dcahelp - pleased to hear that, finally some good news! My life was pretty much a disaster zone as well when the repossession happened (no job, no savings, cam belt on the car went, wife left me for the carpet salesman...) and the likelihood of me being able to make up the shortfall is nil - the bank knows exactly how much of a mess I'm *still* in financially, maybe they're expecting me to auction my kidneys on eBay or something? Just for the record, does anyone know what would happen if the case went to court in the current circumstances (IE completely the wrong amount of money being claimed?) Do they have to withdraw the claim and issue a new one or can I just make them look stupid? Thanks, TSP

Hi All, Hope I'm not being stupid with this one but your comments would be appreciated: My house was repossessed in 2009 and, at the time, there was also about XXX months' worth of unpaid mortgage owing. I kept an eye on various property web sites and found out that the house was eventually sold a few months later for about 40k less than the value of the mortgage (this was just after the "recession" hit). After hearing nothing since then I've had a letter through today from XXX solicitors acting on behalf of Lloyds demanding the full value of the mortgage plus mortgage arrears. Now, in my hillbilly, red-neck mind I thought that the property was security for the mortgage, and yet apparently when Lloyds repossessed my house they obviously thought they were entitled not only to get the house back (for free) but also to recover the full amount of the mortgage as well. I'm half tempted to let this one go to court (although no court at all would be fine with me, of course) because there's obviously been some kind of cock-up, or is it me being the idiot? Thanks, TSP

brassnecked, hallowitch - thank you for this. None of the points made in your posts or the template appear to have been taken into account by either the bailiffs or the council, and no deduction has been taken from my JSA today. As I mentioned before, the council has a copy of my JSA claim and entitlements letter so they can't say they weren't aware of this and have obviously gone with the easy option of taking more than they might get otherwise - the accepted repayment arrangement is approx. £12 a week (which I stipulated) and I *can* afford to pay this, but adding bailiff's costs on top of this won't help the situation and I want to make sure that no enforcement action is taken. I'll read up on the legislation that's been mentioned and get a letter sorted out tomorrow. Once again, you're all stars and I bow in humble deference to you all TSP

Update: The ACEA Code of Practice can be found here: http://www.acea.org.uk/code-of-practice/ Although unemployed people are indeed identified as being potentially vulnerable, the document doesn't really go into how this might be assessed - the focus seems to be on people that are mentally or physically ill, bereaved or that have learning difficulties. Also, towards the end of the document it mentions the options that creditors can take if they are unable to secure the debt, one of which is "attachment of earnings or benefit" which (excuse my bad if I'm wrong here) presumably has to be applied for through the courts. As I haven't seen or heard anything about this from the council I guess they haven't done this yet and therefore won't have contacted DWP about this. However, based on a quick scan through this document there seems to be quite a lot of useful info in there, so thanks brassnecked. Sad thing is there seems to be no impetus whatsoever from high-up to review exactly what bailiffs do and how they do it - would it really kill them to do it or is there a vested interest in everyone maintaining the status quo? What happened to the sacred concept of "a man's home is his castle"? TSP

Thanks again everyone for the advice I'll go through the guidance document that's been mentioned later on this evening - I'd be interested to know what they mean by "potentially vulnerable". I should get my JSA through tomorrow so will know whether any deductions have been taken or not, but will make the repayment anyway if it hasn't just so I'm not giving anyone a chance to say that I didn't comply with the bailiff's/council's demands, etc. Next step is another letter to the council I guess - woo hoo! I wish I could bill for mine and everyone else's time... TSP

Thanks for all the responses I haven't had any direct contact with the bailiffs yet so the council has definitely been in contact with them (also, the council know exactly what my situation is as they've had copies of original JSA claim/acceptance letter and repossession order). They've confirmed in writing that they won't withdraw the order and that they won't accept payment directly from me so I don't know whether asking again will do much do. Vicki/stuggling - thanks for the advice, I've had so many dealings with DCAs, etc. over the past couple of years that I'm well versed in the art of sending *everything* by 1st Class Recorded and keeping a copy of all payments made, etc. Despite me asking twice I've had no itemised breakdown of the legal costs just the unpaid council tax so (in theory) I should owe less than the original amount - I read somewhere that these people like to see the debt settled in 9 months which would just about work out right based on a slightly reduced figure and my proposed repayment amounts. seanamarts - I did expect them to deduct the repayments from my JSA but I won't know whether they've done this until I've received my JSA this week, my guess is that they're probably not going to do that though as they haven't said they would. Again, council has my NI number so they've got all the information they need. My main concern now is trying to make sure I don't get any visits from these 'people' - on their web site they say: I asked the council about this (saying that I didn't want these people visiting or adding on more fees) and they said that there shouldn't be any need for the bailiffs to take any further action if I make sure the repayments are made. Does this sound like I might be able to avoid a visit, or avoid them levying anything? Thanks, TSP

Hi All, Another update: Finally heard back from the council - they're not prepared to backdate the claim and won't let me pay them directly or recall the order. In total, bailiff's costs work out to around £300+ but have had no breakdown as to what this is made up of, however the council did state in writing that provided I keep up with the repayments there should be no need for the bailiffs to take any further action - this contradicts what my letter from the bailiffs says (naturally). So who's right? Thanks for any other advice, TSP

Hope you all had a good weekend... tomtubby - will certainly do as suggested, thanks. Had a letter through from Jacobs saying that they've accepted the repayment proposal (not that I've acknowledged I owe anything) but they're saying that they will still visit and "levy" my possessions, plus I'll be charged for the privilege. Is this right, given that I've agreed to start making payments? As previously mentioned, I'm certainly not going to let them in because the property isn't mine and I'm just staying there as a guest anyway. No news from the council in question so I'll chase this up tomorrow. The saga continues... Thanks for everyone's help, BTW - I really appreciate it, TSP

Thanks for that information tomtubby. I contacted the council in question today and they were - to some extent at least - willing to reassess the order, but they did say that if I didn't have the council tax benefit in place at the time then they wouldn't take that into consideration. In the circumstances, me not having the council tax benefit in place was a technicality and (as you say) someone should be prepared to back-date my claim as I wouldn't have had to pay the council tax if the benefit had been put in place in time. I'm due to sign-on in the next week or so, so I should probably discuss this with the employment advisor. The council also seemed oblivious as to when the property was repossessed so I've had to send over a copy of that order as well. It seems a bit funny that the council wasn't notified that a property in their district was repossessed - the water board always seem to know when a property has changed hands, with their bill sneakily hiding behind the front door the moment you step over the threshold for the first time So, the end result today was that the council were prepared to call the bailiffs off for two weeks while the details of the order are reconsidered. Not sure whether this was the right thing to do but I asked to set-up a monthly repayment plan *if* I owed any money, but I said that I couldn't accept the liability while I wasn't in possession of the facts. I'll try and keep updating this post as-and-when anything new happens, but thank you for everyone's much-appreciated help so far...Be lucky! TSP

Thanks for the responses - I'll speak with the council tomorrow. The whole liability order thing stinks - yet another thing to hate about rip-off Britain TSP

Hi All, I hope someone can help me please - situation is as follows: In 2009 I lost my job and went on JSA, then about a month later after signing-on I had to go to court for repossession of my house (due to missing 6 month's worth of mortgage payments). When I registered for JSA I asked to make a claim for council tax/housing benefit but the advisor didn't put it on the system so I didn't get it and wasn't aware that I wasn't getting it. Anyway, house got repossessed at the end of the year and about one week(!) before it got repossessed I had a claim form from the council for council tax benefit. As I was being chucked out I didn't see any point in completing it. Also, I'd previously spoken with a housing advisor about my repossession so the council were aware of what was happening. So...wind on a year and a half and I get a liability notice sent to my new address that the council don't have (because I didn't actually have anywhere to live at the time of the repossession) about unpaid council tax from Jacobs, "certified bailiffs" in Merseyside. Apparently the case went to the magistrates court at the start of 2010 and I supposedly owe lots of money, which must almost certainly be made up of court costs and whatever else has been added on as I reckon I must have "missed" two payments at the most. My questions: I've just sent an email to the council asking them to delay any action but the letter says specifically that I'm not supposed to contact the council, is this right? Also, what rights do I have with regard to seeing the order and finding out how the charges are broken down? Finally, I read in the "MAGISTRATE COURT FINES" sticky at the top of this forum that only 3 companies can enforce a magistrate's order - does this mean that Jacobs can't enforce it and that they're just trying to scare me or am I missing something? Thanks in advance - appreciate any help on this one as I was just about getting my life back on track TSP

More info from the company records - praise be to Credit Gate! Amberley Clarke Ltd (company no. 06478159) was struck off and dissolved as of 08/09/2009. The Online Group of Companies Ltd (company no. 02719157) is subject to a "voluntary arrangement", which is defined by Companies House as follows: UK Online Media Ltd (company no. 06412247) is registered as being "dormant" IE no significant accounting transactions allowed. HTH, transparentspoon

Can add some more information to this...I got one of these today (haven't called) and a quick bit of searching turned up a company called Amberley Clarke whose business is listed on Yell.com as 'Debt Collector' and address is 4th Floor, 59 Piccaddilly, Manchester M1 2AQ. Web site for the company is here http://www.onlinedebtcollection.co.uk/ but it's conveniently under construction. Note that 'UK Forwarding' is probably not a real name (maybe not even a trading style) but I haven't checked the usual company record sites yet. One odd thing - if you look at the source code for the above site, all of the meta data includes a company name of "Box Office Publicity Ltd". There is also an assocation with "The Online Group of Companies Ltd" - more details can be found here: http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=111690&page=2 HTH, transparentspoon

I put up a post about this a while ago (in connection with Debt Clear Recoveries) but - briefly - dormant companies are in breach of the Companies Act if they handle any financial transactions over-and-above those need to administer the most basic aspects of a company. From the GBA10 document: Anything apart from the following would almost certainly be defined as a "significant accounting transaction": payment for shares taken by subscribers to the memorandum of association fees paid to the Registrar of Companies for a change of company name, the re-registration of a company and filing annual returns payment of a civil penalty for late filing of accounts HTH, transparentspoon

I'm sure 'Theresa' is not that kind of girl! Without wishing to be crude though, it must have been awfully cold outside when that picture was taken, judging by her rather prominent... ...don't make me say it

CCS seem a bit - secretive? Anyway, I found this site for them if that's any help: https://www.ccspay.co.uk/index.php?page=forgot_password It's nice to know that debt collection agencies and solicitors are cosying-up with each other these days I also like the way that you can't find out their telephone number unless you have a login. This is also them: http://websites.uk-plc.net/Clanchatton_Birmingham_Ltd_TA_Commercial_Credit_ServicesFGroup/contact.htm And this one for good measure: http://www.ccsg.uk.com/ Odd thing is that this company is called Commercial Credit Services while there's also another one with a very similar name called Commercial Collection Services: ccscollect I don't think these two can really be making that much money though, judging by the quality of their logos and web sites Mmm...broken tags ahoy!

Too right that Wescot are falling on hard times - a picture of 'Jason' from their 'Legal Services' team showing some smiling callcentre drone in a Wescot t-shirt...when was the last time you saw anyone legal wearing a t-shirt and working in a callcentre ? Sadly, in these tough times it also appears that they can't even afford a PR person these days... Wescot Credit Services Corporate The lack of any kind of investor-relations page also seems suspicious - the doorstep lenders and DCAs absolutely LOVE bragging about how well they're doing. And if you didn't already have a good reason to boycott Unisys, you do now: Wescot Credit Services transforms core systems with zero business disruption Detail Page

Just to add my experience of Wescot... 1. Had a web hosting account with [rubbish ISP] which I cancelled probably five years ago. Then got a crummy letter from Wescot a year later saying that I owed £??? for the hosting service, which [rubbish ISP] had renewed automatically even though I wrote to ask them not to - in fact, they still renew the account like clockwork every year! Like an idiot, I paid the money to make Wescot go away - but this was before I started getting militant. 2. Recently cancelled my phone with BT as I moved out of the property, then sent them a "full and final settlement" cheque to pay the outstanding balance (having had problems with them before, I felt the statement was necessary) and subsequently owe them nothing. I've since had two letters from Wescot saying I owe £??? to their client BT, with the letters sent to an old address that I used to live at (the address is my parents and Wescot must have scammed it from a credit check as BT doesn't have it). Despite me not owing BT any money, Wescot have gone into full "last opportunity to pay before something nasty happens" mode in the space of a week. I haven't responded to either letters but I still feel pretty 'cheesed off' about it - seems like some kind of convulated fishing expedition by Wescot. Both bills are/were under £20, BTW. For the sake of our sanity, please DON'T pay Wescot anything. If they don't get any more payments ever then the company won't make any profits and will go under

Dachshunds can be a bit yappy anyway - classic 'small dog' syndrome I guess. The only way to get to the real root of the problem is to imagine that you're the little dog and see how things look from his perspective. You also need to remember that adults dogs have a mental age equivalent to a 2 or 3 year old child. Would you get away with shutting a very young child in a room on its own all night? Of course not, but yet we expect to be able to do that with puppies. The barking is attention seeking, and the dog has made the link that when he barks, someone reacts (good or bad, it doesn't matter which!). Once the pattern is established (which is unavoidable, as with babies crying) the dog will keep up the pattern even if nobody responds, because that's what worked in the past. For this kind of continuous nighttime barking to occur at such a young age, I would suggest that the barking is because the dog doesn't feel safe on its own. Given that it wasn't so long ago that it was with it's mother and siblings, there needs to be some kind of substitute for it - one good way of doing this might be to put an item of your clothing (jumper?) in the dog's crate, the familiar smell will make it feel a little bit more comfortable. I've heard that having a small clock can work as well - the ticking provides a constant reassuring sound. You also need to look at how the utility room is at night. Is it cold? Can the dog hear any funny noises in there? Is the light on or off? Finally, what goes on in the evening for the dog before it goes to bed - has it been sleeping all evening or has it been lively? Have you tried a quick little walk round the garden just before bedtime, so the dog can relieve itself and get a bit of fresh air? This is also probably a good time to give it a little bit of extra attention, though without exciting it. The way to get the best, contented behaviour out of a dog is to make sure that it can relax IE it's not worried about anything, it's confident of its role within the 'pack' and it knows when things are supposed to be exciting (when you get home) and when they're supposed to be calm. Hope that helps, and good luck!

That sounds like a good plan ("oh, so there is a plan?" one might wonder). Thanks for the link - will read through this properly to avoid any more stupid questions. It's very kind of you and the others to give up your time answering the same questions over and over again... Thanks

Hi Ell-enn, Yes, I was going to send over the written statement that goes with Q27 but I haven't written it yet (I promise I'm not being lazy) Having a few problems trying to get JSA at the moment as they don't like to give it to unemployed self-employed people it seems. Nevertheless, I still have to fill in all their forms and go to their little meetings. They also messed up my application for council tax benefit so that's got to be restarted. Ho hum, anyway - thank you for your support, I'll try and get the defence statement wrapped up tomorrow evening and if you have a moment I'd be grateful if you could take a look please. Thanks again

Hi Ell-enn, Thanks for that. I don't want to take up your time unnecessarily but would it be alright if I sent you over what I've done (when I've done it) just for a second opinion? Re: your comments about the AoS, I'm a bit confused - I spoke briefly with a solicitor's secretary on Friday and they said to get the Acknowledgment of Service form in right away, so that it would give me more time to defend the claim. There seem to be two forms on the HMCS site: N210 (which looks relevant) and N210A (which doesn't). I realise that going on the word of a solicitor's secretary doesn't count for much but as what you're saying makes sense I won't argue with you! It seems a bit unfair that you can get additional time to defend some claims but not others though - I would have thought repossession warranted that facility. What happens if I don't get the defence back within the 14 days? Is it better to not be too specific in the defence statement and wait until I have all the information to hand. My problem is that my meeting with the solicitor is not until the week after next (I've got a free consultation but that was the earliest they could offer, and CAB have been useless) and I don't want to look stupid by putting in irrelevant information or saying something that works against me Also, I have to get a valuation carried out and that won't have happened within the 14 days. Thank you!

Hi, Not sure whether this is the right place to ask for it, but could somebody give me an overview of how the Acknowledgment of Service (N210) form is supposed to work please? I've downloaded the form from the HMCS site but my claim form makes no mention of the form or what I'm supposed to do with it. Haven't found any proper advice yet so I thought I'd ask the experts My claim relates to repossession of my house, and also a money judgement being ordered against me. Issue date on my letter from the court is 4th August, date of service is 8th (according to their site) and hearing date is 1st September, and need to get the AoS off as soon as possible. My questions are: 1. Do I just send the form in on its own or do I need to send any other paperwork? 2. Can I do this online? I've got a login but couldn't see anything about it on the site (possessionclaim.gov.uk). 3. If I send the form in, will this mean that the hearing date is automatically rescheduled or does everyone have to agree to it first? Any other advice would also be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Hugh, I'm replying mainly to get your message back up to the top of the forum. I'm probably going to be in a similar position to you soon (repossession and 40k of debts) but fortunately it's just me on my own. With a bit of luck one of the site team might be able to help. As your questions are mostly related to bankruptcy it might be worthwhile checking if there's a forum on here for that and finding out who the moderator is. As mjc said, you need to think of your health first but you have my admiration for trying to keep everything together. I'll qualify all of the following by saying that I have no legal experience, am not legally trained and you should view the advice that I give on that basis. To put that in context, imagine that you'd just stopped somebody in the street at random and asked them what they knew about repossession and bankruptcy Best advice I can give is to start contacting the government-funded schemes first. Whereas they're not too keen to provide legal representation unless you're eligible for Legal Aid (by legal representation I mean attending court hearings or writing letters for you) it's their responsibility to give you the best possible advice as to your rights and responsibilities. I don't want to detract from the good work that organisations like the CAB may or may not do (they gave me no help whatsoever, so I'm biased) but if you do arrange to see them make sure they have somebody available with some experience - the CABs are run by volunteers and in some areas these are mostly staffed by little old ladies There may also be community lawyers available in your area that might provide a limited form of legal service for you but I'd imagine there might not be very many of these about. I would be careful about petitioning for your own bankruptcy because you will be subjected to (as I understand it) very intensive scrutiny of your finances and possessions, and non-essential possessions can be taken from you for sale. Your bank account(s) will probably be frozen as well - you can open a new one but the number of banks that will provide you with a basic one will be severely limited (a debt counselling service such as Payplan has a list of who provides what). I suspect that getting a business bank a/c would be even more difficult - you'd have to be able to justify it in the context of the work that you're going to be doing, and resign yourself to the fact that things like overdrafts won't be available (not that you might have needed them if you were a one-man-band with few expenses). I don't know what the issues are with regard to the company - it's presumably possible for the company to be transferred to someone else (by way of a change of directorship, perhaps) and you could then work for the company as a consultant. Alternatively, you might be able to create a basic (sole trader) company whereby you're just known as Hugh J. t/a HJ Consultancy Services. This increases your personal liability though so obviously check what this entails before considering this route: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1073789606 There's also the IVA route, but this has earned itself a bit of a bad name because of the conduct of some firms (essentially charging large amounts of money for little service, I believe). Government schemes recommended you approach only licenced practitioners - anyone that you see advertising their services on the telly in commercial breaks during The Jeremy Kyle Show or a soap opera is probably to be avoided! Here are some links to get you started (links 2 and 3 are probably most relevant): What happens when you become bankrupt? : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits Alternatives to bankruptcy What is bankruptcy FAQ 03 - What is involved in going bankrupt? The Directory - Find a legal adviser As you'll be able to see, bankruptcy isn't always the right option and even if C®apstone petition for your bankruptcy then this is still subject to the legal process IE you could argue that another solution is more appropriate. Best of luck!

Thanks for this - I just checked on the Office of Fair Trading's Consumer Credit Register and Debt Clear are not registered, nor are they listed as a trading name under MBNA's licence. The guidance note from the OFT (which can be found here) suggests that they might not need to have a category F licence as the rules have clearly been fudged about with by the OFT to exempt them from needing it (the rules were stricter in earlier versions). Nevertheless, there might be the possibility of making a claim against a DCA if they've broken these rules: On first read that section didn't make much sense but the distinction can be found in the use of except and including (up until Oct '08 you did need a licence if the debts were assigned to you, but not any more, at least I think that's what they mean). The document also states: I shall be asking them whether they've got one or not anyway of course just to make them work more...