If Tiscali want to pay an exhorbitant amount of money for a doorstop collector to come round to your house then let them. To get the bailiffs round then Tiscali first have to get a CCJ against you and then you have to not pay the CCJ. A bog standard doorstop collector has absolutely no power whatsoever to come into your house and take stuff away. If Tiscali did try and get a CCJ against you then just defend their claim to get it thrown out of court. It's all done by post so you don't need to worry. Most likely Tiscali will not do anything of the sort because it's all empty threats designed to make you panic into paying them money. Also I wouldn't chase up Tiscali's loose ends for them. They're the ones threatening you, so you don't owe them any favours. Get them to do their own dirty work.

If it's been longer than 2 weeks since you sent them either your prelim letter or your LBA then you need to move onto the next step any way - stick to your time frame, not theirs.

No, I got the 'Sorry you aren't happy and we are investigating' letter which promised that they'd be in touch within 7 days. Then I got the refund. After that I got a letter saying the refund was purely a gesture of good will on their part.

Sorry it's taking so long mate. The only thing I can think of is they know where I work as my salary gets paid in by BACS, and they're scared of me!!

Any kind of reduced payment will be noted on your credit file. This will be wiped clean after 6 years.

RE: Bankruptcy - If you have contributed to the household bills, the OR may decide that you have a beneficial interest in the equity of your partner's property.

Open up a new basic bank account somewhere where you don't owe any money and make sure that all your income is paid into your new account. This is very important because the banks have something called the right of "set off" which basically means that if you owe them any money they can go into your current account and take out funds to cover payments elsewhere, such as credit card and loans. If you open a new account somewhere else it prevents your bank getting its hands on your money and then you stay in full control of it at all times. A basic account is an account with no credit facilities at all - no overdraft, no chequebook etc. so it is impossible for you to end up owing your new bank any money. Make sure that you keep all of your 'priority' bills up to date as Zooman mentioned. These are things like your mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities - any bill where the consequences include something more than taking you to the county court. As an example, if you don't keep your council tax up to date then you could end up in prison, or not paying your electricity bill could eventually end up with you being disconnected. Unsecured debt like catalogues, overdrafts, credit cards, personal loans, store cards etc. come very bottom of the list when it comes to paying people. The only thing they can do is try and get a CCJ to make you pay them back. They are normally the companies that cause people the most stress and hassle because they have the least power over you, and they know it. They have little chance of getting their money back except by frightening people to death. Tell all of your unsecured creditors that you have an appointment with CCCS and quote your client reference number. Don't try and appease them by giving them £20 here, and £50 there to get them off your back because it doesn't work. Your priority bills are the ones it is essential to keep up to date with, and everyone else can go hang. You are not under any obligation to speak to them on the phone, so don't. Don't try and keep up to date with your repayments to them, but it is important to offer them at least a token payment, such as £1 a month. Even if they tell you that they won't accept this it's important that you carry on sending it every month, as it shows you are willing to meet your debt commitments and that you are trying to do something about your problems instead of ignoring them. If you have any arrears with your priority creditors such as rent/mortgage/council tax/utilities then contact them to come to some kind of repayment arrangement. For rent/mortgage arrears then a year is a reasonable length of time to repay, and council tax tend to prefer repayment by the end of the financial year.

Cheers me dear! I want their blood, but money will do I suppose... HSBC are one of the worst banks I know, they absolutely terrorise my clients and it's revolting that they make so much profit off desparate people.

Hi all, I'm fresh from my victory over the Co-operative Bank who have refunded me £890 this morning, without me even having to send my LBA. I'm now looking at my old HSBC account, which was responsible for me having to take out a personal loan at 19.5 % APR to pay off all the extortionate charges that were added to my account. I'm guessing that this is going to add up to significantly more then the Co-op!

Done it!! Looked at my account this morning and the refund was just sitting there. I don't think they've even received my LBA yet. Next stop, HSBC.

LBA sent off this morning as I've heard nowt off them since 3rd August.

Carry on as planned - stick to your time limits, not theirs. If so many people are claiming then they should get more organised and employ enough staff to deal with all the claims.

Ha ha, I got a reply to my preliminary letter yesterday - "We're sorry you aren't happy..." - I notice that they're not sorry enough to do anything about it though!

Thanks, it's really rewarding I love my job, wouldn't change it for the world. I'm a wishy washy, do-gooding liberal and proud of it!!

Moneyclaim online is run by Northampton County Court which is the bulk processing centre, so instead of the normal amount of time they actually give the defendant 19 days to respond, which is why you can't enter judgement yet. I would definitely hold out, otherwise you are going to lose the £80 you laid down to start your claim. Either ask the Co-op to refund this immediately, or enter judgement tomorrow.