http://www.prime.org.uk/courses/

Hi All, Apologies I am sure this post from others has been posted many times but I really wanted some useful help and advice for myself. I am really, really keen on setting up and starting my own business: I know its not easy, I know its not all good, all of the time, and it comes with stress but after working for people for years I just feel if I dont do it now, I never will. I really want to sell in my own shop, but I think starting out online would be a good starting point....But I want to focus on gifts, home accessories, cards and wrap a very tough market I know... So I've got my ideas, I have got my trading name, I have made some contacts with suppliers and been to some trade shows. Have contacted some people from the net for logo/website design. But what now, where to next? I dont have any spare income to use, but am working so wanted to continue this until I get everything set up.. Would love some advice from anybody who has been in the same boat. Would love to be my own boss this time next year. thanks

I have started this thread because I would like this to show up in a Google search because I know people on here will bother to give some sound advice. I am beating myself up because this morning I got an invoice from Agora Business Publications for £49.86. I received a free windows gift CD that I recall ordering a few weeks ago. It was no good to me. Apparently, if you do not cancel within 30 days you join a subscription. I am sure you have all heard of this type of business practice where they appear to hide quite well that cancellation is of the essence if indeed you want anything FREE. I did not give credit card details to the site as I have been bitten before by this type of sales pitch. I suppose I felt safe with what was happening because of it. No hidden deals that they could charge me for. They do however, appear to give credit to complete strangers at face value? I Google searched this company and sure enough the internet does have a number of complaints showing up about them using this selling technique and more vulnerable people than myself being mislead in a "nothing you can put your finger on" sort of way. I think frightened people will probably just pay up. Surely they have to prove, on balance of probability, that I indeed owe them money before they can take this invoice into the legal system. What criteria do they have to have to make a debt of this kind enforceable?"

Santander has staged an about-turn and will no longer withdraw its "free banking forever" account from 230,000 small business customers. The original decision, first revealed in late July, upset some customers who thought the bank was reneging on an unbreakable promise to them. They would have had to pay either £7.50 or £12.50 a month for a business bank account that was previously free. Santander had previously said it was within its right to change the account. But less than two months after first announcing the change, it has reversed its policy. "After listening to feedback from our existing customers, a small number of whom do not feel their businesses would benefit from these changes, we will be retaining the fee-free option for existing customers," a spokesman said. One factor that may have weighed on the bank's mind is that every one of the affected customers could have taken their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). This would have cost the bank £500 each time in FOS administration fees and could, theoretically, have landed it with a bill of £115m if every customer had taken this route. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19506634

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help. Please. I'll keep information vague so as to protect myself from any prying eyes - but keep the facts straight. A number of years ago, I had a business which took a loan in 2004 against which I stood as personal guarantor. The company got into difficulties in 2008, and eventually ended getting wound up. The value of the original loan was £30K, and at the time of winding up, approximately one quarter remained outstanding. Barclays began contacting me personally with regards my liability of guarantor in late 2009, so I made a CCA request of them to understand how they could enforce their claims against me. In essence, I was never really in receipt of anything from them. I wrote a number of times to them in ealy 2010, but pretty much everything was ignored. They subsequently defaulted me personally in late 2010, and when I complained about the default, the only information they have been able to give me is an unsigned 'offer of loan' letter to the business, dated back in 2004. It still sits as a defaulted account on my personal Experian report. A number of questions: 1) The last payment was made by the business in 2008; yet the personal default made against me some two years later. When does any liability become statute barred? I, of course, as an individual have never made any payments, nor acknowledged any debt to them. 2) How can they make inputs to my credit report, when no credit agreement exists bewteen them and I as an individual? Any suggestions for how I best proceed? I'd like to get my credit file cleared as soon as practiaclly possible, but don't want to spend excessive funds to achieve this. Thanks in advance of any wisdom coming my way - really, really appreciated

My small ltd company has been hit with a hefty penalty charge for late filing of accounts which it is unable to pay since it has effectively stopped trading as bank closed accounts over longstanding dispute and offset available funds to reduce overdraft. CH passed matter to DCA to collect payment, I told them business wasnt trading, had no income or assets (only me) and therefore couldn't pay. DCA has now instigated proceedings against company at local CC for payment of penalty charge with costs, even though I had written to them explaining that it was a pointless exercise. Can anyone offer some advice as to how to deal with this, I'm a bit concerned that DCA threatened that once they got a CCJ, if they couldnt get the money from the company they'd expect me to pay!

Good Friday Ladies and gentlemen, A couple of wee ago I was aked to go to see a machine on another site (the site in question is the company who are manufacturing the machine for my employers, not otherwise connected to my employers) As this was a good distance away, my employers booked a hotel room for one night for myself and three colleagues (they are salaried, whereas I am paid by the hour, weekly) We left at 5pm on a Sunday and didn't return until 10pm on the Monday. At the moment my hours are 8-4:30 Monday to Friday. I questioned whether I should receive pay for the time away from home, but all my employers have said is that I could have an afternoon off in lieu. Personally, I do not feel this is fair but as the employee, I would feel that way. I don't expect to be paid for 24 hours, but do think the five hours from 5-10pm both days should be paid as I was off site, away from home (during school holidays!) and on company business. Could anyone offer advice as to how this stands legally, ideally with detail of what I should quote? If they are absolutely, legally, right then that is as it is and I wouldn't expect them to do any more.

Hi, I had a visit from rossendales in June for business rates. We're a new company and really stuggling, we've been paying the HP on the machinery & rent and unable to pay the council tax because the company we bought the machines from verbally agreed to defer the VAT for a year but the person that agreed to that go sacked and we had to find £25k ASAP otherwise they were going to take the machines, thats set up back alot as that money was to help with bills ect for the next couple of months so, business council tax was unpaid. The baliff came in and wanted payment, I told him I'll check with the director and he said he'll call me later, he left without signing a walk in possession but he has entered the business once. He's now rung and said he's going to remove goods tomorrow. Can he do that without a walk in possession? I told him we're closed, which we are due to financial probelms as we are trying to sort some money out to get samples out to customers and start again. The bailiff said he's coming to my home address tomorrow to remove goods, can he do that on a LTD company? The company has been closed for around 6 weeks, we do go there to get post ect, and do the odd jobs we get whilst we sort some more money out. I can't afford to pay the £1500 in full and I know he won't agree to installments, PLEASE ADVISE ASAP what do we do?

I'd appreciate any help in this matter. 5 months ago I had an accident on a mini roundabout, not my fault. The lady coming from an opposite direction just decided not to give me way and drove straight into my car. I have a witness. My car was written off, I got the money less my excess – which was explained will be refunded to me when the case is closed. 5 months down the line I'm due to renew my policy. For my surprise I received the renewal note with no years no claim discount. I was told it's due to the accident I had. Even though it wasn't my fault! But apparently the other party hasn’t admitted so until they resolve the case they can't give me any discount. And to add to that I was also told that it may take up to 3 year to resolve!!! 3 years!! How long can it take to resolve a small accident claim??!! Anyway – I can't use any discount to renew! So it didn't only cost me the excess, but also my premium went way up high. They say they will refund the difference in premiums…. But for the next 3 year I need to simply start collecting my no claim discount from scratch. But also – how I'm going to prove them how much the insurance would cost me with the discount??? Is there anything I can do to get my excess money back and also to get the discount back??? I must say – I'm furious! When you're due money to the insurance company – they want it immediately, but when you're owed anything – it takes them years….

HI I opened a business account with Natwest last year. I was not fully aware how long they took to clear cheques into the account / how long before cheques I write are paid out, so I received a number of refused payment fee's amounting to £35 each. I have spoken with the bank about these charges and the simply stated 'i was aware of the charges when i opened the account', and provided no further assistance. Due to charges, the account become overdrawn, which of course, added more charges!!! Is there anyway to claim these charges back as being so high / excessive? I have had one company try to debit money over 3 months, which were bounced (i notified them in April with a new bank account to use but they continued to try to deduct from the business account). This also caused 3x £35 fee's. I have written to them to ask for the refund of these charges as it was their error for not activating the new account details and i await their reply. BUT, This obviously effected my credit file and fee's with the bank - is there anyway to have these removed from the bank records as not my fault? thx

It would seem I have fallen victim to BES Business Energy Solutions and Commercial Registration also... although I never even spoke to anyone... my wife did and she was only in helping out for the day! My full story is here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...27#post3947627

Hi I have already mad one post on here re a demand for my 10k overdraft . As I was able to afford the repayments I didnt really follow it up. I was given a 90 day default notice and they confirmed in email that the date was the 12th of Sept However on returning from holiday I was met with a letter with a changed date bit also demanding repayment of my business loan immediatey or an explanation as to how we are going to repay. The mortgage is for 70 thousand . I have consulted my solicitor but i am not confident he knows exactly what he is doing . What should my course of action be ? I have paid half of my overdraft but just though if they are able to chase me for the business loan which is easier to force . They have no contract for the overdraft repayment but they have a contract for the business loan If things go wrong should I keep the money i was going to pay for the overdraft seperate. If I use it towards the business loan 60k is easier to find than 70k Finally is there a minimu amount for which they cannor reposess my business ? Help please

Hi all This is my first post so I hope its in the right place. I have run my own Ltd company for nearlt 13 years and have taken loans out with LloydsTSB Business over the years. Each loan was refinanced as the needs of the business grew. The last loan was taken out in 2009 and currently stands at around £10,000 owing. Prior to that I took out loans in 2002 and 2005. The earlier loans had PPI protection (never claimed on this) and I was told at the time I really had to have it even though I didn't feel I needed it. What I now want to do is to reclaim the PPI payments with interest and I am looking for a calculator with help notes on how to go through the process. I have the 2005 agreement and part of the 2002 agreement. The 2009 (current) loan does not have any PPI. The premiums on the 2005 loan were around £27 a month based on the total premiums of around £1,600 inc. interest at 9.5%. Is there a step by step guide available with perhaps a spreadsheet calculator? Any help gratefully appreciated. V

My small business, now into year 3, which I set up after leaving university with help from my parents is doing well. With some advice already I'm looking to expand to a possible second store, my business is in catering.I was just wondering if anyone had any advice as to who is best to talk to in terms of helping with this. My main issues is that I would need to manage employees whithout being present which will be new to me.Any help on the this matter would be much appreciated!

This briefing summarises the consultation paper by section, and provides some initial analysis and comment. The LGA will make its further analysis available to member authorities to assist with the preparation of consultation responses. These are due with DCLG by 24 September 2012. http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/briefings-and-responses/-/journal_content/56/10171/3651530/ARTICLE-TEMPLATE

After notifying council on shutting down my business last year (Oct 2011), I kept getting business rate bill, irrespective of the fact that they are aware that the same premises had been taken over by another business and had since their commencement received their own new business rate bill. The next thing I received from them was a court summons which on attending the court, the council official did not allow me to attend or see the presiding judge in order for me to explain myself. All I got after the court attendance was a phone call asking me to get a letter from the landlord whom I know gives a kick back to the council officials in order to save himself from the empty property business rate. I am sure the landlord will not give me such letter as we are not in good terms because of his dodgy and cowboy dealings with tenants. Please advice, how can I go about dealing with this and clearing my name from this unnecessary debt.

Hi, Long story short but my Ltd company is no longer viable due to the economic downturn. Left with a £7K OD which i'm not sure what to do about. The company has had the OD facility for the best part of 5years. Now the bank (Lloyds TSB) are getting shirty. is it possible to SAR a business account ? I need to see the details of the OD agreement to find out if i am liable. Thanks Selexus.

Hi, I'm after some advice as I'm finding this all very confusing. I've recently bought a sewing machine and was asked by some friends to make various bits, bunting, mobile covers etc. They bought the materials first and I made them. No money was exchanged. But after receiving comments from others and being asked to make for them I thought I could do extra. I already work part time (20 hours in a school) but thought in my spare time as I enjoy making stuff I could maybe do extra for people and also do craft fayres etc. I was told I'd need to register with hmrc, so I registered the other night whilst very tired, using a name of the top of my head and I put that I started working (the business) on) 06/04/12 (I think it was this date, I know I did it for the new tax year) - the new tax year?!? So I can start receiving money and not get in trouble...is this right? HMRC have sent me a UTR number so I went on the site to finishing registering but I want to change the name...can this be done as I don't like the name I started with? Also I have put 08/06/12 as the date I started working for myself on there as I cant remeber the exact date I put previously, will this matter? I have also read that I will have to start making class 2 NI payments? £2.50 a week??!?! Yet I am no where near earning anything like that yet, so this is worrying me? As I have heard nothing about it either from HMRC and don't want to be owing? I've had 2 people enquire about orders but no pennies as yet. I'm so confused by it all I'm thinking of not bothering now, but how do I cancel it all if I do?!?! Many thanks x

http://www.businessdebtline.org

Hi Everyone Can anyone provide any advice on how I should complain and attempt to get the original Business Loan Repayment Insurance Cost and subsequent Bank Charges back on the following:- In 2004 we had a Limited Company who banked with Lloyds TSB, when we needed to consolidate the debt of the the Overdrafts with this bank. We took out a loan for £40,000 plus a charge of 7017.00 for Business Loan Repayment Insurance and a £400.00 Arrangement Fee, this was secured by a Guarantee and Charge over our Property. We had many problems during the period up until 2009 when we allowed our company to be struck off by Companies House. We paid all outstanding Creditors off. We had many Bank Returned Fees during the period 2004 - 2009 which added to this Limited Companies demise. We started a Partnership in the same business and Lloyds provided a New Loan ro clear the outstanding Bank Accounts of the old Limited Company. This amounted to a New Loan with the same Guarantors as with the old Limited Company, the loan was for £70,000 with a £1,000.00 Arrangement Fee. This was the amount outstanding plus a small working Overdraft. The outstanding figure would have been £7,000 less if we had not been forced to take out the Business Loan Repayment Insurance in 2004, and I note they never pushed this Insurance for the New Loan with the New Partnership. When they closed the old Limited Companies Accounts they ommitted to open the New Partnership Accounts and as such we where paying continued excessive Interest and Charges on the Old LC Accounts even though it had been closed. One of our old customers paid an outstanding invoice via BAC's to the old LC Account and the Bank transfered this into cyberspace and we have never received into our new account, even though we have complained about it many times. The banks actions over the years have caused the new partnership considerable financial hardship and continue to do so. Please Help!

Hi, I lease small newsagents as a sole trader which is failing due to fall in foot trade and the economy in general, have had it on open market for almost a year and have reduced the price twice. The decline in the past year has been frightening. My partner runs it, (he wanted it) but doesn`t take a wage as he cannot afford to, I work full time elsewhere and am injecting cash into business every month. I have a bank loan of 9k, arranged after the bank called in their overdraft and 7k due to HMRC after an accountants error. I am currently paying HMRC monies each month from my own salary. We are both at our wits end trying to keep business afloat but it is proving almost impossible and we are considering closing up and asking for early release from the lease, it only has 18 months to run. Of course, this means that we have no chance of recouping any monies as nobody will buy a dead business and essentially walking away but with 16k of personal debt which I would have to pay off my salary. I have no assets, rent my house and run cheap car, no savings either. Just wondered if anybody could offer any advice or views.

I'm hoping that this is the correct forum, apologies if it is not! My wife works as a carer using her own vehicle to visit her employer's clients in their own homes - for this she is paid .35p per mile (the remaining.10p per mile is claimed via MAR) this is the current allowance and that is fair and well. The part that I disagree with is that my wife's employers state that "you may be paid a mileage allowance, if and when applicable, if you are required to work outside a two mile radius of the offices town whilst visiting clients on business", bearing in mind that approximately 60% of her calls are within the town and 40% are outside of the 'two mile radius' I think this is unjust and certainly unfair. I appreciate that she cannot claim the travel from home to her first client or to the office and likewise for her return home journey but I feel she is being taken for a fool and is forced not to be able to claim for business travel she is entitled to. Does anyone have a legal take on this (if there in fact is one)?

Hi there, I really hope someone can offer some advice, i'm going around in circles with the bank and despite making every effort to resolve my situation, the bank are continuing to be aggressive. My husband and i ran a successful business for 7 years, which held a £10k overdraft which we jointly guaranteed. Due to losing our biggest customer, and the immediate withdrawal of credit limits by our factoring company for a few of our other significant accounts, we sought independent advice from an IP and were advised to place the company in to voluntary liquidation in March 2012. It was frankly a heartbreaking time of worry and stress for us, as anyone who has been through this situation will know, it is incredibly expensive to close a business and we borrowed money from family to settle our factoring account, to pay for the liquidator and as we had personally guaranteed our cars we had to sell them and pay the shortfall on the sale. Natwest held all of our personal and business bank accounts: A business account for the liquidated company A further business account for a separate unrelated limited company in a different industry sector it is important to add the liquid business bank account has no borrowing and is a profitable company and has been for 3 years Our childrens bank accounts Two current accounts for my husband and i A 7 yr term personal loan account in my name for £20k (paid every month on time for the last 3 and a half years) As a result of the liquidation and the subsequent financial strain our personal Natwest accounts were up to their agreed over draft limits, with regular small sums of money being credited to them. The liquidation process progressed and after the final creditors meeting we hadn't heard from Natwest regarding the PG and so we contacted our business manager who informed us that all of our accounts had been moved to head office and he could no longer advise?! We then contacted the business collections department to arrange to repay our PG, we were told that there are no repayment options, we are no longer welcome as customers of the bank due to our liquidated company, that our overdrafts and personal loan would be recalled via letter and they would expect payment in full within seven days, and further that they could and would take available funds from any of our other accounts, including my children's accounts to reduce the overdraft! My husband and i were totally shocked, we had both banked with Natwest since we were 16 and 19 respectively, we felt sure this information was incorrect and made three further calls to the collections department to try and gain some clarity. None was offered and we were offered three further conflicting pieces of information. We waited for 7 days for the demanding letter to arrive, or infact any kind of written communication regarding our accounts. Nothing arrived and as we wanted to resolve the situation ASAP we wrote a letter and sent it by recorded delivery to our ex business manager and to the collections dept, which outlined our willingness to repay in full, but that we didn't have a lump sum of available funds could we make an arrangement as we wanted to protect our credit files and move on from this experience. After two weeks we still hadn't received a response and so we wrote to the above contacts again and also sent a recorded copy to Stephen Hester's Office, stating again our willingness to resolve the situation and how much we wanted to avoid any further action, seeking clarity on the points the collections team had made, and lastly requesting copies of the PG and also my loan agreement as i had been advised that this would be required to make an official complaint. Lo and behold we received a response from the executives complaints team, saying they would send the above documentation and clarify the issues raised within two weeks. A week later i received a copy of a loan application made by husband in 2009 (which he never accepted) addressed to me with a covering letter saying please find your loan agreement attached.... does this contravene data protection? Obviously i contacted them to explain, and was assured it would be sent out asap. In the meantime we had a letter from the CEO's office outlining that due to our company liquidation, the bank take a "one" view and assume we are suffering financial hardship as a result and therefore recall ALL personal borrowing, furthermore they won't be able to discuss any recovery action until they have issued a formal demand, which will result in a default on our credit files, at which time we can attempt to make a payment arrangement! A few days later i received another letter saying they can't find my personal loan agreement. This was 2 weeks ago, and i still haven't had a formal demand. To be honest i am worried sick, i really want to avoid a default, but i have no savings due to the failure of my main business, and have no idea how to proceed? Any advice to my incredibly long and waffly post would be very much appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

HI All To cut a long story short I Sar'd RBS a year ago over some other issues and recently was surprised by the amount of charges on My Business account looking at the information sent with the SAR it appears that these charges have been excessive over many years after speaking with the business relationship manager he told Me " That as my Account was to be sold to Santadare I would under no circumstances be able to make a claim for these " has any body had any experience of this ? or is it just RBS doing what they do best:-x Thanks CB

Hi all, So I'll start at the beginning. My partner and I moved into a house on the 7th August 2010. My partner signed the contract and signed two cheques, one for the first months rent and the second for £450 deposit, to be paid to the DPS. We settled in nicely and enjoying our first home together On the 30th November 2010, I received an email from our letting agent, stating that they would no longer be responsible for collecting out rent and gave us the landlord's details to pay future rent to. We were informed that his brother would be dealing with the property. In January 2011, 5 months after moving in, we realised that the deposit cheque had only just been paid. This was from out joint account, that we put money into and don't really check. We never received a deposit ID for the payment, and as neither of us had used the scheme before we didn't even realise that we needed one until research after we had left. We gave our one months notice in august 2011, and left the property in September. Fast forward to June 2012 and we have still not got our deposit back, despite emails back and forth between myself and LL's brother. Because we don't have a deposit ID, he says he cannot release the deposit. So I stated that if he contacted the DPS and gave them proof of ownership of the house, and a letter stating the letting agents were no longer in business, that should be enough to release the deposit. Is this correct? He states that he does not have a letter stating they are no longer operating and so is unsure as what else to do? Should my partner and I move onto small claims court? Or is there another way? Thanks for reading!