Hi, I would be grateful for some advice without judgement. My husband (sole trader) lost his business in May 2011 due to the recession. He had numerous debts that he was then personally liable for. It was a really tricky time for us for a number of other reasons also and it was genuinely our intention to save for the bankruptcy fee but we had to move first (rental). We then, I am ashamed to say, buried our heads in the sand, and ignored chasing letters (which have only come sporadically) while we tried to get back on our feet. On 11th Dec 20015, my husband received a Claim Form from the County Court Business Centre, Northampton. Nothing to suggest it is not genuine. Claimant is Lowell Solicitors. We have received letters threatening/warning of their intended action but we have had many that look similar, that we clearly did not notice that whatever last one we received was final. Usually after a while, the debt just gets sold on. He now has the option to agree and pay in full (£1842.27 - not currently possible), to agree and ask for time to pay, to admit only part or to disagree. My husband recognises the debt, although we cannot know who the original creditor was as the debts has been passed around since he defaulted. The sum outstanding for Lowells shows as less, £1522, and states he defaulted in April 2012 - which is not correct as he stopped paying them all at the same time in May 2011. On the form Lowells claim is for £15657.27 plus fees. Am I right that unless he is able to pay in full, he cannot avoid a CCJ? If he was to offer to pay in instalments, would this info be available to his other creditors? Wonder if it means the others will come after him in more earnest? This was for a much lower sum than the others and his outstanding debt totals over £30k. Is there any way to buy a bit more time? Clearly we are now, maybe quite rightly, forced to address this and deal somehow with the whole lot, but we will need to get some advice on what options, if any there are. Maybe extra time won't matter if he is likely to end up bankrupt? I presume the debt that leads to a CCJ can be included? He's going to call Stepchange tomorrow but does anyone have any experience of this or advice for us? Many thanks r710

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I didn't know that. I am returning after 9 months (after SMP finishes) so I fall in the latter category.

Firstly apologies for the long post. I hope I explain myself clearly. Wonder if anyone can offer any advice? I feel I'm being treated pretty badly by my work but perhaps they are allowed to? I gave the two months notice required for my returning to work from maternity leave and my manager did not contact me. With 3 weeks to go I sent an email, requesting that someone confirm my request, as stated all along, to return to my old role, a job I had previously been doing for 1.5 years. I wrote, that seeing as I had not heard to the contrary, I presume that all was fine. The next day my manager called to say I could not return to my old role as there had been some reorganisation and as the new team was working well, I'd be doing a very different role (though on the same pay scale). Her reasons were that I would not be up to speed as I'd been away from the job and that I wouldn't have received the training to bring me up to date and they have targets to meet... Interestingly, a few months ago, my job share was told they needed her to fill in for her previous role temporarily and sent her to a different office. Meanwhile, work offered another member of staff our role on a permanent basis. My job share is now stuck in a different office, doing a role she previously moved from as she found it too stressful. Because we are not being given the opportunity to train and remain in our roles, my jobshare is now taking a grievence procedure. Her reasons for doing this are that she only has a couple of years until retrirement but I have been warned (I have many years of my working life left) that it would be "career suicide" for me to do the same. My maternity guidance notes do state that my role could differ due to reoganisation, but I think my point here is that I have not been given the opportunity to do the latest training as I was on maternity leave. Someone returned from maternity leave in a different office, in exactly the same circumstances, and has been allowed to do the training and return to the role (a specialism in our field). Really I do not think the training is rocket science and it feels as though my competence is being questioned without reason. The new role and the "only thing they can offer" is a poor deal and is viewed as being much less interesting. I only work part time so I could put up with it as it is not the be all and end all of my life but my main concern is that when I left, this department was based in another office much further away. Maternity guidance state that my place of work must not be less favourable, and my manager did say my place of work remains the same, but what happens a month in when they decide to send me to the further office? (contractually they can do this - but just not on my retrun from mat leave). Do I just have to put up with this? Part of me is so unsurprised they have done this and feels just defeated (am very tried from having a very demanding baby) but then I sit and think about it and just get quite upset and angry about it. In all honesty, I know this is not personal as many alarming things were happening to staff way before I left but it just does not seem right that no one consulted me on any of this and that I have been told 3 weeks before I am due back, and only then because I insisted someone contact me. My manager contacted me and told me this on the telephone. Am I entitled to ask for the reasons that I cannot rerun to my old role and the "offer" of my new role in writing? Not sure I want to just lie down and roll over on this. What do you think? I'd welcome any thoughts. Thanks for reading r710

Thank you so much. I will follow your advice and let you know how I get on. It really is much appreciated. r710

Hope that has worked. Thanks for that. Hopefully you can see that we were sent a terrible copy anyway. The paragraph regarding the PPI is on the bottom left hand side, just above the bright white box. I can just about read that you were meant to tick if you do not wish to participate inthe PPI scheme, hence it being something to opt out of, rather than to opt in to. In the brief correspondance we have received so far from Barclaycard, they have just said that my husband was sent the details of the policy and it was for him to read through and decide if it was suitable for him. He can't remember ever seeing such a document shortly after getting the account. My husband says that the PPI wasn't explained at the time, and believed it to be something which he had to agree to in order to get the card (it was his first ever credit card). As it happens, he had periods of self-employment during the 15 years he was paying the PPI. I understand that most PPI policies are not suitable for those who are self-employed. Had he known anything about the Barclaycard policy, he would have cancelled it then. Do you think we have a case and what should my next steps be? Many thanks, r710

Hi, Thanks for replying. I have scanned the agreement but I cannot seem to work out how to include it in my post. Sorry if I am missing something really obvious, does anyone know how to do this? alanalana - I wasn't aware about having to take the claim through the courts because of the long payment history. Interestingly enough, Barclaycard sent me the FSO leaflet. If anyone knows how I might post my scanned document, I'll put it on here. Thanks, r710

Please can anyone help? I successfully claimed back the PPI on my husbands HSBC loan but this one is a bit more complicated. Am really stuck and would just like to know if I can persue it further. Thanks. r710

I'd really appreciate some advice. My husband applied for a Barclaycard account way back in 1990. I have got as far as receiving a copy of his application, having been given the standard final response letter from Barclaycard. It is a really bad photocopy, with the small print regarding the PPI being largely obscured. I can make out that the last paragraph of small print says tick here if you do not want to particpate in the PPI scheme. There is no tick there, and interestingly enough the little box is bright white, almost as if it could have been tippexed! My husband says he would have just signed the application to get the card and not noticed the small print. It certainly wasn't pointed out to him, nor explained. He denies ever receiving any details of the policy either. I understand that these policies are not suitable for people who are self-employed. My husband was employed at the time of appying but shortly afterwards became self-employed, and had he been aware of the policy details he would have known to cancel it. I took over our finances in 2004 and after noticing the PPI being charged, I got him to cancel it in early 2005, which Barclaycard did with no problem. My question is, he was paying PPI for almost 15 years (!!!) without effectively asking for it and belived it to be something he had to pay to have the Barclaycard account, is he able to claim it back? Apologies for the long message but I really have no idea where we stand on this one, I could be hoping for too much. Thanks in advance, r710

I sent a secure email asking for a copy of the credit agreement regarding an old loan of my husbands (on his behalf). Received the agreement at no cost where he had signed agreeing to the PPI. He has alway said that they told him he couldn't have the loan unless he had their PPI. Sent the template letter 3 weeks ago asking for it to be refunded on the basis of it being mis-sold. A week later he received a standard reply.. they were going to investigate... could take up to 8 weeks..etc. Well today he received a letter offering a full refund of the PPI payments plus interest, amounting to £3449.92 !!!! The letter states that the records they hold in relation to this are incomplete. "Although there is no evidence to suggest that you were mis-advised, as I am unable to confirm whether or not the product recommended was suitable for your requirements I will uphold your complaint." Cannot believe it was that easy. 1 email, 1 letter and the cost of it being sent recorded delivery. Am amazed and very relieved to be getting it back. My thanks to this site and MSE. I would never have known about it nor had the guts to go for it otherwise. Hopefully this success will spur someone else on in their claim.

Thought I would let you all know that Egg are still paying out despite the recent lack of good news from them. I went after my husbands charges and my own, starting the process on the same day. My husbands as settled very quickly, after sending that very clever email by secure email (many thanks to the OP!). My secure emails went ignored. Sent several in the same vain. Got a bit concerned when I saw that no one else was reporting any recent sucesses. Egg were also ignoring my request to close my account and refund a positive balance. (Has been over 5 weeks since I asked for it to be closed). I sent a letter complaining about the way I was being treated, terrible customer services etc, and still no reply a week later. Phoned Egg on Thurs to ask what was going on and was told that they really are short staffed at the moment and snowed under with claims. Was told it would be put to the top of the pile. Today received a letter offering the full amount I was asking for. Hurrah! So, I guess the message is to perservere.