Hi there. I wonder if anyone has had the same problem.... I had an account with Barclays which I had a high overdraft on due to being a single mum I was unable eventually to maintain it. When Barclays changed their OD charges, I was paying huge amounts every month. I went into the branch and explained my situation and after some phone calls, I was advised the account would be closed and debt written off. I was advised that I would probably receive some debt collectors letters but I was not to worry too much as this should stop after one year. I occasionally receive a phone call from a debt collector, after I explain my situation- they call off. Imagine my surprise when I received a letter from Barclays saying that they will refund me £1,373.75 because “they feel they did not meet their standards for assessing customers like me”... .however, I will not actually receive this money back as they have applied it to the account to reduce what I owe them. My question is - are they allowed to do this as they have clearly already sold the debt on to a debt collector and informed me they wrote the debt off. Does anyone know where I go from here please. Thanking you in advance.

Congratulations! Bet it's a big relief. X

Hi everyone I would be grateful for some advice on my Halifax mortgage. Approximatly 3 years ago I first started having problems with meeting my repayment mortgage monthly payment (various reasons including pay cut, relationship breakdown etc). I contacted Halifax and they agreed to switch me to a interest only repayment indefinately. I also received a letter confirming this arranagement which did not state any end date on it. Then about a year ago I received a letter stating that they were now going to switch it back to a repayment mortgage. I called them and was advised that they had changed their policy now on interest only mortgages and as such would now only let people stay on interest only for a maximum of 3 years. After explaining to them that I was still not in a position to pay the full repayment amount each month and could they offer me any help, i was informed that the only thing I could do was increase my mortgage term to end by my 65th birthday. As this was only about 4 years than my current term, it only worked out about £40 less per month and still much more than I could afford! I asked if there was any other option I could do including offering to pay interest only amount plus extra £100 on top (making the shortfall £75 per month). I also advised that my work situation would improve in the next 12 months as I would be able to go back to work full time when my child reaches secondary school age. Thus, I was asking for a plan I could just about afford for a small period of time and then go to full repayment status again. This was refused immediately. I also asked if my term could be extended until my 70th birthday which I had calculated would also be an affordable monthly payment - was immediately declined. The Halifax new payment came into force 4 months ago now and thus far I have been unable to pay any month the full amount! I have received lots of default letters adding default charges to my arrears - but to date I have seen little point in calling them as I believe I will be pressured into accepting something that quite simply I cant afford!! Then 3 days ago I received a demand letter stating that if they dont hear from me in next 7 days then they will send out their field agents and charge me £100 per visit! I now have to face the music so to speak! can anyone give me any guideance on this? To put it simply I want:- 1) to agree a plan which would mean I pay only £75 less per month than the full repayment amount. 2) It is a short term arrangement for no longer than next 12 months - then I'm happy to switch to full repayment amount. Thanking everyone in advance!

ok. good luck hon. x

oh thank you very much for all the info Gbarbm. very much appreciated. x

hi everyone im just renewing my tax credits and would like a bit of advice please. im NOT self employed and i dont have a company car but i do wear a uniform and drive to work. i have a few questions id like advice on:- 1) on the "work expenses" part - am i able to deduct a reasonable amount for the cost of petrol to n fro work? or am i only allowed to do this if its a company car? 2) am i able to deduct the cost of dry cleaning my uniform? 3) i pay into a salary sacrfice pension - as its a company pension - am i NOT allowed to deduct this from my total gross earned? i have asked the tac credits people in the past but they give conflicting advice (dont seem to actually know and not really care to help!!) - hence i dont trust their answers! any help very much appreciated.

Hi AJS, Just wondered if you had heard anything more from m&s and any accompany DCA lately? As you know, my m&s story pretty similar to yours. last time i heard anything was march 2012 by one of their many DCAs! After sending DCA very pert letter to say the least! - well lets just say I dont want to tempt fate - but still waiting for a reply - But definately not holding my breath!!! LOL! Im wondering inlight og santandar court case - maybe just maybe - they may be seeing the light?!

hi caz if you tell swinton you want a copy of that telephone conversation when you told them "NO" that should work. if not, then follow my story from rebels link above. you should not have to pay anything - not even the £50 as they will try to say "its in terms n conditions" rubbish!! threaten FSA etc. good luck! let me know!

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/cooling-off-and-cancellations/ scroll down this link to "financial products and svcs" which includes insurance. http://shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft140.pdf scroll to page 8 headed "Variation of agreements" think this is relevant too! hopefully this info might help some of you out there getting XXXXXX by insurance companies!

Hi Rebel and Uncle! Thx again for swift . Just a quick update - after calling the customer services complaint team yesterday (and a quick call to the fsa first!) - the advisor started to spout terms and conditions etc and I advised him that I knew my rights and that i had already contacted the fsa before calling him! anyway, i wasnt expecting any solution until earliest monday - well he called me back just now and said he had spoken the branch and agreed to waive ALL CHARGES!!!! must admit - i was expecting a fight on my hands - so pleasantly surprised by this sudden swift turnaround! Yesterday the advisor was adament that swinton could do what they wanted as was in t&c!!! anyway, lovely quick outcome and thx for yr advice. but rebel, i did do quite a lot of research last nite on the CCA bit and as far as i can see - the credit agreement for this type of "running credit for insurance" is now bound by same/very similar rules. there was a recent amendment to the CCA i think about one year ago which meant that this type of agreement now has more rules in place than it did before. the main one being - that insurance companies can no longer use last years agreement as binding if the amount £ has changed. they used to be allowed to send a "variation" letter 7days before 1st payment - now they must send a complete new agreement with all usual rules in place (re cooling off period etc) and i believe the pre-contractual info too. so anyone else on here - having similar problem with any insurance company - it maybe an easier route to take if the normal route is proving difficult!!! ill see if i can find the right link and post up for others! im not expert but definately worth trying i would say!! thx again!

Thank you Rebel for swift reply. I am going to do the complaint letter. however, i would also like to have some extra ammunition up my sleeve!! I am thinking along the lines of unenforceable credit agreement as i know a bit on this subject anyway and i dont think it can hurt to have a bit more adverse info on swintons!!!

Hi everyone. My car ins was with Swinton & despite me telling them on the phone a month before renewal - that they should just send me the quote & if I wanted it - I would call them back - I didn't call them. I renewed with another company and then received a text on sun 27.5.12 from Swinton saying "thx for renewing with us!" As Swinton doesnt open Sundays - couldnt call until monday. I was then assurred by Swinton that I would not incurr a charge as long as I sent them copy of my new insurance to prove I had not used Swinton for that one day! The following day I received letter from same adviser telling me that I would have to pay £118 for "the period of cover that I had already received"!! - ONE DAY COVER!! Which I didnt anyway as I had renewed on sat 26.5.2012! The breakdown of this £118 is as follows:- £50.00 Swinton's cancellation fee £25.00 Swinton's service fee £32.00 Swinton's direct debit interest fee (NO direct debit had yet been due or taken!) £11.00 Provident's insurance fee for ONE days cover (which obviously wasn't needed by me either!) i have called them and asked to listen to call which supposedly I gave them authority - THEY have listened to call & even though they admit that I didn't give them authority - they are claiming they can still charge me this as its in their terms and conditions! Their reasoning for this is because in said call I didnt actually specifically say I definately did not want it!! Its worth pointing out that the adviser DID NOT tell me on this call that should Swinton NOT hear back from me - that they would assume i wanted it and thus incurr charges! Surely the Law states that all t&c should be in clear easy to follow manner?! I have raised complaint with their head office but swinton have already sent me another letter threatening debt collectors and more fees if i dont pay (it has not even been two weeks yet since renewal!) i have called FSA and been given a reference but swinton have 8 weeks to deal with it first before fsa will start! Obviously i have not signed any credit agreement with swinton - so can this be legal?? any help be much appreciated!! many thanks everyone.

wow! only just read this mystery1 - this is brilliant news. thx for the tip. x

hi there tried to download you toolbar (no money but wanted to help) - but it wouldnt let me!! maybe make it bit simple for those of us (me!!) who are not that PC savey!

Hi SFU, thx for reading it - ill special deliver it tomor. And as for their family - oh my - what an extended family these DCA seem to have!! (worse than the Waltons!!- showing my age now!). I know they wont give up easily, but i refuse to be scared by their bullying anymore!!! As always SFU - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! :hail: LOL! got bit carried away with the smilies!! they so good!!

my reply pg2.pdf Hi SFU Yes you really must be the only Scotsman that doesn't drink!!! I've compiled my reply today (sorry 3 pages!) but the first page is pretty much going over my last letter. on 2nd and 3rd pages - new and interesting information I found on Credit Security! Have a quick read if you get a chance, let me know if I've said something i shouldn't if you get time. But it put a smile on my face when typing page 2 and 3!! Thx again SFU. ps. i've doubled checked the attachments and they are all there and big enough! LOL!! my reply pg1.pdf my reply pg3.pdf

Oh thank you SFU! So grateful for you quick reply and patience with my scanning!! ok i will roll out similar letter to the first one then and conveniently ignore the fraud/i used the card bit! Was a bit worried that if i started to address the fact that i used it - would probably get me in hot water and glad i ran it past you first!! thanks again SFU and if im ever in bonnie Scotland I will definately buy you a drink!!!

lol!! I'm so sorry!!! this should be it page one!! ... PAGE ONE!!!!.pdf

Hi SFU - thank you so much for the speedy speedy reply (as always!) ive had another go at scanning the said letters - if you get chance have quick look - mainly their reply to me to see if you think thats what they are saying. be very grateful! If they havent scanned big enough this time - no worries (ill just chuck the bloody pc out the window!!!) :frusty: oh and me too had very similar problem with my boiler too!! same old same old - you buy insurance "just in case" and when the "just in case" happens - its NO SORRY YR NOT COVERED! all bloody crooks! thx again SFU just had quick look and me thinks i got it scanned good now!! credit security -their reply to me feb2012.pdf my 1st letter to DCA page1.pdf page2 my letter to DCA.pdf

dont think ive managed to scan these large enough! gotta go work now! will re size later! sorry everyone!

[ATTACH]33790[/ATTACH]Hi SFU and everyone else!! Just to keep you all updated, been doing the same merry-go-round that everyone else seems to do with m&s. Every now and then i get a letter from a DCA asking for money (for their client m&s) - I send them a letter (attached), stating account in dispute etc - then (normally), the said DCA sends me a letter saying sorry they didn't realise (yeah!) - and they will forward said debt back to m&s. That's the story probably for the last year or so. Oh and normally a different DCA each time! Anyway, got the normal "give us the money within 7days or else" letter this time from Credit Security (which is a new DCA for me!) - so i reeled off the same letter as normal (attached). But this time I got a different reply - which has sort of left me scratching my head! Wondered if SFU (pretty please!), or grateful for ANYONE else's opinion please. Haven't replied yet - need advice! Its worth mentioning that (I think), Credit Security are sort of saying - regardless of you not signing the correct credit agreement - you used the card - unless (tongue in cheek I think!), unless I believe I have had a fraud on my card! But I'm not sure on if this is what they are saying, and if they are - how best am i to reply?! Thanking you all in advance, grateful as always.

Hi there, I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you! However, I am a part time worker too and we work similar hours. I too have found that in many ways I'am discrimated against because I am part time. I am often fobbed off by my manager (and now my co-workers that have obviously heard my manager) - with lines like "well you only work part time anyway - why should you have equal rights re booking holidays" etc. that is just one example but there are many many more where my part time status has been used against me. even tho i work in a large organisation and it is not company policy to put full timers first in holiday list or lots of other things - but they still get away with it. so hon, sorry i havent got an answer but i will be reading this thread with great interest to see the replies you get. in my uneducated guess tho - i believe your company is discrimating against you because of your part time status and your disabled son - i think they see you as a potential liability even tho you havent done anything yet. I also believe they are probably trying to slowly bully you out (to save you taking them to an employment tribunal). so watch your back hon there. if your a member of a union - call for confidential advice? i wish you luck hon.

Hi again SFU Thanks again. Yep everything you confirmed is exactly what I thought. Oh and don't worry - I have no intention whatsoever of ever taking them to court (much as i think they would like me to by some of the comments in their letters!! Well im looking forward to my day off writing my next reply to m&s!!! Ill keep you posted on any of their nasty replies - if they manage to come up with something different that is (which I doubt), have noticed that they keep coming from different people there so I guess I'm getting passed around the office in between getting passed around the DCA's!! One last thing tho - Im probably being thick here but your last comment re Scotland and England - whose Mr Salmond?!

HI SFU Once again, thank you for yr swift reply. I'm going to start my next merry-go-round letter to m&s on Thursday (on my day off-something to look forward to!) and my main point being S61 (a) and the difference once again between storecard and mastercard (probably to be ignored again-but hey ho - i can only try!) I haven't had a chance yet to go over your threads and look up the Welshman link but will do sometime before Thursday. Thank you for explaining (in normal lay man terms) the difference between the Scottish courts and English if it should ever go that far. I shall start some more research on that as well on my day off! By the way, I thought I had read up on the Carey v HSBC case before but had a quick look yesterday - very hard to understand quickly tho through the legal jargon but bit worried about some of the points the Judge ruled against. When I read up on this case a while ago i thought that the main problem was that it was the debtor (carey &co) was the one's that took HSBC & co to court and hence, the problem being (once again in lay man's terms) that it was then down to the debtor(s) to prove that HSBC & co did not get the debtors to sign the correct CCA agreements. In other words, the onus was on the debtors not the creditors. Whereas, if it had been HSBC & co taking the debtors to court - then the onus would have been on HSBC & co to prove that they did have the correct agreements signed. Have I got that right? or am I mixing it up with another court case?! I have read a few so its possible I may have. What I thought I worked out from that one was - never take a bank to court - let them take you!! I know I'm a little thick on this but in basic terms as I right? should I be worred about this?! As for my point about the Lending Code and "responsible lending" - I know that the Lending Code is new and I know that the responsible lending thing is in it heavily. However, I know that before the Lending Code was the Banking Code and I know that there was a section in this about responsible lending - probably not as much as what's in the lending code now (due to current economical situation), but there definately was a section in it about this. Im going to find my copy of the old Banking Code and do some research on it - i'll let you know. However, this too is probably a technical offence by M&S - but any ammunition is good surely! Plus, I did read on the official OFT archive that M&S promised the OFT back in 2003 to give out these cards in a responsible lending manner - to properly ascertain their customer's credit worthiness first before handing them out - which they obviously didn't! I did actually send M&S a copy of this article - which surprise surprise - they ignored! Lastly, so sad about BRW - an invaluable source of information who managed to articulate on here in layman terms that even I could understand (not to mention he's wicked sense of humour!) Thank you again SFU for yr time in replying and basically for caring! I'll keep you posted on anything else I manage to dig out. Afterall - knowledge is power!! x

hi SFU First of all, thank you so much for replying so quick to me - you and your story have helped me no end to which I'm very grateful! To be honest, all I really wanted was another pair of eyes on the sort of letters I have been doing to let me know that I was on track. So, just to confirm with you:- (1) Even though I probably have got a valid point on the S51 part (sending out unsolicitored tokens), you think I'm better off highlighting the S61(a) as this is the bigger thing that any court should recognise. With regards to the T & C, and also that there is a big difference between a storecard £500 limit agreement and a m/card £4500 (unsigned for and unasked for) agreement. (2) Its worth pointing out that in their recent letter they state that the shop assistant must have filled out the form for me but they believe i signed it. (re my name spelt wrong) however, i am sure that in some of their early nasty letters they state that I completed it and posted it! anyway, i diverse.. (3) I do know for absolute definate tho that i did not sign any new agreement for the m/card. it was exactly the same as yr story - they just sent me it with a letter saying that if i didnt want it then to call - if not - then they assume i want it! I can clearly remember it as at the time I had a new born baby, a partner just walked out on me, stuggling with huge debt - my credit record was BAD.... i thought all my christmas's had come at once!! (4) I have asked them for a copy of the m/card agreement on several occasions and they just state that the storecard and the m/card is the the same thing!! which i know is the same story as you and many others on here too have been told by them. So not sure really if I can threaten the OFT thing as they wont actually admit they dont hold a m/card agreement for me! (5) I have been to m&s recently and picked up one of their recent forms and i did actually send one to them recently - pointing out how the new one conforms to the CCA. to which they replied that since it had been over ten yrs since my application/agreement - they had revamped it so to speak!!! Funny that seeing at the new one conforms exactly to the CCA!! (6) Do you know if i have any valid point with regards to how they ascertained my credit worthiness in 2003? As i know for a fact that i would not have passed any credit check back then (or now!) - reason i ask is (a) they are supposed to confirm the Lending Code which has about "responsible lending" in it - clearly giving me such a huge credit limit increase with a card i could use anywhere - this is not responsible lending! reason i ask is i did read up that when the OFT told m&s off back in 2003 - m&s apparently said that they would only give out these cards after credit checking customers and being a responsible lender. i read this on the OFT archive. do you think i have any levy on this point? (7) i found yr info re FSA fining m&s back in 2003 very interesting. However, i did go onto the fsa's site today and try to find any details about this but i couldnt. closest i got was HSBC being fined in 2005 but not to do with m&s cards tho. But i do so hope yr friend is right on that one! do you know any more info on it? (8) oh and SFU, ive always thought that if it does actually ever go to court - i was going to use your defence that you posted on here a while ago (ive printed it all off just in case a long time ago!) But, bit worried now as i think your in Scotland and i know the courts bit different there to England. Do you know if that would make any difference to me? oh and lastly, SFU - you mention that all of Banker Rythes with posts have all gone? do you know why? i love his informative posts! Luckily in the past i have printed out probably pretty much all of his and yours but still - whyy no BRW? Once again, thank you very much for all your help and everyone elses support on here. ps. dont worry you dont have to answer all of my points but would be grateful if you answered nos 1 6 7 and 8!!! thanks again! (and sorry to go on!)