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Found 11 results

  1. Hi there, I am self employed and have worked successfully with TaxAid to get rid of any fines, so I know exactly what I need to pay. The debt is about £9,000. How can I best negotiate with the HMRC Taskforce without taking the bankruptcy route? I have heard of asking for the debt to go into remission, which basically pauses it for a length of time. I can afford to pay about half of the £9k up front. But I don't receive a monthly wage, it comes in unpredictable chunks throughout the year. Does anyone have any advice about how I can propose a repayment schedule? (I will also try to get advice from Business Debtline. I do have other debt that I am paying £1.25 per month for but I am looking to write CCA letters to those debt collection agencies.) Many thanks for reading
  2. Has anyone dealt with debt collectors and had success in reducing the interest / charges removed to pay for the actual debt. If you have I could really do with some help as have some bad old debts that just keep resurfacing and now need to face up to them and arrange to settle to become debt free. Any help would be really appreciated.
  3. We've been in the property 12 months, and 10 months in the landlord has served us with a section 21. So we have two months to leave. An estate agent has been in touch regarding viewings and we have been as accommodating as we can. We have found another place to rent and have asked if the landlord is willing to end the tenancy early, and the answer was no. We can leave early but still need to pay until the end of the 12 months. The new landlord doesn't want to wait that long and if we cant move in earlier he will have to let it to someone else. So, in an attempt to persuade the current landlord I have pointed out that we have been very flexible with the viewings, but have no reason to do this. If he isn't willing to negotiate the leave date, we have no reason to be as flexible as we are, even to the point of not allowing viewings at all. Am I within my rights here?
  4. Hi, Can someone please help me, My local council (Sefton) has passed my council tax arrears over to the bailiffs there are a few years worth as I got myself in a pickle as I work on a zero hour contract, totals around 4k they are refusing to speak to me and negotiate until I make a payment they want there fees £567 before negotiating, they just keep refusing to speak to me. I phoned the council who said they should be negotiating with me but there is nothing they can do and they wont recall it, I just dont know what to do now. Thanks
  5. Last Wednesday, completely out of the blue I was called to a meeting at my HO and told that due to restructuring my job is at risk, the company produced a settlement offer and has given me a week to think about it (unlike 10 days as in ACAS guidelines) They refuse to announce the nature of the restructuring, just that I don't fit within it and if I decline the offer then I have been told in no uncertain terms that I will be made redundant and end up with less money than they are offering. Although I don't know (and probably never will) I am almost certain based on noises from the past few months that the restructuring involves paying off half the people that do my job, and then replacing the job of the remaining people with a new one with a bigger remit to cover the loss of those of us that are gone, and they are doing this entirely arbitrarily without any due process or allowing me to reapply for the new job. Given that there are already a small number of people doing this bigger remit job, and they have always said I would be suitable to do this if the opportunity gave up, I believe I am being constructively dismissed, and they are relying on the fact that I won't be able to claim that if I accept the offer. A few hours after the meeting I sent an email to the people that were in the meeting (my line manager and her line manager) asking firstly for an extension of time to consider the offer, secondly for a fuller explanation as to what is going on and why I won't fit into the restructure, and thirdly asking if they will revise the sum offered. I did stress that I had not made any decisions and nothing in the email was intended to constitute a decision or limit my options. That evening I got an off the record phone call from my line manager stating that I shouldn't have done that, I should have just taken the money and because I am seen to be arguing with them they might now just withdraw the offer and make me redundant. Can they do that? I thought if the offer is open then it remains open until the window closes or I accept/decline it. Negotiation and asking for an explanation is surely not declining it? I also don't think they would be that stupid, because if I stay I will get to see what they are doing and retain all my employment rights including the right to take them to a tribunal. I ask because I have now been offered another (better) job and if they want me gone I'm just happy to take the money at this point!
  6. Hello, My mum's car was written off, not her fault, and the money offered by the IC was far below par for the car: great condition inside and out, flawless body and paint, under 70K miles although 14yo, but in perfect working order. She has already paid in the cheque but not spent the money, and I was suggesting after only finding out that this was not a fixed offer, that you can negotiate the amount on the value of a car of the same. What I would like to know is that can the cheque be made out back to them with a lettter of complaint about the amount and if they do not sort it within 8 weeks it can be passed to the FOS? Or is it too late as she has already paid it in. Is there any way to get the ball back in their court? Thanks
  7. Hello all. I have trawled through the threads and cant find anything relating to my issue, but please accept my apologies if it has been posted already. I will try to keep it brief as possible, but really hoping someone can advise where to go to from here. I purchased a small cottage from my boyfriend back in 2008, in West Lothian, with the intention of fixing up and letting out. This was to be a project I had been wanting to try for some time. Following some renovation works, I finally was able to let out and my first tenant, Miss A, moved in in Aug 2008. She eventually moved away to London in April 2010. After a quick refresh, my second tenant, Miss B, took her tenancy in May 2010, until Dec 2010. This was the severe winter we had in Scotland, and unfortunately a pipe burst in the attic space. My tenant had been away staying with friends for Christmas, and when she came back the house was completely flooded, from attic to basement. The ceiling had come down along with some internal plaster walls. As I was doing most of the repair work myself (along with my boyfriend) it was likely to take several months to make good again. The house was ready by Sept 2011, and a new tenant was found, Mr C. He moved in, but due to personal circumstances, moved out again in Nov2011. He effectively left the house uninhabitable - like something out of "life of grime" on the television. I advised the council of this, but they declined to send anyone out to inspect. After some considerable renovation work (again) the house was left uninhabited for a period, partly due to personal circumstance which was using a fair bit of my time. Eventually however, another tenant Mr D, moved into the property, in June 2013. He stayed for about a year, moving out in Feb this year. Again, after a refresh, my current tenant moved in this summer and remains in situ. Here are the issues; West Lothian Council are demanding payment for unpaid council tax via Alex Adamson (sheriff officers), which, from what I can ascertain, are for four separate periods. £3948.88 from 2010 £213.99 from 2010 £1301.78 from 2009 £932.88 from 2008 all now have summary warrants granted against them. To further complicate matters, a letter has been sent to my boyfriend, at my current address, demanding payment of unpaid council tax of £106.48 - for the period 2013/14, even though the property is nothing to do with him whatsoever since 2008! Speaking to Adamsons is a waste of time, they simply refer everything back to the council at best, claiming they don't have authority to act. I have spoken to the council on several occasions, asking for a breakdown of the charges. To date I am still waiting. I have also advised them that during the periods where they are claiming council tax is owed, had tenants in place and it should have been the tenant paying, not me. They asked me to supply proof that I had tenants, which I did by way of receipts for rent, (my tenants have all preferred to pay cash) and tenancy agreements. Some time later they came back saying they could not accept any of the items as proof for the following reasons - the tenancy agreement was witnessed by someone known to me (??), and because the receipts are hand written, this could be done by anyone at anytime!! I also queried that they must have records of our tenants paying their own council tax, which was eventually confirmed in some cases. it would appear are claiming council tax from me from our first tenant, who they say didn't pay, and for a couple of periods inbetween when the house was empty. I should note that the council did inspect the property after the flood (2010) and agreed the house was uninhabitable and therefore tax exempt. They even advised that they would allow up to a year. (They deny this inspection even took place now - asking me to give them the name of their inspector which I cant remember) Following the mess/damage left by Mr C, the house was again uninhabitable. I asked the council to inspect to confirm this, but they declined - simply asking me to advise when the house was ready! Despite keeping the council aware throughout my entire ownership of the property when it was empty, and despite them advising the property has on occasion been uninhabitable, I have never questioned the fact the during these periods Council Tax may be payable by myself. By my calculations this would total somewhere in the region of £1200. I have advised the council on countless occasions that if this is the case, please let me know the exact amount and it would be paid in full immediately. They have yet to respond to this. I don't hear from them for months - then another letter from Adamsons drops on the mat. I even tried to get a lawyer, but because I am disputing the amount owed, they said they cant help Im really at my wits end now - the latest letter from Adamsons now threatening to arrest my bank accounts. As I have said all along, I am not disputing some monies may be owed by myself - and Im happy to pay that if the give me an accurate figure. However I don't think its fair for me to pay outstanding from tenants who didn't pay. I also found it very insulting that my proof was unacceptable. It was only because I keep records for accounting purposes that I had any proof in the first instance, not because I thought I would need it years later to dispute council tax bills that aren't even mine? Please help!! Laura
  8. Hi all I was just hoping for some help with this. I bought a property for £235k 2 years ago. There is a ground rent accumulator within the lease that starts at £250 per year and doubles every 10 years until the 50th anniversary, so in other words in 50 years the ground rent will be £8k per year. The lease is 125 years, so 123 years to go at present. Obviously I would like to remove this ridiculous clause. I have requested a valuation from the freeholder to extend my lease by 90 years and thereby reduce the ground rent to a peppercorn. They have quoted £22,950 + £845 legal costs + £575 valuation and processing fee, so £24,370 in total. I was hoping to get some advice in terms of - is this an accurate figure? And if not, what can I do - should I write them back a letter and try and agree a lower fee? If so, what kind of fee should I be asking for? I would ideally prefer to avoid the legal route as I figure that will just create more costs, but I guess I kind of want to know how inflated this figure is, as I'm sure they're trying to push their luck. They also offered the following deal: A premium of £15,950.00 (Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty Pounds) Exclusive of our legal costs of £845.00 (+ VAT if applicable) Exclusive of valuation and processing fees of £575.00 A new ground rent of £250.00 per annum to increase every 20 years by the higher of the increase in the Retail Price Index or twice the current ground rent as at the month immediately preceding each rent review period This still ends up being £8k per year after 120 years, but due to inflation this is obviously less onerous than the current accumulator. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated, particularly whether I should negotiate down on the original offer, or take up the second offer. I am particularly interested in whether the 2nd offer would affect future resale value? Many thanks
  9. Hi, I currently pay £775 a month in rent to my landlord, they are a property company and own lots of houses. My tenancy is due to end the 24th January. I completely forgot and first call I get about it is today from one of the admin girls at my landlords office. She says to me they need to increase the rent by 4% to £806 a month. This seems like a massive increase to me, I understand and will accept an inflationary increase but I just want to understand my rights as a tenant and wether I just ave to grin and bear it or if I can negotiate. I've had a look on right move and in my area 2 bed properties similar to mine are going for £795 a month. I'd be happy to pay this. How can I negotiate this with the landlord? I've returfed the lawn as well out of my own pocket, surely this could be taken into account? Also I think I read somewhere they have to give me a months notice in writing before increasing the rent, this hasn't happened as they want to get me to sign paperwork this wednesday? Many thanks in advance Blinky
  10. I have an RBS credit card account, but no valid card. I fell behind with payments some two years ago following redundancy, and an inability to get a new job. My savings are exhausted. RBS say 'if you are having financial difficulties, call us' but all I got was cold people on the other end, saying 'we don't negotiate on the interest'. The debt is not astronomical - it is about £3,800, and I was paying through my bank on DD. I can no longer afford to do this. Does anyone have any idea why RBS simply will not work with customers who are in trouble? The worst thing? They removed my ability to pay on-line, and I was seeing some real progress there. It's like because they have been helped out, they don't care about anyone else. Has anyone has successful dealing with RBS, and found them helpful and friendly (unlike my experience)?
  11. Hello everyone I hope someone can give me some advice on how to resolve a dispute we are having with our landlord and estate agent. Mid-July my girlfriend and I signed an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement to rent a one bedroom flat with sole use of an external store room/study (outside flat but still in building) and sole use of a terrace. Since then everything has started to go wrong. The landlord came in the day after we signed the tenancy and removed the keys for the store room/study, post box and terrace. We returned to the property a few days later and found these keys missing so asked the estate agent to enquire as to where they had got to. The estate agent acquired the terrace keys and brought them round to the flat about a week later. About a week after this the estate agent came round again to remove some furniture that had been left in the flat, even though we let it unfurnished, so we asked about the remaining keys. They became very shirty and said that they were not even managing the property and they were doing us a favour in removing the furniture. Once we managed to calm them down they said that the landlord had posted the post box key to us! This was obviously a problem and we asked about the store room key, to which they did not give us an answer. This is a problem because the landlord has stated that she does not want to let us use the store room, even though it was advertised for our sole use and the estate agent has confirmed this in writing. Eventually the landlord conceded that we can share it with her but this is not what we agreed and now she is storing her belongings in there and will only let us have a key if we agree to her terms and go and get a copy cut (at our expense) from another estate agent she is trying to sell the property with. We rented the property under the assumption that we would have sole use of the store room as there is inadequate storage space within the flat. Additionally neither the estate agent nor the landlord is accepting responsibility for managing the property and we have contacted them stating that we no longer wish to live there and have tried to negotiate terminating the contract. They have flat out refused to negotiate and now want to take us to court. So: Do we have grounds to terminate contract due to misrepresentation and insufficient keys being provided? Are we obliged to get our own keys cut at our expense? Can the estate agent take us to court when the rent is paid directly to the landlord's bank account? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated whether it is in our favour or not. Thanks in advance
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