Hi all! I have 6 months left to run on my First Plus secured loan. I am in the process of selling my house and don't want to take the loan with me - I want shot of it and First Plus for good. I have been paying the loan for the past 7 years, claimed back the ppi etc. I was just wondering what the final settlement may be? My credit file shows £800 remaing on the loan. I have wrote to them, but when phoneing to chase them this morning, I got told to be patient!!! Many thanks, Bannister007:roll:

Hello, I have recently moved out of an apartment during the fixed 6 month term of an assured shorthold tenancy. The landlord accepted our notice and did not mention us needing to pay any rent. However when we asked for our deposit to be returned they said it would not be and have informed "mydeposits" that we will not be due any as we terminated the tenancy early. Our contract contains the following clause "termination by the tenant - If the tenant requires to terminate this agreement, the tenant must give written notice to the company and the period of notice shall not be less than the tenant's notice period i.e 1 calendar month." Would this qualify as a breakout clause? It does not exactly specify that we can end the contract during the fixed term, but it also does not say we can't either. I have read that a breakout clause needs to be explicit but is this ambiguous enough to indicate we are within out rights? And equally, does the fact that they have allowed us to terminate our tenancy without demanding rent imply we have not broken the contract? To me it feels like they want to have it both ways. Either we broke our contract and should be liable to pay rent for the full 6 months, or we haven't broken our contract and we should be entitled to get our deposit back too? Thanks for any advice you can offer!

Can anybody help with this, Sky took 132 euro fee from my debit card without any prior warning. When i called they said they sent me a letter which they did not as I did not receive this. How can they do this to my account without my giving them permission. It was not direct debit but they said the system trawlled their records and found the card details I had used to book Sky the first day and then used those card details to take it.

Hi all, I have about 900 left to pay on my Lloyds TSB loan. The usual direct debit for £346 will go out on 1st March but I have come by an extra £550 this month and want to put this towards the loan. Would there be an early repayment charge if I do this now and let the £346 go out as usual to pay off the loan? Or could I pay it all except for £5 for example, and then pay the £5 a couple of days later? Would this avoid a charge? Thanks

If a salaried member of staff goes home early is it fraud because he doesn't actually submit a false record of his/her hours? I am assisting a friend but the employer is using 'data' covered under the DPA to proceed with a disciplinary under the guise that a crime has been commited ie fraud, is this correct?

Hi I wondered if anyone can help me understand my loan early srettlement figure please?? We had a personal loan from Natwest (which thaey stuckk PPI on - but that's another story!). The loan was for £9488 plus 2205.40 for PPI so a total of £11693.40. On the credit agreement it states : "The customer has the right to repay the loan before the end of the term by making a single payment calculated under a formula which limits the amount of the total charge the customer pays. The amount the customer would have to pay if, for example, the customer wanted to settle when a quarter of the term had passed would be £6747.65; if half the term had passed the amount would be £5072.46 and if 3/4 had passed it would be £2895.59. In calculating the amounts shown, the assumption is made that all instalment repayments due are paid on time and no default interst or charges are incurred. The amounts shown are accordingly only illustrative." The loan was over 60 months, so 1/4 of the way through would be 15 months. We paid it off after 18 months and yet paid £7782.35. Have I misunderstood something? Are they allowed to change the settlement figure? We had no missed payments or charges so shouldn't the agreement figure stand? Any help appreciated!

Good Morning, I wonder if you knowledgeable can help me out with this one. I am currently house sharing with childhood friend of which I have recently fallen out with. We've been in the property since May 2012. We initially signed a 12 month lease on the property. Since being in the property there are several things I am unhappy with. Probably the thing I am most unhappy about is my housemates inability to pay his share of the rent AND he seems completely uninterested in sorting out his Housing Benefit. He is unemployed also and has made no effort to look for work nor even do chores around the house. In fact he seems quite happy and thinks it's perfectly acceptable to sit in-front of his computer all day and play games:-x Something my partner is also incredibly cross about. But that's another story. Also She would not be able to move into the house as she is at University in London studying an MSc Anyhow. I also have several medical conditions (which probably due to the stress this and several other things) is being made much, much worse. I am due to have serious surgery to put one of them right. Something under the current situation I am seriously considering delaying. Receiving a Court Summons for unpaid council tax which my housemate had told me was paid was the final straw! Simply truth of the thread is that I want to fold on the tenancy. Normally the letting agents would do 6 Month Agreements but ours was twelve which we actually signed to show commitment believe it or not... The tenancy will become due for renewal in May 2013. However sensibly speaking, Financially I will NOT be able to support the house even IF I evict my fellow housemate. It is unlikely I will find another individual to take my place in that time. Nor do I really want to, to be honest! The rent is £700 and the deposit secured is £969 My Dad also stood guarantor and has made it clear he WON'T pay my debts which I completely understand. I personally have NEVER had problems paying my rent since I was 17! Hence him standing guarantor was no issue for him. I have spoken to the letting agents and they said if I terminate early that I will be liable for the rent until May 2013 UNLESS they let the property before May 2013. They also said in this case I would be liable for a further £350 in Landlord Management Costs IF they let the property prior to May 2013. Can anyone offer me some advice on how I tackle this one please?

Hello all. I've been in the ESA Support group for the last year and was just reassessed and put back in without a medical. I had my usual ESA and DLA fortnightly payment early due to the actual payment date falling on Xmas Day, and am due housing benefit on Monday 31st Decemner with my next ESA payment due on 8th January. However, my bank account this morning shows a payment of £119.85 (equates to a week of ESA) due in (alongside my housing benefit) on Monday. The Payment is simply marked as 'automated' with no other identifying information. I'm immensely paranoid at seeing this. Why has this occurred? Does this mean my ESA is now weekly? Could this be a potential problem? Any reassurance would be great fully received.

Hello, I took out a loan with Lending Stream just after Christmas. Well, we all make mistakes. Anyway.. Website appears nice and clear and during the process I was shown a screen which looked to me as though I had the option to repay the full balance at any stage, showing the total amount due if I did so "repay early and avoid interest charges". I didn't save a copy of the information on the screen sadly as I naiively thought it would be emailed as part of the overall agreement. I was attracted by this flexibility e.g. it's a one month loan, but, can be extended over 6 months. I intended to repay before that, which is precisely why I should have kept that information. Anyway, the first loan payment was due, adequate funds in my account, and yet no debit. I get an email just before midnight saying "payment incomplete". I query with my bank. They say - there have been no declines. It isn't a "fraud block". There is no reason why the payment should not have gone through. It appears to have gone through the next day, possibly in the minutes just after midnight as by the time I looked (about 00:15) the funds were locked. Next day - email "thanks for your payment", which has mysteriously had £12 added to it. No subsequent credits during the day. They say it was declined, bank says it wasn't. I'll probably never know. Anyway: As you might imagine I just want to repay it all ASAP. Their site says To close you loan early you can login to your account to make loan payments on our website by clicking here. Please select the Loan Reference ID of the loan that you want to prepay from the drop down menu. The "Total to repay" field in the summary section displays the amount needed to close your loan. To make the payment, select the "Other Amount" option, enter the amount that you wish to pay in the "Amount" box and proceed with making the payment. Please email us at .. if you have any questions. All well and good. Except the "Total to Pay" is the total including the interest to the end of the term. They don't seem to make it easy to retrospectively find out how much it ought to be to repay early as I am assuming, perhaps wrongly, that this will be cheaper e.g. I will save on interest. That's how it appeared to me when I applied. Sorry if this is vague, I'm kicking myself for not clicking File > Save Web Page. Can anyone tell me: - Am I entitled to a reduction in interest by repaying early (between months 1 and 2 of 6) - How is the reduction calculated, is is "legislatory" Clearly I can ask them, but I wanted to know what rights I have, if any, before I do so to compare those with the response. Thanks very much.

Hiya, Please can someone give me some advice. I was made redundant in 2007 and got a nice payout and some pension back. At the time i did'nt think the pension was much after paying into it for many many years. I never thought anymore about it until 2 weeks ago. I was talking to an old work mate who i have not seen since we lost our jobs. He was not very happy that he is now getting taxed on his pension from Birds Eye and asked if i was getting taxed aswel. I told him i did'nt get a pension and he was shocked and told me i must get something as i payed into it for years. So i found an old pay slip and rang Unilever, they told me my pension(which i did'nt know i had) was frozen until i reached 55. They are going to send me information of it through the post. The thing is i have just joined the new company pension so is there a way to cash in the Unilever pension???? Thanks very much.

Hi, I had a loan with these guys 2 years back for £160, they defaulted me a couple of months later for £450ish and now looking at my credit report it shows me owing them around £1300 On payday this month they took £200 out of my account (I had long ago cancelled the direct debit but it was re set up. I called my bank (Natwest) on the same day (about 7am) and as the funds hadn't reached the lender yet they reversed the direct debit. (I believe this is slightly different to the dd guarantee and indemnity as they did it over the phone and just said they were recalling the money). They also said however that they couldn't prevent EPDL setting up direct debits again and it might be in my contract. I've moved my cash into another account for now but I don't want any long term hassle with my bank now as I'm trying to be good with at least one lender so I'm considering making an offer of repayment and I just hoped for some advice on that. I can afford £50/month starting at the end of this month but the £1300 doesn't seem very realistic to me. Do people think that capital + 3 months interest sounds reasonable? Thanks for any advice.

I have a laptop and tv from brighthouse, have had the laptop since April on a 2 year contract and its had problems since day 1 I have 2 weeks ago returned the laptop and said I no longer want it due to problems and affordability. Was told by manager that on this occasion they would accept the laptop back early (thanks even tho its worth £500 and I have paid over £300 already for a load of rubbish). The only clause is that I have to continue to pay the £10 a week whilst it is being repaired (unless it comes back and the repairer says its my fault then they want me to claim on my home insurance) yeah right! My question is its been nearly 3 weeks now and no word from service centre I have paid £30 so far (£10 a week for last 3 weeks) for it to sit in service centre and tomorrow they are expecting next weeks payment, should I still be paying for this even tho they are taking it back? Thanks in advance

On 20th November, Jim Cunningham MP started an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons which is urging the government to include in their forthcoming bailiff reform to oblige councils to prohibit "multiple" fee charging for each visit and to develop guidelines to protect vulnerable persons who are faced with bailiff action. An EDM is a formal motion submitted to debate in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament for debate on an "early date" ( namely an unspecified date in the future). An Early Day Motion allows MP's to draw attention to the event and other MP's will then register their support by adding their signature to the EDM So far, 21 MP's have signed the EDM bit it is rather worrying that only one MP is from the Conservative Party!!! If anyone knows their MP....this is an excellent opportunity to ask that they add their signature to this EDM. Just ask them to support EDM number: 746 regarding Bailiffs. http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/746

I re-mortgaged over 5yrs ago.There was an early redemption fee for 6.000 pounds up to 3yrs then there is a months interest of 675.00 for the remainder of the term.I'm now out of the 3yrs .So is all of this right for the Broker to have done so?Also the original loan shows the amount for the mortgage and the amount added to this for 3.000.00 pounds so on any letters from them they show the original Mortgage with these totals as the total amount borrowed.So can the mortgage broker charge interest on these too?I've found a letter from them dated nearly 4 yrs ago in old paperwork and they mention the redemption fees incurring a penalty.they state that they might not of fully established that the mortgage was affordable and they point out to an interest only,length of the mortgage and 'Involved a remortgage that incurred penalties.

Hoping for some advice. I am setting up a repayment plan with several pay day loan lenders. I cancelled direct debits (2no) with my bank (online) and changed my debit card. One of the direct debit lenders (Early pay day loan) has taken a payment out of my account today and left me with nothing. I have spoke with my bank (Natwest) and informed them that i cancelled the direct debit and i had not authorized them to take any monies. They informed me the money would be credited back to my account on Monday am and they will recall the money from the lender. However further investigations will take place. Following reading more of the forums i no i should have wrote to my bank cancelling the direct debits but i only cancelled them online. Where do i stand? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Hi, Sorry if this is the wrong place I'm new still struggling to navigate. When my husband and I got married BT told my husband he would have to pay an early termination fee of nearly £200. They said to cover equipment and termination. He said that was unacceptable and wasn't made properly clear to him when he upgraded online, he was willing to pay his £43 bill, return the equipment and was open to negotiate a token settlement payment as he had used there service for years and never missed a payment. He asked for a sensible bill to be sent in the post. All he received was a letter explaining he could keep the equipment and a final bill of nearly £300. He rang again and asked for a sensible amount to be calculated and sent to him but he never received anything before he moved. Today there was a doorstep collector at the door with a card saying he owes Moorecroft £273.55 and to contact Dave. "Dave" had scribbled out the office contact number so my husband had to google their office and explain he does not deal with doorstep collectors and that he is willing to pay the £43 bill only at this stage and not until that was confirmed in black and white. Can anyone advise me on his rights please...my husband is a stubborn man and is more likely to ignore this than deal with it, he did ring BT but they insisted they do not negotiate over early termination and the account was no longer theirs. Thanks for any advice.

I recently moved into a joint tenancy agreement into a rented two bedroom property with a good friend of mine. He's a bit strange in public, but appeared to keep a good home from where he was living before, a good laugh and always got your back. I should have taken it as warning bells all the problems he was getting into with everybody else, but the picture painted was that everybody else was being unreasonable, which actually seemed fair enough, people were taking his things without consent, returning them late, he seemed to be the provider for the accomodation he was living in and people were taking the mick. Anyhow, we started having a look around and he became more anxious to leave his current property than I was to exit mine, so the pressure was applied to get me to agree. I didn't know if I was making the right choice having lived at home all my life, people said it will be better when you move out, more independence blah blah blah. I was feeling really sad and guilty, I guess my gut was saying no, and yet my head was saying I have to give it a try. Coupled with the pressure and the convincing from my friend that what I was feeling was normal and I should take the plunge. So within a week of seeing a property, we're down the estate agent filling out reference forms and getting checks completed. A week later we're signing an agreement - which I admit did feel good. At the time. Now, less than a month into the tenancy, I have really cold feet. I miss home. But my flatemate, is well, strange. He arranged for installation of a popular broadband and television supplier who came to drill holes through the walls without consent of the landlord. In fact he arranged this before we even signed the contract so I still felt like I couldn't back out, I gave my friend a commitment. We went with a twelve month agreement even though I wanted a six month agreement so that I knew I could back out earlier. But we agreed verbally that if I wasn't happy, I could back out after six, so we went with a twelve month contract on the basis that he would cover the remaining rent from the six month period on. He's stuck things on the wall with sellotape and pins in contravention of the agreement and thrown darts at the wall. Im just starting to learn what a joint tenancy is - Im jointly responsible for his mistakes - not just half, but everything if he cannot be contacted! I thought at least a joint tenancy might allow me to take my name off the agreement, but apparently even that would require the agreement to be terminated and a new one drawn up which might not happen. My friend now isn't talking to me after I asked him to switch things off that he wasn't using so we could save some money. So what are my options? I figure Im going to move out within three months in any event because I can't take his unstable behaviour and "partying" to 6am in the morning over the weekend, his actions around the house, and the way he takes my stuff without asking. Im also unhappy here. Steep and expensive learning curve. Im prepared for the worst. Obviously I'll need to talk to him to smooth things over but... He either honours our six month agreement and I ensure he's paid for the six months. He doesn't honour the agreement and I have to pay him the six months, then the following six. In the meantime, I need to protect myself from his activities. Im worried he may stick two fingers up at the landlord, and I'll be responsible for the entirety of the rental fee, not just my half. Worse case scenario I pay all the rent for me and him and pay to fix the holes in the wall. Could a signed agreement between two friends stating he is now responsible for everything blah blah have any effect? I realise the landlord could come after me for failure to pay, but then I could sue him? Im just thinking worst case scenario. The other problem is that I have some major surgery in December which has only just come to light since moving in. So I could out of work for several months and cannot afford to rent this place. Can I get my name off the tenancy? Can I get him to legally assume responsibility? How do I protect myself from his mistakes if he further abuses the property? We have not yet received a full signed copy of the contract from the estate agent, though we signed it there. We noted also that the landlord had not signed his copy yet either. If for some reason the landlord has not signed his copy yet, would the contract still be valid, or could I rip it up there and then and move everything out? Bob

My wife had decided to take the state pension early, she reached 60 in May. As a result we lost my pension credit award, and our working tax credit was reduced by £30 The problem is further accentuated by the fact my wifes earnings will drop from last year when she goes back to school in September. Is there any way of assessing which option is best. My wife has spoken to the pension service and they were of no use at all, apart from suggesting if she wanted too she could change back

Hi, A friend of mine is getting into a bit of hassle with the house he's currently renting. He shares the house with 3 others, due to personal differences they are not all seeing eye to eye. After his refusal to leave the house and seek new accomodation the other 3 have decided they are going to leave. Not a problem apart from the fact they have submitted 2 months notice to the landlord and agency for the entire property, without the agreement of my friend! Now he's happy to stay on in the house until the end of their fixed term contract which is in December this year, but with the notice being handed in he has been told he will have to leave in October instead. I've been doing some research into this and it's my understanding that a fixed term joint tenancy agreement can only be ended early with agreement from the landlord, or use of a break clause, and ALL tenants on the contract. I If all tenants do NOT agree to hand in an early notice then surely this means those tenants have every right to stay in the property until at least the end of the fixed term agreement? I am aware that all other tenants have the right to leave the property whenever they wish, bar notice period, but they must find replacement tenants or face continuing to pay rent as agreed in the contract until the end of the fixed period. Can someone please confirm if I'm correct in my thinking and if you could also back this up with some sound legal advice I would be very grateful. Kind Regards, R.

I have an issue regarding early repayment with Quick Quid. Initially my partner had a loan of £400 with them, which she succesffuly applied for an extension. However, on her next pay date a company bonus meant she was able to afford to pay off more of her loan. The extension fee was automatically taken in the early hours and she then made a payment of £150 towards the rest of the debt. Both of these transactions occured in the early hours of the morning on her due date. Now, my calculations put her outstanding debt for next month at £250 + interest for the month (21.25%), approximately £303. However, Quick Quid have applied the second extension fee before allowing her to make the partial payment and are now demanding £335 on her next due date. She spoke to a rep (recorded of course) to try and clarify how they could justify the cost and asked if the loan would have been cleared had she made a payment of 400 on the due date. The rep stated that it would not. Is this something that they can do, add on additional finance charges before taking into account early repayment?

Hi. This is probably discussed a lot so I will be brief. We informed our landlord (via agent who has handled all of this) that we wished to leave our (fixed term, no break clause) contract early on the 25th of May. We stated our wish to move out on the 2nd of August and this was agreed to by both parties on the condition a new tenant was found. In the meantime, assuming that 2+ months would be a long enough time to find a new tenant, I and other tenants have found new places to live and entered agreements. The 2nd of August is fast approaching (just over a week away), however, and the agent has failed to find a new tenant. We live in a 3 bed in Highgate, London which is a desirable area so it should really be easy for them to find new tenants - especially over a long period of time. I have seen the flat advertised at a ridiculous £50 more per week than the £400pw we currently pay for it which it is certainly NOT worth, though within the last week they have lowered the asking rent to £425 which is more reasonable but still high. We are also expected to pay a fee to the agent for this 'service' of finding a new tenant. I am interested to know if we can somehow claim that they have failed to effectively search for new tenants, and what my rights are in this situation. It is difficult to find more info on the web and my local CAB is hard to access at times, especially when working. I am really frustrated by this situation. My main bother is that we have given them so much notice and they have failed to find new tenants - it seems ridiculous to me. Thanks in advance for any help, tips, etc. Henry

A friend of mine recently took out some insurance with Octagon Group. As he didn't have fund in his account I allowed him to use my account to set up a direct debit and he would then repay me each month. Since then, he has moved to Australia and cancelled his insurance policy. I am now receiving letters saying I am liable to pay the outstanding balance, which was left over from the early settlement. Am I liable for these repayments or do they have to contact the policy holder for the repayments? Thanks.

Hi there, I left Northern Rock about a year ago, the redemption fee on the mortgage, early repayment fee or whatever it is called totalled £6000, is it possible to claim any / some / all of this back or is it a lost cause? If there is even a chance of claiming any of it back, what would be the best way to go about this? Thanks, James

Hello, I am hoping somebody informed can help me with the situation I am currently in. In December 2011 I took out a 6 month rental lease on a property. The lease was to end at the end of June 2012. At the beginning of April I was offered a job in another location, and subsequently accepted and informed the landlord of my decision. According to the terms of my tenancy, I was bound to pay the rent up to the point a new tenant could be found to move in, and then I would have to pay the letting agents re-listing fees. I complied fully with this, and was very flexible when the agency asked for a viewer to come around. Around a week later, a new tenant paid a holding fee on the property. Despite this being sorted mid-April, they'd chosen not to move in till the 21st May. I therefore had to pay for the rent in between leaving on 20th April, and the tenant moving in on 21st May. Early in May I received a call from the letting agent, advising that there were credit and reference problems with the new tenant, and due to the delays they would not be moving in till the 1st June ie today. I had to therefore transfer the landlord an equivalent transaction to cover rent between 21st May and 1st June 2012 to cover this gap. Despite leaving the property on the 20th April, the agency left the check out / inventory check to the 30th May. This therefore left me with one day only, 31st May to investigate any discrepancies raised. Despite the house being fully cleaned to an extremely high standard, I was informed there were 'hand prints on glass tables, oven needs doing etc' and was told there'd be a £100 deduction from my deposit. Naturally I am very disappointed by this. The property was very well looked after during my brief time as the tenant, and was left in a significantly better state than when I moved in, I do not believe it was cleaned sufficiently at all when I moved in. I have never received an inventory since singing the tenancy agreement at the end of December, so have nothing to cross reference the state of the house now (exceptionally clean) to the state it was when I moved in. Today I received a call from the landlord, stating the new tenant had reported the boiler as faulty, and therefore they could not move in today, and I would be liable for again, further rent. Am I bound to pay this? And what can I do regarding the deposit? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Hi there, Last year, my flatmate's uncle decided to buy a five bed flat which he would let to his niece and her chosen flatmates for the duration of her university stay, with the intention that he would continue to let the flat after she had left to prospective students. We were to find the flat, given a budget for the mortgage and to liaise with him as a prospective landlord as to issues of price. The aim was to move in over the summer, however issues with the solicitor and with the HMO licence needed to rent to students meant that for a short period we were renting off the previous owner of the flat at a reduced rent that his previous tenants had paid, before the new landlord took over the property. This meant that the lease began on the 1st of September, which is quite unusual from our experience of student leases in the area. Whilst we were tenants at the property, several problems arose whereby the landlord had to be contacted directly. It was the landlord's express wish that most problems with the properly were to be dealt with directly to them, but would need the involvement of his niece, who was to take care of the flat. One instance was the bathroom leak into the flat below, causing the landlady of the flat downstairs to pay a short visit to the property and in no uncertain terms tell us if that if the leak was not fixed she would not leave the doorstep. A plumber was demanded, and due to her aggressive nature the matter was deal with by the tenants rather than the landlord, as the landlord was at work. The result of the situation was that expenses had to be paid for a plumber who dd not perform a satisfactory job, and the property had no water for a short while. Around this time, the boiler also broke. Both of these problems were fixed within three weeks, although the problem of drainage in the bath and toilet (the latter into the former) persisted a short while longer. During this time, it also became apparent that one of the bedrooms was experiencing a large problem of damp due to the problems of the building's room. After six months, this problem, although given attention, was not resolved and the room remained largely uninhabitable for the tenant. It is the opinion of the both visiting factor and of all tenants that should the landlord wish, he would not be able to rent the room to any other prospective tenant. In March this year, the landlord's niece informed us that she wished for someone else to move in from September, and that we were to move out. We have had extreme difficulty in finding a HMO flat at an irregular time, and have finally signed a lease for a flat whose lease begins on the 1st of August. Due to no fault of our own, and bearing in mind that we had no intention of leaving of our own accord, we are forced to pay double rent on both properties. The tenant whose room was affected by the damp is intending to use the cause of the lease which states that rent is payable on the condition that the landlord upholds his or her responsibility to keep the flat in a reasonable state of habitation. However, do the rest of us have a legal leg to stand on? A tenant won't be found to take over the lease for one month, yet the three of us are struggling to find jobs and are students with little income. Unless we can have an ace up our sleeve, we'll lose up to seven hundred quid paying for a flat that we aren't allowed to live in.