Hi all, would really appreciate some advice on this. We booked some flights with a company a couple of weeks ago. Whilst getting quotes from them through email they made a few mistakes (wrong flight dates/times/flight numbers etc) but we persevered as they were cheapest but also as they came highly recommended. We paid a £100 deposit each and got a confirmation email from them confirming our flight details, which we checked carefully and was correct. A week or so later we supplied them with our numbers for the airline's reward scheme, which they linked to the flight booking for us. It was at this point we realised something was wrong. We got an email from the airline confirming the booking which had the itinerary on - the return flight was wrong. We'd booked a late evening flight with a 6 hour transfer half way home. They've booked us onto a flight leaving early morning with a 19 hour transfer. We also noticed that the email account this airline mail went to wasn't the one supplied to the company, when linking it they had made a mistake and swapped two digits round in the email address. It's absolutely pure chance that we also own this email address, otherwise we'd be none the wiser that our flights are wrong. We got in touch with the company straight away and told them that they'd booked us onto the wrong flight. They spent a few hours looking into it and got back to us saying that at the final page of the booking process, the airline is changing the flights but not alerting the booker to this - basically passing the blame to the airline. They're also saying that the price of the flights that we asked for has now gone up and so we will have to pay over £100 extra per person to change to those. Our arguments are that: a) the onus is clearly on them to check every page of the booking process (especially the all important final one!) and this problem is fully down to their lack of care; b) had we not (through complete and utter chance/luck) also owned the incorrect email address, we would be completely oblivious for months yet to the mistake; and c) the fact that prices have gone up since the original booking is not our concern, they should be covering this cost. We have tried to be as flexible as possible, even down to changing our holiday dates which would mean rearranging the accommodation and annual leave at work etc, but the owner of the company is completely unwilling to meet us half way - he is offering us flights on alternative dates which we've said we'll accept as long as the company is willing to cover the extra £15 per person cost of this, but he is flat out refusing. He's only willing to refund us our deposit (we'd then have to pay substantially more to rebook elsewhere) or transfer our flights at entirely our own cost. I have managed to find their terms and conditions online and I believe they have contravened quite a few of these (and that them cancelling our booking would also contravene these on their part). Where do we stand on this? I know that £30 doesn't sound a lot in the grand scheme of things but it's a lot of money to us and it's the principal now! Thank you

We have been living in our studio flat for 9 months. We received a letter today to ask us to contact the agency as a matter of urgercy. I thought it was for the renewal of the contract, which expires in June only for them to say they have been trying to contact us to ask us to leave, as the landlady wants to reclaim the property. The landlady contacted them the 1st of Febuary and wanted 2 month notice period. The agency have the wrong number, not sent a email or sent a letter other than the one we received today. The agency office is also 5 minutes away!! I know the landlady is within her right to reclaim her property but my question is how long do we have by law to be able to locate a new palce to live. The contract states "possession of the property may be recoverd under Ground 1 in the Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988". Also Groud 2 notice.... In plain english what does this mean.

What a fantastically well done bit of scriptwriting and acting. So real in every way. I had to laugh at the dad who was kicked off ESA onto JSA and did a deal with the young guy to have his hand damaged by a nail gun simply to get back onto ESA and get a bit of compo in the process! Is this a common occurence - it wouldn't surprise me?

Good morning all, Hope this is in the correct place and someone can give me some advice, or confirm I am doing the correct thing. On 22nd October 2012 a Yodel driver attempted delivery of a parcel (not for us but for a previous tenant) to our address. We were not home. He forced the item through the letterbox. In doing so he must have caught the item on the letterbox guard on the inside of the door and ripped it off. When it ripped of it splintered the inside of the door. As we live in a small block of flats the door is fire resistant. Once I got home and discovered the damage I immediately called Yodel. They told me to send an email, which I did that night. I called our Housing association and informed them of the damage. The HA rang me back the next day to tell me they had spoken to the people who made and fitted the door, and they told me the door could not be repaired as it was a fire door and as such and repair would invalidate the 'warranty' on the fire resistance. I then emailed Yodel again to explain this. I was told the complaint had been sent over to the depot manager to investigate. During the course of the next 6 weeks I kept emailing them every 2 weeks to ask for an update, to be told each time that they were still waiting for an answer from the depot manager. On 3rd December I was asked to provide me telephone number so the depot manager could visit the property to see the damage. I provided this straight away. I was told on 4th December that it was passed on to the depot manager and he would contact me to arrange a suitable time to visit. I emailed them again on 20th December to say no contact had been made by the depot manager, to again have an email come back saying it would be done that week. On January 14th Yodel emailed me to say they were sorry for the damage caused to my property and that corrective action against the delivery driver had been taken. They asked me for 2 letter headed estimates for the repairs to be sent to them at a postal address. I had 2 local companies round to give me the estimates and sent them off recorded delivery on February 2nd. They were signed for on February 4th. I chased Yodel up again via email at the beginning of this week as, again, I have heard nothing from them. I recieved an email Tuesday saying they had not received my estimates. I provided the tacking number and suggested they look for them as they had received them and had signed for them. Wednesday 20th I had an email stating they could not find them and could I send them again, this time via email, which I again did. Phew, if you are still reading this, well done! Today I get an email from them stating that they are currently dealing with the claim and that the depot manager would contact me to arrange to visit my property to inspect the damage caused! The visit they were going to do 5 months ago nearly. To be honest I am getting fed up, they seem to have no intention of resolving the issue, and I seem to just be going round in circles. I have already asked them to provide me with their registered head office details in case I wish to take this to court, they refused. I have looked it up online and found that they are Home Deliver Network etc. Can I now just take this through MCOL? I feel I am just wasting my time speaking to them. They have admitted fault in writing, asked for quotes to compensate me in writing and now we seem to be back at square one. Thanks for taking time to read all that, I would appreciate anyone's advice.

Hi there, In august last year my wife took my daughter to one of these "photoshoot" places and was given the "hard sell" to buy a CD ROM of pictures taken for £1400 She paid a £200 deposit using her debit card and agreed to pay the remaining £1200 in £100 installments. She signed the "paperwork" which states it is a "Pre-Contract" under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The agreement is very vague - for instance the agreement number has not been filled in (it's blank) There is also a section on with my wife's debit card details filled in (including the CCV security code which as far as I am aware is illegal to store) Anyway - the direct debit for the payments was cancelled in December (neither myself or my wife has any knowledge of cancelling it) so they have received £300 so far. Now on the 28th of February the company has taken 7 x £100 payments from the card and wiped the account, they have obviously just kept charging the card until it was declined! We have not received anything from the company about missed payments, a default notice or any communication how and when they planned to take the payment(s). The agreement she signed has a section with her card details filled in with the following... "Missing Payments" - You realise and agree that should you default on any payments owed, including the deposit, Fusion Studios may/will debit your credit/debit card, for the full amount owed. Seeing as they have never sent an default notice or anything then what is the definition of "full amount owed"? - I have no problems with paying them the 3 missing payments to get back on track (£300) but surely they cannot just charge her card until it declines! My arguments are: 1. Storing CCV card details is illegal (against the terms and conditions of their agreement with their card processor) 2. No default notice sent. 3. No invoice or advise sent when they planned to take payment 4. They should have tried to charge the card for the £900 owed and not in £100 increments until it declined I know a little bit about consumer law but no where near enough to be 100% sure what the legal standpoint is? I have tried to phone them on Friday several times (when the money was taken) and left messages to be called back urgently but nothing as yet...

Hi, My brother is in debt for unpaid court fines except, it's my fathers house and he doesn't own any possessions other than the contents of his bedroom and motorbike. Bailiffs may be on the way within the next few days and we are all worried that they might take our belongings. Also, being it's not my brothers house are they still allowed to force their way in? I have already been to see the solicitors for a statutory declaration but the appointment isn't till Thursday. I was wondering if there is anything else I could do. Thank you in advance.

Hi all, In 2007 my wife and I were forced to close our business. We sold our house and went into rented. With job opportunities being few and far between for me I defaulted on two accounts and we took out a DMP with Payplan to keep a grip on things. I subsequently went self employed in my trade and have had a steady flow of work since. My wife got a full time job with a company and has been there for five years now. My question is, how likely would it be for us to get back on the housing ladder? We have maintained all of our commitments since 2008, but I still have these two defaults although I dare say I could contest one of them that is with Lloyds TSB and in relation to charges from them that took me into an unarranged overdraft. We still have the DMP in place with Payplan. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as it is rather soul destroying paying rent....

We may have a buyer for our home in Spain and I would very much like to return to the UK to be nearer to my children. Unfortunately we have had to drop the house price so low that we will pretty much just cover the mortgage and there won't be enough left to settle our debts in the UK as we had hoped. We have defaulted debts in the UK that will become statute barred in two years. I'm worried that by moving back we will suddenly be bombarded by debt collectors. Is there any way that we can stay under the radar? We will need to rent, as we won't have money to buy, but we'll hopefully have enough cash to pay six months rent up front. Will the agency still need to do a credit check? Can they do a check if we ask them not to? Will looking for employment result in a credit check being done? How about obtaining an enhanced criminal records check? I will need one of those. What other things would flag us up? We could, once we find jobs, start some kind of payment plan, but it will be many many years until we can clear everything which means we will probably never ever be able to build a credit rating again as we are getting on a bit. I am really hoping we can hang on until the debts become statute barred or we win the lottery and can clear the lot. Wishful thinking, I know. The debts are all unsecured and there are no CCJs. However I'm worried that if a CCJ is taken out when we return, we won't have the money to settle it. Presumably creditors can apply for a CCJ at any time? Alternatively we could just stay in Spain and hope for the best, but if we don't return soon it is very unlikely that my husband will find a job if we return in a couple of years. The longer we stay away, the more difficult it will be. If we had any way of paying the debts, I would happily do so, if only to be free of the worry and guilt, but we are just not in a position to clear them.

We took out a loan with Lombard Direct, with a PPI, over 15 years ago and no longer have the paperwork as it was paid off. I wrote to RSB who own Lombard Direct but they have replied stating that they have no record of our loan. Is it worth pursuing any further or is it just too long ago?

Hello All, I have used this web site many a times but I was not ready to deal or face my problems hence not registering before however the work you guys do to help others keeping people positive, motivated, not feeling isolated and on track against the big bad world of debt is amazing, keep up the good work to all involved Well here goes ...... My husband and I started having severe debt problems after a change in job amidst relocating back to Edinburgh from Kent. At the same time we lost all the equity in our house which was subsequently repossessed in October 2009. All our financial problems started around March 2008 where we started paying nothing or reduced payments to every company we owed money too. After spending years of moving around since our repossession with our two children, over two years of homelessness and serious consequences to my husbands health and our relationship we need to sort this mess that still haunts us before this ruins the future of our family, we don't where to turn. We always knew deep down Sequestration was our only option not only because of the total owned but after my husband health started suffering too and continues to do it really left any repayment options unavailable to us. So now we have the money needed to pursue our bankruptcy at long last however I wondered if we could have some personal opinions in what you what do in our situation. We are currently in receipt of benefits and have advise that we could take the LILA route for Sequestration. This is a list of everything I have noted from letters I have received however we ordered our credit reports last night for the first time since we had any late payments and now I can't make sense of who owns what and what areas we need to address also on a positive note the amounts I have listed are slightly less mainly being Northern Rock which is actually half that what their correspondence said at one point or I would not have noted this Due to all the moving about we have only just found out that my husband has two CCJ's these are highlighted below too: My Name Intrum Justitia or Lowell (not 100% was originally Barclaycard) £7,750 Halifax Credit Card £676 British Telecom £110 British Gas £1,200 Mint £2,110 Southern Water £66 Cabot Financial - Next Directory £760 Sheila Wheels £75 Husband Northern Rock Plc - House £72,000 Barclaycard - debt sold on? £6,500 Halifax Credit Card £4,000 Blackhorse Personal Finance (HIP) £250 Scottish Gas £355 Sky £101 Joint Alliance and Leicester - Current A/C £2,000 Halifax - Current A/C 1 £650 Halifax - Current A/C 2 £135 Halifax/HBOS Loan £1,300 Kent Council £233 West Lothian Council £710 Clydesdale Current Acc £200 Edinburgh District Council £202 HomeLet £500 Eon £1,400 Maybe having to long to "stew" in this whole situation and where it has led it us too coupled with all the other personal effect perhaps I am bitter. However all I do know is that preferably I don't want to pursue us going bankrupt and the time to recover from this when the debts with the largest capital against them are pretty old and they all relate to the house which was repossessed. I am more than happy to shed more light on the situation and give more details to allow anyone who can help to do so. I tend to ramble and go off point so I tried to keep this factual however I have probably missed so many relevant factors and explanations, hopefully this will be enough to get started Thanks in advance, Mrs H

Afternoon all my mrs has taken a mortgage out in her sole name due to my very poor credit rating We have both paid equal deposit just everything is in her name until my credit gets a lot better My question is how do we protect her credit score without us being linked What will link us financially? What can be done about council tax, obviously i will be named living there under the council tax but is their a way of preventing this being reported to the credit agencies? Any thoughts would be great Thanks

We bought a van off a friend about 6 months ago for £1000, we gave him £700 when we got it & £250 a couple of months ago, so still owe him £50. In the meantime my husband has been working with him & they both got their tools stolen, tools weren't insured, so had to buy new, didn't have the money at the time, so a local merchant said we could pay them monthly, we've paid £500 off a £1600 bil so far, but the merchant has now put them on our friends account, as we don't have one with them. The friend has been baggering us for the money daily, so we've put our car up for sale, so we can pay him. We went away over the weekend & left the van with tools in, in a mutual friends locked yard, went for it this morning & it had gone, called the police, then found out the 1st friend had taken it & its in him lockup on the same yard (we didn't know he had one!). The police have spoken to the friend & they are saying its a civil matter. Spoke to the so called friend & he said he's keeping it all till we've paid him & he's says we also owe him £1500 for the van & £2500 off a job they did together. The van was only £1000, so only owe £50, put neither of us has proof as nothing written down & paid cash, we have got proof we paid the £500 off the tools. The van is registered in our name & we insure it. Please help, we are desperate. Thanks in advance

We bought a van off a friend about 6 months ago for £1000, we gave him £700 when we got it & £250 a couple of months ago, so still owe him £50. In the meantime my husband has been working with him & they both got their tools stolen, tools weren't insured, so had to buy new, didn't have the money at the time, so a local merchant said we could pay them monthly, we've paid £500 off a £1600 bil so far, but the merchant has now put them on our friends account, as we don't have one with them. The friend has been baggering us for the money daily, so we've put our car up for sale, so we can pay him. We went away over the weekend & left the van with tools in, in a mutual friends locked yard, went for it this morning & it had gone, called the police, then found out the 1st friend had taken it & its in him lockup on the same yard (we didn't know he had one!). The police have spoken to the friend & they are saying its a civil matter. Spoke to the so called friend & he said he's keeping it all till we've paid him & he's says we also owe him £1500 for the van & £2500 off a job they did together. The van was only £1000, so only owe £50, put neither of us has proof as nothing written down & paid cash, we have got proof we paid the £500 off the tools. The van is registered in our name & we insure it. Please help, we are desperate. Thanks in advance

got a letter from Barclays cancelling our account and debit card, supposed to have JSA go in on Tuesday now have to phone up Job Centre and ask for a giro, grrrrr,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q45DiRwldM8&feature=youtube_gdata_player