I've had the same letter today from Tax Credits, asking what both mine and my husbands hours/pay were from April 14-Dec 14. we've had loads of changes in a short space of time so I guess they're just checking. They're asking for payslips etc but my husband hasn't got his, we sent them off for Carer's Allowance and they've still got them. Neither of us are working now (I'm awaiting heart/lung transplant and he's my carer), but prior to this we were both working (me 26 hours and him 39 hours approx). Not sure if I should be worried.

Think I'll give them till next week to sort themselves out and then go straight to the Ombudsman.

Okay, I've done some digging. Tax Credits have not received anything back. They've very helpfully sent me the trace sheets relating to the payments in. Santander say that they sold my old bank account on to (deep joy) Robinson Way. On closure of the account the account was overdrawn bu just over £600 which was due to bank charges (which they refused to cancel, which is why we closed the account). They say on this basis they can not deal with it and I should contact Robinson Way. I've just spoken to Robinson Way. They were quite evasive and asked me to send them a copy of the trace sheets. They asked me if I was going to pay the outstanding debt with the money (that I think they have anyway). I have told them that I would prefer to come to some arrangement with them on a settlement figure. I need that money, I'm under Papworth for heart and lung transplant assessment, and this is really the last thing I need to be dealing with.

Need some advice. HMRC decided we were now eligible for Working Tax Credits which is the first time since 2007. On the phone they said "are your bank details the same?" and I said yes, assuming that they were the account they use every month to pay my Child Tax Credit into. However they paid into an account that Santander closed in 2011. Anyway, HMRC sent me an award notice for the year with 3 one-off payments, on 24/25/26 November and then normal 4 weekly payments starting in December. They've sent the payments to the closed Santander account. HMRC now say that it was accepted by the BACS account, Santander say they haven't got it because it's a closed account. Any ideas how long it should take to bounce back to them and be reissued? HMRC now say that they will do a new award notice but that I should still get the payments (they total over £2000 and I really need them).

EDF installed me a meter back in October last year. I didn't receive a bill until March. I have made payments totalling £96.00 towards the outstanding debt and the ongoing usage. However, in the last 6 weeks I have been diagnosed as having a incurable heart and lung condition, and am unable to work. I've applied for PIP (takes 26 weeks), and I'm currently receiving SSP. The total outstanding is now £546. EDF will currently only spread the payments over a short amount of time. Is there a maximum number of months that they can allow the outstanding to be spread over? I don't want to go back to a pre-payment meter again.

Very interesting, thank you. Immediate payment was ALWAYS taken upon rollover.

Ecxellent news, have been onto StepChange, and they recommend £1.00 per month

Thanks, and yes they did take money from the first payment.

Thanks, I've been worried about this for ages. I was going to send the letters to the head office and copy in the local office (which I round the corner from where I work). Yes, It's £5 each. They can split it however they want between my loans and those of my husbands. I was going to put cheques in for the first couple of months to get the thing started. As to no further home visits, that's an excellent idea. Do I just add that to my letter? I will also specify that no visits can be made to me at work I think. I will also add that no contact should be made by phone, it should be by letter only.

Hi Both my husband and I have loans with Provident and Greenwood. These have been topped up over the past couple of years and are now at a silly amount. Generally I don't ask for the loans, they text me and say that they can do me an extra £xx. I know that it's our own fault getting into this, but when you don't have money to pay bills it's very easy to take what's offered. I've NEVER seen our payment books, but I know that the payments are being made against the accounts as I write a cheque each week. Anyway, it's now to the point where we are unable to pay our priority debts (mortgage, council tax, secured loan, etc) as I'm making these payments to Provident and Greenwood. Basically, I want to write to them (I'll use a template letter) and offer them a token payment. Our credit rating is shot anyway, so that's not really a concern. Do Provident / Greenwood allow reduced payments? our weekly payments (together) come to £246, and I'm going to offer them £5.00 as that's basically all I can afford. When the loans were took out they lumped our income in together with what we get on Tax Credits, Child Benefit and the DLA that we get for my son. I'm hoping to do this today, so any help would be most appreciated. Thanks

Thanks

We had a suspended possession order made on our home a couple of years ago, and I have now paid off the final amount of the arrears (December). I have spoken to Mortgage Express who say that the possession order will sit on the mortgage account until they chose to remove it. Is this correct? The arrears are settled completely and we are now back to normal monthly payments.

As in stop replying and just ignore, or stop replying and just pay x

I have had 2 letters. One from Wescot threatening a Doorstep Collection visit, apparently they know of no genuine reason why I have failed to pay (I would say no response to my CCA request, but there we go)., this was dated 19 June. The 2nd letter was from Credit Security saying that they have been instructed, and I should contact them by today. I have emailed both Wescot and Credit Security stating that I have no intention of paying until they can find the CCA, and that my cat has more right to enter my property. Should I just await their response?

I'm filling in a form to send back to the Council following their letter "Intention to Levy Distress". I got myself in a muddle, knew I had arrears, thought I was paying them and it turned out I was paying a different year to what I had thought. Anyway, what would be reasonable amount to put for food/toiletries for a family of 4 (children 9 and 11). I know what I spend in Tesco, but sometimes that can be as low as £40 if that's all I've got. I know the CAB used to have guidelines stating what would be thought of as reasonable amounts. Thanks

Yes, send postal order. Thanks

Let me know what happens. We've got a secured loan with Welcome (probably about £18k), we did default (on and off for about 4 years) for a while but I'm paying now. I did also pay a little bit over the contractual for a while, to try and catch up, but I've stopped that now. they phone me at least 5 times a month asking if they will get the payment that month (they've had regular payments for about a year ), and demanding a direct debit be set up (I pay by card/cheque), despite me telling them in writing not too, and they phone me at work (where I just put the phone down on them). I didn't pay for probably up to 6 months but they NEVER threatened repossession or anything like it. When they had an office near us they used to call round occasionally. I just ignored them. The office shut and they lost their jobs. My account is now under Milton Keynes office, they phoned a couple of months ago asking for a direct debit to be set (no hope) and said they may not be there much longer (I wish).

It shows as defaulted in August 2009 (Equifax) I've had general chase letters from different agencies (most of which I bin), following a chase from Commercial Credit Services I sent a CCA request, and also to their solicitors (SC Gray) at the beginning of April this year. I had a letter dated 26 April from Studio(addressed to me) which says: "Please be advised that we require a letter of authority from the customer in order for you to act on their behalf. Once you have obtained this I would advise that you can then re-submit your request with the letter of authority attached." It confused me, as I am listed as their debtor, the CCA request came from me, and they sent this letter back to me. I've since had a letter from Scotcall (snotcrawl), large letters, the lot, "IMPENDING DEBT COLLECTION"... ..tells me to set up payment plan or pay in full by today (by phone) or they will come round. Now, they can come round, and I'll tell them to bugger off, but I digress. I emailed them (attaching the copies of the CCA requests to CCS and SC Gray) telling them: "Dear Sirs Thank you for your letter dated 22 May, received 25 May 2013, in which you state that you have been authorised to collect a debt which has been outstanding for some time, and that one of your field based collectors will visit me at xxxxx I refer you to my letters (attached) in which I requested a true copy of the agreement from both SC Gray Solicitors on xApril 2013, this letter was also sent to Commercial Credit Services on x April 10 April 2013. I have had no reply from either party. As stated in both my previous letters..... " Regarding your threat that a Doorstep Collector will call, the owner of this property is denying you or anybody working on your behalf access onto their estate or grounds in relation to this disputed debt, should you or any agent acting for you attempt to gain access to the estate or its grounds, then you will be ignoring your denial of access and the owner of the above address will take legal steps to sue both you and or your agents for trespass, please also note that having a letterbox on the property gives you or anyone working on your behalf neither implied nor expressed rights to enter the properties boundaries, again any instances of trespass WILL lead the property owner to sue both yourselves or any agents working on your behalf." I await your response." I've had this email in response: "Good afternoon, We have spoken with our client, Commercial Credit Services and they advise the original creditor will not provide any documentation for any accounts. Please advise how you will proceed with this account Regards F Rodger" Any ideas??

I should add that the debt doesn't show on Equifax.

Hi Wescot have been chasing me intermittently for a Lloyds TSB credit card debt which is a good few years old, I haven't paid anything on it for at least a couple of years (really since I found this site). their last contact was a standard chasing letter back in September last year, and on 3 October 2012 I wrote to them requesting a CCA, etc. I heard nothing. I've had a letter dated 21 May stating: "As a final attempt to avoid further action, our client has agreed that we can offer you a 50% discount to settle your account. This offer is only available for a limited time so you should contact us by 31/5/13 to agree a payment of £1952.50, or the offer will be withdrawn and further action will continue to recover the full outstanding balance of £3905.00." It then goes on to say that they will "consider" a realistic payment plan", etc, etc, and asks me to phone them. Now, I have absolutely no intention of phoning them, I refuse to speak to anyone regarding financial matters on the phone. I think that they may be a little desperate and unable to find the original agreement (it would be probably around 15 years old) and that's why they've offered the 50% reduction. My feeling is just to ignore. Any suggestions.

I had a letter chasing an old debt (can't remember the last time I paid it, but it was probably a couple of years ago), from Ace/Express Gifts, and also , the same day from SC Gray Solicitors, chasing the same debt. I sent them the usual CCA letter (to both of them), and I've had the following reply: "Dear Mr xx and Mrs xx (odd, as the account was only in my name) Thank you for your recent letter regarding account charges which has been forwarded for my attention. Please be advised that we require a letter of authority from the customer in order for you to act on their behalf. Once you have obtained this I would advise that you can then re-submit your request with the letter of authority attached. YS, etc" Shall I just ignore?

We have Commercial insurance with Ageas, and we had a claim made against us last year, which we contested. However, when we tried to get Ageas to fight our corner (as were) they asked for sub-contractor invoices, etc, dating back 8 years. We believed this to be unreasonable and told them so. We part settled the claim out of goodwill, and the claimant and their insurance company are happy. However, Ageas STILL persist in asking for huge amounts of information not relevant to the (now defunct) claim, saying they are not yet in a position "whether to accept/agree the claim". We've told them we will be reporting them to the Ombudsman, but frankly are completely at a loss at where to go now.

Don't they have to go to court to get I&E form?

I (stupidly) had a payday loan which got passed on to BCW Group / Red Castle Recoveries. I have acknowledged the debt (they have proof of it ). They've written to me again stating they need a response in 7 days so I've written the following: "I have taken independent advice and, following this, and a review of my income and expenditure (to which you have no legal right of sight), I am able to offer a token payment of £5.00 until my circumstances improve. Please send me a standing order form so that I may start these payments forthwith." By "independent advice" I mean this website:roll: Is this satisfactory? All charges/interest etc has been stopped.

I had a pre-payment meter fitted around 2 years ago (probably at about this time of year), and mine was also to cover the debt, which was around £900 at the time. I told them that I was on benefits etc (disabled child etc), and they set my debt at something like £1 a week. Some suppliers have a special tariff if you're on benefits anyway so it's worth asking. To be absolutely honest I was gutted at having to have the meter, however, looking back I wouldn't change now. Yes, your bills are higher in the winter, but in summer they're practically nothing!