Having worked for a major charity that you will have heard of, I remember the subject of reserve funds coming up in the context of donations not being used for the purpose intended, and after a lengthy struggle for information we (employees of the charity) were advised that they had enough reserve funds set aside to keep going for three years if all donations stopped today. I would imagine this applies to most major national charities. The smaller ones not so much.

I am on JSA and I just had a call from the job centre telling me I do not have to sign on tomorrow, benefits will paid as usual, and they do not know when the next appointment will be, looks like they are stopping in person signings for everyone.

The requirement to physically attend a job centre will be removed – everything can be done on the phone and online.

Raise a grievance, saying pretty what you have said above, make it concerned and formal without a hint of poor little me, then there is at least a record of your concerns. It might throw a spanner in their works, it might have no effect at all but it is better than doing nothing and hoping it will all go away. And it may be useful in the future, I know exactly how you feel as I have been in a similar situation and I can feel your stress in your original post. I kept my head down and was offed via a nervous breakdown. Learn from my mistake

I've only ever had the original 1994 agreement, the flats now have new owners and new letting agents, and I know the hand over between the agents was very belligerent with very little or no records provided to the new agents, they had no idea how long I had lived here until I told them, and I suspect they do not have a copy of my tenancy agreement (I have a copy and all the relevant receipts) They have no records of past repairs carried out or anything like that. They weren't even aware that it was rented unfurnished and everything inside the flat is my property. The new agents were just given a huge bag of keys with no indication of which flats they matched. I don't really have an axe to grind here, it's just that when the possibility of moving out arose and I did some reading up I began wondering where things stood.

You mean it is not relevant? It seems such a piddling amount now, but I was curious as to the actual situation. Thanks.

As above, I have privately rented the same flat for 26 years as of last month but may be moving out soon due to caring obligations. Simple query, should my landlord have put my deposit into a deposit protection scheme or is it not relevant for such an old tenancy?

Regardless of benefits (which do need to be addressed) you certainly need to sort out your boyfriends equal contribution to the household expenses.

At the end of the day it will rest on the scale of the benefit fraud. 'He was never paying any bills or food or anything.' If your boyfriend is living with you four days a week, presumably eating food, using the utilities etc why is he not contributing financially to the household? I think you are going to have to explore this going forward otherwise you will get into a mess again.

You won't go to prison. You are now and have been 'living together' from the point of view of a claim for benefits so there will most likely be an appearance in the magistrates court and a fine, avail yourself of the duty solicitor on the day. Regarding prepayment meters, the person paying the bills is the point of reference not the landlord, there is no reason you could not have agreed to them being fitted.

In legit call centres the calls are recorded so any language like that would be cause for instant dismissal. This is a con. Why even take the call? In any case such a small amount would not be chased in this way it would be written off. They assume a percentage will opt to make the payment thinking it's not much, and they must have forgotten to pay. The real purpose of the call is to get your bank details. Where are all these 'edits' coming from it make you look like you said something gross.

If you were aware that you were liable for the electricity consumption at the property why did you not simply pay the bill, or at least set the money aside to pay it when you had a bill in the correct name which was your only issue at the time. It seems to me that you are the master of your own misfortune. Sorry to be so blunt but the name on the bill is a side issue. In the case of a business, a prepayment meter with a debt set on it is not an option. You will be disconnected unless you now pay as advised.

It sounds to me like she is potentially a missing person, have you reported her as such, or mentioned your intention to do so in your messages to her?

From what you say, you are in fact the tenant at the property, your girlfriend moved in, and later she moved out again. Do you have any legal documentation that indicates otherwise? You should claim the Single occupier discount (25%) off your council tax bill, I think that would be a much better idea than trying to get someone who does not live at the property to pay any bills relating to it. She also has no liability for energy bills once she has moved out, the energy company will not chase her for anything accrued after the move date, and probably not for ANY outstanding balance since you are the tenant. Can you not find another house mate?

Speaking as a former union rep, I would maintain that it is best to gen yourself up on your legal rights and not put your faith in a third party who may be stressed out and exhausted themself. My best advice right now is to record the meeting if you can. You will find what is said and done at disciplinary meetings and what goes down as the official record can differ greatly. Arrived early, knocked on the door and waited to be asked to take a seat can be recorded as arrived 15 minutes late, slammed into the room and hurled herself into a seat... I've seen this happen with my own eyes.

I would think the bit about wanting a male for the job constituted discrimination... I don't think I have ever left an interview without thinking I had the job At least you didn't have the experience I had with a well known high street chemist based in Nottingham, they gave me the job and a start date and then on the Friday before I was due to start on the following Monday they phoned me to advise they had had a 'financial rethink' and had decided they were not recruiting anyone at this time.

It has ever been the case with MSE, occasionally someone gets banned, or in one egregious case I recall someone's IP address was blocked, but this was after a reign of terror lasting years. I recall them telling someone to get their dogs put to sleep because they were unemployed, but this was not even reprimanded. And they always have a chorus of supporters who are probably in fact scared of their hero. Sadly I simply don't look at or participate in the 'help' forums over there, I find it too stressful.

It’s time for me to bow out of this thread because you are not prepared to present the info in an accessible form as requested.

What we need is a 'sequence of events'. A simple list of dates. What happened and when it happened. No comments about how it made you feel - it only made you feel concerned for the reputation of the RM, postie bringing them into disrepute etc. :) To present this as a complaint you need to be detached, concerned not angry.

Who contacted you, was it the energy company or a Debt Collection Agency,

I thought you said you were with GB energy which was taken over by Co-operative Energy at the previous address?

When a rental property lies empty the owner is liable for the bills. Having worked for an energy company, dealing with debt, I know LL’s frequently try to avoid paying by marrying up the dates when tenants were there. It could even be that the next tenant ran up the bill up under your name because you never called with a final reading to close the account, or even a succession of tenants... As stated above, never ever rely on someone else to provide opening/closing readings if you are paying the bill. Incidently how did the energy company know your new address to send the bill to you?

Oh and the first two or three characters of your postcode might be useful too?

I had an aggressive postman once, and I complained about him, I said I never wanted to see him at my door again and if there was any further hostility from him I would call the police. I think he must have inspired a number of complaints because I did indeed never see him again. What exactly has your postman done to you? Can you record him when he visits? I think what is needed here is a more itemised account of the problem and what you want to achieve next.

Hi It was me who started that great long thread about Ingeus all those years ago because I was surprised to find so very little about them on here. To this day their name makes my stomach turn over. I know that thread old and massive but it's worth a read through if only to see shared experiences and ways to deal with the power crazed snarly little girls and boys who no doubt still work there. Record your meetings with them, don’t tell them you are doing this, just do it and hold those recordings in reserve for if they start lying to you later about something they said or did in the past. If anything inappropriate is said to you, even if it’s just a hostile tone of voice being used, calmly point it out as unacceptable and ask them for a copy of their complaints procedure. Mention of contacting their chief executives office always goes down a treat with such people too. Take control of the conversation and don’t take the victim role.