Hi All, -I joined the gym on the 18th of April 2017 on an 11-month contract. -I tried to cancel my membership around August/September 2018. (17-18 months of paying) -The harlands online cancellation system kept popping up with errors when I tried to cancel. -I cancelled the direct debit as the online form was not working. -I received an email from Harlands on the 25th of September telling me that I was to reinstate my DD. -I responded and let them know that I had not been to that particular gym for over a year and that I had tried to cancel but it did not work. -I then received an email in October informing me that on top of the original membership fee charge of £9.99, they would be rounding it up to £34.99 due to an "administration fee". - Now they have rounded this up to £104.97 in total. - I would happily pay the £9.99 for the 1 month I missed. -So this cycle is going to keep going on and on as you cannot cancel membership if you have cancelled the dd. After reading on this forum for some time I have realised that they are not a very nice Company, however, any advice that you could give would be massively appreciated. I am an apprentice who makes no money whatsoever, so being asked to pay one-sixth of my paycheck before Christmas is appaling. Silo0o

I need some help in fighting a PPC that is harassing me for parking outside my home. Multiple tickets issued this year. Appealed to PPC for several of these tickets as I had been ignoring them, appeal failed. Did not appeal to POPLA. Now they are issung tickets without a NTD (ticket on windscreen) just photos of my car taken manually. The mutiple tickets before this all had a similar set of photos, but with a photo of the yellow NTD. They apply to DVLA for keepers details immediately and there is only 2 -3 days between date of alleged contravention and me receiving a NTK. This is the timeframe for ANPR tickets under PoFA, but the car park is not ANPR. As far as I am aware, there are only two ways of issuing tickets and thats manually or by automatic number plate recognition. The question is are PPC's allowed to issue tickets by post without a NTD? I've appealed to PPC on some of these but heard nothing back, but its still within timeframe. Grounds were ticket didnt comply with POFA and my deeds specifically state I can park there, and my deeds have primacy over their contract Any advice on how to stop this harassment ?

Hello, I’m very sorry I don’t think this post is in the accurate place, I couldn’t find where I needed to post. I have an issue with Littlewoods and Very. I have been with them for about 6 years, I owe £6000 to Littlewoods and £500 to very. I have always maintained payments up until 10 days ago when I have missed my first littlewoods payment due to have some financial difficulty. I received a few text messages from them saying they haven’t received my payment, which was fine. That was until today, I have now unplugged my home phone because I was in double figures on the calls I had received, they now have started to call my mobile as they are not getting anywhere with the home phone. I can’t afford to pay them anywhere near the amount that they want but I don’t know what to do or where to go from here now to protect myself and my family. The calls started at 8 o clock this morning and haven’t stopped since, any advise would be greatly appreciated and I again I’m sorry for posting this in the wrong area.

when I was a membership the staff at X4L accidentally locked me in the gym. I was putting my pants on in the changing room and the lights went out. As soon I put my jacket on to leave the room I realized there was no one there and the steel shutters were down. This resulted me having to leave through the fire exit which caused the alarm to go off at 10 o'clock at night. The staff apologized to me and I carried on training there for two months. Come september I leave the gym to relocate to my university city. I cancelled the membership through my bank because I have read stories about them continuing to take money after cancelling through their online form. A few months and 5 harlands emails later I have received an intimidating phone call from an X4L head office person demanding me pay £125 to cancel my membership. The thing is when I signed up I picked the membership option that allows me to cancel anytime I want as you pay £10/month extra for no minimum 1 year time frame. Now they are lucky I didn't take legal action when they locked me in the gym (what if I was blind like my friend????) now I am being harassed on a bi-weekly basis over phone and text messages to pay 'administration fees'. I have had it! What are my rights and would my case stand a chance in court if I were to press legal action?

Hi all, Had a persistent problem with multiple debt agencies over the last 4 years in particular constantly calling my mobile phone. Within a week of getting the number, I was getting debt collection agencies calling asking for a woman (obviously the numbers previous owner) as she owed just over a couple of hundred quid. I call them, tell them that they have the wrong number, they usually ignore the first time, 2nd or 3rd call usually stops the phone calls. UNTIL! The problem is, these blasted debt agencies seem to sell the debt, and I get a new debt collection agency contacting me yearly. Call them, get peace and quiet for half a year or so, debt gets sold, and back to square one again! Currently, it's PRA Group, who are enjoying literally riddling my voicemail inbox asking it to press option 1 (blocked the number on my phone). It's also making it a pain in the backside to filter through for genuine voicemails. Now to be quite frank, I'm sick and tired of having to call these companies to get some peace and quiet. And have not rung up the number as this will be another set of 2 or 3 phone calls to say get lost. As they say, time is money, and to be quite frank, it feels like I am being harassed now. I feel almost inclined to send in an invoice for my time dealing with this debt that has precisely nothing to do with me! It's become quite evident, that regardless of phone calls to get the debt collectors to stop calling, this will go on as long as I have the phone number due to the industry practice of selling the debts. My real question is, what kind of recourse do I have to get these to stop? Ultimately, this toxic asset needs to be written off before I'm left alone as far as I can tell. Surely they have to have some form of an onus to prove the person they are contacting is the debtor, before contacting? Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance! P.S. Just to add, changing my phone number is obviously the first idea, but in all fairness, why the hell should I have to?

Hello All, First of I'm sorry if this is the wrong place, please move the thread if it's better elsewhere. I manage a very small esports gaming community and recently have been harrassed by an ex member who has repeatedly tried to regain access to our community and post hateful comments in the game chat over and over. As soon as we've become aware of this we've removed them and banned the account. The problem is this individual keeps buying new copies of the game and rejoining the community to post their vile comments. We banned by IP address but as anyone knows in the IT world this is seldom successful as the user can (and has) use a VPN to circumvent the ban. We are aware of 2 IP addresses they have used belonging to on of the big UK broadband providers. They both trace back to the same geographical area and we have every reason to believe this is correct. They also used their voice in a video made 6 months ago and the persons accent is the same for the area the IP suggested they are located. Recently they've started posting silly abusive YouTube videos and recently posted images into the community in my name of sexual nature including parts of my identity. I've just ignored this for a long time and not responded to any of their comments, abusive emails, videos, crude photoshops etc etc. However recently they began targeting another member who I know to be vulnerable and I've finally decided enough is enough. They have been at this for nearly a year now. Looking at the CAB website it looks like the options I have are both civil and criminal courses. The website says 2 seperate incidents have to occur for this to be considered harrassment. We're well over that number so I have no issue there. I don't particularly want to involve the Police as I have little faith this will help and could cause the situation to become even worse. I have also been the victim of crime and found the Police to be very unhelpful and make the situation much worse. I fully believe this individual who resides in the UK has my home address and I don't particularly want £100s of Pizza cash on delivery to arrive, or Taxis that I didn't order or to be SWATed... I know all three of these happened to a friend who had a similar problem whom the forum assisted me with in the past. So I am thinking the best course of action is to proceed to the civil route and get an injunction against this individual that they must stop this. I'm not looking for monetary compensation even though it has been agreed with my Mental Health Support Worker I could evidence this causing increased anxiety, makes me feel I can't play in my own community and it's a clear cut case of Slander. My exact question is, how can I go about asking their ISP to release the details of the customer concerned. I am well aware that the Data Protection Act would be their easy way of refusing the issue. Is there a particular way I can go about this with the courts by making a request via the courts or direct to the ISP that they must give me the information to secure an injunction against them?? I can see this being a very difficult problem to solve, But I will take it on as I owe it not only to my community members but to myself as well. We banned this member for harassing another member and we gave them every opportunity to stop and were more than reasonable. However as this has gone on for so long I fear I'm at the point of realisation that this isn't going away any time soon. Thanks for reading and I'm sorry to draw out such a long post, but I felt it appropriate to give a backstory. Any advice is welcomed.

I live in Leicestershire and i rent privately from my landlord, i deal with him directly regarding payments and any maintenance requirements. I have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. My landlord lives in the house behind me and he has a few properties that he rents, he also has a business locally. I moved in less than a year ago in oct 2016. The property has required quite a few repairs so i guess i wont be his favourite tenant, he has always got things attended to however the tradesman/handyman that are sent to do the repairs are not particularly great. Last week the landlord text me by mistake, he thought he was texting his tradesman friend, he referred to me as XXXXXXX in the text. I appear to have slanty eyes and i was called this name when i was bullied at primary school, you can imagine the offence this has caused me, im white and scottish but this must be a feature bullies like to use to ridicule me.. He tried to make out he was not referring to me, yeah right, he was all apologetic by text but that kind of offence cant be undone. The most recent ongoing problem was reported a few months ago. A leak through the ceiling in the kitchen, this was coming from the bathroom above and the shower was the cause. He sent a young guy round to do the repairs, this involved patchwork and replacing some tiles, trying to cut costs, after that the leak still being there , he has returned and replaced all the titles round the bath with non matching ones and left the rest white, he comes and goes and seems to do other jobs when he is here, a lot of my time has been wasted, even after replacing the tiles and the shower door i still have the same leak. You could not make this up. This so called tradesman has really peeved me off due to times when he did not turn up or he was late, he cancelled 2 bookings and was a couple of hours late on another 2 occasions. So earlier this week this same tradesman text me asking when he could come round, i told him thursday morning, i got no reply, so i text him after 3pm on wednesday to say dont come tomorrow as i was fed up with his lack of communication and not knowing what was happening. The landlord has gave me a letter stating he will be here on Monday morning at 8am with a contractor. He will be carrying out the so called emergency repairs. I dont have a problem with him getting the repairs done. The problem is i work 3 x 12 hour night shifts at the weekend, i finish at 6am. I have told him this and i told him not to come but he is telling me he will be here on Monday morning at 8am. I dont see why i should let him in because this really is unsociable hours for me, i need to sleep until about 12 noon. I told him he can come on Tues Wed or Thurs but he is refusing and he is adamant that he is turning up on Monday morning with this contractor. I know he is giving me plenty of notice for his so called emergency repairs but i really dont want anyone here when i am meant to be sleeping after a 12 hour night shift. I also told him i am using the bath instead and there is no leaks. Any advice on what i should do. I contacted the police, they dont deal with this kind of thing, i contacted CAB but i could not speak to anyone who deals with tenancy rights. I spoke to Shelter via the online webchat, i have posted the script below so you can see what they said, it looks like im not in a strong position to do anything as refusing entry might have repercussions. I have decided i want to move out, so keeping the landlord sweet is not my priority. (16:38:02) Visitor- i need to get tenancy advice. (16:38:15) Shelter- Hello, my name is xxx. Thanks for coming through to us. (16:38:17) Shelter- Do you want to briefly explain your situation and I'll see if I can help? (16:40:46) Visitor- Yes thanks. I am being harrassed by my landlord regarding an ongoing repair that has been here 3 months. Now he is calling it an emergency, he has given me a letter saying he will be here on monday morning at 8am with a contractor, i have text him to say i will be in bed as i work sunday night shift so asking if he can come tues or wed or thurs, he said no he will be here on monday morning. what can i do . (16:41:01) Visitor- i am private renting in england (16:41:41) Shelter- I'm sorry to hear about your situation. It must be a very difficult time for you. (16:41:50) Shelter- Do you know the type of tenancy you have please? Someone is likely to have an assured shorthold tenancy if: * their tenancy started on or after 28th February 1997 and, * they pay less than £100,000 a year in rent to a private landlord who doesn’t live anywhere in the same building, and who doesn’t provide them with services (such as someone coming in to do cooking or cleaning). Does this sound like your situation? (16:41:51) Visitor- thanks xxx (16:42:26) Visitor- its an assured shorthold tenancy (16:42:55) Shelter- Thanks for confirming that for me. (16:43:25) Visitor- he is giving my notice but he is calling at unsociable hours due to my shifts (16:43:43) Shelter- Just to clarify, Is it disrepair in the property that is currently being sorted, or is it just improvements to the property? (16:44:39) Visitor- disrepair, the shower leaks water through the kitchen ceieling but i am using the bath to avoid this at the moment (16:45:24) Visitor- I see. (16:46:28) Shelter- Just for the purpose of the web chat today, are you wanting to know if you have the right to stop the landlord coming at that time of day and if there is any chance it can be rearranged? (16:46:53) Visitor- yes thanks that is what i want (16:47:07) Shelter Thanks for confirming that for me as well. (16:47:23) Visitor- i suggested that he comes any other day tues to thurs but he wont do this (16:47:45) Shelter- Is there any mention of the timescales or procedure that the landlord must follow in your tenancy agreement regarding disrepair? (16:48:56) Visitor- 24 hours notice unless its an emergency (16:49:23) Visitor- the notice is ok but the hours he wants to turn up at are unsociable hours for me (16:50:23) Visitor- the repair guy has had many attempts at fixing this including replacing all the tiles but we still have a leak. its been ongoing for 3 months. (16:51:01) Shelter- I see. Normally we would advise to stick to what is written in the agreement because if your refuse entry after the correct notice has been given, the landlord might try to take action against you for breach of tenancy or breach of contract. The difficulty is that assured shorthold tenants have limited rights. For example, they can usually be evicted quite easily (providing the correct legal process is followed), even if they haven't done anything wrong. This is why it's often a good idea to try and keep things as amicable as possible, especially if you want to continue living there. (16:51:40) Shelter- All tenants have the right to live in their accommodation without being disturbed. They have control over their homes so that landlords and other people cannot freely enter whenever they want to. This is known as the ‘right of quiet enjoyment’ and is an implied obligation. This means tenants have this right whether or not it is written into their agreements. (16:52:47) Visitor- I have decided i want to leave, i dont need this grief and so i dont need to contiue living here, i dont want to create problems but at the same time he is being very unreasonable. (16:52:56) Shelter- But the difficulty with this situation though is because there is disrepair that's been reported. You can exclude the landlord from entering the property if he is just wanting to improve the property but it is different when it is regarding disrepair. (16:53:28) Shelter- I agree with you from the information you have given me it does appear that he is being unreasonable. (16:53:46) Visitor- the dispute is him turning up when i am sleeping (16:53:57) Shelter- You could contact your local council for help. Many councils have a dedicated tenancy relations officer (TRO) who can often mediate in disputes between private tenants and landlords. A TRO may help mediate between both parties or help explain a tenant's rights to a landlord, either over the phone or in writing. (16:54:27) Visitor-- i know i can leave the keys in the door and refuse him entry but will that cause more problems? (16:55:31) Visitor- There is not really any time for a third party to get involved, tomorrow is friday and he is coming on monday morning. (16:56:03) Shelter- Possibly it could do. The reason for that is, practically speaking the landlord would have served correct notice to enter and may have had to pay for a contractor to come round at a certain time. If he cannot gain access to sort out the disrepair he might still have to pay the contractor for his time and suffer financial loss. (16:56:26) Visitor- i work 12 hour night shifts, there is no way i can let noisy workmen into my house on monday. (16:56:31) Shelter- This could result in deductions being made from your deposit when you leave or even the landlord starting a money claim against you. (16:57:52) Shelter- I completely understand your situation and I do agree the landlord could be doing a lot more to make this situation more manageable, but it does seem like he is being difficult and that's why you need to know the steps that he could take against you if it comes to the worst case scenario. (16:58:08) Shelter- I can appreciate this is not the news you’d hoped for and I do wish I could have given you better news. (16:58:34) Shelter- Is there anything else I can help with today? (16:59:43) Visitor- If we assume he is being unreasonable and im going to refuse his entry, what is my next step. Do i need to reply to his letter officially. He lives in the house behind me so i can put a letter though his post box. (17:01:21) Shelter- Even if he is being unreasonable, he could still be acting within the correct process set out by the contract. It might be worth putting something in writing to him stating the reasons why you want to rearrange. I would also suggest speaking to your local council's tenancy relation officer if he is not willing to budge. (17:01:49) Shelter- I do wish you all the best of luck with resolving your situation and I hope you’re able to get the outcome you need. (17:02:09) Visitor- ok many thanks for your help xxx (17:02:16) Shelter You're welcome. Take care. (17:02:19) Visitor- am i able to save this chat? these are the texts that i got Conversation with Landlord xxx Note! - On Tuesday night i send my landlord this text to say his tradesman had been in touch. [15/08/2017 9:22 pm] Me: That guy who cant fix the leak has been in touch asking when he can come and replace the bath panel etc. What is he coming to do . I want to be sure his visits are kept to a minimum and my time being further wasted is kept to a minimum. Note! - This text sent to my landlord after the tradesman had not replied to me by 3pm regarding repairs on the following day. [16/08/2017 3:07 pm] Me: I have told him to make arrangements through you. Note! - These are the texts to my landlord following the letter i received from my landlord. [17/08/2017 2:47 pm] Me: I will be just off night shift on monday so its not suitable. Wednesday is ok. [17/08/2017 2:56 pm] Me: The oven is not working properly it does not heat up to correct temp. Food is undercooked. Fan cuts out too. [17/08/2017 2:57 pm] Landlord : Sorry. The repair is now urgent and we need access on Monday. The notice given is more than required by us for emergency repairs. We have made several attempts to arrange the work to suit you but this has not worked as you have cancelled prior arrangements. We will attend the property on Monday. [17/08/2017 3:01 pm] Me: If its urgent then get someone who can fix it first time. How many attempts is needed. I tried to arrange with your contractor but he has not heard of common courtesey and never got back to me. [17/08/2017 3:02 pm] Me: You can't come on monday i will be sleeping. We will use the bath so no more water will leak. [17/08/2017 3:18 pm] Landlord : Sorry xxx. We have to repair leak as arranged. We will still be attending the property on Monday. Work will be done as quickly as possible. As per your contract I have given more than the necessary 24 hours notice to carry out repairs. [17/08/2017 3:21 pm] Me: You are not calling at reasonable time of the day. Tenants rights. I will be sleeping until 12 like a always do i finish at 6am so your request is highly unreasonable. There will be no water dripping. You can come Tuesday if you deem it an emergency. [17/08/2017 3:22 pm] Me: xxx kids are here and the bathroom is needed regularly. They go on Tuesday [17/08/2017 3:27 pm] Me: Its bad enough you called me xxx and so i dont needed further stress or harassment. You can come Tuesday Wednesday Thursday next week as these are reasonable days due to my shirt work. [17/08/2017 3:28 pm] Me: Its taken 3 months so its a bit rich calling it an emergency now. Apply some decency and respect it might work. [17/08/2017 3:31 pm] Landlord : Make other arrangements I will be there Monday. [17/08/2017 3:35 pm] Me: You wont be let in. Why are you bullying us. This is meant to be our home but you dont care about that. [17/08/2017 3:38 pm] Me: Ok your wish is granted. I will find somewhere else to stay. I thought i should do an official reply to his letter, i put it through his letterbox so he will get it tomorrow no doubt. Hopefully i did not do anything wrong. Date - 17/08/2017 Dear Sir/ Madam I am replying to your notice of repair work letter dated 16/08/17. It is highly inappropriate for you to turn up with your contractor on Monday 21 August at 8am. I work 12 hour night shifts at the weekends, these finish at 6am on Monday 21st August. So as you can see these are very unsociable hours for me. To turn up at this time is highly unacceptable and I deem your demands as unreasonable. Therefore I request that the work is carried out on another day next week, between Tuesday 22nd and Thursday 24th inclusive. I have no idea why you did not ask me if this was a suitable time for me but you failed to do so. I already tried to make direct arrangements with your contractor but he made no attempt to get back to me by 3pm the day before I suggested that he could attend i.e. Thursday 17th August. I don't consider this sufficient notice for knowing what I will or will not be doing on that particular day. A slight bit of courtesy would have been nice but I was left wondering is someone coming to my property tomorrow or not. I don't find this suitable. I also consider this repair as non urgent, I can assure you the shower will not be used until the repairs are done and so there is no urgency required in this repair. This repair has been ongoing for a few months, the contractor has been here quite a few times over the recent months. When he is here he comes and goes between jobs. This is wasting my time. I think my time has been wasted enough so far. Given the fact that original complaint of the faulty tap and the water leaking from the shower are still there, I think it can be considered as non urgent. I think it is reasonable to ask you to come on another day when I wont have just got home from a 12 hour night shift. I believe this is a reasonable request and I hope you agree to arrange the bathroom repairs for another day. I would also like to point out that calling me a XXXXXXX in your text was extremely offensive. I don't know what I did to deserve this type of vile name calling but that was what you called me. I don't accept any of your apologies, I don't accept the pink rose bush you gave to my partner. You deeply offended me. This is harassment. I consider your attempts to gain entry into my house, against my wishes as further harassment. To conclude, I think I have suffered enough hassle, stress, unbelievable amount of time wasted and so on. I would appreciate it if you rearrange your repairs for one of the days I suggested. I wont be letting you into the property on Monday 21st august so please do not antagonise me any further. Please do not cause me further hassle. Regards

My first post here, I think this is probably the best place for it. I witnessed a collision between a pedestrian and a bus around 18 months ago. I have now been contacted by investigators working for the solicitors for the pedestrian asking me to provide a witness statement in person. I gave a statement to the police at the time and subsequently in writing to the bus company, plus a brief response to the pedestrian's solicitors about a year later. I have no wish to be involved any further, and in particular I have no desire to help the pedestrian and his ambulance chasing solicitors given that the incident was entirely his fault. Am I under any obligation to agree to the request to give a statement, and if I refuse can I be compelled at a later date by a court to give evidence (the incident happened in Scotland but I live in England). The request was hand delivered, can I tell them not to visit my house again, and if they do is that considered harassment?

Hi all Me and my partner both joined a Harlands gym in October 2016 and it has been the worst decision we ever made. When signing up we weren't given a tour round to see the facilities or offered any free-day passes or anything like that and was told me needed to sign a 6 month contract which was £22 via DD before we were even allowed in the gym. We reluctantly agreed because the gym is our local was disappointed to find that there was a severe lack of equipment in the gym and was very unsuitable for our fitness needs. For example it didn't have a squat rack, a bench press, and the dumbbells only went up to 30kg and there was only a single pair of each weight available. Some of the equipment machines were also unusable as a few of the tread mills and cross trainers were constantly out of order, and to top it all off they were constantly redecorating the gym so it stunk of paint/solvents and there were always painters and decorators walking around when you were walking off. Considering the size of the gym was also very very small, it was constantly overcrowded and the paints sometimes bumped in to you when you were working out! After three months of disappointment and telling the gym staff our concerns, me and my partner informed a member of staff on the reception that we would be cancelling our DDs because of the above reasons and the fact I had also been made redundant so we couldn't afford the memberships anymore as well as running a household. The member of staff agreed and said that was fine so I thought that would be the end of the case. A month after this the letters and harassment from Harlands began. They said that we had cancelled our DDs before the contract was up and demanded all monies owed to be paid as well as admin fees. After reading this forum quite a bit, I decided to heed other users advice of completely ignoring them which worked for a while. After a few months of this, Harlands passed the debt onto CRS who are calling me and my partner every single day and sending us sham letters saying that if we don't pay the debt they will send bailiffs round to our house to collect it! I know these guys are chancers and bank on people getting scared and paying, but I am determined to not let them win. The amounts both me and my partner owe are roughly £180ish each after 4 months of £22 membership fee and then the same on top in admin fees. We last paid our memberships in January 2017. Has anyone got any advice for me on what to do or should I just keep ignoring them? I really don't mind sending a strongly worded letter to their head office or the manager of the gym but don't know how to word it or what to include apart from the obvious. Ideally I just want them to bugger off and leave us alone! Thanks in advance for all your help!

Hello everyone, I'm hoping to receive any suggestions on an ongoing matter with UKPC and DRP. I have been issued with 4 tickets from UKPC almost 2 years ago for not parking my car within my designated space. UKPC is patrolling our underground parking to impede unhautorized parking on our parking bays. My car is parked just underneath a grille overlooking to the basement of the building. There were some water leakings affecting the entire building so workers had to undergo a month long repairing job. While working on it they let a lot of concrete debries fall through the grille and into my car's bonnet and to avoid further damages I had to park just half a car length short of my bay. This was not in any way obstructing any other parking spaces nor any car manouverings but nevertheless UKPC issued me with those charges. I have endlessly tried for them to understand and remove the charges by putting in writing through our managing agency but they are not willing to do it. They have instructed Debt Recovery Plus to act on their behalf, they have sent several letters intimating payment but after one year they have stopped chasing me. Finally a couple of weeks ago, DRP sent me a FINAL NOTICE letter for a sum of £99 each (x4) after which they will say they will start legal action against me. I have read quite a few threads on the matter but I'm not sure what the best course of action would be. Any help would be really appreciated, thank you.

[/HMRC are claiming that a "further information" box was ticked but there was no further information included on a child tax credit form from five years ago when my daughter was attending college and now want the payments back. I know for a fact I hadn't ticked this box as there wasn't any additional information. Could I please have suggestions as to how to deal with this?

Hello So much information out there my brain is fried and it's about time I sorted this out. Erudio have started up their harassment again, stating my loans have matured and full payment is now required. My 4 loans are from between 1996-2000. I am self employed, have never earned above the threshold and although I have moved around a lot I have always kept in touch with both SLC and their parasite DCAs to update them of my situation. I responded to erudio's first demand letter by informing them about my income and including some sa302s. They have ignored this and gone straight to the second demand letter to pay in full within 7 days or legal action, etc. Is it correct that Erudio are only a DCA? If so what power do they actually have or is it just scare mongering? How do I make them stop, I don't want to ignore them and have the harassment continue but how do I respond correctly? Also, what can I do about the excessive fees and charges added over the years from them and the previous DCAs. I will continue to do my research but any advice on what legal action I can take would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

myself along with my partner have both had letters from LCS saying we owe them money for HMRC over payments. I wrote to LCS and asked them what year this was from and they ignored me. I wrote again and included a SAR request form which again was ignored. The last letter came yesterday with the usual good will be seized,county court etc (maybe) They keep ringing my house and my partner answered and gave them all of his information although i had told him not to. They gave him number for a company who helps deal with these debts and how you can pay. He rang them got a reference number and waited. Yesterday LCS rang AGAIN and despite him giving them the reference number they told him because the debt is owed to the government all other debts like credit card repayments,loan payments are not important and they are legally to be paid first so he offered them 5 quid a week which after an argument they accepted. Im the other end of the scale I won't talk to them on the phone i want to know what year this is owed from and how i was over paid yet still they are sending me letters telling me not to ignore them. Whats my next step please I feel I have a right to know when I owe this from and if I owe it then I will offer a repayment. ..they have also told me all repayments for the whole amount owing have to be made within 12 months..is this true please? I owe 1120.50. Any template letters to send these with big words and legal quotes please? Thank you in advance.

Hi everybodyl, new on here and have a big problem with Brighthouse. I currently have 5 things with them up until recently could afford the weekly payment. 8 months ago found out wasnt really well and currently cannot work Going back to Brighthouse situation, I have explained this in a letter to head office and the store and asked if I could pay what I can. My original payment was 58 per week (so stupid of me to get to that) and I offer 25. I also asked them to send me a detailed breakdown of what I have left to pay on each product. I also said I wanted contact in writing and didn't want to speak to them. Since then which was 5 weeks ago I have around 5-10 calls a day and have had 8 home visits. In my letter I told them not to come on to my property and to stop ringing me. I asked vodafone to send me a breakdown of my calls and so far I have had 190 calls from them. I am so worried and can't get to sleep at night. I have a butterfly feeling all of the time which isn't good fir me at all. I really don't know what to do. I rang them to tell them to stop ringing and calling at my house and send written info on waht I need and they just state that I signed with them they can do what they want. I also asked if I could make the payment I offered by card there and then and they refused. I would really appreciate any help and so sorry for my story Thankyou

Hi, Need a little guidance please. I'm posting this on behalf of my sister who works for a large government organisation. She was involved in a relationship with a senior work colleague who is employed in a different section to her and the relationship ended last year. He started bombarding her with texts about how much he loved her and that he hoped she was safe. He then started saying nasty things about her to work colleagues. It really distressed her and started to affect her work, eventually her line manager ended up having to involve her head of department. My sister is terrified of repercussions and doesn't want to be seen as a trouble maker. Her head of department, says it's sexual harassment and will deal with it that way. Is this correct as he never made any comments of a sexual nature? I thought it would have been more bullying? Just wondered if anyone could shed some light on this please. Cheers Dex

Hi I joined a Gym called Fitspace during the first Month a double payment of £11.99 was made to them . I only realized this when i checked over a week after it was taken out via my bank statements. This indicated to me that it could happen again as I was not contacted by the gym regarding this mistake. I sent a letter to by Bank and to Fitspace stating that the Contract had been breached as the contract stated the first payment of £11.99 will be taken out on the 16th of August 2015. however a double payment was taken out on the 17th of August 2015. I expressed that i have lost trust in the Gym for making this error and not following up to rectify the mistake. I received an email from Fitspace apologising for the mistake, instructed me to cancel my DD immediately by 27th of August 2015 and they offered me a free month if i was to rejoin. The reason for the double payment was a duplicate account was made, which i have no idea on how that happened. Then on the 3rd Of September I received a letter from harlands stating 'We write to you to confirm that your duplicate membership has been cancelled and the duplicate payment has been credited against your missing August installment on your live account. The terms of your Membership Agreement mean that you have to repay all your installments by Direct Debit. Therefore, you must call Harlands Helpline immediately'.... I chose to ignore the letter and received another letter on 20th of October saying that they have added admin fee leaving me at £31.99 in arrears. I chose to ignore this letter also. Then on the 20th of November 2015 i got another letter stating that they have added a further £20.00 charge which is leaves me at £63.98?? (dunno how they did the maths on that). They further threatened me saying that further charges will be added if i do not contact them by 4th of December 2015 and the balance of £159.90 will be passed on to a DRC who will add their fees onto my account. So i have written out a letter but before i send it i wanted to check up on it with the experts (YOU GUYS ) 26/11/2015 To whom it may concern I am writing to you regarding the lawful cancellation of my FitSpace membership, Fitspace reference number: First of all my argument against you is that Fitspace has acknowledged the mistake made by them and allowed me to cancel the membership on terms of breach of contract. They asked me to cancel my direct debit immediately by the 27th of August. They also offered me a free month if i was to ‘re-join' with them. The word 're-join’ confirms the agreed cancellation of my membership. No disputes were made by them about having to reinstate by direct debit because they know just as well as you do, if the contract is breached I am in my legal right to cancel my Direct Debit. I have this written in Email sent to me by Fitspace which i will attach to this letter. I hope you realize under The Protection From Harassment Act 1997 you are breaking the law by sending out these invoices in the pretext of bills/debts. You have no power or authority to do so, if you choose to continue with harassment I will be forced to report your actions to the Trading Standards and to the CMA. I would also like to notify you that I entered in a 12month contract with another one of your Gyms (Xercise4less). If this harassment continues I will most certainly be cancelling my membership at the end of the contract with Xercise4less . Also I was told by Fitspace that the double payment would be cancelled but it never was. I did not chase this up as I wanted to leave with a good gesture . Also do not attempt to settle me with further ‘good gesture payments’ as I am absolutely aware that I do not owe any money and I did not break any membership agreement as you argue against me. If you genuinely believe I owe a debt then do not hesitate to skip all the nonsense and pursue this case in court. I hope you are aware of a high court ruling where a judge openly said these gyms are out to take advantage of people and that there is no room for this kind of practise in business. Your Sincerely Il be looking forward for your sincere advice and help Thanks Jon

Hi everyone, I have a dispute with First Utility going back some years, and they are harassing me for the disputed debt. I don't know what to do with it so seeking some input please! First, a little history on the dispute. I had a dual fuel tariff with First Utility, with a monthly direct debit going out. Due to an error on their systems, I was not being charged for gas for about 11 months. They issued a single large gas bill which they said they would collect by direct debit - to which I emailed them asking them not to do it. The guidance in place by Ofgem at the time said that the utility company needed to spread the bill over the same period of time the error built up (e.g. 11 months). First Utility didn't reply to my email before the Direct Debit was due to be charged, so I cancelled the DD mandate and told them I had done so. This is how the whole thing started. There have been a few other strings to this matter... I can't remember all of them but a quick summary of some: 1. First Utility changed the meter, and have admitted that the meter was giving wrong information - they haven't clarified this at all. 2. The end reading from the previous supplier (British Gas) overlaps with the start reading from First Utility. I've paid British Gas in full, so I asked First Utility whether I've overpaid British Gas, or else First Utility should credit me some units. 3. First Utility wrote to me with a "your pricing is changing" letter. I said I wanted to make sure I was on the best possible deal; and they replied to say my tariff would not be changed whilst there was a dispute. I was later told the pricing was changed, but the *tariff* was not. I explained to them that I thought they'd been misleading here. 4. The biggest dispute by value is the billing rates since the dispute started. They've locked the gas account, so it can't be moved to another supplier, and arbitrarily changed my rates to much higher than are available on Uswitch etc. The electricity was moved to another provider; I don't know why they didn't lock the electricity but did lock the gas. As I haven't been buying both electricity/gas from the same company, I haven't benefited from any dual fuel discounts either. I have explained all the above countless times. First Utility haven't given a substantive response to the points, and have continued issuing gas bills (at expensive rate) compounding the problem. I have repeatedly asked them to let me change providers, and told them the matter is in dispute. The dispute has been characterised by First Utility trying to get someone to resolve it, then I assume they realise the complexity of it and they move on to something else. Looking at their public accounts, First Utility have increased in size from £57m in 2010 to £561m in 2014... so I suspect that all this growth has caused massive issues for them internally with staff changes, system changes, and I seem to be a victim of this. More recently their solicitors (ERT Law, a.k.a. Eaton Ryan & Taylor) corresponded with me and I was hopeful to get it resolved, but after 12 months of correspondence ERT Law simply stopped. (They would take a long time to response to me.) It seems once they understood the dispute they decided it was too complex. My problem with First Utility is that every 6 months or so, they put my account into a debt collection procedure and we get phone calls, visits from debt collectors, etc. I have had at least 5 different debt collectors visit my wife (I'm normally at work). It is really getting quite upsetting, and the police have already been called once and attended my home after a particularly aggressive debt collector. More recently a debt collector has applied for a hearing at the Magistrates' Court to get a warrant of entry, which I will be attending to defend. The debt collector is aware of the dispute but said it was too complicated for them to look into. My question is can I use the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 to obtain an injunction against First Utility? What I would like to do is for them to be restricted from what they can do to pursue the matter. In my mind it is quite simple - we should exchange correspondence to try and resolve it, and if we cannot reach an agreement they have the option of suing me in the county court. What I don't want to happen is for them to harass me with phone calls, pass details on to debt collectors, have people visit my house, etc. I am aware of the Roberts v Bank of Scotland PLC [2013] case, which is slightly different in that the debt wasn't in dispute, and it was a damages claim rather than an injunction. I should also set my stall out to say that this has reached such a bad state of affairs that I am willing to take a risk of failed legal action and the £tens of thousands that could potentially cost me. Your input greatly appreciated!

Hello, I'm new to the forums, but if this is in the wrong place then could you let me know and I will re-create the thread. I was living in Australia for 16 years(I was born in the UK and moved to Aus when I was 6). I had a rough time and didn't have a job until I was 20. I never had credit before. I opened a bank account in Australia and got offered a credit card, which I accepted. I then applied for a online course, which was a monthly payment of 60 AUD. Once signed up I had realised this course that this company heavily advertised was a [problem]. It was the same course a student in a free study College could do in his spare time on the internet. I had disputed with them about leaving, however they said that I would have to pay the outstanding amount of 4695.00 AUD. From that point I had stopped communication with them. My father passed away in February last 2014 and my mother and I moved back to the UK. I had left an outstanding balance of 500(Maxed out) credit card from the bank and I also did not pay the company who was chasing me for 4695.00 AUD. I've received plenty of emails from this company recently, I had no communication or emails from them since July 2014 and in the last two weeks I've had 24 emails and unfortunately a phone call. They tracked me down. Apparently this company AusDebt has been in contact with me(They have not). I first received an email 2 weeks ago stating that "As per the request of Open Colleges we have come to a conclusion and you are now only required to pay 1408.63". I then received the same email 2 times a day for a week, I will attach this with the post. It states that "As per my request" they are willing to settle with the amount mentioned above, which I think is being used as their tactics? because I haven't been in contact with them at all I assume as I've read online after 5 years the debt gets statue barred? I received a phone call yesterday asking for me, I said no I don't know anyone by that name that lives here and the lady said "That's funny since we've checked records and it seems only yesterday you applied for a loan and we also know who you bank with and that you drive a ford focus". How are they getting this info? She then went on to say "We will be getting that money back off you very soon, my associates look forward to seeing you in person have a nice day" and hung up. Does this mean that they have transferred the debt to a UK company? can they actually do that ? Any advice on this? More facts about the account, I had only logged into the online portal twice, and not even attempted the work because I had found out I could of just went to a local free college and got the course for free. Yet when trying to cancel they blocked access to the online portal and demanded payment off me.. s there any way I can fight this? Thanks P.s I am living in the UK now.

Last month a work man from my Housing association repair agent hit my door hard to cause injury to my shoulder. He saw that I was disabled. I did not let him into my flat as I did complain about his previous conduct and was told that he will not return. He has left me with a nervous disposition and injury. I live in fear and hightened anxiety. My housing asociation has not bothered to write or call to apologise for what happened to me My damaged keys as a result has not being repaired Also, I cannot live peacefully in my home owing to very loud drilling noise by their builders. I was not informed in advance of these works which has been going on since summer I asked them before to let me know how long thwe works will go on for so that I can make arrangements to remove myself from my home is I am disabled These has been ignored It feels as if they do not care really I have no relationship with my housing officer What do I do Can I take them to court? I gather that Housing Act 1988 and under duty of care to tenants landlord should inform tenants in advance of any work that will go on for months and would result in very loud drilling causing anuisance to their tenants Does anyone know about these and social housing landlord and their duty to thier tenants? Many thanks indeed

My husband was pressurised by Scottish Power about 5 years ago to switch to them, promising us a better deal. This was totally against my better judgement!!! However, in July 2013, we heard about Economy 10 and, as SSE was offering a good deal, we switched back to them. We heard nothing more from Scottish Power until December 2014 when a demand came for £56.99. My husband disputed it, having heard nothing from them for 17 months but they persisted and continued to harass him, threatening legal action. In desperation, my husband agreed to pay £12.99 and then £4 per month until it was cleared. Unfortunately, my husband died on 11th June 2015, and so I contacted Scottish Power to inform them of this and of the fact that he left no money. They said that I would have to pay the rest of the amount and that, if I didn't, they would harass me until the 'debt' was paid. Can they do this? I was under the impression that, when a person dies, any creditors cannot claim the money from the spouse. It's not the amount, which I could pay, but the principle of the issue and their attitude that it's alright to harass anybody to get their way. Please can anyone help me on this problem:|

A marston agent attended my property and wrongly executed a warrant that had been dealt with by the issuing court. The court in question had not relinquished the warrant but I had all the relevant paperwork to prove it had been dealt with but the bailiff refused to take that s proof or let me call the court for them to clarify. I was not at home at the time but my heavily pregnant partner was, by the time she called me she was hysterical and in floods of tears. The agent had terrorised her with threats saying that he was going to remove goods unless payment was made in full and that he was not going to accept the paperwork that proved the warrant should not have been executed. I spoke to him and explained that it had been dealt with in court and a call to the court would get it rectified but he point blank refused and said that if I didn’t make payment now he would get the removals van. I felt that I had no choice as I was extrememely concerned about my partner’s condition being so heavily pregnant. I paid over £1000 over the phone and when I got home a quick call to the court proved I was right. It has now taken since January 12th 2015 to this day, still with no proper investigation or response from Marstons directly answering my complaints that I find myself at my wits end with them. I have 2 active complaints which are currently being ignored by their ‘customer care’ team, I have written and emailed their board and I am still to get any kind of response. I have notified CIVEA and they are fully aware but won’t act until Marstons have exhausted their 3 stage complaints procedure. I really do not know what to do now. All I want is my money and compensation for what I have reasonably incurred due to them not refunding my money and the financial distress it has caused me and my family. Can anybody help?

Dear All, I made a big mistake a few days ago. I cancelled my membership at the gym and was told I would be contacted a few days later by a manager before completing the cancellation. I made the big mistake of then cancelling the direct debit. I only just realised I should have waited for the 30 day notice period. I want to avoid Harlands harassing me? I don't mind paying but I just want to avoid the harassment. I don't want the hassle of sending letters, making calls etc. Can someone please advice me what steps I should take to avoid any harrassment? I've already paid 7 months out of the 12 months, so paying the rest is not an issue, if that will avoid the whole hassle.

For the last 4 weeks I've been plagued by nuisance callers. They call asking for George King, who I have no idea who he is, or its silent. The silent ones are the worst. I get between 8 and 15 calls a day from 08719430417 who I believe are either One Stop Loan Shop or Little Loans between 9 am and 9 pm. In all the calls I've had there has only been someone on the other end once which was this morning and as soon as I started to explain I didn't want their calls he hung up. But that didn't stop the calls. I've had 8 more today already. I am registered with the TPS, I have complained to Oftel and ICO but they both seem useless. I called my landline provider and they suggested I change my number but that's no guarantee that this will stop it. It may just start again on a new number. And I refuse to be hounded into doing something I shouldn't have to. Since Monday I have kept a log of all nuisance calls and which number they're from. I don't pick up withheld or private as a matter of course. 32 calls so far! I am disabled and can't get about much so the phone is my lifeline. Another reason not to change the number. I've spoken to the police and they seem very reluctant to do anything. If this was a debt collection agency I'd have them by the short and curlys! I intend to pursue the police, having done all the legwork and having a log of calls and times. I don't see this as unreasonable. However... I am pondering as to whether I can get a solicitor involved and sue for harassment? I may be sick but I'm not stupid and this is causing me distress and I'm actually beginning to feel quite intimidated. I have just been online and purchased a BT8500. So have I covered all the bases and should I keep on at the police? Should I consider a solicitor. I know a local pro bono one. Advice or opinions please

Hello please can anyone advise me . ..my story is I received a letter from Cabot Financial about a debt owed to Fashion World from 2008. They said the account was opened in my name although they are using a wrong surname on 30th september 2008 and a default was registered against me in December 2009. I sent them the letter stating I had no acknowledgement of such a debt and I would like proof of the original documents/agreement etc. They wrote me back on 30th December stating they couldn't find the records and they were pleased to confirm the account was reviewed and it was not only being removed from their collections process but it would be removed from my credit file within 8 weeks. Today I received a letter from Northampton Small Claims court for the debt that Cabot Financial have said I owe!! They have sent a settlement /mediation letter that I have to fill out and send back by the 16th of Feb.. .any idea on what I send them apart from a copy of the letter saying the debt wasn't recognised? I dont understand how they can do this legally when they have already said to be to basically not worry?? Never had a small claims letter before so not sure if there is a standard letter to send. ..like i said any help would be great thank you

My husband was self employed up to 2006 and then changed to a limited company. From 2006-09, he was employed by his company (not self employed) which paid his taxes. The company then became insolvent. HMRC are saying he owes £10k tax. Any advice?