Historic day for the military as all roles are opened to women READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/historic-day-for-the-military-as-all-roles-are-opened-to-women

Government could pay out more than £1bn due to benefits 'shambles' The government could pay out more than £1bn in back payments after finding out that tens of thousands of people claiming sickness and disability benefits have been underpaid. Due to a "historic error" at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 180,000 people claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) have been underpaid and may be owed an average of £5,000 each. The blunders date back to between 2011 and 2014, when claimants were switched over from incapacity benefit. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/government-could-pay-more-1bn-due-benefits-blunder-152800162.html https://uk.news.yahoo.com/government-owes-more-1-5bn-152323666.html

Hi Im trying to claim mortgage charges on a mortgage taken out in1984 and redeemed in November 2004 initially with Alliance&leicester the initial period was 25 years and the total of the charges is£1,555.00 plus compound interest total £2,527.69 This claim ia now in the small claims court and Santander solicitors has submitted a application notice to get the claim struck out and the hearing is on May 3.In a letter received yesterday they mentioned section 5 of the limitations act and said the sums claimed were irrecoverable. They say i can withdraw the claim and pay santander just under£300.00 or if i pursue the claim they will claim the full costs witch they estimate at over£1,500 advice please

Hi been with britisg gas since 2006 had a prepayment meter fitted in 2008 by choice decided it was easier paying upfront Earlier this year after going on the energy review sites i decided to go on monthly billing so had the prepayment taken out (prior to switching supplier ) ----------- received a final statement for the prepayment meter stated i had an outstanding balance of £291.74 ( was gobsmacked ) reading further it stated there was an outstanding balance of £790.69 in 2008 when the prepayment meter was installed and they had clawed back £498.95 through the prepayment meter ----------------------------------------- needless to say this came as a bit of a shock had to my knowledge never had arrears and in 2008 £790.69 would have been nearly a years usage ------------------ rang several times on on the last lengthy call had the £291.74 supposedly outstanding cancelled ------------- however i dispute the total £790.69 alleged debt i have never had any billing related to that debt therfore i would like a refund of the £498.95 i wasnt aware had been taken from my prepayment meter ----------- is this feasible how do i proceed obviously have no billing records from 2008 thnx in advance

10 years ago, my motorcycle was clamped for allegedly being on the road when SORN. I do not believe that this was the case, I paid the release fee and shortly afterwards moved to Guernsey. I learned that I had been prosecuted without my knowledge, but as there was no way I could be pursued for the fine out of jurisdiction, I forgot about it. Having moved back to the UK, I received a letter from HMCTS historic debt team demanding £523.75. I contacted them to say I had been prosecuted without my knowledge and was advised to make a sworn statement to that effect in my local Magistrates Court. I am currently awaiting an appointment to do this, but have today received an attachment of Earnings order. Where do I stand? If I am successful in my not guilty plea, will the money be returned?

Hello Early this year I decided to take some advice and try to discover if any of my three previous Credit Cards had PPI. I've used this site a little but more so when the Bank Charges was first being publicised. It seems such a long time ago now! However, whilst collecting my data from the three Credit Cards I probably now realise I may have been the only person who wasnt sold PPI unless Eggs is hidden within its Reward scheme that came with the Credit Card. i.e 10% off Insurance plus other things... I've made an enquiry to Citibank but unsure whether I should trust their decision fully. If anybody can actually advise I would appreciate it. With my other two cards there was no mention of any PPI on any of the statements so am I correct in thinking that everthing was above board with these accounts? One was Tesco and the other Mint, both ran by RBS. Whilst going through my statements I have suprised at the amount of charges on two of the accounts. These date dack from 2001- 2006 and the other 2004-2006. Given the length of time, am I still able to claim these charges back? l understand that we couldnt do so on bank charges but believe that didnt apply to Credit Cards. Ive spent quite some time trying find some recent posts regarding all my questions but everything related to the above seem dated now Any help with above would be greatly appreciated Dagenham Dave

Received a letter on the 20th July 2017 (Despite the fact it is dated 10th July 2017) stating an imposed amount of £250 from the HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Apparently the fine was imposed at a magistrates court in October 2009. The offence occurred in March 2009. The car was registered in my name at my old address (I moved houses in July 2009). Those were the details given to me when I phoned the historic debt phone number (since the letter simply states the cost of the fine, not the reason why it was imposed etc). Was also given the name of the street the vehicle was spotted on. They advised me to fill in a statutory declaration form? How do I obtain one? Does it cost anything? I have also spoken to DVLA. The only information they could tell me was that their has been an update on the vehicle (I imagine it may have possibly been scrapped since the vehicle doesn't exist when trying to find if it is taxed or not) and that it was registered in my name at my old address. What is the best way to proceed. I bought my first car last year so clearly someone has registered the car in my name unknowingly to me. At the time I was still in college and living off EMA (£30 a week lol) so buying a car was never on the horizon. I have specific dates for when the fine was imposed and when the offence occurred if need be.

go after Aviva as the under writers then. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?473350-Aviva-as-Underwriter-PPI-Endeavour-Personal-Finance-HSBC&p=4985203

Hello all, I am hoping to get some advice as to how to proceed with my complaint regarding barclays bank charges on my account. My history: Since my original account was upgraded to a First Additions account in 2006 with a personal overdraft I was under the impression at the time that increasing my overdraft limit incurred fee's onto the account and was paying initially £5 per month until upgrading in 2006 with a larger limit for £11.50 per month. My account was upgraded again to £14.50 a month (additions plus), and i cannot recall if this was automatic or whether I was given an option at some point by a barclays staff member. I can assure you that I did not need any of the packaged services on each of these account; did not use any of the services provided as I wasnt even aware of them until finding out on online banking which is when I phoned barclays to remove all of them, as I was unable to over the internet - upon speaking to an advisor at barclays I explained that all I wanted was an overdraft and I wasnt happy that I was paying for services that I didnt need... He then referred me to the complaints department and after many weeks I have been given a lengthy questionnaire regarding an 'initial investigation' conducted by Barclays. I note in the questionnaire notes it states: "You held a non-fee paying account from July 2002, until you upgraded in July 2006 indicating you were aware of the account and that it was not necessary to pay a fee in order to have a current account" I would like to note that this account was opened with my Grandad at the time, as he introduced me to Barclays originally and I was merely present and not fully understanding of the circumstances. The investigation notes go on to say "You used your overdraft after you upgraded your account and this shows that you were aware that you had this facility as part of your packaged bank account". "You previously had an overdraft which you used before you upgraded in 2006. This shows that you were aware of the benefits of this account and that it is not necessary to pay a fee in order to have a current account with an Overdraft". The extent of the 'products & services' that were bolted onto these accounts were unknown to me at the time, and over the years bumped up the monthly fee's from £5 to almost £15.00 - I stress again that these services aside from not being disclosed to me, were practically useless for me in the circumstances that I was in and most therefore rendered useless. I feel that the response from Barclays indicates that they feel I should have known about the cause of these charges, without entertaining the fact that I was not fully informed about the product I was being sold. I wanted an overdraft with an increased limit, that was all. I really hope I can get some advice on how I should proceed with this case, do I fill the questionairre in and send it back? They have said they will proceed with the investigation using their information without me returning it either way... Thankyou in advance for your help. Jason

In April 2016 I hired a 7.5t van from a company online. They did not deliver on the stated day and didn't tell me it would come the next. A driver from this company was waiting in a Sixt 7.5t van angry that I wasn't in when he arrived, made me sign the document threw the keys in the cab and drove off. I arrived at my destination (a few 100miles) and 2 days later 2 Sixt reps turned up to collect. They noticed old wear and cracking on one of the tires, they were very unhappy with the depot/yard in the south allowing it to be out on the road. The damage was photographed and noted as being old wear. They then saw the rear bumper was very slightly pushed in but the damage was rusted and old, photos taken and notes put on their handheld/mobile that it was not my fault. I asked them to ring their head office just to confirm, they understood why and did so to explain and then allowed me to talk to them. All was fine, notes were put against the account and it was agreed the vehicle should not have been released and they would take it up with the southern depot. Almost 12 months later 28/03/2017 I receive a call from Sixt solicitors regarding outstanding debt for the above damages. They have the wrong name but correct surname, the wrong address (old one), no email and only my mobile. I have no documents from the time and only remember signing their handheld/mobile and found out they have had a head office change since. I don't know what I need to ask for or what proof they need or if there is a precedent to void their claim as it has been almost 12 months. Please help.

I'm about to submit FOS questionnaires pertaining to a couple very old credit card accounts. I believe the PPI associated with each of these cards was mis-sold for a number of reasons. At the same time, I signed up for both these cards 20-odd years ago and, that being the case, my recollection of exactly what happened is a little bit hazy. With that in mind, I have sent off Subject Access Requests in the hope that it might shed a little more light on proceedings before I complete the questionnaires. I appreciate these are unlikely to yield a copies, even reconstituted ones, of my original credit agreements. However, I understand that under sections 77, 78 & 79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 a borrower can demand a copy of their credit agreement. What I am unable to ascertain – and would, therefore, appreciate some clarity on – is whether this applies when the agreement has been paid off some considerable time ago, ie more than six years. Moreover, if the aforementioned legislation doesn't entitle me to obtain a copy of such credit agreements, can anyone suggest an alternative mechanism via which I may be able to obtain copies of them? Thanks in anticipation Fred_Funk

Hi i wonder if you could help/guide me I have a charging order on my property for £10,750 from 2006, it was applied by alliance and leciester for a 10k loan I took out for my exgirlfriend (girlfriend at the time) for her parents company and they couldn't get credit they had the money in 2004 and ended up not affording it and missed payments and I couldn't afford it or get credit so it ended up a charging order as I buried me head in the sand as was only 20-21 I never knew what it was at the time, I am now trying to get a bigger mortgage before moving and this has come up blocking it How do I go about removing it before or with the house sale Many thanks

The Pranksters view.... http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/parkingeye-shamelessly-dredge-up.html

Hi all. I am at the end of my tether and need to vent! I would also appreciate any advice on how to get the CSA to pull their fingers out and collect my son's money! My son is almost 17. Without boring you all with my life story, his biological father has never seen him and has denied him from day 1. He is a nasty piece of work. This may sound like a bitter ex-partner but believe me - I'm not. I never asked him for a bean towards my son, just to be a good Dad. He could do neither, had 2 more kids by different women, abandoned them too and ended up in jail. In a nutshell, I have had 2 payments from the CSA in my son's 17 years:- 1 compensation payment from them in 2000 due to their utter neglect of my case- 1 partial arrears payment in 2011 (yes - 11 YEARS later) of £1,500So, less than £100 for every year of my son's life. I have chased and chased and chased... I get nowhere. I have written complain letters, telephoned and asked politely, telephoned and ranted, telephoned and downright lost my rag... nothing . Yet according to their webpage they can impose all sorts of enforecements! I just can't see how they haven't sorted it out! They claim he doesn't respond - HE SPENT THE LAST 2 YEARS IN PRISON FOR PITIES SAKE! It's not like he could have moved! Help! What works ??? How do I get my son's money so he can go to Un i and be the decent man his "father" never will be?!

I've just received a letter from Santander regarding PPI on an old Evans store card I took out in the late 1990's. I'm not sure how they found me as the account has been closed since about 2007 and I've moved address a couple of times since then, anyway this letter was a surprise to me, i've didn't think a company would tell you they might owe you money! Sin the late 90's I was young, and think I was in my first job when I took 3 store cards run by GE capital? They were all taken out in-store with the assistant filling in the form for me. In about 2001 I got into financial difficulties, and ended up with a debt management company, who (I'm pretty sure) stopped the PPI payments, so I may have only been paying the PPI for 2-3 years at £2-3 a month (this amount is a guess). I do have some statements for this Evans account, but only from 2004-2006, and randomly one of them shows 'account cover premium' at £2.15, the others only show 'interest', the balance at this time was in the £200's. The letter I've received from Santander, says that the FCA has requested all banks to review PPI complaints that were investigated and rejected prior to Dec 2010. It says I raised a PPI complaint in 2007, but it was rejected - I don't remember doing this at all! apparently Santander have started to re-asses it, and they need more info. They have enclosed a form to fill in and return, with lots of questions like: How was the policy sold. Did anyone recommend I took the policy. Did I ever claim on it. Was I working. Did I have any health problems. What happened when I took the policy. I've never Sar'd Evans (GE Capital) or Santander, so don't know any figures. Should I just fill in this form and return (any tips?), or will I need to SAR them?

In 2005 I started claiming as a single mother. The claim was legit. However in 2006 I traveled abroad and became ill and ended up staying abroad for several years with my kids. I never notified the benefits office or housing benefit and kept getting my claims paid until 2008. Then I applied for tax credit whilst still living abroad, until I returned to UK in 2011. What are the chances of my being prosecuted if this is found out and is it harder to prosecute historic frauds? Is there a time limit to prosecutions being taken?

APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE, NECESSARY LONG POST Hi, I first joined CAG in 2006 when I was claiming Bank Charges for my daughter who suffers from mental ill health. This nightmare took from late 2004 through to September 2008. I was supported in this claim by FOS whom I first contacted in January 2005 and the FOS adjudicated in our favor in July 2008. The FOS also raised several (complaints) case files that were also upheld. We were sent an offer late 2008 from NatWest, we were pleased as the temperature was heating up about making claims, so we were quite positive. Before I accepted the settlement I asked the case worker from FOS relating to the method of payment asking if we could elect to have a cheque made payable to my daughter or myself (I was acting as her 3rd party representative) The reason for this request was that her account had been passed over to Debt Management and any money deposited would subject to them taking their 'cut' thus kissing goodbye to almost £800 relating a loan she was 'encouraged' to take out to pay off her bank debts caused by penalty charges; (or as I preferred to call it "Loan Sharking"!!) Once I had conformation from the FOS I was within our rights to request the cheque I telephoned a dedicated number given by NatWest for accepting offers based in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. I was greeted by an apple munching female who totally dismissed my request insisting it 'could not be done', everything had to go through the bank account. I tried to reason with her, suggested her manager phone my case worker at the FOS (by this time I had her direct line!) and she refused. She said she could not process our claim and ended the call. I returned to my FOS contact who raised yet another complaint against NatWest, she commented that the bank "was not making this an easy process" I contacted the same people who made a note of my case number from FOS and was advised to give it a week I would get a letter from them. I assumed that this was to give the Bank an opportunity to see the case raised and to have a reply. After 10 days and nothing from the bank I telephoned them on the same number, but to my horror there was a recorded message saying that any Claims were now suspended because of the involvement of The Office of Fair Trading. All this happened around July 2008, and there simply was not any alternative contact number to call. I believe the cases were classed as "stayed" pending a test case. But this related to those that had applied through the courts and had a judgement awarded because the Banks simply did not show up!! Also I did not go through the Courts as the bank was in communication with me, well more like I kept on their case!!! I think about this time I then lost the will to go on and left it for a while, expecting to return to it within a few weeks. But then our lives changed dramatically, my husband became redundant after 25 year with Citi Bank, I had to come to terms with becoming a permanently disabled wheelchair user; my daughters husband escalated abusive behavior towards her that led to divorce. We bought into a Pub only a few months before the rescission took hold (2008/9) and we lost everything trying to survive. We moved out of the Pub and a few days later it was set on fire, our quarters were destroyed with a lot of our possessions still in them. My daughter went on to meet someone and became pregnant; but when she was 34 weeks pregnant (August 2012) with her daughter she attempted suicide and she almost succeeded. I know it must sound awful; but she wanted to end her life and waited until she was 34 week and the baby was viable. Both I am pleased to say they both survived, but the thought and worry is always with me of 'what if'... She has now been diagnosed with Bipolar as well as personality disorder; all attributed to when her depression first started when she had financial problems that became intolerable and exacerbated by the Banks penalty charges, she was known to be a self harmer, but again she got worse. So, my question is .......... can I resubmit and reclaim? I am gathering the information together, some of the documentation was lost in the fire, but almost everything is on my PC. Who might I submit it too? As I had a written 'offer' (now lost I'm afraid) will that account for anything? I have all case and reference numbers and as I said original files on my computer, including spreadsheets. This group helped me so much in the past, Bankfodder, Steven Hone and I went into the Office of Fair Trading in Fleet Street to present them with a 'dummy' cheque. I was the token wheelchair disabled person they invited in, Bankfodder was quite angry and was 'invited' to leave the meeting early(!!) oh what fun!!! I know how hard people work on this site, my thanks in anticipation. Jo

Hi all Does anyone have historic purchase interest rates from 1992 to 2005 on Barclaycard Visa and MasterCard, preferably with start and end dates of variations

Hello Sorry if this is in the wrong place but i had a Bank account with HSBC over 6 years ago and i know when i was younger i was not very good with my money and was forever getting charged by HSBC for either going overdrawn or payment charges. I have called HSBC and they do have me on file having a bank account but cannot bring up any statements as it has been closed too long. Is there a way i can retreive old statements and claim my charges back? Thanks

Hounslow Council recently contacted me (May 2012) to say that I owed £525 for council tax owed back in the year 2000. What had happened is that I moved out of a rented flat and moved to an address in the same block as the landlord had decided to sell the property. We promptly registered that we were moving to a new flat with the council and immediately without a pause began paying council tax on the new property. Hounslow acknowledge this and can see the record of this taking place. However, they are claiming that we did not de-register from the previous address and are claiming for a period of 6 months council tax unpaid. In speaking with them they are asking me to show my tenancy agreement from over 10 years ago (which I have zero record of) and I cannot track the landlord from 10+ years ago. I am stuck and the council will not see reason. Apparently they had a summons issued against me and my flatmate back in 2001 for the outstanding bill. We never received any communications that this was going on and Hounslow tell me that it is only now that they have been able to trace me - despite the fact that they had a record of me living at another address in Hounslow until 2003 and also me being on the electoral register since then and having lived at the same address for a property I bought for the past 8 years. Its extremely frustrating as if they had contacted me earlier I would have perhaps had records of things - but since they have taken so long it is now extremely difficult for me to do anything. They have a baliff now pressed into action and I feel very very down about the whole thing. I dont have the £525 spare right now and I really dont feel that I owe it. If anything the landlord of the property has been unscrupulous in not forwarding the mail at the time and also he should have been liable for the council tax. I have requested now that the council provide an original copy of the letter sent to them registering us at the new address and evidence of their attempts to contact me in the past 10 years. But to be honest unless the original form shows that I notified them that I was moving out of a place and moving into another place (and not just the latter) then I do not know what to do. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to fight this? Many thanks

hello everyone, does anyone know how these reclaim companies find out how much ppi money we are owed without us telling them what loans or cards we've had