Hi. For the last 3 years, I've been the carer for my wife. Through unemployment, we have a joint ESA claim. Due to unemployment, I had the spare time to look after her, and did as I imagine any partner would do. The claim is in my wife's name, we get £280 a fortnight, as she was last put in the work related group, although her advisor believes she should be in support... But we need to wait for the next medical, and the people doing that have previously failed her 3 times with 0 points, before we went to court each time and they found she should have scored between 10 and 16. Anywhooo, it's a struggle. We recently had a friend, who was also on ESA. She lives alone, but has a partner. She got put in support group, and got enhanced disability, despite being far more capable than my wife of working. She gets £140 for that a fortnight, and gets a total of more than £100 than us. We asked at the CAB about what help the was for us, to see if my wife was entitled to more help and we were told to apply for enhanced disability and carers allowance. We did this 4 weeks ago (told it will take 9 for carers allowance to be checked). Enhanced disability, I phoned them for a time frame, and got told flat out that my wife was entitled to nothing. Because I'm not getting PIP (my wife does) as I'm her partner, and look after her, she is entitled to nothing. So I asked for their advice on what to do, to which he said don't bother with carers allowance. Because of I get it, at £62 a week, they will deduct £124 a fortnight from my wife so we end up with no difference, just a load of hassle? Is this true? I knew some of the £62 would be taken, but I thought you got an extra £30-something as a carers premium? So you do actually end up slightly better off? It's confused me now, and I don't know if it's with just cancelling it, to avoid the hassle of the benefit being split, deducted, etc. From what the disability premium guy said, it sounds like being in a relationship is a punishment, especially if you choose to be your partner's carer If it does work out better for us though, how much is back pay entitlement? It'll be 10 weeks from claim date by the time it is awarded, if we get it, but can it go further? We're a bit annoyed really, because our advisor knows I've been my wife's carer for 3 years, and not once has she mentioned the extra help we could get, that apparently we should have been able to request all that time ago

i had a mandatory reconsideration for backdating of my JSA, the decision maker decided in my favour so i will be paid 29 days im owed. I was told by about 7-8 advisors that if they changed the decision in my favour it could be actioned as a same day payment because i've been without for so long. i spoke to the benefit centre today and they have said even though it has been ruled in my favour they have to contact the job centre regarding "labour market laws" and that it will be around another week before i am paid anything. who is correct? its been about 6 weeks now and we've been living off about £20 or less a week to feed/keep warm etc myself and 2 kids under 7 so we're desperate for this money

Rather late in the day I've just noticed this document http://www.scoronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/high_level_prinicples_document_final.pdf which purports to set high-level principles for the Reporting of Arrears, Arrangements and Defaults at Credit Reference Agencies. You would think that this kind of document would be put together by the Information Commissioner after great thought and deliberation in his role as the guardian of the human right of privacy under article 8 of the Convention. Not so. This document was put together by the credit industry and then merely approved by the Information Commissioner who has been persuaded to write a foreword to the document in which he merely says that he will continue to express a "keen interest" in how personal data is processed by the credit industry. More amazing is the fact that this document which is drawn up by the credit industry – the very people that the Information Commissioner is meant to survey and to police, is intended to replace or supplement the Information Commissioner's own set of rules/guidance which he published several years earlier in 2007 -Data Protection Technical Guidance: Filing defaults with credit reference agencies I'm sure that some enthusiastic people will find interesting to make comparisons between the two documents. I will be interested to see what posts appear on this thread. However, one thing that jumps out at me is that in the 2007 document it says unequivocally that disputed accounts should not be the subject of credit file entries. In the 2014 document, it doesn't mention this but merely skirts around it by talking about accuracy. Also, in the 2014 document, I noticed that there is a requirement that 28 days notice be given before a default is entered. I'm not sure how this squares with the FAQ on the Information Commissioner's own website which says very clearly that a default without notice is generally not a problem. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/credit/ Is this delegation or abrogation by the Information Commissioner? high_level_prinicples_document_final.pdf guidance_on_defaults.pdf

I have seen conflicting posts on this site, so I thought I would ask for some clarification. One person in a thread said "you are advised not let bailiffs into your home" Another talked about there being an offence of obstruction to peaceable entry. My understanding is that you are best to never let them in because once you let them in they can come in whenever they want. I also understand that they are no longer allowed to make entry via an open window but can via an open door, including pushing a door you have opened. Can someone clarify whether I can simply not engage them, not open the door, not talk to them etc. I gather that they can take a car they think I own, I drive a 20 year old car registered in Belgium, so unlikely they could prove was mine.

A Bailiff hand delivered a letter today giving me 24 hours to pay £265 for an outstanding parking ticket. The thing is, I have written to the Local Authority twice about this, as I had used their automated telephone system a couple of days after receiving the fine and believed it paid. The first I knew it was overdue was when I received a letter advising me that the fee had increased from £35 to £70. I wrote and told them that I thought this had been paid by telephone and asked that under the circumstances (i.e the apparent failure of their system) would I be expected to pay the additional £35? I received no response to this letter until I received another notice taking the total to £105. I wrote again, enclosing the first letter asking for an immediate, urgent response as I did not feel that I should be liable for any charge over the £70, which I would have paid (under protest) had they responded to my initial correspondence. I also said that I felt that I was being used as a cash resource due to an innocent mistake on my part. Again, I have received nothing from the Local Authority until today. I explained the above to the Bailiff over the telephone this afternoon, but he told me I have 24 hours to find £265 and if I don't pay it will go up to £320 then £380, etc. until I pay or he'll take my property. I can scrape the money together, but I'm furious that it's come this far. What are my rights and do I have any recourse to claim some of the money back (I accept the first £35, possibly even £70, but no more) if I pay it out tomorrow afternoon? Please can you advise? Thanks. Lynette

Hello Can my employer change the hours on my contract to suit themselves. Have been informed that if we dont work overtime our hrs will be changed from 7.45-4.45 to 7am to 4.45. The contract says we must do a reasonable amount of overtime to suit the buisness. Thanks in advance

Hi I am trying to find a solution to my debts at the moment. I owe about 5,000 in total, all on unsecured debt. I have been in contact with an insolvency practitioner with a view to setting up a Debt Arrangement Scheme. However, as I am not working at the moment, I had to include a note from my husband basically stating that he was happy to contribute the monthly amount out of his wages. So far, so good. After I returned all the relevant paperwork, they called to say that having reviewed my circumstances they would advise me to go for a LILA sequestration due to my not working at the moment,but that I could still go ahead with the DAS if I wanted to. I decided to look into LILA upon their advice. After looking into it, it is not really a road I want to go down, it seems far too severe an option for a relatively low amount of debt. I contacted Stepchange today, and am waiting for a call back from an advisor (next week), as the person I spoke to wasn't trained in procedures in Scotland. They did say however that a DAS can't be set up if it is being paid out of my husband's income. Does anyone know if this is the case? I really don't want to go down the LILA route, especially as I hope to be working again in the foreseeable future, but if I can't set up a DAS I don't know if there is any other option. I haven't gone back to the insolvency practitioner I was dealing with as they charge a fee for setting up the DAS and I would rather the full amount go to my creditors. Any info would be appreciated.