Hi all ... Hope this is the right place to post this. Having lost everything in the recession I then suffered a major breakdown and now have Complex PTSD and fibromalgia amongst other illnesses which are all getting worse. After two years of being homeless myself and my partner were given a council flat. Our neighbours are the local drug dealers and generally bad things happen daily. I now won't go out of the flat at all. I have a pension which I could cash in in 18 months and I wanted to do this and buy a small cheap house. I currently get PIP and my partner gets carers allowance and we get income support which I apparently claim for us both. I don't really understand it all as the CAB sorted it out for us. If I did cash in my pension and buy a house would our income support stop. Also would this affect my state pension when I get to retirement age. Someone told me that we wouldn't be entitled to pension credits. Thanking you in advance for any advice you can give.

Hello I hope you can help please. I signed as a guarantor for my daughter on a property share in June 2014, there were 5 tenants and each had their own guarantor. The claim is for unpaid rent of £1261.82, £3206 for cleaning, repairs and damages + admin fees, court costs & interest totalling £5127. The contract stated that each guarantor was jointly and individually responsible for each tenant. My daughter did not owe any outstanding rent (well documented), the home was not very well looked after but I feel the £3k+ figure highly exaggerated, most damage was caused by cats none of which belonged to my daughter. The security deposit of £100 each was retained by the landlord. The claim form says the date of service is 21st March and the particulars of the claim states: Particulars of Claim (attached)(to follow). I am not and have no way of being in touch with the other guarantors though the claim form appears to have been served to at least two other parents. Do I need to respond within 14 days or await further information? What would be the best defence in this situation? All advice gratefully received

Around the two-four month mark, my friend eagerly accepted a UC course. Some of it was actually helpful and useful. Other bits were a complete joke. But anyway, the main plus was it came with a 'guaranteed job interview'. Now I am wondering if this is a [problem]. My friend can not find out anything about the job. I was wondering if anyone has experience of these being a [problem] and also what the rules are for declining the job. If it is possible. The job coach has said he has to take it if offered it so long as it is not commission, however if he doesn't like it, then after a month, he can resign. This sounds bizarre to me. Can anyone offer help/insight on this? Thanks

Hi all Posted a job application last September - the closing date was 12 noon the following day - so I used Royal Mail 9AM Guaranteed delivery - paying £19 for the privilege. I tried to trace the letter the next day but no information was available - tried again the next day and was shocked to discover the item still hadn't been delivered. To cut a long story short - the HR department refused to accept my application. I filled in a P58 form to complain about late delivery and the loss of my time it took for me to complete the form. 3 months later I get a generic letter - they couldn't tell me why it was delayed but sent their apologies and sent me a cheque for £19 "compensation"!. Spoke to customer service - and told them I don't consider a refund as compensation and what could I do about the loss of my time - due to their incompetence I wasted approx. 10 hrs of my time (it was a VERY long form) - she told me I wasn't guaranteed to get the job anyway (not the point) and that £19 was all I was entitled to. Is this right - if 9am guaranteed mail is delayed are you only entitled to your money back?

I'm having some issues with guaranteed transaction charges recently been applied to my Barclays current account. First some background : I'm currently in repayment plans with several payday loan companies after a medical diagnosis forced me to suspend my university studies. I was dependent on at least some of the student loan to pay off my outstanding commitments, however a week before it was due to be paid I recieved a letter stating I wouldn't get anything at all. This left me in a position where I would not be able to make interest repayments every month, let alone tackle the debt itself, so repayment plans were the only option. I was able to secure plans with all but one of the lenders, and budgetted my wages accordingly so that I would not go beyond my overdraft at all, however the lender who didn't want to play ball decided to scupper these plans and take money £20 I didnt have anyway. This particular transaction, however, seems to have triggered not 1 but 3 fees. I spoke to Barclays about this immediately upon receiving the letter but they refused to budge. Now that the transactions have cleared properly and I can see exactly what my balance was, I'm trying to reclaim the money. The first fee is for £30 to lender 1. This went out of my account on 21/05, and at the end of that particular working day my balance was -£1456.61. I have a £1500 overdraft facility in place. The following day lender 2 (who wouldn't agree to a payment plan) took two payments, 1 for £40, then another for £20. The same day I also incurred £32 worth of charges. This left me at -£1550.61 On my online statement only the £40 payment and the charges themselves are shown to take my account beyond my overdraft limit, which is what I was expecting to pay a fee for. I do not know why, but I have not been sent paper statements in several months. Do I have a case here or should I just sit back and take what they like? If I can't reclaim the money I'll have no choice but to apply for further credit with another lender as I have bills due before my next pay date that I can't quite afford.