We have received this..... We are writing to advise you that we would like to visit the above property to carry out an inspection. You may wish to be present during this visit, but if you are unable to be in attendance we will use our keys to enter the property. We have no issue with an inspection but would like to be present as not comfortable with someone entering when we are not there - this is our first inspection and we do not want the landlord "finding" issues we cannot substantiate as we are not there. We are actually going abroad to get married at that time. What I want to know is if the landlord is allowed to just "use their keys" or if we say no to this inspection and try to rearrange - must they agree?

I had a letter from Provident telling me that Gothia had instructed them to collect a Shop Direct amount of £157.00 and that could i take out a personal loan to cover this amount. That a rep would be round to discuss payment options. So I rang Provident as I do not recognise this debt and asked them for further information. They said they do not have the details and have referred me to Gothia who are closed on a weekend. I told Provident that they had better not come to my door trying to claim money when they cannot tell me what it is for! I am concerned as the only debt that I had around this amount was for a Next account which I paid off through another debt recovery company and it is now cleared.

P.sFirstly I instructed a letting agent to look for tenants for my flat. They found a couple to rent the flat and took a holding deposit. The agent rang me last week to say that they were having problems getting the references through and would let me know this week what was happening. At this point I was led to believe that it was on hold until they received the references and I had ok'd them and signed the contract. I went to my flat at the weekend to give it a clean out and found that the tenants had already moved in. They could barely speak english and couldnt answer my question regarding how they had got the keys. I then came in to work today to find a copy of the contract signed by the tenant waiting for me on email but no references. I contacted the agent who said they passed their reference check with flying colours and had moved in. Can they do that as I havent signed a contract? Plus I was told that until I ok'd the references it was on hold? Secondly the contract states that the ground rent is the responsibility of the landlord unless otherwise stated. I stated in the list of bills that ground rent was to be paid by the tenant however he has not passed this on and now says it cannot be done. Just checked out the authorisation form I signed and it clearly states that a signed tenancy agreement must be signed by myself PRIOR to any tenancy commencing...............ha ha!!! I have also asked for a copy of the references four hours ago and I am still waiting............. Any advice would be appreciated

I wanted to transfer my gas and electric to another supplier because I have had nothing but problems with British Gas. There are have been a catalogue of errors on their part, resulting in us being two months down the line since receiving our first bill from them and we have still been unable to set up a direct debit. So we decided to change supplier, but because we have an outstanding amount with British Gas they have refused to let us leave. Surely as a consumer I have a right to shop wherever I want?? Can they make me stay with them until the debt is paid off.......as we were intending to pay by direct debit rather than in full

I have seen their T&C's as they are accessible on the website. However I have trawled through the banking code and I cannot really find much apart from it states they have to let you know about charges. My banks attitude is that they made me aware of charges at the outset, and in this instance they have notified me of this charge as they have written to me. The letter went out at the same time they debited my account and I still have not received it yet

Hi bankfodder There was no earlier transgression. They told me directly today that they had paid the standing order and the rest of the money I was over my overdraft was due to the £25 charge they had levied due to having to pay the standing order when there was insufficient funds. I have since taken your advice and spoken to them about telephone payments, and they said as a bank they do not and have never had that facility. She referred me to the terms and conditions relevant section detailing ways to pay money into my account and it does not include making payments over the phone. There was a section stating that on a payment review they will debit the fee immediately - however, if I lived in northern Ireland, I would have been given 14 days notice. I feel like I am being discriminated against for being english. Its the same bank and it should have the same policies regardless of where you live!

Thank you very much

I had forgotten about a standing order that was due. The bank paid it, despite the fact that I did not have enough in my account to cover it, and IMMEDIATELY debited my account with a £25 charge for going overdrawn! They are now charging me £5 a day while I am overdrawn. Firstly I thought they had to give you so many days notice of charges due to be applied.......in this case they havent. Secondly I offered to clear the charge with my credit card. They apparently do not take payments over the phone and advised me to go into my branch to clear it. I advised that there is not a branch close enough to my work for me to go in at lunchtime, and its closed by the time I finish work. I was advised to do a transfer from credit card to bank account which would take a minimum of three days and they will continue to charge me £5 per day! I think by refusing to accept telephone payments to clear charges, is their way of earning more money out of us. They know most people cannot get to a bank in their lunch hour and have to rely on transfers....so they continue making money! Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Just out of interest, as I no longer have the letters he put through the door, (partly typed partly handwritten), will the bailiffs office have a copy? I want proof that I was not given a detailed breakdown of the fees

Also what happens if my friend claims back the payment on their credit card? Would the bailiffs be after me again?

The £24.50 attendance cost was added the same day that they did the walk in possession agreement. The bailiff has just confirmed there was a £100 attendance fee charged for a visit on the 21st of September, when the bailiff apparently turned up with a van to seize goods. However, I have no proof that he appeared with a van, and he put a letter through the door stating I pay up or further action would be taken ( i no longer have this letter). He could have turned up on a push bike for all I know. Also he told me over the phone on the day I paid the full amount, that he had booked a van for the friday of that week, so best pay up or else kind of thing. Also to note, all the letters i received through the door, showed an amount outstanding to be paid, but no details of any further charges. It did mention that there would be charges, but I thought through reading things online, that they needed to clearly detail all current charges and all future charges? Yes the bailiff is certified The goods listed were my mobile phone and a kettle

Just checked my walk in possession agreement again and the costs are as follows......... £228.90 Debt to council £31.00 Levy Fee £12.00 Walk in possession fee £24.50 Attendance Costs Total £296.40 I had since paid £25 off that amount which would amount to ££271.40 yet the final amount the bailiffs wanted was £434.00. ~I have just spoken to the bailiffs who have confirmed they charged me a £100 attendance fee ( for putting a letter throught the door, threatening me with seizure of goods if i did not pay in full) - this is illegal right??

Not sure what you mean by a levy - it had gone to a court and an order had been granted to the bailiffs. Could you explain a levy for me? Yes I do still have the walk in possession agreement, but I did not send the cheque recorded or registered post. However, I guess the bank can confirm that I did in fact cancel the cheque.

I made an agreement with bailiffs to repay council tax back at £25 per month. I received a notice through my door saying that Last months payment was never received by them, which I can only put down to the postal strike, and I noticed that the amount owing had gone up. Guess this was due to their charge. I cancelled the cheque at my bank as soon as I found out and contacted the bailiff. I had received my new bank card by that point and was offering to make the payment via debit card. They said that I defaulted on my payment arrangement so therefore had to pay the amount in full. They then gave me the number of the enforcement officer dealing with my case. I rang him and left a message asking him to call me back. The next day I'd had no response, so rang again another twice and left two more messages. I returned home that evening, to find another notice through my door, saying they had been round, and the payment had increased even further. I rang him again, but still no response, and in the following 24 hour period, I rang him a further three times and left messages. Got home again the next day to yet another notice, and a further charge. The next day I refused to leave messages, and kept ringing until the bailiff answered. He said again that the full amount needed to be paid, and that he was coming to seize goods. I had allowed a bailiff into the property on a previous occasion and he had made a list of items which could be seized, which consisted of a mobile phone and kettle. The current bailiff, stated that he had no evidence of such a list being made, and said he was coming to take anything and everything. He also stated that as I had previously allowed a bailiff entry, they had a right to break into my flat. I tried contacting the council to ask them to reclaim the debt, as I felt the bailiffs were being unreasonable, by not returning my calls, which i felt was an attempt on their behalf to up their costs! Unfortunately our council only hold an open day once a month regarding issues like these, and it was three weeks away, so I went ahead and got a friend to let me use their credit card in order to pay the debt. Is there any way that I can reclaim some of these unscrupulous charges back from the bailiff?

I was clamped tonight in a car park in Windsor. Not sure if it was a private or public car park, but it was clearly signposted with details of clamping and charges. My ticket was to cover me till 10.13. I was late arriving back at my car, due to a fight outside the restaurant where I had been. We stayed inside the restaurant until the crowds had dissipated. #I arrived back at my car at 10.39, and the clampers were moving towards my vehicle. I shouted over to let them know that I was there, and that I would be leaving. The man, ran towards my car with the clamp and put it on. The woman started taking photographs and eventually wrote out the ticket. While this was going on, I tried explaining why I was late but they refused to listen. I was told by them that I had 1 hour and 20 minutes in which to pay the amount, or it would be doubled. They justified this by saying that the fee was £120 PER DAY and that at midnight it became another day and therefore doubled. I argued the point that had my ticket expired at 11.55pm and I had returned at 00.01 that they would charge me double for only being clamped for 6 minutes and they said yes. I felt under huge pressure to get my car unclamped there and then. I did not have enough cash, or money in my bank account to cover the £120 charge, and subsequently had to use my friends Credit Card in order to get my car back. They then charged us an additional £5 as a fee due to it being a credit card. This annoyed me even further as standard credit charge fees are 2.5%. Why do they get to charge more than anyone else? Anyway, I am wondering if there is any way that I can try and reclaim this fee back?