Hi, I had an account with Natwest, which was shut down about 6 years ago. At the time, I had my Overdraft of £1800 (all owed), a loan for £1000 (£897 remaining), and one for £5000 (£3976 remaining). Due to my financial issues due to illness, I'd had to live off what little credit I had, and after a few months of being unable to keep above the maximum 1800 Overdraft (frequently going to £2000 when bills hit) my account was closed Following this, I was taken to court and something (I forget the technical term now, sorry) was put on my house so that when sold, my outstanding debt to Natwest would be paid out of any monies I received. We have since sold the house to a housing agency (again, lost it due to ill health and financial issues) and NAtwest received nothing because the mortgage was not fully paid off. Following this, Natwest sent debt collectors. MY wife was had by Shoosmiths (for similar level of debt) I think mine were Cabot financial (They currently take £2 a month from me, but I'm sure they said it was passed on however I've received no new paperwork) the debt is now with a debt collector. This morning I got a letter from RBS, regarding my Natwest loan, to tell me that I'm due over £800 in refunds Which will be paid into my account if it is still active, otherwise I will receive a cheque. MY account was closed, I do still get statements every 6 months about what is still outstanding. Will my refund get paid to these account, despite being closed, or will I get it? As if I receive it, I'm quite happy with my current £2/month arrangement and don't wish to just send them nearly a grand, when I've got other bills that are slightly behind now (council tax, water, TV, gas) that I would like to clear off, and I could do that with the payout, and still have a little bit over to help at christmas. As I paid these bills at a time when I owed them nothing, and I was not given a real option of not paying (I was flat out told I had to have it or I'd be refused). To me, they took money they should not have had. it should definitely all be paid back to me, for me to do with as I please. I realise they won't see it that way though, but just wondered if anyone else in a similar situation has had this happen, and received the cheque? As they only send me updates every 6 months, I wont find out now until March, as I got my update 3 weeks ago. :\ So I'm hoping someone here can help me a little sooner.

Government moves towards a shake-up of broken housing complaints system READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-moves-towards-a-shake-up-of-broken-housing-complaints-system

Dear all I would be very grateful for any help with my situation. I had a SPO following mortgage arrears (£3600) in 2008. Since then I have been making my contractual payments but had missed payments on three occasions from unexpected expenses resulting from direct debits being returned unpaid. I was in a particularly bad financial condition in the last 6 months following an elderly family member falling unwell while abroad. The mortgage arrears accrued to £3400 again and the mortgage company ( a subprime lender) has now applied to the court for a warrant for possession. I panicked and raised money from friends and family to clear off the arrears, but the lender is refusing to accept any payments and instead insists that I send them last three months of bank statements before they would decided whether to accept the payments or not. They insist that until I serve them the bank statements, they can't do anything about the eviction and says an eviction date will be issued in due course. They also made me complete an income and expenditure with them over the phone. I am very reluctant to send in bank statements, since with the financial difficulties over the last three months, I have resorted to payday loans (cleared) and I am very worried this will again jeopardize the situation. I am otherwise in a stable job and would be able to afford my contractual payments going forward. I have raised the money and want to clear the arrears but I am left in this dire situation. With family and young children, it looks as if my fate is sealed. May be someone else on this forum would have had a similar situation and I am sincerely hoping for some advice and help. Apologies for the long post.

Hello I am in receipt of CB ESA with the support component having been migrated from Incapacity Benefit several years ago. I also receive DLA High Rate Mobility and High Rate Care. I had no entitlement to Income Related benefits as partner was in full time employment. New scenario - Partner has to leave employment due to chronic lung condition. We ask at Jobcentre how and who should claim. Were told partner should make separate claim for ESA which he did. Was placed in support group without a medical. When he asked for housing costs (SMI) to be included, these were added from 13th week, (this was waiting period at the time). My question is - When I advised DWP of the change of circumstances (partner leaving employment), should this have prompted a supersession exercise to establish potential entitlement to Income Related ESA, and the issue of form ESA3 ? If my claim had been made into the joint claim would SMI have been payable straight away or would I be subject to the waiting period. In addition to housing costs, several premiums would also be included in the applicable amount. I have raised this query with DWP and have a letter that says if I had made the claim for Income Based ESA, I would still have had to serve the 13 week qualifying period. Having looked online the information I have found suggests this is incorrect. Any thoughts on this would be gratefully received. Thank you.

Hi there I defaulted with a loan with Northern Rock (or NRAM) who then secured a charging order on my home on the 13/3/2007. (My name is the only name on the mortgage and for clarity no regular payments where instructed to be paid) Roll on to now and NRAM have sold the debt onto Marlin who are now hassling me for payments. I got a court letter through the other day which was a "substitution of claimant notice" which im assuming means Marlin now legally owns the debt completely. I've done a search on Trustline and no judgements are showing against me which im assuming is because over 6 yrs have passed Just need to know whats the way forward for me now and where i stand considering there is a charging order on my house and yet they want me to make payments ? Thank you Paul

Good afternoon, Having just joined the site I wanted to introduce myself. I've just turned 35. Am married with 3 kids. This is important because I nearly lost them. I am a recovering compulsive gambler. This isn't seen as an illness to anybody except another compulsive gambler. My last bet was march 2014. I actively attend GA meetings to prevent relapse. Its taken me this long to rebuild trust in my family. My life is miles away from the despair it was in when I gambled, but I still have evidence of my problem in the form of a mountain of debt. Although I signed up to a dmp with stepchange in july 2014 my head is still firmly in the sand when it comes to finances. I have joined this site to gain control of my finances having gained some kind of control over my gambling. I haven't looked into reclaiming bank charges or PPI or anything so I guess that's where I'll start. thanks for listening, i'll keep you 'posted'

My living expenses at present are, I pay £18.00 per week for gas and electricity on a budgeting plan,I am a low energy user. I pay £4.00 per week towards council tax. I pay £7.00 per week water rates I pay £8.00 per week for a budgeting loan I pay £6.00 per week towards soap, wash powder, toilet roll, cleaning materials and so on. Total out goings £43.00. I do not have a TV so I do not have to budget for a licence nor do I have any debt as I rely on the budgeting loan to buy my clothes and cover any household expenses repairs/ replacements etc which gives me roughly £150 every 6 months. I receive £73.10 per week JSA so after taking away my priority expenses I am left with £30.10 per week. I am a single healthy male so not worthy of any extra help, I do not have a invisible partner, a child nor a job on the side. My job centre is a 10 mile round trip which I walk to each week, if I use public transport I will not have any money left to eat for that day. If I have to pay 10% towards my rent, which in my case would be £10.00 (£100.00 per week for a single bedroom flat) then I will be left with £20.00 per week a 33% decrease in my income which would leave me with £2.85 per day to spend on food, drink , job hunting , entertainment.

My employer charges me over £100 per month that they state is a contribution towards the cost of my van. Listed on my payslip as van hire. I am not permitted to use the van for any personal use. I have never given permission for the deduction but have been informed by them it is lawful even though there is nothing in my contract regarding this deduction. Can they do this? If so can I claim anything back from my tax?

Does anyone here agree? I wanted to make sure it wasn't just me they are being biased torwards so I put a facebook status asking people and I had quite a few responses agreeing. Please i'm not the only one who thinks it. From my experience (i'm not an ebay store or anything. I've just been selling some old clothes that don't fit me anymore having gone up a few dress sizes and no money after finishing university (even though it's been a year since) and i've noticed that literally EVERY TIME a buyer opens a case against me 100% of the time they win! Ebay.co.uk close it in their favour and it's like ebay haven't even read my original listing nor the conversation! and they have created a 'negative balance' on my Paypal before even making the "final decision" so it's like they they already pre-decided. They have only done this twice to me. Still 100% of the time the buyer wins anyway! To add to this..you know when you list an item we can click the 'drop down' in regards to whether we accept returns or not? what's the point if they are going to demand a return anyway when a case is opened? then threten us to reimburse ebay for the refund they give the buyer - AGAINST OUR WILL because if we say no and that our listing was accurate (and if ebay had actually read our listing!) isn't that theft from ebay's part? They are literally making my blood boil and not many people can do that to me because i'm normally very happy and bubbily but ebay.co.uk have really done it and I won't just let them get away with it without a "fight" If anyone here agrees with me that ebay are disgusting and biased please sign my petition against them! - I can't promise it'll help but hopefully it'll put our point across. I am aiming at 1000 signatures then I will post it to my local financial ombudsman along with my take on the matter and will shove it in ebay’s face too. Probably the press somehow too...Ebay shouldn’t get away with this anymore!! Thank you to those who actually read this post.