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Found 17 results

  1. ‘Where are my contributions?!’ Pensioner TAKES DOWN Government over £42,000 shortfall A BRITISH pensioner has taken the internet by storm after she demanded the Government reinstates her pension. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/793599/Pension-contributions-WASPI-Election-2017-payments-foreign-aid
  2. Visited my mum tonight like I do every week, she is 80 and suffering from the onset of dementia. Last week she had mentioned she loved the movie Dirty Dancing and would like to get the music from it so she could play it at home. When I walked in she was all excited saying she had bought the music from a 2nd hand record shop. The first problem was she had bought a 2nd hand copy on cassette and does not have a cassette player. She then tells me she has to return to the shop on Monday to pay the rest of the money for it as she did not have enough on her when she was in the shop. I had a look at the cassette and the price on it was £3.99 reduced from £4.99. My mum said she had paid £20 towards the cassette and the guy in the shop had taken her name and address and also asked for her phone number but she could not remember it and told her to bring in the remaining £19.99 on Monday. Now I know people will say how would anyone think the price of the cassette would be £39.99 but my mum does not have a clue what sort of price these sort of things sell for. I was going to go into the shop tomorrow but it's closed, so I'm trying to get some time of work to go in with her on Monday. Not sure about the best way to deal with this.
  3. To cut a long story short I believe BT or one of their employees is responsible of untrue or misleading actions possibly fraud to my father of nearly 80. Basically my dad removed caller Id from his phone to reduce the cost. He has the true-caller BT phones so straight away they stopped working correctly. I explained that it was because he had removed caller ID. While I was visiting him he asked me to put it back on for him so he phoned them went through security and I then took the phone. I explained my Dad had accidentally removed caller ID and his call blocking had stopped working and could they add it back on. The employee of BT explained that he he was such a long standing customer and providing he agreed to another years contract (he has broadband and telephone with BT) they would give it him free. A few weeks latter my Dad received a letter thanking him for his change of package. This letter explained an increase in cost to the line rental, a BT Infinity Activation charge £49, delivery charge £7.95 and a increased cost of his overall package £30 per quarter. And a new 18 month contract. None of these upgrades were mentioned during the phone call none were asked for my Dad has Sky and has no need of unlimited data. As you can imagine my Dad phoned them straight away and asked for an explanation. They could offer none but confirmed they would get back to him. A nearly 2 weeks latter they still have not. The additions have been cancelled. I have emailed a official complaint to BT requesting copies of all the calls because I'm going to send them to OFCOM I believe that this behaviour should be stopped and BT held accountable. So far I have received no reply its now been 6 days since the complaint. I believe people should be made aware of this as I find it despicable. I had a similar trick played on me by another supplier which was very quickly sorted out.
  4. Hundreds of thousands of over-65s who invested in National Savings & Investments pensioner bonds will see their savings rate plummet from Jan 15th. The rate on the one-year 65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds will fall from a market-leading 2.8% AER to 1.45% AER. NS&I is writing to around 470,000 bond holders, giving them 30 days’ notice to consider their options. Due to the volume of customers making their decisions at the same time, NS&I will only take maturity instructions online or by post, not over the telephone. The first bonds are due to mature from Jan 15th. If you do nothing, you'll be automatically reinvested for another year into a standard Guaranteed Growth Bond paying 1.45% AER. You have 30 days after the bond matures to move your money elsewhere, otherwise you face a 90-day interest penalty if you want to access your funds. Read the full story.... HERE
  5. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/pensioner-reunited-car-forgetting-where-122008200.html#Vt0qp4x The principle again proving they call the shots...
  6. Hi, My uncle is about to retire from a skilled manual job. He's been in this job for 50 years but his intended retirement date in October has had to be brought forward due to ill health. My uncle had a stroke and a heart attack just over a month ago. He's worked all his life has never spent anything other than basics. He hasn't done any repairs on his house (he doesn't even have heating) other than the bare essentials (when my mother moved in for a few months about 7 years ago and made him do it to stop the place falling down). So he's very ill, living in an unheated damp house. (The smell of damp hits you as you walk in, there is no wallpaper and barely plaster in places. The plaster is falling off the walls and there are huge cracks. Persuading him to do anything is difficult. Enter the financial adviser. This guy has persuaded him to put one pension into investments. He has another one due and this man is coming over to see him next week. My mother got his name and telephone number and begged him to delay but the man told her that this was urgent. She explained that the situation had changed, that my uncle was sick and undergoing treatment. Representatives from the council told him that the house was uninhabitable and he must move and my mother told this man. Last week my mother and I visited my uncle (we live over 400 miles away.) Mum had been there after he got ill. She's managed to get the council and other relatives living nearer to keep an eye on him and do some essential work. A valuer has visited and given him and us an idea of the possible auction value of the house and an idea of what it could be worth if it was done up. He has options but won't make a decision (he has always looked to authority figures to tell him what to do). So we explained that he could either sell the house and get somewhere smaller or do it up and hope he gets more. Either way he will have to move. He can't do it up himself he will have to pay someone. Meanwhile he does not have any idea where this man has invested his money, he has no list of investments or outcomes. He has little paperwork at all apart from a glossy folder. I have looked this man up and he doesn't have a website. His business name is different from the name on the glossy folder. Uncle tells us that the man told him it was all rather complicated and he would deal. Last week some forms arrived. As we weren't there the adviser's wife came round and collected the forms. We don't know what they were. Of course the adviser won't and can't discuss it with us without my uncle's permission. I get that. Mum has got CAB's pensionwise to try to intervene but my uncle won't deal with them. He trusts this guy. Frankly, I don't but without his permission I seem to hit a brick wall. The red flags are screaming at me; The absence of a list of investments The haste to get this next pension invested The refusal to delay the next meeting The fact that after a lifetime of thrift my uncle has only a small amount in his account (he showed my mother his bank book) The "it's all too complicated for you, I'll deal" that he seems to be saying. My uncle hates change, he doesn't travel, has never even had a passport. As I said he fixates on authority figures (real or perceived) and is really in a vulnerable situation with his illness. As an example he will get the bus to a big supermarket rather than shop locally as he knows where everything is. I think he will convince himself that he can update this house as selling it would upset him but for that he needs savings that he can access. If anyone can advise on anything I can do from a distance bearing in mind he'll not agree to intervention?
  7. Hello, I am brand new to this forum so please excuse my lack of knowledge. My mother is a pensioner who was missold PPI from Littlewoods on a credit card years ago. (Barclaycard?) She has no documentation for this currently. What I'd love to find out is 1) How do I make a claim/Who do I need to contact or address a letter to? 2) What proof/documentation would I need to do so? 3) Is the process very complicated, would I be better going through a company to do it for me or is the percentage they usually take too much? Sorry if I sound completely clueless, as indeed I am I'm afraid! Thank you so much in advance for any help.
  8. Hello there I have not put anything on here before but my daughter has and so she has introduced me to this. I am in a pickle and feeling the stress and at almost 70 I could do without it. I was a guarantor for my son for a loan a while back and he got into a terrible mess and tried his hardest to pay the huge monthly payment but had gotten behind with repayments along with a mountain of debt form elsewhere. Now me myself, I too am in a lot of debt and it is worrying me to the point I am awake at night just about my own mess. I own my home but there is a lifetime motgage on it as I released the equity in it a while ago. Does this mean I can't be forced to sell it? I am so worried about losing my home. Today I received a letter saying that if I don't pay the arrears of 900 pounds within 2 weeks, they will take court action against me and send the bailiffs. I can't pay 900 pounds but I am willing to pay something each month, as is my son. My question is, if this goes to court what happens? Will the bailiffs come to my house or try to make me bankrupt? I am worried sick over this thank you.
  9. Hi, My good friend has been on sickness benefit for a long time at one point she was on dla too. It may have change and she may just be on a pension now, I do not know but will find out. she was taken very ill and is in hospital. However they say they will release her soon. However there are some urgent functional problems in her home that have not been repaired that need repairing plus lesser urgent but equally important work needs doing maybe costing altogether £5,000 upwards. This is aside from cosmetic re decorating that seriously needs doing too. I recall a lady on the programme 'benefits street' got a benefit loan of a £1,000 which she pays back in small amounts, to redecorate her house from orange to purple. What benefits, emergency funding etc. is available? I can pitch in and help, but sadly I can not pay for the work to be done which I would prefer to just be rich so I could just have it all done in a few days for her! Thanks in advance, Clear33
  10. Hi All. My Father is nearly 80 and relies on his landline. He recently reported a problem on his line to his provider (Post Office) who confirmed there was a fault and advised him BT would be out to have a look. BT arrived a couple of days later and the engineer says there is a fault caused by water ingress and he needs a new connecter box in the house. He replaces this box and disappears. Next thing my Father is being charged by the Post Office £144 + VAT for this tiny box! No-one, not the engineer or the Post Office at any time suggested there would be a bill, let alone one for £144+VAT, they just did the work. He thought, as it was their box and their line, there would be no charge. Question is can they just do the work without advising him there would be a huge bill? Surely they should have quoted him for the work? Not only is he on a pension and can ill afford the cost, he is quite upset about it as he feels conned. The irony of it is that the water ingress came from the hole where the cable entered the house and wasn't sealed properly originally, so it is actually their fault anyway. Thanks in anticipation of any advice.
  11. http://metro.co.uk/2014/10/15/alzheimers-pensioner-sells-home-to-pay-for-care-then-gets-all-clear-4906574/
  12. Another one from Scoop, bailiffs sent to collect from a pensioner who owed nothing, this time it was the council who messed up, and sent bailiffs to collect the debt from an innocent pensioner. who was worried anout their threats to seize goods whether he was in or out, the usual implied threat of forced entry. http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/11477720.Bailiffs_threaten_to__break_into__innocent_pensioner_s_home/?ref=rss " Somerset County Council has since admitted there was an error due to an incorrectly registered vehicle and apologised to 85-year-old Michael O’Loughlin. It said a bailiff had called to ‘take control of your goods’ and that if I didn’t respond they’d get my goods ‘whether I was present or not’ – which sounds like they would force entry into my home to take things. “Although it had my address on it, it was someone else’s name and the postcode wasn’t mine. “I was frightened of going out in case they came back and broke my door down." Wonder who would be blamed if a pensioner dies as a result of wrongful action like this from a stroke or heart attack? The bailiff who knocked on the door and the victim dropped dead in front of him, or the council official who got the wrong details?
  13. I am a widow on a small state/serps pension with some pensions savings credit. I was getting £1.80 in pensions guarantee credit which gave me full council tax benefit. Due to the state pension increase I no longer qualify for the guarantee credit. Basically, I now have to pay £70 a month towards my council tax where before it was all paid. The council sent me a revised bill and set out the money due each month. Job done. The following month they asked me to confirm in writing I had no private pensions and wanted to see two month's bank statements. I took them to the coucil office. Job done. Now, after scrutinising my bank statements they have asked me to explain what two large payments were for January and February into my bank account. Basically they were two sums of money my son gave me to pay for my car to be repaired and some debts. (I still have a mortgage). He is kindly putting money into my bank to help me out a bit. He has his own place, pays his own council tax and has just got married but he is able to help me out as he does not want me to sell my house. I feel the council think my son is living at home and paying rent etc. (which he is not - he pays his own council tax where he lives) and feel a little victimised by them. Further is my son allowed to continue paying me money when he wants (this is not guaranteed like a pension or anything and he may not be able to continue)? The DWP obviously told them of my different financial circumstances in April when the pensions changed, the council issued me with a revised payment schedule now all this - why?
  14. Hi all. Looking for a bit of input and for anyone in the know to approve or disapprove of my proposed plans... I am trying to help out my stepfather who is in over £30k worth of credit card/od/loan debt and until now has maintained minimum payments of c£900 per month out of his £1000 income from state and company pensions. He has 8 credit cards, 1 loan and 1 overdraft. Most of the cards are used to pay other the other debts and this has spiralled out of control. He is married to my mother but has no joint finance and they rent their house. My mum is the owner of almost everything in the household including car and valuables. She does not know the extent of this debt by the way and I am keen to help without getting her involved - it wouldn't help to anyway. At this moment in time, I am thinking of providing a letter for him to send to all creditors to ask for a freeze on interest due to hardship. I am also thinking of CCA requests for each debt to see where we stand. I am also advising him to set up a new current account with a bank that he does not currently have debts with in order to stop his pension being swallowed up. I get the impression that we are short of time and some missed payments are likely to occur in the near future due to lack of funds. When I get more information, I will create separate threads for some of the individual debts where necessary. We are dealing with the following (have included creditor...when taken out approx....balance......min payment): MINT CREDIT CARD (RBS)....2007ish........ £2600 Min. Payment (£60) AMERICAN EXPRESS CREDIT/C ancient… £1800 Direct Debit (£45) MBNA CREDIT CARD CARD …9yrs ago...... £3000 Direct Debit (£90) LLOYDS CREDIT CARD …..2001 – just sent it to him/ no agreement..£5100 Direct Debit (£125) LLOYDS PERSONAL LOAN …3yrs ago, 2 to go....... £1600 Direct Debit £110) AQUA CREDIT CARD ….last year................. £1300 Min. Payment (£45) NATIONWIDE CREDIT CARD …4-5 yrs ago....£2000 Min. Payment (£55) CAPITAL ONE CREDIT CARD 12yrs ago….. £4000 Direct Debit (£140) BARCLAYCARD C/CARD …4yrs ago......... £7500 Direct debit (£200) LLOYDS PERSONAL LOAN …3yrs ago, 2 to go on loan....... £1600 Direct Debit (£110) £30,000 in total PLUS LLOYDS BANK O/DRAFT £4,000 (Average Monthly) £34,000 in total There isn't any notable PPI or penalty charges to make much difference to the above debts. Also, to reiterate, he has no property, assets or income besides pension. The reason I was keen for him to set up a new bank account was to avoid Lloyds getting first dips on his pension all the time. Generally, I think we have a strong negotiating position as he has nothing they can take and credit rating isn't that important going forward (due to overall financial picture of the household) if we were to default on some of these. I know we could simply stop paying most of them and then fight the battles as they come but we would like to try and be reasonable and sort this out together. I do need to make sure that my mum is not affected by any of these debts. In the short term, I don't think they can. However, my stepdad is worried that the half pension that will go to mum when he passes away will be claimed by creditors. If anyone has any general advice about how to approach this, I'd be grateful.
  15. Hi, I hope someone on this forum may have valuable advice to give, as I am distressed having just lost the car and the cash I have worked many many years to own. I saved hard and finally at the age of 60 managed to buy a sports car (30k), I had it for two years and we decided to sell as I no longer used it as much, & the grandchildren could do with some help for their education, placed an add on 'eBay', it did'nt achieve the reserve. Following day I get a call from a local dealer offering to sell on my behalf 'Sale or Return' with guaranteed price (25k), (I checked out the website & visited the showroom) & they had many cars equally valuable and seemed legitimate. He told me to keep the V45 Reg document & Spare key for security. I signed the sale or return contract, & they then adverised on Autotrader. I was contacted several days later, they said they had a buyer, he was a very particular buyer & so needed to see the V45, before purchasing as he wanted to make sure every thing was in order owing to the cars value. He came to my work, collected the V45, and I heard nothing for several days. I contacted him after approx 3 days to find out what had happened with the purchaser, he said that they had sold the vehicle and they were waiting for the finance to complete, he would then forward funds. I pointed out that they did'nt have any bank details for me, as they had pointed out they would only need these when the vehicle was sold and that I would drop them off to the showroom. When I got there, the car was missing, I asked where it was & was told it was being valeted ready for the new owner -to be. Several days then passed with no contact, then he explained he was having cashflow issues, promised the payment into my account on a date, this date passed, still no pamyment. The dealer then called to say it was held up because of the 'New Finance' company not having a FSA document with his new premises address (or some excuse like this). It has been several weeks, still no payment, The dealers solicitor called me to say that the dealer would try to make me an offer,I told the police immediately after this, they contacted the solicitor & the police then told me that it was a civil matter (not theft). I assume that they have fraudulently completed the V45 & new keeper document part. I don't know what to do?, to make it worse my car is now back on 'Auto-trader' for sale right now, and as you will imaging is very hurtful to see this, this is shameful, I may have been naive, but this is really mean as this money was for the benefit of others, who will now seemingly have to suffer owing to my stupidity. Any helful advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
  16. NatWest bank loses 'irreplaceable' family heirlooms NatWest bank has lost a pensioner's safety deposit box which she said contained heirlooms worth £20,000. Hayat Panwar, 69, deposited the antique jewellery at the Solihull branch of the bank in February 2009. When she arrived at the branch in November 2012 and requested access to it, staff admitted they could not find the box or its contents. More ...
  17. An elderly neighbour has died, leaving just under £10,000 in cash in the house. (No bank account - she didn't like them!) Her family banked it, though, after her death - thinking that was the right thing to do. Now the benefit people are chasing them for extra information... I don't know how she did it, probably a war-time rationing mentality, but she managed to save the money while living on benefits. She only ever claimed what she was told she was entitled to as a widow, living on her own, with no other pensions etc. What will happen now? Did she do something wrong? I can't see why someone (or their family) should be penalised and punished for saving on a meagre income. Will some/all of the money have to be repaid?
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