Housing Benefit Reviews, Appeals, DisputeForm and Guidance If you have received a Housing Benefit ‘Decision Notice’ and disagree with the decision that has been made there is a three stage process to be followed: Stage 1 Ask the Council to Review its Decision. (NO COSTS) Stage 2 Take your Housing Benefit case to a Tribunal. (NO COSTS) Stage 3 Judicial Review (YES- LEGAL COSTS) STAGE1: Asking the Council to Review its Decision If you think the Council has made a wrong decision about your Housing Benefit, you can ask the Council to look at its decision again. What sort of decisions can you ask the Council to look at again? You can ask the council to take another look at its decision if it says: Ø Your application for housing benefit has been turned down. Ø You aren’t entitled to housing benefit anymore. Ø You‘re entitled to less housing benefit than you think you should get. Ø It has paid you too much housing benefit, and wants you to pay some of it back. Ø It will start paying housing benefit from a certain date, but you think it should be sooner i.e. if you had asked for your claim to be backdated. Ø It is going to pay your housing benefit direct to your landlord in the future. How to ask the Council to review a Housing Benefit decision You must write to the council within one calendar month of the date on the decision letter. If you leave it later than this, the council may say that it doesn’t have to look at your case. If the council’s letter doesn’t explain why they’ve made the decision, you can ask them to write to you with a proper explanation. If this happens, you’ll get extra time to appeal. The days between the council receiving your letter asking for reasons and replying to you don’t count towards the one-month time limit. In your letter to the council, try to explain clearly why you think the decisionis wrong. Include evidence if possible. For example: Ø If the council is wrong about how many children you have, you could send them your child benefit award letter Ø If it says that you’re earning more than you actually do, send photocopies of your payslips. Ø If the figure amounts used to reach the decision are incorrect. It's always best to hand the letter in to the council’s offices - (Always make sure you get a receipt - including the date you handed over the letter - and keep it somewhere safe). If you post the letter – (Always get a certificate of posting and/or use recorded delivery and remember to keep a note of the date of posting, along with a photocopy). What happens when the Council reviews a Housing Benefit decision? Your case will be looked at by a different decision maker from the one who made the original decision. The decision maker will take into account the reasons for the original decision, and any new information you have provided. You may be asked for more information at this point. If this is required the council will write to you again requesting the information they require. You will then get a letter from the council telling you if the decision has been changed or not. The time it takes for the council to decide will depend on how complicated your case is. STAGE 2: Taking Your Case to a Tribunal If you have asked the Council to review its decision and it doesn't change its mind, you may be able to appeal to a tribunal. This will involve a judge looking at your case, and making a decision on it. At a tribunal, a judge will look into your case and make a decision based on your evidence and the council’s evidence. You can attend the hearing if you wish. It’s best seek advice before going down this route, as Tribunals are quite complicated and time-consuming. Are there any Legal costs in Appealing to a Tribunal? NO There aren’t any legal costs What you can’t use a Tribunal for Some decisions made by a Council can’t be taken to a tribunal i.e. those to do with how frequently your benefit is paid. Tribunals also don’t deal with administrative problems, like if there’s been a delay or lack of courtesy from the council. If you think you’ve been treated badly, you should take this up with the Council’s Customer Service Department. Starting your Appeal to Tribunal You can download a Step by Step Guide from the Ministry of Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/tribunals/sscs/appeals You must ask for an appeal in writing. The council may give you a form to fill in, or you (or your adviser) could write a letter. Make it clear what you are appealing against, and why you think the decision is wrong. If possible, include evidence to support your case. Your appeal form or letter must reach the council within one month of the date on the decision letter. If you miss this deadline, you’ll need to ask the council to accept your appeal even though it’s late. Make sure you explain why you are applying late i.e. if you have been ill. If the Council says you haven’t given enough information When the Council looks at your letter, it might decide that you haven’t given proper reasons for an appeal. The Council may write to you and ask for more information. After that, if the Council still thinks you haven’t given enough information, it will ask the Tribunals Service to decide whether your appeal should go ahead. If theTribunal Service is satisfied that you’ve given enough information, the appeal can proceed. If not, your appeal won’t be allowed. Next stages in Appealing against a decision on your Housing Benefit The next step is for the Tribunals Service, which runs courts and tribunals in England and Wales – to decide whether you have a right to appeal or not. If it says that you do have a right of appeal, your appeal can go ahead. If it says you don’t, you won’t be able to carry on with your appeal. You’ll be sent a ‘pre-hearing enquiry form’ if your appeal is given the go-ahead. You must fill this in and send it back within 14 days. The appeal process will end if you don’t send back the form on time. If you can’t meet the deadline, it’s very important to contact the tribunal and let them know why. The form will ask you what sort of hearing you want. This can be either: Ø An Oral Hearing – You or Your Representative will need to go along to the tribunal. Ø Paper Hearing - You don’t have to attend. An oral hearing gives you a chance to put your case in person and answer any questions about your situation. The form also asks for details of your representative, if you have one. This is so the tribunal can send copies of your appeal papers direct to them. If you need a Translator or Interpreter to attend the hearing, make sure you let the tribunal and your representative know well in advance. Preparing for a Housing Benefit Tribunal Hearing Before the hearing takes place, you’ll need to put together evidence for your case and send it to the tribunal. If you’ve asked for an Oral Hearing, the Tribunal will let you where and when this will be held. They will tell you this at least 14 days before the Hearing takes place. It should be held somewhere you can get to fairly easily. (You will be able to claim travel expenses). If you can’t go because of a medical condition, you can ask for the Hearing to be held at your home. For a Paper Hearing, you won’t be told when it will take place, so make sure you send your evidence in as soon as possible. What happens at a Housing Benefit Tribunal Hearing? The Tribunal will involve the evidence being looked at by a legally qualified judge. They will consider all the facts, take into account what the law says and come to a decision. At an oral hearing, you or your representative will get a chance to explain your situation. If you go to the hearing, try not to be nervous or emotional. Make sure you present the facts as clearly as you can. The council may send someone to put forward their case as well. The judge will usually make a decision that day, or you can wait for the decision to be sent to you in writing. STAGE 3: Judicial Review If you don’t agree with the tribunal’s decision You might be able to appear to another, Higher Tribunal – known as an ‘Upper Tribunal’– if you don’t agree with the decision. It’s only possible to do this if you believe that the Tribunal didn’t apply the law properly. You will need to talk to someone who has specialist knowledge of benefits law, such as a solicitor or a welfare rights officer. Applying for a judicial review of a council’s decision Sometimes it's possible to use a process called 'judicial review' to challenge the council’s original decision in court. Judicial review can only be used to challenge the way the council made the decision, not the actual decision itself. It’s a complicated and expensive legal process, and you’ll need to get help from a solicitor or law centre. Appendix 1 contains Housing Benefit Dispute Form and Guidance (In PDF Format):

Hi all, Have a debt with Santander which was with IQOR, sent all correct letters to with ended in IQOR writing back on 14th FEB 2011 saying that they were going to conduct an investigation into the issues raised and they would write back with an outcome of the matter. that was the last i heard from them, until........ Receive NOTICE OF DEBT COLLECTION from WESCOT on saturday for the same debt (client ref number matches) Do i have to start the process again? or is there a different letter to send them as account is still in dispute even though its been over 2 years since last correspondence.

I purchased a product from a small company's website (they may be a sole trader rather than a ltd co), paid with a business debit card, but the goods never turned up. I've emailed several times, and always get a reply admitting that they still haven't sent it yet, but I will receive it in a couple of days time. Last contact was over a week ago, and I stated that I require the goods to be delivered by the next day, or to cancel my order and issue a full refund instead. Was again told I'd have it in a couple of days, but still nothing arrived. I spoke to my bank to request a chargeback, but they told me that they can't do it, and I need start a dispute through Paypal (the card processor, it wasn't done through my Paypal account). I have just spoken to Paypal who say they will look into it, but is it right that my bank cannot perform a chargeback on a debit card transaction like this? I won't name the business, or my bank for now, unless that would help?

Parked in a side street off a main road, many other cars parked there on the day, it was at the side of a cscs test centre, but mine was the only one booked. The offence stated was parking in a restricted street during prescribed hours. Id have thought though that the dyl were to stop people parking on the main road and cant see why I should be charged for parking in a side street with no dyl on the ground. Should I refuse to pay it? Thanks.

Hi everyone. I'm having an extension built at the rear of my property, which includes a zinc roof. We obtained a quote from local builders, and shortlisted, went to view his work, and spoke to his customers - all spoke well of him. The build progressed well up to roof level, at which point the builder mentioned the contractor he had included within his quote to supply the zinc roofing had gone under. He proceeded to identify a zinc supplier himself, order the sheets, and fit them. The finish didn't look correct (as I'd been looking on-line at finished projects), so I questioned him on the finish, and he stated it was fitted correctly. Still not happy I brought in a few zinc installers who have all stated its been incorrectly specified and fitted with problems including incorrect type of zinc, wrong size nails in the zinc clips (could result in the sheets coming loose), sheets being too short, not watertight - and the list goes on. When I gave him the news, his answer was - "you asked for zinc, you got zinc". He's been aggressive in his communication and is threatening legal action against me as he doesn't want the cost of correcting this using experienced and trained contractors. In a nutshell, he's tried to increase his profit by doing the job himself, has purchased £2k worth of zinc that looks as though it cannot be used, and he's been told to do the job correctly is going to cost between £4-6k. He'd already left site as we were waiting for windows and doors to be manufactured and fitted, but in all honesty I don't want him back. This work hasn't been done with a contract, just on the back of a hand-shake. I'd appreciate some advice on how to proceed, as I need to understand where I stand with regard to formally ending his involvement and bringing in trades to complete the work. There's also the £2k of zinc that I've paid for and cannot be used, and he's also retained structural steelwork that I've paid for and will need to finish the work. Many Thanks.

Hi All, First of all am new here and I ve just stumbled upon pinky696's thread which has taken a good 2-3 hours to read through the thread, so here is hoping someone can advice me. I have an HSBC account with an overdraft limit of £1,500 this was my salary account and has always been paid into this account, I have a default registered in April 2007 but is still showing in my credit file 6 years later, but now that I suppose it should no longer be there based on the fact that a default should drop off the account after 6 years, should this still be registered on my account at all? Account Opened 21 March 2007 Last Updated28 February 2013 Opening Balance £0 Credit Limit £1,500 Headroom £1,500 Worst Status 1 If not who should i take this up with, Callcredit or HSBC? Thanks in advance. PS: Just edited the Post title as it seems a but misleading.

Hello, I'm needing a bit of help. I've contacted my local citizen's advice bureau but they just emailed me some generic papers ... I moved out of a private flat rental a couple of months ago. I left it cleaner than when I moved in, and with a number of issues I'd reported to the landlord which he never fixed. The only issue was where my deep fat fryer had been, oil had evaporated onto a 3' x 1' of wall. It scrubs away but unfortunately I'm in constantly poor health and ran out of time/ability to do it before I moved out. The landlord declined a final inspection with after ignoring my phone calls in the days before, and instead hanging around at the flat below (which he also owns) on the final day of my agreement "hoping he'd bump into me". I was at work, and had left messages saying I would be available in the evenings. As he'd been "hanging around" all day he didn't want to go back (he lives a matter of 2 minutes away by car, 5-10 walking) to do the inspection with me. My landlord has not returned my deposit, or contacted me at all until I sent him a letter before action to recover my deposit. I'd previously tried to contact mydeposits.co.uk to raise a dispute to recover it, but they informed me that because my contract was renews and my landlord didn't reprotect it, my deposit was no longer protected with them. I mentioned this in my letter before action. In response to this, my landlord replied that my deposit was protected (a lie), that he'd been waiting for me to contact him (despite him saying he'd contact me), and that he wants to deduct £120 for because of the "candle wax" that "I'm aware will not come off" (wax would scrape off!) so the wallpaper has to be stripped and redecorated. I'm happy to pay for someone to scrub the oil off the wall, however the wall in question is NOT papered, its paint directly on plaster. I'd be happy to pay for some paint as well but the kitchen needed repainting anyway as it was in poor condition from the previous tenant. I'm not sure what would be a fair deduction in this case. I'm not sure where to proceed from here. As far as I can tell I have three options: 1) sort it out with him directly, 2) make him protect my deposit in retrospect (is that possible?) so I can use a proper dispute service, or 3) send him court papers. I don't think I can handle option 1, as the landlord is intimidating and difficult to speak to as he evades answering questions a lot. I don't know if option 2 is even possible, so I'm hoping someone can help. Thanks in advance.*

hi guys i have posted threads on here before and have been given some good advice so thought id try for some opinions on this issue. ill try and put as much info as i can so sorry if i go on a bit. I have recently been on part time hours at work due to depression from the tragic death of our 4 year old son. Landlord knows about this as it was all over the news and he laid flowers at our door. We have been living here for 18 months and to be fair to landlord in the first 6 months we weren't always on time with the rent and he would turn up unannounced on many occasions asking why it was late. So since last november we have been on time every month until this november when we were 3 days late. He turned up and quietly put our notice through the door. We need to be out by 9th feb. Our rent was due on 10th but we are 225 in arrears at the moment until housing benefit clears. Today out of the blue a gas man turns up to check the boiler. I txt landlord saying arent we supposed to have 24hrs notice if anyone is going to turn up? His reply was. "Arent you supposed to pay the rent on time tell him to come back later if its not convenient". As i said earlier he has turned up out of the blue on many occasions once being very rude and aggressive to me infront of my kids! All because i went to his house as i couldnt get in touch with him on his phone when the boiler broke down. He was in america and didnt take his phone with him so his daughter had to sort a plumber out for us. As soon as he got back from his holiday he was banging the door (without notice obviously). "how dare you involve my family if there is any issues you deal with me and only me leave my family out of it." So today is the final straw for me and as you can imagine i have had enough of this rude heartless landlord and im at the point of saying stuff you and not giving him anymore rent and tell him to keep the deposit. Any thoughts, advice or ideas? Thanks in advanc

Hi, I think I need a lawyer to answer this one! Cutting a long story short, back in November last year I bought a car on finance - it is on HP. Aside from issues I have had with the way in which the dealer extracted money from me for the car, it has been a nightmare - constantly breaking down and not fit for purpose. After lots of to'ing and fro'ing the dealer has offered £400 to settle my claim for repairs - the actual cost to me has been £1000 - and the car still has problems. I was told by CAB that the responsibility for the car is with the finance company - I have been dealing with the finance company - but suddenly the dealer made the offer as above. Now I am also in dispute with the finance company - they are saying that they did not authorise work to be done on the car (work which the dealer is not prepared to pay for and not included in the £400 offer). What I need to know is: 1. The finance company is quoting the Sale of Goods Act 1973 - and saying that they can choose who does the repairs or they can rescind the deal and have the car back. Is that the correct law - I don't recall that that is the law that CAB quoted me as being relevant? 2. Although the dealer has offered £400 and asked me to sign an agreement that I accept that as full and final settlement of any claims against them, can I still pursue the finance company for the repairs that the dealer will not pay for? 3. How would I stand if I took the £400 and returned the car to the finance company and refused to pay them any more installments? Fred

Wonder if anyone can offer any advice on a situation I am currently dealing with? We have had a cleaning company come and do a weekly clean at our house for the past 3 or so years. They would send a team of two ladies to do the work, usually the same lady - D - who I was confident knew what she was doing, and a variety of other ladies, none of them for more than a few weeks or months at a time (they often seemed to give D new staff to work with and train on the job). In general we were happy with the work the cleaners did, but were increasingly feeling unhappy about the company itself and the way they do business (in particular finding out that, although they have insurance in place in case of accidental breakages, they refuse to use it and take the cost of any breakages out of the wages of the cleaners themselves - the net effect of which is naturally going to be that the cleaners are unlikely to admit to damage/breakages unless they have to). These various niggles came to a head when D decided to leave the company and the loss of the one trusted cleaner who we felt comfortable with was the trigger in us deciding to terminate our contract with the company and find an alternative cleaner. At about this time, when we were looking at contacting other cleaning companies, but had not yet contacted the current provider to cancel their services, our downstairs toilet started making odd noises (the day after the cleaners had been and cleaned). The downstairs toilet is a Saniflo unit with a macerator in it, which means you cannot put anything other than toilet paper down it, or the macerator may clog and break. We are obviously very aware of this and make sure to never put anything down the toilet and I had made sure the cleaners were aware of this - in particular D who we were quite confident was very careful in this respect. In the 3 years that we've been having cleans by this company we have actually had to have repairs done to the Saniflo unit in the downstairs bathroom on two previous occasions - the second occasion actually requiring a replacement unit (at a cost of £250!!). On both occasions it was found that the macerator unit was clogged with some kind of wet wipe. We never raised this issue with the cleaning company on these occasions (other than asking the cleaners if they had put anything down the toilet - which they strenuously denied - and reiterating that nothing should be put down there) as we felt that, even though we were sure that we had not put anything down there, it was our word against theirs and we had no proof the cleaners had put anything down there. As the unit had started making noises again not long after the cleaners (without D who had now left the company) had been, we once again arranged for a plumber to come out to look at the unit and I wrote and informed the cleaning company that we wanted to cancel their services and explained that before making final settlement of any outstanding invoices, we would need to see what the plumber found and, if the unit was found to be clogged with a wipe, we would be deducting the cost of the repairs from the money we owed to them. The immediate response was a complete denial of any responsibility and a demand for immediate payment of the outstanding invoice. I politely replied that I would wait and see what the plumber found. As expected, the unit was found to be clogged with a wet wipe. Expecting the company to be less than reasonable (the owner's unprofessionalism was another reason why we decided to dispense with their services), I took photos of the blockage in situ and as the plumber removed it. I have also kept the remains of the wipe as evidence. We then paid the outstanding invoice, minus the £50 plumber's fee. The company owner's immediate response was to a) deny responsibility, and b) insist that the proper way for us to have dealt with this would have been to pay her invoice in full and then send her an invoice for the plumber's costs, as otherwise she was unable to balance her books. We replied that to balance her books she simply needed to issue a credit note to us for the amount we had deducted to cover the plumber's fees. She then basically said we would be hearing from her solicitors. I have today had a letter from her demanding the contact details of our plumber so that her solicitor can contact him and also saying that she had consulted a plumber of her own who told her that the plumber's receipt (which we scanned and emailed to her as proof of the amount he charged us) was "unprofessional" (it was just a basic receipt from a receipt book, detailing the works done and amount charged but he said he would be happy to provide a more detailed report on letterheaded paper if needed) and also that he had "vastly undercharged" for the work done, *if* such work had indeed been done. She's stated that if she doesn't hear from us within 7 days, she will assume that we don't have the plumber's details (so basically she is suggesting that we are lying and never had any work done on the unit at all) and we'll be hearing from her solicitor. I intend to reply to her letter giving her the plumber's details and also informing her that I have photographic evidence of the work done. What I would like some advice on is where things are likely to go from here. For all her talk of solicitors, I am guessing that all she can really do is take us to small claims court. If she does so, does anyone have any idea of what the outcome is likely to be? I am very aware that this basically boils down to our word against hers. However, we are adamant that this damage is not our fault as neither my husband or I have ever, or would ever, put anything down the toilet. The children do not go in the downstairs toilet unsupervised and nor are there any wipes in the room. The owner of the cleaning business is adamant that her staff do not use any kind of cleaning wipes and says she can provide testimonials to that effect from the staff and business records going back 6 years that show that she does not purchase cleaning wipes. I don't know if the staff do using cleaning wipes or not - I've never seen them do so but my husband says he has. We do have packets of baby wipes around the house so I can only assume that either the cleaners do use cleaning wipes or for some reason they pick use one of my baby wipes or pick up a discarded wipe from somewhere and instead of putting it in the bin (which has been emptied as part of the cleaning process) dispose of it in the toilet. This is now 3 times that a wipe has been found blocking the toilet and it's NOT us and the only other people it can be is the cleaners. For us, it's not really about the money now but about the principal of the thing - this is the third time we've had repairs needed to the unit and we know it's not our fault and we're damned if we're paying for it again! Thanks for any help - sorry this turned into such an essay!

Hi CAGers, hope you are all well, I know it's been a while since my last post, but here goes... After nearly a year of silence from my 3 debtors, it seems one of the CC companies wasn't happy with me. The rough timeline is as follows: CAPQUEST was repeatedly badgering me for money owed to Barclaycard I requested a CCA by letter about a year ago (recorded and PO for £1 enclosed) Heard nothing after the legal period had passed, so sent follow up stating the account was now in dispute as no CCA had been sent to me. Then...bliss...at least for a while Now it seems even though I had requested the CCA and sent the letter of non-compliance, the debt has now been sold to some muppets going by the name MKRR Got a nice "friendly" letter from them a few weeks ago with a freephone number (refreshing), gave them a call and told them the account was in dispute and they were illegally contacting me. They kept badgering me for a reason of non payment (I wasn't going to humour them by telling them I was in a deep 3 year depression, broke and trying to "support" my wife and then-new-born kid) I told them I would not discuss such things on the phone and told them to stop contacting me. They told me they couldn't take me off their dialler system and i would continue to receive calls/letters I told them I had requested a CCA from the previous DCA which was never received and demanded that MKRR obtain this and leave me well alone. They said they would request the CCA (no letter to prove this mind you) but they would not put the collection on hold. At which point I told them that I would only converse via letter. Now....I have received this lovely (and familiar) FINAL NOTICE letter from MKRR (as attached) I have read through it and have those old feelings of anger and upset boiling back to the surface again. Where do I stand with this guys? I think they don't have a leg to stand on and are probably breaking some kind of law trying to chase me with the account in dispute, but I don't know this for certain. Thanks for any advice you are kind enough to offer me, P.

I took out a Sky TV, Broadband and Telephone package with Sky in Oct last year. When I took out the package, I asked the sales person whether I needed to contact BT to cancel anything and was told Sky would do everything and I didn't need to contact them for anything. I expressed my concern at having to pay twice if it isn't cancelled and the sales person reiterated I definitely didn't have to do anything. Sky came in November and did something to the phone line, which activated my Sky Broadband and set up the router. I assumed that was the end of it. Then at the end of December I received a statement from BT showing I had been billed up to 31st December and setting out my bill for the next 3 months. I rang them and they advised that Sky didn't contact them, that the BT line was still running and I needed to take it up with Sky. The Sky customer service person I then rang on was very apologetic but also unhelpful and told me to go back to the salesperson and ask why he told me that I cancelled BT but had to put 31 days notice in so was billed for one more month and the 2 months before I received the bill. I wrote a letter of complaint to Sky who offered a £20 compensation but stated that it is the account holder's responsibility to cancel BT so they are not liable for any fault. I replied and explained once again that I was given incorrect information by their sales person who told me categorically I did not have to contact BT at all with regards to my transfer to Sky. Sky have replied once again refusing to take any responsibility, saying I should have checked my terms and conditions (which I do understand but why would I when I was told explicitly by their staff that I didn't need to do anything) but they increased the compensation to £35. I am still over £15 out of pocket with the offer of £35 which I am very annoyed about as the whole point of me switching to Sky was to save money. Should I accept the £35 or push this further? Where can I go next? Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, After some help please. Im hoping someone on here is either is an employment law specialist or can confirm if I am correct or not. So the problem. I joined this company on the 22nd of October 2012. My hourly rate was £7.21 a hour although they advertised it at £14,000pm (I worked part time 25hrs a week) So was halve, this shouldnt matter due to my pay slip saying £7.21ph, but there is a reason I mentioned it but ill get to that in a bit. Basically I had a lot of time off during december and beginning of January. So I was overpaid in Januarys pay. This is fine I understand this. I went back on the 22nd of January and left the company on the 31st, I had 2 1/2 off in this period. I know I had been overpaid but I still have 43 hours owed in Holiday. They said to me the way they work it out I was overpaid by 60hrs and they took my holiday to pay this back so I still owe them 17hrs. I requested my timesheets from the 22nd of october to the 31 of jan so I could add up all the hours I have worked in total. In total I worked 156.4 hours (I totalled it up to the minute)So I work this out to be 156 x £7.21 = £1124.76 Now my final pay total was £1288.84 meaning I have been overpaid by £164.08. This is fine I know I have been and I accepted that to them. I then proceeded to tell them that theses calculations did not take into account the 43 hours holiday pay I am owed. They replied and said, they way they work the pay out, I owe 60 hours and my holiday entitlement was taken to pay this back. I tried to explain my thinking, I said, I doesnt matter what way you work the pay out, If I worked 156 hours and have 43 hours holiday I should have taken home at end of employment £1434.79 which means I have been underpaid by £145.95. They insist I am wrong and no matter what I say or the way I try and explain it, they still say I am wrong. So here I am, Asking if someone can confirm if I am correct or not or give me some advice where to go etc. Am I correct in thinking, If I worked 156 and have 43 hours holiday for the entire time I worked there, my final pay should represent 199 x £7.21 regardless of the way its worked out. The hours I added up was sent to me by HR and are the same time sheets payroll use to calculate our pay, so they are correct. Another thing, My payslip say "salary £625 one side and £7.21 ph on the other side, I forgot to ask about this, But surely, If I worked 100 hours in a month the salary should say £721. I worked Monday to friday with the odd Sunday, So one week I would have a randon day off so it still worked out 100 hours in a month, So they cant say its due to being shifts and some months being 80 hours and others being 120. Any thoughts etc, Please if I am wrong say so but please try and explain in laymans terms as my previous employers was just saying I am wrong and banging on about they work it out by salary and they are 100% its correct. Endless times I told them to sit and add up every hour I worked but they refused saying it was a waste of time. If you need any further info please dont hesitate to ask or pm me Ill stop blabbing now. Thank you in advance. EDIT: Heres is the hours I worked in order from finnish to start. I havent added dates as that will take ages but im sure you get it. 5h2m - 30/1/13 49m 5h4m 2h49m 5h 5h 5h 5h 5h 4h54m 5h1m 4h56m 5h5m 5h6m 5h8m 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 3h50m 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h 4h - 22/10/12

Hello, I really would appreciate some advice on my current situation. We rented a flat for 18 months which ended a few days ago. Before we signed the agreement, we requested a check in report several times from the agent and our request was never acknowledged. The deposit is protected with TDS. When we moved into the flat, we spotted some damage around the place, the building is also pretty old, and it does show sign of wear and tear. However we trusted the landlord and assumed they already knew about the pre existing damage and we went around taking some photos of the place. The place was 'clean' but it certainly wasn't spotless as we had to do another full clean before we unpacked. The tenancy has now finished and we are now currently in a dispute with the landlord for a breach of contract. Professional Clean The landlord only provided us with receipts 11 days before the end of the agreement that the place needs to be professionally cleaned as it was professionally cleaned at the start. The contract states 'To pay (or pay for cleaning) to the same standard as check in'. If we had known it was cleaned from the start we would have made a complaint. We returned the flat in a totally clean state however she is not satisfied. She is using this as a formality to get the next tenant to pay for professional cleaning. Sofa We requested the landlord remove a sofa from the flat and we agreed to replace it with one of similar value and condition. The agent informed us that the landlord did not know the value or condition however we have discretion on its replacement as long as it did not need to be removed from the flat. (We have email evidence). Our circumstances changed and we ended up buying a brand new sofa which we never intended to leave it behind because we paid £400 for it. We told the agent that we will remove our sofa and replace it with a second hand sofa as we agreed on the email. However the contract says that we would replace it with a 'new sofa' which is not what we agreed with on the emails. So she is not happy with the second hand sofa we left behind and she said it will have to be removed even though we said that we will buy a new sofa cover but she did not agree to it. It was never our intention to leave behind a new sofa. I told her that this is an unfair clause and is not in line with what we agreed via email. The agent never bought this clause to our attention, if we had known we surely would have requested some changes to it. The reason why they removed the our sofa was because it was not 'like for like' and it wasn't 'in keeping with the flat' I told her that if there were caveats to the removal of the sofa this should have been agreed upfront with us. It was a pretty decent second hand Ikea sofa, all it needed was a new cover. Damage There was pre existing damage to the property when we moved in. We knew it was there but never reported it, only because we trusted the landlord and assumed that they were aware of it. Now she has come back and said we deliberately damaged and she is seeking compensation. From my understanding, she cannot force us to get a professional clean done as long as we left it in a clean state (which we did), any damage cannot be substantiated without a check in report, and the sofa is a unique situation. She said that she is not legally obligated to get a check in report done. This may be the case, but she is saying that she has photos of the flat, before we moved in and everything was in working order. My feeling is that she has gone around taking photos of the flat after we moved out to represent a 'perfect' state. She now says that she wants to take legal action against us, and my worry is that she will go down the small claims court route and I am not too sure what to do and what my rights are. Basically she has waged a personal vendetta against us because we actually stood up to her and refused to pay for the professional cleaning of the flat which we had no obligation to do. Please help. We are professional honest people, we paid the rent on time and it is pretty awful how this woman is now treating us. Thanks in advance

I would hugely welcome any advice on the following as an urgent issue. While I appreciate it is a little bit of a read, I am truly helpless in the matter at current and would be very grateful for your insights. I am insured through Marketstudy as a company, however Adrian Flux is the insurance broker. I have recently paid for insurance on a motorbike and additionally a car; these insurance costs have been paid in full annual amounts on separate policies. The car has been insured for three months of an annual policy, the motorbike policy starts in three weeks time but the amount has been paid in full. Yesterday (02-Apr) I was contacted by an individual from Adrian Flux. I have at no point indicated to any insurance company (I have been with Adrian Flux for three years) that I perform recreationally within a local band, and I can honestly confirm to you all I do so on a strictly none-profit basis. Their representative explained to me they have identified I perform in a band whose records are sold digitally via iTunes; this, in their eyes, is classed as an undisclosed secondary occupation, and as result they must class both this and “ticket sales” as supplementary income. Furthermore, they have advised me there will be an additional £92.13 charge for the insurance of my motorbike,and they have now refused to insure my car on this principal alone. They have issued me with a “Road Traffic Act Cancellation Letter” which stipulates “This cancellation letter has been issued as we are not in receipt of;”, however it is simply blank from that point. It has been made clear, however, if I do not cancel my car policy within 7 days I will be uninsured, blacklisted as having been refused insurance and not financially remunerated in any form. The effects of this for me are as follows; I must either pay an additional £92.13 to continue insurance on the motorbike, or pay a £30 cancellation fee (purely because I am within a 14 day grace period of taking the policy out). With regards to the car, I have no choice but to cancel the policy and will lose half of the value of the policy total (£265) and have to pay an additional £100 cancellation fee. This is apparently because half of any cancellation goes directly to the underwriter outside of the grace period. I have been quoted by two different company representatives I will be refunded £154.50/£237.33 as a result of mandatory policy closure on a £530 policy, whichhas been active for 3 months. Firstly, I am outraged to say I have effectively been “checked up on” by my insurance company as I have no convictions, points or anything else to hide for that matter. My band is purely recreational and any money passing through the band is both pitiful in amount and directed to my guitarists Paypal account; however we have not even received any income at all as of yet, regardless of how negligible it would be. I can prove I have no secondary income as no money has entered my bank account outside of my salary figure as a heating engineer; my only income source. It is additionally worth noting I have only been part of this band for 11 weeks, a five track EP has been live 2 weeks and no monies generated. I now have six days to act on the matter, and would greatly appreciate any advice that could be offered, as I am a naive individual when dealing with UK laws and entirely confused as to what action I can take. Is it worth contacting the financial ombudsman service? All I know, is I am both appalled as a loyal, honest and law-abiding customer, and suffering from what appears to be akin to a case of victimisation and exploitation. Thank-you all kindly for your advice in advance, Mike

Hiya, My partner & I are having a bit of trouble with Santander, My partner got a ring in a jewellers in 2011,the credit was with Santander,he paid the deposit,there was then to be 9 additional payments to come out by DD,we missed a payment around 4 months later so double the amount came out the next month by DD,and a charge,so all was up to date..we opened a santander joint account around when the last payment was due, the DD was changed to the new account,along with TV licence etc.. But nothing came out of our new account as it wasn't set up properly,luckily the ring payment came out of our old bank which had enough funds to cover it, so all payments were made and our credit report reflected this, two months later,when we had stopped using the new santander joint account as it was more trouble than it was worth,Santander (ring DD)..tried to come out,even though it had been fully paid..this took us into an unnaranged OD with the joint account,at £25 a day charges and returnded DD fees...we didn't find out until weeks later as we never used the account and it had no money in it,so we didn't log on to online banking ever..Santander (ring DD) ..repeatedly tried to take the payment which wasnt due.. we then had bank charges which were around £400..by the time we found out and got to the local branch and cancel the DD..the Santander bank charges now total £500 because of interest, also Santander Cards (for the ring)..have repeatedly sent collection letters since september 2012..adding on charges,we have had several phone calls with them requesting our monthly statements showing that we don't owe anything,as the person on the other end of the phone has also said, they have no idea why the DD was re-set up when no payment was due,3 times they have promised to send the statements proving we still owe an payment...we hear nothing for 2 weeks,then get collection letters again,and no proof or statements have been sent,after several phone calls they have repeatedly said they will put the account on hold whilst it is investigated..that wasn't done,my partner now has a default..and the account has now been passed to the Lewis group ..Santander are now saying they can no longer discuss the account because it is with Lewis group..the Lewis group are saying they can't get our statements from Santander..and we have 14 days to prove we have paid the money, before they send a bailiff or we get a CCJ..we are looking to get a mortgage in the next few years so obviously we don't want this to happen..we also have no disposable income at all at the moment to pay the disputed amount to avoid this as we are struggling with existing payments now my partner has just had an accident at work and i have been on maternity for a few months.. We can't get the bank statement to prove we have paid the full amount as that account is now closed,they said they can't accept our credit report showing 10 payments (it actually shows 12 ok payments,then it turns into a default after having some late payments on there) we also can't dispute the £500 charges with Santander bank until we prove that the DD was taken as a mistake so the charges are escalating quite quickly.. the joint account late payment is now showing on my credit report which i am worried about as i can't have any DMP's,arrangements with creditors,IVA's etc because of my job... any ideas what we can do next? ..it is very difficult to visit banks or post letters as my partner is unable to walk now for a month or two because of his injury,and i am still recovering from a ceasarean section, Thanks in advance for any advice,

Hiya, My partner & I are having a bit of trouble with Santander, My partner got a ring in a jewellers in 2011,the credit was with Santander,he paid the deposit,there was then to be 9 additional payments to come out by DD,we missed a payment around 4 months later so double the amount came out the next month by DD,and a charge,so all was up to date..we opened a santander joint account around when the last payment was due, the DD was changed to the new account,along with TV licence etc.. But nothing came out of our new account as it wasn't set up properly,luckily the ring payment came out of our old bank which had enough funds to cover it, so all payments were made and our credit report reflected this, two months later,when we had stopped using the new santander joint account as it was more trouble than it was worth,Santander (ring DD)..tried to come out,even though it had been fully paid..this took us into an unnaranged OD with the joint account,at £25 a day charges and returnded DD fees...we didn't find out until weeks later as we never used the account and it had no money in it,so we didn't log on to online banking ever..Santander (ring DD) ..repeatedly tried to take the payment which wasnt due.. we then had bank charges which were around £400..by the time we found out and got to the local branch and cancel the DD..the Santander bank charges now total £500 because of interest, also Santander Cards (for the ring)..have repeatedly sent collection letters since september 2012..adding on charges,we have had several phone calls with them requesting our monthly statements showing that we don't owe anything,as the person on the other end of the phone has also said, they have no idea why the DD was re-set up when no payment was due,3 times they have promised to send the statements proving we still owe an payment...we hear nothing for 2 weeks,then get collection letters again,and no proof or statements have been sent,after several phone calls they have repeatedly said they will put the account on hold whilst it is investigated..that wasn't done,my partner now has a default..and the account has now been passed to the Lewis group ..Santander are now saying they can no longer discuss the account because it is with Lewis group..the Lewis group are saying they can't get our statements from Santander..and we have 14 days to prove we have paid the money, before they send a bailiff or we get a CCJ..we are looking to get a mortgage in the next few years so obviously we don't want this to happen..we also have no disposable income at all at the moment to pay the disputed amount to avoid this as we are struggling with existing payments now my partner has just had an accident at work and i have been on maternity for a few months.. We can't get the bank statement to prove we have paid the full amount as that account is now closed,they said they can't accept our credit report showing 10 payments (it actually shows 12 ok payments,then it turns into a default after having some late payments on there) we also can't dispute the £500 charges with Santander bank until we prove that the DD was taken as a mistake so the charges are escalating quite quickly.. the joint account late payment is now showing on my credit report which i am worried about as i can't have any DMP's,arrangements with creditors,IVA's etc because of my job... any ideas what we can do next? ..it is very difficult to visit banks or post letters as my partner is unable to walk now for a month or two because of his injury,and i am still recovering from a ceasarean section, i have also posted this in the general debt group aswell, Thanks in advance for any advice,

Hi, Not sure if I'm posting in the right place here but I need some advice with catalogue debt. I have recently received 3 letters from lowell finance saying that I owe money for 3 separate catalogue debts, 2 with shop direct and 1 with JD Williams. But I never took these out! I recently opened a credit account with Fashion World just so that I could get the 10% off and have since payed this off in full as I don't want to build up debts and I'm assuming that's how they have found me to send me these letters. The debt is from my previous address at University and I don't know who has taken them out but I wasn't even living there when the items were delivered. It's a problem for me though as I can't prove this, I found out that I was 5 months pregnant in early April of 2011 and moved home however my lease wasn't up until the end of June. I had already payed my rent for that term that covered me up until the end of my tenancy and just wanted to move home as I had decided to take a break from Uni to concentrate on the baby and sorting everything out. I have since moved in with my boyfriend and we have been living together for over a year now and I have had no letters from any debt companies until I opened the Fashion World account. Now I don't know what to do, I wasn't living at the address at the time but my tenancy agreement didn't end until the end of June and the items were delivered before that. Is there anything I can do?? The debts mount up to well over £1000 and I don't want to be paying that back but they are threatening to take me to court and obviously I don't want that and I'm worried about any affect this is going to have on my credit rating. Thanks for any advice you can give, Rachael

I got a CCJ 5 years ago at an address I havent lived at for over 7 years. I obviously didnt get the letters about court proceedings etc. as I had moved house This has obviously got 12 months to go before its dropped off but i really need a mortgage: County Court Judgment Active Judgment date 01/09/2008 Amount £ 388 Court name Northampton Can anything be done to challenge this? I dont even recall what it is for

I had an account at my previous address for gas and electricity with Scottish power, I put the account in dispute re the charges for when the gas wasn't used, I had a prepay meter and couldn't afford to put money on it as the charges ate it all up and I wasn't getting much gas, as the costs of gas had risen, so I used an electric heater when desperate and bathed at my parents home and didn't use any gas, but the meter kept clocking up the standing charge, which I asked SP to consider either cutting off the supply as I wasn't using it or amend the standing charge, they knew I wasn't using it as there was no usage, I had statements showing this and the demand for the charges for supplying gas when I wasn't using any. They ignored my letters and I heard no more, but now its on Noddle as a default.

:mad2:I was promised by Barclays customer service advisor on March 1st 2011 if I made a large overpayment of £5046 I could have new loan of £6000 or £7000 for 10 years for interest rate of 11% or 12% for £104 a month, but if I was declined I could have my overpayment back. I paid £5046 off my loan to get the new loan, but when I was advised that the offer didn't exist, I was told that I can't have my overpayment back. I took it to the FSA they favoured Barclays because they send inaccurate details of me being declined a loan ehen I wasn't. I have threated them court still no reply. I have asked for transcript of that call, they they havn't got record of it. So what can I do urgent please help ?

in December 2012 my fiancé approached BRIGHTHOUSE and asked if we could store our "bigger" items while we moved house and the house was decorated, (fridge-freezer,tv,3piece suite,washer) we were told we could store our items free of charge for up to 30days at a time until our new house was ready, "PICK UP AND HOLD" when our items were returned to us we would then carry on paying for them. we received a phone call out of the blue telling us our items have been claimed back by brighthouse and you will lose all money already paid on them because they have been in storage for longer than 30days. long story short ......... I could prove our items had "NOT" been there for longer than 30 days, proving them wrong I was then told "your items have not been taken from you but have been sent for service/repair" ! and will be returned back to you when they arrive back in store, bored of waiting for them to pull there finger out I phoned brighthouse asking where our items were and when they are to be returned to us ? I was told ..... we think your sofa has been sold but we will find you another one and get your items sent out to you, someone will call you tomorrow. no one phoned so I phoned them, this time I was told ........ your 3 piece suite is here but we cant find anything else we will find them and call you in 2 days. constant phone calls from me to brighthouse (head office, managers, area managers and till monkeys) have got me nowhere they keep brushing me of with we have found .... "this, that and the other" and are still trying to find the rest, Or "COME IN TO THE STORE AND ADD ON" (get bent over) they wont return our items, they wont help us to get them back, they become rude and aggressive, they wont tell us where they are, they try and force us to sign "NEW CREDIT AGREEMENTS" they force unnecessary stress and worry to my PREGNANT fiancé, they are stopping us moving in to our new house but what they will do is ...... let us come in to store and "ADD ON" to replace our original items (lost by them) which will mean losing all money paid so far and start paying from scratch ultimately paying a lot more money ! to correct a mistake made by them. has anyone else had this kind of problem? any solicitors reading this ? please get in touch. thanks in advance for any reply sent to me

Hi, hope you can help. On the 18th Dec last year I disputed around 13 CC transactions. The card issuer said they would look into the matter. On Jan 4th, 15th and 20th I chased the card issuer via Email to find out what was happening and they said they had been unable to talk or communicate with to the merchant. Then on the 23rd I received a letter saying due to the fact the transactions were PIN verified we do not believe these were fraudulent. They then said "if you can tell us how you believe these transactions were made please reply. If you do not reply within 10 days we will consider this matter closed and you accept these transactions". I sent a letter recorded on the 24th Jan saying I did dispute the transactions and explained the situation and how they couldn't possibly be made by me (e.g. 5 transactions within 1min!!). I also mentioned the fact that they hadn't even spoken to the merchant and couldn't communicate with them. I also said in the letter that if they do not reply in 10 days I will consider this matter resolved in my favour. I waited until 14th Feb with no reply and sent another letter saying since they hadn't replied I consider this matter resolved and to please remove the transactions from my account. I still haven't has any phone calls or any letters, but the account is overdue. I haven't paid the disputed transactions in over two months. Any recommendations on what should I do?? Advice appreciated! Thanks D

We are in a really messy situation with the property management company at the moment, and is desperately in need of some professional advice. So thank you first of all for reading and trying to help. THE CASE: 1. Since we started our (12 months contract) renting and moved into the property in Feb 2010, there is no hot water on the tap and the electrical storage heating in the master bedroom has never worked! We made a request of fixing the hot water issue after we settled in, and the management company sent plumber and electrician to try to fix it numerous of time during the last two years. To this date Feb 2013, we still have no hot water on the tap, and we've learnt to live without the storage heating in our bedroom, but bought an external plug-in electrical heating ourselves for the winter days. The last update we received regards no hot water through the tap, is that the element in the boiler needed to be changed, which has been the main issue of causing the fuse to trip for the last two years, so that's why everytime after fixing we'd have hot water through the tap for about 3 days, then it stops working. And this update is received around Oct 2012, and the plumber said we'd need to wait for a reply to see if the landlord is willing to pay for the element because it is a very expensive part. 2. THEN, over the Christmas, when we come back home from holiday in Jan 2013, we realised the storage heating for the lounge has also stopped working. So we ask for the property management to send in the electrician to fix it. But instead of finding faults with the radiator, the electrician found the fuse board is partially burned. On the spot, the electrician said we've been very lucky, and it has possibly been caused by the wooden shoe shelf pressing onto the fuse board (which i can't completely agree), and he also suggested to change the electricity feed to a safer measure for the peak and off-peak electricity separately because how it was being distributed is not very safe. About a week later, the property management got back to us, and said we are liable for the restoring and call out costs of £600 to the fuse board, because it is our shoe shelf that was pressing on the fuse board. So I get back to them and explained our issue with the situation is, the wooden shoe shelf is there in the property, and been placed where it is right next to the fuse board in the cupboard since we moved in. (And we have the inventory list to prove that, and have already shown to the property management company). Since it is not our shoe shelf in the first place, and we are not the one responsible for placing the shoe shelf to a place where it shouldn't be. In this situation, is the landlord responsible for the costs of fixing? or is it really us (the tenant)? or is it the electrician's fault oversaw the underlying danger and did not warn us about the shoe shelf placing where it was in the last 2 years? Who should be liable for the repairing costs? I feel very frustrated at this point, not only that I feel being misinformed, and knowing it could have been the (25 years old) old fuse board burned up and charred the shoe shelf instead of the fault of the shoe shelf for where it was. (so right now we are looking into another electrician to run a full inspection to the cause of fire to the fuse board). But before we get a result from the inspection, we really wanted to know even if it was the shoe rack caused the damage to the fuse board, but we are not the owner of the shoe rack, and we didn't place it there! Since the shoe rack belongs to the landlord, and it was the landlord who placed it there, shouldn't the landlord be liable for the repairing costs to the fuseboard? What can I say to the management company to back up my point? And if the electrician is liable too? For a certified and trained electrician, isn't he suppose to spot potential hazard such as this? Since he attended our house and our fuse board for at least 4-5 times a year, and he did not see the shoe rack can cause potential hazard? We could have been burned alive! So who's really liable to the cause of damage and the costs? 3. Best of it yet, last friday we received a call from the letting agency, saying the landlord is asking for a rent increase and it could be £100 to £250 more each month. How much he wants to increase, we still don't know. At the moment we are still waiting to hear back from the agent about how much for the raise. But we feel that is very cheeky, and being bullied, feeling like if we don't agree to the rent increase, of course we get kick out. And whether we agree or not, the property management is still trying to get us pay the £600 for the fuse board. As for the boiler since it is clearly the liability of the landlord, the rent increase is apparently to "cover" his costs for replacing the element in the boiler. Is this unlawful from the landlord to raise rent in such circumstances? In conclusion, we don't mind to pay £100 extra each month for the rent, because we love where we live, and have great neighbours. But on principal and economy circumstances, we really want to know who is liable for the costs of the new fuse board. And what options do we have? We can't agree to a rent increase plus a £600 bill for something that is not our fault. Having no hot water through the tap to wash clothes and wash dishes, or having a hot bath for two years is unbelievably hard! Thank god at least we have hot water through the electric shower. But since now I'm pregnant, the issue of sanitation has became a pressing issue for us, so to have hot water through the tap to do proper washing is very important. As I'm typing this out in the lounge with my freezing fingers while wearing 5 layers of clothing in my own home, the sense of being cornered and helplessness is impeccable, and is causing a great distress on top of my first pregnancy. I really hope someone here can give us some professional advice. Much appreciated and thank you so much again. Berni

How long does it take to for the them to reach a decision on a dispute? And if we 'win' it, should they still notify us about their decision (looks like it, based on their website)? We disputed a tax credits over payment (missed a deadline as their computer systems were down for a few days) back in October last year. But I haven't heard a thing from them since their request for repayment that came just before. I did phone them a week or so after sending the dispute form and they confirmed it's receipt and that their repayment request was on hold until they had made a decision. We are still in receipt of this years tax credits, which haven't been reduced or anything, so I think that this sort of implies that they have accepted our dispute and we weren't overpaid, or that they haven't reached a decision yet. Should it really take this long though?