

just out, but dont know how it will effect everyone http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/BeginnersGuideToBenefits/DG_201734

Hi Guys, i am new to this site and am hoping someone can give me some advice. My sister has split up with her husband, he has his own flat although the house is in joints names, they have 3 children and someone has reported them. It is an amicable split and my sister wants her children to have as normal relationship with their dad as possible. She had a visit before christmas regarding benefit fraud, after two of the children had chicken pox he had stayed a few nights to help out. They told her she couldn't do that so she asked to verify the rules..they said he could visit everyday but no one other than female first generation relatives could ever stay over. They said they would not take it further but if anyone reported her again they would have to take it further. She has now had a visit today which has upset her so much this evil twisted woman has told her she is not normal to try and have this type of relationship with her ex the children who are 5, 3 and 8 weeks old should cause the parents to fight and he shouldn't visit every day, the children need to get used to it stop trying to pay happy families and realise what going on. life for a single mother should be hard and he shouldn't come every day, the kids should be dropped of with him as he needs to get used to looking after them for when my sister is in prison, called her a liar when she said she couldn't get her husbands name taken of the mortgage when she doesn't work???? i am too angry to type all the other stuff. they are now investigating further, what does she need to do and what can happen next.

Hi, hopefully a quick and easy question... As part of my work I am required to email documents to my office on a daily basis using my own internet connection. As such I am allowed to claim a fixed sum of £7 from the comapny as reimbusement. This pays part of my monthly internet bill. However, the company have now declared this to HMRC and it is being treated as a benefit in kind. Is this right? Surely if the company is paying only a percentage, they are only paying for their access to my connection? Thanks!

ok im new here and cant work out how to start a new thread of but here goes i need a little advise im claimg jsa and being investigated for running a couple of greyhounds at my local track and making money its true i do but i make no money out of it everything i make goes back into them food bedding etc it is only and i repeat only a hobby where do i stand?

JSA INTERVIEW 13 WEEKS Also due to me leaving work and being unemployed it made me fell unhappy and signing on JSA you’re meant to go look for work. I on the other hand have not been filling the "Looking for work book" in but just simply righting things down; I know it wrong but the state of mind I am in does not help i.e no job after 10 years 80% cut in income every month all builds up. On top of that I thought let me do something about it, so signed up to a course costing £7000 over 3 years. That’s when I discovered ConsumerActionGroup on the net and reading the forums I discovered it was a [problem]. With some very friendly advice I managed to send a letter to cancel within 7 days. So that’s was another down fall back to square one. I am totally not ready to show the advisor anything as I haven’t applied anywhere. I need courses to better myself, training any advice what I can do because I don’t want to be investigated and time is short. What i can say to the adviser? What to put down on the book?

Hi any help on this matter would be very much appreciated. My mum has received a letter to say she must attend a interview under caution. She is worried sick as she does everything by the book and wouldn’t do anything intentionally wrong. My dad had a stroke and she dropped her hours to 15 a week, and looks after him the rest. He started to receive a very small pension, he filled out the forms to let them know but he either forgot to send them or they were never received. his memory is severely effected as well as other things however still looks after finances. To my mums knowledge he had informed them of the pension and she is doing everything by the book. Can she get in trouble for this? Thanks in advance for any help.

At present, I receive 372 in DLA each month and am due for around 10,000 in savings. My question is of my eligibility to continue receiving DLA after I receive the savings for which I'm due. Furthermore, is it also possible that I can claim ESA and receive those savings? And if I failed a medical screening for ESA, would that illicit a block on my DLA? Thanks, any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi, Back in 2002, I went into a branch of Lloyds TSB to apply for a student account (to gain access to the interest free overdraft facility). I was an existing Lloyds account holder, had recently enrolled on a law degree course (full time) and was reliant on my Disability Living Allowance (plus Student Loan) as my income. I was taken into an interview room and the account application was declined. I was then offered a personal loan to cover the credit card and overdraft debts I intended to pay from the the interest free overdraft attached to the student account. I made it perfectly clear to the sales chap that my sole income was in the form of the DLA benefit and the Student Loan I would be in receipt of. He explained that it would be ok to consider these as my income. I was originally needing £3k to clear my existing debts. He looked at what the maximum I would be able to borrow, based on the system's calculations and offered me £7k, at £286 per month. The sum of interest was not mentioned, nor the repayment period. The extra £4k was suggested to be left in the account to cover the loan payments for 6 months, at which point I would be able to to apply for another loan, which should be at a lower monthly figure. I was in turmoil at the time and listened to the sales chap, thinking his "advice" was exactly that. He printed the paperwork off, and I signed it - no reading through it with me, just placed in front and "sign here, here, here", etc...So I went ahead and signed. I paid off my credit cards, Lloyds TSB overdraft (made predominantly from penalty charges) and bought a couple of text books for my law course... (One of which happened to be on Contract Law). After the 5th payment was due to go out, I looked at reapplying for another loan to bring the monthly payment down. I then realised that I was not going to be offered a better rate... Jump to 2006 and many months of letters and phonecalls between myself, the collections centre and the Bristol Customer Service Centre, I had a result - Lloyds admitted that they should not have loaned me the amount they did, so the interest would be cancelled (29% APR!!), all charges removed (some £900 was refunded to my current account as they had been taking my DLA Benefit from my savings account to pay for account, overdraft and late payment charges) and an affordable repayment (at the time, when I'd had to leave uni and go back to work) set up. 6 months later, the monthly repayment figure reverted to the original £286 (I was never informed this would happen), so I had to jump through hoops again to try and bypass the offshore call centre, speak to someone in the Brighton collections centre, re-set-up an affordable monthly payment and have the late payment, unauthorised overdraft and missed direct debit charges refunded. I wrote to Bristol again, explaining that whilst I had agreed to their "offer" initially, by changing the amount without my consent, they had breached the contract and I no longer felt that repaying a loan that had been mis-sold (in it's entirety) was neither fair nor reasonable. I am at a standstill - I no longer work after being medically retired, so cannot afford what used to be the "affordable repayment" of £75 per month. My credit rating is ruined, Lloyd's have passed on the debt to a collection agency that call 4-8 times per day, plus send letters that clearly state "Debt Collection" and "Final Demand" within the address window. I am currently in receipt of DLA (Mobility & Care at the highest rate) plus ESA (Support Group), so there is no chance of being able to work to pay this off, nor do have the facility (let alone the intention) to apply for finances elsewhere. I am in desperate need of some advice - I would like to get this mess sorted but have no idea where I stand. (If you have read this far, I thank you for your patience and look forward to your advice) Ollie