Situation as I know so far: Tenant moved into property in 2014 and contract stated the deposit was protected by 'Barclays Secure Client Account' - nothing more. rental was done through a lettings agency and rent was paid to them. About 18 months later the tenant came home to a man waiting in his car outside the house who identified himself as their landlord - had ID and paperwork. Agency had vanished and he hadn't been paid rent for around four months. He accepted the tenant had paid. It all checked out and the tenant then paid rent direct to landlord. He never has got round to renewing contracts but tenants have continued to pay their rent and life seems to have bumped along, presumably on a periodic tenancy. He wanted to know how much deposit they'd paid as he'd not been sent any paperwork. He's recently been in touch to say the agency has gone bankrupt and the tenant will have to contact 'them' to get their deposit back. I have asked the tenant to go back and find out who 'them' is. They aren't quite sure if he means the agency or someone dealing with the bancruptcy. So, on to the questions. Is it really up to the tenant to recover their deposit from anyone but the landlord? If it's all on the landlord must they do something about it sooner rather than later? They are happy living there and don't particularly want to sue their landlord but don't want to be told years down the line when they do go to leave that they should have done something sooner. It appears the landlord has a number of properties in the area and they're run as rentals under a company name. Does this make any difference to what they should do/how their deposit should have been protected? They don't want to fall out with the guy. He's been shafted and has been perfectly reasonable with them. They don't want to move and everyone is happy barring this deposit issue. What's the best way forward?

Hi guys im new here , i signed up because im being threatened to be taken to a small claims court. A long story short 1 or 2 years ago i met a guy on gumtree (that had bought a computer off me) and he had asked whether i could supply him with a large amount of computer components, me being not being mature and silly i accepted this and we talked over email for a bit to confirm details. After that he had transferred over £70k into my bank and what we agreed is that i give him a certain amount of computer components each week which i did for several months until the guy supplying me with the cheap components stole a large sum of cash from me which was so stupid of me. i was left with £25k left and £40k worth of components left to give him. I got scared at this time i lost communication with my customer and pretended it didn't exist. at the time i was doing GCSEs and wanted to focus on the exams at the time. after the exams i had gained enough confidence to contact him and explain what had happened he agreed that i could just give the rest of his money back by paying £2.5k a week, what i did was i put the money into crypto trading and i spent hours upon hours on the trading site and most cases only getting a couple hours sleep but i was making just enough for the £2.5k a week i continued paying him off for a few months until my trading account got hacked and all my money was stolen (i did file a police report to action fraud but nothing happened) and the website owners said they could not do anything. The customer asked what had happened to the payments after i had not made that weeks payment i panicked and blocked his email address and all was good for 6 months im doing a-levels atm (physics,chemistry and computer science). I was really enjoying life without the stress. Recently i got an email from his brothers email stating that i had owed £12k and that i can pay it now or pay £14k in small claims court . I am more than willing to pay this off and had no intention of taking his money but tbh i was scared out my mind. the problem is i am a 17 full time student doing really hard a-levels that require my full time and i currently dont have a job and have like £30 in my bank. i dont have many possessions as i had sold most of it to make my final £2.5k payment. i have a average computer, an iphone 5c and a good pair of headphones . I am just asking for what i should do in my position as i did some research and i read something about how you cant make a claim against a child and how you cant make a claim above £10k is this true if not how would i go about this as im not going to lie i have no clue on what to do. I would greatly appreciate any advice with this. Many thanks in advance.

In November 2005 I was called into my bank for a “financial review”. At that time, I did not realise it was going to be a hard sell of bank products. I was sold a £20k loan. When the time arrived to sign the paperwork, the local printer couldn’t produce it – I guess an IT issue. They managed to get part or maybe all the first page printed (on screen it had many pages), which I was asked to sign or initial – I don’t remember what, in the footer area of the page. The £20k was deposited into my account the same/next day. I was advised a full agreement would be sent to me which I had to sign and return to the bank. That full agreement never arrived, despite me asking for it many times (I can prove). Contacting the bank was getting nowhere, so on advice of a Solicitor/Barrister I stopped making repayments in May 2009. The bank did then contact me. They said over the phone (I have a recording) if I resumed re-payments they would supply a copy of the agreement. I resumed re-payments, they did not supply the agreement and eventually agreed they did not have a copy of the agreement and could not produce a “re-constituted” agreement. Hence in Sept 2009 I stopped making re-payments again. The bank took 2 payments under “set-off” rules in June and July 2011. Amount outstanding according to bank is around £12k In November 2012 the bank put a default notice on my credit file. That did as intended and really fouled up my life. I spoke with the bank and they offered to remove the default, but I would need to repay the original loan (fair) interest for all the loan duration (not fair, duration/interest rate unknown as no agreement) and interest at 8% on the entire outstanding balance. I said “in your dreams”. I have engaged a few legal firms over the years to try and resolve this, total costs to date are around £20k. I am advised it could easily cost over £150k to continue. However, I see this as a simple problem. Bank don’t have copy of agreement (legally execute or otherwise). They have put a default notice on my credit file, in my view without any evidence I have defaulted – I don’t know the terms any more than the bank does. I feel I could issue a summons (pre-action protocol letter previously sent by solicitor) requesting removal of default notice. If successful, I would ask for compensation and my legal costs to date. Problem if I keep the quantum claimed under £10k (about 50% of my legal costs to date) if I am not successful, I can’t be hit by banks legal costs. If I issue for more than £10k I could have a large bank legal costs bill if I am not successful. My inclination is to go for more than £10k and take the risk, question is how much? Any other views considered. I did try the FoS – seems to be a waste of time in my view.

Good afternoon, I was hoping someone would be able to help me with regards to a possible irresponsible lending claim? So I got in a bit of a pickle around November 2013, and started getting PDL's with wonga; fell into the "payday loan trap", and finally managed to get out of it about a year ago- I have not had a payday loan since Apr/May 2017 I do believe. My credit file is shot though. I was just wondering the best way to go about this? Am I ok to email the companies asking for details of all the loans i have had with them? As between November 13- February 14 it looks like I had 13 Loans with Wonga alone. This continued, and I eventually used Quick Quid too, Wageday Advance, Mr Lender, My Jar, Satsuma, and Lending Stream; together with an "Overdraft" from Safety Net Credit. Not good Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi everyone, Ive had nothing but top advice when Ive previously used the forum - so here we go. I defaulted on my nationwide loan in approx 2010 - due to redundancy. Balance roughly 8k. Nationwide took proceedings against me and got CCJ for about 9k - enforced via a C/O that remains on my property. No payments being made as its interest free. I have had 2 loans in my life with them - 2nd was for 15k that paid of the last bit of my fist loan for about 8-10k I cant remember exactly. I have just had confirmation that there was PPI in these loans and nationwide are due to respond to me by 10/04. Heres where it gets messy... Nationwide are currently in the process removing the CCJ and charge because they never should have taken proceedings - due to them not showing interest on statements. They have advised once removed they can ask me for the initial debt but they cant legally pursue me (time barred now perhaps?) So I'm wondering that should I be successful with a PPI claim what are they going to do with the money - remove it from the balance ? Also here is a perfect example of why PPI was a rip off - I didn't know I had it and they sued me - they didn't say here make a claim on your insurance! I'm wondering if I should see a solicitor and if people agree does anyone have a recommendation in greater Manchester. Thanks for reading and advice needed please.

Hi can anyone help me trace down a toy The backs story is that my autistic daughter had a favourite toy of a little blue stretchy dragon. Which got broken a few months ago. We had to remove it as it started leaking tiny beads She's spent hours crying about it and ive spent months trying to get another The toy in question is this one http://www.amazon.in/Simba-Nature-World-Stretchable-Dragon/dp/B003ON4CQI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418974300&sr=8-1&keywords=nature+world+dragon It's the light blue one. It's made by two companies simba and toy major I've tried local shops ebay amazon the seller's on the link who don't ship to UK gumtree pre loved Emailed toy major directly If anyone has any more suggestions please make them. I'm not aiming for Christmas just to get her anytime

I'll try to be brief and not ramble. My daughter and her family came to stay with me early last year after selling their family home and were waiting for their new family home. For one reason and another myself and my daughter's long term partner didn't get on, it ended up much to my embarrassment that he ended up staying elsewhere, his friends, his car, hotels etc. This caused issues between myself and my daughter He was sent a few items of mail from Asset Collections I called them and explained that he didn't actually live here, he had for a brief time and had moved on but I didn't have a forwarding address. They said they would amend their records. A few months later another letter was sent - I called them again, they apologised and again said they would amend their records. My daughter and her children officially left here in March and it wasn't on the best of terms. I am slowly trying to build my relationship back with her. I don't know why I have done it (probably because I am too nosey for my own good) but I opened some mail of my son in laws yesterday and it was a CCJ Claim form from the company I have previously told twice that he isn't a resident here. What can I do? I just cannot tell my daughter - she will be so mad at me. Iv done some terrible things over the last 18 months - 2 years and I don't want to lose my daughter again. He doesn't live here and I honestly don't have an address for him and the company had been told he didn't live here what should I do? I have read that the courts won't believe this?

Hi everyone, It seems I'm not the only one being hounded by CRS on a daily basis. I was bought a gym membership in my own name (without my knowledge initially) last year as a Christmas present. It was my local gym at the time. I went to the gym for around 10 months before the gym were given notice that I was moving away from the area. They had a couple of months notice. My parents didn't send this recorded delivery as they never thought this would happen. A couple of months passed and I got a letter from the gym saying that I hadn't given notice - I had already moved at this point and my parents (who started the contract) received it. They were given notice once again saying that I had moved out etc. My "debt" was then passed to CRS who are phoning me several times a day. I have explained to Harlands that they have passed my details to a third party without my consent - I did not start the contract and I never paid a penny for anything in my name. My parents started it and paid it for me as a present. Harlands refuse to talk to my parents on the phone. Harlands also refuse to discuss anything with me as it "has been passed downstairs to CRS". From where I'm sat I'm being chased for a debt I don't owe. I didn't start the contract, I didn't sign anything and they were given notice (by my parents). CRS tell me that they will be sending letters to me if I refuse to speak on the phone. I've explained I don't live there anymore - so they tell me they will give the debt to their solicitor who will trace me and I'll be charged for it. Any thoughts guys? The original debt was about £75 I think and now we're at £280 ish...all "admin charges" and "penalties" of course. Thanks, LittleFanta

I have a bit of debt. It's not massive but it's at a level where it stops me from enjoying life. I had a few problems changing jobs last year where I didn't get paid for three months and wasn't entitled to benefits. So I had to either borrow or not pay bills, eat etc... I've worked out I can pay and extra £50 or so a month to clear it a bit quicker but I'm not sure in what order to pay it off. They highest interest debts are my smallest and don't really cause a problem. It's the following. Loan around about £5500 still owing. I pay about £240 a month. Low rate of interest. About 2 and a bit years left to pay it off. Credit card one about £1000 owing, at credit limit. Minimum payment is about £45 a month. Keep getting £12 charges for going over credit limit. (I'd like to keep this card when I get back on track because the interest rate is reasonable). Credit card two about £1100 owing, at credit limit. Minimum payment about £65 a month. High interest rate. Keep getting hit by £12 charge for going over my credit limit. Have cut this card up. Credit card three about £200 owing, at credit limit. Minimum payment about £7 a month. High interest rate. No charges. I've also cut this card up. What debt should I pay the extra £50 on and in what order to get it paid off more quickly. Before it is suggested I have looked at 9723567356506853286 ways to consolidate the debt but I can't get a loan, probably because of how much I owe already. Also I can't raise my credit limit on the card with the better interest rate so I can do a balance transfer. So I'm just left with paying off the debt.

Long one… I have worked for the same company for 16 years about 10 years ago I needed to borrow about £10k. I also borrowed other bits over the 3 years after but nothing since then. I had a good relationship with my employer and I was paying it back at about £100-150 a month. No interest on the loan. Think the total amount was £15k. There was never an agreement and I signed nothing nor did I ever enquire about the amount still owed, money was just deducted from my wages. In the middle of last year my employer died and the company was sold to another guy who has transformed the business, I didn’t really fit in after the changes so decided to leave last week. I had a call this week from the new MD saying I owed the company £14k and he wants It back straightaway or very soon after I leave. We did have a conversation about this money back in October and he said in the handover from my previous employer no history was supplied to what I had borrowed or paid back and that this amount was on the balance sheet with my name attached. He agreed to go and find all the info. Heard nothing more until this week when I handed my notice in. Currently I have 5 CCJ’s, no money and have no way of raising this money quickly. On the phone he was aggressive said I had 48 hours to come up with a plan. I asked if he managed to get the info I asked for previously and he said he had plus he has an email saying I agreed to pay £350 a month back in 2014. I never paid more than £150 a month. He hasn’t supplied me with any of this extra info and with his aggressive manner it makes me believe he may be bluffing. I would like to see a full breakdown to see if the amount is correct in the first place that I owe. Without that how liable am I for this debt? Any ideas on how to proceed? I know its a strange one but you guys here have helped me immensely over the years with my debt problems. I have a new job starting in March but won’t be earning much more money its just a nicer working environment.

Hi everyone at CAG I received a claim form from Dryden’s Fairfax solicitors acting for a collection agency called arrow ltd the letter dated 10th October about a credit card I had with Sainsbury’s bank I took out in 1998, I took the claim form to the CAB on 4th November to help me, the CAB contacted the court and was told no judgement had been made yet by Dryden’s, CAB rang Dryden’s and spoke to them and told them I wanted to send the admission form and set up a monthly payment, but I said all correspondence must be done only by letter, the person who was speaking to CAB on the phone asked us to wait and she will speak to her supervisor, she came back on the phone and said they were pushing the CCJ through to which CAB was surprised, I received a CCJ a week later. I had been keeping up my payments with Sainsbury’s until I got into difficulties in 2008 and asked to pay less and agreed a plan with them, I fell into more difficulties and asked to make a lower payment I was told by Sainsbury’s my debt was being passed to a debt collection service, I protested at this because I said the debt was between me and Sainsbury’s to which I was told the interest would be frozen by using a debt agency. I cannot remember receiving a default letter at all, but I was moving around a lot, I set up payment plans with debt collection agencies when they had contacted me. I found out my debt had been sold on a couple of times, I made most of my payments by debit card, some payments were made at banks across the counter, two payments were missing on the statement I saw (because yet again my debt had been sold to another agency) I have one receipt I found. I stopped paying because I fell ill and was trying to claim benefits and the lovely pips (which I got a year later), I do think I paid ppi in the early part off having a credit card with Sainsbury’s. Any advice would be much welcomed please.

after reading around this forum a while, I realise I may've messed up. But still seek a little advice... A bit of history: Parked a family members car incorrectly in a car park, whilst I ran to buy something. Literally 2 minutes, maybe 1.5, but when I got back there was a guy taking a pic of the car. By incorrect parking, it's a small car and a small car park and I found a spot which wasn't a defined car space (no painted lines), but was just a little space on the side. Not blocking anyone or anything. No yellow box or double lines or anything either The keeper received a letter a few weeks later from Euro Parking Services Ltd. Didn't read it and threw it away. Keeper then received another letter few weeks later. Again, ignored it Today I find out a 'Letter before Claim' has been sent, from Gladstones. Stating to commence legal action on behalf of claimant. They state 2 options: 1. Pay £150 in 14 days 2. provide your full account of the circumstances that have led to the charges being imposed and should include confirmation as to who the driver of the vehicle were at the time of each incident I don't have the original letters and don't know what they stated. Pretty sure there was a picture of the car in one of e letters. To make it worse, the "incident" happened a long way away from where I live and so I can't easily drive there to see what the signage looks like. It was the Tesco Metro in Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. If anyone knows it! So, what do you professionals recommend?? Appreciate I may be screwed. But willing to fight this a little while if you think there's a chance

Hello 1st post and I hope I'm posting in correct forum. if not could Mods please move post. The wife of a friend of mine has walked out a couple of weeks ago. Shes has walked away and left everything in limbo. Friend phoned the bank and arranged an appointment where they froze the joint account , opened a new account in his name only so he can have his wages paid in, pay bills / dd/so and mortgage etc Wife had a gym membership, He phoned the gym to tell them she had left, bank acc closed and they told him he was liable , so he set up new direct debit from new account and was going to pay. 1st payment from new account already been paid. Is he liable, can he cancel. any letter templates available Ideas or advice appreciated Many Thanks

Hi all, I'm Johnny. I'm new here I was just about to send off an parking fine appeal, but just wanted to see if I'm in the right or not, because it's a bit sketchy. The facts: -I wanted to go into Ibis car park because I was told it was cheap -Entered Holiday Inn car park accidentally because of confusing road layout -Left Holiday Inn -Entered Ibis, spent around 5-10 mins parking because it was tight and realised that it was actually very expensive -Went back to Holiday Inn, saw that prices were cheaper so I parked -The sign gave a few options of how to pay. One being a mobile app. -Spent about 20 mins trying to download the app because of bad signal -Left the premises in search of better signal -Came back. Paid using the app. And left. -There was no option to backdate the payment to the time I arrived -After doing my business, I came back and I left 8 mins after my parking had expired. I got a Parking Charge Notice from ParkingEye two weeks later. In the letter they state I -Arrived at 6:44 -Left at 8:26 -And was in the car park for 1 hours 41 minutes. This isn't true. -I arrived at 6:44am, -Left around a 2 minutes later -Came back about 6:55am-ish So the car was literally in the car park between 1-2 minutes, then about 1 hour 20 mins. Not the combined amount that the ticket states. So 3 questions.. -Is the false time period a possible technicality? -Is the 20 mins spent downloding the app, and not being able to backdate the payment a mitigating circumstance? Also does me leaving the premises matter? -The 8 mins after my parking expired. As far as I'm aware, the BPA have a 10 minute grace period, but obviously I was there for longer than 10 minutes downloading the app. Have they got me by the balls here?

my father has just being declared unfit to make sound judgements of his care needs and financial affairs. as his son I'm trying to sort through mountains of junk have come across a credit agreement for nearly £6000 for a bed, he still has 3 years to pay on this. I know because its still on finance i can't sell it. he has no assets and once he goes in to a care home he will have no funds to pay for it. any ideas of how to sort this out please. he currently owes about £3000 on it.

Wherever you are i hope you enjoy your party tonight. Paid for hopefully by your boss. Meant to put this on this morning,oh well better late than never. Many will already be out there.So i am off,it may go quiet in here as the night progresses. Would really like to know tomorrow when you recover how it went. Bet there will be many interesting tales to tell. Tonight is when drink sales hit their peak on the biggest office party night of the year - how do you survive it? Will it be a mad Friday. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/12057746/How-to-survive-Booze-Black-Friday.html Why 'Mad Friday' leads to 'Dry January' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35129990 Booze calculator: What's your drinking nationality? In the month of December alcohol consumption increases as many people celebrate the festive season. In particular, the last Friday before Christmas - popularly known as "mad Friday" in the UK - can be the moment when many drink to excess. But how does your drinking measure up to the average in countries around the world? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30500372 Says i measure up to Kuwait-he-he What country does your drinking measure up to? For those in Wales. Live Black Friday updates from across Wales on parking, travel, shopping, Christmas parties... and jumpers! http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/live-black-friday-updates-across-10620336 From the North East. Live updates and pictures as people hit the bars of Newcastle for pre-Christmas festive fun on Black Eye Friday, the biggest night out of the year http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/black-eye-friday-newcastle-live-10618815 Live: Mad Friday in Manchester http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/live-mad-friday-manchester-pictures-10622117 Mad Friday in Liverpool live: updates from the big Christmas night out http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/mad-friday-liverpool-live-updates-10615149

Hi, So I've thankfully managed to pay off most of my Payday Loans. Had a bit of an issue this month with a flood at home so all of my income went to sorting that out and I'm now awaiting insurance money (Should be latest next week). I cancelled CPA from remaining lenders also. The last lenders I owe to are 24/7 & Peachy. 24/7 were kind enough to freeze interest etc. Until next Friday at which time I will pay off the remainder. PEACHY on the other hand flatly refused to freeze anything, Offered a rollover and said that the loan of 500 which with 150 interest and charges currently stands at 685 - Which I have said I would pay next week in full will be 790 and I will need to pay this amount next week. Any ideas. DD.

Bit of an odd one, curious if anyone can help I had a holiday day for one week of work, i didnt work the other shifts as it was unpaid. They put 6 hours basic, then somehow i got -32.00 in tax which made the total to 75. The original payment for 6 basic hours which was wrong anyway only equated to 42.00 So my question was instead of holiday would it be put like that?

I have a bit of a strange problem with Wright Hassall and was hoping to get some advice. in Oct 2014 WH started chasing an old debt (aprox 5 years old) I ignored their letters, on 24/11/14 I had a blue claim form in the post from the court. I wrote to WH and told them I thought the debt was over 6 years old and that they were statue barred from chasing it. They didnt reply within the 2 weeks that i gave them for a reply I decided to defend the claim from the court. On 30/11/14 the court wrote and acknowledged receipt of the defence. On 27/1/15 I had 2 letters from WH, one offered a discount if I paid up asap, the other said they were proceeding with the claim because my last payment had been on 30/4/10 and it wasnt statue barred for being out of time. On 28/1/15 I had a letter from the court saying WH were proceeding with the claim and it was suitable for the small claims track, and mediation. I replied to this, first of all querying if WHs letter had been received by them in time (WH had 28 days after I submitted the defence to issue a reply but they didnt do so until 27/1/15), secondly I said I didnt want mediation if the court agreed that the claim wasnt statue barred then they should just issue a CCJ. The claim was then transferred from one court to another a couple of times on 11/3/15 the court asked me to provide an income/expenditure statement which I sent to them on 24/3/15. On 24/4/15 the court told me there would be a hearing on 13/5/15 on 11/5/15 WH copied me in on a statement of their costs which they were sending to the court for £715!! I didnt hear anything else from either the court or WH 18/9/15 WH wrote to me and said that a CCJ was entered on 13/5/15 and that if I wasnt able to pay the amount off in full straight away, they were prepared to negotiate a suitable monthly repayment. They have given me 30 days to get back to them, if I dont they are threatening attachement of earnings, charging order agaist the house, or bailiff action. what I'm after is your thoughts and suggestions on what I should do next. Do I ask WH for a copy of the CCJ order which was supposedly issued by the court but I never had a copy of? Do I ask the court for a copy of it and risk them investigating if one was never issued? Do I do nothing and wait to see what WH do next? The things that seem strange to me about this case are, 1) I wasnt sent a copy of any CCJ order that was issued on 13/5/15 2) If a CCJ was issued, wouldnt that have said how much my monthly payments would be, rather than leaving it open to negotiation with WH? 3) Why has it taken WH 5 months before they have started chasing me up for payments? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give. Gary

Hi Long story but the short version is. I owned a Cockatoo (Parrot) Had to rehome him as my dog had terminal cancer and needed constant care. Finally decided on a small sanctuary that had a small enclosure of animals. Sanctuary was owned by a couple that owned/run a pub/restaurant in a quiet part of the world. Have a contract drawn up by them that states if Cockatoo ever needs to be rehomed we would have first refusal and would be contacted to discuss. Have just found out today that the couple sold the pub in April and all animals rehomed to another sanctuary, one that allows large scale visitors and is open daily to the public. Sanctuary is not a charity. No contact was made with me to discuss this or my Cockatoo, he was just passed on without my knowledge. I am not happy with him being at this sanctuary and id prefer to have him back here, as stated in the contract. This contract was the only reason I parted with him in the first place, as I wanted him to have a secure home where he wouldn't be passed around to others, and in the event that they could no longer look after him, I wanted him back here with me. I have contacted the new sanctuary, but no response as yet. Do I have any rights? Thank you.

Hi all, I was freelancing last year, opened up my ltd company very early January 2014, and the first accounts will be due in September, along with the tax money. However, for personal reasons I'd like to hold onto that money a month longer. Can the payment be legally delayed for any reasons? Thanks, JB

A little bit of a complex one this but I am really hoping that someone can advise! We are managers at a pub. We work for another company who hold the tenancy, deal with all of the utilities etc and organise the TV. Basically, we are responsible for the day to day running with no responsibilty or say so on finances, contracts etc We get paid for this (self employed basis), along with our accommodation as part of the deal. We organise TV, broadband and 'phone for the private acommodation only. As we are only managers, we have to abide by our gaffers decisions and rules or be out of a job and home. We've had Sky for years in various pub jobs around the country and the varied private accommodations that go with that. Our gaffer chooses to use an alternative supplier for the commercial areas and here the problems begin. A Sky inspector visited and saw a match being allegedly being screened (we were not aware of this until a week later when our domestic Sky TV service suddenly ceased without warning late one evening). We rang Sky the following day and were initially told that we had telephoned them and cancelled it. As we had not, we told them this. Several people later we were told of the above and that it had been passed to the Business Compliance Team and that broadband and 'phone was going to also be disconnected on 3rd March, and that Sky had also cancelled our direct debit as we have broken terms of the contract by using a domestic card in a commercial setting (which we haven't). At this point we were also told that the inspector had seen our viewing card number on the screen in the bar. This is 100% NOT the case as our cards have not moved out of the boxes and our gaffer, whatever our thoughts on the matter, has chosen to use an alternative provider. We have informed Sky that we do not deal with the commercial side, and that it is absolutely incorrect that the card # was on screen, and that we will refute this all the way. We've also informed them that we have a letter from our employer stating that we do not control the TV supplier and that if we refuse to show what we are instructed to that we will lose both our job and home. They are not interested. The broadband and 'phone was eventually cut-off on 2nd March ( a day earlier than it was supposed to be) and we have now had various letters and calls from them, mostly asking why we have chosen to leave and asking if there is anything to do to keep us as we are longterm customers!!!!! Also 1 letter demanding payment of £97 outstanding (despite THEM ancelling the DD that fell due 2/3/15 and despite the fact that no adjustments have yet been credited to the account. The advisor early in the row told us that next month, when the computers caught up, credits would be applied to the account to reflect the fact there was no longer a service being supplied, confirmed that Sky had cancelled the DD and told us we didn't owe anything). We this morning got a signed for letter from Acumen Investigation Services. It states "One of our enforcement officers has attended the above premises and witnessed Sky Exclusive Programming being shown in commercial areas that are accessible to the public. " Then the bumpf about the relevant legislation then it continues "may result in a criminal conviction, fines of up to £5000 per offence, legal costs and forfeiture of your personal license. Our clients also have the right to take civil action against you. Previous civil actions have resulted in payments of up to £65000 being made. Our client requires that you do one of the following within 14 days: 1. Enter into a pubs and clubs agreement which permits the broadcasting of [sky] in the commercial areas of your premises 2. In the event that you do not wish to continue to broadcast [sky] ...you are required to complete the enclosed cease and desist form and return it to us or 3. Return any and all Sky Domestic viewing cards being used to facilitate these broadcasts. (Sky's viewing cards remain the property of Sky at all times). We will continue to monitor your premises and will also be sending an enforcement agent to speak with you about copyright theft. If we do not hear from you within 14 days we reserve the right to take further action without further notice to you" The cease and desist form and various bits of bumpf including a Sky contract was pubs was enclosed. Now we are a bit stuck here. At no point has our domestic Sky been used in the commercial area and we have no say in what the supplier is nor what is broadcast in the commercial area. We've lost all of our domestic Sky services. If we refuse to broadcast what our gaffer says, we will be chucked out of our job, and our home with it, along with our kids. He is the one who controls the tenancy, finance, contracts etc and has told us to continue broadcasting, using equipment supplied by someone he has contracted, as it's him that Sky should go after, and it's his risk. He has given us a letter stating that it is him who controls it and that we will be terminated if we disobey direct orders. Sky simply aren't interested and have chosen to go after us instead. We can't sign a commercial agreement as we do not have the authority (and doubt the gaffer will sign one, though the paperwork will be given to his agent on Monday), we are unable to sign the cease and desist notice (part of the wording is "not to assist any person to use any apparatus or device not authorised by [sky]") as we have to turn the TVs on daily and would obviously then breach this and we cannot return any Sky cards "being used to facilitate" as none have been! (Obviously we will return the Sky cards without this proviso, but are not going to at present as it then looks like we have used them commercially!) Obviously doing none of the 3 leaves us open to prosecution, but equally we could be without a job and home if we disobey our gaffer. HELP!

Hi I have been receiving letters from Lowell for a debt which is in a name which isn't mine. This was the fault of the catalogue company who completely read my name incorrectly and when I asked them to change it they wouldnt. Lowell have somehow got my address and have been sending letters saying that I need to pay the debt. They have now sent a letter saying they have done a credit check and that they have found out various things including that I am working! I am a bit confused as to how they have done a credit check on a name that doesn't exist at this address and found out anything - is it possible they have just done a search on the address? They are now threatening court action and I am not sure what to do - would the court be able to enforce anything against me if the name they have is incorrect? Any advice would be greatly received!! Thanks

,,my huband applied for pip in october after being made to graduate from dla higher rate mobility and no care he had his assessment at home in jan and i constantly phoned up to be told its with a manger etc so i made a complaint and lo and behold today i got a phonecall to say he had been awarded enhanced mobility and enhanced care i cried as its taken 15 years to be acknowledged that i care ft for my husband , so all i can say is keep going stay strong and believe .. the good guys nearly always win x

hi I called Lowell today who are claiming 3 different amounts (2 from my wife and 1 from me) for O2 and T-Mobile. I do not dispute that the amounts are outstanding (although I have no memory or paperwork about the original debt.) However while trying to arrange a repayment schedule and amount with them for all three of these the woman (Saria) mentioned an old Capital One debt of £403 from 2007. Is this even relevant? I have absolutely no record of this original debt! In fact are any of the amounts valid? Do I have to deal with Lowell? Can I go back to the original creditors? Will paying these make any difference to our already damaged credit file? Mike