For the last two weeks I have been staying at a Travelodge that advertises a wifi service can be purchased from that hotel and that was a major factor in my staying at that hotel. I work for my employer during the day and in the evenings study and also work for other clients. I have not been able to do any of this because of prolonged downtime of the WIFI at the hotel. So far I have determined that Travelodge has a contract with one or two suppliers - NEC and Spectrum Interactive. What each company provides I am not certain of, only that my money was taken by Spectrum and that every time something goes wrong, Travelodge blames Spectrum, Spectrum blames NEC and NEC blames Spectrum. Either way, the service has not worked properly for nearly two weeks now and I have experienced very rude and aggressive service from the helpdesks. I am losing money because I cannot support other customers in the evening, have had to make mobile phone calls in the evening instead of sending emails (NEC also supplies the phone services and they are more expensive that mobile phone calls) and basically have been abused as a customer. What action is available to me?

The amount included illegal charges and also worthless ppi insurance that I was mis-sold. I want to claim both back. So, If I start with a SAR on the original lender and go from there then?

I'm really interested in this case. I am no legal person, but I wondered this... Is it possible to first claim the mis-sold PPI and the illegal charges Then once you have that ruling, use that to get the rest?

Just under 2 years ago, settled in full

Debts are a very subjective topic and not understood until you find yourself in debt. I was doing quite well for myself . I used my credit cards properly, had an interest free loan for a vehicle which I was easily able to afford based on earnings, had a comfortable mortgage and always had money left over. Suddenly the Government introduced a whole load of stealth taxes, council tax jumped, fuel bills increased and to top it they changed the legislation and destroyed my customer base. Within 2 months the business was gone, but the bills remained the same. I looked for work but that coincided with lots of jobs going to Asia. I anticipated that my PPI would cover my situation but because the business was mine own, it turned out that the insurance I was sold by the loan company for my car and for my credit cards was worthless. Despite the insurance being responsible for more than 25% of the entire debt. I did everything by the book, told everybody the situation, offered payments of as much as 100 pounds per debt, but instead they started applying charges of around 300 pounds per month and refused to refund the interest. One of the credit cards sold the debt off a.s.a.p and then told me that one of the terms of the insurance was that it became void if the debt was ever sold. The loan company said they would repossess the car, and I asked them to do just that to reduce the debt. They then refused. To cut a long story short, the charges more than doubled the debt in 6 months, the harassing phone calls started, one person turned up on my doorstep to "talk about my account" (got that one on film ) and the nightmare began. If you read some of the other threads on this forum, you will read genuine fear. You will read from people who want to clear their debts but whose debts are doubling, tripling and even quadrupling with charges and who are being persecuted. You will read about depression, nervous breakdown and all the signs of mental exhaustion. I resent the fact that I was defrauded by banks, credit card companies and insurance companies; and I strongly resent the harassment techniques. I am nearly completely picked up now, but from reading this forum I believe I am owed something like 15000.00 in total in refunds for illegal charges. That money alone would have stopped me losing my home, and if I had not had those charges, I could have repaid my debts at the time, would not have CCJs, would not have bad debts and would not be off the property ladder. My future looks bleak with no pension, no home and starting out all over again - and all because I was mis-sold PPI and subjected to illegal charges. The moral high ground tends to be a nice dry place from which you can look down from your comfy home, job, savings etc. and judge the peasants without ever knowing what really happens to them and what they go through. Do I think that people should use every means possible to get out of paying? No! Do I think they shouldn't have to pay if any of the banks, DRAs etc have not complied fully with the law? Definitely! Being hounded by these organisations and people is nothing short of terrifying and it is a trap that follows you for years; Not because of what you initially owe - but because of what they are allowed to add to it. I look forward to the day that bankers, insurance companies and bailiffs receive jail sentences for acting outside the law. Hopefully that day is not far off. I will reclaim what I can, but that will never buy back my house or make up for the years of misery to which I was subjected. My devil's advocate says that each organisation should have to set up proper, free, debt-counseling for each person and that they should be forced to show that they have explored every possible avenue to help people clear their debts and rebuild their lives before they are allowed to even talk to a DRA. And a failure to do just that should be a capital offence. It'll never happen. Governments need banks

MP Contact Details: UK Parliament - alms David Cameron - email is mailto:camerond@parliament.uk I'll try and put together a list of press contacts if there isn't already one on here somewhere. Mine has just gone to my MP with a subject of "My 90 year old grandmother has just been mugged in the street and this government has made it legal!!!" perhaps that will make him read it!! --- Has anybody tried the Unions?

How about

I'm gonna buy a pet skunk. They can keep it

Thanks, have done just that. It would be sooo nice to get a bank for perjury

If a bank obtained a CCJ against an individual for the loan amount and the PPI was included in that loan amount and so the claim; if they stated that the total amount was legally owed but it later turns out that the PPI was mis-sold and so not legally owed; does this mean the bank committed perjury? Also, if I can demonstrate illegal charges, can I get the CCJ set aside?

Peter Is there a template letter, and do you have addresses, so that more of us could copy the letter, sign it ourselves, and send it on to the media as well?

Thanks, it is the original agreement to which I am referring. I was not living in the country at the time of the hearing and so I emailed both the DRA and the court asking them to keep me informed by email so that my defence, which was agreed by the court, could be heard. Neither the court nor the DRA informed me of a changed court date and so the case was not defended and a CCJ was granted and later a charging order, which was also applied without my being given any means of defending the charge. I am not convinced that the DRA did have the correct paperwork and having been subjected to personal remarks from the judge in a subsequent case where he told me he 'did not like me' (or words to that effect), I am not convinced that the judge saw the paperwork. If I can posthumosly (? spelling) request the original paperwork and they cannot provide it, then do you think I can apply to have the CCJ set aside?

Also what it needs, is people pretending to be police officers standing around doing nothing and saying "we can't stop them, they're allowed to do that".

There must be a way of bringing it into the public eye? Here's a hypothetical... What if consenting people got together, having informed the police beforehand of what they were doing, some pretending to be bailiffs and some 'subjects'. Pick a public place, invite the media, and overpower these people where they are, seize their pets, children, and goods (it's all staged remember) - let the media catch it, see what passers by do, and film it yourselves - and stick it on youtube. Hopefully "Bailiffs seize children in lieu of debt" will make the headlines somewhere, later explaining that they can't do that and it was staged - but then the reports can go on to tell people just what they can do. Certainly, I wasn't aware of it and let's be honest, everybody, ourselves included, see debt as something that happens to somebody else until it happens to them. The message needs to be driven home. There are better people here than me to work out the feasibility / logistics of this action - so.. comments please... We could even wear tee-shirts saying "Bailiff from Your Bank", "Bailiff from your Council" etc...

OK guys, this is kinda late but I didn't know about you earlier so clutching at straws... If a DRA got a judgement and later a charging order, do they need to keep a copy of the documentation etc for 6 years. If so, can I still serve an SAR (?) - can't remember the proper term, but somebody will correct me I'm sure. If they can't produce the correct document stating that the money was legally owed (which I disputed anyway as the loan was insured), and they didn't supply that documentation to the court, could it be argued that they obtained the ruling by deception? Can I claim it all back? and better yet, can I get them for pergury?

If a bank obtained a CCJ against an individual for the loan amount and the PPI was included in that loan amount and so the claim; if they stated that the total amount was legally owed but it later turns out that the PPI was mis-sold and so not legally owed; does this mean the bank committed perjury?

What do animal rights activists have to say on the matter of seizing pets?

when you take away hope and self respect people become very dangerous. much more should be done to help these people rather than to punish them. These issues have already been associated with radicalism so it makes one wonder what kind of society the government and banks are creating. All these people want is to be helped and worked with, instead of being punished by government appointed thugs. Dark ages all over again

never mind, it can go again. I don't trust either of them anyway

Sent my letter:

Why not get a friend or relative to say that the pet is theirs and report to the police that threats have been made against their animal. Another one, is what if Bailiff's enter your home and assault children? Also, are the government running police checks on these people?

as well as linking to CAG another great way to increase its presence on the internet is to tag it on delicious. go to del.icio.us, sign in for free, and then tag CAG. I would suggest we all use the same tags so that it increases its presence. probably use tags of Debt Assistance BankCharges PPI, etc

What if people grouped together to bring joint actions against their banks but all applied to have the case heard in the same courthouse and grouped together in cases of 5? I don't know if it would work. Surely, if a court were inundated with the same actions they may start to get fed up? open for comments...

A similar action against a DCA could make them unable to operate. :idea:

Many years ago all the students in the UK engaged in a telephone campaign to complain to the Government about new student fees. With the numbers of people involved in this matter, why don't we arrange a time to all call a particular DCA (not on a premium number, but identify the non-premium number) and keep calling them - day and night - organise shifts. If we did the same with the Houses of Parliament to individually raise our complaints over a 24 hour period, they would also feel harassed by 'legitimate' calls. Equally, if all 6000 members each called the OFT individually during one 2 day period to complain about a DCA then we might start to get listened to. We need to keep the media on our side though, so we don't hassle them. Equally, we could email them every hour asking for a response - use the same email address to contact at the FSA, OFT, Parliament etc. We just need to agree on a date, email address, or phone number. Just a thought. Comments?