If you look at my original post, you will see i stated that my surplus, is negative £250 a month. I now only have my salary to support myself, my mortgage, and my two children. The confusing bit, is that i keep seeing this £1 a month thing. They can all take me to every court they like, i don't see where its coming from.

The bit i dont understand with the posts above.. is that a credit card debt after 6 years is written off, so to speak.. but, only if you haven't made a payment? doesnt the £1 count as a payment ?

Ive just written to 5 credit card companies, saying that i couldn't afford to pay them. I included a statement of incoming, outgoings.. which totalled a -£250 a month total my question is, should i pay them £1 a month >? (ive seen this written all over the place)..

ok. have worked out a budget sheet, and it works out at negative £250 a month. should i be offering a token £1 a month to each of the creditors, or nothing? yes, my financial situation is now dire. i need information on the joint loan i have with my wife. i cannot afford to pay for it, but she likely can. what happens with this.

I have 5 credit cards, and a joint loan with my wife. when contacting the credit card companies, what do i do about the shared loan. Will they just split it, with what my wife has to pay, and what i have to pay, and i treat the 50% of what i owe, as a normal unsecured loan, just like the credit cards? (when offering them an amount to pay each month)

Reading the advice about non-priority debts and what you should offer those creditors... it says, You cannot split your surplus, between credit cards, and then pay a loan.. (basically).. however, what do you do in the case of a joint loan?

Had a supposed ''manager' phone me today, after my intial phone call. I explained to him it was a poor way of doing business, i thought i was illegal etc. Also, told him fine, you can have an extra £9.30 out of me over the next 10 months. but that after that, i would not have another T-mobile contract for the rest of my life, for both myself and my family. I don't think they will come out of it better off , long term.

T-Mobile current contract 7. Changing Charges and terminating this Agreement 7.1. Changes to Services and Charges 7.1.1. We can lower any Charge at any time without telling You beforehand, although We will try to tell You if We can. 7.1.2. We can suspend, change, increase the price of or withdraw part or all of the Additional Services on giving active users of the Additional Service a reasonable period of Written Notice. The change will then apply to You once that notice has run out. 7.1.3. We can suspend, change or withdraw Your Price Plan or Price Plan Services. We will give You Written Notice 30 days before We do so. The change will then apply to You once that notice has run out. 7.1.4. We can increase any Price Plan Charge. We will give You Written Notice 30 days before We do so. The change will then apply to You once that notice has run out. 7.2. Your termination rights 7.2.1. You can give Us notice to terminate this Agreement, to take effect on or after the end of the Minimum Term. However (except as set out in point 7.2.3) if, in our total discretion, We accept notice from You to terminate this Agreement within the Minimum Term, You will have to pay Us a Cancellation Charge. You can terminate this Agreement without having to pay Us a Cancellation Charge after the Minimum Term has ended. 7.2.2. You can only give Us notice to terminate this Agreement by calling customer services. Your Agreement will terminate 30 days from when We receive Your call, although You are free to change Your mind and call Us to withdraw Your notice of termination at any time during that period. You will be responsible for all Charges up to and including the date that this Agreement terminates. 7.2.3. A Cancellation Charge won’t apply if You are within the Minimum Term and: 7.2.3.1. Our entitlement to operate the Network ends at any time; or 7.2.3.2. You are a Consumer and the change that We gave You Written Notice of in point 2.11.2 or 7.1.4 above is of material detriment to You and You give Us notice to immediately cancel this Agreement before the change takes effect; or 7.2.3.3. The change that We gave You Written Notice of in point 7.1.4 is an increase in Your Price Plan Charge (as a percentage) higher than any increase in the Retail Price Index (also calculated as a percentage) for the 12 months before the month in which We send You Written Notice and You give Us notice to immediately cancel this Agreement before the change takes effect. 7.2.4. If You are terminating this Agreement and a Cancellation Charge doesn’t apply because the circumstances outlined in clause 7.2.3 have occurred, You can then ask for a refund of any unused Pay As You Go Account balance that You may have.

#Info from OFT guidance on unfair contracts Group 12: Price variation clauses – paragraph 1(l) of Schedule 2 Schedule 2, paragraph 1, states that terms may be unfair if they have the object or effect of: (l) providing for the price of goods to be determined at the time of delivery or allowing a seller of goods or supplier of services to increase their price without in both cases giving the consumer the corresponding right to cancel the contract if the final price is too high in relation to the price agreed when the contract was concluded. 12.1 The OFT's objections to variation clauses generally are set out under Group 10. If a contract is to be considered balanced, each party should be sure of getting what they were promised in exchange for providing the 'consideration' they agreed to provide. A clause allowing the supplier to increase the price – varying the most important of all of the consumer's contractual obligations – has clear potential for unfairness. 12.2 Any purely discretionary right to set or vary a price after the consumer has become bound to pay is obviously objectionable. That applies particularly to terms allowing the supplier to charge a price on delivery of goods that is not what was quoted to the consumer when the order was placed. It also applies to rights to increase payments under continuing contracts where consumers are 'captive' – that is, they have no penalty-free right to cancel. 12.3 A price variation clause is not necessarily fair just because is not discretionary – for example, a right to increase prices to cover increased costs experienced by the supplier. Suppliers are much better able to anticipate and control changes in their own costs than consumers can possibly be. In any case, such a clause is particularly open to abuse, because consumers can have no reasonable certainty that the increases Unfair contract terms guidance 58 imposed on them actually match net cost increases.29 12.4 A degree of flexibility in pricing may be achieved fairly in the following ways.30 • Where the level and timing of any price increases are specified (within narrow limits if not precisely) they effectively form part of the agreed price. As such they are acceptable, provided the details are clearly and adequately drawn to the consumer's attention. • Terms which permit increases linked to a relevant published price index such as the RPI are likely to be acceptable, as paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations indicates, subject to the same proviso. • Any kind of variation clause may in principle be fair if consumers are free to escape its effects by ending the contract. To be genuinely free to cancel, they must not be left worse off for having entered the contract, whether by experiencing financial loss (for example, forfeiture of a prepayment) or serious inconvenience, or any other adverse consequences.31 12.5 Terms of this kind, and acceptable amendments, are illustrated at Annexe A under Group 12. 29 A right to pass on VAT increases does not attract these objections, since such changes are (a) outside the supplier's control (b) publicly known and verifiable and © universally applicable, so that the consumer would not be any better off with a right to cancel. 30 Note the absence of a 'valid reasons' route to fairness. The OFT does not consider that use of 'valid reasons' normally justifies price increases, essentially on grounds stated in paragraph 12.3 that is, lack of verifiability. 31 In home improvement contracts (guidance OFT737), discovery of 'structural problems' should not be a basis on which the consumer can be compelled to pay higher prices unless the term is qualified in the same way as a right to cancel on adverse survey – see paragraph 6.1.5 and note. Unfair contract terms guidance 59 Group

Have just had delivered a letter from T-Mobile, saying that my contract mobile price was going up. by 3.7%. Phoned them up, and apparently, the contract allows them to increase the price giving 30 days notice to any price they like, and i have to pay it. Surely this is unfair as:- 1) If i had known they could do this i would not have agreed. 2) They can make the price £200 a month for 100 minutes. and i cannot do anything about it It seems an unfair contract to me. Ive had the contract for 1 year and 1 month. due to end Feb 2013 (24 month contract). I haven't dug out the original terms and conditions. (but who reads them!?).. I've never had a mobile phone contract increase in cost, on any contract, ever. How does the law help me ?

All that will happen.. if people will park in the streets surrounding their workplace. further annoying local residents.

Steven.. this is helping not at all I guess the information i require:- a) under english normal common law, can you set up a contract with someone, anyone, for a minimum term, and you can write to them, and insist the contract will end , when the minimum period is over. *I suspect under normal english law, that this is the case. T-Mobile, are insisting that me giving them notice in June to end a contract that finishes in September is not acceptable. and that i MUST phone them, EXACTLY 30 days to cease the contract at the end of the min term. *I suspect that this is a violation of the unfair consumer contracts law.. however, after reading it,, i'm finding it difficult to pinpoint exactly which part would apply. But everything i read in the law, gives me the gut feeling that what they are doing here breaks that law. The contract is heavily biased towards them, and their needs. As i mentioned, are contracts part of common law? I believed, perhaps mistakingly, that a contract can be ended by either party in writing at any time (subject to cancellation terms etc, if there is a min term). however, what i'm asking them to do, is cease the contract on the last day of the minimum term. not unreasonable at all in my opinion..

Sent them this letter...

I currently have an 18th month contract with T-Mobile. due to end in september. I have written to them stating that i do not wish to continue the contract after this date (ie: a cancellation). The have acknowledged by letter, that i wish to cancel, but insist that i must contact them by phone exactly 30 days before i wish the contract to end. And this is also in the terms and condition. (which i have never read). This seems completely ridiculuous to me. unfair terms and conditions etc. What is the point, of having an 18 month contract, unless thats how long it lasts. Surely, english law must be on my side, when i send a letter. etc. I cannot phone them 30 days before i want the contract to end, because i will be on holiday.