We seem to be seeing a lot of these recently: http://www.eastgrinsteadcourier.co.uk/East-Grinstead-man-threatened-bailiff-knife-court/story-23021607-detail/story.html

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?

hello. today i recieved a letter from tv licensing.ive missed my last 2 payments,amounting to £11.00. they told me to pay immediatley or they will send my account with them to a debt collection agency. written in red at top of the page. i always pay my licence payments usually.just that over last few weeks i didnt have it spare. was wondering about what happens if i stop paying it etc ? i can probably pay this amount i owe by end of next week. but with them threatening me with debt collection i feel like not paying now who do they think they are ? any help would be appreciated

Hi To cut a long story short, my sister was mis-sold a gym membership by an employee of a well-known gym. She was told, over the phone, that she would only have to pay a £1 joining fee and that would allow her to use the gym on a pay-as-you-go basis and that she could cancel this whenever she liked. I might also like to add that she was never read out any Ts & Cs (essentially because this contract didn’t actually exist), made aware of a cooling off period and never signed any paperwork. This employee was a ‘friend’ which is why my sister trusted this information. Little did she know, she was actually signed into an 18 month contract at £33 per month and only realising this when the first £33 was deducted from her account. To date, my sister has never received a ‘membership pack’, doesn’t know her membership number so as a result has never used the gym (she’s never even stepped inside it). In order to stop the money coming out of her account, she cancelled her direct debit, of which resulted in letters from the gym. We have spoken to membership services, who were extremely uncooperative and sent a letter back to the gym which has resulted in another letter from ARC Europe Limited stating that they “can now take steps to prepare a County Court Claim”. Do you have any advice on what we should do next?

A friend of mine had a 13:00 appointment with the DWP. When he got there, he was told the appointment had been changed to 10:00. They claim to have sent him a letter, but he did not receive one (I know this as a fact - we live at the same address). Now they are threatening him with sanctions. While he was there, someone else had the identical problem and received the identical threat. What can my friend do?

Good morning, Just a quick spot of advice required. I used a company called I-smart to chase a credit card for a PPI claim a few years ago. They were successful and I received a payment into my bank account. I understood that I-smart would deduct their fee from my final payment but apparently they messed up and did not take the payment. I spent the money almost immediately when I received it paying off another credit card, now I do not have the £904.81 that Wilson Rose are chasing me for. I have received a letter this morning from Wilson Rose stating that unless I pay immediately they will start bankruptcy proceedings against me. Is this legal and can they do this was my initial question please? I am trying to get the money together in order to pay, but do not wish to be threatened with something like this if it is not right. many thanks in advance for your advice if possible, Geoff66

hi guys, i was witness to a fight outside of work which involved a collegue. i told the police that i didnt see who hit who first(which is the truth) but i suspected that my collegue was hit first because his teeth had been knocked out. now when my boss asked me to give her a statement i wrote that i saw the other man hit my colleague first. its now going to crown court as my collegue is acused of stamping on the other man. can my boss sack me for giving her false account of what happened.

Hi, I have had a response from Lloyds - they have sent me a reconstituded copy of the CCA. It does not contain a signature, although I believe it doesn't have to contain a signature in order for it to be enforceable. It's for credit card and it has my husband's name and address on it but nothing else. No credit limit on it. That was document 1. Document 2 was entitled 'Your Lloyds TSB Credit Card terms and conditions. Applicable from 26th November 2011' The account was defaulted on in 2004. They have given a statement of the account in another, separate letter stating the balance, credit limit,current monthly interest rates, arrears and further payments to be made. They state they have sent us a copy of the Signed document - but it is not signed. My husband owes them £896 - we have previously offered £330 as a F&F settlement which they have refused. I'm not sure if we can do much more - they insist that this is a legally enforceable debt. What next? Any help would be appreciated. Roar.

Hi First time post hope someone can help Bit of background we enlisted an educational psychologist for our son (can of worms wont go into the details) and a £500 fixed fee was verbally agreed for services including attendance at a tribunal. The invoice for this came through and we paid immediately - they were due to attend the tribunal 2 days after this and tried to bail on us which would have severely impacted our case. We managed to get hold of them and convinced them to still attend after 48 hours of extreme badgering ! - It should also be mentioned that their service was less than professional, having to constantly chase, emails not answered, phones not manned, voicemails not replied to etc etc. all was well and as far as we were concerned that was it - months later we got an invoice through for a further £900 for the attendance at the tribunal which we had not agreed. We disputed the invoice verbally and they said they would look into it. We heard nothing back and then got an email saying the account was overdue etc etc and we need to pay the £900 we emailed back and stated that we did not agree to it verbally and did not have any record of any prices etc for any additional work on email however if they had supportive evidence to the contrary forward it over and we would look into the matter. beginning of last week my wife got a phone call from the psyche's husband saying we had to pay or they would take us to court, we referred him to the previous email we had sent to the company etc. we then had some email tennis where he was saying we were fully aware of the fact it would be done on hourly rate etc etc despite the fact it had been agreed on a flat rate and sent over an email with hourly rates on that had been sent weeks after the tribunal attendance - the hourly rates were actually in relation to a question we asked on how much it would be for a further supporting letter which we agreed for them to do (estimated at 3 hours work). We had asked them to proceed via email with the 3 hours work but received no email reply or supporting letter - awesome service ! He told us to pay or they would take us to court - we said ok fine take us to court but we dispute the invoice and have all correspondence necessary to back up what we were saying. Instead of taking us to small claims court (they literally have the company's secretary's word against mine that we apparently agreed to the £900 fee - trust me I didn't agree as the initial conversation we had when enlisting their services agreed a £500 flat fee!) they have passed the matter to a debt collection agency. I need to know what my next step is legally - there is zero hard evidence and one person's word against mine that the conversation regarding the £900 actually took place. I could really do without someone dinging the snot out of my credit rating for money that I legitimately don't owe - I am not being bullied by these guys ! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Hello, I live (rent) in a new build development which uses a communal boiler to providehot water. This has been contracted to an energy provider for billing andpreviously maintenance purposes. Eachmonth’s bill is determined to be the sum of a service charge and energy usage.Previously the service charge was split in two a fee charged for maintenanceand a fee for the service itself. The maintenance charge was eventually droppedwhen the development management accepted complaints that their contractedsupplier had not been fulfilling their service agreement on maintenance (tenants had made numerous complains to that effect). Their contract for maintenance wascancelled but we still use them for billing. Theissues I have are 2 fold. 1.That the estimate they used at the very start of my tenancy was inflated (Iasked for proof -they ask for proof from me) 2.That the energy transferred to heat my supply (heating system and hot water) was/is not accurate. As a result of receiving lukewarm water 90% of the time, I stopped using the option to pull from the central boiler and instead began toreply exclusively on the backup immersion heater. It turned out that the reason for receiving lukewarm water was because the central boiler was not serviced properly and correct filters had not been used. This meant that debris travelled around the system inhibiting the system’s abilityto transfer that energy to each apartment on the development. After receiving several bills I wrote informing them that I had serious doubts aboutthe accuracy of their initial estimate and more importantly, the system used that calculates usage. I said that I was disputing the bill but was happy to pay any outstanding charges but would need clarification from them on how there system is able to differentiate between the supply of a given quantity of hotwater vs. lukewarm water. And how I may check to ensure this is what is happening. They did not reply to my questions instead just advised me of the unit charge andhow many units they say I had used. I replied to this by stressing the point that I was disputing the bill and was happy to pay if they were able to provide me with answers. I received no reply, continued to receive bills and more recently received a threatening letter that said it would be sent to the bailiffs if not paid. I replied again saying that I had replied to them previously and was awaiting a response. This seems to have been ignored as they have sent another letter threatening me that if not paid will disconnect the service (wish they would so to not receive any more charges from them) go to the court and bailiffs. I accept that I have not gone into detail here as to why I think the amount they have charged is incorrect, other than to say that I never used their system to heat my apartment (since I live on a top floor apartment) which is wel linsulated and warm enough in winter. Hardly ever used their system for showers since it was rarely beyond lukewarm (subsequently stopped using it altogetherin favour of my immersion heater - to which I should have a case to charge them for since I only use this system after not having holt water fromt heir system even after countless complaints). Question I have is what can I do in order to prevent another party (my energy provider) from passing charges (that I am lawfully disputing) to the courts and bailiff .It does not seem right that another party/organisation/company can levy charges against someone and then start a process like this without proof. What rights does a person have if a company is using a billing system that relies on faulty equipment for usage readings?

hello everyone, im trying to get some advice for my friend who is in fiancial difficulty at the minute, he got made redunant 2011 after being on the dole a while they helped him set up a business, everything was going well but the work started slowing down, he had a account with a builders merchant that was fine, he asked to pay reduced payments for a while to get himself back on track as work is slow, they agreed but now want silly repayments back £500 per month he said he couldnt afford it and offered £100 they said no but will accept £250 per month, he wrote back saying im sorry payments too high i dont want to say yes then cant pay please accept my payments of £100, received a letter(see attached ) this morning threating bankruptcy hes worried sick, if anybody could give some advice for him would be greatly received

Hello all I wonder if anyone can help. I moved my business to another premises, the old unit was re-painted and the keys were given back to the agent. The agent told me that they would send a bill to me for the remainder of the rent that was owed. The thing is Last week I received a bill for the rent plus maintenance (painting) and an insurance premium (that was discussed at the time with the agents and was agreed that no insurance was payable as I already insured the inside shop unit and windows , which is quite common I think) I wrote back to them saying I am willing to pay the rent owed but not the other two bills amounting to £650. Last night they sent another letter saying that I should pay the rent now and make a schedule of payment to them for the £650. I have explained my financial predicament to them at the moment and told them I am broke and receive tax credits and even sent the the Rockwell letters to prove that I am under pressure from collectors. I thought that honoring the rent would be good enough. apparently not. They have given me till Monday 15th April to make payment. My question is what can I do , Can I make a defence to the court knowing that i am will to pay the rent but not the two bills. will the judge see that I am willing to pay and see that the two bills are bogus. I really dont want a county court judgement against me. If i am going to get screwed in court should I just pay up and save myself self the chance of getting a judgement against me. Your advice to date with the Rockwell people is panning out as you have told me so thank you on that, so your help on this matter would be appreciated. Thank You

Hi, my oh has two accounts with LINK , i have been a reader of the forum i did a CCA for both accounts . I was supplied with a copy of the CCA and in my mind they may be unenforceable through reading other threads. Therefore i sent them the write off letter i found on a thread here and stated that they had not supplied me with the relevant information adn requested they both wrote off the debt and that i would receive a reply in 14 days. That was 6 weeks ago and no reply despite the recorded letters having been signed for. At this stage is there a next move i should make , currently i pay them £1 pcm Many Thanks

Hi all, I hope you can help. I am a tenant in a building of around 20 studio flats which was a former commercial premises. A property management company bought the building with the intention of applying for planning permission to convert it into a hotel in 2/3 years. In the meantime, they have converted the interior into studios and tenants such as me are living there and paying rent. Our tenancy agreements explicitly state that the management company pays for electricity charges. The company used to actually have an office in this building but have since moved out. Since then, post has piled up. They know it, because they are often round to do viewings for potential new tenants. Around a week ago we got a letter addressed to "The Occupier" marked "ELECTRICITY DISCONNECTION NOTICE" from Haven Power: -------------------------------------------------- Haven Power The Havens Ransomes Europark Ipswich IP3 9SJ Dear Sirs Electricity Supply to: Supply Number: Account Reference: Haven Power is the electricity supplier to the above premises. If you are the current occupier please complete the slip below and return to us at the above address. Please note that if we do not receive a response in connection with this meter within the next 7 days we will be requesting disconnection, with no further correspondence being entered into. Yours sincerely Credit Management Advisor -------------------------------------------------------- I immediately told the property agent and they said they would look into it. I heard nothing and today a collection agency has visited the building while I was at work, and were unable to get in. They left this letter: --------------------------- Date: 16/4/13 The Occupier, Customer Reference: Outstanding Balance: £33,943.37 We act as authorised officers of Haven Power Limi8ted on behalf of and your account has been passed to us for collection. We called today to discuss your unpaid account, the details are shown above. As we were unable to resolve the outstanding amount and/or gain access we now serve notice of our intention to make applications for a Warrant of Entry (Gas and Electricty Boards) Act 1954, Section 2, from the Magistrates Court, to enter the premises and disconnect the supply. The warrant gives us authority to enter your premises without your consent and if necessary, we may be assisted by the police. If the warrant is actioned then costs will be charged to you. This will need to be paid, along with your electricity charges up to the date your supply is connected, before reconnection is arranged. Reconnection will be arranged once the outstanding balance and the warrant costs have been paid. You may also be required to pay a security deposit. Haven Power Limited, and will not be held responsible for any loss of earnings or other expenses incurred during the period you are disconnected. If it is your gas supply that we disconnect you may be responsible for arranging and paying a Gas Safe registered engineer to make safe your supply prior to reconnection. This can cost you around £60 depending on the engineer. Please contact "B" on 01707 252900 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday to arrange payment or to discuss matters which are preventing payment. Yours, Recoveries Agent Registered Office: --------------------------- I am obviously quite worried. My first instinct is to call the agency above and Haven Power but I'm actually worried that as soon as I say I am a tenant, they will change "THE OCCUPIER" to my own name! And yet my property agent appear to be doing nothing! They always promise something and fail to do it. I feel like they are giving me the runaround. Do you have any suggestion for my rights, can we stop this disconnection? Should I just cancel my tenancy? Refuse to pay next month's rent? Leave as soon as possible? Should I attempt to call either of the two agencies or Haven Power? I am even thinking of going to all the other tenants and suggesting we all stop paying rent until this is resolved. Any advice you can give us is greatly appreciated.

Hello, I'm not sure if this is the right section to post this or even if someone can help me out with it, so I will plod on and see what happens. My friend owns a flat in the UK (6 flats leasehold with all owners directors and one tenant a managing director of the company that look after maintainance etc) and I am staying here while she lives in Malaysia. Just before I moved in in Feb 2013 there was a leak in my bathroom which damaged a small section of ceiling in the flat below. Unfortunate but an accident and I (on behalf of my friend) liased with all parties to arrange plumbers etc and the works were paid for without question. Other things happened to do with the same problem, but as good neighbours we agreed and paid for the works to be completed. Now this is were the problem starts. The owner of the flat with damage has been arsey through out. after the works have been completed he is now wanting to charge us money for his 'call outs' to the property Plus he wants to charge us two months rent while the flat (he says was uninhabitable) The problem on this point is the damage wasnt so bad and he didnt even put the place on the market. It is my view that had tenants called to view, they would have seen works going on and been fine with it. The guy generally has a bad attitude in many areas but nit a discussion for here. He also has a habit of bullying people. At every stage of the above, we have emailed with updates, planned works etc to which we never received a reply but in my mind this is all building a picture of us being the responsible people while others do nothing. He is now threatening court action over lost rent and other stuff to around about £900. I think we should let him go ahead as we really cant manage the man, he is odd. but I want to know first the following 1) If he goes to court and the person he is suing lives in Malaysia, and address unknown, can the papers be served, if not can action be brought. 2) If he get the case to court and the girl who owns the flat is skint, what can the court do. Im thinking possibly a charge on property or 50p per week arrangement. Really I am after any kind of help here. My friend is across the world, with very limited funds and this guy is just bullying and moving goal posts at every turn. Thanks for your time

I am a 22 year old student who has finished university with a £513 overdraft. Without this overdraft I would have been unable to complete my studies and three years of work would have been finished without obtaining my degree. I had went into the bank speaking to the students advisor who told me straight that the bank would not extend the overdraft past the expiry date as I had been late with a few direct debit payments. Since then I have been sent letters demanding immediate payment. Today I received a letter dated the 10th June 2011, saying I had to pay the full amount by the 14th or they would take action, against either a surety (don't think I have one?) or take me to court, details passed onto a debt collection agency etc. The letter was sent under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Can anyone give me advice or help me? This is causing depression and fear. Since university I have been finding it hard to gain full employment. I am on Jobseekers until 2 months time when I have a work placement arranged which is paid employment. There is absolutely no way I could lodge that amount by tomorrow, or even within the next two months as I have live off £53 a week and pay £15 a week housekeeping. Please help, Thanks

About a week ago a bailiff from "Direct Collections Limited" showed up at my door un-announced - this is not the main story but a build-up which I immediately posted on reddit to document, the main story will be after this: Well apparently that wasn't bad enough, because today this happened: This took an unfortunate turn. A different bailiff showed up at my house, this time "xxxxxx" the team leader of Direct Collections Ltd showed up - edit, considering the incident with the last bailiff he was promptly told i won't be talking to him, I asked him if he has a court order for anything or any documents that required I had to speak to him - he said no, and so I attempted to shut the door... He then stuck his leg inside the door and tried to push his way through, he pushed me back while doing this - I managed to force him out of the door and lock it (again - to clarify he has NO paperwork that allows him to enter the property) when I locked the door he was opening the letterbox and shouting through it, I asked him what paperwork he has on him and he said he had a paper that he had to show me... What I've later learnt is the company he's "collecting" for haven't done their research to realise that the company has gone into liquidation and I have gone into bankruptcy (hence living with my parents), so the bailiff is trying to show me a guarantee that I signed 4 years ago when I first setup the company - which he has no legal rights to show me if I don't want to see it. At this point he shouted through the door "I'll be waiting outside, you've got to come out at sometime i'll rip your ****ing face off when you do" we immediately phoned the police. While my mum was phoning the police our dogs (Labradors!) were barking, he shouted that he would kill them if they got anywhere near him. He continued with a tirade of abuse including "If this was a different place, i'd put you in hospital". After around 10 minutes we figured the police would be arriving any moment so we then waited in the side alley of our house behind a gate for the police, and for some bizarre reason he went and got a camera and took a picture of us all stood there. Now you might think this story would have a good ending when the police arrived of him being arrested.. Unfortunately we seem to have a distinct lack of police who understand the law regarding bailiffs, because as soon as they realised he was a bailiff - they immediately took the "you owe debt and he's collecting" stance, we explained to them the situation and everything that happened and their stance didn't change, and in fact took a tone with us as if we were being over-dramatic . The situation has ended with him leaving and nothing being done, and the police telling me he may be back. The baliff claimed he didn't force entry - he "just put his foot in the door" and that we were trying to set our dogs on him... Our labradors... through a locked front door... My mum is now in tears and frightened to leave the house - thanks xxxxxx police for protecting us! As far as I know he will be returning, and I will hope to get a video camera up before anything happens - unfortunately it's hard to grab one while being assaulted.

Hi all, I have an unverified debt to a former employer who is now threatening to issue a revised reference to my new employer if I don't agree terms to repay them. Is this not harrassement? Apart from anything else, if I lost my current position as a result it would be self defeating as I won't be able to pay them anything without working! Any views appreciated. Thanks. Exchange

Hi all, firstly, some of you who are on eBay may have seen my thread on the eBay forums so apologies for this...Just need as much help I can get this time round! I will try and summarise best I can! On the 24/6, I messaged a seller in regards to an item he was selling on whether it was functioning, complete, intact and tested. The answer was yes and we arranged a price of £475. I was told once I was happy, he would send a cancellation of the transaction as he would be charged a lot. Didn't think anything of it and went ahead with the BIN thread he put up for me. I was told the items would get to me on Tuesday which I did but in a very bad state. The outer box was completely destroyed however the items were well bubble wrapped so again, thought nothing of it. The goods-in and colleagues all mentioned how badly packaged it was. On the 27th, I messaged the seller as I found out a section of the item was not working and also found out it was a common issue. He replied back 2 hours later stating he was sorry to hear this and that they were 100% working and that he had a picture proving this... This is a picture I requested several times but still to date did not get. The item is car related and I was told the car battery was removed prior to removing the items. I later got another email suggesting it was not compatible with my car however I replied that the fault was not that it was not working fully, it was more so that it was partially faulty in that it was burnt out and I had checked it would be compatible first. At this point, the items have not been fitted to my car but were taken to an independent dealership who could test units outside the car. They suggested it was potentially a component at fault but also that it did not have two of the modules I needed...something I have in an email suggesting it did prior to buying it. He then vanished and I heard nothing from him despite a number of emails to him. On the 3/7 I raised a case with Paypal as not as described and escalated it when I could. Still no contact from the seller via email nor via PP. I had logged the case asking for a partial refund of £450 as I was happy to leave £25 to the seller for inconvenience - This was awarded to me on the 15/7. At this point, I still heard nothing until yesterday (23/7) with a somewhat harsh tone suggesting it was a legal notice prior to issuing summons to attend court as I have disputed the condition and claimed the money back and still have the items. This is true but under no circumstances have I been contacted for the units back...and to be honest, I don't want them in my house so I would gladly give them back. His end line was he suggested I pay him within 3 days of that email or he will see me in court. I was pretty annoyed at the tone and a few emails went back and forth and I said I was happy to send them back at a cost of £25 from him to post them back as it was a large and heavy item. This was refused and eventually, I even stated that I should just charge him the full £50 (£25 to send back and £25 that I let him have the first time). Anyway after a few emails, he basically came out with an email telling me where I worked and where I had worked + how well off I was considering my job history plus the car I drove (he got this from linked in I can only assume) finishing with he has done research on what they are up against. This scared me - as far as I am concerned, it was stalking and I could not guarantee even my safety anymore...especially when he said a recorded delivery summons would be sent to my work and home address. My home address is no where online so how did he get this? I decided enough was enough and told the seller I would just send them back on Tuesday/Wed at my own expense and let this issue rest but he is having none of it. Requested his postal address but was not given it. My last email was simply to re-iterate I am willing to send them back at my own expense but his response has now changed saying what good are the items faulty and how does he know I did not cause the fault. At a complete loss... Many have advised me legally there is nothing to stand on as far as he is concerned as I am openly willing to send them back and he is refusing. But I still have my concerns as it seems he wants to simply get £££ out of me judging by the comments he made about how apparently well off I am. I also have safety concerns on what he knows and how he has used this Any advice? To date, I do not actually know what he wants. Should I ask? Thanks

Post here; http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?377-Payday-Loan-Company-claims-and-litigation

I am so angry right now. I received a reminder notice about 2 weeks ago which stated I had not paid my council tax for July. I had. I made the payment, online, on the 29th June. My mistake was that I overpaid by £1 so it was all offset against next years bill. However after speaking to them, they sorted it out and everything was ok. Today I have received a final notice. This states that I now have to pay the amount in full within 7 days or else it goes to court. I have also lost the right to pay by installments. I called the council straight away and they confirmed that they received my payment for July. But, to stop proceedings I now have to pay by Direct Debit. Well, I hate Direct Debits with a passion and I want to use their online payment service. I was told that if I do not pay as they want me to, they will issue a summons. I am just boiling with rage. How can they get a liability order against me for paying my bill using one of their methods (clearly stated on the back of the bill). They also state that I did not make the payment until the 2nd July yet I can prove I made the payment on the 29th June. It does not say to allow 3-5 days for the payment to go through (it does state this for 2 of the other methods of payment though so I would expect it to state the same for online payments if this was the case). I am due to pay tomorrow so I asked them just how they expected me to pay this by direct debit.....I made it clear I will be making a payment tomorrow, online or, if the payment processes quicker, over the telephone. They said this was fine, but for future payments I must pay by DD. Do I really have to? As long as I am paying have they really got a chance of continuing with proceedings? Wouldn't they look a bit stupid in court when I turn up with proof that I am paying my bill in accordance with their instructions and that they have received every payment to date? Waiting for someone else to call me back to explain why they are threatening me with court action for paying my bill using one of their prescribed methods. Should be interesting.

I need advice please. My son has not lived with me since 2005 but has lived in a series of shared houses. He is currently away travelling in S America until some time in August and his mail is being re-directed to me, which I am opening and emailing him about as necessary. This week a Council Tax demand arrived, not redirected though, but addressed here, from Brighton Council. (I live in Worthing and am under their Council - my C Tax is up to date.) It seems that he is now being pursued for outstanding Council Tax due 2007-2010 for 2 addresses he lived at. Other tenants are also on the bills but I know they have all moved on, mostly back to their home countries. The third address he is solely liable for as he lived alone, which is fine. The next day I opened another letter, from Ibis Services, bailiffs, stating that Liability Orders had been granted for the tax for the 2 shared houses, totalling £1355.19 which unless paid within 7 days would result in the matter being passed to the bailiffs to enforce. I immediately phoned the number given and explained the situation - that my son does not live with me, this is only his postal address at present. I said I would inform him of the demands. I understand about joint and several liability. A hold was then put on bailiff action for four weeks and 3 days - to 15th August. By that date he has to make an arrangement to pay or this will be passed to the bailiffs. Surely they cannot do this? I have nothing to do with my son's Council Tax - he is 33 yrs old! His possessions are in storage. I feel very threatened and frightened by this hanging over me. If I had not opened his mail the first I would have known of this would have been the arrival of the bailiffs! Please help.

Hi I joined Top notch Health club last year 07-11 on a 12 months non-cancelable contract. I am a student working 1 and half days a week. In the 8th month (April) of my contract I became redundant and the DD was refused. I managed to pay that month membership in cash. On the 1st of May my bank cancelled the direct debit as there were insufficient funds in the account and I have not used the gym services since. I received letters stating I owe them the remaining amount of my contract which amounts to £104.97 for 3 months. I called the accounts lady stating I have been made redundant and initially she took a "I dont care approach" your membership is cancelled and you still owe us the money. After I explained the concept of " Do you expect me to find the money up my arse? she said ok we "might" consider terminating the contract if you send us a letter of redundancy. That was my last correspondence with the gym. I asked work to give me the letter but they have stalled and due to my exams I have not pursued this. On the 13th of June I received a solicitors letter from Trevor Munn solicitors asking me to pay £174.75 to ARC Europe and threatening to take me to Northampton County Court in 10 days if I dont pay. I am aware that this case is unlikely to go to court as it is for a small amount and i hope that I can re-attend the gym when i can afford it again but this experience is severely putting me off ever going back What can I do?

Plans for dramatic cuts in government subsidies for onshore windfarms are being drawn up by the Treasury in a move that seriously undermines David Cameron's claim to be running "the greenest government ever". The Observer has learned that George Osborne is demanding cuts of 25% in subsidies, a reduction the industry says would "kill dead" the development of wind power sites. The Treasury's stance has put the chancellor at loggerheads with the Liberal Democrat energy secretary Ed Davey, whose party strongly supports more renewable energy. Osborne, whose reputation has taken a dive following his widely criticised budget and a subsequent string of U-turns, has been under heavy pressure from Tory MPs to reduce the billions spent on green commitments. In February more than 100 Conservative backbenchers wrote to the prime minister demanding cuts to the £400m a year public subsidies for windfarms which they see as evidence of too much Lib Dem influence over coalition policy. A prominent opponent of onshore wind power is the Duke of Edinburgh, who is said to have described turbines as useless and to believe they will never work. Tim Yeo, Tory chairman of the all-party energy and climate change select committee, said the Treasury and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc), which is headed by Davey, were following different agendas. "This is an example of where Decc's attempts to stimulate renewable energy are being hampered by Treasury intervention," he said. "The way to deal with this – and realise the savings the Treasury wants to achieve – is to have more onshore renewable energy, which requires lower levels of subsidy, and less offshore, which requires more. We need to change the balance." Critics accuse the chancellor of pandering to Conservative backbenchers who do not want turbines built in their constituencies, believing they will damage their prospects of re-election. They argue the cuts make no economic sense, because alternatives, such as siting the turbines in the sea, would be much more expensive. "This is a reckless act of political opportunism by a chancellor keen to boost his popularity among his backbench MPs," said Juliet Davenport, chief executive of renewable electricity supplier Good Energy. However, Chris Heaton-Harris, a Tory MP who led the backbench campaign for cuts, said he was greatly encouraged. "I want to see a dramatic cut," he said, arguing that onshore wind power was expensive compared with gas and that it would drive up fuel poverty. However, proponents of wind power point to rocketing gas prices and the air pollution and climate change benefits of renewable energy technologies, of which onshore wind is the cheapest. "It is crackers to kill dead the deployment of the cheapest renewable technology if you genuinely are worried about the cost," said Gordon Edge, policy director at industry group RenewableUK. A source at one of Britain's big six energy companies said: "It's perverse – you get less renewable energy bang for your buck. It only makes sense if you don't like windfarms in your constituency." After becoming party leader in 2005, Cameron adopted the slogan "vote blue, go green" as he made the environment the centrepiece of his drive to modernise the Conservatives. Shortly after entering a coalition with the Lib Dems he promised to lead the "greenest government ever", adding that "nowhere are long-term decisions more needed than actually in the fields of energy and climate change and environment". But Osborne has made clear that he does not believe the green agenda can remain a priority when cash is short and the deficit needs to be reduced. With his own political fortunes on the slide, Tory MPs believe he can be persuaded to back their anti-green campaigns. This year the government angered green campaigners by announcing plans to slash subsidies for solar energy, a move the industry roundly condemned. There are more than 3,000 wind turbines in the UK countryside and the debate has become more polarised in the past two years, with a tripling of local opposition. However, a large majority of the public remains in favour of wind power, even if it is placed within a few miles of their home. The Treasury declined to comment, but a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, which runs the subsidy scheme, said: "It is vital that our support for renewable electricity both encourages investment and represents value for money for consumers. The government will publish the new support levels shortly." According to sources, the decision has been delayed by the Treasury "crawling all over" the new rates put forward by Davey. Decc's initial proposal in October, delayed by wrangling, was for a 10% cut in the support for onshore wind under a scheme called the "renewables obligation". But the Observer was told the Treasury has demanded a 25% cut. "The delay means the whole of the UK's renewables investment portfolio is being jeopardised by Osborne's pandering to Tory backbenchers," said a source. "It is total prioritisation of politics over the economic interests of the country." Davenport said: "The 10% proposal was the product of independently commissioned analysis by Decc. If the Treasury swoops in at the last minute and shortcuts that process, the credibility of the government's renewables policy will be in tatters, along with the prime minister's claim to be the greenest government ever. Of course, some might argue that is precisely what the chancellor wants to achieve." The setting of subsidy levels is a negotiation between industry and government, according to Michael Liebrich, chief executive of analysts Bloomberg New Energy Finance, who made an influential presentation to David Cameron and the world's leading energy ministers in May. "If you cut too fast, you damage the industry and the supply chain, but if you go too slow, you create subsidy junkies," he said. Liebrich's presentation showed the global average cost of onshore wind was falling, but he said using that to justify cuts in the UK was wrong: "Just because the best windfarms in the world are competitive [with gas] does not mean the average ones are yet." He added that large scales, fast planning and good grid connections made US windfarms much cheaper than those in the UK. There are 320 onshore windfarms in UK, a third of them in England. Many more are awaiting construction or planning permission. With thanks to the Guardian.