Hello, Last May I went for a work capability assessment one of those ATOS medicals. I scored no points. And I was no longer entitled to claim Employment Support Allowance. I appealed that decision. During the appeal process I was claiming Job Seekers Allowance. I recently won my appeal at the tribunal. So, my question is what happens now? Do I sign off JSA myself or will the DWP do that when they receive the copy of the papers from the tribunal? Will I backdated from last May or when I submitted the appeal papers? How long does it take to receive the backdated money? Any advice I will appreciate. Thank you

If you are disputing your energy bill with your supplier, it can be a very difficult and heartless job. Gas and electricity suppliers occupy a dominant position and frankly there is not a lot of competition. Once they get you on board it looks as if customer service goes to the wall. We are seeing a huge number of complaints about billing by energy suppliers. Npower is a particular concern but the others are not far behind. Did you know that your electricity supply and your relationship with your supplier is governed by the Electricity Act 1989. Did you know that if you are in dispute with your energy supplier, you are entitled to have your own check meter fitted. You don't have to rely on one chosen and monitored by your energy supplier. The only rules are that it should be fitted by somebody authorised to do so – but this can be any qualified independent electrician – and also that the meter must be an MID meter approved for billing. Here is a webpage which gives you a list of MID approved meters: – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-meter-type-approval-certificates-annex-mi-003 Did you know that if you are in dispute with your energy supplier and it is considered that you have exhausted all avenues and yet the dispute is not resolved, that you can insist that your supplier arranges a meter determination which is carried out by the National Measurement Office – pursuant to schedule 7 of the Electricity Act 1989. Once you have requested the determination, here is the procedure which your energy supplier must follow https://www.gov.uk/electricity-meter-accuracy-and-disputes#determination-process I have found that the Electricity metering team at the National Measurement Office are extremely friendly and informative. These rights are provided to you under the Electricity Act 1989. Why doesn't your energy supplier let you know about this? Because they don't like any independent scrutiny? Because they would rather sue your arse regardless of the justice of the case? Because they don't care about you the customer – they only care about their shareholders and their executive salaries? Because they are all Bloody lazy? All of the above?

I emailed Next and Isme with a list of my income and outgoings and asked them to accept a reduced payment of £36 a month. I explained that I only have Carer's Allowance and Income Support totalling £72 a week. I have £18 a week left so I offered both catalogues half of this. Isme not replied yet but Next have refused my offer but said they will accept £54 a month with no interest or charges. Can anyone please advise me on how to respond as I cannot afford more than £36 a month?

The Highways Agency is encouraging road users to spend a few minutes making sure they, and their vehicle, are fully prepared for severe weather. You might think that most of their advice is blindingly obvious, but a survey showed that: Many motorists (45%) don’t do any winter checks at all on their vehicle Nearly two-thirds of drivers (63%) do not check their anti-freeze, oil or water before setting off on a winter journey Less than half (41%) said they checked their lights were working before setting out. Just over half (53%) of drivers don’t have warm clothes in their car in case of emergency. Fewer than half (42%) of drivers carry de-icer in their vehicle. Almost two-thirds (64%) don’t carry drinking water. Only a third (33%) carry a warm drink, around the same number (32%) take food, and (37%) said they packed a blanket. A few minutes of preparation could be a life saver. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/survey-shows-many-drivers-wont-be-ready-when-winter-bites

Hi all First time for me on this forum. I have seen several posts regarding nuisance neighbours and was wondering if anyone had experienced mediation, which I attended with my next door neighbour today and also wondered what my options are from now on. My neighbour moved in about 1 1/2 years ago. I have endured screaming from her kid on a daily basis since, made worse by the nice weather when all the windows in her property are opened, she shouts at her daughter all the time and it goes on for hours and starts about 7am even on weekends. Apparently her daughter has mental health issues although she has not yet seen any professional about it. I attended mediation today where the mother stormed off twice, accused me of things that weren't true, attacked me verbally and interrupted me, (this was allowed to happen by the mediator) I wasn't given the opportunity to reply to these attacks. Eventually because she is 'suffering from depression' (again unconfirmed) the family are in no position to keep the noise down, apparently because of the mental health issues, her daughter is not able to be kept quiet, she is unable to stop shouting, the dog needs the back door open to run in and out of the house, when tackled about this they agreed the dog could be let back into the house, but said the windows need opening as they both smoke. It was suggested they go outside which the male agreed to but the female is unable to apparently due to a newly formed agoraphobia (unconfirmed). Despite this she left the meeting to go outside the venue for a fag. A vague agreement was made but it was very wishywashy as she was at the time threatening to drive off in her husband's car, and she can't drive. Therefore I don't see a proper outcome to the meeting. They are risking my career which I have worked hard for, my daughter's and my own health is suffering greatly both physically and mentally and apparently there is nothing that can be done. The mediator fell for the sob story completely and said that nothing could happen anyway as the housing association will not remove a family when there are mental health issues. Is this true?!!!? My neighbour told me it's the way it is and it's going to get worse as her kids get older! Surely there is something I can do about this bully? Everyone seems to fall for her stories and feel sorry for her, but I hear her laughing all the time and talking about similar bullying behaviour towards the mothers at the school her daughter attends too. I hope someone knows how I can take this forward as I really liked my home, but I hate living here now. I've invested a lot of time and money into getting it nice as it was a disaster when I first moved in and am very reluctant to move. I hope someone can help, it's making me feel completely miserable Karlew

I'm moving to plusnet from Sky I phoned Sky to see if I needed to give notice and to tell them to stop my services (broadband and land line) on my contract end date. But they claim they can't do this because I'm switching to a new ISP. My concern is that I don't want to be paying for the Sky line rental and broadband until my service gets switched if anything goes wrong with the switchover date. ..I actually wanted them to stop my services completely but they say no can do. I can't quite get my head around not being allowed to come out of my contract and stop the services at the contract's end date. Does this sound normal or are they feeding me a line?

As some of you know I got LLoyds/tsb to discontinue with their £11,000 claim against me. Which really ****ed them off as they attended 3 hearings with barristers. I signed non disclosure documents. They agreed to pay me all my fair and reasonable costs immediately! If I reduced my costs, which I did. While waiting for the payment which took 6 weeks I went over my overdraft limit by £120. They have now withdrawn my overdraft and put it in the hands of moorcraft. There is no option to get back under my limit the total overdraft is £3,120. I am sure the delay in payment was no coincidence! I have no proof of course. If they had paid on time I would not be in this position. Lame excuse I know ,but true. Absolutely skint. Apart from my Costs check but that will not cover it. Not sure how to go about this. Regards Jack

I am new here and this might be a strange query I have logbook loan and want the company to take the car they are offering me every alternative but to take it. I have just lost my job and have no means of finding the £200 per month as I have to prioritize my income for rent etc. I can not afford the car and informed them of this last month, they said they would reduce the payment. I told them it was a waste of time reducing the payment as I still could not afford that. I missed that payment and spoke to them this month and told them I would also be missing this months payment. Again told them they are free to come and take the car. Instead they offered for me to pay last months payment (plus late fees) and another payment later this month. It looks like they are just trying to add on as much interest and charges before they do take the car. Can they do this? If I am telling them please take it. The amount outstanding on the loan is £1500. The car is worth about 3,800. I so far have paid over 3k (incl late fees etc) on a 1200 loan. Thanks in advance for advice.

Hi all, When i first got parking charge back in April, i found this site and made use of a company set up to help people with their Parking ticket claims They were very fast to respond and very helpful. I had already appealed to the parking company but they just rejected it and said I could appeal to POPLA but really not worth my time. They did not supply POPLA code. The Claims company contacted them for code but appeal lost due to out of date code - dealt with it, Claims Company got a new code and re-submitted appeal which won. Yay!, all dealt with. Except now, the parking company UK Parking Solutions has sent me a letter demanding payment and threatening Debt Recovery and extra charges. Is this legal given POPLA appeal already won. Does the POPLA appeal verdict hold up in court? Should I just ignore them or do I need to take action? Thanks

I bought a Samsung S5 from Three in May this year, 24 month contract £45 per month. Last week I woke up to find a purple/black blob on the screen which was slowly expanding. Within 24 hours it had consumed the entire screen and it is now completely black. I phoned Three who transferred my call to what they said was Samsung. They got me to send my phone in for repair I got an email saying that the phone wasn't covered by the warranty as they had found damage. The damage is a small crack at the top of the phone, not even on screen. The crack was from when I dropped the phone within the first week of ownership. I dropped it less than 2 feet and was most annoyed at how easily this had happened. I phoned them up and explained how and when this crack appeared, and that the screen had been fine for the 4months since then and only now developed a screen fault overnight. Even the touchscreen still works you just can't see anything! He agree with me that it was like the front wheels falling off your car and they wont cover it under warranty as you have a small dint on your boot. I said well have you looked inside the phone to see if the screen is physically damaged? He said that they are not Samsung they are Anova Repair Agents and there contract with Samsung says that if a phone has any signs of physical or liquid damage then they are not allowed to diagnose it as the warranty is deemed void. So they have quoted my £156 to replace the LCD. I refused that and they have returned my phone. I have also cancelled my direct debit as I'm not paying for a product (or calls) I cannot use. What are my next steps? I have seen some threads mention SOGA but not sure how to proceed. I have insurance on the phone with a £75 excess, but am worried they will refuse the claim as the screen isn't physically damaged! I haven't yet phoned Three back as I'm not sure how to play my cards, so to speak. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need my phone for work and am holding back on buying a new contract to sort this out, but I can't wait forever. Also an equivelent contract is now only £30 which adds to the injury! Thanks

I would really really appreciate some help, as my gym owe me £2250 and will not refund me my money! I am very stressed about the situation and do not know what to do. In March 2013, I took out a 3-month membership with my local pilates studio. This cost £250 per month, for 8 classes. Over the next three months of the membership I managed to use 18 classes of the 24 that comprised the 3 month membership. However, in May (just before the 3 month membership expired), I advised the studio by email that I had to go into hospital so "I am not sure when I will be able to resume exercise, so it is probably best if I cancel for now. I think I have some classes remaining from my 3 month course - I will be in touch when I am well enough to use them." My clear intention was that I no longer wished to continue my membership. However, the studio continued to take £250 from my account each month. This is on the grounds that their contracts states "This is a 3 month agreement, which will thereafter be renewed on a monthly basis... After successful completion of the initial core period the member may cancel this agreement by sending a written confirmation to the studio before the first day of the final month of membership." I failed to see that the studio was continuing to take money out of my account as I was first in hospital, and then suffered a bereavement - it was a really difficult time personally, was not as on top of my finances as I would usually be (yes, I know!). Plus, in my mind, I had written to cancel so had no reasonable grounds to believe that they would still be taking money from me. In February 2014, I realised what had been happening and wrote to the studio, telling them that they owed me nine months worth of fees, ie £2250. They responded in March 2014, saying that they could not find a copy of my written cancellation confirmation as they had not been able to find this in their records. They said that in the absence of written confirmation, I had a total of 86 unused classes in my account. In April 2014, I had some time off work, and decided that as a gesture of goodwill I should use up some of the classes (I had thought that £2250 was a large amount for the studio to have to repay therefore if I used some of them up it would show willing). I managed to use up a further 24 classes during April and May. However during this time three things happened: 1. In May I suffered an injury during a class with one of the instructors. I had some physio to help the muscle. However I cancelled all my classes with that instructor and refused to schedule any more with him (that was the only class I had had with that instructor and I was not confident in their abilities). 2. I continued classes with the other three instructors that I did trust. However in June I had a class with another new instructor, and suffered two sprained ribs. This was very painful and again, I had to have physio. I told the studio that I would not take classes with that instructor again. 3. During this period, I had found it increasingly difficult to get a class when I wanted one. I repeatedly told the studio that I had seven hours a week when I was available to take a class . They repeatedly told me that they did not have any classes available for me then, and kept offering me classes at other times (eg during the working day, when I was at work!). I have numerous emails between me and them documenting this. As a result of both the injuries which caused me to lose faith in the studio, and the fact that they couldn't actually provide me with any classes, in June I decided that I had done enough to try and use up my classes and now wished to be refunded the remainder. I therefore wrote again to the studio, telling them this, and that I therefore wished to be refunded for my remaining 62 classes - a total of £1940. I enclosed a copy of the email that I had sent them in May 2013 cancelling my membership. In September, I received a response from them. They said: 1. they required a written confirmation sent to the studio address. The email could not be taken as cancellation, as "it refers to the cancellation and re-scheduling of classes but does not refer to the cancellation of your membership contract." I don't think this is right - my email could not have been taken as referring to cancelling classes, as at that point I did not have any classes booked to cancel, therefore it should reasonably have been taken as meaning my contract. Surely if they thought I meant cancelling classes, as they say they did, then they would have responded to say that I didn't have any classes to cancel? 2. That "classes were used during this period (from April to December 2014) which in law is described as a continuation of a contract". I clearly had no idea it would be taken a continuation of a contract - I had thought I was doing them a favour by using up some classes so they had to repay me less - so much for a gesture of goodwill! 3. That "as goodwill, they can offer me either to use up my remaining 62 classes or to cancel my membership and lose all my money". I don't see how offering me to lose all my money can be described as a goodwill gesture! I also cannot use up my classes, as they have repeatedly told me that they cannot give me a class when I am available to take a class. (In addition, after not one but two injuries I have lost all faith in them.) I really am at a loss as to what to do, and am very stressed about the situation. I presume my only option is to take them to the small claims court on the grounds that (1) I did cancel my membership (2) they cannot fulfill their part of the contract because they can not provide me with a class when I can take a class and (3) loss of faith due to injuries (and I have not attempted to reclaim the cost of my physio which I had to have as a result of the injuries, which totalled around £750). Does that sound right? I would really appreciate any advice - I obviously cannot afford to just write off nearly £2000, as they seem to be suggesting!

I logged into Moneyclaim this evening to file my defence to Bryan Carter/Lowells. I already logged in 2 weeks to acknowledge the claim and that I was going to defend. Tonight however, after logging in, all I get is And there is no option to file my defence. Does this mean I am too late? Any way around this? I CCA Lowells with a £1 postal order but they never responded with a copy of the credit agreement. Thanks

A quick run down of my case. August 2012, started claiming ESA IR. Initial WCA appointment March 2013 (Missed due to severe illness), so our ESA was stopped, we appealed citing the reasons and providing proof and the decision to stop the benefit was overturned and our benefit continued. Then it took a good 5 months (Aug 2013) until I actually had my assessment. I was awarded 0 points, the assessor made up lies in the report and said I could do stuff that I was not even asked to do etc etc etc. So we appealed this, I must have put in the worlds biggest appeal papers, about 20 odd pages, braking every single descriptor down and how I believed I should have x amount of points. DWP re-looked at the decision and desided NOT to change the decision, so to tribunal it goes. I have been sending paper work an forms off to the tribunal ever since and actually thought I was getting quite close to my day in court with it being about 8 months since I appealed. Anyway, Yesterday (05/04/2014) I received a letter from DWP and it goes sort of as follows. Now, I know I should be happy that I have finally won, but I can't help feeling short changed here, I meet the descriptors for the support group regarding walking 50m etc etc. Now my questions I suppose... a) I am now due to be backdated £26 to week 14 of my claim which is around Dec 2012 until April 2014 (17 months @ £26pw = £1700 give or take) If I appeal the group placing will this put a hold on the backdated payment which can tke upto 6 weeks. That is my main worry as this money really could come in handy right now. b) Would appealing to the support group be cutting my nose of.... I do meet the descriptors to be in the support group! c) Does it look like DWP have re-looked at my case and thought that on balance they would lose at tribunal and have stopped it early??? Or are they trying something on to get me away from the support group which I truely belive I should be in? Any advice would be brilliant, and sorry for the long winded post. Dawn

At the end of January I put in a claim for DLA (still getting that here in Northern Ireland). I mentioned that to my GP. She said that in my case it would be unlikely I would get it but she would fill in her part for me. About 4 weeks ago my support worker rang DLA to find out what the hold up was, only to be told that My GP had not sent the information they required. About 2 weeks ago I had an appointment with my GP and mentioned this. She said she would fax the details through to DLA. I rang DLA yesterday and they still had received nothing. And when I rang the surgery this afternoon, I asked the receptionist if she could check to see if anything had been done in relation to this. She said and said she would remind my GP. Has anyone else had this problem or is this a common thing that it may be because the GP is busy.

Hello everybody! I'm here today because my landlady informed me that she wouldn't give me any of my deposit back although I don't feel like she is in her right to do so. Therefore, I would be very greateful to have your advice concerning that issue. General informations (not sure what will be useful sorry...): - I rented a room (with furniture) in her flat, we were the only two people leaving in it. - We didn't use an agency or anything, I found the add for the rent online and dealt exclusively with her. - I stayed there from the 6th of November 2013 until the 6th of June 2014 (as agreed). - When she asked for a security deposit I asked her to draw a Tenancy Agreement, she seemed surprised but agreed immediately and we signed one before I moved in (I have a copy and so does she but it was just with the two of us, no lawyer or anything) - I paid a deposit worth 550 pounds, which was equal to a month's rent. - We didn't do an inventory at the entry or when I left the flat (didn't take pictures either) - We always had a good relationship, up until a couple of months back when I did notice she seemed more cold to me. - the flat was in Barnet (London) - a few weeks before I leave she asked me to pay (and I did) to replace a couple things and repair small damages I was indeed responsible for (for the most part, for some of it honestly I'm not sure but I didn't want to make too much trouble at the time and as long as the money is not too much I'm ok, but the security deposit is different!!) When I sent her the email with my banking informations (naively when I didn't received anything back after a couple of weeks I thought she might not have it) here is the answer she emailed me: "I doubt there will be my deposit to return. Firstly the desk in the room has a number of dents. That's about £250 to replace. Secondly, the room I am not able to rent out until the damp gets sorted, at the moment it is still being dehumidified. I'll need to re paint the room. I can send you the receipt when the builders have sorted it all out. But I don't see the point as you have cost me rent which is the same as the deposit. Sorry." I haven't answered to her yet because it started to scare me a lot and I panicked a little (I'm between jobs at the moment and as my next contract starts in September I was counting on that money!! ) and I wanted to seek advice before I do or say anything. Also, I moved back to France (where I come from) shortly after I left the flat, which doesn't help my situation... My view on the issue is this: I didn't do any dent on the desk, which by the way was already old and damaged when I moved in (the desk is made of a cheap Ikea/Argos type white frame with a big plank of wood put over it) . [ATTACH=CONFIG]51685[/ATTACH] The damp problem I wasn't aware of until a week or two before I left when she did text me that people had come and found a damp problem in the room and said that I had not open the room since I moved in. I answered to her that I had been opening everyday like she asked when I moved in, during at least an hour (which is true, even in winter, and god knows that was painful! And giving the very small size of the room honestly you could not live in there if you didn't anyway!). She texted back that it was getting sorted and put a dehumidifier in my room during the last week I was there. I thought the case was closed.. . But I was obviously wrong. To conclude I must add that I didn't do anything that could have caused the damp problem! My room was the smalest in the flat and the area around one of the window was damaged when I first moved in (paint chipping away and such). Sometime during the couple last months I did notice brown splashes appearing around the window and on the wall nearby after I opened the window to let the air in but the splashes watched away without any effort and I didn't think it was anything more than dirt coming from the outside... They reappeared a second time around the same area shortly before I left (that's when she had people coming over to check) and I just cleared them while cleaning the room on my last day there. So what do you think? Could I be directly and solely responsable for that damp problem even though I did open everyday and didn't do anything out of the ordinary (apart from puting my towel to dry in the room from time to time)? If not who should I talk to? I never had this kind of problems before (this s the third flat I let over the last four years as I had to move a lot when I was finishing my studies) so I'm feeling really lost. .. Thanks in advance for the time you will grant this request!

(Sorry if this gets asked a lot) Hi all i am new to all this and was wondering if you anyone can give me some help regarding my D.L.A. I attended my second dla tribunal on the 5/06/2014 (The first one got adjourned for more evidence) and this time i was very please i got awarded wat i used to be on high rate care component and low rate mobility i was over the moon with this result it could not of went any better, the panel were lovely people and very understanding. How ever it has been nearly 2 weeks since the hearing and i have heard nothing off them, i rang up today and was informed a letter has been sent out to me but the adviser could not tell me Wat it was :/ I replied is it the form to complete to confirm that i have not been in hospital since my claim and bank information 'he replied no its not that form and i cant tell you Wat letter has been sent, does anyone no Wat this could be and does anyone have any time scales it takes to get the payments back going and all the back pay they owe me its over a years worth of back pay they owe me and i done the sums and its rather a lot ? Also wasn't everyone in spring 2014 changing slowly over to P.I.P where do i stand with winning D.L.A i got a indefinite award too ? i am so confused I just want it all back to how it was fed up with all the hassle now i have won it seem like DWP are just doing things really slow, Thanks for reading this and any help of similar situations or advice will be much appreciated

My daughter moved in to a rented house at the weekend with her boyfriend. We plugged the aerial lead into the wall socket and tried to tune the TV in but no joy. It turns out that the aerial is an old type not a digital type. The Agent is saying that my daughter will have to pay for the new aerial to be fitted. This surely can't be right as the "existing" aerial sockets should be in working order. Can anyone advise me with this ? Many thanks F16

Mr Cotton says the staff refused to tell him how much he could have: "So I wrote out a few slips. I said, 'Can I have £5,000?' They said no. I said, 'Can I have £4,000?' They said no. And then I wrote one out for £3,000 and they said, 'OK, we'll give you that.' " He asked if he could return later that day to withdraw another £3,000, but he was told he could not do the same thing twice in one day. “As this was not a change to the Terms and Conditions of your bank account we had no need to pre-notify customers of the change” He wrote to complain to HSBC about the new rules and also that he had not been informed of any change. The bank said it did not have to tell him. "As this was not a change to the Terms and Conditions of your bank account, we had no need to pre-notify customers of the change," HSBC wrote. BBC ...

Son got ticket from Parking Eye for overstaying at an Aldi car park. Sent appeal letter and got back the usual pile of paper mostly saying we had no chance. Wrote back asking for POPLA code which they gave. Sent appeal to POPLA citing GPEOL - received decision today - appeal upheld as PE hadn't sent any response to POPLA This is the second win - friend at work had ticket a couple of months ago in same car park - PE gave in at the first letter and cancelled the ticket !

My daughter claimed ESA due to severe IBS and depression. At the humiliating 10 minute meeting with the ATOS "health care professional" she was given 0 points & told her ESA would stop. She appealed and DWP 'decision makers' supported the ATOS decision. She advised DWP she would continue to tribunal on the grounds that the notes made by the ATOS nurse did not accurately (ie not truthfully) record the meeting & contradicted the assessment by her GP & specialist. I went with my daughter today to magistrates court. We were dreading it - never been in a court in our lives. We were seen first by usher then went in to room with judge & doctor to answer questions. All 3 were friendly and supportive and questioned us to get the facts they needed to make a fair assessment. In fairness both my daughter & I got upset at times but this was due to explaining the illnesses. We were told at the end that DWP & ATOS were overruled & we had won with 18 points. I was really helped by what had been posted on forums before we went in so I want to help others now...my daughter & I were both really stressed in the run up to the tribunal - wondering if we should give up or not but it was fair & supportive & the judge & doctor stressed they were completely independent of ATOS & DWP...it was a completely different experience to dealing with ATOS/DWP. My advice is...attach medical letters to support your appeal, explain how you believe you qualify for 15 points or more, take someone to support you / as a witness & just answer the questions on the day. There was nothing to fear in our tribunal & I would not hesitate to go again (even though I have not slept properly for ages dreading it). Hope this helps someone not to worry. Very best of luck. I won't print here what I think of the ATOS 10 minute checklist other than to say I don't see how any 'healthcare professional' (ours was a 3rd rate nurse) can ethically take part in such a corrupt & humiliating process.

Hi all, My partner is receiving ESA and I'm on his joint claim. I work since the 1. March for 14hours/week and earn less than 100 pound/week. I'm off sick since the 6th March and have a sick note from the 7th March to end of this month, probably extending. Problem is, that our benefits were reduced because of my wages I didn't receive. I called my manager on the 25th April, because I didn't receive my wages and he replied that I'm not eligible for SSP. I asked him about the SSP1 form and "he will contact the headoffice". A week later without form I called again, the assistant manager said the same "I will speak to the manager and he will contact headoffice". I didn't want to wait another week, so I printed the SSP1 form the same day and included an envelope with a stamp and a note to fill it out as soon as possible. Unfortunately I still don't receive the form and the manager is always "not available". I found on the Citizen Advice site "If your employer refuses to give you form SSP1, you should apply in writing for a decision to your local national insurance contributions office and claim ESA" But could you tell me what the local national insurance contributions office is? Do you have any experience how long does it take? Or is there any other way to claim ESA without the SSP1 from my employer? We are missing 80pound/week since April and it's really hard to get on. Thank you very much!! Kind regards, Stefanie

Hello all, I need some advise please. Last year i had ATOS assessment, in January this year i was called by decision maker to be told i had scored zero points and i will be removed from ESA. My partner then became main claimant as she has arthritis and thus is unable to work and supplied sick note as required, to date she has not had an ATOS assessment, is still on assessment rate and was due to put in another sick note. I had a First Tier Tribunal hearing late last month and the judge placed me into the Support Group of ESA. I never heard anything from ESA but my partner is being chased for a sick note which is now overdue since the First Tier Tribunal hearing took place before the original sick note expired and i obviously thought she would not be expected to send a replacement one. I called ESA today and they stated as my partner is the main claimant with me added onto the claim they cannot acknowledge/action the First Tier Tribunal decision at this time. I thought they would automatically place me back as the main claimant but can see their point. Forms have been sent out for me and my partner to fill in so we can switch me back to being main claimant again. My partner also has to supply a sick note in order for us to get paid in the meantime. Have we been advised correctly under the circumstances? I thought perhaps they'd automatically make me main claimant again seeing as i have been the main claimant each time we have had to claim benefits. Because there was a period of about 3 months or so where my partner was main claimant are they still required to backdate our claim and pay us as if i was in Support Group for that duration? I think they do as i was wrongly forced off ESA and my partner became main claimant since she is unfit for work so i was unable remain main claimant to claim JSA while i applied for Mandatory Reconsideration. We also lost 3 days money when my partner became main claimant for ESA. Will that also be reimbursed to us since that was also an unnecessary loss to us? Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thankyou

I was hoping someone could help me. I found a room via flatshare and I was given a tenacy agreement which states me deposit of £285 would be put in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme and moved into the property last year back in 11th December It was a 3 month contract and I left on 11th April and the place was full of mould (which I have pictures of) and now the landlord is avoiding my calls. The place is council and he has converted the living room to his bedroom and rented his old bedroom to me so not sure if he is breaking the law there. I also have proof that I paid the deposit on the day of moving as well. The landlord also mentioned that he did not put the money into a tenancy deposit scheme. I am also a bit worried because once or twice he asked if I could pay him cash and I didn’t think to ask for a receipt but the last 2 months I paid into his bank account. Any advice would be much appreciated. He also told me all bills were included via flatshare and on the tenancy agreement it said I would have to pay council tax but he said don’t worry about that as he will pay it then I found via his council tax bill that he is claiming to live alone, further to this he is also avoiding paying his tv license as they have knocked twice. I have since left the property but I desperately need deposit back. I would be grateful for some advise. Thanks. Mark

Received an email from a friend earlier detailing another success against a PPC at appeal - this time with the IAS rather than POPLA The young lady in question parked in a residential car park managed by Sussex Security Solutions trading as Parking Enforcement. Received a ticket for £100 (reduced to £60 blah blah blah) for a 'breach of terms and conditions meaning that a contractual fee was now due' (parked in a contractor bay due to building work temporarily removing all of the legitimate spaces). Appealed to the PPC at an early stage and (unsurprisingly) this was rejected - rejection letter was mumbo jumbo and insisted that the contractual amount was payable, no GPEOL was required as the PPC was managing the car park in line with their contract with the landowner, which was a service at no cost to the landowner and that the contractual payment contributed to the costs of managing the business and running the parking service. Two types of signs in the car park - one by where the vehicle was parked stated 'Contractors Only' but had no warning of any payment being claimed in the event of a breach, and others elsewhere did notify of a contractual payment being due in the event of a breach. Incredibly the signs also claimed AOS as a BPA Approved Operator despite them having ditched the BPA in favour of IPC several months ago! The driver received the IAS code for independent appeal along with the initial rejection so put forward a case based on 1. Inadequate signage - PPC had claimed a contractual payment but stated a breach on the ticket. Insufficient detail on teh contractor bay sign to form a contract and even the ones elsewhere (which had not been seen due to the font size and height) were insufficiently detailed to form a binding contract. 2. PPC had claimed that no GPEOL was required, but the appellant held that GPEOL was crucial in this case as a payment on a breach must be deemed a penalty in the absence of GPEOL as this was the basis of the ticket wording and the signage. 3. The PPC had not provided more than vague details of the contract with the landowner and the appellant was unable to adequately assess whether the PPC had lawful authority to issue tickets in their own name or to enforce those tickets. 4. The PPC was falsely and misleadingly claiming membership of a trade body (the BPA) IAS considered the case and responded within just three days that the appeal was upheld and the ticket would be cancelled. The grounds were that on the first point - the inadequate signage was insufficient to bind the appellant to a contractual obligation - as the signs stating a 'contractual payment' would become due only said that a payment 'MAY' be payable, this was insufficient and therefore the appeal must succeed. Annoyingly for the appellant the adjudicator stated that there was no need to rule on the other grounds as the first was successful in itself, but nevertheless the win was sufficient. No doubt Parking Enforcement will be replacing the signs as quickly as possible, however the appellant has already notified Trading Standards of the misleading claim of BPA membership on the signs and is asking questions of the local authority as to whether the property is subject to business rates - after all, by their own admission, the PPC is given a free hand to run their business independently of the landowner and is charging amounts in excess of any GPEOL and is therefore presumably generating some amount of profit in the process!

hello all I'm so glad to find these forums. I have been so stressed and losing a lot of sleep over this and it's all my own fault. I have a debt with Very (£3,200, so quite large). I have used them for years and always paid fine but I have fallen into financial problems. I let them know straight away and I was allowed to pay £60 a month for two months. My situation still hadn't improved and I corresponded with email to ask them if I could work out a payment plan with them and offered £100 a month, which I will still struggle with but thought it was a fair offer. They have responded saying thanks but it didn't reach their threshold amount of £220 per month and so they can't accept it. I was a bit shocked and again emailed to explain my situation and reiterate that £100 a month is all I can afford just now and that I would review it again in July. again, they said thanks but no thanks, it isn't enough. I'm now receiving letters saying I have three days to pay or they will pass it on to a debt recovery agency and that I am not helping myself by ignoring them. I honestly don't know what else to do and I feel like the worry about it is starting to really get me down. I don't know how else to pay them!? Please help me, I'm at my wits end. I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks as it is so I'm terrified of someone turning up at my door demanding thousands of pounds that I just don't have. Chelsea, Scotland.