Hello all, To cut a long story short back in 2011 I entered a competition that ended up being false and a way of the organisers to take my details and hack into my account - set up loans etc in my name It has taken until last week to get anywhere and despite much stress and banging my head against a brick wall I have finally done this The bank concerned initially refused my claim that it had happened as they said that my other half had access to the online banking so could not rule out it was her. I had money leave the account from both the hackers themselves and from payments for payday loans and other loans that I had not set up It has come to a head as now after reporting to Action Fraud in December they have traced it to a known fraud that they are aware of and are currently in the process of doing charter applications in relation to this. As a result of this the bank has agreed to returning the money taken from the account - about £30,000 and we are in discussions regarding compensation Now here is where the issue is, I have a number of people that I now owe money to - some because I was unable to pay them due to this happening - some additional since then ( money off people I know ) and a third which is the ones that have been set up by the people who hacked it Now this was all going fine and I have put in a request for my credit file to see if I have got anymore that I am unaware of that have come on since - I am hoping not The issue I am having is that I am not able to pay off the debts that are legitimate to me but two of the payday loan companies are currently refusing to play ball and accept I did not set it up - I have asked for it to be wiped and any payments made refunded. One of the companies has started court proceedings for which I have the 28 days to argue it. So my questions are these 1- Do I pay off the debts I have currently or do I wait until the Payday loan companies have stopped any action? I do not want to pay everyone off only to find I then get a big court award that I cannot pay 2- Am I able to rectify my credit file now and state on there that this was not through fault of myself and how do I go about doing this 3- Is there any letters I should be writing to the creditors to allow me the time to sort through everything so I can then start paying people/ compaines off 4- Am I able to claim back any charges I have had from legitimate debts that I have been unable to pay due to what happened Many thanks very much appreciated Tom

This is also in our Media holiday and travel forum. From the BBC. Jeremy Clarkson will have to take a break from work for "quite some time" after contracting pneumonia, the TV presenter has said in a statement. The Grand Tour presenter was admitted to hospital on Friday after falling ill while on a family holiday in Majorca. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40846356

I bought some made to measure window blinds from an online retailer. They make it clear they cannot be returned if the purchaser gives the wrong measurements, so I followed their measuring guide to the letter. When they arrived the blinds themselves fit perfectly, but the fixings that hold the blind do not fit the recess I have. These fixings or their size were not mentioned in the measuring guide or anywhere else on the site. I have asked for a refund but they say they can't be returned as the blinds are made to measure. I said I wasn't to know the fixings would be bigger and not fit, and they said I should have expected they be bigger in order to hold the blind. They have offered a discount on an alternative blind which would fit better, but no refund on the initial purchase. They also pointed out I'd ordered a similar blind before and so should have known about the fixings, but I didn't fit that blind myself, and the window it was for wasn't so shallow, so such an issue never arose and I've never even given it a thought. Obviously I wouldn't have bought blinds I know couldn't fit - what would be the point? Where do I stand, in terms of returns? Thanks.

Hi. In brief... I drove a car belonging to my wife and parked it in the free parking for customers car park at Vastern Ct in Reading. I left the site for literally 2 minutes then came back and bought a load of stuff at The Range, looked at some wines in Majestic (but didnt buy) and then bought some stuff in Aldi. When I got back, found ticket, was pretty cross, when I got home looked at the forums (which at the time were of the ignore until the NKD came through opinion). When the NKD did come through, we replied and told them that I was the driver at the time and not my wife. She then got a letter back from them saying her appeal had failed... and then came a slew of letters upping the ante at each stage, but all addressed to my wife. At the time, the relationship was somewhat rocky, so comms weren't great anyway. So I googled again ad came up with Parking Prankster who recommended an outfit called [removed] who for £16 would fight your case, or pay the fine guaranteed. I thought great! Paid up, thinking all dealt with, until many months later discovered that the company had collected the money, shut its doors and run... thanks! I had been done over And other expletives. the letters still came, the charge was now £160, and started coming from DRP now. Then there was a lull. After the big High Court case, and appeal, the letters started coming again, citing the High court appeals etc, which made my wife nervous. she wrote to DRP denying their claim ,and suggested they refer back to the first and only correspondence in the matter. She did not mention my name in that letter. Today, I received, in my name, a letter from DRP, demanding the £160. This has been going on for over a year - will have to dig the dates out - but it must be at least 14 / 15 months, and this is the first time they have written to the right person. Do I have any defence re time limits - given that they had my details all along? Any suggestions as to what route I should take? Many thanks

Hi. I wrote to all of my creditors in Jan of 2009 to inform them of my inability to pay my debts, and making offers of reduced payments. All of them to be fair were (or seemed to be) understanding and I've worked hard at managing the money I have, repaying the debts as much as I can and generally being more financially responsible. A creditor phoned me recently for a review and the woman happened to mention the debt (with them) was due to be removed from the reference agencies this month. I decided to check my CRA file (Equifax) and was pleased to find the other debts as settled but both my Lloyds loan and CC have over a year left. The reason for this is they were marked as AP (Arrangement to Pay) for 18 months before a DN was issued. I'm annoyed that despite keeping good order for over 6 years I'm still no better off. If I'd not paid a penny the debt would have been marked as finished by now, but instead, by doing the right thing I'm still being penalised. My question is, is there a way to get LLoyds to mark the DN earlier. I don't want anything on credit but it would be nice to know that things are moving forward. I'm still paying my debts but getting nowhere. Thanks, ISUCWROWFTTS

On 6th January 2012 I accidentally sent a £1400 payment to my credit card account instead of paying someone on my list of payments from my current account, the credit card one was underneath the person I wanted to pay. When I realised my mistake I called the bank (all accounts with the same bank) They said they would send the payment back to my current account, however ever since then I have been hit with balance transfer interest, and the BT balance has been constantly growing ever since, as has the interest on the "transfer balance" Something else which doesn't make sense is the BT interest is stated as 1.873% yet even with my card balance consistently dropping every month sometimes the interest has been higher than the previous month, I rejected a proposed interest rate rise and was offered the chance to close the account pay the balance off at the previous rate which I accepted, so my interest rate should never change now, I don't see how the interest can change so much on a solid rate, it doesn't appear to follow my balance. With the balance transfer interest the rate has never changed from 1.873 however there seems to be no sense to the amounts compared to the balance, sometimes its higher than previous month and sometimes lower The "balance transfer" has risen every single month the amount was originally £1400 and now the transfer balance is £2017.22 with over £550 already paid in balance transfer interest and the transfer outstanding balance has risen to £2017.22 that's over £1000 more than the amount that they put back to my account. I was never at any point told that this would happen, I was told that they would transfer the amount I had occidentally sent to my card back to my current account, both accounts are with Santy. Can someone please help as I cant get my head around this, is does not make any sense.

I have used Brighthouse for a few years with no issues I'm aware of the fact that its a rip off but a bad divorce ruined my credit. Now i'm a workings single mum studying for a BA (hons) and everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago when i changed jobs and there was a gap between me getting paid. I called brighthouse explained that i wouldn't get paid until the following week and that was fine however when I was supposed to pay on Thursday of this week I got a nasty bug and was in bed genuinely sick I didn't even think about brighthouse then this morning there was banging at the door my 8yr old daughter shouted me and still sick and in my PJs I answered the door. A brighthouse employee was stood there and demanded to come in and take my items ( these are 2 non frivolous items I will finish paying off in the next few months) I told him no way was he coming in the house and that I apologise I am sick and I will pay monday when I get to the bank. He started screaming in my face that I had broken the agreement and I had committed fraud and theft and he was going to call the police.. .my daughter was crying and he kept shouting that it was my fault. .so I told him to go call the police and closed the door with him shouting he was calling head office and that I was a thief. As soon as I closed the door I called their head office and made a complaint, the store called me and had the nerve to say that oh he didn't mean what he said.. .to which I said if he turns up again I'm calling the police. Then the general manager called me to say she is investigating the incident internally and she will get the store manager to call me. I'm really really shaken up my daughter is distraught because she thinks the police are coming to take me away. I want to make sure the manager understands I'm serious in my stance that i will not be bullied or be treated like this over what is essentially 2 missed payments I have every intention of paying. I'm just really in need of some advice

Here are a few things that have helped me in my battle with Nicotine. There is a lot of help out there from the NHS etc, but I feel everyone who wants to stop should read Allan Carr's very good book 'The easy way to stop smoking'. To start with here is a run down of what happens to your body after you stop smoking, it's a sort of check list as time goes by and helps keep you on track :- I found it helpful to print it out and leave copies where I could easily see them, by the computer, fridge etc...... Within 20 minutes - Blood pressure and pulse rate start to return to normal Within 8 Hours - Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in blood reduce by half. Oxygen levels return to normal. Within 24 Hours - Carbon monoxide will be eliminated from the body. Lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris. You won't believe the gunge that comes up at first as your body begins to re-grow cilia, the tiny hairs that line your airways and help push up impurities from your lungs - your smoking destroyed these. Within 48 Hours - There is no nicotine left in the body. Ability to taste and smell is greatly improved Within 72 Hours - Breathing becomes easier. Bronchial tubes begin to relax and energy levels increase Within 2-12 weeks - Circulation rapidly improves Within 3-9 months - Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung functions are increased by up to 10%. Personally, my smokers cough actually disappeared after 4-5 days! Within 5 years - Risk of heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker Within 10 years - Risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked