I signed up to a Web-hosting contract with 1&1 Internet for a year, because they had a special offer where the costs were reduced for the initial 12 months. After 3 months the monthly payments taken from my card suddenly soared for no reason, which means that after only 5 months I had paid more than the whole contract for the year. I phoned up to be told that this was correct according to terms on their website, which had changed since I signed the deal. Eventually, after many hours, and emailing them my contract, I got them to agree to refund the extra I had paid over the terms of my contract. I had now paid for the full year. I asked them not to take any more payments. They agreed. Fast forward to next month. They took another payment from me at the increased rate. I was hugely busy at work, so I didn't notice. Another month passed and they took yet another payment. Then I noticed. At this point I had now paid more than double the annual amount set out in my contract. I called back but it was like Groundhog day. Hours of calls again. I resent the contract again. Again I get them to agree to refund the extra I've paid and to stop the payments coming out by auto renewal. By now I didn't trust them to do this. Fortunately I was changing my bank account, so the old card was cancelled. Fast forward to next month. They tried to take another payment, which failed because the card had been stopped. After a while they sent me threatening emails: my hosting will be suspended and if I don't pay up they'll pass the "debt" on to debt collectors. I called them back. How much to I owe? I've paid it all, haven't I? How do I stop you from taking payments I don't owe? They wouldn't tell me how much they thought I owed them or how much more they might take out. According to them the system has generated an invoice, which had to be paid. I went through all the previous invoices. I saw I had paid more than double the amount for the whole year, but then I noticed that they got the refund wrong. The had given me back slightly too much, and I still owe them a few pounds. Ok, I told them, I'll pay this if you stop taking auto payments. They refused. They said I need to provide updated card details so the autopayments could continue to be taken. They also said they couldn't adjust the autopayments so it would take out the amount which I'd agreed to in my contract. Apparently, I just had to keep paying money I didn't owe them because there was no way to correct their mistake. Which would then mean months more hassle with me trying to get them to refund money they'd taken. The only option they gave me was that if I updated the card details so they could take the final payment, they would then cancel the whole package, which would definitely stop the autopayments. This meant the year's hosting I had already paid for would end after only 8 months. I just wanted it to stop. So that's what I agreed to do. Incredible. I don't know if the company is legit or not, but I'm going to contact my bank so they can't access my card again.

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can offer a little help and advice. I wish to serve a SAR on the bank that previously held my mortgages (I had two linked to the same property, due to undergoing a - relatively amicable - divorce and being obliged to buy my spouse's interest in the house - who had no desire for the property...just the cash). I've lost all of the documentation, pertaining to said mortgages. I would like copies of the original offer and subsequent agreement along with all terms and conditions (including those if/as and when they may have been amended). Additionally, I want the bank to provide a full list of mortgage repayments made by me and received by them along with details/notes of any and all communications between our parties, howsoever conducted (written, telephone, carrier-pigeon etc.,) as well as any manual notes and/or interventions which may have occurred with regard to my account, throughout the term of the mortgage. Does such a SAR template already exist or is there any member of the forum who may help me to properly draft a suitable Subject Access Request? I'd be extremely grateful for any help/advice/referrals. Many thanks. Jib T

Hi Looking for advice regarding a housing benefit overpayment. I started fulltime work back in June, and moved cities. I informed the council of my work and cancelled my claim. However, I then received an additional payment. I queried this and it was told it was a 4 week run off. Now whilst I informed them I had stated full time work and would like to completely cancel my claim I didn't inform them i had moved, simply because I thought cancelling my claim based on my job should be simple enough, and I didn't know I would be receiving any other payments. However, I have just received a letter stating this was amount was an overpayment which I need to pay back. Do I have any leg to stand on in way of an appeal because I did query this payment and was basically told I was entitled. Or am I completely in the wrong with no chance of winning an appeal because I didn't inform them I had moved? If I don't have a chance of an appeal is there any way to pay this amount over a longer period of time? Both me and my partner are out of work and have decided not to claim anything as he starts a new job next month. Thankyou, looking forward to any advice.

Not sure what forum this should go in... We had our website hosted with a company for a few years. I then renewed for another year but thought better of it and cancelled within a week. Any I entitled to a refund? I know if this was goods I would have a week cooling off period. Does the same apply for services? Thank You

Hi, 3 years ago my wife and I set up a small letting agents for family and friends and paid for a package of support from a recommended company specialising in set up packages for small businesses in our field, inc 3 years support, web design, offering free uploads of properties etc etc. After 1 year another company contacted us and explained if we wished to continue using the upload facility on our website then it would cost £29 extra a month - after going back to the original supplier they informed us that it was still a good deal, but it was out of their hands. After being telephoned on 3 separate occasions by the new company offering the new subscription service we told them on each occasion we had no intention to subscribe and that we would not use the facility, but it was explained that despite us not uploading new instructions we could still log in and edit existing details which were input during the first year of our original package. Recently we were notified that our 'property search' page no longer had any existing information on, but was directed to another random site. We asked the existing company who we purchased the package from and they referred us to the new subscription company. They told us that in order to rectify the problem they would need 24 months of unpaid subscription totalling in excess of £600. We have never had any paperwork, nor correspondance informing us that the account was still active and they were still applying charges to the account. What concerns me is that if we had not been notified of the mistake, how far would these charges have accumulated. Obviously we have not acknowledged the debt, and would very much welcome any advice - regards jase5red