Thanks Ray. Just my luck - or perhaps it happens all the time - BG's systems have been down most of the day and they can't answer queries. Just got through and have to ring again tomorrow morning. Absolute nightmare but at least I shall enjoy reporting this shambles to The Regulator!! I shall attempt to get all the costs for the warrant etc. dropped on the basis that they have acknowledged in writing my statement that I was perfectly happy to let anyone in as long as they gave me a little bit of notice to sort out work.

Hi Molesule, can I just start by saying that your husband sounds like a piece of work that you are much better off without. However he needs to understand that he cannot just upsticks and clear off leaving you to sort out the mess. He has a responsibility to his child and a court would expect him to provide suitable housing for her. I can't help as much as others with details of the mortgage timescale but I do know that if you divorce he will be expected to maintain his child and give you a substantial amount of your joint assets, plus part of his pension if his is greater than your's. I know, as you have said, that self employed people can be very clever at hiding their income but if he has made a decent income in previous years, which will be shown on his tax returns, he will have a lot of difficulty proving he suddenly has no income. You should qualify for legal aid, he probably will not. So find a solicitor quickly who will take your case and start fighting back a bit. He cannot simply walk away from this situation and given the information you have provided a court are likely to make him pay towards your upkeep and give you a bigger share of the joint assets because of your daughter. Make sure your lender understands precisely what is going on and that he has stopped paying the mortgage while you are unable to afford to do so given your circumstances. If you have to go to a possession hearing again you can explain your circumstances fully and I would expect a judge would be prepared to give you time to sort things out, particularly your husband's involvement in paying the mortgage, which clearly he could afford before. Frankly you don't want this **** back in your life, but whatever you do promise me you won't let him walk away from his commitments. A solicitor will ensure that you are treated fairly.

Thanks everyone. I have had letters threatening to obtain a warrant but none saying they had actually done so. Obviously with them turning up on Tuesday I have no chance to defend the warrant. I'm not too bothered if they cut the gas off or fit a pre-payment meter, what I am outraged about is £300 for the warrant. That surely cannot be the true cost? We took court action against someone in the small claims court at work and that was about £120. I read somewhere on here that a warrant takes 1 second to be signed? Maybe I should go to work, leave all the doors and windows open and then sue them if anything is missing? I cannot afford to add lock changes to the other costs, it is ridiculous. Plus my doors don't have simple locks. I lost my back door key ages ago but have not been able to replace the lock because of the cost!!!!

I have been struggling financially and recently managed to stop repossession of my house. I have arrears with BG and explained my situation. I asked them please not to apply for a warrant of entry as this was unnecessary since I was happy for them to disconnect the gas until I had cleared the arrears, or install a pre-payment meter if they must. I had a very nice reply on 25th July saying they would support me all the way and sort out a repayment plan. Yesterday I received a notification that they had a warrant to enter my property for Tuesday. I rang BG this moring, their systems are down, but a lady who presemably was not there on the day they did the customer training more or less said 'tough'. I explained the situation and that I cannot possibly take Tuesday off as I am on my own in the office (it is a small company) - she said in that case they will break in and I will have to pay for the lock to be replaced as well as the court costs at £300. Can they do this since I have given them notification in writing that I will let them in at a convenient time (the meter is outside). For some reason they seem very unkeen to cut me off, which I said surely they could do without entering the house, and are making a bad situation worse since they are adding these huge costs. I can afford to pay £100 per month and have offered that, with the gas cut off, until the bill is cleared. I now have to ring again on Monday in the hope that their systems are working again. I face losing my job for failing to turn up on Tuesday when I am required to be there, or letting them break into my house. So much for 'we will support you all the way' as they said in their email - I thought they were being too nice!

Unbelieveable - you can't pay your bill and they are trying to scare you into taking out their rubbish boiler maintenance contract. They really are the **** of the earth aren't they? Obviously billions of Pounds of profit is not enough for them. I am not an expert but to be honest I would do nothing. What's the worst that can happen, they will cut off the gas. As you have said you can manage without it, it is not the end of the world. But I would let as many people as possible know what they have done if you can, rather flies in the face of their 'taking care of your world' advertising doesn't it? Actually if they spent a little less on advertising they might be able to absorb some of the 18% price rise they need to make their profits bigger. No court will force you to pay what you can't pay so let them carry on to their heart's content. Let a court decide if that is what they want, that decision is likely to be much more reasonable. Keep us posted!

Excuse me butting in, but has anyone had any experience of any payday loan company taking them to court? I am intrigued to know if they ever have followed through with these threats?

That's how I read it Ell-enn. Nicky can you explain please, I was furious on your behalf..............you have got back less than half of money you never borrowed in the first place! Or am I reading it wrong?????

Thanks for your help Ell-Enn. Not sure what to do first really. I have a feeling Accord have been adding charges to the arrears and am awaiting a breakdown of how the arrears figure has been arrived at. Am also thinking of writing to the FSA on this general issues of sub-prime mortgages and even perhaps to the Chancellor whose responsibility financial services are. I had been thinking of doing this for some time and this has been the catalyst. Will let you know what sort of response I get!!! I know it is probably hopeless but Treating Customers Fairly is the cornerstone of the FSA's Handbook and the more I think about the treatment of those forced to undertake sub-prime mortgages the more I think they are not being treated fairly!

Thanks Ell and Is It Me. Accord agreed as late as yesterday that they would suspend eviction. Cobbetts finally emailed me yesterday re the eviction - I have had no correspondence from them. I did not dare cancel the hearing because both companies are so unreliable that I did not trust it not to go ahead. Was only with the judge for a few minutes during which their rep did all the talking (he had spoken to me outside the court and I had voiced my concerns over the way Accord and Cobbetts operate) - is that the correct protocol since I paid for the hearing? The judge simply suspended the eviction. I wanted to point out what a ridiculous waste of everyone's time (and my money!) this had been but it was obvious I only had a couple of minutes. I intend to write to both Accord and if necessary the FSA and Cobbetts - not so much for myself as I work in this type of environment - but on behalf of the poor people who get treated with such distain and incompetency when they risk losing their home. Accord say speak to Cobbetts, Cobbetts say speak to Accord, you are just sent round in circles and it was clear Cobbetts were not listening half the time. Both seemed surprised I had been given an Eviction Date.........errr, well I didn't ask for it!! Accord's litigation department is 'very busy' and you can never get through. Perhaps they should stop trying to repossess at such a level until the have the staff to deal with it??? No one runs up mortgage arrears for fun and everyone deserves to be treated with respect. If the Council of Mortgage Lenders say their members will not repossess until 6 months arrears and then only if communication has broken down, then that should be the case. Not lenders having a go to repossess every chance they get. It is all a very nasty sneaky business to be honest with the borrower picking up the cost of all these attempts to shoot fish in a barrel. I am delighted the eviction has been cancelled, but this has left me very angry. Had you guessed??? Anyway thanks for listening.

Many thanks for that Ell-en, I will print it off and take it with me. I have seen many times the excellent advice that you give on here and have learned a great deal from you. I am going to write to the FSA about the whole sale and conduct of sub-prime mortgages as it seems to me that it needs an overhaul. Those in financial difficulty are simply being preyed upon. In all truth, when you think about it, there is no reason whatsoever why a mortgage payer with healthy equity should be paying any more than anyone else in terms of interest rates. The risk is minimal on a secured loan, and only limited equity would be a reason for a higher rate of interest. Your comments that they are sold on the basis that they will not last has struck a chord with me and I believe this matter needs further investigation so that those with impaired credit are not penalised further when what they need is help.

OMG is that true???? I had never thought of it that way. On the other hand the FSA insist that those authorised by them Treat Customers Fairly - it is huge in this industry - and I believe I could make a case that refusing to talk to me and throwing me into the Cobbetts shark pool is failing to do so. I always try and communicate with them and have a file two inches thick with letters, which I copy to Cobbetts. It is dreadful to be treated in this way with such distain - I would not allowed to do so with my clients so I am at a loss to understand how they can. I didn't quote those two issues though I have seen you mention them before come to think of it. Can you remind me please? I have the hearing on Wednesday and as things stand I may not be able to talk to Accord again before then as I can never get through. I am lucky I can keep phoning from work - my heart goes out to anyone who does not have phone access at work. Cobbetts have not replied to any of my last four emails. I presume they hope I will just give up my home and live in the street? The Government is keen to stop the Courts being tied up with these matters hence the consultation document from which I quoted above.

Many thanks for your response. Can't remember what Q10 was but was fairly okay filling in the form - I hope!! Finally got through to Accord today and they told me they did not get my expenditure statement and notes that I sent on Friday. I know it went through, but if they say they haven't got it what can I do? Sent again. On Friday they told me I had to appreciate that my loan was a risk to them as in arrears but that fails to take into account that I have equity of £60,000 and am paying nearly 8% - a rate that has increased twice since base rate was 0.5%. I would have thought that was enough to cover their 'risk' and the reason I went self cert. Do you get the impression that the subprime lenders just want their money back now and don't care about individual circumstances? No-one seems to have ever looked at my case individually I just get thrown into the Cobbetts snarling letters pot if I miss a payment even if I explain that I can make it up quickly when a bonus comes through. I know it is not ideal but I just don't see how their risk is so great since I am so far into equity. It really is wearing me down.

Hi there. New here but have read widely. I just wanted to vent really. Accord are - again - trying to evict me and I have had to apply for a Court appointment to stop the eviction on Friday. To date Cobbetts their solicitors have not even told me about the eviction date but I was told by the Court. Have made about half a dozen calls to Accord today but they are too busy in Litigation to talk to me. At least they are prepared to talk to me - usually they refer me to Cobbetts who ignore me. I work in this industry and I am starting to wobble. I can only imagine what it is like if you know nothing of the workings of the financial world - I am reduced to tears simply because they want to take my house on Friday and no-one will talk to me. Don't they understand what it feels like? I am professionally qualified but with erratic earnings. I owe them just over £2,000 (less than 3 months arrears), I have made the last four payments on time and with extra for the arrears. Do these people really want me on the street for that? Where is their humanity?????? Sorry to rant.....................but it is wearing me down. PS The Council of Mortgage Lenders have recently told the Ministry of Justice - in writing - that they do not repossess for less than 6 months arrears, and then only if communication with the borrower has broken down..................... Accord are members of the Council Of Mortgage Lenders...............