nope, apparentley not entitled to any discount!

Hi all, thought I would resurrect this thread as I need more help!! I have been paying council tax on my late mothers property since last year and have continued to do so. Until now, the £120 per month bill has been split four ways, myself, my sister and my two brothers have all paid equal shares. Now though, it would appear that one of my brothers will no longer contribute to paying this! Like we have a choice!! The situation becomes more interesting as the brother who will not pay anymore was actually disinherited from my mothers will (dated 1995). This was due to a massive family fall out that did get resolved over the years. My late mother however, did have new at least three new wills written since this date but interestingly, never signed them, making the 1995 legally binding. Now, when this was discovered shortly after mums death last year, myself, my sister and my brother all agreed that we would put my other brother back in the will as that was the right thing to do. Since all this, we have been trying to sell my mothers property so we can settle the estate and as such, have all mucked in getting the house ready to sell. Again, all except the disinherited brother. So one of my questions is, should I contact the council tax and inform them that he is unwilling to pay and then let them send the bailiffs to his house? Many more questions to follow!!

I too have had one of these lovely "we see you are better off now" letters after clearly looking at my credit file. I have towed the line with this lot as when they first started on me I was extremely scared of them and hadn't the confidence to deal them. I just pay them what I can afford but generally speaking when I get the usual "full and final settlement offer" I ignore them and leave well alone. What's the best way to progress? Do I just ignore them and hope they will crawl off back into the woodwork. They get their pound of flesh off me every month through CCCS or do I start provoking them?

Hi there, first thing, please don't panic. I am currently on a debt management plan with Consumer credit counselling services. I suggest thay you contact them. CCCS - Free Debt Advice from the UK's Leading Debt Charity. They are fantastic. You will find that everyone on here is amazing and will help you an awful lot. Another thing I would recommend is that you spend some time looking through threads on here relevant to the companies you have debts with. Information is power. I have MBNA and Capital one on my debt management plan and as soon as you involve CCCS, they will roll over and accept reduced payments. I have also had no defaults issued or CCJ's since getting involved with the CCCS. They are also a charity so there are no fees. Please read through and you will get loads of support on here. We all support each other. Good luck. keep me posted xx:)

Hi there, quick update regarding my son, Jamie. We contacted a specialist medical litigation practice in Reading and have sent them all the information. We have received a positive response from them regarding the case. They genuinely feel that Jamie has been a victim of severe medical negligence and are looking into claiming legal aid on his behalf as he is under 16. Anyone any experience of this process that they would be willing to share?

Hi all, wonder if you can help. My mum died in February and as executor of the will I took on all responsibility for the paperwork. For the most, everyone mum owed money to have been really good and are happy to wait until I can sell her house to release the estate. However, Co-operative credit card sent the account straight to a bunch called Philips & Cohen 'a specialist' debt collector. In a nutshell, I have been hounded by them about the estate and they have even suggested that they will put a charging order on the property as they don't feel i am doing everything to sell the house!!! No, I won't give it away for next to nothing just to pay them an £1800 debt. So I sent a cca request in October and told them to stop ringing me and writing to me, quoted every harassment law at them and they seem to have behaved since. However, as at 10th December still no CCA so I sent them a letter off here stating that they hadn't responded within the appropriate timescale etc etc. Will post in full later. I have since received a letter stating that the regular legislation doesn't apply to them! I will post their full response later. Can anyone give me an idea of what happens next?

Hi there, myself and my siblings have found ourselves in this position. My mum died in February and her partner remained in the house until april when he moved into sheltered accomodation. I informed our local council who gave us an exemption based on the fact that the house was empty and unfurnished. I have now received a bill from October and when I queried it I was told that the emeption was only valid for six months. I have tried every way to argue it only to be told that if wasn't paid it would go to court and then a warrant of execution waould be issued which would generate a bailiff. I said fine, the house is empty, take as much as they could carry! They went on then to tell me that as my name was on the bill, the bailiffs would then be able to come and pillage my property! There is no way I can get out of paying this. I would be interested to know how you get on. Keep me posted.

Hi there, welcome to CAG. I am no expert on these matters but I am sure that someone with more knowledge will be along shortly to offer you some support. All I can suggest is that you spend as much time as you can reading through these forums and swotting up. There are loads and loads of helpful people on here. Good luck!

Harry Hill gets on my t*ts! He is not remotely funny and now I have to contend with him for most of Saturday evening as my kids think he's 'hilarious', i won't hold it against them though, as they are only five and six!!!

Please don't do it, they are not very nice at all. You would regret them, quite possibly, for the rest of your life. Every time you open your wardrobe door, you will visibly shudder. We have all done this, bought something atrocious, justified it to friends and family then spent the next six years living it down. DON'T DO IT!!!!

Quick update. We have met with the hospital in question again and they have advised us that they don't feel that things went as well as they should have done and they may have made mistakes. Jamie has had another check up and his hearing is gradually fading. The trust have told me the ball is in my court now. Where next?

Morning. In a nutshell, the response was we hope we have clarified your concerns, if not come back to us. I will scan the notes in later for you.

Hi there, I don't know what I want. I am not happy with the way the way things were left. I don't feel the notes are a true reflection of what was discussed, but I don't know what to do next. I have never been involved with anything like this before. What can I do next?

Quick update, we have a copy of the noted from our informal meeting with the trust in question. They have admitted that there have been problems with my sons care but they assure me that they will put measures in place to make sure that it doesn't affect anyone else. What should I do next?

So once again, I have to ask the same question. I haven't posted much but I am a regular visitor and once again I am staggered about the amount of bitching and back biting going on. It's not just reserved for the bank forums either, every area you go on there is certain people looking to agitate others, why? What are we achieving? This site is fabulous and everyone involved from site helpers to moderators and admin have made this site what it is. Why are people trying to destroy the ethos we have going on? This site can be relied on to offer some amazing advice and tips on anything and everything. I honestly don't know what I would have done over the last couple of years without the support from you guys. We need to bear in mind that the people who moderate this site do so because they WANT to, not because they are being paid to do it. Let's give the site and it's staff the respect and kudos they deserve, let's face it, where would we be without them? We may not always agree but we are adults and have our opinions and that's right, but we should also respect that others have their own thoughts. Live and let live is what I say and thank to all who maintain this site. I think you are great!! Rant over! (michelle exits stage to the left, thank you LOL!)

Mine would be 'bridge over troubled water' but the Elvis Presley version. Sounds fantastic in a church with the gospel choir.

We are waiting for a copy of the notes from the resolution meeting we had on 17th April. We will see what they say then. My son has had major surgery on his ear on the 21st April. All the bones in his left ear have been eaten away by the disease and they have excavated his mastoid. Apparently the disease was extremely bad, worse than the specialist first anticipated. He is recovering well and is quite proud of his zip behind his ear!

Hi there, many thanks for your response. We don't want money from the trust. We want them to acknowledge that they got it wrong and apologise. Hopefully, start to put systems in place to ensure the standards improve.

Quick update. We have had 'a local resolution meeting' yesterday. The Consultant shook and shivered all the way through it. No result as yet. Will keep you posted...

I work for an extremely large company that has just gone into administration. Shouldn't give you the name but it was only yesterday, so I will. Carter & Carter is the company in question. We have been told that that we won't be paid from 1st March until 9th March as the comapny has no money, however from 10th March the administrators will pay our salary but they aren't sure when, we have also been told that our travelling expenses won't be honoured. Also we don't know when the administrators will pay us. If we walk, we have been advised that this will be take as our resignation. So in a nutshell, they expect us to keep working for potentially nothing. Surely this can't be lawful?

Hi all My mum died three weeks ago today (13th February). On 11th Feb I got a call from mums district nurse telling me to get there as mum was going. Bit of background for you, mum was diagnosed with kidney cancer (primary) in october 2007. We were also told that it had spread to her bones and lymph system. We knew she was terminally ill and she had a care package in place as the cancer also made her bedridden and unable to weightbear at all. Back to the 11th Feb, I left work with my managers permission and remained with mum until she passed away. I contacted my manager on the day I had originally left work, the day following and also the day mum died. I also phoned to let her know that mum had died. I was entitled to four days compassionate leave and they agreed to pay me for the other three days I was with mum. Anyhow, I went back to work (under duress) on 25th Feb and felt ok. However, on 26th (tues) I had a really bad time and was sent home from the office I was working at that day (I work between two sites). At lunchtime on Tuesday, after advising her that I was coming home, i received a call at home from my manager asking what my intentions were. I explained that I didn't know what I was doing and she asked me if i intended to get signed off by my GP. Again I said I didn't know. She then went onto say that she had discussed it with her boss and they felt that the best way forward was to get someone in to cover me. There was an inferrence that they felt i was unreliable. I felt that she applied pressure to me to return to work. I did go back and am still back but I feel like i am being threatened. Does anyone have any ideas or am I just being over sensitive?

Hi there, the consent was for EUA only. I clarified this with the anaesthetist prior to the EUA. What a mess. The doctor has stated that they feel they would have come to the same conclusion if we had carried on attending with him. My point is that in four weeks at a different hospital we are in possession of all the facts, he has had a CT scan, an EUA and four follow up apopintments. We attended the other hospital for 18 months. Surely they could have diagnosed it sooner?

Hi all. Please feel free to add your comments thoughts on this. Here goes. My son (6yrs old) started suffering terrible ear infections in January 2006. Eventually he was referred by our GP to the ENT clinic at my local hospital. We were seen initially in August 2006. We attended and a hearing test was carried out. The consultant looked and didn't think there was much of a problem and we were just given ear drops and told to come back inthree months. According to the hearing test, my son's hearing in the left ear was slightly lower than it should have been but this was apparently due to the infection. We went back in September 2006 and had another review. Again we were told that there was nothing to worry about, given more drops and told to come back again in another three months. My son's ear was constantly leaking the most foul smelling pus I have ever come across. You trust what you are told and we did as instructed. In December 2006 we attended again and this time the specialist decided to do an examination under anaesthetic so he could have a good look. This was booked for December 27th 2006. We attended for this procedure and the anaesthetist came to see us prior to the operation and we discussed the consent form I had signed. He made it clear that the consent was only for the examination and if anything was discovered, we would have to bring him back. All was fine until Jamie returned from theatre. We asked one of the recovery nurses how it had gone was told that a grommet had been inserted. I wasn't overly concerned at this point. Jamie was discharged almost immediately. No doctor came to see us to explain what had been done nor was any aftercare discussed. We were given a leaflet and told the specialist wanted to see Jamie again in March 2007. Again we attended and by this time the grommet had actually fallen out. Again the doctor gave us drops, this time they were eye drops (?) when I questioned the doctor about this he said it was fine as it was all connected! Guess what, come back again in three months!! So off we went again. I would like to say at this point that no further hearing assessment had been carried out. June 2007, once again we went back and this time the doctor decided to do a swab of the ear. September 2007, guess what, the test results came back to say he had ear infection!!! More drops and a pat on the back, off we went again. Finally in October 2007, I had had enough, the discharge from my son's ear was that bad I couldn't bear to cuddle him. We weren't allowed to clean it, we could only wipe it when it dripped out. He couldn't go swimming or even shower. We had to completely cover his ear before bathing. We got referred to another hospital in December 2007. Within two weeks of attending for the first appointment at the second hospital, Jamie had had an exam under anaesthetic, two follow up appointments and a full hearing assessment. We now know what the problem is, what the treatment is and what the prognosis is. Unfortunately for Jamie, the condition is Cholesteatoma, he will have to undergo some pretty major surgery to clear it. It recurs so he will more than likely have to have lifelong follow up to make sure it hasn't returned. The main problem is is hearing. Currently he is 50% deaf in his left ear and when the surgery has been completed he will be completely deaf in the leaft ear and will have to have a hearing device fitted. The surgeon we are seeing now has explained that this condition can either be congenital (born with it) or it can be acquired through ear trauma caused by insertion of grommets and badly managed ear infections. The dosctor has confirmed that it is not congenital as it would have been up through health visitor and GP checks. My sonn is going to have a permanent disability through no fault of ours. I have started the NHS complaints procedure and have had their first response back which I refuted and I now have a meeting scheduled for Tuesday 12th February at the Trust. I don't want money I just want them to acknowledge that they got it wrong. Am I asking for the stars? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I contacted Austin Mitchell MP. He sent me a very nice letter via email. He wholeheartedly agrees with our campaign and would like to take my letter with to the other ministers. Result!