My husband has been disabled with mental health difficulties most of his life. 20+ years ago he had an industrial accident and was unable to work. he had been receiving Incapacity Benefit, he was then moved to income based income support. He receives DLA at higher rate mobility and middle rate of care. He continued to receive these allowances until he was moved on to contribution based ESA and was told he needed to start sending in sick notes from his doctor, which he did. He was called to an ATOS medical and told he was fit for work, one breakdown later and we appealed. His money was initially stopped but then re-instated with a drop of £160 a month! In total we received carers allowance for me: industrial injuries benefit for him: DLA for me (I have fibromyalgia) and DLA for him, as well as his new amount of ESA, providing he sent in sick notes. On the 21st Dec 2012 we went to appeal and won! From nil points he was awarded 36 points and we were told by the judge "You have won, they shoould leave you alone now for two years" We were so relieved. His money was stopped again after the appeal though with no explanation. I have to add that during this whole process we have not recieved one letter from the DWP. Yesterday he was told that his money would be back dated and he would be getting £82 a week. This morning he received a letter syaing his contribution based ESA had run out and he would get £0.00! now we're frantic, we have nothing accept carers allowance, DLA and IIB and don't know where to turn. Our housing benefit has also been stopped, what do we do?

i have about 5 debts totaling 3k and i am trying to clear my credit file so i will be able to obtain a mortgage in the future, The problem i am having is that no matter how many times i request a copy of paperwork stating what the debt is for and a Breakdown of charges i am always told on the phone they will send this and it never arrives i send letters and get no response and if i email i get an auto reply saying we will reply in X days (some quoting upto 28) is their any way i can approach the credit referance agencys and ask they to remove these debts as they in effect wont let me pay them as they wont tell me what they are for! also how do i get linked address's removeD? or at least the correct dates for living in each property sorted? i know an ex partner applied for some things with out my consent and it has so many different times on their! Also if a company has repeatedly searched my credit file how do i get these removed? i am completely baffled by the whole scenario and i dont know what do to! its the same as anything you wouldnt pay for it without kbnowing exactly what you are paying for this is stressing me right out and i just wanted it sorted out and clear as soon as possible! Thank you

Is it just me confused? So now we need to pay NI for 35 years instead of 30. But stay at home mums & self employed will be the winners. Those things seem to contradict themselves? Am I mad to not apply for NI exemption whilst being self employed? I am now thinking I could be paying 10 quid a month into a life insurance. I didn't apply to be exempt as I thought I needed to pay it for a pension. Anyone able to explain it a bit clearer or is it still confusing for everyone? I'm a stay at home mum & self employed, but by the time 2015 comes though my teens will be adults so not sure if any of it applies to me anyway?

Hi, I am new to the forum and desperate for some advice or views. I was migrated from IB to Esa Contribution based last October 2011 and placed in the Wrag Group, my payments have just recently been stopped because of the 365 day rule, I do not meet the criteria for Income based Esa. . I asked for a reconsideration on the decision as I felt I qualified for the Support Group. The decision was to remain the same, Wrag group. I then appealed the reconsidered decision in May of 2012, as part of the appeal they firstly reconcidered the decision again to no satisfaction, still to remain in the Wrag Group and appeal papers sent to Tribunal. I have just recently one year on from the original decision received appeal pack from Dwp which has also been sent to the Tribunal. Amongst other things there is guidance notes to help the Tribunal with its decision. One of the guidance notes states:- A claimant has Limited Capability for Work Relatied Activity ( Support Group) if they satisfy at least one of the Support Group Descriptors. A discriptor is satisfied if it applies for the majority of the time ( Majority is the key word) or, as the case maybe, for the majority of the occasions on which the claimant undertakes or attempts to undertake the activity described by that descriptor. The reference:- The Employment and Support Allowance regulations 2008 34 (1), (2). When I received my Esa85 medical report from Atos one of the descriptors I satisfied was, Engagement in social contact with someone unfamiliar to the claimant is not possible for the majority ( again key word Majority) of the time due to difficulty relating to others or significant distress experienced by the claimant. My questions are, do I satisfy this descriptor in your opinion taking into consideration the wording of the Esa regulation 2008, should I have been placed in the Support Group? if I should have been in Support Group what is my next step as the Support Group does not apply to the 365 day rule and my payments have already stopped. I have telephoned Dwp to discuss this several times and request a call back but no one has bothered to phone me back, I have just recently emailed my MP to ask for his help. Advice or your views would be much appreciated.

Hi I was recommended to this site by a very excited lady who had just claimed back her PPI and won. I have taken her suggestion and logged on. Sent off for my credit reference to Experian but not really sure what i should do next so any help would be most welcome! Thanks in advance

Hello:???: new here and I want to ask a question about claiming costs from court after winning an appeal against a driving conviction, where should i be to ask? I have looked at some forums but can't actually see where I should post my question. thanks for your guidance

My son turns 19 in January and is enrolled and accepted onto a 16hr full time course for g.c.s.e equivalent english, maths and ict. This is a special college for young people of the autistic spectrum, emotional and behavior issues, adhd, ocd and so on. My son starts his college on 4th march 2013. I spoke to 3 child benefit officers because i need to claim before his 19th birthday. But all i got from them is that i am not entitled to child benefit as he is not on a full time course now. I did explain that a claim needs putting in now but they said refused. Then they changed what they were saying and telling me that he needed to be in continued education, but the hmrc website tells me completely different. Here is a quote from their site regarding young people going back into education after a break: Your child goes back into education or training Your child might go back to education or start a training course after a break - for example after a period of unemployment. As long as the education or training counts for Child Benefit, you'll usually be able to get Child Benefit for them. You'll need to make another claim if your Child Benefit had previously stopped because you no longer qualified for it. Your child needs to have started, enrolled or been accepted onto a course that counts for Child Benefit before their 19th birthday for you to qualify. The quote in purple is what i based my claim on, but for some reason they keep disregarding what i was saying. Maybe there is something i had missed? They tell me that he cannot and will not be accepted onto the system and either way i will not qualify for child benefit. Some advice on what to do would be great, i feel im going crazy right now because child tax credit has accepted us.

hello recently my partner told me that she had not been paying 4 catalogue debts for around 4 months as her working hours have been reduced, she is relieved that i know about it now and i have told her not to worry and we will try and sort it out, the main problem is i am unsure of how to go about it all. 3 catalogues are with very, isme and littlewoods who i understand are all part of shop direct and one other , only one of these has been passed over to ndr who i understand are there in house dca she called one that had not been passed over to tell them she can't pay at the moment and was told they will all be handed over to ndr and to call them ,ndr said call back in 2 weeks to arrange a payment plan . who should i try and deal with ndr or catalogue companies , unfortunately we are not in a position to pay at the moment but charges are constantly adding to the total , there are also buy now pay later items that are coming to an end so obviously the balance will increase there as the terms have been broken , i have had a good look around the posts but i am unsure of what i should do to start to deal with creditors . we are trying to deal with this and would appreciate any advice . thanks

On Tuesday I wrote a cheque for just under £500 to a painter decorator. At the time I wrote it, I did not have funds to pay it in my account but it is a joint account and my husband had agreed to pay some money in. Long story short, he didn't pay it in. On Friday I noticed the cheque debiting the account and taking it £200 overdrawn. We have no overdraft facility and I would expect such a cheque to therefore be returned unpaid. I went into my branch to see if they could tell me if it would be returned. They said they couldn't but they could stop the cheque. I asked them to do this for me (so that I could avoid charges and explain to the decorator and pay in two instalments) and they said they had stopped the cheque and it would re-credit my account later that day. By 8pm it had not re-credited so I phoned the bank. They said the cheque was being paid. I queried why when there were no funds and we do not have a good credit rating. I said I had been told the cheque had been stopped. They put me through to a customer care department where they said they would recredit the cheque and 'ask the payee to pay the money back'. At the time I was so relieved to not be £200 overdrawn (with no money then accessible to me at all, from any account) that I just said thank you. They even offered me £25 as a sorry for telling me they had stopped it when they hadn't. My bank statement still shows the cheque having gone out but a credit for the value of the cheque from 'customer care'. Now in the cold light of day I am wondering what they actually meant. Presumably the money would normally credit the payee's a/c on Monday. Will it not arrive? Or will it arrive then disappear the next day? Will they actually phone up the payee and say pay it back and if so, why on earth would they? I want to pay this bill as soon as I can but if my husband does not help I cannot pay it in full till 21st of this month. If the cheque recredits I fully expect the bank to take back their credit and I will then pay what I can to the decorator and pay the balance on 21st. But what happens if my bank can't get the funds back? Is that their loss or will they redebit and put me overdrawn again? Very confused - and also very confused as to why on earth they would let me go £200 overdrawn when they won't give me a planned overdraft of £50!!!!

Hi everyone, im posting ln behalf of a very upset and terrified friend. Sorry its a long post and prob a little confusing lol The problem is this, my friend has been to an appeal for income support. Two children 6ys and 14. Did recive hb when was on IS about a year ago Now my friends grandfather ufortunaly died a year ago and left her some money, not a huge ammount. This was spent sensibly and all exspenditure was checked with the dwp to which all was told yes this is fine and ' acceptable '. The second had car ammount,was ' acceptable' and within the ' Guide lines' EVERYTHING was checked before purchasing: A course to further friends education to find a job at local school, a second hand car, 1 weekend away,a new mattress and some bedding for the eldest child. And £3,000 in an account for the children when turn 18 Nothing else was bought, no new kitchen or anything like that, no home improvements etc All of this was 'ok ed' by the dwp. This was a year ago. Now, my friend re applied for income support recently as the funds have now depleated ( friend works a few hours a week during lunch time because of the youngest 6 yrs old coming home from school) and could never afford child minder. The money that was left to friend was NOT a lot and with two growing children, did not last long ! Buss pass for eledst is a small fortune! And obviously rent council tax etc The application was denied. The reasons for this were the dwp classed the course as an UNACCEPTABLE expenditure as well as the bedding from argos !! And i think the second hand car. Dispite being told that this WAS ACCEPTABLE The weekend away they said was FINE !?? Now i dont know that much, but im sure this is not right! Anyway, she appealed. It didnt go well. The judge did not want to know about any of the ' guide lines' He said ' THERE ARNT ANY' even for buying a car. What so its ok to go and but a £20,000 car ??!! The judge just dismissed all of the points of the reasons my friend appealed in the first place, just didnt want to know. He just wasnt interested at all that the dwp had at first said these purchases are ' accepatable' and have now said there not. All the judge wanted to say was what the ' law ' says nothing to do with what the dwp so called ' guide lines say. Which my friend followed to the T. My freind was so compleatly un prepared for this as my friend was under the immpession that they were there to dispute that the dwp had all of a sudden changed thier minds, which is excatly why my friend had appealed to the decision for the reasons the dwp had got wrong. Can any one shed any light on this, aparently my friend cannot appeal against this. ' point of law ' is slightly confusing for me! My friend is so distraught about all this. I might be wrong but, i dont this is quite right? Surley the dwp cant just chage thier minds like that ? One phone call that was made to enquire about purchase, my fried was told that '' We in the office think thats ok'' My friend did phone again to double check !! So we go by what they ' think in the office' ? Not the dwp 'offical' guide lines ? Of which there isnt any apparently ?? !! Im confused lol I would be so greatful if anyone can help with this or any advise or shed some light on this. My friend will loose every thing, roof over thier heads ( they rent) everything! I assure you my friend has not disposed of the inhreitance 'just to back on benefit' I havent been on benifit for a couple of years now so i dont know much about it now. Money is under the guide allowance for IS etc One more question, does a clerk of the court need to be present at the tribunal/ appeal ? Because there wasnt one? I thought there had to be ? Thank you so much for any help aeris sorry again for such a long post

Hi, im a little confused about the bank charge claims, im not really sure on how to do a spreadsheet. So the steps you have to take is to do a spreadsheet, and attach a preliminary approach for repayment and send that to the bank, is this correct? Would love some help, Thanks for your time. Also just to clarify, can i claim back unnarranged overdraft fees, things that say on statement just bank charges, and unpaid dd charges?

Hi folks Please don't hammer me for not reading the forums. I have! - just finding it a confusing mass of information, really need to find guidance on the first steps. I've read a lot about what PPI is, SAR letters, and the letters to make the claim. Read lots of peoples experiences etc. What i am not sure about is the first steps i should take - i have no idea whether i have a claim or not. Should i ring up all my previous lenders and ask if i had a policy? Should i do a SAR to literally every lender (cc's, personal loans, mortgages) - to get the info first? that's a £10 x ? - maybe £80 or more, which i don't have to risk if i don't even know if i have a case. Was seriously tempted to use a firm to chase the PPI claim, because i know a few people who got money that way - but got seriously put off by some posts on here (sounds like the PPI claim companies are as bad as the banks). If probably got myself confused reading too much on here and am suffering a bit of information overload paralysis . If you know what i mean. Basically - any advice or links to a page i may have missed, showing how a complete 'PPI virgin' should start off - would be most welcome. Regards AJW

sent off letter to hfc for mis sold ppi and recieved letter back saying they have looked into it and they did not set up ppi.i sent them proof of the ppi as i still have the original loan agreement what i dont understand is if they did not set up the ppi who did.any help much appreciated thankyou

Hiya everyone. I am very confused and scared about my situation. I will explain a bit and it will hopefully make sense. I work from home as Self Employed and have been claiming working tax credits since I turned 25 (last year) I have not been able to work for the last 5 weeks and now I am scared that I can get into trouble for this as I have not informed them? Should I inform them now and can I get into trouble for this? I also get my wages from my self employed paid to my mothers bank account (we live together and it's easier this way) but my WTC get paid into my bank account, I have become worried that this could cause confusion and problems too? I am also in arrears with my National Insurance Contributions (I believe by about £450?) I haven't received any letters from them in a few months now and had forgotten all about them, and to tell you the truth I was ignoring the arrears letters on purpose as I didn't know I had to pay them, I assumed it was optional as I am on low income and self employed? But I have read on the internet today that I could actually go to prison for not paying them??? I don't know what to do I am worried sick about this! Maybe I could contact and offer to pay them back in installments? Any information on this would be greatly appreciated as I am getting anxious about this, Thanks for reading this. Any help would be great.

Hi can anyone help me. I had a loan with lombard direct in 2006, this was pay off in 2008 when I took out a further loan with them. I have since defaulted on this loan and its been passed to Arden which I have read is a dormant company but is also part of Idem credit. I assume they bought this debt and I am paying them a nominal amount each month. Lombard has offered me a payment of £1200 for paid PPi on the 1st loan (i didnt take it out on the 2nd as I was self employed) but states that this will go towards paying off the 2nd loan. As they don't own this loan any more can they do this or should they sent me a cheque to prioritise payments to my other debts. It seems unfair that I can not spread this over all my creditors.

Hi, I have been trying to reclaim the PPI that I was paying to Freemans. I was honestly never asked if I wanted it and up until recently I thought it was standard and had to be on my account. After writing several letters and then several more to chase any form of reply I have received the letter which I shall type below. Does anyone have any advice as after hearing about other peoples PPI claims I feel disappointed now. Thanks Dear X I am in receipt of your letter dated 29 September 2012 regarding Payment Protection Insurance. I can confirm that my investigations are now complete and I would like to make the following observations. Our sales processes have always had regard to the legal requirements in force at the time. As the policy was applied to your account on 16/05/00, you will be aware the detailed rules currently enforced by the Financial Services Authority were not applicable at this time. I can also confirm that cost to the customer was always part of the sales process and that full consent was always actively sought. This was only obtained when the customer confirmed eligibility and suitability. The polices we have previously sold have changed over time. However, those which carried benefits associated with unemployment were equally valid for the self employed providing you worked 16 hours a week or more and paid the correct National Insurance contributions. Furthermore, every monthly statement you have received, where applicable, always referred to the policy giving transparency of all transactions taking place on the account, giving you the opportunity to review your account on a regular monthly basis and raise any matters you may wish to. It has always been possible to cancel at any time, by whatever means, and without penalty. Having considered all the matters raised, I regret to inform you that I am unable to uphold your complaint. The issues you raise appear to fall outside the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service owing to the length of time your policy has been in force. You are, of course, at liberty to contact them and they may, in exceptional circumstances, waive the prescribed time limits. In accordance with the legal requirements as they apply to the investigation of complaints, I must inform you this is my final response regarding this matter. I understand this is not the outcome you have been looking for, but I hope that you understand the reasons for it. Yours sincerely XXXXXX

Good morning everyone. Need some guidance please. I have been paying CMC a monthly amount for around 14 months re a c/c debt with MBNA. I have looked at Noddle ( no debt with MBNA appears) and with Equifax ( MBNA appears but shows as satisfied 10/08). No other information regarding a debt with MBNA is showing. Can anybody help me to make sense of this? I'm a touch confused. Should I check with Experian? Any help much appreciated.

Hi all My name is Darren and this is my first post on here. I received a phone call earlier today asking about claiming PPI as I got a car with Welcome Car Finance back in 1999. I had completely forgot that I got the car with them. I don't know if I am eligible to proceed with a claim for the repayment of PPI and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I need help with the following: - 1)I no longer have the original documents and agreement due to moving around a lot while in the Army. How do I go about getting this agreement. 2) I have heard that Welcome Finance have gone into default so where would I send any correspondence to them. 3) As it was way back in 1999, am I still eligible to try and claim back PPI. I was paying back nearly £240 a month over 4 years on a £7000 car. I was young and dense at the time and just went ahead and signed it as I wanted a car. Any help on the above questions would be greatly appreciated. I have never thought about claiming back PPI and don't know where to start. Cheers Darren

Hi, I am helping someone with their benefit where they have been denied ESA after ATOS medical, so I am helping them with the appeal process. However I am slightly unsure of the process, I've read up alot on it, so here is where I am. 1) We submit the appeal form - filling in gl24 form plus a letter using the template of honeybee. 2) What happens next? do we need to see a solicitor when it goes to tribunal etc? I am really not sure , so would be massively helpful if someone can clarify. CHeers y'all

Hello there - I had an Egg credit card which had PPI from 2004 to 2006 - inappropriately sold to me. I complained and Barclaycard have offered me a settlement. I'm confused about the compound interest quoted though - they seem to have calculated the compound interest from 2004 to 2006 - whereas I had thought that given they have wrongly had this money since 2004 till now, the calculation of compound interest should run till now. Who is right? Really grateful in advance for any advice!

I just out of the blue received a letter from a Compliance Officer asking me to attend an interview about my benefits at the Job Centre. Does this mean they suspect me of fraud? I have no partner or family, keep myself to myself and nobody even knows I'm on benefits so it seems unlikely anyone would have "reported" me. I applied for ESA in 2009 for serious mental health problems. I had Atos medical, got some points but not enough. I appealed, won my appeal and got put into Work Related ESA Group in July 2010. Since then I've not heard a thing, never been invited to any Work Related interview, never been called for a new medical. This in itself seems very unusual? I am also on DLA. My circumstances have not changed since the claim. What could this be about? Theres a so called direct line on the letter but Ive been calling all day and it's constantly engaged. The interview is not for over a month. I'm already in a complete state and I don't know how to cope. My mental health problems have incapacitated me and I use the benefit payments for psychotherapy and for keeping a roof over my head (paying my rent). I am terrified because the letter says something about they might suspend my benefit. If they did such a thing WHEN would it happen? Would it be without warning? How would I afford to eat and pay my rent? I called the DLA people and they have no idea what I am talking about. I called ESA and they also had no idea what I am talking about and said, "your claim is live and there is no end date."

Hi, I had a letter from Bryan Carter stating that i owed Arrow Global £346.00 and that they were commencing court proceedings. On the same day i also received claim form from the court (both were sent to wrong address and only received as postie noticed error and brought them to me) I contacted them to see what this was for and was informed for a debt i had run up with additions direct. I told them that i was under the impression this had been paid and was advised to contact the company directly for further details. Additions told me that on 18/07/07 i owed a total of £272.96 and that the debt had been passed to a collection agency. I'm sure at some point over the years that i paid this but have no proof and as i was worried by the thought of court action i rang Bryan Carter back. They agreed to me paying £64 pounds there and then and setting up a direct debit to pay the remaining. This is where i get confused! According to them the difference between the original amounts is due to charges but if they are no longer taking me to court am i within my rights to only pay the original amount or as court papers have already been issued will the charges still apply. They have assured me this won't go to court unless i miss a direct debit payment but I'm still worried. Any thoughts appreciated as i'm now on a mission to try and sort out my finances

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?!?! I posted this in a different forum last week, today I have recieved a letter from HMRC telling me I need to complete a self assesment for last tax year 2011-12, yet I registered for this year and apart from the things I made for friends last year (which as I said they paid for) and materials I have bought myself to make for my own little boy I have had no other income or outgoings so now I am more confused. I made lots of little bibs and took them to my local craft fair but I didnt sell any off them so I have been giving them as presents for my friends who have had babys...Im even more confused now, why are they asking me to self assess for last year? I dont even want to set up a business anymore now as its coming up to the 6 week hols and I just want to spend time with my boys and dont even want to do any off the craft fayres etc that I was thinking of doing, I wont have the time...what do I do now???

This has been worrying me for a while! The show films scenes inside the Rovers Return in Coronation Street and the characters take people to the back room. They access this past the bar, past the stairs and back door and through into the sitting room which is attached to the kitchen that Betty cooked her hot pot in. When you look at the front of the Rovers Return there is nothing on the left past the bay windows!! the pub isn't wide enough to have a room you walk to in a straight line from the bar! Is the pub a tardis?

I am currently in arrears with Wonga, £200, simply through procrastinating with payments etc. I cannot take out another Wonga or any other payday loan. However recently strange things have been happening with my credit situation. I have just been accepted by American Express for a Gold preferred rewards card. I have been accepted by T-Mobile for 2 lines with free top range handsets (galaxy s2) I have been accepted by Capital one for a Secured card having to pay a security fee on £49 At the same time. I have been turned down for an Overdraft with my bank RBS. I have also been turned down for a new current account with Barclays Any Short term loan company also rejects me. I'm very confused... Also what will happen to my credit rating once I finally pay off Wonga...