I had been given a PCN by Park Watch / Defence Systems in June for wheels over the line in a parking bay - £50 going to £100 if appeal fails. I appealed to POPLA, it was rejected so £100 charge stood. I paid £100 in october but they referred my case to Debt Recovery plus because they said the payment was late. The charge is now £160!! Even though I've paid £100...don't understand. I've emailed them and spoken to them and they're just bullying me and threatenign court action. I can't sleep with worry but I've paid £100 after being threatened and now they want more!! Surely this is not right in the eyes of the law??? I've seen some other threads about court summons and wondered the outcomes.

Hi all, I'm a young lad, I'm trying to keep things as discrete as possible with my current situation. After leaving college, I went to work with someone that I classified as a friend (Who's a lot older than me) who needed someone in-house to build websites, apps, provide customer service and help in other areas in return for a £500 work retainer. In the beginning the work flow was small and I was happy to help as and when I can. There has never been a formal agreement signed from the outset. For the £500 retainer (Which he classes as good value for money) - He currently has strict rules over me which include: - Working 11 hours per day, 5 days a week. - Provide first hand web development, online application design, mobile apps, customer service (regarding website enquiries, telephone & email based), graphic design and proof reading. - Every day, I'm required to complete a document what says what tasks I've completed, what time i'm checking in and out of work etc. - I'm being asked to multi-task on various projects throughout the day, whether that is working on multiple website development, apps or other time lengthly work related tasks during the day. - More times than not, I'm being supervised based on the work that I'm completing throughout the day. If I try to get time out during the day to focus on other prioritises, I'm constantly being reminded that the £500 retainer will stop if I don't spend work from at least 9-5pm per day, sometimes 8am whilst 5pm. There is no form of any sort of employment or contractor agreement in place. It all began as a friendship which seems to have envolved in to a controlling situation where I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I just feel like this is normality as this way of working has been the same for almost over 2 years now. Without blowing my own trumpet, I would say I have great talents when it comes to IT. I just feel like I'm wasting away at the moment and being paid very little for the amount of work and commitment I'm putting in. All I seem to get back in return is negativity to the point I'm being told I'm not being disciplined enough with the work I'm following through on a daily basis. I have no issues when it comes to committing to work, but I just feel like since there is no employment agreement in place, I just feel like I'm being taken fore-granted. I wanted to see what other people's thoughts are, I'm not sure if I'm going mad or whether I'm being paid a reasonable amount for the commitment I'm putting in. Thanks!

Hi I'm new to this i was served a section 21 in Aug and the end date is today. Since having this notice my landlord entered my property and changed locks I found out an rung police to which they arrived when he was leaving for him to tell them he was told it was unsecured so he acted on it. This was not the case he was told to hand key over an did so . today is the day the section 21 is over and I've not been able to get a removal company to get my things and I'm starting to panic. I have been reading that if I don't leave he is to apply to court for possession order is this true? And if so how do I tell him I'm not leaving as he will be expecting the keys tonight. He's not a very nice person to deal with either . If anyone could help I'd be eternally great full

Firstly, hello and thank you for taking a moment to consider reading this and helping A close friend used this before, said the advice and support saved him through a very tough time financially, as a result he came out the other side and contributed back to the forum, I hope I'm able to get some advice too. I welcome an experienced user moving this thread to a correct forum, I'm afraid I'm unsure which one is best. I'm reaching out to people to seek advice on a very tricky financial decision we find ourselves stuck in, I'm listening to as much advice as I can get, I hope you'll take a moment to read through it, I've tried to be brief. Thanks in advance.* Myself and my wife have been together 15 years and have 2 children (age 4 and 2)* We lost a long term family business to liquidation in which we were both involved; as a result personal bankruptcy followed immediately afterwards. Myself and my wife are now 5 months into the 12 months of personal bankruptcy.* After the initial assessment into our statement of financial affairs we were signed up to a three year income payment agreement and now pay £80/mth (£40 each) This was originally worked out on two salaries of £30k each and payments are due to be paid for a further 2.5years.* * As can be expected we've found the process incredibly hard, however I find we've gone from a happy relationship of 15 years to near divorce and now have regular (albeit free) counselling sessions. I've contemplated suicide for a while and come fairly close three times. We're short of money every month and have to beg from parents to cover one off expenses that were outside the budget.* On a more positive note, she has just been offered to transfer to a new job at £90k earnings. This is comprised of £40k basic and projected bonuses for around £50k. She's fully investigated and is happy with with proof on how realistic the bonus scheme is. These bonus payouts will fluctuate significantly on a month to month basis.* The income from this one job is far higher than the income for two separate jobs.* The job would involve a huge life change with personal sacrifices on both sides. It would probably also mean me stopping work to look after children full time. She would have to travel more, work away four nights of the week, see the children far less amongst other considerations, however in the weigh up in this area it seems at first definitely worth doing.* It's also worth noting our childcare expenditure is also changing soon with one child moving from nursery to school saving £350/mth and in January the other child's nursery fees reducing by £150/mth as the 15hrs/week childcare allowance kicks in.* There are plenty of variables for us to consider whether this is the right thing to do, we're seeking advice from this forum for knowledgable third parties on the main issue: It is to do with declaring the potential income and expenditure changes.* What to declare, how much is handed over, how, when and for how long etc etc. *Basically this would help us know whether to make so many life changes and if it is all (at least financially) going to be worthwhile.* Any input and ideas in relation to this issue would be gratefully received. Please also reference what experience you may have had in dealing with anything similar.*

Good day, Am a UK citizen but have been living in Australia for 2 years now. Ive got a bit of debt in the UK with CC's and loans which I've been struggling to pay recently. Just spoken to PayPlan and they recommended I do a do if yourself dept plan. They're sending over a pack to help me complete the letters to each company but what am chasing is any email address to send the letters to as postage from here is extremely shocking! Companies am after are: Barclays Barclay Card RBS Tesco Co-Op Bank Any help is very much appreciated Thanks Steve

Hi! i have been away last couple of months from home and in that time i have recieved 3 letter from lowells of a debt that was apparently in 2005, the last letter havin been sent on 9th march. its has suddenly popped up from nowhere. I can confirm that in that time i have had no dealings, phone calls or letters regarding this debt and i am pretty sure it is statue barred. In this last letter they have stated that if i continue to ignore they might take legal actions in court. I am uncertain on how to go about the steps in responding to them. Currently i have not responded or taken action until i am absolutely certain on what to do or how to send them a letter. Could anyone advise me please?

Hi guys, I really need some advice at the moment as I'm struggling quite a bit here. Firstly, my boiler broke earlier this month, and I contacted my landlord who sent out a Corgi Registered engineer to check it. The engineer told him that the heating element had blown and there was no way it'd be able to be fixed and needed replacing. I'm currently living with my partner and children, and because we're recieving Child Tax Credit he told me to contact Warm Front who would provide a boiler grant to get us a new boiler because he doesn't want to pay £1500 to get a new one. Warm Front sent out too people who did a survey on the 12th August. They asked for my Child Tax Credit award letter, but at the time we couldn't find it. They took other forms of proof and said if there was a problem, I'd be contacted. I'd still heard nothing on the 20th, so I phoned Warm Front and they said the info I'd given them wasn't good enough and they want to see my original CTC award. I told them I still couldn't find it. I was told "Well you better just keep looking for it then won't you". After I got off the phone to them, I contacted HMRC and they agreed to send me a CTC Review 2013/14 form. In the meantime, I'd found a Provisional Child Tax Credit award from 2012/2013. I contacted them about it asking if it'd be acceptable, and the woman I spoke to said yeah that should be fine, so I drove down to Warm Front and handed it in. After she'd photocopied the form, she said she'd arrange an install date and all would be fine. Today I contacted them for an update and was told again that it's not good enough and they want the original form. I told them I can't find the form, but HMRC are sending me a review letter and i'll provide it as soon as I can. They proceeded to tell me that it wouldn't be good enough and unless I provide the original letter, they won't even acknowledge my claim. I contacted my landlord and he just told me to keep at them and that he didn't want to pay the money to get a new one when I could get it for free. He then told me to contact the engineer that came to look at my broken boiler (who I assume my landlord knows) and see if he could have a word with Warm Front to get it pushed through. Problem is, I've had no hot water for nearly a month now and I have children in the house. I'm getting a bit fed up and don't feel that my landlord should be putting me through all this just so he can save a few quid for his own personal needs. I'm having to take my children round to my mums house to bath/wash them which is more than an inconvenience, and neither my landlord or Warm Front seem to be bothered in the slightest. What exactly can I do here? I'm getting pretty stressed out and depressed over the whole thing. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the long post. Any help would be very much appreciated. Paul

My friend got a tv from brighthouse aprox 2 years ago there are still 50 weeks left to run on the agreement, on the 27th of march the tv was hit by lightning she contacted the store and they came for the tv on the 28th march they brought a replacement tv for her of different specs and a smaller screen, the store insisted she continued to pay the origional price of the higher spec tv which she did for about 5 weeks. After numerous calls to the store a replacement tv was found and delivered to her house this tv was unfit for purpose as it would not sit on the stand correctly and kept tipping forward. it has now been 53 days since the incident and she is no further forward, she has stopped making payments due to the fact the tv she now has is not the same spec as the origional tv, the store keeps fobbing her off and seem unwilling to help but are badgering her for payment. What are her rights? has a reasonable amount of time passed and is she now entitled to a refund? she has over the last 2 years paid aprox £750 for this tv and pays the relevant insurances to the store.

I have encountered issues with my employer for the last 2 years, initially after maternity leave. sly remarks regarding absence etc, since returning have had sickness episodes which I have been hospitalised for mainly same issue that I was due an operation for. Several months ago I had an accident in the workplace and had to take time off due to an injury obtained, I was formally reprimanded for this as I hit a trigger, it was escalated to a disciplinary but this was stopped as I involved HR who advised it does not escalate as an injury at work. Since then I have felt intimidated and bullied by my managers to the point of wanting to leave my job, I enjoy what I do and have been in post 16 years. Last week I was planed to have an operation regarding my reoccurring illness, I was initially told NO to leave for the op by line manager, I again took it to H.R who agreed the day before the op I could have time off but had to sign to state if my sickness was longer than a set period I would be disciplined, bearing in mind I cant foresee my recovery. Line manger disagreed and through her contacts my operation was cancelled last minute due to a senior nurse's input. I have been told formally its bed shortages but also informally by consultant it was done by the management. I cant go on like this and there are many other instances of victimisation and bullying. I have made complaints which have not been actioned so am going to submit a formal grievance. My accident at work was there fault they have made trust wide alterations reflecting the cause of my injury, but have never been apologised to and have minor permanent damage due to it, they have shown no compassion. I am employed obviously by the nhs as any other employer would not be able to cancel my op, sadly its the same trust operating that Im employed in. Advice is needed urgently as this needs to be addressed, also they have no notes of any formal meetings and in my last meeting regarding a sickness for the reason I was due to have operation I was told in so many words " you have not long had a baby maybe you should reconsider your employment" Any advice would be appreciated, many thanks

The other day , I stupidly tried to shoplift from a store. I was caught, and taken into a back room, surrendered the products, apologised profusely etc. The police were called, but took too long to arrive, so the security guard said they were calling them off and that I could leave. He said I was banned from store, and would receive a fine from them. A few questions: -Does them calling off the police mean that there is now no police action? -How long will it take for the letter with the fine to come through (Waiting is horrible) -How much could I be looking at being charged? (If this is even possible to predict?)

Hello, I am a new forum user needing help with house repossession please, thank you

Hi, all. I'm new here and today I have decided to take the bull by the horns and ask for the help that I need. Both myself and my husband have Vanquis credit cards. While I am managing mine, just, my husbands is ridiculous. The credit limit on the card is £2000 but we missed a payment, as we could not afford to pay and now the balance is £2750 and going up by £125.00 per month. My husband is a builder and at present only works a few days a month, probably a week max. I work part time, and this is the only debt that we are not managing to pay. Now Vanquis has passed the debt to Impact, and they are harassing us with texts and phone calls all day every day. We have made them an offer of £50 a month, but they are not willing to accept this, nor are they willing to stop the interest. Now I think it's pointless to pay the £50 a month when they are adding the £125 monthly also. I really don't know what to do anymore, it's really getting me down. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance, bec

Hi everyone, Fantastic forum with lots of great advice. I have been researching things relevant to my situation but I think the best thing would be to post my queries and hope that some of you can help me clear things up. I am beside myself with worry, and I'm constantly feeling down and really don't see how I can get a proper life back. I fell into arrears with a vanquis credit card when I fell into money troubles through my business not doing very well for a few months. I did contact vanquis to explain my situation and request that they froze any charges / interest etc... .those requests were ignored and the letters demanding payment continued along with the constant phone calls.. .the phone calls really get to me, so much so I have now taken to leaving my phone on silent. I am in no way trying to escape my debt, I just wanted them to understand my situation and agree to some "fair" repayment plan. I received a notice of default from vanquis dated 16/7/13, then a confirmed resident letter from impact a few weeks later, and in the last couple of days a letter from resolvecall stating they are acting on behalf of vanquis and they have been instructed to collect any outstanding balance... .the letter also states that if I fail to contact vanquis within 3 days then a doorstep visit will be made. I am unsure if I have jumped the gun slightly but I decided to send each of these companies a CCA request letter which also included a section regarding doorstep visits and how I wasn't granting permission. I received a response from resolvecall with them stating that they were confirming my CCA request along with the £1.00 postal order I sent. ..but if I wanted a copy of the agreement then I should contact vanquis directly, and in the meantime they will continue with their actions as per vanquis's instructions. The p.o was returned also. Where do I go from here, I feel like they have dismissed my CCA request. I'm not very good at dealing with people at the best of times due to lack of confidence in subjects I in all honesty don't know much about, but I am feeling totally intimidated and scared of what the future holds. I would really appreciate any advice anyone can offer....letters to send, dates and timelines etc. Thanks.

Hi I'm new to the site, so saying hi> I need some advice on Sanctions to my JSA, I'm a single parent of a 13 yr old and missed an appointment at Ingeus due to my kid being off sick, I had no phone credit and couldn't call my advisor but he was back at School the next day and I presented myself at Ingeus at 9am that morning to explain what had happened. I now receive a letter telling me my benefit may be sanctioned unless I have a good excuse for not attending my appointment and I'm pretty sure they won't accept my reason. Does this mean I'm going to lose my housing benefit and CTB too? I'm also really worried as I won't be able to send my kid to school either as I don't get help with his travel expenses as we were forced to move to an area out with his school catchment area last year. Any advice or information would be appreciated right now. Thanks

Hi i am new to the consumer action group, i am looking for some advice/information on a specific company called Credit Resource solutions. i have revied a number of texts from these people asking me to contact them, when i do contact them i never get any answer sounds like a fax machine?? i have a refrence number for them and also a link to some payments website. i am just wanting some advice on how to deal with these people? i have never recieved a letter from these people. thanks in advance, sorry if i have posted this in the wrong section.

Urgent advice required on this one please, as part of a local rejuvenation scheme run by the local council our landlord has signed up to have the boiler replaced at our property as well as having the outer walls insulated. I don’t know the exact details as everything is discussed between the landlord and council but for the past four months we’ve had scaffolding and builders outside the house working on the walls and it has all been so noisy and messy with drink cans and food wrappers in addition to the usual mess. Today (on the rare occasion I have time off work due to snow) one of the builders tells me that they’ll need to come inside the house to work on the boiler for at least four days from Monday. I told him that four days seemed a bit excessive and I can not guarantee that I’ll be able to get that much leave from work at such short notice but his attitude was tough luck and that they’ll come in whether I like it or not. So if neither my wife or I are able to get time off work, and I certainly don’t like the idea of just handing over the keys (landlord does not have any himself) to a group of builders, where do I stand? As the current boiler is working fine I don’t consider this to be essential but after all the time we’ve had off over Christmas and New Year I wish they could have done it then.

Hi I've been visited by an enforcement bailiff for overdue council tax and have spoken with him over the phone, I have not let him in my house. I have offered payment in installments but can't afford to pay very much. He has told me the full amount of £2000 needs to be paid by Jan 7th as this is when this years tax ends. He has noted my car details on a notice of seizer. I have also emailed the council today direct with my offer. Can anyone tell me where I stand and what I can do, I just want to pay this off but can't do it all in one go. The bailiff told me he doubted my offer would be accepted but would find out and call me back, that was at 4pm today. These people have hounded me for days and now they don't ring back, I'm confused. Surely I can make payment in installments???

Hi i have just recently started to sort out my debt, not much under £2000, i went onto experian to see my credit report and found an account from Sigma red for £826 dated back to 2009. I have no idea who this is and what this is for, all it says is its for a bank but i only have 1 bank account with Bank of scotland and that is already on there. The details on the Sigma red account have my name,dob and old address but i have no idea what this is?? I have read a few forums on here regarding Sigma and they don't seem like a great company ,i have also emailed experian to say i don't know what this is ,what should i do next?? Any help would be great, thanks

Hi this is my first time on the forum and I need help and don't know where else to turn. I am having trouble with Marston Group Bailiffs. In short I have just received a letter from my old address which was sent on 4th May this year saying I owed £220 which was an outstanding court fine of 135 plus 85 charges from marston. I went to their website to pay the £220 on friday night and was told I couldn't pay it. I rang Marstons yesterday morning to pay by debit card and spoke to a guy who informed the debt has now risen to 400 plus due to it being in the hands of the bailiff. I was told the extra money had been added because they have had to make a visit. Now as far as I am aware no bailiffs have been to my current house or my old address so how can they make the extra charge. I am quite prepared to pay the 220 but can't afford the extra 215 for attending. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am at my wits end with it now. thanks in advance

Ok. I am in the IB to ESA reassessment phase. I am currently awaiting a medical appointment which is delayed as I want it recorded. However I have been told I need to send in regular sicknotes although I have not had any requests in writing and I am not on assessment rate ESA. Is this actual policy? I am sending the sicknotes but its a pain to do and only made easier so far by a local DWP manager handing it all for me. However she now is telling me to deal withe BDC direct which will make things harder as they wont send out envelopes etc.