Has this thread now expired? I have had three calls from Link / Thesis in the past few days. I only answered the first one and refused to divulge personal details over the telephone. I told them to write and then hung up. My last Student Loan (Scotland) was taken out in '97 / '98 and I have repaid none of it as my earnings have always been below the repayment qualifying level. I have, however, completed their deferment requests every year. Suddenly I find I am dealing with these Link / Thesis persons and wonder where I stand in terms of limitations and so on. Ian P Edinburgh

That looks just fine, Rory, and many thanks. Is there a break-down somewhere of what this actually means in layman's terms, etc?

Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water… the Cabot ogres are pursuing me once again… I there a ruling, subject to Scots or UK Law whereby a loan debt becomes “null and void” after (as I recall) 6 years? Does the loan commencement date “refresh” when a DCA takes it over? Thanks,

Done this, and a BIG thanks for your advice! Best,

My wife is in the process of claiming back £403.22 plus interest from BoS via Small Claim for a Visa account. They offered us a “Full and Final” of £120.00, which we rebutted, of course. Their reply says that, “the initial offer that was sent out to you was a full refund of your charges…” Before we proceed with our claim in Court, I thought I had best check if the following charges were all appropriate for us to claim back: “INTEREST CHARGEOFF” (What the heck is THAT?) of £219.22, a single payment on 9th January 2004. “Card Protect Tel 08701 201054” of £29.00 on 22nd December 2001. “Visa Cheque Card Services” totalling £35.00 “Over Limit charge” and “Late Payment Charge” totalling £120.00 – I presume the latter here is the £120.00 they have offered us but can anyone advise us on the first three and should we be reclaiming them? Should I be asking BoS for a full explanation before proceeding? The card was seized when I lost my job and my wife had also been paying Credit Care Insurance at a rate between “Minimum applied” and “73p per £100”. I want to be very careful about every approach I make. This is because I believe that all it will take is just ONE ill-advised and irrelevant claim for the banks to confound our progress via “stated case” as in the multiple claims scenario. HOWEVER – they were kind enough to send me a summary with their last letter and the final page shows (5th December 2005): PRINCIPLE ABANDONED £819.40 INTEREST ABANDONED £209.22 INSURANCE ABANDONED £7.92 I have not seen this before – any idea what this means? I am inclined to think that we should just accept the £120.00 All advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

It's in Nicolson Square and it's the Real Deal as opposed to flock wallpaper homoginised tat. There's a takeaway in Rosyth I used to go to when we lived in SQ -- it was so scruffy I imagined even the cockroaches ate out, but the food was magnificent... about a half-mile east of "The Goth"?

They played that game with me, Donald, and I was down by 50 squids (non-redeemable) to send the Sheriff Officers in and shake them up. You know I had a result last week and I really am rooting for your ship coming in as well in the next few days; unless, of course, you have the same hairstyle as your near-namesake... I reckon we should organise a "Winners' Curry and P#ss-Up" over the summer -- how about the wonderful Kebab Mahal (don't be put off by the name) in Edinburgh followed by a pub crawl? An afternoon affair so that peeps from far-flung places like Aberdeen and so on can get an evening train home? What do you reckon? Should I start a separate thread with this initiative? Any takers?

Yes, indeedy-doody I have news! Cheque arrived yesterday for £1,047.75. They had deducted the overdraft but also did us a HUGE favour. I had claimed, under Ordinary Cause, for TWO accounts -- one of which was a VISA account in my wife's name. They have refunded me on the joint account (pay attentiion at the back!) but separated the two and offered a Final Settlement on the VISA account! This now leaves us in a position to go after the full 500-odd on the VISA account under Small Claim with no "duplication case get-out" for BoS. Bless!8)

Same as yourself -- had it served at the Mound HQ! They are prevaricating because the Visa card account has my wife's name (not mine) on it and they'll obviously have to deduct amount still overdrawn... They've had plenty time to sort all this and been thrugh an entire legal procedure. Mr Llewellyn (Sheriff Officer) is going in tomorrow or next week to seize their assets if they do not pay up. Will keep you posted.

Has anyone experienced or taken out successful complaints via the Information Commissioner's Office or pursued (been awarded?) compensation for organisations passing on consumer personal data to DCA's and the like without consent? The "Moneyclaim" site, for example, does not appear to extend its services to Scotland, so I'm wondering if there's a similar scheme up here. It says (in Moneyclaim)that Government Departments cannot be sued -would that tend to include Local Authorities and Councils? I want to go after Currys, BoS, Kings Hill / Cabot, and East Lothian Council. Any advice would be appreciated -- I've trawled the forums but cannot seem to locate similar issues so I've started up this thread. Thanks!

Well, Donald and All. Today was the deadline of the 14 days notice from the Sheriff Officer serving the charge on BoS at Head Office. Guess what? Nothing in the post. Last week they wrote to me (Louise Paterson, a Litigation Clerk in Halifax) giving it the old, "..we do not appear to have received the original claim form.../ I would therefore be grateful if you would provide me with..." Cutting a long story short, I e-mailed the info and told them to get a shift on... And my wife called them today and got, "Well as it is a joint account we're not really sure who to make the payment out to... and we're still waiting for a couple of things coming in..." Wife told her that if it's not in my bank account by tomorrow morning, then we're sending the Sheriff Officer (who we've to call back tomorrow) in. Will update -- Their time is up!!!

3 Teuchter's and a Jambo, eh? It'll be "You'll have had yer tea" all round then? BoS's deadline is TOMORROW to deliver over 1.5K into my grubby little paws; else I send in the Sheriff Officer to auction off their computers... preferably with a TV crew in tow. I'm quite far down the road with these guys and had a good victory v Abbey -- will be glad to help with advice if required! Best luck you guys. regards,

Thanks Ian, bit NO CHANCE on the former employer initiative -- did not leave on the best of terms, and it is all carved in stone now anyway.

Perhaps a new thread is what I should be starting (will do, if so advised!) but my problem is that BoS / St Andrew's Group continue to move the goalposts re the reasons they would not entertain our PPI claim back in 2002. "You can't claim via PPI because your wife's work is seasonal" we were told in a ‘phone call in 2002, when I lost my job. (So, why did you allow me to sign for PPI in the first instance?) THEN: When we started questioning this (with "CGA Enlightenment") in 2006, one Ms McCallum stated in a letter that the “seasonal occupation” clause had been misleading information from the start; however it would now appear that the reason I was deemed to have been ineligible for PPI was that I was made redundant within thirty days of signing the Loan Agreement. As this document was signed on 9th September, how could my date of leaving on 28th October possibly be “within thirty days”? Well, it seems that the “verbal notification of redundancy” (28th September 2002) was certainly “within thirty days” of signing for the loan. But how binding and enforceable is that? I am questioning and challenging their definition of “notification of redundancy” and whether or not this clause was included in their policy at the relevant time. As I had no idea on 9th September 2002 that I was likely to lose my job in days to come, then how could BoS justify, in the name of all that is fair, their later refusal to honour PPI that I had paid for? What (say) if my former employer and I had formed a “gentlemen’s’ agreement” that the verbal notice of redundancy took place on 10th October in order to protect my PPI? THEN: they start shifting the playing field level in terms of the definition of “redundancy” in that it is the verbal notification of redundancy (undocumented and uncorroborated?) carries more weight than the official date of termination of employment as per Form P45.. As St Andrew’s will no longer correspond with me directly I have written to the FOS to state that I reject the St Andrew’s Group findings and do not accept their definition of “redundancy”. I quote: redun'dancy noun the state of being redundant; a dismissal, or a person dismissed, from a job because of redundancy; the presence of components which improve the reliability of a system (computing). (Microsoft Encarta®) redundancy noun (redundancies) 1 the state of being redundant, or an instance of this. 2 a the condition of being no longer needed in a company, organization, etc; b dismissal from work as a result of this; c someone who is dismissed in this way. 3 superfluity; the condition of being unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence, etc. (Chambers Online reference) This research appears to indicate that “dismissal” falls under the general definition of “redundancy”. I also disagree that verbal notice of unemployment should be construed as legally binding for these purposes. Anyone suffering likewise, I’d be delighted to hear. Sorry to sound a bit like yoda, but I'm knackered and been on the CGA Forums all day! Kind regards,

We defaulted on repayments to Currys (unemployed and broke!) a couple of years back and they passed our details on to Aktiv Kapital (UK) Ltd. As it stands our outstanding balance appears to be £547.00. We had bought a cooker and it was installed (by Currys “Engineers”) in August 2001. Obviously I am considering the DPA implications of Currys passing on our details to Aktiv without our consent. Now it turns out that the wiring had not been securely fixed to the wall socket and the earth connection had worked its way loose over time. As a result of this my wife and I received nasty electrical shocks on occasions when we touched the cooker, and more so when in contact with the metal sink, or pots & pans at the same time; on one occasion I was thrown across the kitchen (and at 6’3” and 108Kg, I’m not exactly a size zero supermodel). At the time we had no idea what was causing this until we had the installation inspected by a qualified electrical engineer. Now an electric shock is not an entirely unpleasant experience, but it is up there with erotic self-strangulation under “things I’d prefer not to do if I can help it.” (Please note the absence of the word “again”). Id est, given the choice, I prefer to live… We have retained as evidence the burnt connection leads, the damaged pots and pans, and the written report of the aforementioned electrician. He has verified that death or serious injury would have been a likely consequence had his inspection and repair not taken place. We have two young children at home. Aktiv has agreed to put the debt “on hold” while we investigate this issue and (wait for it) Currys (Sheffield) are concerned about our problems, but are unable to track or locate our purchase record. It is like – Aktiv are chasing us for a debt to Currys that Currys know hee-haw (Scots expression meaning ‘b#gger all”) about! Now, we are honest people and a debt is a debt – Now that we’re in a (slightly) better financial position I’m in a healthier state to pay off Currys and any other creditors. HOWEVER – I reckon that one of us could have been killed (Heaven forfend, one of my children!) due to the incompetence of the installers and I am considering either (a) asking Currys what compensation they may wish to offer in addition to “writing off” the balance or, (b) saying, “Bring it on! See you in Court!” Has anyone been in a similar situation, and what advice would the subscribers to this esteemed Forum offer? It is great to be alive. Best Wishes,