Hello everyone So around 2009 my fathers business was stretched and he was getting some hefty charges from the bank £40.00 for going over the agreed overdraft etc which I know is considered illegal. He fought for a couple of years to try and save his business but a couple of events outside his control meant he eventually closed it down. HSBC ended up selling the debt on which he eventually re-paid, and the same with his credit cards the debt was sold to others and he has managed over the last five years to pay everything. Now in his 70's he doesn't have much left and I wondered if it were possible for him to claw something back from these institutions? So am I right in saying despite his business closed down, he repaid all his creditors, so if there was anything untoward i.e. unfair bank charges, any loaded PPI on cards he can claim this back and keep the proceeds rather than surrendering them? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated at this time. Thanks everyone.

Hello All, Today I have received a claim form from CCBC. Here is the fun part... It is from a credit card I had in 2000. Long story short, I lost my job, got in a pickle and ended up (stupidly) going to a "get debt free within 5 years" company. The company then left me in a big pickle after telling me they wont be able to get me debt free within 5 years (3 months before the 5 years were up) The last payment they will have had from me would have been around Nov 2008 - Feb 2009. I checked my credit history on Experian in August last year and this isn't showing? Any ideas? Do I reply? Will this risk sending things back to square one?

Hi I have been struggling with my business for several years, I have 35k spread over 3 credit cards, 1 loan and 1 personal overdraft which are in payment plans of £5 p/m. I also have a business overdraft up to the tops of 15k which the bank recently refused to renew but gave me a six month extension, they recently started sending me " letters of concern" unfortunately i signed as personal guarantor on the account. Does anybody know that if i have not signed the authorised overdraft facility( I haven't for several years) does this have any bearing on the guarantee? Many thanks

Hi all, Should hopefully be a quick answer to my question. I run a company which i had to recentely dissolve, the company owed some debt on credit cards and the debt collectors have been chasing for it. One especially made a trace enquiry on my credit file, when i noticed this i updated my score and it had dropped. The company was a LTD company and i signed no personal guarantee on any debt taken out under the company name. My question is are they allowed to carry out a trace enquiry under my name? Am i allowed to request this gets removed from my search history? Thanks.

Hi all. I've just started up my own company and am gradually getting to grips with all the perks and pitfalls of running a business. I have a good accountant who advised me to use the company to pay for my mobile contract. (To be fair business does make up about 80% of its usage.) But do i go for an O2 or EE business contract or personal contract? The only real advantage i can see is shorter contracts. 12 months or so. I noticed O2 lease. Looked into it but am concerned about the chances of being penalised for returning a phone not in great shape. Anyone have experience of this and can put the pros and cons in layman's terms? Cheers.

Hi All, Just wanted to share my experience with everyone. I'm hoping that someone somewhere will pick up my story and this may aid ofgem and other authorities to put pressure on certain (you know who) energy companies to conduct business in a much more ethical manner. Recieved a call from a young lady pretending to my current supplier (eon) telling me they had sent a few renewal letters to which i havent replied. I had been away for 2 weeks so thought maybe the staff havent updated me and agreed a contract over the phone which turns out to be with BES through a closely linked broker of theirs. I think everyone is probably aware of how they opperate so this post is more about what impact it had on me and my family.... Wife suffered from depression and was diagnoised with cancer a few years prior. Im sure the stress of loosing our business after just 8 months had a huge part to play in her death 1 year later. Like I explained my business had to shut down, in the process i lost my home as we couldnt afford the mortgage. My 2 daughters eventually had to move back home in a small rented accommodation as i could no longer support them in their studies at uni. This has not just had and impact on me but its had an snowball affect on the whole family who have nothing left, everything has been taken away from us. I just hope some of the people involved with this company and some of the dirty tactics would just stop and think about the impact they are having on peoples lifes. Although i got bes off my back now and am trying to rebuild my life. I have a friend today who is currently in the same situation and i hope this story will help him and many others who are in the same situation. Cj M

I have just had a letter from my Local Council stating that there is an outstanding balance for the period 26/06/2001 to 29/08/2001. Is this debt statute bared?

I used to be a sole trader selling music by mail order lists, vinyl and compact discs. My business closed down nine years ago due to me having severe debts, personal problems and so on. I suffer from severe mental health problems after several breakdowns and more problems that I won't go into here. I still have a business bank account that I never closed down due to hoping that one day I may get better and then just forgetting more recently after further health setbacks. I've been getting Income Support with disability additional money and then ESA after it changed paid into this bank account all that time. My Dad died in September 2013 and left me £15,000, my share of his will after it had all been divided up. I got this money in the autumn just gone and declared it to the DWP. I sent them bank statements showing that I'd used most of the money bar for a few thousand on things like new furniture, clothing, a holiday and paying for my Dad's funeral costs. I sent them receipts for everything and bank statements and they were satisfied that I hadn't spent the money frivolously and the little bit that I had spent on personal items to enjoy such as DVDs and days out, I have been getting a small amount taken off my fortnightly payments to cover that. Anyway to get to the point, today I got a B16 form in the post with no explanation as to why, the only thing I can think of is that because I never closed my business account they assume I'm still in business. I have no records of my old business, just a name on a bank account. How do I prove that I'm not trading to them? It's messing my head up even worse, I could do without all this. Thanks for any help.

Can anyone help on this one? We haver taken over a small business (fitness centre) this is in a larger building (a rugby club house) and is leased from them. The rent in 2008 was £10000 pa. We have half the first floor for an office, changing rooms, reception area, studio and gym, total area 350 sqm. The other half of the first floor belongs to the rugby club and has an office, reception area, changing rooms and a bar/conference centre/kitchen, total area 350 sqm Both premises were valued by the VOA in April 2014. We are valued at £16250, the other half of the first floor is valued at £7000. At first sight, this seems horribly iniquitous (as well as putting us at a major disadvantage relative to other local fitness centres) and I'm trying to work up to the formalities needed to contest this. But before I start, am I missing something obvious… is there a reason that I don't know about which will explain the discrepancy?

BES closed my business Back in 2011 having decided to invest in a small bar restaurant to the tune of £120k from money i got from a life insurance following the death of my wife, i was conned by BES and its associated companies (who BES denies any affiliation with) proven by some considerable investigation linking names to leases on premises occupied by such companies. I was monied and had good credit. After the second invoice of nearly £700, (british gas was £289 at this time) I knew I had a problem, thats when i had to find out what the state of play was with this company, one word sums it up,, say it with people I changed the legal entity of the business, BES ignored this, they continued to bill me, they then took me to court under the ltd company status, (doing this, they legally acknowledged the cOt= change of tenancy) BES then obtained a warrant to disconnect the original business, not the ltd company, the warrant was granted and the power was cut, my business was over that day. Can you all see what BES did wrong here?, its easy to see, if any of you had this happen , you are in a strong position to action against them, along with other breaches they committed against me of course. To date they have filed for bankruptcy against me for none payment of invoices, umm. let me see now I am a father to three young kids, I have no income anymore (thank you BES) No assets and Im on benefits with no money, BES incurred many of my debts by their action and have the audacity to send me bankrupt. I am now putting my case together with legal help to sue for damages and like i mentioned I need just ten more victims of BES to initiate a class action, we can stop BES if we pull together.

Just a heads up: TalkTalk business apparently have a new billing system which they are piloting. This is somewhat ruthless and is going through past accounts and sending out bills for dormant or shut-down accounts. It also appears to be automatically escalating to DCAs (in my case). I had a TalkTalk business account in 2012. I moved the DNS records (website and mail provision) and internet service from them in January 2013. Stupidly I did this half way through a billing cycle. I settled up with talktalk, who agreed to write of the part-billed month. All good, heard nothing from them for about a year until I received a bill out of the blue & nasty letter threatening to cut me off... for a service I wasn't receiving. Phoned them & they explained it was sent in error & cancelled it all off again. I received another bill via email on 29 December 2014 for £9.19 and then a letter from "Debt & Revenue Services", their chosen DCA, this morning, demanding £49.92 Spoke to the DCA who could offer no explanation as to the billed amount or where the bill arose from. I then phoned TalkTalk who couldn't explain the amount on the DCA letter, but attempted, after some audibly confuddled calculator thrashing, to explain the £9.19 as the part-billed month from January 2013 that they'd already agreed to write off! This amused me somewhat. I suggested that billing a customer out of the blue after two years was probably not acceptable, nor was failing to reconcile their accounts for two years, immediately raising it to a DCA was a bit dim and it would be interesting to hear what offcom* would say on the matter. Perhaps they should consider writing off the amount? NOW. Cue some time on hold while they went off to seek guidance. The guidance was given and the "debt" (remember they'd agreed to write this off back in February 2013) was written off. The explanation given for the out of the blue bill was that they are trialling some new software and it's being a bit ruthless with old accounts. I'll still complain to the FOS about the DCA letter, as the amounts remain inexplicable & I like the idea of them being charged £550 which they can pass on to TalkTalk for being stupid. Hopefully this will be the end of the matter. I suspect though that I'll hear from them again in error. *offcom don't actually adjudicate over broadband, you have to speak to either CISAA or the Ombudsman Services: Communication people

Does anyone out there have any detailed information on the definitions of Business against Private mileage in a company car? I am at loggerheads with my employers with regards to the 'within a 5-mile radius of a permanent or temporary place of employment' ruling by the HMRC. Any information or pointers would be gratefully accepted, thanks in advance.

Hi, Here's one for you. I work as a freelancer. In June last year I agreed to work with a business, the deal was that I would sell my services through their brand and receive 60% on my billings, for months when I did not bill, I would receive a cash payment to tide me over. I signed an acceptance of offer letter with them and started working with them at the beginning of July. All went well and I quickly secured an opportunity to deliver some highly complex services to a large business I know well. I was concerned at my associates capability to support me with delivery and asked them if they wished to be involved. As the business would be worth several million over a 5 year period they readily reassured me. at this stage I pointed out that if we were going to bid for the work, it would have a significant impact on my short term sales. They told me not to worry. By Mid October, I had spent 6 weeks preparing the initial bid, the timescale with the client had slipped to early 2015 and I informed my associates, this time I offered them the choice of backing out of our relationship if they no longer wished to take the risk of supporting me whilst I bid for it. Again, they reassured me that they were very keen to remain involved and supported me 100% as well as thanking me for my excellent work. Despite this I was beginning to get some pressure to generate short term income so I started to work on a few smaller projects. This pressure increased and I began to have concerns around their capability to deal with a large and complex project especially from the financial perspective as the concerns seemed to indicate that cash flow may be an issue. On 30th November my invoice for October's work was due for payment. 3 days later the money had still not arrived so I wrote to them asking if they had processed the payment and received a cryptic reply along the lines of 'what was due to be paid has been paid'. a week later still nothing. At this point they started to demand information about my clients which was above an beyond the call of detail. I said i wold be happy to share it once their outstanding invoice had been paid. I chased it on two further occasions and was told by them that it was due to be paid and in the process. Again they asked for the detailed information, again I told them that once the outstanding invoice was paid, they would get this information. At this point they showed their true colours. I received a very aggressive email from a the other owner of their business stating that he had 'blocked the payment' because he was unhappy that I had not provided details that I was 'contractually obliged to provide' he then went onto libel me saying he had received information 'concerning me and my character' from 'anonymous individuals' . This email was shared with e 3rd party. I immediately wrote back stating that I did not respond to threats and that the email was libelous as he had not provided the information that he was party to nor had he identified the source - merely implied that it was negative and that he also shared the email with a 3rd party (which he did). I also pointed out that until Monday this week they had not shown any concerns over the quality of the work I had done to date, quite the contrary I had emails from them as well as two telephone conversations (recorded) where they praised my work to date and thanked me for it. I also pointed out that they had accepted the invoice and had been asked on 3 separate occasions where the money was and had on all those occasions been either directly reassured or reassured by implication that all was in hand. The response to this was to send me a copy of some terms of business which I had never seen and which were dated July (I had signed in June). They stated that I was in breach of contract because I had - a/ set up another similar business outwith their arrangement with the intention of 'cutting them out' (this business predates the relationship with this company and I have always been public about its existence, on twitter and on Linkedin and the business offers services that are in a similar field but completely unrelated to the business I had with the associate. Additionally the associates were well aware of the existence of the business and had never raised it as an issue in the past.) b/ in witholding the detailed client information they required I was in breach of their contract (the terms of business that I had not seen before). These state nothing about information and only state that if they deem that (unspecified) work is no carried out to their satisfaction, they can pursue me for all money paid to me prior to the date. I wrote to them informing them that I had never seen these terms before and on top of that had never been given any previous indication that my work had been substandard, in fact I had received plaudits for the quality of the work. The reply I got was to 'stop playing games' and that I had 'signed the contract and the terms in July (I actually signed it in June) and that I was bound by it. He also directly accused me of lying and shared the email with two 3rd parties. at this point I had had enough and informed them that our business relationship was over due to non payment of invoice and that I was handing the matter over to a debt collector. They wrote back again telling me to 'stop playing games' and accusing me of breach of contract and demanding that I repay them all money paid to date and returned a laptop by tomorrow (friday) or they would report me to the police for theft. - Since then (tuesday) I have received several emails asking me what I intend to do. I have not replied. - Now I did some checking up on these guys and don't like what I hear. The partner I appear to have fallen out with fancies himself as an amateur lawyer and his emails are full of faux legalese that doesn't make much sense at all. (My late father was a judge and I have a pretty good understanding of what this looks like). It appears he spends most of his time logging online claims through the small claims court so I am concerned that he is going to attempt this tomorrow. Now my reason for posting here is to get a 3rd party perspective on this. I intend to do the following: 1/ hand the debt to a debt collection business and instruct them to pursue it in writing as well as verbally 2/ I have written down the entire sorry saga as best as I can recall and tomorrow I intend to visit a commissioner of oaths and swear an oath on it and post it to myself recorded delivery 3/ pay my lawyer to write a cease and desist letter to the individual who has libeled me threatening him with action if he does it again. 4/ I am considering reporting them for fraud over the 'terms of business' which I had neither seen nor signed My main concern is 2 fold - 1/ to ensure that should he attempt an online small claims bid his claim will run into deep water quickly due to the defence I have and the counter claim. 2/ to make sure I can prove to the police (should he report me for theft) that the matter is civil, that return of the computer in question has been given an unreasonable timescale especially at this time of year (48 hrs) and that as it is a civil case and I am owed money by this business, I have a right to hold it for security and have indeed informed them that I would return it once the invoice was paid. Are my tactics sound and is there anything else I can do? I have limited funds for a fight? Research and having spoken to several people who have carried out the work I have done for them in the past shows that they are not to be trusted and I have heard similar stories. They are very foolish in acting in this way because I am very well known in the industry they work in and could make life very difficult for them in the future. I have not done so yet nor have I threatened them. thanks in advance

Today my Landlord has taken possession of ground that I rent. All my equipment is still there. I am late with my rent - I pay six months in advance and I am a good few weeks late with my payment, but it was paid into their account yesterday. I have been to see them and they have said they still need to take possession, but will give me a decision on Monday as to if I can stay or not. My lease is a Fixed Term Farm Business Tenancy and it's for three years, I am a year into the lease. Please people, is there anything I can do if they turn round and say I cannot have possession back? Please don't read and run - I'm really upset and any kind of help or advice would be most welcome right now.

Hi, I was just wondering how best to deal with Moorcroft who have been hounding me. I signed as guarantor for my HSBC Ltd Co. business loan when I started up in 2003/4. Unfortunately due to a breakdown and ill health caused from stress etc the business had to close in 2007, following that I did try to keep making what payments I could afford towards the loan (the outstanding balance is around 20k) but haven't paid anything for about a year/year and a half, however loan doesn't appear on my credit file. Have been burying my head abit as going through a horrible divorce at the moment and not quite able to deal with this as well, have been ignoring all their threat o grams. just need to hold them off for a bit until the divorce is finalised I kinda know where I stand financially. To commit to a financial arrangement with them at the moment whilst everything is still in limbo is going to be hard, and having been pretty much a stay at home Dad since the business closed, I will have to rely on tax credits, CB and maintenance payments to provide stability for my kids until I can get back onto my feet after the divorce is finalised. Should I treat this loan as I would a personal one and send off a CCA request? Or would it be worth just offering Moorcroft/HSBC what little I can afford to get them to go away? As they are threatening me, that if they return the account to HSBC, then HSBC will start legal proceedings?

June 2013 we were quoted for the cleaning of our offices by a company called GCC. We agreed a scope and a price. The contractor who took the job was rubbish and we complained to the head office. They got worse and we complained again and told them we no longer wanted to work with them in December 2013. They wrote back saying that because we had signed a 2 year contract we had to go through their official complaints channels and we could not leave them. They made lots of empty promises and promised better cleaning. This did not happen and in fact the cleaning got even worse. We had a couple of incident of the cleaners using toilets without closing doors when clients were in the office (yep that professional) and no shows. It reached a head and we finally just told them they had to go as we were paying them almost £200 per month and our staff were having to do the cleaning as they were doing nothing. They have now sent us a final bill saying we owe them until June 2015 as want to end the contract early. Surely we dont have to pay this do we?? We gave them plenty of chances to provide the service we agreed on!! Surely the T&Cs of their contact cant keep us bound to them for 2 years when they are not providing a service. Let me know if you have ever dealt with the same. thanks

I hope someone can offer any advice re a current problem concerning my son in law and his business. He quoted for a 'gardening' job, it was accepted, now the customer states she is not happy with the completed job. She is demanding a refund and says he has '...broke the law.' The job involved the laying of artificial turf. The customer had her 'front' lawn covered by artificial turf but wanted something thicker for the rear garden. This was achieved and she was happy with the job on completion,however, she then called my son in law and left a voice mail message admitting it was her own fault but she thought she had chosen the wrong product. She complained she wasn't given a sample of the product despite the 'turf' having been in her garage for a month before the job had begun. She states he has 'broke the law' because he did not provide a receipt, she was offered one and at the time declined. She is now threatening legal action if my son in law does not refund her the price of the job plus agree to redo the job at his own expense! His business is a very small landscaping/gardening job. He has never had a complaint before and this is causing him stress. Surely her admitting it was her own fault she chose a product which she later didn't like is no fault of the business owner? Any ideas where he might proceed from here? I understand this a family member and some may believe I am 'protecting' him but he is a genuine,hard working bloke, I would not help him if I didn't think this case was someone attempting to receive something for nothing. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Almost forgot to respond to PCN issued 24/10/14 by VCS from 'breach' at Liverpool International Business Park - see attached PDF's. i realise I've left this late and I may only have a few days to get a response to them. Any help would be gratefully appreciated. I stopped to make a call between appointments at local clients. The 'Road' I stopped on was a cut-in pretending to be a side road but it actually stopped at a fence then a field just behind the car in the picture. The majority of roads on the park has double yellow lines, but the cut-in the car was stopped on does not have double yellow lines; they stop as the kerb begins to turn.

I've just realised that I've probably been getting these charges for a long time. This latest one has seen them strip £153 from my account. How do I go about claiming this money back? I should point out that I specifically asked for no over-draught when I signed up for the account around 6 years ago. I think I may have had this happen a few times over the years and simply not noticed. Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi Everyone , This site helped me massively before and Thank everyone here . Recently I set up a Ltd company with a colleague from my old employment. He had the funds and I had the contacts and he spent about 2 K the company failed. I resigned last week well was partly forced to as he wanted money. Basically he was not committed to it threw some money in and went on holiday . Came back when it was not looking good he just continually give out negatives and every time I thought I ad a chance he would shoot it down. The issue is this. When we set up the business he purchased 2 laptops indicated he had about 10K in savings and would do everything possible to make it work. He paid the set up fee about £75 also the accountant and some business cards and some other expenses. I did purchases too paying for website etc and probably spent a similar amount overall. When he purchased the laptops I agreed we would pay him back for these as the business generated an income. Last week before I resigned he was asking me to pay him some of the company costs and the laptop and he would have the business approx. £600. Then he said if I would take the business off him ( we were both 50% directors) he would accept £2K . He knew when we started the business I had only enough funds for living expenses for approx 2 months as a result I resigned from the company. Then he has emailed me stating I said I would pay for the laptop in May and he is giving me 45 days . I do not have the funds to pay him and offered to return the laptop . He is emailing from his personal email and states he rejected the offer as the laptop is now 4 months old and he will extend to 60 days time to pay. We also had agreed we would be employed by the business but as no income of course we have not been paid . I am now on benefits and do not have the means to pay him . The letters are structured to try to paint a picture that is inaccurate and is designed to get at me as I resigned the business and he cannot operate without my contacts. Some of the emails came from his business email as a director then the last 2 emails from his personal email and without the older emails attached as they showed he was seeking personal payment for a limited company expenses. Any advice on what to do next would be great.

Hi. Need some serious advice and help here. Closed my business down March this year. I was liable for business rates from sep 13 to march 14. Totaling about £3600. I closed the business as we were not doing too well and struggling to make the rent money let alone bills. (we had been trading for 3 years but moved to a bigger location - more rent and now business rates etc). I was aware of the business rates of course but with the other bills piling up of course the business rates bill went on the pile. It is now 6 months later and I am now receiving letters form the local council. At forst they said I owed £9000 but they were unaware I had moved out in March and were charging me for the year 2014/15 as well.. I also got a court summons in the post, it was due 1st October 2014, I called them and explained I have only just received their letters (they were locked in the old business premises) and they have now took back the court summons and will no longer have to go) (for now). I have emailed them to say that I am unable to pay the £3600 (year sep13/march14). As I am only surviving off the remaining stock I had form the business selling online. Spoke to one lady and she said if you can pay £600 a month until the end of the financial year then that will be OK. I said I cannot even afford this, more like £50 a month. They said they will have to issue another court summons and a liability order to get this money back, but I said why would they take it to court if I am on the phone looking to set up a payment. I am eager to get back in business, and any other money going out right now is going to seriously cripple my chances, I need as much money as I can to get me back into business. What can I do about this? Is there anyway i can loophole around paying the business rates? Is there anyway I can get them significantly reduced? Look forward to your replies.

Hello! I'll make this as short as I can. We moved into a unit 3 years ago, we already had a .co.uk website that was fully functional for 18 months at this point. Just last Thursday my partner accidentally came across the listing for the .com version of our domain name, listed as purchased by the owner of the business next door about a month after we moved in. Renewed every year and currently owned by him. The actual .com website however when typed in immediately redirected to an auto-playing hardcore homosexual porn video. This appears to have been this way for the 3 years. This is a very serious matter for us as we run a family business and get enquiries for children and parents all the time. The shocker is that the neighbouring owner also runs a family business with massive focus on kids. We posted apologies on social media to anyone that had seen it and named the owner and within about 6 hours the porn was taken down. Since then we've been reported to social media for the posts (no action taken) and had the police phone us telling us 'drop it or tears will be shed' (again though, no action taken). We wish to take this matter to court, as the neighbouring business owner is a relentless bully and has been campaigning to make our business suffer from the moment we took the unit and has quite a large and expansive company in the area, but now it seems he has finally done something with enough proof we can do something about it. So, what's the next step?

We own a small business that has ISDN lines installed for a number of years - our account is a business account. We use ISDN for clarity because standard PSTN line quality is extremely poor where we are and we often struggle to hear people on the other end. Our ISDN lines are essential for us. 36 days ago our ISDN lines went down. We've had several dates given to us when work will take place only for the work not to happen. We've been given excuse after excuse, promised things will "be escalated", but nothing makes any difference. We've been "looked after" by their so-called "Distressed Customer Team" for 3 weeks now but they are generally ineffective as they have no real power to make things happen. An email to the Chairman of BT on day 21 asking him to please help get our lines back up was just as useless as it elicited a response but no repair so far. We're told there is a major issue with the fibre between our local exchange and that in a larger town where the ISDN service is ultimately supplied from. We're several miles on the other side of our local exchange from the mail fibre line, yet 1 mile down the road from us - still on "this side" of the exchange - another company with ISDN supplied by BT have lines that are still working. Since our lines went down we haven't had a single order, but last year our turnover increased by over £350,000. Almost all our orders come on the back of customer recommendations, and incoming telephone enquiries from these recommendations are usually converted to customers. Our telephone lines being down are affecting us badly, and on a day-by-day growth comparison it has lost us over £34K of potential additional turnover this year so far. Redirecting our lines to standard telephone lines won't work because of quality issues, and redirecting to mobiles won't work due to poor reception where we are (we're in the countryside). We're pretty much at the end of our rope with this problem. We have no idea where to turn to, or what we can do to fix or problem. We hear lots of platitudes and "we agree this isn't acceptable" but no actual action. Is anyone aware of anything we can do to accelerate the repair, or any action we can take against BT for their appalling service and the affect it is having on our small business?

Dear all, I am looking for some advice in regards to British Gas. When I moved into my current property, the previous account holders put my husbands name on the account, rather than starting a new account. This meant that we ended up being on a business tariff rather than domestic, and there was an outstanding amount to be paid from the previous bill. To say I am cross is an understatement! we went through the whole rigmarole of changing the account to British Gas Domestic (as we were told they couldn't re-assess our bill to domestic rates unless we joined them on the domestic side first?!? We wanted to change to a different company, but felt they gave us no choice!) Only after numerous phone calls to both business and domestic companies (I lost the will to live that day, 7 1/2 hours in total!) and was finally told we had to fill in a VAT declaration to state that the property is used for domestic purposes only. They told me to scan and email this form back to them (even though I told them I wasn't due to be connected to the internet for another week!) It took over three weeks for them to acknowledge receiving the email and we were told that we would have the matter resolved by the 4th August. We have had numerous amounts of letters threatening legal action for non-payment of this bill. Last time I called I was told they are computer generated and to ignore it as it was being dealt with. I came home Sunday, after a few days away, to find a letter from them threatening to disconnect our supply! (We have three children aged 4, 9 and 14!) We still haven't had the correct bill and I refuse to pay the bill until it is correct. Can anyone tell me where I should go next, as I really feel a complaint is in order and I need the bill corrected so I can pay what I do owe! On the other hand, I don't want them to cut our supply off!! At my wits end!! Thank you in advance Martini

Dear All I took out a business loan from HSBC back in April 2009. I was told a pre-requisite for the business loan is for each of the business partners to take out a Business Protection Plan. So we had to pay for 2 Business Protection Plans(for me & my spouse) over the course of 5 years that ended April 2013. Can someone advise if indeed it is same as PPI Regards MS