Thanks for these links much appreciated. One more thing I phoned Kensington about this a week or so ago and asked for a statement of the account to be sent to me so I could review all charges and then put my complaint in writing. This arrived yesterday. They said they have only charged me 2 charges canx of direct debit fee and the redemption fee. They've offered £50 ish plus interest on those two charges. Their statement of account makes no mention of all the £50 arrears fees and shows the redemption figure as being £15,000 less than what it actually was when I redeemed the mortgage! Is this just a simple mistake do you think? I'm not sure what to say back or where to start. I have some of the charges on some old statements but not all of them

Thanks Martin do we have a template letter for this on here? Am going to try it I think

Hi all bit of advice please sorry if am posting in wrong place. Can I still reclaim mortgage arrears charges from Kensington? It's from a closed account from 2007 Thanks

I didn't know, I didn't actually do anything but still want to try...

Please can anyone help me? I am in court on Friday morning regarding the repossession of my house that I own. I have arrears which have accumulated over the last 7 years totalling over £7k. I have always managed to come to arrangements and stick to these as best I could. In January this year I moved out of the mortgaged property because it wasn't big enough for me after the birth of my third daughter. My brother said he would rent it and cover the mortgage, and I could then afford rent on a bigger house. Problems hit in April when my brother lost his job. He hasn't paid me a penny rent since beg May. As a result the mortgage hasn't been paid as I cant afford it. When I got the notice of restored repossession hearing from the solicitors I tried to come to an arrangement with north Yorkshire mortgages. They said they would only consider this if I cooperated with payplan. I did this and had to fill payplans form in in my own time which took me approx 2 weeks to complete. Payplan told me to order full month payment plus £50 off arrears. I did this on Monday and today was told my offer was refused. Because of the level of the arrears and they don't believe I will stick to the arrangement. I think now they know I'm out of the house they just want to repossess. I am a single mum of 3 and have struggled financially but always worked and done my best to make ends meet. I know the arrears are high though... I don't know what to do. I feel I can't prepare for Fridays hearing its not enough time and I'm working tomoro and Thursday. Ive not even received any court papers only correspondence from mortgage company and solicitors. My brother doesn't give me all my post, god knows what he does with it. I didn't want to lose my asset. I'm so upset. I fought hard for 18 long years and now I'm going to lose it. What do I need to do for the hearing on Friday? I literally have no clue. Yours hopefully

I have sent my MP an urgent email also tonight - hopefully he will be in touch tomorrow. He has assisted me before in the past with CSA problems and been very helpful. This might sound stupid but how do I find out who my local councillor is?!

I am in receipt of child tax credit and child benefit. I haven't spoken to anyone in that section of the council no. I will try that tomorrow. The council appear to have "lost" my discount application form that I handed in in July when I went to see welfare rights. So they posted me another which I have completed and posted back to them today. I must admit I thought the same re attachment of earnings. I would have preferred they do that to sending in the bailiffs. I did inform the bailiff that those items were rented and on the Notice of Seizure of Goods he did asterix TV and dvd player only (not the cabinet), and said "third party claims". I have today got a copy of the rental agreement from my mum - these are in her name and I just pay them from my account. So I have the proof that these are all rented. Do you mean dates of when the bailiff fees accrued? I've only had 1 missed visit from them, and then on the second visit I stupidly let them in. I presume those fees are for that day when I let them in. In the morning I am going to email the council and copy in Bristow & Sutor as an official complaint. Apparently I have to complain to them first before I can complain to their ombudsman. Thanks everyone for your help so far - really appreciated. I feel a lot calmer about everything tonight having read your replies.

Thanks for your replies so far. WD - I have asked them to give the debt/liability orders back to the council but they are refusing to do so. They are basically refusing to listen to me at all and basically saying "tough - we'll take all the goods then" ... so how do I make them return the liability orders to the council? I have also asked the council if they can contact the bailiffs themselves and ask them to return it back to them but they said they wouldn't. I've also emailed my MP tonight in the hope he can offer some assistance. Other than that I don't know what else to do. I'll have to see what welfare rights say on Wednesday morning at the appointment and see if they can make the council listen or the bailiffs. Have I got any right to complain about the bailiffs to anyone and if so who?

I would be very grateful if anyone out there can advise me as to what I can do regarding my council tax arrears please and how I can get these awful bailiffs Bristow & Sutor off my back. They are demanding £996.69 by Thursday 17 November, and then 4 monthly payments of £995 by the 17th of each month. THEY HAVE BEEN IN MY HOME (I was ill and let him in without even thinking or realising that I had the right to not let him in) and have made me sign a NOTICE OF SEIZURE OF GOODS/WALKING POSSESSION AGREEMENT. A little bit of background. I am a single mum of 2 girls age 9 and 14. I struggle financially even though I work full time. I have various debts totalling over £15k and arrears on my mortgage of £3k (fighting repossession proceedings as I type). The reason for my struggle is that I receive no child support from the girls dad - he currently owes me approximately £6k in CSA arrears. Ironically he gets away with a £50 per month payment to his bailiffs! I know that I have been very very foolish and silly to not pay council tax. I have paid occasionally when I could afford to, but not every month. I owe 6 different accounts. It was previously with Marstons bailiffs but they passed the account back to Stockport MBC as Marstons were no longer working for the council, and the council have now passed it to the new bailiffs Bristow & Sutor. I have been to Welfare Rights for debt advice who are part of SMBC, and they suggested I pay £160 pcm to the council tax. This was in July this year. I wasn't sure I could afford it and since then I've had further problems with mortgage arrears, and various other debts, and so I've just avoided sorting out the council tax (I also suffer with severe depression and am taking medication) - this sometimes makes me just bury my head in the sand to avoid sorting out my finances. Sometimes it all seems too much for me and I can't face it. I know that sounds ridiculous but I just get so upset and worried I literally can't face the phone calls etc. So unfortunately I come home from work on 7 November to find a "Notification of Bailiff Visit" from Bristow & Sutor in my porch. My daughter found it on returning home from school. It wasn't in a sealed envelope as I believe any communications from bailiffs should be? The day after receiving it I was off work ill with a kidney infection and got a knock on the door. I didn't even think it could be the bailiff and just answered it. I was in a bit of a daze (had just woke up and the kidney infection/antibiotics making me dizzy), and he said he needed to discuss my council tax arrears with me so I let him in. I told him I'd received his Notice and I was going to call him once I'd worked out what I could afford to pay. He just sat down and started scribbling away on his pad. He handed me the Notice of Seizure of Goods to sign, without explaining what it was. It was blank when he asked me to sign it. I did so without even thinking (again, probably because I was ill and feeling dizzy and light headed). I was talking to him and telling him the amounts outstanding are incorrect, because my 25% reduction hadn't been deducted for being a single parent. He said I should phone his company and sort that out and they'd be able to come to a payment arrangement with me. He told me he was giving me 5 days to ring his company and come to an arrangement to pay. So I thought it was all going to be okay once I phoned them. He handed me another piece of paper to sign with the amounts outstanding, He then started noting down all the contents of my lounge on a piece of paper which he attached to the Notice of Seizure of Goods. He put down the following: Washing Machine Dryer Microwave 2 wardrobes in my bedroom (the only wardrobes I have - leaving me with nothing) TV from lounge (which is rented from Martin Dawes) Rug in lounge 2 piece leather suite - cream - (leaving me and the children nothing to sit on) Glass tv unit (rented from Martin Dawes) Wii console (the children's christmas present last year) DVD player (rented from Martin Dawes) PC and printer (the girls computer for school work) Hi fi system Lamp in lounge The amounts outstanding according to him (but as I have said some are incorrect are: £1282.31 with fees of £61 and £12 £818 with fees of £49 and £12 £767.32 with fees of £48 and £12 £215.40 with fees of £30.00 and £12 £1279.31 with fees of £61 and £12 £237.85 with fees of £24.50, £31 and £12 As he left he said his company usually only gave 3 months to pay in full. At this point I became very worried because I knew there was no way I could pay in full within 3 months. I began to panic. I phoned the Local Authority council tax section as soon as he had left. They said they would send me out the form for the 25% discount, but that I had to deal with the bailiffs as they had passed the accounts to them. I then phoned Welfare Rights who are part of the council to see if I could speak to a debt adviser for some advice. When I got through they phoned the council for me to see if they would take the debt back - they wouldn't. They then phoned Bristow & Sutor for me and said they have done a financial statement with me previously, and I can only afford to pay £160 pcm. Bristow & Sutor said they would confirm to me in writing if that was acceptable. On Saturday 12 November I received Bristow & Sutor's response dated 10 November confirming my proposal to pay £160 pcm was unacceptable. But they would accept payments of £996.69 by 17 November and then 4 payments of £995 per month by the 17th of each month. It is impossible for me to pay this money. It is virtually all of my wage! How would I be able to live/pay my mortgage/look after my daughters/food/gas/electric etc etc and all of my other bills? It's just crazy. I couldn't do anything over the weekend because everywhere was closed. Today in my lunch hour I tried to phone the council again. They were again very unsympathetic and wouldn't listen to me and refused to talk to me about it. They said that I had to talk to the bailiffs. I tried the bailiffs but couldn't get through. I phoned welfare rights again. They have made me an emergency appointment for Wednesday 16 November at 10.30 am. My dad phoned the bailiffs for me this afternoon, and they basically said that if I don't pay what they asked for they will remove my furniture/belongings as listed in the Notice. I don't know what to do. I am at my wits end. My children know something is wrong because they keep seeing me crying. My eldest daughter knows because she is a teenager and I have explained to her. I am worried they may come to the property when she is here alone after school before I come home from work. Can they break in if she is in the house on her own? Have the bailiffs acted in the correct manner and according to the bailiffs code of conduct? I feel I have been misled by them and I don't think they have acted in a fair manner. I have heard that any communication they post through your door should be in a sealed envelope - but it wasn't it was left in my porch for everyone to see. They have listed things that are my childrens ... is that allowed? they have listed both my sofas, both my wardrobes, my only rug in the house to sit on ... Even if they sell all of those things, it won't recover anyway near the debt that is owed. Surely it is in their interests for me to come to an arrangement to pay with them - at least them they are getting the cash and not bits of furniture/belongings that won't raise the cash anyway, but only upset me and the children right on top of christmas. Can they do this? Can I refuse them entry? I really don't know what to do. I'm sick with worry. Any help or advice would be massively appreciated. Hope someone can help.

Hi all I'm relatively new to consumer forums having only posted once or twice previously so apologies if I'm in the wrong place, please point me in the right direction if so. I have two potential PPI claims with Welcome Finance. The first one is a loan that was paid off in September 2004 when I remortgaged. It was a secured loan with welcome. I don't have the paperwork but have the account number from my mortgage redemption statement and the amount that was paid off. I know this loan had PPI or I wouldn't have secured it on my house, but I'm going to try and reclaim PPI and see how I get on. Am I correct in thinking I need to write to welcome re this and not the FSCS as it's over 6 years ago? Secondly, I took out an unsecured loan with Welcome in November 2006. This was for £2000, plus they added £180 Lifecare 24, £805.40 PPI, £75 acceptance fee plus interest on top of £2641.27. They told me I wouldn't get the loan if I didn't take out the PPI. I was desperate and I took out the loan at a time when I was in a very bad financial situation. I shouldn't have even got the loan because I wasn't in fact working at the time. I made the first few months repayments and then fell into arrears. I couldn't pull it back up to date. Welcome got a CCJ against me for £4071.73. I know that I have a mis-sold PPI claim re this second loan for definite, on two grounds, firstly the fact they said I wouldn't get the loan without it, secondly they didn't ask me re any medical conditions which wouldn't be included if I claimed, and also possibly the fact that I wasn't working when I took out the loan? what I need to know is can I reclaim the PPI for this second loan through FSCS.. . or will I need to set aside the CCJ first, and if so, how do I go about doing that? Thanks in advance of any helpful comments.

Hi HeatA Yes I did get some joy eventually ... although it did take some time and lots of phone calls and emails! I complained in writing to Cash Genie (sent by post and email to the address for complaints in their terms and conditions on their website). Obviously Cash Genie didn't reply. I had threatened in my complaint letter that I would take further action if a satisfactory response wasn't received, through the BCCA/Financial Ombudsman. As I didn't receive a reply in writing at all from Cash Genie some two months later I decided to write to BCCA just to see if it got me anywhere. BCCA were extremely helpful. They acknowledged my complaint almost immediately and they had a contact at Cash Genie who they spoke to and got me a refund of about £480. This was paid into my bank account within a week. My only regret was that I didn't write to BCCA sooner! I would suggest you do a strongly worded complaint letter to Cash Genie - explain your financial hardship position and the situation they have left you in. Also try phoning them - in some cases they do offer a refund straightaway, but if that doesn't work then do the complaint letter. Stipulate a period for them to come back to you - I think their website says they deal within complaints within 14 days or something like that. Then if you haven't heard back from them forward your complaint letter to the BCCA - again details can be found on the cash genie website in the terms and conditions. Hope this helps - let me know how you get on. In the meantime if your struggling this month you could always try a crisis loan from the benefits agency, if your bank won't give you an overdraft to tide you over. Good luck

Thanks to everyone who's replied. Just thought I'd update you all. I got a response today from Cash Genie to my "urgent complaint". As a gesture of good will they are prepared to refund £50 to my bank account. They are not willing to refund any more than that as they say I owed the money. They don't believe they have acted illegally or fraudulently as the terms and conditions clearly state they will use whatever methods they can and have access to, to recover monies that I owe them. They said when I filled in the "everyday is payday" application online, I agreed to their terms and conditions also, which clearly stated that if I had any outstanding loan with Cash Genie they would clear that loan in full before processing any application. Obviously in the very small print which nobody reads! I was in tears on the phone. I phoned trading standards at lunchtime today and they can't help me. They told me basically what a couple of have you have said, which is that they can't do anything as the company haven't acted illegally or fraudulently. Their terms and conditions which I have agreed to clearly state the action that they will take to recover outstanding monies. I tried my bank again, and while they are sympathetic to my situation, they say that they can't refund the payments to me. The only thing I can do is wait 30 days and then try and claim back through Visa, but this will involve them contacting Cash Genie, and Cash Genie said they won't allow them to reclaim the money that they took. So that will probably be all in vain too! They did however increase my overdraft by £100 to help me out a little bit over the next week or so. If Cash Genie refund me £50 as well, at least I will have a little bit of money to live on, for food etc. I'm going to phone council tax and mortgage in the morning and try and sort things out with them both if I can, hopefully they will be a bit more sympathetic than Cash Genie were and hopefully we can come to an arrangement about this month's missed payments. I am going to complain in writing to BCCA, which Cash Genie are a member of, and Financial Ombudsman, and also Office of Fair Trading. I'm also going to complain in writing to my bank to see if there's anything else they can do. However, I don't honestly think it will get me anywhere. But at least I know I've tried every avenue possible. These companies shouldn't be allowed to do this to people though, whatever their terms and conditions say. CCCS say that I should ensure priority debts are paid, such as mortgage, council tax, living expenses etc, and then any remainder to creditors. How can it be right therefore that payday companies can just raid people's bank accounts, without any notification to the customer, and without any consideration to individual circumstances, and without making sure that priority debts are paid? It's all very wrong. Like Robjam said, I think I'm just going to have to put this one down to experience... and will never EVER touch a payday loan again for as long as I live! Be warned anyone considering to take out a Cash Genie payday loan!!!!

Hi, I'd be grateful for any help/advice that anyone can offer please. I'm new to this site. The past year my debts have increased, partly due to not receiving maintenance payments from my ex-husband for almost a whole year. I have a bad credit rating anyway from debts that he ran up when we were together in joint names. The past year I have built up mortgage arrears of £2500 and council tax arrears of about £2,000. I have sorted out my mortgage and council tax repayments, and that is all going fine at the moment, but some months I couldn't even afford food and to pay for school fees etc and so I (stupidly) turned to payday companies for help. I am in the process of completing the debt management plan with CCCS to try and sort out all my debts once and for all. I don't think it can make my credit rating any worse than it already is. I cancelled my bank cards a few months ago and stopped rolling over the payday loans. I've been heavily depressed and on medication, even though I'm still working full time. My debts and finances really get me into such a state. I was refusing to face my problems and instead not opening mail, hiding in a drawer in the kitchen. Avoiding phone calls. I've been so stupid I know. Anyway, on Friday last week I came to pay my mortgage and didn't have enough money in my account, the card payment was declined. I went online to look at my bank statement, and Cash Genie had took 15 separate debit card payments from my bank account, totalling just under £700. The original loan was £150! I phoned my bank to say that I hadn't authorised these payments and wanted to report this as fraud. I asked the bank how had they put through card payments on a cancelled debit card? The bank advised me that they had actually used my new debit card details! The crafty company had emailed me when I was at my lowest point offering a payday loan with everday is payday or something like that. I stupidly clicked into their link and filled in my details for another payday loan. I didn't get the loan this time - but they got my card details didn't they?! They then used this to take all my money from my account! They have left me with no money to pay my mortgage, no money for my council tax payments that I have to stick to. I'm scared that my home will be repossessed and the bailiffs will come back and remove furniture. I tried phoning Cash Genie. They didn't want to know and basically told me it was tough luck. I've emailed them a letter of complaint and posted to head office. I've tried phoning and still nothing, they still won't offer a refund. I've threatened to report to Trading Standards, BCCA, Financial Ombudsman etc. But they aren't budging. My bank say I can try and reclaim the money back through my visa debit card 30 days after they took the money, but that doesn't help me with my immediate problem of not having money to live on and to provide priority bills! I am at my wits end with worry and I don't know what to do. Can Cash Genie legally do this? Surely it amounts to fraud? I am disputing the amount they have even taken from me, I believe it to be theft from my bank account. Has anyone had similar experiences with Cash Genie and managed to get some money back? Yours hopefully TeamEdward38