It was actually a Natwest Mastercard rather than Visa but sure that the outcome should be the same...

First made a claim on the 6th of January 2009 for £560 and today I recieved an offer for £564! I refused 2 initial offers- the first of £130 and the second of £145 and after 3 letters have recieved the full amount. It wa a surprisingly easy victory. Now if only they were so accomodating with my current account charges!!!

I have a £200 loan with moneyshop which I defaulted on after losing my job. I called moneyshop and asked them to deal with my partner as he is dealing with our finances and I have been suffering from depression. He made an agreement with them but they started to phone me on a daily basis to pressure me to pay more. I have just sent them the following letter to the head of debt recovery: Dear Sir, Harassment by Telephone Account number xxxxx I am writing to you in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have recieved from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing. I have previously verbally requested that these stop, but I wish to reinforce this in writing. I now require all further correspondance from your company to be made in writing to myself. I have also previously requested that you do not my parents with relation to my account yet despite this request you have continued to do so. Whilst I am aware that you have needed to make contact with e regarding the debt I made it clear to your agent that I was at the time sufferin from depression and therefore unable to make financial decisions. I provided them with authorisation to speak to a representative on my behalf both verbally and in writing yet this request has been repeatedly ignored and I personally recieved daily tlephone calls. I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards, the Office of Fair Trading and BCCA meaning that you will be liable to a stubstantial fine. Yours faithfully, xxxxxxx Waiting for a response...

I would send them all an offer letter stating how you intend to pay and get them to agree in writing, they don't have to accept but it is worth a try. there is a template somewhere on this site. When dealing with companies such as these I would always keep things in writing. Also, if like me they call you on a daily basis then you can send them a harassment letter. I did this with money shop and the calls stopped! Hope this helps.

Hi all, I lost my job in October last year and started a claim for contirbutions based jobseekers allowance. I have since recieved a letter saying I am not entitled as I have not built up enough NI credits. This is because I was a full time university student int he tax year ending April 2006. Does anyone know of anything that can be done? I am not entitled to means tested benefits as my partners salary will be taken into consideration but we have mounting debts. It seems ridiculous that even though I have worked full time for the past two years I am not entitled to anything! Any help would be appreciated!

Recieved the following response yesterday: Dear xxxxxx Account Number: xxxxxxxx Thank you for taking the time to write in response to our recent communication. In our earlier letter we made it clear that we are no longer able to offer you banking facilities. Despite your recent letter the Bank will not reconsider its decision. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group no longer wishes to provide you with banking facilities. I am sorry but I cannot enter into further correspondance with you regarding this matter. In regards to the complaint logged on 06 January, we have no record of this therefore we are unable to assist you in this matter. Also, in regards to charges to your account, you may wish to contact Customer Relations regarding this matter as they may be able to assist you. I realise that you will be disappointed with my response therefore to help make you aware of all the options available to you I have enclosed a copy of our leaflet entitled Making things better. Yours Sincerely, Account Closure Team So I will send my LBA for my charges to the customer realtions department and also send them the above letter regarding defaults and see what happens next.

There is a petition to cap the interest rates that can be applied to payday loans at the below link. If you agree please add your signature! Petition to: cap the extortionate rates of interest payday loan companies can charge. | Number10.gov.uk

Hello all, Just wanted to say hi...I have been reading this site for a week or so now and it has already made a huge difference to me. I lost my job in October and since then have not been able to tackle my debts but this forum has made me realise I am not alone andI have learnt so much...! So thank you!

Hi Tilly, Good to hear, in that case count me in...I'd love to meet others from the site! oh and the Horns in St Albans is a great venue!

Hi guys, Just wondering are these CAG Meets just for platinum members etc? I'm fairly new to the site but it has made a massive difference to me and I'd love to meet people in similar situations etc...

So today I have sent the following letter by recorded delivery: Account no: xxxxxxxx Account in Dispute Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to clarify that I am currently in the process of requesting a refund of bank charges unlawfully made to my account. I note from your latest correspondence (dated 12/01/09) that you are proposing to issue me with a Default Notice on this account. I need to make you fully aware that I am disputing the sum owed (complaint was lodged 06/01/09) and, as such, you must refrain from any further action until this dispute is fully resolved. The current Banking Code (Section 13.6) states: We may give information to Credit Reference Agencies about the personal debts you owe us if: ·You have fallen behind with your payments, · The amount owed is not in dispute; and · You have not made proposals we are satisfied with for repaying your debt, following our formal demand. I would also like to make you aware of The Office of Fair Trading Code of Guidance in which it states: putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive. This includes ignoring disputes about whether money is owed and refusing to freeze action if the debt is in dispute. If you do not stop this default action and proceed by making any adverse comments on my credit reference files or passing the debt to a third party, I shall be forced to take legal action against you under the Data Protection Act 1998. I therefore hope to receive your full co-operation in this matter and would like to request a written response to that effect. Yours Faithfully, I am not expecting a reply and I am fully prepared for them to register a default after reading othr experiences on this site but we shall see! I have my LBA preapared so if thay haven't made a specific response to my claim I can send it off. [/font]

I completely agree- be very careful when dealing with them. For the past 3 months I have had phone calls every day, they even started calling my parents despite me asking them not to. I have since sent them a letter of intent to take action over harassment if the calls did not stop and so far have not heard anything. They also refused to deal with a representative on my behalf which is a breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act.

Thanks, that is a great help. I will put together a letter to the account closure team reminding them my account is in dispute and then compose my LBA.

I just want to say congratulations on making the step to admit things and reach out. It is a big achievement. As impossible as it may seem right now there are ways out of even the worst situation and in starting to deal with you are making a big step and things will start to become moe positive. I have found that a lot of time what has the biggest effect on us is fear of the unknown and once you start to face up to things the fear will start to dissolve. CAG is a great place to get help and advice so if there is anything you are worried or unsure about then do post. Good luck!

I would have thought that this constitutes theft as your friend did not authorise the payment and the debt is not in their name. I have had endless problems with the moneyshop and my first piece of advice is to make sure all contact is made in writing, by recorded delivery. I would write to them stating that you believe they have acted illegally and that if they do not refund the amount within a certain time period you will make a complaint to the FOS. For every complaint the FOS investigates about them they are charged £400 so if te debt is less than this they may refund your friend and write off the debt. If you do not recieve a response in time or one that is satisfactory then you can complain to the FOS. Your frend can also threaten them with legal action as the debt is not in their name.