It's me again! Two months ago, we ordered a bath unit (the sink, cabinets and marble top) from Victorian Plumbing. They delivered on time but one of the units was defective. After the silly song and dance with a customer service clown, they sent a replacement unit, at a great delay. We had to send our plumber home after paying him. The replacement unit was also defective... At this point, we are about a month without a bathroom. Lucky the old toilet dish is giving us some graceful end-of-life... They now delivered another unit, which wasn't defective - but it's the wrong one! All this time, we are wasting days with unnecessary CS emails... They have finally pushed me over the edge. I've really tried to make amends with them. Even offered to receive a partial refund, which we even cut in half because we wanted to get it over with... However, they very strongly insist on spinning us through CS and aggravating us with "we do apologise but you can go away Sorry for any inconvenience" Everything via email and I keep those. I have finally decided to lean on on them and told them they must do right by us or we will sue them and claim for legal expenses, court fees, statutory interest, etc... Question: regarding legal expenses, can I hire my friend, who is NOT a solicitor (he is an employee for a bank) to help me with that and then claim for the money I paid to him? I could really use his help with handling this matter as I suffer from Autism and I sometimes go totally catatonic A solicitor in my town is 250+VAT p/h and my friend would charge 200 net p/h Also, as a bonus, we'll take comfort in knowing that the offending party didn't just spin us up for the whole process of suing them only to eventually pay us exactly what they owe us. Effectively meaning we are at a net loss because we got what we paid for, but after a significant delay and stress on us.

After a few weeks going through 'consultation' on a sham redundancy, after a lengthy negotiation and threatening to take them to a tribunal, I've finally got my employer to verbally agree a Compromise Agreement for an amount that I'm reasonably happy with, and I should be getting the draft written agreement soon. The figure that they've suggested for legal fees seems on the low side - £250 (in Central London) Does this seem a reasonable/normal sum? Lia

(Sorry, I posted this in the Legal Issues forum, before realising this was more appropriate). Hi, I really need some advice quick, if I'm to stave off a possession order - would appreciate anybody's input! Two years ago, due to the recession, my business collapsed, and I got into rent arrears. Eventually, things began to pick up slightly, and in addition I took a part-time job to guarantee that I could at least pay the rent. Although my income is now stable, it wasn't enough to clear the arrears, just pay the actual rent from month to month, with a little bit extra added towards the arrears. Six months ago, the landlord (a property management company) gave me notice and sought a possession order, but agreed to stay the proceedings if I agreed to a schedule to clear the arrears by six months. The deadline was 1st April 2011. The landlord set a figure they wanted me to pay back every month, which consisted of the rent for the month ongoing, plus an extra £300. I have kept to this agreement, but I find that, at the end of the six months, I am left owing exactly £2000. The landlord's solicitor has informed me that they are applying for the stay to be lifted if the full amount is not repaid by the 1st May. I can't afford to pay £2000 out in one go by the end of this month: I only bring home around £1800 a month, and that has to cover my ongoing rent as well as all other bills, food etc. I have none left over for savings. However, on re-reading through the original consent order and schedule, I see that £1740 of the £2000 I still owe is actually my landlord's legal costs (i.e. the bill of their solicitor). This means that only £260 of the amount owed is actually still rent arrears. I can pay that tomorrow, which would then bring all my rent completely up to date. It seems they (my landlord and/or their solicitor) have confused and compounded the issue by conflating the rent arrears and their legal costs. So my questions are: if (after tomorrow) I'm completely up to date with my rent, does the landlord still have legal grounds to seek possession? From my limited research, rent arrears is grounds for possession, but failure (note: failure, not refusal) to pay legal costs are not mentioned at all. Also, am I legally bound to pay my landlord's legal costs at all? As the matter never actually went to court, no order was made as to costs. It was just something they tagged onto the agreement. What I fear is that, even if I am not legally bound to pay their legal costs, if I do not do so, they will still seek possession. Do they have the right to do this? I've never had any other dispute with the landlord, and there really was no need to take the matter this far at all: they've been very heavy-handed about the whole thing. I never disputed I owed rent, and I've always done my utmost to clear the arrears, paying more on those occasions when I was able to. I have lived here for several years, and am settled here. I do not have the finances to afford a move, let alone the disruption this would cause to my personal life and work. The area where I live has become very expensive over the last few years, and I could not afford to stay in this area if I had to move out of my current home. I really would like to settle this and just live in peace with my landlord. For that reason, I am prepared to pay their legal costs if it means there is no further bad feeling between us, and they will not evict me, but I cannot do it before the 1st May. Where do I stand? After tomorrow, when I clear the actual rent arrears, can I ask for a separate agreement concerning the legal costs, on the understanding that it does not affect my tenancy? Many thanks for any advice!

Hey all Received letters from credit card companies about new charges on my accounts. Basicly they will add percentage of my debt to monthly payment to "help" me pay it off quicker. Is that legal? Can they do that? It`s not change in interest, they just add extra money to it. Can`t afford new charges as it raises my payments on 3 cards from £300 to about £450. HELP?!