Hi, If I have a repayment mortgage will the full monthly mortgage repayments be allowed under the old rules or is it only the interest payments that are allowed? Thanks for your help. Regards, John

Today I have posted a new "Sticky" regarding the serious subject of Form 4 complaints and where courts are able to impose costs in favour of a bailiff. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. PS: I have split the "Sticky" into two separate posts. They are both lengthly but very important indeed !!

My mother has had to go into a council care home and she has sadly run up large debts (she suffers from Dementia so forgot to pay the bills) Council want to take her small pension from here but I am left to deal with the debt agencies. Is there a way to secure her pension in order to discharge the debts that has been run up. Council have said if they don't receive the financial report they will charge her full price but how can they collect the full price if she doesnt have any money after the debts are paid from her home (which was rented)

Hi, I have been mis-sold energy contracts twice now by Npower, now. The energy Ombudsman have no legal training and don't even seem to have an obligation to adhere to Consumer Protection Act, Distance Selling regulations or even the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. But more of that later. Unfortunately UK's implementation of the associated EU Directives does not provide for compensation to be paid out to the consumers. Npower has been applying for WoE twice now and failed but they are going for it for a third time. They won't make a claim for the so called out standing invoices because they know that I would defend it & force them to recalculate my invoice according to the offer and not the contract which I did not sign because it was fundamentally different to the offer I accepted on the phone. They have switched me back to their standard "tariff" instead of the low income tariff that I had initially negotiated for thereby denying me even warm home subsidies. I have asked for and they won't let me switch supplier until I pay the the extortionate invoices which include costs of the failed applications for WoE. Can some one tell me what remedy I can claim for through the county court because to be honest neither OFT or Ofgem have even bothered to come back and ask for my evidence: The transcription of my telephone conversation with Npower recorded by myself which seems different to the one the Ombudsman has based its ruling. However I have now managed to obtain a second transcription under SAR which confirms to my own recording and not the Ombudsman's claim. By the way if anyone thinks that any of the Ombudsman are impartial or independent then they my must be living some where different to me. I have had dealings with most of them either for my own cases or on behalf of members of my family. They are all corrupt to the core but are accountable to no one. Once I took BT to court for my sister for a bogus sale of £975.00 when the Ombudsman had ruled that my sister should pay it and we won loss of income of over £3,000.00 plus all the outstanding invoices that were written off. From what I have gathered the only thing I can claim is for the difference between what I should have paid and what I have been invoiced through the small claim court but calculating that is a tasks worthy of payment in itself. I have spent almost a year on this and I find the remedies totally inadequate. If I am going to go through a legal proceeding which took almost a year last time and hundreds of pager of witness statement then I want to get the cost of my time back at least but this is not possible in small claim courts. I can claim for damages but they are difficult to quantify. It seems that under Eu Directive I should be able to claim for my time and emotional distress caused by Npower's outrageous behaviour. But in UK that will only happen if OFT instigate proceeding. Well at least this is what I have understood so far. So does anyone know more and can help me? Thank you.

We purchased a TV wall bracket off Amazon and on opening the box found the item to be damaged. Through Amazon we raised an issue and got notification that a refund would be due when the item was returned. We posted back the item at a cost of £6.70 to us. My card has been refunded, but despite providing proof of postage, the company is refusing to refund the postage costs as per their T & Cs. I was not aware that their T & Cs could over ride the Distance selling Regulations as the goods were damaged. I am not that familiar with requesting refunds through Amazon so can someone please steer me in the correct direction to raise a dispute using Amazon? Thanks.

Advice needed please. I had to attend a Crown Court in 2010 relating to a criminal offence. At the time I was granted legal aid, as this is means tested I am guessing the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) had done all the necessary checks. In 2011 I relocated to Amsterdam, Holland where I remained until November 2013. In September 2013, whilst I was residing in Holland, I was sent a letter by the LAA stating that according to their calculations I had equity above the value of £30,000 and therefore required to pay a contribution towards my legal fees. This amounted to £1800. I only discovered the correspondence whilst on a visit to the UK in October 2013. At this stage the LAA had already passed the "debt" to a collection agency, so I also had letters from them demanding payment or face legal enforcement (bailiffs, court etc). The equity the LAA were referring to is my mothers property. As per Land Registry records I am a co-owner of the property. This is correct, however, the LAA failed to investigate any further. Had they done so they would have discovered that I only have a 1% interest/share of the property. Since it is my mothers property, we had deeds drawn up outlining our share of the property (mine 1%, mother 99%). I wrote to the collection agency early November 2013 explaining that the LAA equity calculation was incorrect as I only have a 1% interest/share in the property. The collection agency requested evidence of the 1% share. Since so much time had passed since drawing up the property deeds I had a hard time finding the paperwork. In February 2014, I received letters from the Land Registry and a County Court advising me of court proceedings by the collection agency to recover the so called debt. After much searching I eventually found the property deeds and sent the document to the collection agency so that they could reassess my financial situation. Towards the end of March 2014 I received a letter from the collection agency stating that they were satisfied with the evidence I had provided (the property deeds) and that the county court case will be revoked. In a second paragraph they also stated that I am liable for the legal fees (£360) they had incurred! To date (03/04/14) I have not yet received any confirmation from the court that the case has been discontinued. I guess that will come is due course. Can they do this? If the LAA had done their job correctly in the first instance there would have been no need to pursue a debt that did not exist. And I now feel that I am having to pay for their incompetency. And CPR 38.6? Will this apply to me? I stumbled across this rule whilst doing a little research regarding my situation with the LAA/collection agency. Any help/advice anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone, Can anyone help me with my problem please. On Feb 14th 2014, the Crown Court ordered the CPS to pay me nearly £2000 in wasted costs but they will not pay me. Anyone know how I can enforce the order? Thanks Valgem

Hi, Has anyone been in a position where an employment tribunal have made a costs award when you can't pay it? e.g the award is more than what you have in your current account, no savings, very little equity in a house? I would like to know what would happen. Could the respondent then make you bankrupt if you couldn't pay? Thanks

The bank screwed up, and took out a payment that was supposed to come out every 28th of the month, on the 24th instead in January. The gist of it is, they claimed that I had chosen the payment to come out the last friday of every month, (In Jan that would have been 31st!). I've checked and triple checked, it is set for the 28th of every month. I told them that the last friday in Jan would have been the 31st, and the lady just went quiet, put me on hold for 10 minutes then came back without mentioning it. I had to call them twice, once before I got the charge to complain, they told me they wouldn't charge me. The second time, after the charge was put on to my account. The charge was only £8 which they refunded, without admitting their mistake, but has cost me around £10 in mobile phone charges. Can I claim this back? Also for the total of an hour spent on the phone to them?

Be warned everyone - this is our "experience We rented a barn conversion (Radlet Barn, Nether Stowey) with Holiday Cottages in January 2013. during our stay my partner slipped on the wet bathroom floor and which resulted in some bruising. The next day I also slipped on the wet bathroom floor, cutting my left foot and badly spraining my right foot. My injuries took quite a long time to heal and resulted in my absence from work for a week because driving was very difficult and could not get my shoe on due to the swelling. I could not play golf for 9 months as a result of the injuries. I told the owner as we were leaving that we had both suffered injuries due to his bathroom floor becoming very dangerous when wet and he just said “oh” Subsequently, Holiday Cottages requested on two occasions feedback on our stay by e-mail. I completed their online form second time around scoring them low due to the fact that we both left the barn limping quite badly due to the injuries we received and asked if they had completed health and safety inspections and Risk assessments before anyone else got worse injuries. I received no response This week (26th Feb 2014) we booked a cottage for this summer through them in Cornwall. Two days later we were advised that since we “complained” about the holiday experience in January 2013 Holiday Cottages you are refusing to accept any further bookings from us. As you will imagine we are both shocked and upset by their action particularly since we only completed an online form they requested for feedback ! We are sufficiently aggrieved to take further action against this quite appalling treatment by "Holiday Cottages” and will definitely be seeking compensation for damages. And their website states : ...And when it comes to customer service and satisfaction, we ensure that your family can relax and enjoy the surroundings, worry-free. Our combined experience means you can be confident in the holiday you've booked. Properties are hand-picked and managed to ensure your comfort and ease. We provide hospitality services and a "Count on Me!" service culture to all of our customers so if something comes up during your stay, someone is always available to answer your questions or assist you in any way. In fact, we pay attention to all the details so you don't have to. Best of all, online booking is quick and easy, and once you've booked, your reservation and dates are secure. " Be forewarned and forearmed with any further dealings you may have with these amateurs ******s !!

I missed a final payment for council tax so got a court summons. I then made this final payment and told them that I wouldn't pay this £100+ for "authority costs". I asked what exactly this £100+ was for and the representative said that it was to mail the letter. This can't possibly be legal. After I said that I was happy to go to court over it they said that the magistrates' court was no longer an option because I paid the council tax due. So where would I dispute this ridiculous £100+ to send a letter? They ended up waiving it after I said I refused to pay and I'd have to look into it. I had a similar situation with a landlord who deducted £100 from my deposit for letters he sent trying to collect money for disputed rent. I put a claim in the deposit protection scheme stating that fees have to reflect the actual cost of sending a letter and these fees can't be punitive. The adjudicator agreed and I got most of the money back (minus reasonable costs).

Hi all this is my first time posting here so sorry if it's in the wrong place! Basically to try and make things as short as possible, my car was rear ended by a milk/foodstuff tanker whilst stationary at a roundabout. Tanker wasn't stopping and had basically saw a gap (but not me!) visible minimal looking cometic damage to rear. Liability admitted My insurance company didn't want to carry out structural tests and dragged their heels a bit, and their approved repair centre was not BMW approved. Decided stupidly to contact a BMW body shop who directed me to accident exchange. They phoned me and quickly supplied a stupidly expensive hire car. They took my car to the body shop. Hear nothing on what the repairs where ( in my initial email to the body shop I stated damaged I had spotted and I did ask for checks of suspension/structure due to the impact/ size of tanker) I contacted the body shop directly, they then sent an estimate which did not include I phoned both claims handler and the body shop and questioned this and was told the third party did not authorise anything else to be done. I asked for reconsideration and was told I would have to pay for any tests. No contact other than a text saying I my car was ready, spoke to both body shop and accident exchange and was told my car was 'roadworthy and my hire car had to be removed, in ither words accept the car or have no car. Reluctantly agreed to have the car delivered to my place of work. On inspection noted rear carpet damage to boot (this was not caused by the accident and has 'appeared' in between!) rear high brake light non functional rear washer jet non functional, sunroof rear still damaged. Wrote on the delivery sheet and took a copy to say non happy not fully check above faults noted. Driving home to collect son from nursery tyre pressure Sensor comes on I check tyres all fine and pressure car doesn't feel right. Limp home (very short distance overall) try phoning claims handler and they basically wash there hands of it, body shop closed (have call log) Booked in to local garage for free check, they say alignments out funny wear to rear tyres. Next day have alignment booked in new tyres ordered in an effort to get the car safe. Tyres arrive the next day they spot both rear coils are sheared! Write a report for me stating not road worthy and due to accident at this point it's midday body shop that carried out the repairs is shut, no point phoning accident exchange! File a complaint with them via email. Wait until Monday and my husband drives me to the bodyshop for a personal visit. Ask for a full report in what repairs where carried out, after seeing no tests for road worthiness being carried out throw part of my rear coil on the table they admit they never carried out any checks and that they messed up, blaming the third party as they had no authorisation from the third party! Agreed to take car back and jig it for 'free' and apparent look at getting the other items sorted (all funnily located on the rear of the car!) the drive my car despite it being not roadworthy to there garage 27 plus miles away) I receive a call to say the third party won't pay for any extra repairs as the examiner (all from the third party) state the coil has some rust (the car has been driven above and two three other appointments and sat for three months now!)they say the sunroof had screws loosed even though I have my initial email stating I manually closed the roof and I did not want the interior of the car damaged) carpet is now apparent wearing due to age (looks more like scorch marks made during repairs. Brake light on rear and washer jet not even considered. I was told the bodyshop have repaired the light and washer jet. They want their hire car back this Monday and I either have to pay for new springs or have a car driven back I presume with two rear broken springs. They say as good will they will only charge me 109.00 plus vat per spring, phoned a few mechanics who say that they are pretty sure they are huffing labour in the price check ebay springs range from 40-80 PER SET. I was asked by the body shop to write a letter of complaint so I did with ten appendixes supporting it. Nothing. I am frustrated as I will now get a car with lots of defects, not sure if there are any more hidden, all the checks have been through the third party and claims handler doesn't push it at all I appear to have to do all the pushing and have been informed I will have to go through the small claims courts! I must add the following: My car was MOT'd 3-4 weeks prior to the accident no note of any spring wear - I've hustled this garage for years and they will always highlight any issues My car was at a local garage 4 days prior to the accident (different garage) who drive the car and he is our neighbour and he would have noted problems straight away! My car is regularly serviced (last service was a few thousand miles early!) I have emailed the FSO but heard nothing, accident exchange have washed their hands of this. Find out from other posts that the garage is financially linked to accident exchange! Not sure what to do so any advise would be great, I don't want to pay for the tears and certainly not to the body shop but it looks like unless I pay I will be completely car less!! Spoke to mechanic who said it is extremely rare that both coils would go at the same time likely to be accident related given the impact force and is happy to come and inspect and write a report which will mean I have two reports. Surely the third partys engineers report is flawed and biased at saving money as they failed to carry out any basic full checks the first time? What about the garage they admit negligence but not in writing (verbally in front of me and my husband and on the phone hence the 'good will' gesture. This has really begun to affect my health due to the stress. I have contacted the mail today who are a little interested watchdog with no reply and the local newspaper who are really keen to publish a story. I will phone my own insurance and ask for help, as they are not open today but will I expect get a flat and rightly so I told you so! PLEASE USE ACCIDENT EXCHANGE AT YOUR PERIL! I have been give a car not road worthy could have caused smother accident/death of me and my 3year old snd recieved 3 points and a fine for my brake light. I now have the joy of a unroadworthy car Monday and a nice bill to get the car safe! Please if you have any thoughts let me know we are very desperate now!

Received paper for appear in court for small amount left outstanding on our HP for Car. If we pay the amount before the court date are we still liable for court costs?

Hi, this is an enquiry on behalf of a friend of mine (he is 65 so was not quite on the ball with bills etc). He received his United Utilities water bill in March 2013 (for the year 2013/2014), it asked that he pay 50% in April and 50% in August. He normally pays it in full straight away, but due to his financial situation hadn't paid it at the time. He mentioned it to me so I told him to bring his bill round and I would look into setting up a direct debit. On 31 May 2013 I set him up an online account and tried to set up a direct debit for him, but, their website wouldn't allow me to do it so he told me to pay half the bill which they were demanding. Two days later he received a Court Summons for the full amount for the year (just over £400). I defended the claim stating that he had paid a total of 6 months of his account before receiving the summons and that also he disputed the fee they have charged for Solicitors costs of £50 as they had completed the summons in-house and not used a Solicitor. I know I may be wrong on this point hence the thread. I paid the balance of the bill in full on 4 July 2013. We hadn't heard anything from the court office so I phoned them a couple of times for updates. The last time I phoned them in October they told me that United Utilities had not replied and should have done so by July. I asked her then if the case would be struck out and she said no and that the case is on hold and put to stay. He has had no correspondence from the Court since sending in the defence and according to this link he should have received a Directions Questionnaire http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex306-eng.pdf However, in this link it says the following; https://www.gov.uk/respond-to-court-claim-for-money/deny-owing-the-money Now I checked his UU online account and it is showing an entry for Fees and Costs amounting to £80 (£30 court fees and £50 Solicitors fees). What is his legal position here? Does he still owe UU £80? and can we get this case struck out?

Urgent Help needed I settled a claim out of court regarding a dispute about a property, as im aware usually if you settle your liable to the costs my total legal fees where £3500 me thinking the claimants would be similar ish turns out to be £20000 after doing some reasearch on the forum I asked for a breakdown in costs and got an e mail today and its now £22095.53 , I wrote to claimants solicitor asking them to be fair and the fact the claimant did alot to progress the case on the 14th October 2013, I have till 13/12/2013 to reply, Im penniless now Ive re mortgaged to pay claiment £47,000 the max i could get was £50000 so the surplus of £3000 was to pay claimants solicitor Ive filled in and income/expenditure form and I only have £150 a month to spare and I havent included my food in that, can someone advice on what I need to do as I can prove im skint and aint got the money anymore to hire a solicitor only thing ive got is as ive had to re mortgage as buy to let as my wages where not good enough to raise the funds Ive got £60,000 positive equity in the house, if anyone interesting in helping i can send the rest of the bill of costs its 33 pages by private message, if anyone can please help i will be very greatful whats the best way of reducting the bill and forcing claimants soilictor to accept a payment plan of maybe £50 a month what forms do i need to fill in million thanks in advance John

Without going into all the details, My daughter was issued a points of dispute regarding a court costs. Due to the lack of legal knowledge a Default Certificate was issued, I attempted to have it set aside but the judge has said that she must list each point by 21 June, The cost exceed £15000 and she has a young baby and living on her own in a rented home. She is unable to pay this amount, or challenge the bill of costs. If we agree them and offer a small payment, would they threatened to issue a Statutory Demand which I would assume will make her bankrupt.

I am sure that this question will have been asked before but I can't find an answer. I am the Claimant in a County Court action. It is coming up to the trial date. What is the correct procedure and format of the claim? Is there a form? Thanks for your help in advance.

Awarded future costs for one years worth , , , but then u might have a new job one month after being awarded that. do u get to keep it ?

There is a legal procedure available to members of the public whereby a Judge can cancel a bailiff’s certificate if he is satisfied that the bailiff is “not a fit and proper person to hold a bailiff certificate”. The procedure is initiated by filing a Form 4 Complaint and details can be found in the “Sticky” section. In considering whether to deprive a bailiff of his livelihood the Judge will need to be satisfied that the bailiff has done something very serious indeed and, as has been made very clear on this forum (and indeed by way of evidence) a “Form 4 Compliant” is referred to a “litigation” and the court may...and indeed in some cases do.....order the complainant to pay costs to the bailiff in cases where the Form 4 complaint was not justified. I have repeatedly stated on this forum that there is a risk of the court ordering costs to be awarded in favour of the bailiff and it is for this reason that such (Form 4) complaints should only ever be made in very serious cases. This morning I received a copy of the Judge’s decision for dismissing a recent Form 4 Complaint. One copy ( of the decision) came to me from a local authority and another from a bailiff company (who were not in any way connected with the complaint). Unfortunately, both copies have the name of the complainant, the name of the bailiff, the vehicle registration number and details of the bailiff company. I am not good with computers and cannot "blank" out such details for this reason in order to preserve confidentiality I have accurately re typed a copy of the Judge’s decision which I will post in a few moments time.

Please could someone give me some advice? To cut a long story short my landlady served me with a section 21 notice as work needed carrying out on the property I was renting and she was unwilling to pay out. My local council were unable to house me within the notice period but have now rehoused me and I have handed back the keys to my old house. However my landlady still went ahead to get a possession order which was granted on 20th September. It states I have to be out on or before 4th October and pay £244.50 plus a fixed fee by then too. I am now out of the property but there's no way I can afford that sum of money by Friday. I live with my 2 children on my own and work part time plus have had the additional moving costs. I have spent 4 hours at CAB today but they were not helpful at all and were talking about court bailiffs and mounting court costs. Surely I can't pay what I don't have and there must be others in my situation? I just don't know what to do. Thanks

Hi and Help i have approached my freeholder for the price of extending my lease - i have a short lease of 62 years remaining. the freeholder has come back to me with a very high figure to bring the lease up to 99 years only, and to increase the ground rent from £52pa to £250 doubling every 25 years!!!! i have no issues with his wanting his legal costs. so now what? i want to draft a response, but not sure how to put it. i did approach a conveyencing solicitor, but they advised they would only get involved and draw up contracts once the premium was agreed. not only that, but that i must do things properly and serve the freeholder with a notice!!! by the way to achieve this with the solicitor will cost £1,500 +vat + disbursements - his costs. i understood that i could use a more informal route without the notice, but of course still include solicitors to draft contracts. anyway any comments in reply on this much appreciated. in the meantime i was thinking of this as my draft Dear Mr Freeholder thank you for your letter of the................advising of £.... wanted by you as a premium to bring the lease up to 99 years. however i am aware that the amount you have quoted may only achieved should i take the statue route, which would include a peppercorn/nil ground rent, and allow a further 90 years in addition to the 62 i have remaining. at this point should i offer a counter amount or suggest the freeholder review his premium. if someone who knows a bit more about these things than me could help with this response that would be great, or point out a link on site that already has a letter i could send. Thank you.

I have had a DCC sent to me for presumably solicitors fees for a debt with RBS for which debt was amicably agreed at a monthly fee and subsequently not showing as a CCJ. I presumed within this fee was the solicitors costs too as have been paying them direct. As I am trying to repair my credit record, if I cannot pay this DCC, will it show on my file like a CCJ? Can I submit anything to the court or solicitors to ask for time to pay as I am not able to meet this debt in one lump....?

Hi Can someone look at the attached HCEO letter posted through my door the charges costs etc do not look/feel right need someone in the know to advise. I have access to online banking to pay the Orig creditor - is there any advantage to paying the OC and then arguing costs. i do not want to pay over the odds , But a £522 for execution and officers fees ? He has not been into the premises and has no levy - this is first contact. Yes I knew about the CCJ, I contacted the orig creditors solicitors to arrange a payment plan ( i suggested 4 payments) ,they said they would revert shortly - well they did , via HCEO , oh well its my own fault . see attachment for costs. [ATTACH=CONFIG]46010[/ATTACH] Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice

Hi You may have noticed, I have another thread running at the moment, although in relation to an Orange UK matter, it is totally unrelated to this matter. (other thread relates to Mobile Contract Ts&Cs - this relates to Orange USB Dongle Broadband/Data Usage - costs!). So to begin, I have an Orange USB Dongle, on Contract - costing approx. £5 per month, for 500MB Data. I have had this for approx. 2 years, most of the time - forgotton about, sitting in a drawer for emergencies. Recent dispute/negotiations with Virgin Media, who provide me with Telephone/TV/Broadband - had meant my services being temporarily suspended. So during this period, I relied on using my Orange USB Dongle, being very careful to refrain from any form of streaming/downloading etc. Any heavy work required, likely to incur heavy charges - I would plan in advance and attend the library and use their internet /facilities. My VM Services were suspended for approx. 2 months (max). My Orange Bill dated 24 June - had not incurred any additional costs for data used (430MB) My Orange Bill dated 24 July however, came as a great shock - £62.70/ rating my usage for the month, as being 2319 MB. I was mortified. Unlike the Mobile Phone usage, which includes an itemization - Data Usage doesn't? Is there any way of establishing, just how I may have used this much data? I don't understand why it should be so high on the second month - used similarly?? Any help/advice - much appreciated! Thank you all

I have never done this before so hopefully I am posting in the right place. Long story short (ish) 2010 a man came to our garage and asked our young trainee ( on his break) to have a look at his car on the forecourt, young lad did, car engaged, the man got a fright stepped back and tripped and fell and hurt himself. ( Told police / ambulance the same) The insurance company are unable to offer indemnity as due to it being on the forecourt it is covered by the Road Traffic Act and he was under 25 and not insured. The man did hurt himself - not disputed, our trainee should have refused to help, he was in charge of the vehicle - not disputed. We have heard nothing for 2 years, changed out broker in the mean time. Court letters and doctors reports etc from the man started to arrive, so I have gone back to our original broker and have been forwarded a letter they received in 2012 ( which they never passed on) saying that the insurance company do not think there is a good enough case to dispute liability so we intend to make an offer to the claimant under our RTA obligation. Subject to us signing an "Assignement and Agreement" This was never signed. ( We never received it) They also dispute that it is covered by our public liability due to it being outside. The insurance company have addmited liability and will pay for the claim and all costs. The letter for this has just come in the post and they will then want to recover the costs from us. I called and spoke to the person dealing with it at the insurance company and they don't thnk that it is worth me getting a solicitor as they are going to pay, just a matter of how much. COST REVOVERY???? Now for the question - how will they do that, we are a small 3-4 person garage, with assets no where near what they would want. A limited company, with a very small bottom line, no debts and no creditors. Is it worth their while to force us into insolvency / administration - there is very little they can get that way. Will they force a monthly payment plan? Do they request accounts and then make a decision if it worth hammering onto us. Would this be based on them being sure they can get say 50% of the claim repaid - The insurance has a figure of £51,000 against the claim. As you can imagine this is really causing a huge amount of stress as we have no way of knowing what they intend to do. Any help or advice would be so appreciated.