P.S. The 'losing a court action' experience has left me pretty terrified of what can happen in court but I'll try and be a bit more positive! Thanks for your help.

Thanks Ell-enn and Mich, We do get housing support but we have a vast mortgage at a high interest rate and the housing benefit covers just over a third of our payment. So the total per month is just over £1400+£200 arrears on a mortgage tracking the Libor+?%.....anyway ...Lots! We got into this situation following very nasty things happening to my husband's business. We sued the baddies and after 4 years, lost . Hence enormous legal bill and ended up getting a re-mortgage with SPML. The idea ( not mine I have to say) being to find a better mortgage at the end of the fixed-rate period as my husband had found a pretty good job by then. However, my husband's stroke and general disasters in the housing market have left us pretty much stuck. We have three children, one of whom is also disabled. I have to say, I am very very grateful for the help the state has given us in this situation. NT.

Err...just wondering where I should look for info on challenging the charges made by Capstone, or are the management fees etc all allowable? Sorry if I'm being a bit dim but it does seem as though 60% plus of our arrears are down to interest and fees. Thanks, NT.

Hi Ell-enn, Yes, I do have all the documents and I think we qualify for legal help so I'll definitely look into going back to the court. I didn't know I could do that so thanks so much for your help. The £200 payment is really too high for us....finding £900 a month just for the mortgage is hard enough so it would make a big difference if I could get it reduced. Really kind of you to offer so much help, Thanks NT.

Hi, I shall have to have a good look for the documents! Will the court look at all the charges being made or will they just work out a schedule of what we can afford to pay? NT.

Hi Ell-enn, I had been preparing for the court hearing when the letter arrived saying that the order had been granted. I couldn't understand how we had missed it and it wasn't until much later I found the letters from Capstone informing us of the wrong ( much later date). I did write an appeal but became very disheartened and sort of 'gave-up' which was pretty stupid of me! Do you think it would be worth putting an appeal in now or am I just far too late now. The hearing was on March 2nd ( although their letter said May 5th) NT

Hi Olives, The statement I asked them for has just arrived but it is only from 31st December 07 and shows the amount as being £4598.19. I'm finding it rather hard to extract the costs relating to the arrears from the rest of the mortgage. It seems we are now being charged in the region of £32 a month interest on the arrears. The total interest on arrears this year is £1173.95 . There have been management charges of £50 ( amounting to £250 this year) per month in the past but I have managed to make all the payments, including the arrears since May and so I haven't recently had to pay this. There are legal costs of £1184.80 included in the arrears. They have a repossession order. We missed the hearing as we were sent a letter advising us of a wrong date by Capstone. At a previous hearing in December 07, the judge was sympathetic and SPML discontinued. Are these charges and fees all allowable or is there anything I can do to get them reduced do you think? Thanks, NT.

Hi Olives, Yes, I am repaying £200 per month on arrears but am finding this really hard as our fixed rate has finished, couldn't remortgage, can't sell the house and now have to find £1100 per month from a fixed income. They refused to convert the mortgage to interest only. I'm pretty sure that they are including all sorts of charges with the arrears which is why I've asked for a breakdown of the amount they say we owe. NT.

Hi, Just writing this as an introduction. Basically we are in a terrible mess following my husband suffering a very severe stroke in Jan 2006. He is now disabled and cannot work. We were sold a payment protection policy with the mortgage but despite paying five years' premiums in advance, it only covered 11 months payments. I asked for a refund on the unused premiums and was refused. The fallout from this involves huge bank charges, various PPI's and the threat of repossession by SPML. I have asked them for a breakdown of the arrears as the amount seems to have escalated since June. They refuse any repayment which will take longer than two years to repay the debt. I now have power of attorney over my husband's affairs and am just about to embark on the reclaiming of bank charges.... Anyway, thankyou for such a useful site. NT.