Thanks for the info. We're completely up to date with the rent and our actions are happening mainly so we can continue to pay it, so it's all in their best interests not to have a problem. I guess I just want to know whether it would be in the tenancy agreement or not? And if it's not then can I assume it's not a problem for their insurance or anything like that?

Hi there, My husband and I have been left in a bit of a pickle with debts and low wages. After doing much research we have decided the best option for us is to go bankrupt. Also we are going to need to claim housing benefit as his wages have just been cut. We rent our house, and I've looked through the tenancy agreement for any clauses about bankruptcy or housing benefit, but neither are mentioned anywhere. Can I therefore assume that we can go ahead on both counts and legally nothing can be done to evict us on these grounds? We're good quiet tenants and apart from 6 months of late rent payments, we've never been any trouble. The rent has been paid on time for the last 5 months and there were zero issues on our most recent house inspection. I'd appreciate any advice anyone can offer. It's a scary time for us. Thanks in advance.

Hi there, My husband and I have been left in a bit of a pickle with debts and low wages. After doing much research we have decided the best option for us is to go bankrupt. Also we are going to need to claim housing benefit as his wages have just been cut. We rent our house, and I've looked through the tenancy agreement for any clauses about bankruptcy or housing benefit, but neither are mentioned anywhere. Can I therefore assume that we can go ahead on both counts and legally nothing can be done to evict us on these grounds? We're good quiet tenants and apart from 6 months of late rent payments, we've never been any trouble. The rent has been paid on time for the last 5 months and there were zero issues on our most recent house inspection. I'd appreciate any advice anyone can offer. It's a scary time for us. Thanks in advance.

Yes it is a shame, but that sadly seems to be the only way these days.

Just to update you all, I emailed Mr Darroch as instructed and I've just got off the phone having been told that the outstanding amount will be written off!!! I'll get more excited once I have that in writing, but hey ho, it's a victory in my eyes! Thanks again!!

Magic! Thanks very much for this.

Thanks in advance for reading! I'll not go into the whole story, but I have an account in dispute with Sky, they say I owe £59, I disagree. I have requested Sky send me a letter of deadlock so that I can escalate my complaint. They have chosen to ignore this request and have instead passed on all my details to CCS debt collection!!! What can I do?

Thanks for your advice everyone. It really shouldn't be made so damned difficult to cancel a subscription. I will absolutely be taking my complaint as high as I can!

Thanks for reply. So the fact we have a recorded message of them acknowledging receipt will count for nothing? At no point during this process were we advised by them that we had to phone to cancel. Their response to our letter is that they will write to us, but there was no instruction to ring them. Besides which I don't fancy paying the extortionate fees to call their cancellation line. We had previously called to see if they would price match Virgin, but they would not (this is what 11 years of custom gives you!).

Hi, Having a spot of bother trying to cancel my sky subscription. We have switched to virgin due to cost and on the instruction of Virgin sent a letter to sky requesting that they close our account. Sky phoned us, acknowledged receipt of the letter and instructed that they would be writing to us regarding this. No letter arrvived until we got a reminder to pay our bill and that services were now suspended until we pay them £59. We phoned up and explained that the account is cancelled and after a long wait, were informed that they have not received our letter and that we would have to ring to cancel anyway! My argument is that they clearly received our letter and never told us to ring them! (Their message is still on my answer phone so I have proof we were 'misadvised'). They're refusing to budge though and insist we pay them this money!! They reckon they've done nothing wrong and that it's our responsibility to check that we were informed correctly?!?! Where do we stand legally with this? Could we take them to the small claims court? Many thanks in advance.

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I believe it's with Relyon.

Thank you. I wasn't sure where to post

Hi all. Hoping for some advice as to what to do next. 3.5 years ago myself and my husband purchased a mattress from bensons. The make was Relyon and it came with a 5 year guarantee. This mattress has been treated exactly the same as any mattress I have ever owned, yet one side of it has collapsed. As a result it feels like we are sleeping on a small hill and is starting to cause awful back ache. I contacted Bensons who then sent an assessor to take a look at the mattress. He ruled that it has collapsed because it has been 'sat on' and therefore is not covered by the warranty. I'm fuming as this mattress was quite expensive and I expected much better from such a well established retailer. I don't know many ways to get in and out of bed without assuming the sitting position.. I have made my position clear to Bensons who have in return given me two options. One is that I can pay £150 for them to replace it with a new mattress or I can pay for my own assessor to prove them wrong (but it has to be by a company they pre approve!!!). I don't have the money to do either and I'm stuck with progressively worsening back ache. Interestingly it seems that there are many other people who have had the exact same issues as us with the same outcome. How can they get away with this? Does anyone have any ideas how I can proceed? Any advice will be gratefully received.

I'm so sorry to hear that you've been through so much. The shortfall must really feel like a kick in the teeth (putting it mildly). I too have been through voluntary repossession and have been left with a huge shortfall that I have no way to pay, so on that front you're certainly not the only one. I also believe that my property was sold for too little so I have written to my mortgage co outlining the reasons why I believe this to be the case. They are currently investigating the matter. I've no idea what their outcome will be though. There are lots of steps you can take and I'm sure some of the pro's will be along to offer you some advice. Please don't worry about it though, because what you don't have they can't take! Good luck x

An update on the above: I received a reply from the lender today regarding our last letter (which outlined our concerns about the re sale of the property). They have said that they are launching an internal investigation and treating it as a complaint. Should I view this as a good or bad thing or is that a pretty standard practice? Many thanks.