Hello, first of all I would like to say I'm really glad I found this forum. After looking through some of these recent posts, I've noticed that others have had invalid 16+ oyster cards made for them and also got into trouble with inspectors. My case however, seems to be slightly different. I am an 18-year old student currently in full time education. This means that I am entitled to a 16+ oyster card already, and eligible for free travel. However, I couldn't figure out how to make the account and actually get the oyster card. I've noticed a lot of people on social media getting these 16+ oyster cards. At first I assumed this was for people who didn't know how to set up the account themselves. There was one particular guy on Snapchat, who was advertising these 16+ oyster cards. He kept posting people using his 'service' and thanking him and since I didn't know how to do it myself I just decided to let him do it for me. I messaged him, and he said he will do it for £50. At first I was like what the hell, £50 just to set up an account? But since so many people used his service I thought it must have been a complicated process (which is a very stupid thing to assume now that I look back on it). But of course me being the stupid 18 year old, I thought to myself that I want to get an oyster card as soon as possible since I was tired of walking 1+ hours to get to college and the guy convinced me he will have everything ready for me within 15 minutes. I have recently started working my first job, and got my first couple pay checks I'm stupidly thinking "whatever I can afford the luxury of having this done for me". I send this guy a photo, my address, my full name and my date of birth. He sends me back log-in information and I pay for the £20 oyster card fee. Few days later my oyster card comes no problem. Now, I'm in my last year of college (finishing in 2019) but my oyster card expiry date said 2020. I message this guy on Snapchat saying why does it say the oyster card expires in 2020 when I'm finishing college in 2019. He says to me that on the system it will say I'm 17 years old, but because college is usually a 2 year course it will expire then. I was thinking that's really odd, I assumed the system would obviously say my actual date of birth. I should've noticed this is a red flag, but I had already received my oyster card I'm thinking that TFL obviously must have checked the account, and confirmed that I was eligible, otherwise I wouldn't have received the card. I just brushed it off without thinking much about it. Fast forward about 1-2 months of using the oyster card no problem, inspector comes on and I give him the card. He asks for my name and I point to the card and say my name. He asks for my age/date of birth. I was born in the year 2000. I say my actual date of birth, but remember that the guy said on the system it will say I'm 17. said "10th of May, two thousand-----and one" I added the "one" at the end thinking that it will say I'm 17 on the system so it would make more sense. Inspector says okay, and it was my stop approaching I let him know that it's my stop and he nodded his head. I got off and that was that. Didn't think anything about it at the time. Fast forward again about 3 weeks, my oyster card stops working. I didn't for a second think that the inspector thing and my card stopping was related at all, in fact I had already forgotten about him by that time. i'm wondering why my card stopped working. I'm talking to my friend at college later that day and I asked him if he's got a 16+ oyster card. He says yes. I ask is it working? He says Yeah. So I ask how did he get the oyster card. He said he made an account on TFL, printed out a form, got it stamped and signed by the college and sent it to the post office. I was like "oooh damn I didn't do that, that's why it got stopped". now I'm annoyed that my oyster card is not working when I paid £50 for it, especially now that I know how to set it up myself and the guy never gave me a form to give to the college. I look for this guy's Snapchat that got me the oyster card, and it seems that he deleted it. I'm really annoyed now but oh well, I guess it's a lesson learned I thought to myself. I had about 6 more months at college by then I just decided to start walking again so that I didn't have to pay another £20 fee. Now here's the ice breaker. About 1 month after this I received a letter. Boom - I have been summoned to court for the use of a 16+ oyster card that I was not entitled to. It says that the inspector which questioned me asked for my date of birth, and I gave him the wrong one in order to make the card appear valid. It then says when asked for my name and address I got off the bus without providing them?? This came as an absolute shock to me. I gave my name, I was definitely never asked for my address. I gave that date of birth thinking that's what it will say on the system. With the letter, came attached a print screen of my account details (which I haven't seen before). My date of birth was completely wrong. Wrong day, wrong month, wrong year. And now it appears that I have to be at court and pay a fine of about £400, plus a potential criminal record? I tell my dad the whole scenario because he has handled cases before. He gets a bit angry thinking why I didn't ask him to help me make the account, but I recently turned 18 and just wanted to do stuff without asking anything of my parents. he says I need to actually get a legitimate 16+ oyster card ASAP, to prove that I'm entitled to one. So I did, and it just arrived yesterday. I wouldn't really be worried about this that much since I wasn't aware of doing something wrong, I was just really stupid to see it. But it seems that even if you do something like this wrong mistakenly, you're still at fault so I'm a little scared. I've never been in trouble with the law before and had no idea what I was doing was illegal. What makes it even worse is the fact that the letter says that I got off the bus when asked for my name and address without giving them. But this is false, I did give my name and I was certainly NEVER asked for my address. But I'm guessing that they will take the word of an experienced inspector than a dumb 18-year old boy? Should I be worried? Should I expect to have to pay the fine and/or get a criminal record? Court is supposed to be 6th of March, I'd like to settle out of court but if that's not possible, I'll plead not guilty because I was not aware of doing something wrong. I do admit and take responsibility for being stupid and not realising that the Snapchat guy saying "it will say you are 17 on the system" is dodgy and doesn't make sense. But that was when I received my oyster card, and I thought that as long as you receive one from TFL they would have checked the account and confirmed it eligible. Should I contact TFL asap and explain everything as I have here? I just need advice on this situation and how to approach this. Please note that I am an 18-year old who knows nothing about law. I would've never in a million years thought I'd have to go to court during my lifetime, considering my extremely boring lifestyle. But now that I'm here this all feels surreal and I'm filled with anxiety. Advice is greatly appreciated, and I apologise for the long read.

Where do i start, i really need some advice, ill give you a bit of background information. Around 6 years ago i got into some financial trouble, my business ran into trouble and i had to stop trading, this cause me to change my finances quite drastically and i had to get a job. a job i still do now. I also lost my rented house a couple of years later and had to live in a caravan while my wife stayed with relatives, winding forward we managed to save enough for a deposit to buy a house last year, this had a knock on effect because we sold everything to get the house. This caused me to default on some debts, and one of these was a credit card with £5k owing, for years I've heard nothing until recently the debt has been passed to Intrum Finance (who i believe are First Credit) I have yesterday received a county court form to the value of £5900 ish (i don't have it with me) for a debt that was defaulted 5 years ago.... i will admit i did bury my head about my debts just to get through. I have no savings and there is no way i can afford to give them this amount now, i know its my own fault, i got myself into this, but i never expected my financial circumstance to change so drastically. if anyone can help, i would be eternally grateful

Just to let people know about the trouble I have had with budget insurance. I took out van insurance with them in May this year, as well as the insurance I took out break down cover. This month I had purchased a new van , when I tried changing the insurance over to my new van Budget wanted to double my premiums even thou through an online comparison site they were quoting £20 cheaper than I was paying. When I queried this they said that was for new customers and not for existing customers and they would not budge. I decided to cancel the insurance and has to pay £50 cancellation fee as well as £48 for the break down cover as this was non refundable. I raised a formal complaint with them and they did refund the cancellation fee but they will not refund the £48 breakdown cover, so I am now paying for breakdown cover that I cannot use and cannot transfer. Hope this helps some one else JJ

I found this forum online after I got myself into a spot of trouble and I'm looking for advice.

Colleague at work bought a car from a private seller on Friday last week - 2003 BMW for £750. She needed car to get her 4 kids to school and her to work etc as previous car had conked out completely. Seemed nice old guy, had all service history etc. Saturday morning a warning light came on for coolant so she went to a petrol station, bough some and put it in. Same thing happened again on Sunday and Monday. Took car to a garage yesterday and it seems cylinder head gasket has gone. She has contacted the guy who says there was nothing wrong with the car when he sold it and won't entertain any sort of refund. I know you have very little protection when buying from a private seller but I feel so sorry for her- she's only had the car 4 days, just wondered if anyone knew if she could do anything about getting at least half of her money back which would pay for the repair.

I can't log into my account today with my PC, although it still works most of the time with my phone. I keep getting a message about AOL being called Oath now and it says that before I continue it wants me to confirm I'm in the UK and to confirm their new privacy policy. When I try to accept their conditions or manage my options, it says 'Oops something went wrong, please try again later.' Every time I try, I go through the same loop. What am I doing wrong please? Thank you for any help. HB

I am writing this on behalf of someone else. Where i use the words me i or us means the person involved. Not me. I was employed as a mobile with a well known security company. My main job was to respond to alarms and deal with them. When i started my job off i was told that i was on a gauranteed 24 hour contract (weekly). I was not given any paperwork apart from some paperwork to show how and what i should be doing. I was told be my manager that i would recieve my contract in the post during the next 4-6 weeks. I also emailed my manager and he confirmed that i had indeed signed upto a 24 hr gauranteed contract that gauranteed me work of at least 24 hours a week. This manager left and work was going on well until october when my vetting was complete and i was sent a 0 hours contract by Human resources. I immediately phoned up and was told to query this with my manager. 2 emails were sent and nothing happened. Again in january this year my manager changed and i raised this again with hr. The new manager said he would investigate this. He came back to me and told me that the email i had was worthless and that i was on a 0 hours contract. Worst bit my days have been cut where i was without any income for 6 weeks. Since august last year i have put in several uniform requests and have had 0 back as manager keeps on claiming he has lost paperwork. This is despite sending 2 emails to him. I now come to the part After having nearly 6 weeks without work i started back a few weeks ago. The first night back i was pulled by traffic police and asked why i was watching a video playing while driving. The mobile is on a stand. I told the officer i was not watching i was only listening to the music and mobile was facing other way. Officer gave me words of advice and then took my details and after a few minutes told me i could go. No probs so far. He then phoned my employers and told them he was concerned for my safety. I only found out when a fellow officer came looking for me. As far as i was concerned the matter was finished. I did not log it either. Fellow officer told me that a call had been recieved and that the matter had been escalated to the manager. No probs here. The manager phoned me the follwoing day and told me i was suspended pending a investigation and that suspension would be unpaid. I have been to the investigation meeting and i was shown a picture of me sitting in my van with the mibile facing me. I was told this was taken by the other officer and he was allowed to do this. I have now been told that a decision will be taken and if needed a disciplinary will be held. I have been told not to contact any of my fellow workers. What do i do ?

I'm finally starting to get my credit file looking better but I now feel I may need to start a DMP. I can probably just about pay bills + debts but I'm struggling and in Feb I *may* be going to uni so my income will reduce to about half. I pay the household bills through my bank account and my OH pays me his share. How would I work that into a DMP? Would I ignore his money and budget only my half of everything etc? My debts are: Natwest loan - £5000 Credit Union loan - £1550 (paid through wage so isn't an issue yet) Avant loan - £1900

Hi all - first post on these forums, hoping to find a solution to this problem! Over the last few weeks I've received a number of letters from Pastdue Credit Solutions about a supposed debt of £32.40 that I owe to Three Mobile. These letters have demanded that I pay up or face further debt collection procedures or legal action. I held an account with Three Mobile for two years, but closed my account in October 2016 when I switched to Virgin. When I called to close my account, the man in Three's call centre remarked that I had been a model customer, with no late or missed payments, and that they'd be sad to see me go. There was NO outstanding balance when the account was closed. Also, my account with Three Mobile was registered to a different address - my parents' address, where I was living when I first took out the contract. The letters I'm receiving from Pastdue Credit Solutions are coming to my new address, which has never been associated with my Three account. I never informed Three that I'd moved house, so there's no way they could have passed this address onto a debt collection agency. I've also checked my credit score on numerous different providers - Noddle (which I believe is part of Callcredit) and ClearScore (which obtains its information from Equifax). My Three account shows up as 'settled' and 'closed' and there is no sign at all of this mysterious £32.40 debt. My question is - how do I proceed? Do I ignore these letters and hope they'll give up, or do I risk acknowledging this debt to get them to leave me alone? Many thanks in advance for any advice you can give! I've read conflicting posts about Pastdue Credit Solutions, some saying they're legit and others saying they're phishing and intimidating people to try and get them to pay debts which aren't theirs. Not sure who to believe or what to do next.

I am a new member and seeking for help and hope I will get a help and guidance to sort out TAX Credit rejection. I am a single mother of 2 children. In Feb 2015 my husband and I went thru separation due to our every other day arguments which was going on for past 3 years and eventually he moved out in Feb 2015 and left me no money to pay for the bills. While I was with him he used to get child tax credits and help from local council towards the house rent as he was on low wages and I was just a house wife. At time of separation my daughter was 13 yrs and son 6 yr old. Once my husband moved out he informed the local authority about the change and circumstances and because of this the council stopped paying rent. I did not know anything about the council and tax credit matters as everything was dealt by my husband. I applied for the housing & council tax benefits to my local council and child tax credits to HMRC which were all accepted. My ex asked me NOT to go thru the child support because he will buy stuff and support children which he has been but never paid me any money. I got a job in a clothing store to meet the ends and to provide for my children. Right after few weeks of separation I had been asking my ex to change his address as he does not live here. He kept telling me he doesnt have a fixed address and he lives at different places such as few days/ weeks at his friends or relatives. His letters from bank and other letters kept coming to my address after roughly many months I got fed up and I started to return his letters to senders and also threw in the bin and as usual my ex kept repeating that he will change the address soon . During the separation our relation had been up and down but I never stopped him from seeing the children as they dearly love him especially my son he took all this badly that he often cried during his sleep calling his father and also his school teachers informed me that he seem to be lost in the class. Due to the state of my children I gave him open access to my ex that he can see children whenever he wants to. In April 2016 we gave a try to get back together and allowed him to move back with me and I also informed my local council in writing. Unfortunately this did not work and I asked him to move out just after 2 weeks and once again I informed the council. Then from July 2016 my tax credits were stopped without any advance notice. On enquiring tax credit help desk told me to send my last 6 months bank statements, Pay slips, utility bills, Tenancy agreement of the property, housing & council tax benefit documents and also proof of address of my ex such as tenancy agreement. I provided all the documents except 2 and that is my own and also my ex’s tenancy agreement. My landlord has not provided me with the tenancy agreement due to being behind my rent and my ex could not provide his agreement because his landlord does not want to declare about the room renting to avoid tax. Tax credits rejected my considerations and in Nov 2016 asked me again to provide the same but recent documents and once again I did send most of them except my own agreement. My ex gave me only one tenancy agreement one of his addresses he had lived at. In total my ex lived at 5 addresses and none of them issued him tenancy agreement except one which he gave to me to send to tax credits. Recently I received a rejection letter from tax credits asking me to pay over £8K and have given me a time of one month (now less than 3 weeks) to apply for tribunal hearing. I have done nothing wrong and got in this big mess. There is no way I am able to pay that amount and don’t know what am I supposed to do. I am in great stress and tensions and one of my friend mentioned about CAG to get advice. Anyone here to advice and help to deal with this matter ? I would appreciate your help. Thanks Please see the attached letter from HMRC I have received recently. docs1.pdf

Hello all, not sure whether or not this is worth mentioning on CAG forums but will post here anyway in case answers to this question might be helpful to other forum members. I joined 3SixtyFitness, in Newark on Trent, a couple of months ago. I paid for personal training sessions upfront and also signed a six-month contract, with Ashbourne Payments for use of the gym itself when I wasn't training. I rang the gym owner today to tell him that, owing to health issues/family troubles etc. I would have to cancel my gym membership. He said that would be no problem and that I should contact Ashbourne to sort it. I emailed Ashbourne today saying I'd informed the gym owner etc. and that I would be cancelling payments. They then sent me this: Hello The contract that you signed and agreed to online is for a period of six months, to date you have made 2 payments and we require a further 4 payments in order to cancel. Many thanks Ashbourne. Firstly, this is not true. I have actually made three payments, the first two were paid at the same time owing to the fact that I accidentally cancelled my direct debit and owed them, fair enough. Another payment was sent on the first of this month through a new DD they set up. I sent them an email along with screenshots of the payments from my account (and no other details!) and have yet to have a reply. My main concern however is that they want to continue charging me for a service I will no longer use. True, they haven't made me agree to a 12 month contract, but I'm still wondering if requiring me to continue to pay on a contract I want to cancel is legit. Again, this is probably not worth mentioning, but any advice about this would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks.

Hi, My business partner and I are going to be registering our company very soon. I know that somewhere into the process, we're going to need to open a business bank account and designate that as our main account for the business. About 3 years ago, I opened a business account and had a business loan that was connected with that account when I opened it (by Lloyds TSB). This company was as a sole trader and wasn't a registered company. I had some payment issues and the business account was eventually closed, as I'd missed some loan repayments/late payments, etc. Ultimately, the loan was sold on by Lloyds and I've been paying it back ever since. I didn't go bankrupt or anything like that, and the loan wasn't a large sum of money. But I lost the business bank account in the process. I've been paying off the loan ever since through a debt consolidation company and all is fine in that regard. I was wondering if I'm likely to experience issues when opening a business bank account now? I'd use a different bank and I wouldn't be looking to get a loan or anything like that. It would purely be myself and my business partner using it as our official business bank account. Any help on this would be much appreciated,

Just been alerted to this. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement/competition-bulletins/open-cases/all-open-cases/cw_01160/?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cw_01160 We all know that VF have some serious issues at the moment and it seems that OFCOM agree. PAYG users paying for services not supplied Wrong amounts on bills for customers After all this time, you would have thought that Vodafone could get its act together and train their staff to recognise a problem and deal with it insted of doing nothing of value. No wonder they are losing customers.

The EU has barred the NHS from checking the qualifications of EU doctors and nurse, that means thousands of European doctors and nurses will be able to practice in this country without checks on their qualifications. These new rules in the EU, mean they will be given electronic passports’ which will automatically allow them to practice in hospitals and GP’s surgeries. Europe will issue these passports to nurses, midwives and some other medical staff from January 1st, and doctors in two years’ time, without checking their qualifications or whether they have lied or been suspended. Also they will not be tested on their ability to speak English, because this would impede their ‘freedom of movement’ rights. So if you ever become ill, I would suggest you try the vets after all they will most likely be better qualified than your doctor.

I moved back into my parent's house at the start of this year which was also when I registered as self-employed. I currently haven't been paying any council tax since I assume I have to let the council know I've moved in. My Dad doesn't have to pay any council tax. I have the money to pay for it but what sort of trouble can I expect to be in when I let the council know about this? Also I've so far earned around £8k this year so I think I may be able to benefit from working tax credits. Am I allowed to back date this benefit to the start of the year from when I registered as self-employed? However, I also have £10k in savings so I don't know how this will effect the benefit. Any help appreciated.

Hi. My friend bought car on finance, total payable including fees and interesta was 19.356.72 Last payment he made got him down to 12.935.39 MotoNovo started repossession. The taken the car and now want him to pay another 6.920.22 I'm looking at his statement and don't get what all this means, can someone explain please: Write off rebate: Credit 2.259.03 Write-off option fee: Credit 125 Write off: Credit 5436.76 at this point debt is 5.683.93 than we have: Transfer to recoveries: Debit 6.920.22 which make debt back to 12.604.15 then: Payment: Credit 11.215.86 and at the same time Debit 5607.93 Payment: credit 152 and Debit 76 at the end balance is 6920.22 Can someone explain whats going on with this? Also one more question, he bought van recently (second hand, worth about 1500-2000) he is using it for work, can they repossess this van even he is using it for work purposes? Thanks

So. This is a long story - sorry about that! In March 2014, my husband and I received a very large back bill. Apparently, they discovered they hadn't input what few meter readings they had into their system upon changing the account from my husband's name to mine. We'd originally wanted the account in both of our names, for visa purposes, but they refused. We were completely shocked, and there was/is no way for us to pay it, as we just barely scrape by paying the normal bills. The amount was also very high for our living situation, and I still don't think the amount is correct. We've argued back and forth for a year about the repayment amount. They won't accept anything. When we sent in a financial statement with an offer based off our last bill amount, they wrote back asking for more than double what we offered, saying it was "unconscionable" to "leave a customer in debt". Well if it was that unconscionable, they could just forgive the back amount and let us go forward with a clean slate to pay our bills in full/on time. But no. I haven't won the lottery yet, so we sent another letter. today, I got a hand delivered letter from them saying they've now installed a pre-payment meter. Fantastic! Even higher rates for a bill we could only just about afford before! It's really only a matter of time now before we just won't have the money to keep the lights turned on and won't be able to cook at home. They "suggest" we load £32 onto the meter each week to pay for "our usage" and the repayment amount of £8/week. We cannot afford that much per month. It's just not possible. I'm not sure if we would otherwise qualify for benefits, but it's really a moot point because I'm a US National, here on a spouse visa, and one of the conditions of those visas is no access to public funds. Is there anything we can do? I'm so stressed out, and I really didn't need even more stress.

Hi-I was just wondering if anyone knows how far they can actually make you travel to these appointments, at the moment they are making me travel 30 miles just to do job searches on the computer etc. its an hours drive at least cos the traffic is awful or 2hours on public transport. Also, am currently on a sanction because my wonderful "advisor" sent me an email telling me to attend the wrong office for my appointment so obviously I missed it (they have one 12 miles away from me as well but she reckons they only see esa people there...?) so obviously I have no money whatsoever until my hardship payment comes through in 2 weeks-my mum spent her last money filling up the car so I could get to my stupid appointment and so there was nothing left for parking,I was running late cos I had to drop her off at her work on the way over there and I didn't have time to park far away where it's free so I parked in a pay spot without buying a ticket thinking I'd only be quick and I could buy a ticket when they gave me the petrol money back- I told her I needed to be quick or else go and move the car and then come back but she deliberately kept me over an hour and then surprise surprise I got a parking ticket-so I went back to the office,dumped it on reception and said it was a present for the advisor,the reception lady called after me saying she cant pay it and I shouted back that I don't care it's her problem now and I can't pay it. (I then bought a parking ticket-I'm hoping if I write to the council with the ticket and an explanation they'll let me off the fine) I can't get into trouble for like harassment or something ridiculous for this can I? I was just making a point lol Its not like I was acting in a threatening way.probably the wrong thing to do though cos now she knows shes upset me

OK guys, here we go. Made redundant from work in october 2000, long story short all my creditors went default before I got back into work. RBS particularly harsh, really dragged their heels concerning my PPI claim etc. When my personal loan and royalties account overfdraft went default, I got battered for charges. Been paying them back since may 2001, never missed a payment, always made the increases when asked. Over the years I've received letters from their CMS in telford and another company (whose name escapes me but I will dig it out) who appear to be a DCA acting on their behalf. Payments always made on time into my account at my local branch, using my account number and sort code. 2 months ago CMS telford wrote to me with instruction to now pay into a different account number and sort code. Have recently received another letter from CMS telford asking for an increase in payments that I just cannot meet. Not particularly scared about this as they simply cannot have what I haven't got. Question is, can I S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) them and claim back anything?

if you read this and provide advice, thank you it's much appreciated. Secondly, yes I'm stupid and finally I know ignorance is not a defence (I have a Masters in Law, though you probably won't believe it after reading this). I'm expecting to receive a letter at some point from TfL and wanted to understand how to proceed... I mentioned to my dad last week that I was going to London on Saturday 15th for a day trip and he offered to lend me his Oyster card that gets him on the tube for 'free'. Thanks dad. Readers, I'm sure you can see where this ends up. I travelled from Birmingham to London and got off at Euston train station with a view to heading to Old Spitalfields market. Euston-Kings Cross-Liverpool Street. Went to leave the station at Liverpool Street, the barrier beeped and said seek assistance. Having just been at Kings Cross I noticed they had ticket booths and machines all over the place I figured it must be the same at Liverpool St, I'd just go to a booth and buy a full day ticket to get out and not bother with the so called Oyster card faff. That to me was seeking assistance. I turned round to walk towards the way I'd come from and check out the signs only to be chased by 2 guys asking to check my Oyster card. I said sure it's my dad's. The main guy took it from me, pulled a note pad out of his bag and asked where I was going. Then asked if my dad knew I had his card, to which I answered as above. He asked did I know why he'd stopped me, where I was from, how long I'd been using the card and how it came to be that my dad had given it to me. I explained just for that journey and reiterated he'd given it to me. He scanned the card then asked why I'd walked away from the barrier I told him it said seek assistance I wanted to find a ticket booth. Then he asked for my ID and started writing his Qs and my As and said I looked to young to be married which I found a bit odd, but said I was 29 - even though he had my D/L. Asked if I lived with my dad (no) and where he lived (Coventry). Then he cautioned me and said the card allows my dad free travel on the tube. It was at this point the penny dropped that I was in big trouble. Throughout the whole thing I didn't see any ID and they didn't tell me who they were so it was all a bit odd. He asked if I was entitled to any freebies and I said not that I'm aware. Did I agree that I had evaded a fare by using dad's card. Yes I did agree. How could I not. He confiscated the card and said if dad wanted another he'd have to apply for one saying he'd lost his. He asked me if I wanted him to read the notes back and I said no I've been watching him write it. Then he asked me to sign so that he wouldn't be able to write anything underneath after I'd gone and I can expect a letter. So here I am. I'm absolutely not blaming my dad, I take full responsibility for using the card without thinking about it. I'm not sure what his card was, I assumed it was a benefit he got being ex-military as he's previously offered for me to use his friends and family discount on a certain website he uses. Having said that he's 67 so it could be a senior ctizen card. Either way I realise that by using it it's meant that TfL haven't received my fare and someone else was paying for me to use dad's card which isn't right. I wouldn't walk into a shop and stand there using a product without paying , but that's essentially what I've done here and I'm mortified. My main question is, I know I'm guilty so do I instruct a solicitor from the point I receive the letter and get their assistance or respond and see what the outcome is? I am more than willing to pay TfLs costs for any losses/admin, pay a fine, settle out of court as it is not something I am proud of and do not want to have this hanging over me for the rest of my life. To receive a conviction would mean losing my job (I'm a contractor so always undergo record checks as I work on client sites in the finance sector) and will certainly not be able to apply for future contracts. I've calmed down a lot since Saturday but all I can think of is being sat at home on benefits watching Jeremy Kyle whilst my husband slaves away and it's not the life I want for either of us. On top of that my mum is in hospital today for a skin cancer operation, I found out on Weds that she had it and had been keeping it from me, got caught on Saturday by the revenue chaps and now it's the op so it's been a week of sleepless nights. Any help would be lovely. Thank you again MsD

Afternoon all, first post on here. Need some help really. Didn't pay council tax because I'm a 24 year old child. Didn't set up a payment plan with Birmingham city council quick enough, so went to equita, did set up a plan with them which I thought was by direct debit. Apparently not, as I didn't pay them 7 days ago they've sent a bailiff out to my house today who put a notice after taking control of goods on my car. However this car is on finance, the reg they've written is wrong and on all correspondence they've called me Lexxx my names Lxxx. Anyway, have tried calling bailiff multiple times to let them know that where I rent is rented fully furnished and that the car is on finance so they don't turn up again tomorrow and try and charge me for them and their tow truck. Which I'm guessing they will %100 do. I've rang 5 times,eft a voicemail asking them to call me back and have sent a text informing them. If they do bring a truck tomorrow would they still be able to charge me for it? What do I do and how do I go about getting them to set up a reasonable repayment plan? My original debt was £668.94 Today they added on a compliance stage fee: £75 and an enforcement stage fee: £225

Hi there, new to these forums, but I googled the issue I faced this morning, and saw a couple of related threads here, so hoping I might be able to get some advice, or at least confirmation of what I believe! My situation is that after 17 years of using annual season tickets between my Hertfordshire home and work in the city, I switched to the carnet + oyster method, because I often do not need to travel to the office and it would save money. 1 week later, and I now have had to deal with an inspector this morning that wrote me up for altering the date on my ticket. I don't dispute that I did that, however I also don't believe I have done anything wrong here. Facts as I see them: 1) I had originally put in yesterday's date on the peak 'into london' ticket, however at the last minute, I did not travel that day, and the ticket was not used. 2) I subsequently corrected the day written on the ticket to today 3) I also corrected the date on the off peak 'return' carnet ticket that I was intending to use this evening 4) The inspector that looked at my ticket refused to accept it, and confiscated it. 5) When I showed him the return ticket I was intending to use (I did this to try and demonstrate that I had simply made a correction in advance of travel), he confiscated that as well! I believe my position in law here is that I have not broken any rules in correcting the date on an otherwise unused Carnet ticket. I looked at a post on here quoting the rail bylaws, and while there is commentary on ticket alteration, it is qualified: - No person shall alter any ticket in any way with the intent that an Operator shall be defrauded or prejudiced. Now given that they can themselves determine that the ticket was never used on the original date, plus I have plenty of work colleagues, family etc that can attest to the fact that I was at home (should it really come to that!), then it would seem that it was perfectly ok to alter the ticket in this case. Secondly, when you buy a Carnet, it comes with a seperately printed ticket card with its own conditions, and whilst it refers to the need to validate the ticket with the date in permanent ink, there is no reference to corrections or alterations being prohibited. Sorry if this sounds like a bit of a rant, but frankly it was hugely annoying to be in this situation. I'm glad to say that I at least remained calm and polite throughout (even when he handed out a veiled threat that there was a plain clothes police officer observing, and then backtracked when I insisted on speaking with them), but not only do I feel I have done nothing wrong here, but I've also had my 'return' ticket confiscated, which I fully believe I should be able to use - so in addition to having to wait for whatever letter they will send me, I also am out of pocket on the return. Any thoughts/advice appreciated. Maybe I should just go back to annual passes! RC

Over the past few months a large number of Facebook pages have been set up (mainly by Sovereign Citizen/Freeman on the Land activists). A common feature of these pages is the use of highly dubious methods of 'beating the bailiff'. The most common feature, and one that is sadly costing debtors dearly is the advice to refuse to speak or correspond with the enforcement agent and instead, to pay the amount of the actual 'debt' (Liability Order, parking penalty notice, court fine) direct to the creditor (minus bailiff fees of course). From further reading it would appear that the reason for refusing to 'engage' with the enforcement company is that by 'engaging' the debtor becomes a 'joinder' and therefore is agreeing to a 'contract' being entered into (a daft Freeman on the Land theory and one that has no basis in law whatsoever). A rather worrying suggestion that I have seen on quite a few of these sites recently is the advice to debtors to make a complaint about bailiff fees to the Magistrate's Court under the provision of Regulation 1 of the Magistrates Courts Act 1980. This is novel idea and one that again is being sold by 'Guru's' and has no basis whatsoever in law. Of course as with all such scams, there is no evidence whatsoever of any court 'successes'. This is despite the highly inaccurate 'claims' on these Facebook pages that once the summons is laid before the Justice of the Peace that the Justice will either issue a summons directed to the bailiff requiring him to appear before the magistrates' court to answer the information or more ludicrously; that a warrant would be issued ordering the bailiff to be arrested and brought to court to answer the charges. A copy of a recent 'template' is provided in the following post.

Hi all, I'm here to seek some experienced advice. I made the mistake of jumping on the DLR without tapping in when I was in a hurry. When I arrived at my destination there were revenue inspectors waiting at the exits. I knew I made a mistake so handed in my contactless card to be scanned and awaited my fate. The handheld detector flashed red, then green and the inspector just let me go on my way. When I checked my online account, that journey has been flagged as "revenue inspector" and have been charged the maximum fare. Will I also be getting a surprise penalty notice/court order letter in a few weeks? All these TFL horror stories have got me spooked

The following customers have posted about their Npower problems on the My Npower Nightmare Facebook Group -https://www.facebook.com/groups/517771428350844 - but apparently aren't sure how to proceed. [ATTACH=CONFIG]58708[/ATTACH] https://www.facebook.com/david.hillstaylor?fref=ufi https://www.facebook.com/kreedman1?fref=ufi https://www.facebook.com/nicky.vaughan?fref=ufi https://www.facebook.com/michelle.piper?fref=ufi Unfortunately the administrator of My Npower Nightmare has blocked us because we criticised his approach and said that he was acting like some kind of shill for Npower after he recommended paying money for legal help and then recommended a claims company. If there is anyone who has not been blocked from the My Npower Nightmare Facebook group, maybe they might post a message telling them that they can get help about the way forward on this forum - for free. If people have time, they can even consider sending messages directly to those Npower customers.