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I got home tonight to find a letter from the dept. of work and pensions stating that I owed £2293 and they wanted the money by 23/9. I hadn't a clue what this was for. So after the shock passed and I had picked myself up off the floor, I phoned them. Apparently between june and november '93 I was overpaid income support and from november '94 to june '95 I was overpaid unemployment benifit. The dates do fit with the 18 months I was out of work but I have had no knowledge of the debt until now. They say that they have detailed why the money is owed in previous letters but I have received none and the girl on the phone said there was £80 pound court costs even though I have never been to court about this. She could not give me a date of when the case was heard. Can anyone tell me how I can find out if this money is really owed and not some department cock up. If after 13 years they can still demand it back and any advice on where I should go or who I should see to try and get it sorted out. Thanks in advance.

Got back from holiday yesterday to find a letter from the Halifax informing me that £2359.81 had been deposited in my account. A quick check online confirmed it, what a great end to my holiday. Thank you to all on this site for giving me the courage to persue this

Thanks for the advice I'll get on to the bank now

British Gas have taken £165 by direct debit that they should not have. This has made me overdrawn. I phoned them and they checked their records and admitted the mistake. They said they will send a cheque which will take 14-21 days to arrive! I find this disgusting, if I owed them money they would want it yesterday, they said it has to go through the system and that is as quick as they can do it. Is there any way of getting it quicker or any compensation that can be claimed. It makes me sick that these companies can get away with screwing people.

Halifax have said they intend to defend the claim, so all being well they should settle soon

Received the notice of issue from the court today but I have just realised that I did not put any reference number for the halifax on it, will this affect the claim or do you think my name and address are enough?

Not too long then, cheers

I do hope so, how long does the whole prodedure normally take

I followed the step by step guide and the Halifax initially offered me £150 and then £350 for charges of £1633 since 2000. I have now filled out the money claim form and submitted it. I am feeling so nervous now, what is the likely hood of it going to court? I've looked at the litigation threads saying settled, settled, settled but are there any that have been lost? As you can tell I'm not an optomist!

I got fed up with the charges, attitude etc. of the Halifax, closed my account and went to Natwest. This was 14 months ago, can I still submit a claim to the Halifax or is six years of fines lost Just read FAQs, sorry, will try harder in future