Welcome (that's a laugh) Finance are a nightmare. My son got a car from them and they added PPI at £46 a month!!! I made him write and cancel it within the 30 days allowed. They ignored it. He wrote again and copied their head office. They ignored it. Wrote again - guess what - ignored it. All letters were signed for and receipts obtained from Royal Mail website. I managed to get the email address of the Chief Executive of their parent company - Cattles. I emailed a letter (and sent in post) 3 days later my son received a call from the local Welcome office asking him to come in and sign a new agreement. This all took six months and they owed him nearly £300 in PPI refund. Also got a letter from their compliance officer in Nottingham with a cheque for £50.00 as a gesture of goodwill. However he;s still waiting for the £300 rebate so Cattles CEO will be getting another email tomorrow morning. When I get to work tomorrow I'll post the contact details for the CEO and you can contact him with your complaint. Welcome seem to get a bit more motivated when they get a kick in the backside from the "big chief" !!!

Thanks DMD, it's good to know that I can get advice for any other employees who might need it........ I've just got to fight my own battles now, and with the help on this site I'm nowhere near as scared as I was 2 weeks ago!

I only discovered this site a couple of weeks ago and have been addicted every day since - the amount of knowledge and confidence you all give is tremendous. I'm not sure if this is the right section to post this but - Yesterday an employee came to me (as HR manager) and showed me a notice of eviction for tomorrow at 12 noon. He explained he would need time off to sort something out. It transpired that he had got into a terrible mess with his mortgage and had just buried his head in the sand until he received the eviction notice. As he lives on his own and is quite a solitary person he had told no-one of his predicament. I managed to get out of him that he had an endowment policy which if surrendered would more than cover the arrears. A phone call to the insurance company confirmed this and within half an hour they faxed confirmation of the amount he would receive. Next thing I did was log on to CAG and after 20 minutes or so of reading I downloaded the N244 form from the courtservice website, filled it in with him, wrote him a letter of support as his employer and affixed the fax from the insurance company. He took it straight to the local court and was told he could see the district judge at 10 am this morning. He rang me at 10.30 to say that he had been given a stay of 28 days to allow for the surrender of the policy to complete. I cannot tell you the relief that man felt - he was in tears. This was all due to this wonderful site. He has promised to make a donation as soon as he has received his funds and cleared his arrears. If this is not the right place for this post please can a mod move it? Many thanks. Ell Enn

If you read the letter in the true sense in which it is written, you will see that you have only been accepted as a "client" of theirs, and they want £50.00 for the priviledge of looking for a loan for you !! The wording of the letters and the phrases these people use are meant to make you believe you are guaranteed a loan, when in fact you are not - all you are guaranteed is that you will lose £50.00. Don't touch them with a barge pole. Do you have a Credit Union in your area? that would be a much better bet.

42man - I honestly can't remember. Things went a bit hazy after my husband died, but they could be stat barred. I'll wait and see if they comply with my CCA request. If they can't there may be no need to go further?

Sorry, meant to say I'd CCA'd Mackenzie Hall as it was they who sent the letter. They've ignored the CCA request ............

Thanks Brassed Off - I'll ring them and start the process

subscribing - I'm up against the Hillsden thugs too !!!!

Hi there, these scary Hillesden/DLC bullies got 2 CO's (for Citifinancial) on my property earlier this year. I was soooo scared I just let it happen - now I realise the implications - I am in a 3 year reduced rate mortgage which I will have to remortgage in 2 years time. The two charging orders take the mortgage needed to almost 100% - which might be difficult and expensive for me. I'm paying £15.00 a month each on these CO's and obviously it will takea lot more than 2 years to clear as both add up to around £5k. I didn't realise you could ask to see the court papers after the CO's are granted. I will be watching your thread with interest to see how this is done.

Hi there, received a "pay up or else" letter from MH who state their client Lowell group have asked them to recover £XXXX. I've never owed money to Lowell Group so sent CCA letter. (they signed for it on 31st August) A few days later I received 2 identical letters from MH saying this was my last chance to pay before court action!!! they just ignored my CCA request. (I've got a thread on Cabot section as well - if anyone reads it you will see a bit about my background). Incidently - I know this is unrelated but - I am a qualified HR practitioner - if I can help anyone employment wise I would be happy to do so. I'd like to give a bit back for all the info I've gleaned from this wonderful site)

Hi there, I received a "pay up or else" letter from Cabot which at the same time informed me that they had bought from Vanquis in July 07. On the back of the letter it stated that this letter acts as notice of assignment! - and also that interest will be accruing in accordance with the terms of the original agreement.I've had no notices from Vanquis - haven't had a card with them for years and years and didn't leave it with a balance. The original credit limit was only 250 anyway and Cabot think I owe £634.93!!!! I sent them a CCA letter with £1 PO. I've now received an answer from them - returning the PO- saying they have asked Vanquis for a copy of the agreement and will be in touch with me soon. (They signed for the request on 31st August). Why return PO? Can I just add what a fantastic site this is - every time I log on I am amazed at the number of people who have problems - it's so good not to feel embarrassed or ashamed in "baring all" to you wonderful people. I have quite a few black clouds hanging over me (DCA's) from the years following my husbands death when things were very hazy for a while. However I'm going to deal with this new one (and one from Mackenzie Hall which arrived same day) before trying to undo that which has already been done - so to speak.

Nailpost, They are different "debts" (amounts). I have signed proof of delivery for both letters so will just wait and see what happens next. Thanks for everyone's replies - it's good to know I'm not on my own!!!

Having received "pay up or else letters" from these two in the same week! I sent of CCA requests to both of them on 22nd August. Yesterday I received a letter from Cabot telling me that they were requesting the agreement from their client, they returned my £1.00 postal order(?). Mackenzie Hall sent another demand letter - or rather 2 demands (2 copies of the same letter in 2 separate envelopes) totally ignoring the CCA request. MH are chasing an alleged Barclaycard debt - but I haven't had a Barclaycard since around 1997 or 8. Would be really grateful if anyone could advise what I do now?

As the HR manager in a medium sized organisation (250 employees)I fought to have the Bradford Factor removed - we operate on a case by case basis for managing sickness absence. Any long spells of genuine sickness i.e. hospitalisation, substance dependency or mental health are treated individually and with sympathy. The persistent latecomers and "monday morning hangover's" are easily identifiable and dealt with appropriately. We also have an Occupational Health service nurse who screens all employees regularly and offers a confidential service to those who need it. The Braford Factor is an easy way for HR departments to overlook the root cause of absence - they only look at the numbers and react accordingly! Sickness absence should be managed on a case by case basis while still adhering to dicipilinary policies.

Oh how I wish I had found this site earlier!!! DLC are frightening. They have a final charging order over my property for some debts I haven't been able to work out. I never received any court papers and didn't know what was happening until I received a letter from the Land Registry - I sent a defence letter to the court but DLC were awarded the FCO. Earlier in the year they sent a postcard to my son's address (he lives 50 miles away) addresses to me and asking to phone the number on the card. He had just got married and his new wife had a fit!! At no time have I ever given his address to anyone!! I complained to the OFT and sent a letter to DLC chief executive - I received a letter from them apologising for the mistake and confirming I didn't owe any money to them. Next thing I know there's court proceedings and a FCO. I was so distressed at the time I just agreed to pay them £30 a month which I can't really afford. I've heard since that they can come back and ask for increased payments - this is keeping me awake at night!!! Is there anything I can do?

Oh how I wish I had found this site earlier!!! DLC are frightening. They have a final charging order over my property for some debts I haven't been able to work out. I never received any court papers and didn't know what was happening until I received a letter from the Land Registry - I sent a defence letter to the court but DLC were awarded the FCO. Earlier in the year they sent a postcard to my son's address (he lives 50 miles away) addresses to me and asking to phone the number on the card. He had just got married and his new wife had a fit!! At no time have I ever given his address to anyone!! I complained to the OFT and sent a letter to DLC chief executive - I received a letter from them apologising for the mistake and confirming I didn't owe any money to them. Next thing I know there's court proceedings and a FCO. I was so distressed at the time I just agreed to pay them £30 a month which I can't really afford. I've heard since that they can come back and ask for increased payments - this is keeping me awake at night!!! Is there anything I can do?