Hi Just a quickie (sorry, I should probably know the answer to this but have forgotten). I have the same account on my credit file from both Barclays and Lowell, although they have slightly different reference numbers, default dates and amounts they are in fact the same account. Who should I contact to challenge these, Barclays, Lowell, or both? If it is one or the other rather than both, is that organisation responsible for informing the other organisation to correct their records or do I have to do this? Thanks again, Andrew

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/10298475/Two-banks-face-fines-for-PPI-rejections.html

Hi folks, Is anyone familiar with JCP's so-called 'two tick' [1] system? I'm trying to help someone I know find work who is (a) disabled and (b) not in 'the system' at JCP. More specifically, I'm trying to find out if (Universal Jobmatch, Directgov Jobsearch) actually employs the use of the two ticks i.e., is visibly made clear on online vacancy listings, or whether this information is only available to advisers accessing vacancies from within JCP. From a cursory perusal of about 50 or so vacancies on Directgov Jobsearch, I'm either having bad luck finding a two-tick job ad it's just not there to find. Any help with this would be much appreciated! [1] https://www.gov.uk/looking-for-work-if-disabled/looking-for-a-job

Hi, I searched on Google and here seems a good place to ask. I have been sent two letters today one with my name on and one with one of my mates. You can view one of the letters here: http://s2.postimage.org/c4rwacl61/59505_10152451539445693_14521781_n.jpg Now Me and my mate in the room i was in are non smokers. The other room my mate has guaranteed me he did not smoke. I will be truthful with this bit, another of my mates has said in a different room there was smoking but they have not received a letter or should i say i have not receieved anything for them - i was the one who made the bookings. Can anyone shed any light on what i should do? As clearly the rooms/booking ref they have accused of smoking are incorrect. Thanks

Sorry if in the wrong place. I checked my credit file today as for some reason i had an email from Equifax even though I cancelled my account with them last month. I noticed a new default showing as added in May with a default date of January 2012 from MacKenzie Hall, the date of birth is slightly wrong. Just underneath is a default from Studio with the same date of birth, the amount differs by £1 and the default date was December 2007. This was never paid as I was not 100% certain it was my debt, I don't recall owing studio anything when the account was closed and they ignored any correspondence asking them for any proof. I was not overly bothered as I do have a default that was due to drop in June this year and another in April next year, but now it looks like this one will drag on. I'm pretty sure that these are the same debt, what can I do to get the MacKenzie Hall one removed? Thanks for your help.

Newlyn bailiffs have clamped my car twice in the past three months & taken a total of £2200 in the process. In september they clamped my car then released it ofter my mother paid them £750 they said there was a remaining £200 to be paid & agreed I could pay it by end of November. Instead in October I came out of my home to take my child to school only to find my car once more clamped now the same bailiff who'd agreed that I could pay the remaining money by end of November said no he had made no such agreement & that there was another ticket. I asked if they had sent a letter or attended my home, he said yes. No one had come to my home or left any letter re the parking ticket either from the coucil or bailiff. He now said I owed £700 for the ticket & that the £200 had now increased to £700. Then the bailiff added £100 for sending out a lorry to remove my car which was not removed. I've been told that if the bailiff was no a "civil" enforcement company he should not have been clamping my car & that they certainly should not have charged the £100 for the van to remove my car which was not removed & that the amount charged was extremely excessive. Can I get any of my mother's £2200 back? Thanks

Not a problem, just a question… I have asked the following at my local train station(Chelmsford) and London Underground (Liverpool street) and have 2 different answers(No and yes in that order!) At present I buy a monthly travelcard including zones 1-6. I wish to split this and instead purchase a monthly travelcard from Chelmsford to Harold Wood (Zone 6) and also have a monthly Oystercard (Zones 1-6) to completer the journey to London Liverpool Street. Is this acceptable considering that the Chelmsford to London train passes through Harold wood but does not stop there? Thanks and hoping for a definitive answer!

Hi Guys, I'm new to this site, seems like a great resource. Any of your help will be greatly appreciated. I have uploaded a couple of files of the PCNs in question. Anyway the story... I came home from work on Friday to be greeted by two PCNs. You can imagine how blue the air was. On closer inspection they are for two offences committed within a minute of each other. One is for parking in a loading bay for about five minutes(while loading for a local business) the other is for entering a no entry zone, all of this on the same road. With regard to the the no entry one, I think I may just have to pay it, but I had no idea I was entering a no entry otherwise I wouldn't have done it, but ignorance is no excuse and I imagine this is the line the Hammersmith and Fulham council will take, but if any of you guys can find a technicality then great. It is the loading bay one that is my major annoyance. The PCN states that I was parked in the loading bay for a few minutes and I should not have parked there in my class of vehicle. Granted I don't drive a HGV, but my car is a work car, I am an IT field engineer working across London using my own vehicle. It is insured as a work car by myself so I fail to see how they can charge me for this. I would have been loading a computer/it equipment to one of the estate agents we have all over London. I guess my question on this would be, Can i use a loading bay to load to a local business in a normal car that is insured for business use. Surely this is the very definition of a loading bay, and why it was placed there in the first place. I don't drive like an idiot, in fact i consider myself a considerate driver. Why are these councils allowed to keep handing these out willy nilly to make u the funding short falls. It makes me extremely angry. Frankly I think they are taking the ****, and are abusing their powers to extract money out of the easiest targets ie motorists. Anyway rant over. If any of you rather wonderful people can help me it it would be greatly appreciated. Kindest regards Rich3423

Hello everyone, I am new to the site and, having read some extremely helpful information regarding tenancy deposit schemes, I wondered if someone might be able to help with one issue that I am yet to figure out. I recently informed my landlord that I would be moving out of my property of over five years (moved in Aug 2007). Everything has been very amicable up to this point, but we have just found ourselves feuding over my deposit. Last week he called to tell me that he never received my deposit (i.e. it was never forwarded to him from the agent dealing with the tenancy). As a result, he has essentially dumped the task of locating it on me. I have been in touch with all TDS schemes and none of them have any record of the deposit with them. I firmly believe it was never registered. I have proof of payment to a company called IPM, who are no longer trading. The request to pay the deposit to this company came from his agent, Sequence (William Brown specifically). I also have proof of this. Realising that the deposit was unprotected, I issued a letter requesting that my deposit be placed in a TDS. He has refused on the grounds that he never received it and has suggested that it is my problem. Now, I understand that I should be issuing a letter before action, informing him of his obligations, but I'm a little uncertain of my next move. Given that I move out in two weeks, I fear that I will not have time to clean the property to the expected standard before I leave. I am not prepared to spend money cleaning the property until I know my deposit is safe, yet I do not want him to protect it with one day of my tenancy left and then sting me for the work that needs to be done because I didn't have the time to complete it. Should I wait, or should I issue a letter before action now, with a short turnaround time, explaining that I need a prompt response in order to give me time to clean up and have a chance of recovering my deposit? Or, of course, should I bite the bullet, get the place up to scratch, and use the fact that I have fulfilled all of my obligations under the rules of the tenancy agreement to support my case? I wonder if it would be easier to wait until after I've left, but I don't want to appear to be playing games to the court, should the case get that far.

Many drivers face a fine of £1,000 if they fail to update their photo-card driving licences, according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. It started issuing photo-card licences 15 years ago and more than 30 million drivers now have one. These are usually valid for 10 years and there is a legal requirement for drivers to renew the photograph at the same time as they renew their licence. However, two million drivers have failed to do this. More ...

Hi, if you have two separate claims, submitted at different times and they have been consolidated into one hearing by the Tribunal , are they still considered as two claims by the Tribunal or does it count as one overall claim? For example could you win a discrimination claim, but lose a second unfair dismissal claim and therefore lose the whole hearing overall?

Hi, my friend is a single Mum. After leaving her ex (who lives abroad), she moved back to the UK. The ex paid her first 6 months rent, but she still claimed Housing Benefit, intending to pay him back in monthly installments. He then told her to keep it as he wasn't going to pay any maintenance, so she used the money (£3K in total) for maintenance, although she was also claiming Income Support and Child Benefit. She's been invited to an interview and told me that she's quite looking forward to 'coming clean' and intends to pay the money back immediately. Ironically, the interview is exactly three days *after* the first Housing Benefit money is actually going to the landlady, so she's worried that they will accuse her of planning to continue this set-up, even though she set up the standing order to the landlady a couple of weeks ago. So - questions: 1. Will she have to go to court? 2. Will she go to prison (she wants to train as a teacher and is worried about the criminal record) 3. Will her benefits be stopped/reduced - if so for how long - she's really worried about paying the rent if this happens. Many many thanks - she's worried sick x

Hello I am very distressed and unable to sleep since last two nights. My partner was travelling in a train on Friday night all by her self in great western train. Two males harassed her and when she asked them not to touch her, they started verbally abusing her. There were people on board but no one even bothered to raise their voice. She was frightened and was desparetley looking for the member of the staff. But she could not find anyone. As soon as the station arrived she got off the train and found the ticket checker and went straight to her. Thats where she wanted to get off the train anyways and I was waiting at the platform to pick her up. I saw her going to the ticket checker and talking to her. She was looking very distressed and I dint know what had happened. I went to her and I was amazed that the ticket checker was being rude to my partner. He said I cant do anything you have to complain to the police. She even pointed to those males that they are the one cant you do anything. He very rudely said no I cant and you can goto police if you want to. She said I am going to complain about all this and he said, "DO WHAT EVER YOU WANT TO" and went away. Obviously, I was waiting for her to finish the conversation, to fully understand the situation from her. But by that time it was too late as those two males have left the train station as well. We then went to police station and gave our statement. Now, I know train staff are not allowed to interfere but he was suppose to call the police. He could have seen those two males and given their description to the police as well. But instead he decided not to do anything and for no reason he was very very rude to my partner. I am very distressed and would like to know what my options are. I want to take the Great Western Train services to court as they aide the criminals get away. They must be on some other train harassing someone else's girl friend, daughter or sister! Could you guys please tell me what are the options I have. I also emailed great western trains yesterday and described the whole situation and said I am going to take them to the court! Please help, I hope you guys can imagine what pain I am going through at the moment. Thank you

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/two-million-drivers-may-face-141603133.html

Hello all, My partner and I are living in a private rented property which has now been without hot water (not even warm) for just under two months. We have incurred great expense of having to travel to relatives for our weekly bath/shower and also costs associated with continually boiling kettles for hair washing etc. Now, the problem is that our landlord has messed us (and others) about something chronic. My partner has lost days at work and I myself could well do without the stress at the moment as I am dealing with bipolar. I have spoken to my family and things have gotten to a stage where I now want to take my landlord to court for damages. I believe that the amount of time that he has taken to resolve this matter is outrageous (particularly given the time of year). This matter has made the property unihabitable. What is everyone's opinion on the idea of legal action? Many thanks, timetoshine

Hello, I am currently on IB and have my esa medical soon. For previous medicals I've taken my husband with me, but his health has deteriorated a lot since my last one. Will it go against me if I arrive pushing his wheelchair? It won't conflict with anything I've put on my form, but they do seem to like to make assumptions. For my second question I need to give you a little background. My husband is seriously ill. Due to his condition he's not supposed to be left alone as he can deteriorate very quickly. Even if I had a miracle cure I couldn't leave him to go out to work. Under the current system, if I was refused IB I could have claimed carer's allowance and Income Support. I know a lot of changes are happening, would I still be able to do this? (My husband gets MRC, HRM. He does need attention during the night but not enough to claim HRC -at least, not yet). Thanks for any help.

I have an account with Vodafone and have had for many years, just noticed on my Credit Files that two seperate accounts are showing, both up to date with payments, both updated 01/08/2012. Not sure why 2 accounts are showing.

Good morning everyone. I have just received a large envelope from 1st. It contained a large bundle of photocopied statements which, apart from having no OC markings on it appear ok. However, there is no corresponding credit aggreement (signed, recon or not), no terms and conditions and no details with regards to interest rates. There are, inevitably, PPI charges and corresponding interest charges (charges I have not yet reclaimed). Do I send a letter asking for the T & C's and aggreement? Is this a sudfficient reply from the DCA? I do not wish to evade the debt, my main aim is to be armed with enough knowledge so as to have my very small payment accepted and that the DCA does not progress the litigation issue (bankruptcy etc). I would be extemely grateful for any help and guidance. Thanks in advance

hi CAG team, I have four entries in my credit report for two credit card accounts. Two of them show the original company that the credit cards were with and they show the accounts in default, the last time these were updated was roughly two years ago. However the same accounts are shown again with a different company which shows them as settled and these were updated recently. I have not settled these accounts myself. Both these cards were only in my name. Can somebody explain this, any ideas? regards

An acquaintance of mine had three debts to NatWest (two overdrafts and a loan), She had a DMP in place, set up over six years ago. She was making one monthly payment to those nice people at Moorcroft, who were the collection agency NatWest had instructed. (Yes, I do mean 'nice people' - read on). When Fredrickson took over the collection process I noticed that the letter chasing the loan threatened Court action whilst the two about the overdrafts didn't. I wondered why. It transpires that her payment was being allocated only to the loan account only whilst the overdrafts remained at the same level. I (she) got this info from Noddle (CallCredit) and a full check with the other CRAs confirmed it. The result is that the two overdrafts have now become Statute Barred. Thank you very much you nice Moorcroft people. So it may be worth checking - are you in a similar situation? Could a wrong allocation of payments mean you have Statute Barred debts (or maybe close to being SB)? Worth a look? Go to www.noddle.co.uk/ - you may be lucky too. If this advice is useful to you or you think it may be useful to others a reply/comment will keep it high in the list.

This has been bandied about for some time. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224349/Poor-drivers-priced-motorways-new-road-tax-proposals.html

Hi, I'm a new user here and will appreciate if fellow forum members can share their understanding regards having default removed from their Creedit Files.. I have a Good Credit Report & Score bar two defaults(one from 3G(£93 balance on account as at 2010) & Barclays(£250 as at 2006); My Credit report was updated with the" Default Status" for both accounts and the debts have now been passed onto collections(Lowell) from £G and Barclays which has now increased to £375 & £862 accorddingly. I contacted Lowell (Collection Company) and I'm informed to pay reduced amount on each account to clear the outstanding bills or pay in Full. I advised Lowell that the amount they are chasing me for is different from amount owed the company but Im been told that is NOW THE BALANCE OF THE ACCOUNT!! I need advise please on the following; 1. Can 3G/Lowell increase outstanding balance from £93 to £375 without advising the customer how the figures are derived. 2. Can Barclays/Lowell increase outstanding balance from £250 to £862 without advising the customer how the figures are derived. 3. Is it advisable to PAY the "Reduced Amount" or "PAY IN FULL"- what are the impacts please... 4. Once Payment is paid, what is the procedure to get this Default removed on my account? 5. Finally, how long will it take for my credit File be updated? Many Thanks for your time in reading this post, advise & comments please.

Hi Guys Just popping in to say hello and give you a wee update. My 3 payday loans are now 2. Made my final payment to PDUK this morning and awaiting confirmation email to say i'm paid up in full and my account is now closed. Lending Stream get their final payment at the beginning of next month, and Wonga runs a bit longer, but they agreed to a very low monthly payment of which i am grateful for. Fought my friends corner with Swift Sterling, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when they wrote off all interest and charges and told her the remaining balance could be paid at whatever amount she could afford every month until the balance is cleared, and also a massively big apology too . Feel my life is really turning a big corner and its all thanks to you guys and especially Rene. Never again, as this whole situation has taken its toll, especially on my health. Once my final payment is made to Lending Stream, i will be making a donation to CAG. As already said, i couldn't have done it without you all. Thanks Again Guys Big Love, Grumpy xxx

Hi all! just over a year ago I was using quick quid and wonga, never took huge amounts and paid back on time then a few things came up and I was desperate for money and took out two big loans from both (not on the same date but within a short space of time) I couldn't afford to pay them back and ignored them and hoped it would go away... yeah I know! I don't have any of the original letters as had a massive clear out and must have thrown them out. wonga has passed the debt on to Mackenzie hall and I now owe them £750.37 and Quick quid have passed the debt on to Mercantile Recovery Solutions of £594.75 (the original loan was £450) I received a letter from mac hall the other day but to the life of me I can't find it anywhere, I remember it saying if I paid by a certain date I would only have to pay a percentage, gave a later date and a percentage (higher) and another late with a higher percentage to be paid back (all lower than the full amount) Today I received a letter from Merc recovery saying this... FORMAL NOTICE OF LITIGATION AS REGULATED BY THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT (2006) Dear (my name), We have previously written to you to inform you that we, Mercantile Recovery Solutions Ltd., have purchased the above debt and as such are now the legal owners and beneficiaries of the sum outstanding. Despite attempting to contact you using all means available to us, including all the information provided in your credit application we have, to date, been unable to reach an amicable solution of repayment with you. We must now make it clear that we are in the process of instructing our solicitors to issue a claim against you in your local court. We are fully confident that such claim will be successful as we are unaware of any legitimate legal reason for non-payment of the debt and again we should make our intentions clear that upon successful award of the claim we will look to enforce the debt by way of an earnings arrestment. As part of your application process you provided your bank account number, sort code, pay date and employer details – all of this information will be utilised to seek immediate repayment of the sum outstanding. Please be aware that your employer will be notified of this order if necessary. Whilst we do not wish to burden you with further costs, (all legally recoverable fees will be added to your outstanding balance) your lack of cooperation thus far leaves us with no viable alternative. Should you wish to avoid this course of action we would recommend you contact our pre-litigation collections department on 01563 546 371 before noon the 25th September 2012. Failure to respond to this notice will only lead to immediate court action being undertaken. Yours sincerely, Mark Sanderson (operations manager) So this letter has freaked me out as I'm guessing they are in the middle of sorting out court proceedings. Also the whole contacting my employers, I have read that their not allowed to do this. I 'm actually leaving my current job this Friday so I know they wont get a response from them but obviously I'm concerned they might be able to find out who my new employers are and then contact them. I want to try to clear these debts, I don't want to make contact via the phone so I'd like to write to them (making up some excuse as to why I've ignored everyone) and offer a payment plan to them. I can afford a max of £125 a month between the two. I also don't want to make it through my bank as I've changed banks and don't want them to get those details and would also like to tell them not to call me any more (as I'm bombarded with calls all day long 7 days a week) I'm looking for some advice, suggestions on what to write (I'm not very good at wording things) a nd also what my rights are in regards to charges. Can I ask them to put a stop to the charges? Also Just checked my junk emails and received a email from merc recovery at the end of august s aying they want to resolve this issue and as a good will gesture are willing to to offer a substantial reduction in the amount I owe, so can I bring that up in the letter and also with the mac hall letter that I've misplace about the reduce in money owed. Appologies on this being so long but I'm freaked out by this last letter, I'm planning on moving out in around 6 months so would like to get this sorted or on the path of getting sorted. I really do need help so any advice or assistance would be gratefully received.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me on Friday.......good friend Les had adopted yet another dog. She's a diamond with rescues, always room for one more. Merlin the husky/GS shepherd arrived at 11 months in November last, having been confined to a cage in a small flat. Female owner admitted she was afraid of his strength and couldn't walk him. She was owner No 4. He stays where he is now, Les never gives up on them. He's hurt Les' arm and she has a brace so old big head with the dogs here offered to take her out to the forest and "deal" with him once and for all. Well, I've met my match here. If I tell a dog what to do i expect it to be done. end of. Along comes another dog, and because I already realised Merlin has a high level of excitement which could turn into aggression if not checked, I decide we'll teach him to sit politely to one side when dogs come by for now. On the lead of course, which I hate, but this is a large dog and we are looking at the Law here with him if we are not careful. Bloody creature. Oh he sat alright, but then he leapt in the air, ran at the group of people and dog coming towards us and I was attached to the end of the lead. For two or three seconds i was horizontal off the ground behind him just like a bloody cartoon strip. I landed with a plop and in a heap at the feet of a very surprised looking man and three women tryng not to wet themselves laughing. The laughter broke the tension thank God. Oh my shoulders and arms! I get on the phone to my dog whisperer friend, and we've arranged to spend next Friday with Les and Merlin. DW uses other dogs to rehab the bad boys, and her special selection for Merlin? A great dane, Bertie, who weighs 220lbs, can look the DW in the eye, and she is tall! Oh she says, it'll be fine, I rehabbed him last week, he won't knock his owner over again! He won't do it again and it do them good to meet each other. OMG. And Les now has an RSI so guess who has to do this bit for her? I know the DW will sort Merlin out, but just in case, please, everyone, fingers crossed for me at 1pm next Friday when they are going to do their street walking exercise together through one of the busiest parts of town! Must remember to take a shovel.