http://digiguide.tv/pick-of-the-day/1+September+2015/documentary-cash-in-hand-payday-loans/ Looks like Uncle Buck is the subject of this programme.

Are secured loans all bad? I am currently on a DMP with Payplan end date 2020 (dependent on charges & int) and am looking into ways of clearing this quicker. I have posted on the DMP forum and am currently looking into sending out CCA requests but have also been looking into secured loans. If I can borrow a lump sump I can try and offer full and final settlements to my creditors this will reduce the debts and I will have a definate end date. My main issue with secured loans (apart from the obvious being secured on my home) is the interest rate, are there any good companies out there that offer fixed rates and can be trusted! Many Thanks (be nice lol)

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is overcharging almost 80,000 graduates by ten per cent every year – leaving them £580 out-of-pocket each time. Automatic income contingent repayments (ICR) begin when a graduate begins to earn over a certain amount of money once they complete their studies. The repayments are collected through the UK tax system where borrowers remain in the UK. However, as the SLC only receives information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about what customers have repaid once a year – after employers have finalised their annual tax returns – there is a ‘time lag’ which means thousands of people nearing the end of their repayments overpay, unless they opt for payment by direct debit. http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/student-loans-company-is-overcharging-almost-80000-graduates-by-580-every-year-baker-tilly-finds-10431230.html

Hi after several years of depression and spiral debts I now want to sort out my pay day debts. I am currently with Pay plan but currently repayment will mean I am 80 before debt free. Looking for advice to get debts reduced due to irresponsible lending. I am not trying to get out of the debts just reduce interest they currently have charged Quick Quid after 8 roll overs borrowed £750 paid £269 Currently with Arc still owe £1107 Swift borrowed £150 now with CCM paid £72 still owe £265 pay day express after several rollovers borrowed 750 still owe 1200 Nat west went overdrawn by £10 charged me £250 in bank charges Lending stream took out 4 loans 750 in total charged £2000 reduced to 1600 Most were irresponsible as they loaned money even though I had defaulted on a a payday loan Lending stream I defaulted and they still allowed to take another loan. They also went to my account 44 times one night and each time tried to take £5.00 till the bank stopped after 4th attempt How do I start to ask these companies to take off interest. My memory regarding the loans is a little sketchy as I was suffering from depression and don't even know if I took all them out

I am in the same position but I have defended the claim on the grounds that HSL do not legally own the debt. I complained about having loans accounts for 1996 and 1997 being administered separately from ones that I took out in 1999 and 2000 because I was being asked to do everything twice (defer, pay etc...). They sold the 1996/7 ones to HSL using a clause in the contract that allows them to transfer rights BUT the first clause states that the 1997 and 1998 amendments to the 1990 act are to be regarded as the applicable regulation and those two amendments both say that loans should not come into repayment at the same time and should be treated as one loan. This means that by selling the loans in March 1999 they knew that they would not be able to comply with legislation in force and used the clause which allowed the sale to circumvent the applicable regulation. This makes this clause an unfair contract term under EU law and as such is unenforceable. Defend it!!

Hi all, Can anyone help out? Do you have any information on the following company. https://www.instantdecisionloans.co.uk/ or has anyone heard of them or had any dealings with them? A colleague of mine has unfortunately been duped by them out of circa £500. A police report is in the process of being filled out for fraud. He is currently cancelling his card and changing his account details so that they can no longer take money from him. any info on these would be great if anyone has had dealings with them. Thanks

Hi, thank you for looking at my thread... I will try and explain what has happened to me, hopefully I don't confuse anyone In the beginning of 2009 I took a loan out with Amigo Loans, at the time I was working full time and was paying my loan of fine... However, near the end of 2009 I lost my job (the famous recession) and I fell pregnant (not perfectly timed) my pregnancy was awful, I was suffering from horrendous morning sickness and the G.P had signed me off sick, up until Nov 2010 I continued to make payments from my savings... Till it ran out, amigos didn't really send myself or my guarantor any letters chasing the debt - and I just got busy with my daughter... In sept 2013 I received documents from Amigos to take court action (it was expected) and I did everything, fill in the income/expenditure form - I can't remember if I did a defence (I have never got into debt before so this is all new to me) In Nov 2013 I was handed a CCJ in regards to this debt. Now I was making payments which the courts had stated, I made them every month without fail - with an extra £20 on top to just cover me incase I fell behind. The payments were taken via direct debit without a problem, till March 2015 - Amigos didn't take a payment in a payment, I don't know why - the direct debit is still active. I then even sent a direct payment of £10 to see if it will start the direct debits off, but it didn't - at the time I was going through depression and counselling so I had other problems. Anyways in June 2015 I requested a copy of my credit report - now on there is the CCJ which is fine, but there is also an account with Amigos on my credit report which shows as though it is in arrears - the account does not have a default on it. Now I sent an email to Amigo on 11th August 2015 requesting that they put a default on my credit file therefore allowing lenders to see the account is defaulted and not in arrears - however they refused this?! The issue I got is, I feel like I am being punished severely as this arrear will never leave my credit file - my understanding is that CCJ's are removed after 6 years but a loan which is in arrears will remain on my credit file? Is there any kind of grounds I can use for them to put a default on the account 3-6 months after it went into arrears in Nov 2010? I will try and attach a copy of my credit file showing these... Sorry my thread is so long, I thought I'd give as much info as possible.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33555764

Hi all, I made a big mistake and took out a Ladder Loans loan for £400. Two days later I awoke in a sweat and knew I needed to make good this awful error. I telephoned them and notified them of my intention to cancel under the CCA 1974. I paid the balance of £401.61 and asked them if it would be registered to the CRAs. They said it would, which I found hard to swallow. I have cancelled the credit agreement in the cooling-off period and believe they cannot record the loan with the CRAs. Am I right in thinking this? Also, they have emailed me confirming settlement of the loan, not cancellation of the credit agreement. Are they trying to pull a fast one here? Any help is gratefully received. Thanks.

Hello i have posted a few times before about my situation but to quickly clarify, i have taken payday loans out in the past and these have had a negative impact on my credit worthiness. I recently applied for a mortgage with skipton and was declined due to my history of payday loans. I took out loans with Wonga, Payday UK, Lending Stream and last year Quick Quid!! With the exception of quick quid the other 3 loans were from 2010 to 2012. It got to the point were i was borrowing from wonga more each month and had deferred my loan with payday uk each month for a year, which meant it almost became like a monthly bill, and then borrowing extra from lending stream to make up the short fall. i eventually got to the point were i had to contact them and arrange a payment plan. This was with payday uk and wonga as i had settled the lending stream loan. Both Wonga and Payday Uk were contacted before the loan date, they asked for an income and expenditure they then offered me another deferral!! Then i was told that i had to wait until the loan was due and i missed the payment for them to consider a payment arrangement. Both Wonga and Payday UK have marked me as defaults on my credit report and i feel this was not accurate as i had contacted them weeks before the loan date express concerns for my financial situation. I want to write to both companies asking for the inaccurate information to be removed. I understand this is a long shot but then i would also like to complain to the FOS for irresponsible lending. I was just wondering if there is a good way to start, do i start with a SAR? if so is there a template, or is there simply a template for a starting letter. I know this was my fault but i feel these companies are vampires and needs one more person to start a complaint, I was in a vulnerable position at the time, i was young and im paying for it now. Any Help would be appreciated.

I took out a lbl about 10 months ago I can't remember the name of the company but I was keeping up with payments and never had an issue. I then received a letter saying that loan's 2 go had bought that company and my loan was now owed to them. I wasn't happy as I've previously heard bad things about this company and didn't / wouldn't have signed any contract with them. I carried on paying the loan as normal but then lost my job. I have missed a few payments now and I have had calls from them saying they want to look to take the car. Can they do this as my loan wasn't taken out with them and I have never signed anything with them.

I'm just wondering whether anyone has any information on Rayners who offered door step loans. They seemed to operate in the Grimsby and Scun-thorpe areas, where one of my relatives lives and she's owes them around £1K. She was recently told by the woman who collects her money each week that Rayners have sold up and got out of the business, but still has to pay. My relative has had no information regarding this or anything else from Rayners in quite a long time. I've searched the internet for information about the company and searched companies house for them, and apart from a few leads which suggest they're no longer operating, there's not much information. Could someone please advise me on how to tell my relative to proceed? She has no issue paying her debt if it's still enforceable, but doesn't want to be paying for something which is no longer being collected or if the company has become defunct. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Just a quick one is it possible to reclaim ppi on a business loan, I know once in the past when the loans have been settled I have been refunded the premiums, but on my present one I had to take out a life insurance at £x per month rather than the total premium being added to the loan as has been the case in the past which I assume is due to the ppi scandal, just curious at the moment as someone told me their bank had handed them a form in branch and suggested they try.

hi quick q re the 25 yr write off re such loans. does it run from the last loan taken, or from the date of the first loan a/c number that all have been amalgamated into one re sale? thanks

Hi, Ive just come across a thread about BH selling on to Skye, so have started my own.. . I only have 4 months left on the loan after 5 years. I had an agreement with BH that I have in writing, that if I continued to pay the monthly repayments on time (2 years ago) that the added interest, due to a few missed payments and an added 6 months to the term of my loan, without my knowledge, (even they could not see who had done it or why just that the dates had changed ??) that they would remove everything.. they had already removed over £1600 of wrongful charges, plus the payments they say they have received are not the same as the payments to them from my bank, they has less paid, I had asked for a SAR but not recieved this as of yet and the account went to Skye Loans with a different account number etc on 1st June ..worried now that the above will not stand , how do I best deal with this, will Skye loans have to honour the agreement I have in writing ??

Where a loan has been written off by Thesis, is there any evidence that Erudio are trying to revive and collect on them.? Had a letter from SLC saying my loans which were with Thesis, and have been written off six months ago are now with Erudio, Or is it likely as I think SLC have fecked up? Thoughts.

i have taken out numerous loans from sunny over the past 2 years. in total borrowed £2700 in lots of seperate loans and paid back £3800 all together . They are now still chasing me for £600 . Over the last couple of months i had a £25 payment plan set up with them and paid them last month they said i hadnt paid when i had and i had to send them bank statements etc to prove i had . i then missed a payment waitng for them to sort it out and they then sent me a default notice served under section 87(1) of the consumer credit act 1974 for £600 to be paid in full by 8/4/15. Any help on what to do would be appreciated, I am also having big problems with mr lender. I borrowed 750 back in october but ran into financial hardship . I offered £25 a month and an in depth i/e form . They refused . in December they sent me a text saying i owe £1700 .My online account balance was a lower amount. in january the 2nd the said was to be sold to mmf . Then on 11th january offerd me a settlement figure of £750 .But when i log in they say the debt is with mmf . As of today i have not heard a thing from either mr lender or mmf but want to get this sorted before it escaltes . Thanks for your advice on therse matters in advance.

PLEASE READ IN FULL!!! [not really necessary usual fleecing tactics by the loan finder companies and debit card draining - dx] I know this message is very, very long but I felt I needed to detail in full my recent experience with this 'company' in order to help those who have suffered (or are suffering) at the hands of Loans Direct. Like myself, you probably turned to the ever enticing lure of the pay day loan in order to give your family treats you felt they deserved at Christmas time. I have a poor credit rating so I was redirected to this site. It wasn't until I had stupidly entered my details and clicked the button that I realised what had happened. Stupidly my own fault for not reading the small print, but if you are reading this then you are obviously aware of how grossly misleading this website and the company are. I emailed them immediately (December 10th) to cancel my 'membership' as the online facility did not work. .. then I google searched them. The sheer horror I felt for realising how silly I had been and what a mess lie ahead of me. I emailed them again after picking up some hints from other discussion boards with the attempt to sound a bit 'heavier': December 10th: Hello again, Due to my concerns after visiting your website I contacted the Financial Ombudsmen straight away (thank goodness they were open till 8pm!) who informed me that as I had attempted to contact you immediately and coupled with the misleading nature of your application process (funnily enough, they are all too aware of your dealings) I should expect no funds to be withdrawn from my account. I was helpfully informed by them that if you have not actioned the cancellation outlined in my first email and do indeed go ahead and collect the £69.75 from my account then I am to contact them immediately and they will investigate the matter further on my behalf. I shall also inform you that I expressed to them my concern that I have already attempted to cancel via your 'transparent and simple cancellation process' without success; this too, they informed me, is a very common complaint and should be actioned by yourselves immediately by removing all of my details from your database. I have also been told to monitor my statements in case you or any of your affiliated companies attempt to take further funds from my account. I will not attempt to call you as it would seem all attempts at this are fruitless. Please feel free to contact me via email or on xxx if you wish to discuss this matter further. I have been directed to forward a copy of this email to the Financial Ombudsmen should I not receive a reply. Thank you in advance for your cooperation, Kind Regards I hadn't, in fact, spoken to anyone and I'd hoped this would work. From 4:00am my phone was constantly buzzing with messages offering me loans. The next day at work I was bombarded with telephone calls from countless numbers, some offering loans and some just hanging up. I felt exhausted. I tried to call them over and over, but as you are all too aware this is pointless as you can never speak to anyone. I kept a close eye on my bank account and thought I'd had a lucky escape when only 10p was taken out by Loans Direct on December 12th... that was until the evening of December 19th I'd noticed that a company called Credit Cleaners had taken £9.99 from my account. I felt at my wits end. Everything I had read on other discussion boards, about how they clear people's bank accounts and there is little you can do about it felt like it was just beginning for me. I couldn't tell my partner, I felt so ashamed of myself and my stupidity. We were arguing lots and I was snapping at him... he could tell something was up but I couldn't bring myself to tell him how silly I had been. I emailed them again that night: December 19th: You have now not responded to my request to remove my details from your data base. I have now been charged 10p from yourselves for 'signing up' and have received countless unwanted calls and texts from loan companies. I have now been charged £10 from my bank account by an unknown credit card company and have an email from a company called Trakkit who are also now going to charge me for their 'services'. I have sought advice and your activities are misleading and seriously questionable. I will attempt to call you again or give you the chance to call me on xxx to discuss this matter further. You have until Monday 4pm to do so. If not I will recontact the Financial Ombudsman to pick up this case as promised and you will then have to deal with them. And I will seek further legal advice as you should not be allowed to continue with your near on-fraudulent business activities. Regards Again, no reply... even with my threats of action. You must remember they hear this stuff all the time. That night I could not sleep a wink. I was sweating and the sheer anxiety and panic I was experiencing made me feel as though I was going to pass out or have a stroke. The physical and emotional strain was unbearable... and my partner was suffering too. The next morning was his birthday and I was forced to tell him what was wrong. I felt terrible, like I had ruined his birthday and the previous two weeks with my recklessness. But he was so understanding. I can't urge you enough to face up to the reality of what has happened. He told me to call the Financial Ombudsman to set the ball rolling, and not just use it as a threat... and I did, and they were so helpful and understanding. And I sent Loans Direct another email: December 20th: To keep you informed I have now passed this issue to the Financial Ombudsmen who will now be making contact with you. Again, I have attempted to call you numerous times to discuss this matter but I am unable to go further than an automated service. I am urging you to take my details off of your data base as other companies are now removing funds from my account and they have also been reported. I understand that I have signed up for a service but I'm sure you are aware that it is grossly misleading and I have attempted to contact you through your given means without any luck in order to cancel 'membership' in the period outlined in your terms and conditions; now my details have been passed to third parties during this period I have attempted to make contact leading to them taking money from my account which I have not authorised. I will also be making contact with Action Fraud to report the activity on my account. Regards, However, the Financial Ombudsman could only deal with the money that had been taken... so this now left me with the tricky situation about any further attempts to withdraw money from my account. I had read on so many other discussion boards that the banks were refusing to help people as they had given out their card details themselves, and this I could totally understand; this was my fault after all and I hadn't read the small print. But I still felt that the means by which these companies obtain this money is through misleading advertising and deception, but I really felt after reading other posts I would be offered no help. I called my bank as I felt face-to-face interaction would be too embarrassing as I felt rather foolish for getting into this mess in the first place... and the people on the phone weren't too helpful. But it wasn't until my partner near on booted me out of our front door to go to the bank and face up to my responsibility that I made the trip to the bank... and I'm so glad I did. I'm so shy and the thought of going to the bank and recounting to them what I had done and the position I was in filled me with utter dread. .. but they were amazing! I bank with Natwest and the gentleman I spoke to told me he had literally just finished with someone who had the exact same thing happen to him, except EIGHT other companies affiliated with Loans Direct had totally cleared his account in a matter of days! I felt so lucky... he told me Loans Direct had attempted to take £70 from my account SEVEN TIMES A DAY for the past 10 days!!! But luckily it had been refused by the bank. He cancelled my card there and then and put me in touch with the Natwest Fraud Team who were so helpful and I was given a refund... even the 10p Loans Direct had successfully taken! Remember when you put your details into the Loans Direct website? Did you put in the long set of numbers along the front of your card? That's because these transactions work like shop or telephone transactions, they are not like direct debits, and that is how they are able to take whatever they want from your account whenever they like and these details are easy to pass on. Even if your bank isn't very helpful in your plight the worst case scenario is that you explain to your bank that you would like to cancel that card as you feel its security has been compromised and you would like a new one so those details you initially gave will now be void. If the companies then contact your bank telling them that you owe them money then report them to your banks Fraud Team as questionable and unauthorised transactions as that card is no longer in use and you have not authorised for those companies to take money from your account ... then carry on down the Financial Ombudsman route. Tell the bank you are currently dealing with these companies through the F.O as even though you did pass them your details you did attempt to cancel membership to them during a cooling off period which they made neigh on impossible to do and in that time passed on your details on to other companies... that should work. Then they will no longer be able to touch anything in your account and the F.O will help you in receiving a refund. I also read many comments from people on discussion boards about how this is your own fault and you are wasting the time of people such as Citizens Advice or the Financial Ombudsman, etc... and how you are taking up their time in helping those really in need... but don't be bullied into feeling bad. If enough people complain and these helplines and services do feel their time is being taken up with this issue then they will highlight to the relevant people and bodies that this is a serious issue. Yes, I felt stupid for what I had done, but if I hadn't faced up to it and accepted the mess I was in and acted quickly and dealt with the embarrassment then I wouldn't have got this sorted. I admit I have been lucky... but if you attempt to tackle them on your own or leave it too long you are going to find this already difficult situation even more so. There are people there to help you and you have options, don't feel ashamed or keep quiet about it. I finally heard back from Loans Direct: and very quickly too after my last message to them! : Thank you for your email, please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you. Having looked at your account history, I can see that you did not fully complete the application process for membership to Loans Direct - this is why you haven't been able to cancel an account. Although you completed the £0.10 validation check, you did not continue with the application. As such, your bank account will not be charged any subsequent fees by us, although the validation fee may still be collected. If an amount has been debited from your account, you will need to contact the company name that is showing on your bank account statement. I trust this clarifies matters, however if you do have any further queries, please do not hesitate to respond and I will be happy to answer them for you. Kind Regards Loans Direct Customer Service ABSOLUTE CR*P!!! As you know, they had in fact attempted several times a day for almost two weeks to take £70 from my account, but I was lucky. But trust me... they will try every trick in the book to get (and keep) your money, so don't give up and don't do it on your own. I wasn't rude or threatening in my messages... they don't care what situation you are in, they just want to get to that money and will try all means available to them. I did, however, have £8.99 taken from my account by a company called Trakkit after I had cancelled my card... I'd assumed that an email from them detailing the end of my free subscription was spam as I'd attempted to login to my 'account' without success so I forgot about it. However, they did have a pending transaction on my account so do ask your bank to check any transactions pending that you may question once your card has been cancelled. After google searching them too it would appear they charge £8.99 a month plus £1 every day the account is open, charging almost £40 on any given month!!! I also wrote to them: December 29th: I have not subscribed to your services and attempts to log in to my 'account' have failed, which is not surprising as I have not signed up for it. Your company has been passed my details by either Loans Direct or Goldfish Finance who also have acquired my details fraudulently. I shall urge you to remove my details from your database and cease removal of funds from my bank account as the Financial Ombudsmen is now dealing with these two companies and both have been reported to Action Fraud, and unless you would like me to pursue this route with you I shall expect no further financial dealings with your company. I do not require your services and I have not signed up for such. I am in contact with my bank's Fraud Team and I have reported you to them and requested a charge back, which I have successfully received from the other two aforementioned companies. I thank you in advance for your cooperation. Please feel free to contact me on the email address supplied if you would like to discuss this matter further. Kind Regards They too rather swiftly replied: December 30th: Thanks for your E-mail. Trakkit is often offered to people who have been looking for finance and may have been declined. As a result, you may have opted to sign up for a subscription to Trakkit when you applied for a loan with another company. We can however, confirm that your account has been cancelled and a refund has been processed. Please allow up to 7 working days for the payment to appear in your account. Many Thanks Customer Services Trakkit Again, I am sorry for how long this message is, but I really felt I should go into as much detail as possible in order to help those who were trapped like myself... there was so much different information online I was so confused... I almost kept it to myself and thought I could deal with it, but the truth is you have to face up to them head on and with the help available. Don't let them win and don't attempt it on your own. I've not lost a penny and they have not gained one! DON'T do this on your own. There is help. DON'T feel embarrassed or ashamed. You made a mistake and I felt so foolish... but they prey on this fact hoping you will try on your own and they will make it almost impossible for you to win. This took me three weeks to sort... I've read about people waiting more than 6 months and still without success. DO share your experience. Go to your bank. Contact the Financial Ombudsman. Report them to Action Fraud. Share your experience on message boards and review sites. For crying out loud! Even take it to the local news... national news... Watchdog programming! Petitions! Do whatever you can to stop these people. Some people I came across on various sites were making out this was totally my fault, I only have myself to blame and there is nothing I can do about it so I should stop wasting valuable time. I am accepting partial responsibility, but I'm not stupid, and I'm not assuming you are too... I'm just terrible with managing my finances! I felt in need of money and stupidly fell for a cleverly deceitful and well orchestrated 'service' which should be illegal. The more you shout the more difficult you will make it for these thieves... as that is exactly what they are.

Hi, I'd really appreciate some advice on how best to tackle Ladder Loans. In summary I borrowed £2000, have missed a few payments but even so have paid them more than £4000. I'd now like to know whether a full and final settlement is the best option, or whether I can fight this and pay nothing more The details are as follows: 1 - Ladder Loans is part of Inventive Finance Ltd, which I've found out runs a network of payday lenders. I was offered £2000 in July 2013 on an 18 month repayment schedule 2 - The APR per annum is an eye watering 299%, meaning that according to the CCA (which I now have), I agreed to pay them £5031.36 for that original £2000! 3 - I made 15 payments of £279.82 on time, so I've already paid them £4192.80 4 - Due to further financial difficulties (problems with my business), I missed payments no 16 (end Nov) 17 (end Dec) and what would have been final payment no 18 (end Jan). They've added £12 penalty charges for each of the missed payments 6 - They've never written to me about these missed payments or about adding penalty charges, I suspect they have been trying to call my mobile though. I asked for the CCA about 10 days ago and it arrived on Friday. I'm now thinking of doing one of two things. 1 - Offering them a final settlement on the £862.56 they say I still owe, to get them off my back Or: 2 - Making a formal complaint and seeing if I can eventually take it to the FOS. I'd base this on them adding on penalty charges but not writing to me as well as the fact that I already paid them more than double. Am I correct in thinking that payday lenders can't now charge more than 100% of the original loan? Or did I read that wrong? Can a hugely inflated interest rate be challenged? I'd really appreciate which is the best of the two routes to go down. Do I have a leg to stand via the complaints route, or would I be best just offering maybe £300 (so a third of what's still owed)

In today's Mail On Sunday. One of Britain’s longest established payday lenders has admitted that it was ‘slightly incorrect’ in calculating its interest rates, meaning that it advertised rates that were only a third of the true figure. The annual percentage rate of 433.71 per cent advertised by Peachy Loans on its website since early this year has now been increased to 1,256 per cent after a whistleblower alerted The Mail on Sunday and the Financial Conduct Authority. The APR was misstated despite the charges for the loans being virtually identical to rivals such as Wonga, Mr Lender, Pay Day UK and Pounds To Pocket, who all state their APR at 1,200 per cent or higher. The lower rate also appeared on price comparison websites. Payday lenders are now obliged to place their rates on at least one such comparison site Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3025626/Sorry-rate-1-256-cent-not-434-cent-says-payday-lender.html#ixzz3WOAJ1sso Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-3025626/Sorry-rate-1-256-cent-not-434-cent-says-payday-lender.html Regards,John.

Hi. I'm 24 and looking to go back into education in September (by which time I'll be 25) to study Animal Behaviour. I was told by a university this week that I would need either A Levels or an Access to HE course to allow me to apply. There seems to be plenty of funding available for university students, but I can't seem to find any for full time college students, as you can not apply for student living grants/loans until uni. I am living away from home and have been claiming ESA for a while now, but that will be ending soon. I know I can get a loan to cover the cost of any course and exam fees (from 24+ Advanced Learning Loan), but does anyone know of any help with living costs, or even any benefits I can claim whilst at college to pay for rent, food, bills etc? I don't know if this is the right place to post this thread, or even if anyone here can help, but I thought it was worth a shot as CAG has been very helpful in the past, and I'm struggling to work out what to do now after being turned down by the university. Thanks. Matt.

What does everyone make of this ? It's a reply to my recent Statute Barred Letter to Honours Student Loans for a Loan taken out in 1994 Basically they are stating my Statute Barred claim is void because I haven't informed them of any changes of Addresses I've had, is this true? Do they have a case? Do I ignore the letter or reply? I'm guessing quite a few people would have received identical letters.. Thanks

I've managed to pay off most of my loans now and with two left the light is at the end of the tunnel. The final two companies owed money are Sunny and Peachy. I am loathe to compliment any PDL company yet I have to say that Sunny did the right and correct thing by allowing me to repay in reasonable installments and frozen interest and charges. Of course, it's only the start of repayment plan and these places are known for trying to change the goal posts. Peachy on the other hand... good grief.. they have to be the worst. The offer of repayments forwarded to their "Credit Committee" (That'd be the bloke on the next desk then?) and aggressive emails to perfectly reasonable emails. Luckily it's been sorted now, but I really cannot wait for it to be cleared. I guess the point of this post is to say that it's important to stand your ground and don't let them pull the wool over your eyes... But remember.. in the case of Peachy.. WINK WINK

just wondering if anyone can advise me, my son is 20 years old and has been diagnosed since an early age with autism and has recently been diagnosed with moderate learning disabilities, he was at a school for special needs up until he left school at 16. he is currently receiving DLA but he has no real idea of money and always wants to spend it as soon as he gets it. The problem is because he wants to be more independant we allowed him to sign up for a phone contract and have sky installed in his room both come out on a monthly basis on the understanding that the money would always be in the bank. recently he was getting parcels delivered to the door, we found out that he had set up 2 catalogue accounts online and had been getting things from there, also buying many items from other online stores. also we have just found out that he has also been purchasing tickets to concerts all over the country without discussing it with us, he has purchased over a dozen tickets for events in just the last few months. it seems like he has been spending just for the sake of it. here is where the problem is, because he has been spending all his money he has been taking out payday loans in order to subsidize this habit, we had no idea of this, only finding out about this today. each time he was borrowing more and more in order to pay of the previous one and has he has no idea when it comes to money it seems to have spiralled. he is due to get his DLA friday and has just decided to tell us that he is unable to pay his phone and sky because there is over 800 pound due to come out of his account from payday loans... 3 different ones in total! and he is not making the payments to the catalogues because the funds aren't there. i now need to contact all the catalogue companies and payday loan companies on his behalf. i have already gone into his bank with him to cancel the payday loans from coming out but i still need to contact the companies. could anyone point me in the direction of a letter or advise me what to write that will highlight this situation he has gotten himself into. any help would be greatly appreciated thank you

Hi can i ask if a secured loan on a property still falls under the CCA1974