you need to contact consumer direct who will pass detail onto trading standards

oft do nothing -they dont respond to individual complaints best bet is write to fos then oft as well as you will get interaction with fos wheras with oft they will accept your complaint but they wont contact you

these pdl companies are really silly.if they dealt with queries rationally they would achieve much more -i think the issue is that this type of lending will become regulated and so loansharks like minicredit that are based abroad and only have a uk mail address will be closed down.i think they will in any case due to their consumer license being complained about to fos if you all keep complaining about this company to fos they will get their credit license revoked:mad2: the fos is investigating them as we speak-always pay what you can afford and dont ever let them get you upset with their silly letters:whoo: block their calls cancel your cards/bank accs and make sure you set up a debt management plan with payplan and tell minicredit to contact payplan only dont enter into phone calls with them and remember rule of thumb is 1 month interest +amount borrowed nothing else they wont issue court action and debt company they claim to use is fake:-x relax folow advice and whatever you do dont take a pdl again:madgrin:

debt collectors they are charging for dont exist pay token payment monthly advise them that no visit by them or anyone else will ever be convenient pay by postal orders only send all post by recorded delivery or better still special delivery open a spreadsheet and make a note of what you owe+ 1 months interest then deduct each payment you make from this then send them a statement of account each time you pay them

good for you in standing your ground the burden of proof for criminal courts is much much higher than civil ones and it is a high level of probability that they have to prove that you intended to defruad if you did not set out to defraud then yes say so just because you have had an overpayment and just because you have had a iuc does not mean that a court casde will happen make a point of getting the overpayment figure from the dwp-ask them to verify this figure do not admit you have defruaded deliberately -unless you have of course appeal the overpaymnt figure all the way the person you saw has to direct their paperwork to stirling office of dwp they make a decision which of course you can appeal it does not matter that you have had an iuc it does not automatically mean mag court date and remember even if it does it means onlt commuinty service and wrap on nuckles its not life threattening you will get through this stay strong dont admit guilt when you are not guilty and let me kno how you get on

fact is if you tell the truth you cannot go wrong in the iuc did you get option to admit overpayment and you would get a fine or caution? fact is even if it does go to court set up repayment plan make your first payment before court date if that happens -remember not every overpayment is prosecuted,as per advice above,admit over payment,set up plan,make payment,apologise for being overpaid and all will be well worst case mag court bound over or caution with unpaid work,most cases i have been involved with get dealt with out of court settled by dwp and accused with caution thats it admit overpayment but mitigate that you did not intend to be overpaid and you are sorry if you have been and as overpaid you have made arrangement and have made payment to start off-as per recent example above you will be ok-it is not nice but it is not life threatening and you will get through it trust me

read my prior threads re minicredit which take you step by step through process

you have to phone them ,they will fill out a form then they send it to you to sign once you have it make a copy and keep safe-put a letter then to mini credit advising that you have now complained about them to fos it does make a difference

1.contact disability alliance they have specific caseworkers that will deal with this discrimnination 2.open new acc-cancel old card 3.put offer in writing with token payment of 1 pound and keep paying that whilst you then refer these debts to payplan whom you arew going to set up a debt repayment plan with they will negotiate with minicredit nb never agree to pay more than 1 months additional interest +money borrowed 4.write to mc and tell them how it is-as they have refused to discuss in a reasonable way you are now referring this to payplan along with numerous other debts tell them that you will no longer accept calls or their silly text messages and that they should contact payplan instead 5.write to financial ombudsman make complaint 6.provide financial info to payplan only and agree a repayment you can afford-do not let these sharks make you stressed it is after all them who have ripped everyone off

you will have access to a duty solicitor in court and you can get at least 1 free sesion with a qualified solicitor if you are a member of a union or you have legal insurance you can call for a consultation which is free also i would do both add legal protection on your car policy/home insurance then call for advice then go to law society web check out welfare lawyers in your area all of hich will have an initial meeting with you free also contact cab as sometimes they will come with you and or represent you at court and at iuc's as it is an interview under caution of course you can say nothing.it may infer your guilt they will say before hand that "you do not have to say anything etc etc ..."this is what you are read out before meeting as it is an interview under caution same as if you were in police station be honest and give all information requested regarding what you are asked do not elaborate past what you are asked unless you are asked not being dubious here but answer questions you are asked not ones you are not.

please contact your local cab they normally will have staff that can attend these with you i think even if you have to pay a solicitor it is really worth paying

sorry if my last post was not clear what i meant to say was if someone was earning over 100 pounds a week and so were overpaid and teh overpayment for each month was 200 pounds for the purposes of the carers allowance working out if you had ben overpaid would they say ,you have been overpaid 200 pounds per month but you have priority expenses of 700 a month so do they deduct this monthly priority set of payments from the overpayment to work out if you have been overpaid or do they add the overpayment to what you earnt and deduct the priority payments please advise as i am sure this would be very useful to know for all on here

thank you for your response -so does that mean if you earn over 100 pounds a week ,and so technically cant get ca that that they take off your priority living expenses off of any overpayment to judge if you have been overpaid or do they use it as a barometer as to what you can afford to repay if you could please confirm i would be most grateful

i didnt think that all of these could be taken into account against income for this i thought it was strict allowance of what you earned only with a few things that could be taken off can you confirm that these are allowable as i would be most interested to find out

outgoings inc as far as i am aware childcare costs,union subs,pension conts,disbaled child additional expenses the only issue is that you have not advised of changes to your circumstances leading to overpayment i would do a timeline of what you earned and when and notify in letter that you advised them that you had been overpaid and that you were not aware of earnings limits until too late WHEN YOU ADVISED THEM OF THIS SITUATION. mention that although overpayment occurred it was not deliberately done ,you had not intended to get money you wernt due,and that you will pay back if deemed appropriate at a rate you can afford what you have received in error. check through your records to see if you had contacted them before you started work again just in case you forgot also mention as part of your mitigation that you have a disabled child anyone with any humanity about them would recognise how that circumstance can alone cause for your mind to be elsewhere not focused on minutae of forms and allowances-give some detail of this also remember not every overpayment is prosecuted -depends on circumstances.if you admit overpayment but stiplulate that although you realise now that you had gone overt earnings limit that at the time you genuinely were not aware of this criteria to which you are sorry all of this mitigation is appropriate and will lead at worst from hundreds of cases i know of to at worst caution or bind over or conviction but with commuinty service..normally you would get a fine of approx 150 pounds that is if it is prosecuted which it may well not be

good.

thats good.i still wouldnt send a cheque as they will keep trying to debit you months into future

most definitely -i would send it by postal order only and take a photocopy of the postal order and make a note of ref numbr so you can check if it has been cashed dont ever give them your bank account details remember if you have given them your bank details previously cancel that account today and open up another this is vital

yes thats right.make sure though that you contact minicredit and send a special delivery letter to them.contact the fso now, get the complaint ref number from them,complete the forms and sign them and staple a copy of the letter to the forms that teh fso will send you ,along with a copy of the special delivery receipt to the letter you send them ,wait for the prescribed time which i think is for the fso one month then when minicredit ignore your letter as they are based in shall we say an offshore location then send it all in and your complaint wil progress if you get the complaint ref which fso will issue you now over the phone if you phone it through you can then add that ref onto future correspondence to minicredit i would go through procedure with fso in addition to offering settlement figure direct.remember minicredit will try to get you to pay months and months of interest offer only one months interest +the original borrowed ONLY-do not agree to this -do not pay their ridiculous fees or anything else.Your stance is that the fees that they are charging along with the punitive interest is unfair according to the unfair contracts terms act.They wont proceed to court as no judge in County Court will look at their unreasonable contract and say it was fair and reasonable.In addition Minincredit do not want their agreements scrutinised as they are incredibly unfair you have to stay firm and in control and simply say no- if they dont conform to your request-block them calling you,cancel your bank account open parachute account redirect you salary credits and then refer to paylan debt management-still though at same time go through fso complaint process if it gets to this stage where no response after one month ,send complaint letter to fso document every letter email etc block calls but allow channel of communication through email only -this is important-Tell minicredit they can email you if they want to communicate that way you are seeming reasonable At this stage all you need to do is wait for their response but every month send 1 pound as a token payment.Make sure you send this via postal order and that you send recorded delivery,in addition make sure that when you send this in you state in the letter that this is not an admission of the amount they have said you owe but a token payment to show your reasonableness and that you are genuine in your settlement offer to them they will ignore your letter ,wont acknowledge your payment that is why send by po and rd then you can prove sent and received and paid continue with complaint with fso.stand firm and refer all to payplan,once you have waited at month for a response be it letter or email response,again do not accept their response via phone call as they will try to intimidate keep making 1 pound a month payments in same way direct whilst payplan are negotiating with them

i think that it is good advice to have a parachute account with nationwide which is a cash saver account would be useful -these accept salary credits in and direct debits out natwest does a basic account as does hsbc-i would change debit card then i would cancel driect debits with bank and minicredit then claim off of indemnity scheme if debits are taken without your consent ombudsman adds air of authority to your complaint and will act as intermediary and can take enforcement action follow advice given to protect your account -do that as soon as you can.do not agree to pay monthly by direct debit.with minicredit negotiate lump sum only as soon as they have your detail they will keep attempting to debit you even after debt has been paid-they are not to be trusted at all

absolutely no problem- although its not nice to go through you can get through it and i know from personal experience that it can be done if its been of use to you or others i am really glad to have been a help i would like to advise more on areas like this as i have personal exoerience which i think might be of help practical help,possibly consumer forum might employ me! keep me posted best regards

ok here wego.... date mini credit address Please note that i refer to my credit agreement with you ref........ I would like to make a settlement offer to you for this credit agreement which equates to one montsh loan+ one montsh interest payment which is ...... This figure is nonnegotiable. I have enclosed token payment to show my willingness to discharge this debt howevr please note that i will not ever recognise teh amount you say is outstanding as the interest charged is unfair .You might say that this was in term of agreement but i would contend that these were unfair contractual terms. however to avoid a protracted court action which would conclude witha lower monthly repayment or settlement amount please note my offer and respond within 14 days to my offer . yours faithfully, your name... place at bottom of letter cc.trading standards cc:financial ombudsman then .... 1.cancel your card you used with them to register 2.cancel any direct debit you have to them in writing and to your bank 3.write to them offering a settlement that you can afford either monthly or lump 4.write to fso google it for their address and complain about them 5.write a letter to minicredit making sure that you make ref to the complaint you have made to teh fso-send special delivery and enlcose token payment of 1pound 6.the letter you send must include detail of what you can afford and that you will not pay more than one months interest in addition to what you borrowed 7.make sure in your letter that you state that you will not accept any visit to your house from a doorstep collector as it would never be convenient and that you would call police if they did attend 8.go to letter templates in consumer forum for letter to send to doorstep collectors check to see if they have debited you if they have claim back through direct debit indeminty scheme remember if theydo pass to collectors there is more chance of your debt being frozen so it is actually better in teh meantime contact payplan so that you can get your debts structured and payments you pay out each month lowered inc minicredit

unfortunately with minicredit they dont do nice.they wont respond unless you make it clear you are aware of what your rights are incluidng not accepting visist from their doorstep collector you must also be firm with them in regards to settlement.i m not sure if previous poster has had any personal experience of dealing with this company but i have and i can tell you that they are a really awful company to deal with.they will only respond if you make clear you are not going to be exasperated by their tactics of trying to get you to pay 700 poundsinterest etc you wont get a better response if you are non legal as they think you are a push over and will keep harassing you-stand up to them tell them how it is and make sure that you cancel your debit cards get them resiiued with different numbers and if harassment gets too much contact paypaln i have had experience first hand of dealing with minicredit and thy do not understand or respect the nice approach incidentally the fso is worth involving as they are currently investigating payday loan companies such as minicredit and in my personal experience they contacted minicredit it makes you appear more determined and with companies like minicredit that means everything the office of fair trading is a waste of time,as is the BCCA,again i have gone down this route and i can categorically assure you that if you tell them(mc) how it is and make it clear you know your rights and if you stand up and say this is what i will do and this is what i wont do that they will take note and you will suceed.if you do as previous poster suggested they will walk all over you as they will think you are a soft target and they can take you to the cleaners

not sure what you mean inbox me? follow basic advice and stop your cards ask your bank to cancel and reissue i would even change account numbers of my bank this is most important and should be done right away.as far as letter simply state you can pay this amount monthly or offer a settlement figure +1 montsh interest and this is your final offer.Do not enter into phone cals and make sure you block their calls and tel them to put everything in writing ONLY. if you fiances need sorting i would contact payplan in any case as they are a fee free debt management company and they are helpful. they will do a negotiation with minicredit.do not pay minicredit all of their ridiculous interest.Stay firm and in control

i think it worth noting regarding this situation that if you dont have any prior convictions for similar and you admit the overpayment has occurred whether your fault or not that the court will see that you have made arrangement to repay and despite your having an overpayment you are repaying and that is the main focus really getting teh overpayment repaid. so for everyone who reads this story take heart in that although this is a formal procedure and you may get bound over or communitty service you wont go to prison- just remain calm and state your case to magistrates.i have seen many cases of this type of thing and i mean over a hundred.Every one is different in terms of how overpayment happened but it is worth noting for completeness that not every overpayment is prosecuted.Even if they are the balance of probabilities test needs to be satisfied and that is difficult. The main thing to do is set up repayment plan at what you can afford ,start paying it off prior to court date ,explain to magistrates and to IUC (if indeed you do have one) how it occured and that you are sorry it happened .I have seen many cases where benefits have continued to be paid despite person telling dwp of change in circumstance.the dwp can be incompetent.The staff are overworked and make mistakes .I have had cases where people have advised them by phone and by letter and yet they have still continued to pay out benefits! for anyone reading these threads for advice on this ,do not worry.admit the overpayment has happened and show you are repaying it with agreement of dwp. it is not true to say that cases end up in court every time as i have also had hundreds of cases where dwp after IUC have issued a fine after interview and a formal caution and that has been it.In essence there is no set way for dealing with every case and if you have deliberately defrauded you must admit guilt at first instance and set up repayment plan asap if you have deliberately defrauded and by that i mean making up names of family members you are caring for or working whilst on jsa then expect to be prosecuted as this is deliberate fraud.If the situation is one of simple overpayment for example if you have advised Carers allowance of change in circumstances and they have kept paying you then it is not you who is wholly at fault and despite overpayment there is no intent to defraud, and as such it would be more of a formal caution issued along with acceptance of overpayment having taken place with repayment plan in place. this is complicated area but i thought i would share my practical experience to alay fears and stress that some readers may have