My Mother is 96 and has had a M&S CC for many years, used for phone and online shopping which also gave her a feeling of independence as she rarely left the house. She began displaying signs of dementia late last year following a stroke, then fell at Christmas suffering a v serious head injury and was not expected to survive. She was eventually stabilised, though only after two scary doubt-filled relapses. It was then immediately clear that her dementia had deepened v substantially, and to make a long and very evil story short my Mother has in just a few weeks been replaced by someone who looks like her but has no memories, doesn't retain anything she is told conversationally for longer than 30-60 seconds, has no retained awareness therefore of her circumstances or where she is, who never has a yesterday to help her understand today, is confused on a good day and distressed on a bad one, doesn't recognise friends/some-family, and only occasionally recognises me when I tell her who I am. She is now in permanent residential dementia care where we continue to visit a very frail stranger unable to look after herself and needing help with all aspects of daily life, and that we love very much but can do nothing to help, only ... observe. Anyway ... I am dealing with her personal affairs. I would like to know please whether a card-issuer - M&S in this case - has legitimate recourse to family if the card-holder is neither competent nor capable and is unable to settle an outstanding balance, in this case just under £2K. Today the State takes all of Mum's pension and benefits to offset some of the £900+ p.w. cost of her Care, with the exception of a few pounds as so-called pocket-money to provide "personal treats" like toothpaste and replacement clothes/undies etc. Treats? There is no longer any possibility of the outstanding balance being settled by Mum from any source at all, she has no assets and had been getting by just okay on her State Pension+ small benefits whilst in a sheltered-housing bungalow since my Father died. I have been far too preoccupied to bother with the M&S reminder-letters over the past three months, but should take control before things escalate. I don't have any problem ignoring DCs if M&S moves it along, however I'd rather put the brakes on with M&S before that stage. So, to repeat my question ... I assume that in Law M&S would have recourse to income or assets, however there are none and I am wanting to know if In Law there is then permitted-recourse to family for the debt? If they try to make noise instead of writing the balance off, I am perfectly capable of berating M&S very robustly about pursuing a 96 year old woman in residential care with dementia! However, before then I want to be clear in my mind about the legitimacy of any other channels they may claim to be entitled to pursue for recovery. In reality they would actually be unsuccessful that way also as I am 71, retired with no assets and only state pension income, and with debts and obligations of my own already after a past business-collapse. I'm not concerned with that just now however, just in knowing whether M&S would be on solid ground if they should respond by saying that in these circumstances the debt becomes the responsibility of someone's family to settle if their assets/estate isn't able to cover it. So can someone advise on that one point please? Thanks! Howard

Sick and elderly have to wait outside in all weather in the cold for up to an hour before a GP surgery opens - just to get an appointment. Patients are said to start queuing at around 7am every day, although the surgery doesn’t open its doors until 8.00am. What if you are elderly and living on your own? You can’t expect them to come and queue. It’s disgusting. There are lots of old people standing in the freezing cold in the middle of winter. The system needs to change. There are queues every morning. The surgery should open up its doors earlier and have a ticket system, whereby the surgery doors open early to let them inside that way Sick and elderly are not waiting in the cold. The weather is only going to get colder and colder, please help me draft up a complaint to the surgery to get them to change their ways.

I'm a keyholder and friend to an elderly gentleman. He took out a loan with Lloyds bank some years ago to purchase a mobility scooter for his disabled wife. She was repaying the loan from her disability income. A few years later, she had to replace the scooter and he got out another loan which consolidated his previous loan. She since died two years ago, he got another loan out to pay for her funeral (which consolidated his previous loan). He is finding it difficult paying this loan off, he had a meeting with a Lloyds staffmember, who advised him to take out another loan to consolidate his previous loan and pay off his overdraft. The gentleman in question is 86, and is constantly short of money - to the extent that he is survivng on Pot Noodles and fig rolls! My view is that Lloyds bank is acting recklessly and immorally, given that my friend is 86 and on a very severe budget. I would appreciate any advice anyone can give. He is extremely loyal to Lloyds bank - never a good thing, to be honest, especially in his case! Hope I posted this in the correct forum - if not, hopefully a mod can move it?

Hi I am hoping for some advice on how best to help my elderly parents (late 70's). I have just recently discovered that they (mainly in my fathers name) have around £25k in credit card debt. They have been managing to make the payments (mostly minimum ones) using their savings! These savings are coming to an end and they will be unable to make the minimum payments on all of them soon. My Father is a proud man and it has taken a lot for him to confide in me as he is devastated and embarrassed that he has allowed things to become so bad. Financially neither my sisters and I can help but would like to help try take away his burden. All his debt are with the original providers, are all credit cards and he has never missed a payment ever. What would be our best way forward? We were thinking of writing to each credit card company and explaining the situation and setting up a standing order of a nominal amount that they can afford? Thanks in advance

In 2012 my father received a demand letter from a company called Mackenzie Hall saying that they were collecting a debt acquired from the Lending Stream. He had no recollection of any kind of contact with either company or even a need to use this form of borrowing. He was 77 years old at the time and not in the best of health and housebound unless others took him out. MH were dealt with through correspondence asking for copies of agreements and proof of any transactions which they could not do so. They could only provide so called figures of the original amount, payments made and interest applied. I also contacted the police in case any fraud had been committed obtaining a crime number. I checked all his bank records and no transactions matching or resembled any of this or any of the companies involved. I provided all of this to MH and that the next step would be to involve the police further and my father’s local MP. He received nothing again after that last letter over 4 years ago. This week he called me at work in a right state saying that he has received another letter from a company called Asset Collections and Investigations Ltd referring to a fixed sum loan of £575 from the Lending Stream dated 03/08/2012. Which has now been assigned to them with effect from 22 August 2016 with all its rights, title, interest and benefits in and to the assigned documents and the debt. Quoting a client ref number, balance of £1672.00 their ref number and a PIN number Paragraph about debt has been registered with various agencies. To avoid further collection activity and potential legal action, please contact us no later then noon 02/09/2016. We will be happy to discuss an affordable repayment plan. We would also like to discuss the possibility of a reduced settlement payment to clear your account. Collections Department I would appreciate your advice as to next steps as I really concerned that this could tip my father over the edge, if they start sending letters like MH did. Best regards KDA2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3449145/Death-rate-higher-time-Second-World-War-health-experts-warn.html This is an alarming news story, that should be looked at. If it is correct that since 2011, there has been an increase in the number of elderly dying possibly due to reduced care services, then David Cameron should consider resigning as PM. Recently we have seen David Camerons own Mother and Aunt adding their concerns over cuts in Oxfordshire. As PM Cameron is ultimately responsible for ensuring that there are adequate services for elderly and vulnerable people. He cannot blame local authorities for this problem, when they have had to make cuts to services to make the savings required by central government. I believe even the Conservative local government association members have been warning Cameron of the potential problems caused by cuts.

I am a Plusnet customer myself and recommended the company to my parents when they wanted to change Internet provider away from the Postoffice. However they have had one delay after another. I am trying to get them some help by chasing up their connection date but because I am not the account holder I cannot do anything. I think they are being fobbed off continually and they have been waiting over two months for connection. They have already paid 2 monthly payments but are not connected. I have tried looking into the problem but Plusnet will not deal with me and will not look into this on my say so. I work away from home and cannot get in the same room as my parents for us to be on the phone with Plusnet together. My parents are in their 80's and rely on the Internet to keep in touch with family. Unfortunately they are not pushy enough and are being taken advantage of. When I rang the helpline as an existing customer I would have had to wait 15 minutes to get through, but going down the new customer route the phone was answered immediately. What does this tell us about the company? How can I get help on my parents behalf, does anyone know?

A careful driver who only nips to the shops: why was Stan asked to pay £12k to insure his Fiesta? Millions of elderly motorists taken for a ride

I write this because a friend who is nearly 70yrs old has received poor quality of care following him falling and injuring his wrist (open fracture requiring it to be pinned) he was admitted to hospital and sent to a rehabilitation home for the elderly, from what he tells me the care levels he received whilst there weren't good as they ecpected him to sit in a chair at the table following breakfast for hours afterwards, he was in pain,as he had a fractured vertebra a few years ago, he informed staff about it, they also gave him morphine for the pain (fractured wrist ) which led to him being admitted to hospital less an than 2 days following him discharging himself from this so called rehab centre, with a blocked bowel, he had to undergo emergency surgery as a result of being given morphine as it turns out he is allergic to it, he was recently discharged from hospital and is recovering well, recently he rolled out of bed, no injuries but was taken to hospital as a precaution, he tells me that in the ambulance on route to the hospital the paramedic asked him if he would like to see a priest (for his last rights) i asked was it said as a joke, he says not, he was kept in for several hrs for obs,then discharged My questions are staff at the rehab centre guilty of neglect or malpractice ? and should a paramedic by scaring the life out of OAP's like this ,is this considered normal It seems to me that they don't like or want to care to those who are old and frail , maybe they should seek a change in career ASAP ? Who would he or i on his behalf complain to, just that i don't see getting anywhere by complaining to the rehab centre

Talktalk phoned my father and told him his broadband contract needed renewing but told him that he was getting a free TV package as well. He got the reciver but he couldnt get it working so ignored it. However, they have charged him £172 for the "free" package and probably an increased monthly telephone/broadband charge as well. he has no paperwork to say what went on so i have obtained power of attorney to deal with them over this matter. Problem is, how do I get them to understand the authority i have so they desist from contacting my elderly parents and take me seriously. An email addy for the CEO would be a good start and then he can tell me where I send the legal papers and wont be able to avoid theconsquences of his own policies on forced selling of dud services.

Tens of thousands of elderly customers face a rise in their energy bills, after one of the UK's biggest suppliers withdrew a tariff for the over 60s. E.on has announced that it will scrap its StayWarm scheme, which offered fixed-price bills. The firm blamed new rules which limit the number of tariffs that energy companies can offer. The changes are part of the government's plans to cut bills, and have been backed by the Prime Minister. They are being implemented by the regulator, Ofgem, and will limit the total number of tariffs to four per fuel. "Due to new Ofgem rules, which includes limiting the number of tariffs we can offer, the StayWarm tariff will close as current contracts come to an end from October 7th," an E.on spokesperson said. The customers concerned will be written to, and advised to switch to another tariff. However, if they cannot be contacted, they will be automatically moved to the company's more expensive standard tariff. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24363796

I was recently made aware of an attempt by fraudsters to obtain my relatives debit card details. MR is over 70 years old. The call came one Saturday night at about 9pm and he used MR's name. The caller identified himself as a detective at Paddington Green police station and said they had apprehended someone on suspicion of debit card fraud. He asked that MR check to see if he still had his debit card in his possession. He confirmed that he did. The caller said he suspected MR's card had been, or was about to be, cloned but he needed to verify this by confirming the card account number. Luckily, MR smelled a rat for various reasons and said his card was for a NatWest a/c which was untrue. The caller said, "Yes, that's the one." and tried to get MR to give the card details so he could avoid his a/c being emptied. When MR asked a few more questions, the caller passed the phone to someone else who continued to try and reassure MR that they were genuine police but they needed to act quickly to avoid MR losing his money. They obviously felt they were not going to get MR to fall for it and said they'd make enquiries and call back. They never did. This topic has been the subject of various reports in the media recently and the sc@m has been labelled VISHING, short for Voice Phishing. The Daily Telegraph reported the matter last Saturday - https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10269196/Elderly-hit-by-new-telephone-[problem].html&sa=U&ei=W_QoUtSrAYap4gTLioHABw&ved=0CAcQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNG-Rku_cMOvrlnlz8nJkc4QfnvoMw It may be wise to warn elderly relatives that they should speak to someone they know and trust before giving out any details. The press reports that many folk have had money taken and accounts emptied as a result of this tactic.

Mum is 73, recently bereaved, a little under the weather. but was hanging on in there. Until Thursday, 18th April. She woke up with a sore throat. Friday morning - woke up and couldn't swallow without pain, talk, breathe properly etc, and her neck and head were swollen. No messing about Gp called, did a home visit, diagnosed a quincy throat and prescribed erythimicin (spelt wrong, never mind). Told mum if no better by Saturday she was to contact the clinic that would be open at the general hospital, and they would have her in to drain the quincy. Sat morning, mum now being violently sick, making everything worse, now looking like the honey monster. Only bright red, not yellow. We rang the hospital, they told her just to try and cope until she could go back to the GP on Monday. Sat afternoon mum slept, in the evening rang hospital again, much worse now. Same advice, see GP on Monday. Sun morning and I think mum was dying. On the phone to the clinic and informed them we were on our way in. Shortly after arrival she was admitted. Put on women's surgical ward. (No problems whatsoever with care she has received whilst in the hospital - we must have a gem in our general). Monday and Tuesday were spent trying to cope with the infection with antibiotics, (not the first one as we now know she was allergic to that one) which didn't work. Finally, at about 11pm on the Tues she gets emergency surgery, to remove tonsils through throat, to get at quincy and drain it. And I mean cut her throat open to deal with this- very nasty and apparently a life threatening operation. We were warned she was dangerously ill, and this was serious. Had the op, got through it, and has been on Critical Care Unit ever since. She's still very ill, but slowly slowly turning the corner. Now she can actually speak again, mum is feeling very disgruntled at being told "to cope" by the hospital when she rang for help. Three times they told her this, even though they were told how bad she was. My poor old mum was just getting used to being on her own, doing her shopping, going out and about, doing her garden and now she is lying in a hospital bed on the CCUu, and is likely to be in for a long time, and then will need to be rehabbed. And will now likely struggle in her own home. Then lets look at the cost of all this! How do we go about making a complaint? And actually chaps, is this level of treatment the norm now, do you think we should be complaining about this? Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Finance Minister Taro Aso said Monday the elderly should be allowed to “hurry up and die” instead of costing the government money for life-prolonging medical care. http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/aso-says-elderly-should-be-allowed-to-hurry-up-and-die The gentleman above is no spring chicken himself, he's 72. Should he give the good example himself?

Can you get free school, invalidity or elderly transport if you live in a remote area ?? The tools on 'magic.gov website can help. Please remember to click on the 'accept terms' button to enter the site On the bottom of the page, Use the + & - buttons to zoom in and out and the 'hand' to center the map. At the top of the page , use the 'Ruler' button to measure distance. http://magic.defra.gov.uk/website/magic/viewer.htm?startTopic=maggb