Hi indebtstudent, Basically I was on the tenancy agreement however when we moved in it was agreed I would deal with the rent and landlord and my flatmate would deal with the utilities. We had a few problems with the gas due to an estimated bill that was extremely high but my flatmate was not good at talking to people over the phone and tended to get fobbed off quite easily. I tried calling southern electric about this problem and was told thy would only talk to the account holder so my flatmate called up and asked them to add my name as a person authorised to discuss the account. This was done and I thought that was an end of it until a couple of weeks ago whe they called me about the outstnading bill. I dont know if they are pulling a fast one and simply contacting me as they have my details on file, any idea what they must provide in order to prove I am liable? Cheers, DB

I spoke with her today and apparently her cards was recently cloned and her bank accounts wiped out however this does not explain why she was not making the monthly repayments. She was struggling to pay her portion of rent and bills when we lived together and now she is renting on her own i suspect she is struggling even more and has spent the money for this bill on living costs. I have asked to to speak with them to make some kind of payment arrangement as, as far as i am concerned, i have paid her the full amount I owe for this bill and also to have them remove my name from the account as, as she has clearly spent the money i gave her for my share of the bill, it is down to her to sort this out. I do not know if they will be able to do this and appreciate they will not differentiate between u in terms of seeking payment however does anyone know if I fight it on the basis of being able to prove i made payments to her in good faith in order to pay off this bill? I did consider legal action against her however knowing the state of her finances i doubt it would be a viable option. DB

Hi, I moved out of my rented property in August 2009 and due to a mistake by Southern electric my flatmate and I had been under paying for gas and had a bill of £418 at our final reading. After checking this was correct we agreed with Southern electric to pay £105 a month for 4 months. As we were moving out it was also agreed that I would transfer half the £105 to my flatmates acount each month and she woud pay the full amount. I have references to this agreement on email between myself and my flatmate however it is in a conversational format over the 4 month period (Me: i have transfered your half of the outstanding gas bill Her: great how many more months are left to pay etc...). I also have bank statements showing the amounts transfered by me into her account matching those mentioned on the emails. I recieved a call from Southern electric today to inform me the bill was still outstanding and had no payments had been made since July 2009. My flatmate was responsible for the utilities however as I had to speak to them on occasion and apparently my name was added to the account as a bill payer. They have now threatened legal action/debt recovery and as my name is on the account this will apply to me aswell. Can anyone tell me where I stand with this and what courses of action are open to me??? Many thank in advance, DB

Bit of an update, Further to me sending the details of ammendments to the agents they have replied that the landlord will need to agree to any changes and that the company they use is very thorough and, as far as they are concerned, the inventory is valid. The landlord called and arranged to inspect the condition of the property with me and we went through all the various issues to be ammended. As usual he was very vague and to each item he responeded "yeah ok, thats fine" but did not confirm any intentions regarding the checkout and if he would actually attempt to deduct anything from our deposit. Despite emails I have not yet had a reply as to whether the ammendements have been agreed and wonder if the above makes any difference to my previous email. DB

Hi, Im in the middle of an ongoing claim from December 2006 when I was knocked off my motorbike. The bike was written off, the other party has been prosecuted for driving without due car and attention and having no insurance. My injuries were mainly around my groin and have taken over 18 months to be properly assessed and has come back with a statement that it is likely I will now require IVF to conceive. I am using an insurance appointed solicitor, provided as part of the legal cover with my policy. Can anyone advise on two things - 1, I have been told that claims must be resolved within 3 years. Is this 3 years since the date of the accident or 3 years from filing a claim with the solicitors? I am concerned that the 3 year mark is fast approaching and noend is currently in sight. 2, As the other party was not insured the damages/compensation will be coming from the motor insurers bureau who I have been warnd will attempt to limit any compensation given. On that basis what can I realistically exect to be inlcuded in the claim? So far the following has been mentioned - The cost of the motorcycle and equipment (helmet/leathers) Estimated cost for IVF treatment Estated cost of semen banking (as advised by medical consultant) Further to this no one has brought up anything to do with the distress the accident caused (including the distress that me and my parting have undergone not knowing if we will be able to have children), the 2 months I was forced to take off work due to my injuries, any mention of the psychological effects of the accident as I still have an involuntary shudder when crossing some roads and junctions. I dont want to sound money grabbing here but I do want to make sure dont get fobbed off with the first figure they offer and am hoping to find out what they should be taking into account to ensure nothing is left out. Many thanks in advance, DB

Hi, My flatmate and I are due tio move out at the end of the month and, among other things have only just got our inventory. This has been a long drawn out, 17 month, argument with the agents who were meant to provide a copy when we moved in. Apart from a number of items that were not inlcuded on the report, which I have now emailed them details of and am awaiting an agreement from the landlord, I have noted that all the rooms, appliances ect have been classed as domestically cleaned and in most cases it was even stated that they were not "professionally" cleaned at the beginning of the tenancy. Our lease stipulates we must have professional cleaning carried out before we leave, this seems fairly clear cut but as the property (as stated in the inventory) was only cleaned to a domestic standard when we moved in are we obliged to arrange/pay for for professionals or can we just ensure it is the same standard of cleanliness as when we moved in (i.e carried out domestically by ourselves)? Also we have a loop pile carpet in the living room which has been cut and joined in the recess of a bay window. Whilst hoovering a strand of carpet from this join was caught and by the time the hoover was shut off there as a 1 foot long and 1/2 inch wide patch unravelled. I have spoken to a qualified carpet fitter who has stated that loop pile carpets should not be cut and joined in for this very reason. On this basis can the landlord deduct from our deposit as I would look at this as either fair wear and tear or that the carpet was unfit for purpose, especially as the T&C's of our lease say we much keep the place cleaned which would include regualer hoovering. Many thanks in advance, DB

Hi, I have had a reply back from the online retailer, can anyone offer any advice as I no longer have any bank statements and the accout in question, athough active, is part of a DMP and therefore not in use but has funds availible. Here is the email they provided - You are welcome to check your billing records, but I assure you that you were never charged. I had no merchant account at the time due to an international move of my own. I was embarrassed about the lack of card facility, so I sent the shirts out hoping to sort out the billing quickly. This dragged on and on until I had supplied about £12,000 worth for free, and as you may know I am a one man show, not a big company. Your order #3869, which can be seen in your history on our site, was for a shirt and a vest & was placed on 10 July and posted 17 July last year. The value was £31 incl post. Your card expires August next year. I hope this clears the matter up and look forward to hearing from you. Many thanks in advance, DB

Hi, I have woken up to an email from an online company called far canal (a printer of novelty t-shirts). The email is as follows - Dear customer, During last year you placed an order on our website and chose to pay by credit or debit card. This order was processed and you have had the shirts for some time now. However a system problem caused us to not take payment on your order, and this has only now come to our attention during an audit. We now need to take payment of this amount as soon as possible, but to avoid any embarrassment we would like to let you know in advance. If your card details have changed, or should you have a problem with meeting this payment in the next few days, please contact us urgently. If we do not hear from you, we will try to take payment between 23rd and 31st of July. You can verify the status of this order by logging in to your Far Canal account, selecting "My Account" at the top of the page then choosing "View the orders I have made". We are sorry for any inconvenience due to any false sense of extra wealth this may have caused you during the past few months. Regards, The Far Canal Team Now I recall placing an order around a year ago, recieving the goods and the payment coming from my bank account. What I need to know is do they have any rights to attempt to take payment after such a time especially as there is no proof that payment was not taken. I am currently in a DMP and the account I made the purchase on is now not in use and overdrawn so no funds will be availible. I have already emailed them back stating as far as i am concerned the transaction was completed and I give no authority to remove funds from my account. I have also pointed out that their email is suspiciously lacking any reference to the trasaction or myself i.e an order number, amount owed or even my name. Thanks in advance for any thoughts on the above, DB

Im wondering if it is an option to withhold the final months rent until the dispute is settled. I realise this is an extreme option and may well be a breach on my part however as they have no valid inventory it will be easier to let them keep the deposit and pay them the extra i.e £750 deposit to be returned plus £350 from me to make the £1100 monthly rent than let them have the final month and be unable to get the deposit back. On a seperate note I spoke to a different agent whilst attending a viewing on Monday who says Foxtons are not members of any voluntary regualtion scheme (as estate agents are not governed by a regulatroy body like banks and travel agents) and as such create teir own rules as they go along with no one to stop them. Its all well and good him telling me their inventory, if there is one, is worthless but if they are free to do as hey please where does this leave me in the real world? DB

Looks like we may be moving out sooner than we thought as a property hs become availible that we would be silly to turn down. As such im still trying to fin out where we stand with this inventory and check out business. The agents have still not been able to provide a copy of the inventory and I cant tell if this is a stalling tactic or whether they just dont have one. Can they charge for a check out if there is no inventory as they have nohing to check out against and can £99 be classified as a reasonable fee if they do finally provide one? Many thanks, DB

They only admitted over the phone they had carried out the inventory after we moved in and as far as they are concerned we did not need to be present though I also feel they have broken conditions by entering without our consent. At the moment im just trying to find out where we stand because if the inward inventory is invalid then there is no need for an outward one or the £99 they want to charge. Also £99 does not seem a "reasonable" fee for checking off an inventory.

Hi, Me and my partner are due to move out in August after an 18 month lease with foxtons. We recieved a letter today confirming the end of the tenancy on the correct date plus a note that we will be obliged to pay £99 for an inventory check out report as per clause blah blah blah of my lease. When i checked this i found it stated that we must pay the agent/landlord the reasonable cost of the checking of the inventory. I cant see how they can check it as we have never had an inventory. According to Foxtons one was carried out, without our knowledge by a 3rd party after we moved in, and we have neither seen a copy or signed one. After a phone call to Foxtons I was told they would forward a copy and that they considered it to be binding. The 2 questions I have are - 1, Does anyone know what is considered reasonable as £100 seems excessive for someone coming round for less than half an hour (in my experience) to check the place over against a list. 2, Where do we stand with our deposit as there were some defects when we moved in which could easily be blamed on us if the supposed inventory clerk didnt spot them. Any other advice on the above or our situation in general would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, DB

Hi, I currently have a claim on hold with Lloyds for about £4000. I have just heard of the Hardship exemption and fit several of the criteria. I recently enterned into a DMP with payplan (though lloyds have not yet responed to the offer). As payplan now take all my surplus cash to distribute between my creditors I am racking up charges on both my current and loan accounts wth lloyds (I have switched to another bank for my personal banking so the accounts are just racking up charges). What I want to know is can I claim whilst in a DMP, does the DMP prove financial hardship (on top of bounced loan payments and being over my overdraft limit every month) and will claiming effect how lloyds respond the the DMP? Many thanks, DB

Hi, My motorcycle was stolen outside my home last year and the insurance company would not pay out as it meant to be garaged at a different address between 10pm and 6am. It had broken down and I could not get a mechanic/breakdown frim to look at or move it until 3 days later, sods law it was stolen on the 2nd day. I have had to accept the loss on this but am now looking to get a replacement and want to know if I need to declare the theft when taking out a new policy? I am aware that any claims will affect the price of my policy but as the insurance ompany did not pay out, as I understand it, there was not a claim? Does the fact that I had a vehicle stolen need to be disclosed if it did not lead to a payout? Any thoughts on the above, or the refusal to payout, would be greatly appreciated! Cheers, DB

Southern electric (GAS) have sent me a huge bill which im disputing. This is their first actual read since i moved in 12 months ago and the initial read (provided by god nows who as the agents were meant to arrange the utilities and the first contact I had with southern was when bills began arriving in my name) was 590 and the actual read was 1444 and has led to a bill of £990 due to their estimated bills being too low. The two probelms are - 1, The actual meter read is 14444, they have the flat as having a 4 dial meter when actually it is a 5 digit digital (no decimal point) and they are currently "investigating" this. When questioned they even admitted because they have us registered for a 4 dial meter their system will only allow 4 digits to be entered even if the meter reader provides 5. 2, Once the above is sorted out and they have the correct 5 digit meter on their system we will have the problem of our initial (move in) read as 590 units andan actual read of 14444 giving a bill of about £10,000 which i dont think is physically possible for a small 2 bed gas and electric flat. What I want to know is once they have updated their records and got everything sorted can I dispute the initial read? As this shows us using 15000 units of gas in the space of 12 months and there is clearly no way now of gettingthe correct reading would they be likely to refuse if I suggested taking a week or two's readings on a daily basis and then calculating the average to work out what we owe? I have no problem paying for the gas we have used but dont want them to take the p*ss and overchage us. Cheers, DB