Hi there, I've just changed job which requires me to travel more. I work for a Global professional services firm and the policy states that if you are incurring more that £200 in expenses per month then essentially, you need to obtain a corporate AMEX. My credit history is diabolical to say the least. Do I stand any chance of getting this or should I just tell my line manager it isn't going to be possible for me to obtain one of these. I'd rather not apply and get declined... just would rather know a little about how it all works first. Can anyone help, I'm not sure what to do? thanks Lx

I have a query in relation to my AMEX corporate card. This is a charge card and is fully cleared once a month by a direct debit from my personal bank account. American express are withdrawing these funds on the correct day. However, my statements and online account always report that the payment has been made a whole month beforehand. This means that my online balance is almost always wrong and the statements are not a factual record of the account. Is this even legal?? Here is their "explanation" for why this is happening: This hasn't cause any problems up until recently, but then I was surprised by a very large payment which was marked received on my September statemen t and I had removed from my budget planner. Fortunately, it went through without any charges but it could have really messed my finances up. Overall, this seems pretty dodgy and their explanation is flaky! Would greatly appreciate any advice about my options. Thanks, J

Hi all, I have a corporate card through a very large organisation and I am leaving the company next week to start a new role. I have never missed a payment but the past month I have ran up a £2000 bill roughly. Stupid I know and I haven't missed a payment or anything. My question is..... My american express doesn't show on my credit file at all. I can not pay the full £2000 off in one go like you have to every month. If I didn't pay the bill my understanding and this maybe naive is that the company I used to work for has to pay it? If I did not pay it how could it effect my credit report? I am thinking it won't because it doesn't even show. If I don't pay the amount I will get a few nasty letters I presume. My point is if I don't pay the £2000 nothing will really happen? Am i being stupid, probably am. If I didnt pay what is worse case? As long as it doesn't affect my credit report I am not really that bothered. Thanks for help

Hi, Around 3 years ago I had a car accident in a car that I had bought recently that I stupidly hadn't got round to insuring. I crashed into a parked car down a residential street near my house but was in a rush to get to a job interview so left my details (under the windscreen wiper job) and left expecting the owner to get in touch. I never heard anything from the car owner until a while later I received a letter and some phone calls from a car insurance company asking me for repayment of an amount they claim I owe for the repairs to the vehicle. I ignored the letters and calls as I was never insured by this company and don't see how I should pay them any money when I never bought cover from them? I then started receiving letters from a debt collector 'The Lewis Group' but I ignored these as I still don't see how I should be paying this money back. Those letters stopped as soon as they started really and I thought no more of it until I then started getting letters from another debt company 'Corporate and Legal Collections'. I am a little worried that they have sent me these letters as I have moved to another side of the country since the initial incident and didn't leave a new address with my landlord or the new tenants who I met briefly. The letters are fairly consistent and haven't stopped like the ones that 'The Lewis Group' sent did and from the tone of the letters it seems like its getting to the point that I should look at the matter and sort it out but I still don't think I should be paying money to this insurer? A friend of mine who I confided in about this had an experience a while ago with 'Corporate and Legal' when she owed money for an old water bill I think it was, and apparently they explained the issue to her and got copies of the bill from the company she owed before they sorted it all- should this be where I start and try and get some paperwork from them before anything else? Thanks for any advice, Cassie x

Hello I am taking an Estate Agent/Builder to court because he owes me approx £2.5K. I am told that he has opened and closed a number of businesses and is likely to to close the business that owes me money to avoid paying me. This person committed a criminal act in order to get this business and has already been investigated by Trading Standards. TS decided not to take action against him for cost reasons. I am wondering if I can take out a personal claim against the owner of this business if he does decide to close the business that owes me money. What do you think thanks for taking the time to read this. Any advice you can give me would be welcome.

Good Evening everyone and thank you in advance for any help I may receive (Hopefully!) On Sunday I attended a charitable event at the Hereford Leisure Centre for Sport Relief. The Car park was naturally heaving given the nature of the event so finding spaces was impossible. I noticed that cars had started parking to the side of the car park near grassy ares not used for anything so I lined my car up alongside the rest and paid the £2 car parking fee charged these days. To my astonishment when I arrived back at my car my car (None of the rest along side me!) had a parking ticket. Firstly I was more astonished that people marshaled these types of events, taking advantage of people turning up to help out a national cause, but secondly for the life of me could not work out why only my car had been targeted! All the cars were not obstructing the flow of traffic at all, despite what the reason listed was in the ticket itself. I'm a new driver so I'm a little naive when it comes to these sort of things still(this being my first encounter), I read the notice and instantly fired off an email to 'appeal' it. (A decision I now regret being so gung-ho on having read a few articles on here.) Obviously the appeal was answered with a resounding no the following Morning on Monday. I went on to their website on my Iphone and was instantly greeted by the message "This is not a trusted website" wwwDOTherefordshirecspmDOTorg I haven't gone any further, and have started browsing the net for answers. Firstly, is this a legitimate company and is this website trust worthy? Do they have the right to issue notices of this nature for such amounts? (£45 if paid within 14 days £75 if later) and lastly, What do I do?! I wouldn't like to get into trouble with the law and if it is legit I will happily (not so much) pay the fine. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks Niave new driver!

Has anyone ever got through on the phone to this company- i have been trying for 4 days left my phone number and ref but noone has been in touch - i recieved a letter from them telling me i owed money to their client origin housing(new) but i have never been with said client and i know i dont owe money to them as said before never been with them - what do i do now should i write to them and tell them i dont know what they on about or do i go to my local police station to ask them what to do - i am an oap and not in good health and all this is making me feel very ill indeed - please someone help me

Apologies first for posting this in the general welcome section as this is where the 'how to start a new thread' advises one to do so. I am a freelancer in the pharmaceutical industry contracting through an agency to a multinational company. My contract is reviewed every 6 months. Last November 2012 (just before its renewal in Dec) the multinational company approached me and wanted to transfer me from an hourly rate to a daily rate. As I was used to working long hours I figured that they had considered the rates and thought it best for them that I went onto a daily rate. They suggested a daily rate which I agreed and confirmed in an email to my linemanager. 6 months later (last week) I learnt that my previous 3 invoices (Feb, Mar & Apr) had not been paid and that the multinational company were in dispute with my agency with the rate that was being charged. Despite the fact that the first 2 invoices ie Dec 12 and Jan 13 had been paid with the new agreed rates the multinational company was now stating that 'there was an error' in the calculation of this new rate. They claim that the rate that I was provided with in Nov 12 included both the agency fees and VAT. This was never the case. The multinational company now wants to retrospectively re calculate and for me to re issue all invoices at a lower daily rate. My argument is that the work has already been done under the agreed rates and invoices issued- therefore these should be honoured. Please advise.

Hi, Can anyone give me an address at Amex that I can get hold of the corporate T&Cs? Basically, here’s the story: Whilst I was in my previous role for a large company, I had a Corporate Amex card. Due to various personal issues (mainly gambling and alcohol related) I ran up a debt of £19500. I have seen been fired and the company I worked for passed the debt on to me. I received various phone calls from Amex and Brachers regarding the account but as usual buried my head in the sand. I’ve now received a Statutory Demand and am in the process of s*****ng myself. I have rang up Brachers and made an offer to pay which is being reviewed by Amex but what I’m now concerned about is that if it’s rejected they’ll continue with the bankruptcy route. I have my own house which is around £15000 in negative equity (mortgage plus secured loan) and is the house I co-own with my wife, and we also have a 9 year old son. Will I lose it? Also, is it legal for a Company to place a corporate card debt on to an individual? Not reading/remembering the agreement I signed at the company, I don’t know if it said or not they could do it. It is the type of card where I put in expenses then paid off myself. I’m absolutely petrified about what’s going to happen and don’t want to lose my house, wife and son (which I will if it goes that far!!). I’ve offered to pay £300pm until April then £400pm until the balance is paid, hoping and praying that they accept the offer. This keeps it to repay in total to 59 months, plus I’ve offered to pay my annual bonus of £1200 - £2300 gross directly off too. Can anyone please give me some advice on where I stand? Do you think I should speak to Amex directly about my offer? Many thanks, Steve

Hi there, I'm fairly new CAG member (well I joined on the back of this recent issue as it happens) if this is posted in the wrong place please point me in the right direction and apologies in advance- tech savvy is not my middle name! I was with a housing assoc in London for a short while as I had to move down there with my wife while her mother was receiving treatment in hospital and we wanted to be nearer. According to the assoc we didn't end the tenancy correctly when we moved back to Wales and were left with an arrears of around £700. Due to these arrears as we did not address it they obtained a CCJ against me which I did not contest (from reading through CAG so far I know I should have in hindsight but it was a very stressful time) I heard nothing about it for a good year and a half so along with the fact we moved house a few times in this period thought it was more or less forgotten. We then however started receiving letters from The Corporate and Legal DCA which was unnerving but we thought like before it would go away after a while if not addressed, I know a few people who have had similar issues with other DCAs who have done the same and they gave up after no time at all. Things took an alarming turn however when me and the wife received a further letter 2 weeks ago from The Corporate Legal saying they had 'passed our account for high court enforcement with their agents Shergroup' I would love any feedback on whether this is an empty threat or if this is a reality we now need to deal with. Any help no matter how small (even if its just telling me I'm on the wrong thread ) will be much appreciated by me and my wife. Thanks in advance, Peterarebit

Hi Everyone, Has anyone heard of Corporate and Legal Collections ? 1000 Great West Road Brentford Middlesex TW8 9HH Reg No Company 6904704.... Looking for their Modus Operandi..... Basic Letter.... Writing with ref to overdue amount to our client.... please call blah blah On rear is a DD form with the receipent as allpay.net re corp and legal collect.... I am aware of the debt, dispute part of it, no response from organization creditor, have a full counterclaim as i have put to them previously, and now these are chasing... Amount is over the SD minimum, less than 1K. Some payments have be made towards. An email address other than info@............... would be appreciated... Thnaks N

Hi everyone, I've just received a letter from them claiming I owe monies (less than £1k) to the Housing Co-op I was with a few years back. The letter doesn’t say what the debt is for, though I suspect rent arrears, but the amount seems way more than I remember. Also the co-op have never contacted me abt any debt, even though they have my email and phone number. Unsure whether to ignore this DCA and see what happens next or dispute the debt. If i ignore them, would i still be able to dispute the debt if it gets serious, i.e. legal action? Below I’ve posted the letter (note the first sentence!). I found two other posts on this forum about the Corporate & Legal Collections. One says that they have no active consumer credit licence - Current has no licence purpose for individual debt collection, only business. Here’s the letter: ‘We regret to note that despite a number of efforts by us and our clients to resolve this matter no reasonable offer or proposal has been received. We and our client are still open to accepting as little as £10 a month, to stop any further action on our part or our client to recover the monies owed. This would be our preferred option and will not increase the amount you have to pay. Our client is unaware of any reason why this debt should not be paid. To avert further action and accept this offer it is urgent the details below are completed and posted back within the 7 days. (direct debit guarantee) Failure to make proposal will involve further action. It is important any correspondence, queries and or payments come through us not our client. Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks a lot, Linda