My husband and myself both contracted out of SERPS in the 1980s. I was contacted earlier this year by Zurich to say I was entitled to my Husbands pension money. My husband died in 2005, and Zurich have told me that I must buy an annuity with the money, but unlike everyone else, I am not allowed to take a 25% cash lump sum. Is this correct? If so why? thank you for reading

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice please. To cut a long story short my husband died 3 years ago. He left me with a business which had an enormous amount of debt and I have been dealing with those since (it has now ceased trading) and continue to do so, it has not been an easy 3 years. I am at my wits end with a personal creditor in relation to my husbands funeral costs which given the situation seems ironic as most of the other creditors have agreed reasonable plans (or i would have been forced to go bankrupt) but these just wont budge. The debt began as £2200 and was with the coop. My husbands family originally agreed to pay half of the total costs £5000 but never did after paying the rest myself i was also left with this remainder to sort. At the time, the coop sent me a couple of letters and i wrote back to ask if i could pay in installments. Because i had bailiffs at the door for various other debts and a repossession order for my home to deal with i didn't prioritise the debt and it ended up going to court. I was then given a CCJ. My fault but couldn't be helped at the time. I had stupidly assumed once that had been done i could then agree a payment arrnagement via the court. This wasn't the case. Within a month or so i had a letter from Andrew Wilson and Co demanding the full amount within 7 days. I spent hours on the phone to them but they would not consider a payment plan as said i had broken the previous. Fair enough i suppose. Not having much of a choice the guy on the phone told me to wait until the HCEO came around and agree a plan with him. Having considered this further and after a visit to the CAB i was told to go back to court and ask for the judgement to be varied. I paid the fees to do this and went back to court. In the court the judge told me he saw no reason for the judgement to be set aside (not what i'd asked for) and as i hadn't bought any reasonable evidence as to why i couldn't pay (had stacks of debt letters and my husband had only been dead 6 months) he threw it out. The solicitor for the other side was nice - looked through all of my paperwork and told me he couldn't really give me any advice as it was clear i had no money to pay and no assets to the value. He said he would speak to his client about the £20 proposal i had offered as a token payment until i could get my finances in order. 2 weeks later i had a reply from AW telling me the client was willing to accept payments of £50 a month. I couldn't afford it but agreed and somehow (mostly going without things other people might class as essentials) i have been paying it for now 20 months. Today i decided to ask for a balance on my account. The debt started out as £2200. My balance as of today including the payments i have made is £3476. I am totally bereft. I have asked for a breakdown which i will list below. AW have also told me interest at a rate of 62p PER DAY is being added on continuously along with a monthly fee and VAT. I feel like it is totally unachievable to repay this debt. I see no light at the end of the tunnel despite having worked around the clock to try and get my life back in order. Amount of judgement £2738 Execution costs £111.75 Admin /compliance fee £75 Enforcement stage 1 £190.00 Enforcement state 1% fee £163.77 Enforcement state 2 fee £495 Accrued interest £442.80 Due to claimant £3292.69 - how? Total Levy £4401.21 Total enforcement fee £1108.52 VAT £184.75 Payments £925 Current balance £3476.21 Daily Interest £0.62 On the breakdown it says received from defendant and all the dates. Each month has: £50 credit £25 "client" £20.83 "fees" £4.17 "vat on fees" Can anyone tell me please how a debt that started as £2200 where i've paid off £1000 now rises to £3476. I have emailed the coop but they have just sent me back to AW. Just seems totally unfair and pointless i may as well of just taken the easy route at the time and gone bankrupt. It would all of been over by now but i wanted to repay everything the best i could and although i knew it would be hard have worked tirelessly to keep on top of things. Really feeling down about this. Shell

Hi We recently moved and went yesterday to our old place to collect any post I was given 4 envelopes, 1 of which contained a letter from Tonbridge Wells Borough Council about a PCN from October 2015 in my husbands name for a vehicle he has never owned and he's never been to Tonbridge Wells, ever lol Anyway, the other 3 letters are from a company called Jacobs Enforcement Agents for the same car but the enforcement agent reference number is different on all 3 letters, the dates are different and the amounts they are chasing Anyone know if these are a ligit company? Should I write to the council or ring them?

Hi All I'm new to this site, another matter brought me here but thought I'd ask you knowledgeable bunch about this too (they are kind of related). In 2014 we stupidly had a vehicle from Credit4cars - we allowed voluntary repossession. The balance was removed and the account closed on my credit file but on my husbands it still shows as open with a balance??? Now, I appreciate that there would more than likely have been a shortfall in the auctioned amount and amount owed in finance but the amount on his credit file never changed and why would the balance go to £0 on mine and a closed account yet on my husbands still show as this? What do I need to do to get this updated on his credit file? I note they are in administration so not sure where to go really - contacted the credit reference agency and they said contact creditor. We've had a bad few years financially and we are finally getting sorted - trying to clean up credit files and this looks really bad. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give

wasn't quite sure where to place this post. My husband died quite tragically after I donated a kidney to him in September and I have only just found out he had an online savings account containing £2400. He left no will. My problem is that since he died I have suffered with PTSD and agoraphobia and can't leave the house to get to the bank as they requested. My sister-in-law has been sorting most things for me and NatWest allowed her to bring paperwork home, should we be able to do the same with Lloyds. he worry of this is distresssing me very much. Thanks in advance anyone who can help

I split with my ex almost 2 years ago. Since then ( prob irrelevant ) I have sorted out almost 100% of the financial mess he left us in. I have paid for and initiated all the solicitors fees and divorce . He was chased for an old debt last year and as usual ( because they had traced him to his mums house which he didn't like ) , he asked me for advice . As the debt was over 20 ! years old I advised him not to acknowledge it in anyway and no it wouldn't appear on his credit file . I then asked him if hed considered claiming for PPI and he said no. I asked him if he minded if I did as it was in joint names .He was fine about that . He is extremely lazy and would never do it himself . I put a random claim in and they've offered me an agreeable amount . It says the payment will only be made to the bank account of the complainant ( me ) but I did put both our names on it and believe it or not his name is still on our bank account because he wont take it off ( not because hes up to anything he is just lazy ). Theres a place for me and for him to sign. I was fully intending to give him half but he has paid nothing whatsoever towards this divorce and it will just about cover my solicitors fees. Following a long talk with a trusted friend she said- oh for goodness sake just use it to pay for the legal fees its not like your buying a new handbag !. So Im going to pay the cheque into our account and use it for that . I wont try and hide it and I will tell the solicitor so at the end of the day he gets his share when the settlement is made . I need the bit of savings I have ( and was going to have to use ) as I have a house and 4 children to support 100 % . If only I sign will then question it and not pay ? Otherwise ill have to own up earlier than I was going to by asking him for his signature .

My husband passed away suddenly due to complications after I donated a kidney to him on 8 September. He had been ill for many years and died without leaving a will. We do not own our own home and he has no assets. I have been chased by several companies including Capital One for debts he owed them. They are asking for the death certificate and details of executor. I'm not sure how or whether to reply as he left nothing and as I was his carer I have no income at the moment. Please help as this is a very distressing time. Thank you in advance

Hi all, I need some advice and was wondering if the seasoned members could help me. I was recently caught using my husbands annual season ticket by a ticket inspector and received a reference slip along with the prosecution address on the bottom. It was an annual season ticket via FCC. I usually have my own monthly season ticket, which expired the day before the offence but as I was late for work etc, I used my husbands. I accept that this is totally unacceptable. As a result, the inspector confiscated my husbands season ticket and mentioned that a letter will be sent out within the next 4 weeks. The inspector also said I could contact the prosecution office in writing beforehand explaining the 'intent'. Is this a good idea? or should I wait for the letter? the facts are that I used an invalid ticket and the ticket belonged to my husband. I did offer to pay any penalty fare but the inspector wouldn't allow me to. I'm more than willing to settle the case out-of-court but not sure on the best process to do this. So my questions are: 1. Would it be a good idea to write a letter before receiving an official letter from the prosecution office, to explain the mistake? Or should I wait for the official letter? 2. Would my husband get into trouble? 3. What is the process of getting the confiscated season ticket returned to my husband? 4. What would likely be the outcome? Thanks for reading and I'd appreciate any advice on this.

Evening all, A lady has explained to me that her estranged husband had broadband from AOL in his name, but hasn't bothered to pay the bill... AOL have now cut off the broadband, she lives in a rural area and has asked BT for broadband but they have refused, is it possible that there is some kind of adverse marker on the line?? many thanks in advance

Hi Guys, I'm hoping one of you wonderful people can give me some advice please My husband has been awarded contribution based JSA & today my employer has received a letter asking for my income details, stating that I have given them permission to contact them. This is my husband's claim, I am not claiming JSA as I work 16 hours per week & I have never signed anything giving them permission to contact my employer. Can they do this without my written permission & does my employer have to provide this information for a contribution based claim? Any advice gratefully received

Hi, new to all this so please bear with me. I was wondering if anyone could advise me if I am within my rights to claim late payment fee's on a car finance agreement my late husband had with Bk of Scotland? The original loan was his in name but I paid form from my bank account to start with, before we moved it to a joint account. I also dealt with them regarding the outstanding finance payments after my husband passed away. I will also be looking for exactly the same advise regarding a Taxi Finance loan he had with Blackhorse. I am the executor of his will, if this helps? Thanks

I'm hoping for some advice please. I used my husbands annual season ticket to go into london on southwest trains yesterday. I had a free weekend travel pass in my bag, but when the inspector asked for my ticket I thought it would be easier just to show my husbands ticket without his photocard. His season ticket was confiscated and I think im going to be prosecuted. to say Im panicing about this would be an understatement, crying as I type right now. I now know this was an INCREDIBLY stupid thing to do, I know that 2 tiny children, no sleep, lack of judgement,severe post natal depression may not be extenuation circumstances enough... I've read a lot of these threads and so Ive got an idea of the sort of thing I need to do now, but I have some extra questions 1) His season ticket is new and worth £2500, are we going to be able to get it back?? most threads suggest waiting for the letter, but every week that goes past we will be spending £100's of pounds on rail fares hes already paid for so Id like to speed up the process if I possibly can. 2) Some of the threads mention being careful about what you admit to in case it gets you a criminal conviction, whilst others seem to say confess immediately, does anyone have any advice on wording of contriteness? Ive already drafted a letter so is it worth posting here for comment? thank you in advance,

hi there, my husband went bankrupt in April 2007 and was discharged in April of 2008, he has only tried once get any sort of finance product since going bankrupt (this was last week for a phone contract, it was declined) and recently signed up to creditexpert to keep a track of things, on signing up he found a few things regarding his ex wife though they have not affected his rating and he has since removed her from his associations, his score is 970 out of 1000 , though this seems to make little difference to his ability to gain credit, tonight he signed up to noddle, and found on there his score was 1 out of 5 (so poor!) and again found his ex wife was still listed as a financial association (as was his mother going back to car finance joint agreement in 2003), He has emailed asking for his Ex wife to be removed, my question is why can the credit checking firms have such different views of his finances?? we have also found that he had some loans and finance that were paid off before going bankrupt with 31%apr and ppi that were looking into now, anyone dealt with renault finance before?? and / or beneficial finance? thank you