Hi Everyone, I'm going to tell you my experience to date so that others may learn from it. It's not quite over yet but I think it will be by next week. Feel free to ask me any questions. I live in SW Scotland and in Feb 2014 I approached a local family run company to quote for double glazed replacement windows. The sales director sent me the quote from his email address. I responded with a query and then accepted the quote by email. His email address was then automatically added to my Outlook email address book. The work was carried out in May 2014. The fitters did a really good job and I love the windows so there's no problem there. The problem started on 2nd June 2014. I received an invoice from the company asking me for immediate payment but that invoice didn't give me one jot of information on how to pay them. In fact it was very poor, it had no company reg number and no T & Cs either. I sent a quick email to the sales director (using the address already stored in Outlook) asking for payment details. I got a response which mentioned 'New bank account' signed by the director from the sales director's email address. I logged onto my bank account (Cahoot) and setup the payment online. This all happened early afternoon. Then around 4:30pm I received a second email from the sales director's email address but signed by the girl in the office. It gave me different bank details. I presumed that the company were in the process of changing bank accounts and that maybe the directors hadn't communicated it yet to the staff. It was too late in the day to check with them when I picked up the email. At about 7:30 that night Cahoot performed a security call. In it they asked me if the payment was going to the windows company to which I said yes. The next day I received an email from the sales director asking me where the money was because they hadn't received it. I was given the run around until the 11th June when I had become very suspicious and stopped communicating with him. In the meantime the bank were trying to trace where the money had gone. They sent me the necessary proof on the 20th June. I then got in touch with the company and sent the document to them on a different email address. I told them they could now put pressure on Barclays bank because they had definitely received the money. They instantly replied asking why Barclays when they were with Bank of Scotland. I sent them all the previous emails and the girl in the office phoned me and said they had never sent the emails to me. She asked me what I intended to do and I said I was going to phone the police, which I did. The police investigation is ongoing and there are now 8 other victims none of them to do with the windows company. Not once did this company try to talk to me or investigate the circumstances. Their first response was when I was on the phone to the office girl and the sales director was asking in the background if I was insured. The next thing they did was get a solicitor involved and sent me a demand to pay up. I went to my own solicitor and showed her the email. She told me I have paid. The company did a few things that made me very suspicious about them. They never chased me for the payment when I had told them they should received my payment by 3rd June at the latest and they deleted all their emails which were police evidence. I had my computer checked to ensure I hadn't been hacked which I hadn't. I then had the email headers looked at by a computer expert and they have shown that the so called fraudulent email was sent to me via the window company's server. It looks as if someone within the company logged onto a google email account (which is largely anonymous) and somehow intercepted my email but not quickly enough to stop another person in the company from also seeing my email. My next step was to complain to my bank. There had been no warnings on their screens to tell me that I wasn't protected by the Faster Payments System or that they don't check the account name. The bank's response was to tell me they didn't want the criminals to know this! I said if that was the case they could have told me during the security call. They dismissed my complaint. I went to the Financial Ombudsman. The adjudicator also dismissed my complaint twice but I appealed and it finally reached the Financial Ombudsman. The bank had very conveniently lost the recording of the security call but somehow the FO managed to get them to find it. It was because of that security call that she upheld my complaint. She says that the bank led me to believe that they checked the account name. She also said that the bank had authorised the payment and not me. She ruled that the bank should re-imburse me for all my legal costs, the debt owed to the window company and any other costs so that I am not out of pocket. This decision was made in May 2015 from my initial complaint in Aug 2014. My solicitor was amazed at what I had achieved. I would say that the Faster Payments System is not secure enough. The customer has no way of checking that the bank details provided by a company actually belong to that company. Criminals are now putting people into companies to spot loopholes in their security/admin procedures in order to send out fraudulent bank details to unsuspecting victims like me. You could ring a company to ask them for their bank details and the person you were speaking to could give you their personal information and you would be none the wiser. There is nowhere to verify that an account belongs to a company. Once you have paid the money it is impossible to get it back unless the bank made the error. I believe that in other countries they use a third check like the company reg number or an NI number. When the bank finally got in touch with me in August this year I asked them who makes the decisions on the court case if they are now paying. They said that I do no matter what the cost! They also said that they didn't want me to settle out of court and they wanted the hearing to go ahead. I have put in endless hourss of work on this and accumulated some very good evidence to defend my case. A legal debate is scheduled for 22nd October but my solicitor wants to use Counsel for the debate. They are saying they have struggled to find anything in law to help them and have had to go right back to Victorian law. They say the contract was formed via email and the company should have ensured that their email system was secure because I had relied on it. At the mention of Counsel the bank have started squirming. They rang me on the 22nd and said they were refusing to indemnify me after that date. I went back to the Financial Ombudsman with this information and she told me that wasn't quite what had been discussed. So everything is currently up in the air with the case. It looks very much like I will have to settle out of court because I cannot afford to fund this on my own. If the criminals are part of the company they will receive the money twice. I had hoped that the bank would help me see this case through to its conclusion so that I could have possibly had an outcome good enough to help others that follow in my footsteps. I may never know who was responsible for sending me that email because the police are just following the money. I now have a lovely set of windows with no guarantee.

The mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has announced that they’ve suffered a huge data breach which could lead to the accessing of up to 2.4m of their customers information. Following the breach, the company has investigated and found that the details accessed could have included names, addresses, dates of birth and bank details. This includes up to 90,000 customers who have also had their encrypted credit card information accessed. Customers who've potentially been affected, have received emails about the incident and are encouraged to: Alert your bank and check your statements Watch out for phishing calls and emails Check your credit rating to make sure no one has taken out loan and credit in your name Report fraudulent activity to Action Fraud http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33835185 Apparently it knew about this last Wednesday and has only just started informing customers !!

Hi I was wondering whether anyone has any good letter templates regarding a breach of data protection compliant against Vodafone. Basically, I tried to access my internet banking the other day only to be told that I was inputting the wrong password. I knew for a fact the password I was inputting was correct. After this failed a number of times I went online and tried to re-set my password with Lloyds bank. If anyone banks with Lloyds then they will know that in order to change your password for online banking they have to call you and you have to enter the 4 digit number provided on the screen. So I requested that they call my mobile phone (which I always do) however I wasn't receiving the phone calls even though it said on screen we are calling you now. I tried again the next morning and it still wasn't working so I called Lloyds Bank to see what the problem was. I was told by Lloyds bank that there has been fraud on my account, all monies had been transferred from my savings account into my current account and then attempted to be transferred from my current account overseas via Western Union. Lloyds realised this was fraud and did not allow for the payment to go through. Having discussed this with Lloyds and explaining what had happened they advised my that there must have been a diversion on my phone as someone had received the phone call with the 4 digit code and entered it correctly. I then called Vodafone who first told me that there was in fact interference/diversions on my mobile and that she would take them off for me immediately. After 1 hour and 12 minutes on hold I called Vodafone again off a different number to speak to someone else to explain my dissatisfaction with Customer Service and distress caused regarding the fraud on my account only to be told by this person that there were no diversions on my phone and that there never has been. I know for a fact the first lady told me there was and that they are not in any breach of data protection. I then asked them to confirm what phone calls have been made to Vodafone regarding my account in the 3 days, I was advised that I called them 2 days prior (the day before the fraud happened) requesting a copy of my phone bill to be emailed. I NEVER MADE THIS PHONECALL so there is a breach of data protection as they clearly discussed my account with someone else. Well after hours on the phone trying to make a complaint speaking to many different call centres based in the UK, India and South Africa I have still got no where! Can anybody help me out as I am not sure exactly what I need to put in my letter? Thanks

Here goes, long painful story......... At the beginning of June, I upgraded my account with Vodafone and paid an early upgrade fee. My new phone was duly delivered within a few days. I logged into my account a few days later and was offered a further upgrade. I thought that this was odd as I'd just upgraded, however the website stated I could upgrade again - for free. I contacted Vodafone (upgrade dept) who confirmed to me that indeed I could upgrade again. I did not do anything about this at the time. A few days later, I received a call from vodafone sales department wondering why I hadn't gone with the upgrade. I told the advisor that I was still thinking about it. About a week later I logged into my account and the offer to upgrade free of charge was still there. I telephoned the upgrade department to take advantage of this and the order was put through and I was advised that the new phone would be delivered to my work address 2 days later. The phone did not arrive. I phoned your vodafone upgrades and was advised that the order was stuck in the system and that someone would sort this out and the phone would be delivered within a few days. This did not happen. After about 2 weeks of me contacting vodafone and speaking to numerous advisors and the complaints department I was told that my complaint had been logged and I should receive the new phone within a few days. I made in excess of 7 or 8 calls to vodafone offices regarding this and still did not receive the phone. On Thursday 2nd July around 4pm - my phone stopped working. It said 'NO SERVICE'. I telephoned Vodafone to be advised that I needed to do a SIM swap and that this needed to be done in a shop. My local shop had closed at 5.30pm so I then travelled to Manchester (8 miles away), to do this - I cannot be without my phone as I use it for work. I was very angry about this but travelled to Manchester to arrange the SIM swap. After speaking to an assistant at the shop, he did not wish to do the SIM swap due to 'too many outstanding orders and issues on my account'. He gave me a PAYG SIM with a small amount of credit so that I could contact vodafone customer relations office to get this sorted. I rang back at approximately 8pm that evening and after spending over an hour on the phone was told that my issue would be sorted the next day and I would receive a call back at 1130am the following day. This did not happen. So now no-one can contact me as my number is out of use. I've lost clients as they could not contact me. Numerous family and friends had been trying to contact me and were unsuccessful as my number was not working. Around 2pm on Friday 3rd July, my son's phone rang from my number, he answered the call only to be told by the caller (Mr Davies) - I don't know anyone called Mr Davies, that he had been given my phone number by the Vodafone upgrade department! I was absolutely speechless as you can imagine and enraged! Mr Davies had contacted my son as he'd had so many missed calls from my son (who is ill!) and wondered who it was. Mr Davies had also given my number out to his family and friends also! I telephoned vodafone complaints department and after spending nearly 2 hours on the phone in my works time, was told that it would be sorted that day. This did not happen. Mr Davies had also received text alerts from my bank and credit card giving sensitive information and account balances. Surely, This is a MAJOR DPA breach. It is vodafones duty to protect my data and they have failed! Mr Davies received numerous calls and text from my contacts wanting to know who the hell he was and where was I???!!!!!!! Having got nowhere with vodafone customer relations department, I went into the Vodafone store in Stockport to speak to someone who I foolishly thought could help me. I was advised by the shop assistant 'there are too many issues on your account and we can't deal with it'. He told me to call customer again. Which I did. After a further 2 and a half hours on the phone distressed, upset and very angry I was promised that this had been passed to a manager and someone would call me back before 9pm. I was also told they would block the number This did not happen! I then phoned Vodafone again and got through to an Egyptian call centre worker to told me that he would block my account. This did not happen until midnight on 3rd July! I received a call from an operator on 4 July to be advised that my complaint is being dealt with and I would receive my number back and my account would be closed and I would also receive compensation for the DPA breach, breach of privacy, inconvenience and also for the 15plus hours I've spent trying to sort this out with their call centres around the world! I have not managed to speak to the same person twice - It's ridiculous! I've been advised by vodafone customer relations today that if I send my phone back then they will cancel my account. They've offered me nothing else. I want my account cancelling, a full apology, a full investigation, copies of all of the phone recordings theyhave as well as a data subject access request and also financial recompense for the DPA breach, breach of privacy, massive inconvenience they have caused me by having to change my phone number and mobile provider I am outraged that they can just transfer my number to a random stranger and not even apologise. I am also outraged that despite on several occasions vodafone admitting that there's been a DPA breach and breach of privacy they have not offered me a mutually satisfactory resolution I've lost work clients and have had a major inconvenience as I've had to change my number. The upset, stress and inconvenience vodafone have caused is incomprehensible! I've been advised by iCO that I do have a good case but any further advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

Hi, I'd appreciate some advice if possible? I work 2 days per week in a shop. Although I've been there for 12 years I only signed a contract last year when the owner put the business up for sale. My contract states that i am employed for 2 days per week. I told the owner yesterday that I am only able to do 1 day going forward. (Since she has had no luck selling the business and keeps suggesting she may just close up I have found other work which is now more important to me). I don't want to make life any harder for her and have offered for that one days work to be flexible and on a day of her choosing. By saying i can no longer do the contracted 2 days have I breached the contract? Have I effectively handed in my notice? Can anyone clarify my position please and suggest where i may stand depending on what she offers (or not) ? Thank you...hope I've not made this too muddled?

Good Afternoon All I had an EE (formally T-Mobile) contact that I ran in trouble with and got a default placed on my credit file. EE Limited then sold the debt to Lowell Portfolio, however even though EE had sold the account and were nothing to do with it anymore and Lowell Portfolio ‘legally’ owned the debt, EE Limited continued to update the default on my credit file for a further 5 consecutive months (I have proof of this from the CRA). I have been advised that what should have happened is that the default should have been taken over straight away by Lowell and it was Lowell responsibility to update it on my credit file, however EE continued to update it for 5 months, it then disappeared off my credit file and the CRA confirmed that EE had removed it and then 2 months later Lowell added there default. My question is, ‘Has DPA been breached, and is it worth making a complaint to the ICO?’ Many Thanks [/size][/size]

hi all, and thanks for any advice in advance. I've lived in a housing association house for 12 years. 10 weeks ago i received a kind of threatening letter instructing me that the boundary is to be moved and to move all of my belongings. there was no consultation, and the housing association had been in negotiations with the private developer for a minimum of 7 weeks, without saying a word to me. and they ere running around in my garden without my knowledge measuring up. housing association then said it has never been part of my garden. but the boundary hasn't moved in 77 years, 1945 aerial photo shows boundary in the correct position. 1948 councils maps show boundary in the correct position. 2003 council maps given with the tenancy shows boundary in the correct position. 2003 council records confirm boundary in the correct position in. 2004 the maps used to sell the properties to housing association from council show the boundary in the correct place. 2004 land registry maps show boundary in the correct position. 2007 or 9 survey map of the plot, that has been given part of my garden shows the boundary in the correct position. 2009 the housing association entered my garden and measured up without my knowledge and confirmed the boundaries. (housing association states they have never surveyed my property, emails confirm they did.) 2014 the housing association entered my garden and measured up again, without my knowledge, and came back with differing number. satellite imagery shows the boundary in the correct position. Photos show the boundary in the correct position. The has been no proof provided in any shape or form that the boundary should be moved. in fact the housing association now refuse to answer questions. or provide any proof. or explain at what point in the last 77 years the boundary has ever been in the new possition. the only thing that they have supplied is an unsigned lazer survey showing the boundary and the proposed move. (supposedly done by a boundary specialist, but it isnt signed off) to be honest, its a little confusing how it couldn't be part of my garden. I signed a tenancy agreement for all that was offered, as accepted by both parties. has the tenancy conditions changed under duress? (the threatening letter) Breach of tenancy, because they failed to consult? I have been informed that as i have the right to buy, they cannot asset strip my property. as they are a registered charity, they cannot cut price sell property, at a guess that also includes giving it away. would i be in my rights to withhold the rent until they properly address the problem? what would be the next steps? Its really strange having an 70 years plus old garden path leading into another property....

Hi, My sister purchased an iPhone 5s through VM in January 2014, after about a month, the phone started glitching and she has had problems with it ever since, no screen periodically, missing texts, texts not sent or received, random blank screens, she's reset, upgraded to latest OS, you name it, she's tried it. No joy. she has had calls to the CS team and they are not helpful at all, with their most recent response now saying that as the phone is outside of the 1 year warranty they can't replace the phone and it would be a chargeable repair. Now given that they will have record of the 1st complaint and all the subsequent complaints that were inside the 1 year warranty period, is there any way she can get them to either repair or replace for free? Thanks in advance.

Hello All, I have been working for my company for 10 months now but have been offered an alternative role. My notice period is 3 months but I would essentially like to leave asap to start my new role (I have little interest in staying in the current environment im afraid to say). Handover can be done relatively quickly so I am considering just telling my employer that I will be leaving after 4-6 weeks or once handover is satisfactorily completed. Am I likely to be sued for breach of contract do we think? Thanks

I switched to Sky from Virgin in December 2014 after having nothing but problems with my tv signal for the best part of the year (i switched tv, broadband and telephone). Almost immediately i was getting crackiling down the telephone line and so I contacted Sky who after running tests over the phone arranged for an Openrach engineer to visit my house and see what the problem was. Long story short I have now had six different engineers out all of whom have agreed that there is no problem with the reception in my house and all of whom have then gone to the exchange and/or the cab and supposedly fixed the problem. Lo and behold I am still having the same issue. Now I am of course going to contact Sky again but dont really see much point in having another engineer out to just do the same thing again. With this in mind could I argue that Sky are not fulfilling their end of the contract that I have with them as they are clearly not providing the service that I am paying for? Furthermore could I request that they cancel my contract with no penalty due to the fact that they have failed to provide the service as promised?

Hello ill try giving you the basics My employment commenced on 18.2.13 as a field sales consultant. I have been in the same industry with my previous employer so in essence move across to the competition The Director of the new company was more than happy for me to provide him with details for some clients i had previously visited and bring them across to his company. Working for the company was ok until September 2014 when i was required to drive further and further each month. Somedays my 1st appointment was 180 miles away and my mileage increased from 700 per week to 1200 per week, which was exhausting. Over the christmas break i decided enough was enough and to hand my notice in, I did so on 5.1.15. The Director was very arsey with me and told me he was not happy to pay me 3 weeks leave. I started working for myself doing the same job 27.1.15, Today i received a letter from their solicitor with notice of intended legal action for breach of my contract as i have contacted some previous clients (these clients never agreed to do business with my ex-employer), it does not state in my contract i cant contact clients, nor in the letter received to confirm my resignation, But they are saying there are restrictive covenants in the company handbook. I was not aware of a company handbook and have never been offered it to read! As i work from home, Head office is 84 miles away and is only visited for 5 hours every 3 months for a team meeting. the convenience in a nutshell are apparantly - must not work for a competitor in a 10 mile radius/operate in the same geographic area (which is 180mile radius) - not to solicit current, past or prospective clients - not to poach employees. they are claiming i have contacted clients of which some i have and some i haven't contacted, that i have done business with a few and they want financial compensation for the same. If i was aware of the alleged restrictive covenants, then i maybe would have acted a bit differently, but as they are not part of my basic 4 page contract, i have never read them or signed to agree to them. Can they do this? They are also saying it is company trade secret information - when the information can be obtained from yellow pages and google. All of our competitors call the same database system and again information can easily be obtained from there. solicitor letter says my contract started 14.2.13 but i actually started and signed my contract on the 18.2.13. any advice greatly appreciated as they want a reply as a matter of urgency

Hi I know there are lots of articles on here and other sites about this with conflicting information, and the laws have changed a bit in the last year but I was hoping for some help for where I stand. Just moved into new flat and parked my Motorbike on some empty ground opposite so as not to use up any of the residents minimal street parking spaces. This morning I came out to find a Contractural Breach Charge on my seat (not stuck on). I looked around and EPM have put some signs up on the back wall but with no lighting and I couldn't see them when I got there last night. There are no bays marked out and no entrance or exit, it is just some empty land next to the side street and I was tucked up against a tree. The side street is council permit parking only between 9-6 Mon-Sat. It appears the advice is no longer to ignore them but if it had been windy this morning, I wouldn't have even found the ticket. It states it was observed for only 10 minutes and 9 seconds, colour not recorded, and the location is noted as a Solicitor's 2 streets away. Doesn't have my street name on it anywhere. I know this is an invoice etc but I clearly did not accept entry to any contract by parking there as the sign proclaims. What is the best course now, appeal to EPM then POPLA? Thanks Dom

Hi there My friend has been taken in by someone offering them 2000 custom made luxury bags at the cost of £2352 which she has paid by bank transfer. There was a verbal agreement that the bags would be ready in 8 weeks (I think) my friend paid the chap through a bank transfer and has not received anything and now has found the chap UN-contactable! The chap is in breach of contract (potentially) there is nothing in writing other then the paid invoice (attached). Can anyone recommend what the next steps are? My friend no longer wants the bags as it has been over 4 months and the bags are never going to materialise. They simple want their money back! so far all we can find is as follows: 1. www.luxurybagbox.com 2. http://companycheck.co.uk/company/08845400/LUXURY-BAG-AND-BOX-LIMITED/directors-secretaries 3. http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk//compdetails Any information, help, advice is greatly appreciated Regards BB

I have been personally dealing with my landlord for over a year now without any legal support to correct being overcharged for rent at my residence for 11 years. During my tenancy (before march 2013) I was issued with court costs as my landlord made applications to the court to recover rent arrears held on my account. I signed a tenancy agreement for a 1 Bedroom apartment in 2002. The rent was set and I never questioned it (Why would I??). In March 2013, I found out that from the start of my tenancy I was registered as a two bedroom tenant paying rent for a two bedroom accommodation. This came about as I received a letter from the council requesting payments from me to pay for an unused bedroom space. When I notified my landlord they adjusted my rent account to reflect the rent their tenant's would normally pay for a 1 bedroom property. In addition, they also debited payments from my credit balance to cover the outstanding court costs. I didn't agree to any of this nor was a new tenancy agreement issued to me. - (Do I still have a legally binding tenancy agreement contract with my landlord)? I used their complaint procedure to request returning the court costs to my rent account as I believed I should not be held liable. My initial complaint was overruled and was told by my landlord that they were justified in their actions as my rent account still would have been in arrears even after the adjustments. I used my old rent statements, with the correct rent charges to calculate any outstanding arrears before the court applications were submitted and found this not being the case. Again following their complaint procedures, I re-submitted a compliant insisting that the court costs transferred from my credit balance should be returned to my rent account. After nearly a year on, my landlord agreed and confirmed my calculations and produced a gesture of good will (GOGW) of £190 to draw a line in my complaint. I did not agree with the (GOGW) and issued my final formal complaint to return all court cost's. Eventually, (as of last month) my landlord refunded my account with the full court costs suggesting that refunding the full amount was way of compensation to me. I am in desperate need of sound advice as to what rights I have as a tenant, if I am being treated fairly, do I have any entitlement or due compensation, who should i contact for legal advice and generally just being in this position as I feel that my landlord is not being up front with their obligations.

I am renting a room in a house which has 5 separate occupants the LL doesn't have an HMO licence. Can this make the tenancy agreement void? I've only been living here for a month and the house is not in good shape and would not meet the health and safety standards required. I moved in at the last minute because I was let down by another landlord and had no other choice and would like to get out of this contract and get my deposit and fees back.

Good evening, Please could someone advise on this. I handed in my notice on my payday in July 2014 (intentionally as my Employer has a history of not paying employees final salary after they've handed in notice). As I was on holiday at the time I handed in my notice, I requested in my notice letter if there was a possibility that my employer could release me at an earlier date as I was hoping to commence employment with my new company sooner than my notice period would end. Whilst on holiday I received confirmation from my employer accepting my resignation and informing me that I would be able to discuss an earlier leaving date when I returned from my holiday. I returned to work on my planned date only to find that all my colleagues had been informed that I had left the company and was not returning, furthermore I no longer had a desk to sit at in order to conduct my daily work as they had reallocated my desk to a colleague. Having arrived at work as usual at 08:30 a.m. I was informed that my manager would be arriving at 11:30 a.m. in order to advise me on the situation. I was made to stand and wait from 08:30 a.m. until 13:15 p.m. when I eventually realised that the manager would not be coming. I was left with no choice but to arrange transportation home. Whilst waiting for the manager I was informed by my colleagues that my manager had distributed my pending sales deals between my colleagues. I received my final salary in September without pay for my notice period as well as no commission which was due to me for the month of July. I requested a complete breakdown of my final salary which my employer has not provided. I also expressed my opinion on the way in which I was treated and they told me that I chose to walk out and that whilst what I consider to be my "normal" desk was occupied by someone else there was a desk available for me to sit at. However, nobody informed me of this on the day. I have been in touch with ACAS and my Employer has refused to discuss the matter with them so am now filing with Tribunal. Please advise if my employer is in breach of anything here? I am happy to give further details should you require. Best!

Hi, This is my first post so if I've put this on the wrong place please accept my apologies, I am having trouble trying to find a way to post on other threads I am looking for some advice please, my friend received a letter through his door today (hand delivered) I picked it up as I was letting his digs out, who had already had a go at the envelope - anyway I digress. I looked at the remains of the letter and it was from Phoenix Commercial Collection advising that they were coming to collect goods, because I know my friend so well I thought I'd try and help sort this mess out, and the only reason I did was because they have been trying really hard to address their debt. I called the number on the letter and got through an awful bailiff with such a bad attitude. I explained I had read this letter that was sent to my friend but instead of saying he couldn't discuss the account because I was not the person on the letter, he started to try and arrange with me to collect the goods, he also said that he was willing to reduce the amount owed. I asked if I could speak to someone who would set the payment place back up, and he said no it was down to him, and he wasn't giving an inch. I eventually got the office number off him, and called them, there is a recorded message at the beginning of the call saying they will not discuss accounts with 3rd parties unless a written letter is on the account, which of course in my case it wasn't. I got through to a call handler who asked for the account number which I gave, he then asked for my name which I gave - my own name, which is not on this account. The call handler then started to discuss the account with me, he advised when payment were made etc, I know for a fact this is a breach of data protection because I work with HR Data. Phoenix would not offer any help or advice so I ended the call, I then spoke to my friend and explained the situation, they were shocked that they had received a letter and more shocked that they discussed in detail their account. Where do we stand with them breaching data protection? My friend is contacting the council because the bailiff’s licence expires on Thursday and they have asked for the debt to be paid in cash before then, which has raised alarms bells with us. Thanks in advance.

Hello, I rented a property directly with the landlord (no agency involved). The contract was for 1 year from may-2014 to may-2015. I have got a job somewhere else and unfortunately have to move. I discussed this with the landlord and he agreed to let me find a new tenant (and I pay the rent until the new tenant starts). This is all Ok. However he is saying he would take all my deposit in lieu of the breach of contract. The point he is referring to in the contract is: "In the event of the tenancy being terminated by the tenant before the end of the term the tenant shall pay the full cost of re-letting the premises to include any loss of rent incurred by the landlord as a result of the tenant's breach and the agent's fees normally payable by the landlord until the end of the term and the tenant shall remain fully responsible for all terms of the current tenancy until a new tenancy commences". Is this correct on the landlord's part to take all my deposit as I've agreed to finding a new tenant (as no agent was involved) and pay the rent until the new tenant comes in. Is the landlord eligible to claim the agent fees from me for re-letting considering he is not incurring any costs for re-letting and there is no agent involved. What are my options? Will the landlord be eligible to claim agent fees if he decides to go with one? Thanks Best Regards, Smith

Can anybody help.... at my wits end with this. I have been requesting my Subject Access Request from an organisation since last October, despite paying the fee, providing ID and numerous promises to send it to me, I've had nothing. I've complained to the ICO who have told the organisation they must comply promptly (two months ago...still nothing). The ICO have advised me to take this to the county court to get court order and possibly damages. I've been to my local County Court yesterday but they do not know what form I need. The ICO will not advise which form, they have a booklet on their site, which they admit is out of date. Even though I've told them I don't need advice on the claim just the bliddy form number, they can't/won't advise. I'm desperate to avoid going to a solicitor and incurring costs for what should be a relatively simple action.

Hi all, First time signing up but have been lingering for some time, although I do have a problem some may help with regarding a divorce contract. Now, this should be a fairly straightforward divorce as all the paperwork was needed was ready for them and no dispute from the other half - straight forward divorce. However, as time went on, he realised that some of the work done was duplicated and charging for work that had already been provided to them. I believe in one instance they charged him for work outside the contract which they shouldn't have done. Now once he realised he requested to put the file on hold and send out everything to do with his file so he could review and all the charges. After looking at his file its clear that there are charges for work that isn't on file, duplication of work therefore duplication of charges etc. He then decided to query where all the charges had come from but they have appeared to side step the questions and answer completely differently. He also made a formal complaint to which their complaints policy allowed a 14 day response, in fact took the almost 4 weeks to respond! Nevertheless he has refused to pay anything further until they can provide evidence of the work and also the additional charges and reasons. they have decided to stop the work and pass it onto the debt recovery team. This has been ongoing for over 2 years now and numerous letters have been sent and as of late are now being ignored. He has complained to the Legal Ombudsman but as he was out of time they were not much help but did hint that if he took it further he was likely to be successful. This is an issue of costs, and he would now like to now recover the cost of the money he has paid so far due to their ignorance of letters and failure to respond to any of his reasonable questions regarding the charges. Obviously in any event settle the disputed amount and carry on with the contract. It seems like the firm have ballsed this one up and from the start as appears the original file handler is not longer working there after questions were raised! can he do anything about it? I have never come across a case where someone with a debt to a firm/company to take them to court in order to either settle the disputed debt or void the contract and return the parties back as they were before the contract was entered into. Obviously mediation may be an option? Could he argue a breach of contract for failing to fulfil it the contract? On the flipside they can argue the contract is not fulfilled due to him owing them money. He does not want to leave it as they have already been paid almost £1,000 and not done very much. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi my cleaners, a husband and wife team from Romania, have asked me for some help with a legal situation they are in, and following on from that a likely debt problem. H&W moved to England permanently in 2012 with their children. When they came they signed up to a 'franchise agreement' with a cleaning company. They later tried to terminate that franchise agreement, and the cleaning company is now suing them for a termination fee and also to enforce a restrictive covenant as well as legal costs. H&W have various complaints about how they were misled about terms of the franchise agreement, how they had no choice but to sign, how the terms are unfair etc etc. Those complaints may or may not be valid, but I expect they would lose in court as it seems from looking at the court papers that the cleaning company knows exactly what it is doing and they have presented their case well. And the reality is that H&W dont have the where-with-all to respond properly as their English is not great and they cannot afford lawyers. Naively H&W ignored the cleaning cos threats when they started, and the cleaning co has now started High Court proceedings. So cleaning co has clearly incurred costs in the thousands (solicitor, barrister, court fee etc). My advice will be to try to settle the case before the court date so as to reduce the costs further. However, and this is where my questions come in, I suspect cleaning co will at a minimum, as well as undertakings re no competition (which H&W can live with), will want their costs covered. I doubt H&W can afford that. So lets say they lose in court, and there is an injunciton about not competing in certain area for certain time, as well as a costs order, made against them. I am thinking they may need bankruptcy or a debt relief order to draw a line under this. They have practically no assets (rented accommodation, beat up car etc), and generally speaking I think would qualify for DRO, which generally looks to be a better solution than bankruptcy. Thoughts welcome generally. I assume that if a DRO was awarded debts under a high court costs order would be subject to the moratorium, and discharged after 12 months? But any injunction would still apply, so they would not be able to work as cleaners in the specified area for the time the injunction applies. I assume that they will qualify for DRO under the residency requirment, as they moved to England permanently in 2012, so are now domicilied here. I assume also that there are no immigration implications of a DRO for EU citizens lawfully resident in England? Does that sound correct? Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this situation.

Hello, I am an apprentice who has accidently told someone unintentionally something I saw on something I was given to photocopy confidentially by a line manager. The nature of the document is something that will most likely be available to colleagues in about a months time. With it spilling out, I then had to see the boss to get a 'slap on wrist' warning, where I openly apologised and said it wouldn't happen again as I realised my error. I was then told that there would be a fresh start. But now a few days later they have decided to make a formal investigation out of it, so I have been suspended until I am told when to return which I don't know when. I am after some advice or encouragement so I don't mess things further.

Hi all im looking for some help please. i have been off work sick for 7 weeks due to deppression and panic attacks.I was considering going back this weekend as i do not earn enough to get ssp and i dont earn enough to pay national insurance so cannot get any help there work had been paying me company sivk pay but im only entitled to 5 wks which i have had i was fine with going back as my docter wanted me to have a trail period i was all set to return when i find out that the whole of my department know i was off for deppression and have added that this is cause im suicidle i now feel a compleye freak and it has caused me to have a panic attack no one but my manager and supervisor knew i was off sick for this reason and i have told no one surley this is private info that should not be shared ? .I just dont know what to do know can anyone help please?

I seem to have the opposite problem to most who post here. A few years ago I rented my home to 'friends' who seemed to think paying rent was optional. Long story, but eventually obtained CCJ for a monthly sum of £15 on account of unpaid rent to be paid into my account by 11th of each month. No attaching of earnings was made. The CCJ has now been running for a year. The first payment was made on time. Since then they have been getting later and later, missing some months. I have written to them reminding them of their legal obligations and asking that they pay as ordered by the court. Have now been accused of ' harassing' them. I can't afford to take them back to court - no longer live in my then home, v distressed at what I found. Want this over. Can I sell a CCJ onto an agency, discounted, effectively giving them ownership of it?