Could any one help I have recently asked for discoverable documents from my old bank they have presented a number of documents which proport to have been executeted may 2005 may 2006. I beleave these documents have been created from an earlier loan guarantee which was signed. The reason I ask for help is simply this in the two documentsthe both of the loan applicants are stated as being four and five years younger than they are the ages given would have been correct in the origional loan agreement the one which I believe the two in question have been taken from. Does any one know if the loan agreement applkuication forms are based on a spread sheet were age calculations are calculated from the date of birth being entered in the main account details? If this were the case I would then know for certan wethweror not the two documents which I have received are frodulent or not. I would appreciate any help. Regards

Hi, I took out a HSBC Business Protection Plan when I took out a business loan. I now believe it was mis-sold as I was told it was compulsory and they wouldn't give me the loan without it. I'm hoping this is the same as PPI? and I am able to reclaim. Would really appreciate it if anyone knows of this product to let me know. I'm one half of a partnership, not limited, and we both had to take a policy in order to get the loan. Your help would be much appreciated.

I was a director for a small company for 1 year, during that time i found out that the MD had applied for a business overdraft using mine and his names as it was a limited company, when i confronted him and resigned he said that i had signed for the overdraft without realising. I have contacted the santander branch but though the adviser says she remembers the MD saying that i was ok with the overdraft and she thought it strange that because my signature is there i am liable. I have never been a signatory nor had access to the account in question and have told the bank i want to withdraw my permission to use this facility but they say i have to get the MD to agree and he will not speak to me, he did write a letter saying i was not liable but the bank are saying it does not matter. Please help as i dont know what to do, i do not think the overdraft is being used yet but they will not discuss as i was not a signatory on the account????

I was paying £10.00 a month for a product called Business Focus, that was in 2004, I've contracted Lloyd's making whatthis was for, and not one member of staff knows, can anyone help me please

I am another victim of Phoenix Business agents who are very good at [problem]ming innocent people like myself who just wanted to sell my business. I did not approach them instead they somehow got details of my business on sale and approached me. They made it sound ever so promising and very good at selling that they talked their way into selling my business. They said they would market the business and would be able to sell my business within 6 months and with a high price. They initially said that there is no fee until the business is sold and when the agent had come he had started talking about a fee of £1250.00 as he called it a deposit and he did promise me that it is 100% refundable if they are not able to sell my business. I then paid him as he talked me into this as he was very talented in this trade. This was the worst decision i had made as they are the worst unprofessional company i have dealt with. The agent that had come said my business would be on the internet within days with photographs so that potential buyers can view the business but to my surprise this was not the case even after a whole month of waiting and chasing them. Each time i called them about my business being on the website or photographs they made up a story and said it would be up in a few days when they finally got it up without photographs that was then at two months time by then i realised that they are not going to sell my business. When i had not received any phone calls from any potential buyers i had realised their unfaithful motives i decided to terminate my contract and then the agent had started to come out with a story of their fees which i was not told or made aware of. The agent that i spoke with said if i wanted to terminate before 6 month period i would have to pay £3000.00 and if i went over 6 months i would have to pay £6000.00. The agent that initially visited me had never mentioned this i asked time and time again if there was any hidden fees or charges he made it clear that there was not not any fees until they actually sold my business. Now they are harassing me with several letters asking me a fee of £7550.00 which they are not entitled to and i have not signed any agreement of. Please can i ask for some help and advice and where to go and what to do as they are pestering me.

I am currently under contract with BT, with around £300 of termination costs. I talked and then wrote to BT regarding the change of contract which requires me to pay £9 to receive the same service I enjoyed as part of the contract for 15 months. I gave BT two options (1) refund the £9 for the remainder of the contract; (2) accept termination for cause and I will not pay cancellation charge. I will not be the only business in this situation. Looks pretty unfair to 15% charge more for the same service, or insist on payment of a termination charge if you want to move as a result. Do not like this. Bullying tactic. Views?

Hi, First post and relative business newbie, but need some advice! My folks looked to sell their business back in 2009. Carehome with 15 residents, and Phoenix said they could sell it for £1.1m. Sounded great so they signed up. Long time later and no sale, but they did get an offer at way below the asking price that was rejected. They changed agents to a company called Amberglobe. They marketed the property and the buyer who's bid was initially rejected came back in with a higher offer which was subsequently accepted. Sale has all gone through and folks are enjoying their retirement until Phoenix piped up saying they wanted their 2% fee of the ASKING price they had originally marketed the property for because they had introduced the buyer (it is in their contract that was originally signed). They want ~£29k, then reduced it to £6.5k if my folks paid right then. Folks sought legal advice (from the solicitor they used when selling the carehome) who said they should pretty much just pay and get it done as a long protracted case could cost a hell of a lot more (let alone stress). Phoenix now want £10k+VAT. But since this morning have changed that to £10k inc VAT (providing we pay by 4pm today). Payment dates keep changing with them, terms, etc. which makes me think they are chancing their luck and just trying to make a fee out not doing their job properly in the first place. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Evening all, I have an account with a local agricultural merchants due to various problems I have mentioned on other threads I fell behind with paying it off, I then agreed to send them small monthly amounts to reduce it but again due to continuing problems I fell behind with it and have not paid them for a few months as I literally have had no spare money, I have spoken to them and explained the situation and they agreed to wait, I have now had a letter threatening court action if the full amount is not paid by the end of the month, I have written them a letter explaining again and enclosing a cheque as a gesture of my intention to pay, now the question I have is, this account is a word of mouth agreement, nothing has ever been signed, in thier letter they are qouting as per company policy, no company policy has ever been shown to me or any terms and conditions of trading, as I say I intend to pay the debt, but I would like to know the legal position so that i can advise them of it if they continue to threaten court, cheers Purp

Hello CAG people! (This site is amazing) I wonder if you could have some assistance - I'd be very grateful. I have requested bank charges of a now-closed business account. HSBC have offered these are listed below. Could someone tell me what I can claim back and what the interest should be? I have added a draft of a letter. Is it appropriate? Many thanks! - 15th June 2011 OD Fee - Account Overdrawn - £24.00Dr - 15th Jun 2011 Debit Interest - £0.38Dr - 16th July 2011 OD Fee - Account Overdrawn - £48.00Dr - 16th July 2011 Debit Interest - £0.52Dr - 3rd August 2011 B06 Unpaid Item - £25.00Dr - 4th August 2011 B06 Unpaid Item - £25.00Dr - 10th August 2011 B06 Unpaid Item - £25.00Dr - 15th August 2011 OD Fee - Account Overdrawn - £24.00Dr - 15th August Debit Interest - £0.33Dr - 15th September 2011 - Account Overdrawn - £56.00Dr - 15th September 2011 - Debit Interest - £1.84Dr - 16th October 2011 OD Fee - Account Overdrawn - £16.00Dr - 16th October 2011 Debit Interest - £0.12Dr - 15th November 2011 OD Fee - Account Overdrawn - £144.00Dr - 15th November 2011 Debit Interest - £10.07Dr - 16th December 2011 OD Fee- Account Overdrawn - £184.00Dr - 16th December 2011 Debit Interest - £24.51Dr - 15th January 2012 OD Fee - Account Overdrawn - £168.00Dr - 15th January 2012 Debit Interest - £31.76Dr - 15th Febuary 2012 Debit Interest - £37.25Dr - 27th February 2012 Debit Interest - £40.20Dr - 27th February 2012 Debit Interest - £2.63Dr I have a letter to complete and send as follows: Dear Sir or Madam Thank you for offering a breakdown of charges relating to my business account 14th November 2013. Over the past six years, you have charged me for (enter what they have charged you for, e.g. exceeding your credit limit). It has come to my attention that this is unlawful at common law, and under statute and recent consumer regulations. In the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account, it is implied that you will conduct yourselves in a manner which complies with UK law. Unless you can prove that they merely cover your administrative costs, I require full repayment of these charges, which I calculate at £xxxx plus interest of £xxxx. The total is xxxx. I also ask you to remove any default notices on my credit record that are related to these charges. A correction or amendment to the entries is not acceptable. If you do not comply fully within 14 days, I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount, plus interest and costs, plus I shall submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner. Yours faithfully Xxxxx

Good Morning. I am having difficulties determining as to whether i need to be self employed or a business? My situation: A few months ago, i started working for a local company, i believe on a sub-contract basis as a service engineer. At the end of each month i invoice them for the gross amount of labour, and they pay the invoice value. In addition, to this, i invoice them for mileage, for using my car, at 40p per mile and invoice that too, which they pay in full. I also do other things as well; i repair coffee machines at home and sell them online. (materials are involved within the invoice total) I also build Camping Pods in my spare time, and sell them on line (materials are involved within the invoice total) I have not at this time registered with HMRC, it has only been two months, i needed to see how it went but now find myself very confused with what i need to be “signed up as” I have been putting money aside to cover my tax liabilities whatever they may be. I have looked through the HMRC self employment section and to be honest, i am finding no definitive answer as to what to do. I would appreciate any help or comments anyone may have Thanks in advance

We took a loan out with RBS in 2008 and the rate was at 1.5% above base rate. I think the LIBOR rate was about 4.5- 5% then. Since the base rate has fallen to .5%. We had a poor start to 2013 trading wise. RBS state that they were not happy with the current account and sent one of their special relationship managers around who tried to bully us into selling. Since then our trading has improved, business is good, current account is good. We have decided not to renew the overdraft which we felt that they would pull out from under us during the winter months when trading is slow. RBS is now looking at the loan agreement and would appear to be trying to see if they can make us default. We have never missed a payment. They are looking at our business plan from 2008. We think that RBS is not happy that we are only paying at 1.5% above base and want to get rid of us. They did offer to do a new loan, but at current rates and costs. Has anyone else had this problem. Should we go to the Financial Ombudsman?

I put a claim in to Barclays for a business loan I took out back in 99 which had PPI attached to it, I was and still am self employed so reclaiming on the grounds that i would never have been eligible to make a claim, today I received a letter from them informing me my claim has been rejected as they can't find any evidence the policy was mis-sold and that the letter is their final response to my complaint, they also enclosed a leaflet explaining I can refer my complaint to the FOS. After reading on here using the FOS could take up to two years is there another step I can take?

All help / advice/ support / sympathy gratefully received. Apologies for the length etc. I'm new here, In Sept 2005, my friends and I moved into a shared flat. Being the organised one, I was in charge of bills. I rang up British Gas to sort out a gas account. As the flat had recently been converted from industrial units, we ended up being with BG Business, despite being residential occupants and pointing this out to them at length. This led to BG never quite getting our address correct on correspondence. Out of the blue, in about April 2007, I received a final bill from BG Business, confirming that we had closed our account. We hadn’t, and I (and another flatmate) queried this with BG over the ‘phone on more than one occasion. We continued to receive gas. I moved out of the shared flat into a place of my on on 1st Sept 2007. As I was in possession of a final bill from BG Business and the issue of the account was still in limbo, I left it to my friends to sort out and set up a new account for gas and electric with BG at my new address. In late 2008 (possibly 2009) after a further house move, I was contacted on my mobile, out of the blue by BG who alleged that I owed them for gas from the original shared address. I pointed out that I had a final bill from them. They asked if I knew the names of the tenants who were living there after I left and I passed on the relevant details. Fast forward to late 2011, I am just about to become a dad and have moved house again. Having had no further contact from BG, I start receiving post redirected from my previous address from a DCA (I forget which one). Having been spooked by the first couple of letters, I took to carefully removing the redirection stickers and returning the letters to sender (no such person) and scrawling ‘please update your records’ across the front. Fast forward to now. It’s 2014. I’m in another new house. And suddenly, I have received a couple of letters from Advantis to me (my full name) at this address. The first one was the traditional phishing message (‘we have an outstanding business issue with [my name]’); the second says I owe BG Business £3k for gas at the 'not correct' address (as mentioned above) My question is: can I continue to ignore these letters? Do I need to send a ‘prove it’ letter? Is the debt ‘statute barred’ since it relates to 2007? What is my next move??

Hi, I am new to this forum but hopefully you can help. I have a small business and have incurred alot of bank charges in the last few years. the charges are now taking me over my overdraft and i am now incurring more charges, its a vicious circle. charges alone since the 1 nov13 £870!!!! i would like to be able to claim the charges back as i now find i have to think about closing my business. any help would be great as there are so many conflicting things on line. thanks jaki

I am rebuilding my life and its going well. New business and its growing, however, I have a CCJ and was a Director of a company that was put into voluntry lioquidation 5 years ago. I have been trying all day to get Public and Employers Liability and no one wants to know. I am manufacturing wooden sports equipment. I know by law I have to be insured but how can I comply if no one will insure me?

I recently changed my business contract from 02 to Vodafone and I regret doing so. 1. Vodafone helped themselves to £198.88 via direct debit without any explanation as to why so I rang them up to ask why. To my astonishment Vodafone did not know what the £198.88 was for so I asked my bank to reclaim the £198.88. 2. .On 4th July 2013 I returned a handset to Vodafone under their 7 day returns policy. The handset was ordered online and I paid £199.00 up front viia debit card and Vodafone received the handset on 5th July 2013. As to-date I am still waiting for Vodafone to refund my debit card. 3. I have received my August bill and it's over £400 which is ridiculous as it should be no more than £130 for the 4 handsets. After looking at my August bill Vodafone are charging me for 6 handsets, when i only have 4 . On the bill there is also an equipment charge of £179.00 for a handset which I returned in June and have actually got a credit not for. I telephone Vodafone to try and sort it and was told "we haven't seen an account in such a mess and we need to send your account for re-calculation. Vodafone rang last Sunday to inform me that the re-calculation was still in process and that they would call me back on Tuesday 6th August (Still Waiting for the Phone-call) )

Hi, this thread is to deal with the Natwest part of my bigger debt problem found here, it explains how I got in this position and the overall debt mountain involved: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387784-Big-Debt-Problem...HELP I have not paid them at all for 18 months and there must be a ton of charges as well. They also offered me 25% off the balance if I pay immediately (cannot afford to anyway). I sent them a CCA in March and got this letter back just after and have not heard anything since. What is my next move please?

Hi, I was in business with a friend and it was set up at a Ltd Company. We took out a 3yr lease on a retail shop in personal names. However our working relationship broke down I could not longer work with her. I agreed to sign my shares and profits in the business over to her upon her agreeing to take on all liability including the lease. However it has been over a year since I left and my name is still on the lease. My ex business partner has not been paying the rent on the shop since Decemeber 2012 and the Landlord is now chasing me for money. I want to know if I have a case against my ex partner to get back the money the landlord is trying to recover from me? I have it in writing that she was prepared to take on all liabilities including the rent? Your advice please. I have come to an arrangement with the landlord to pay back the sum on a monthly basis but why should I be out of pocket when it was not my fault.

Hi, I was stopped by the police on Saturday night and hit with driving with no business insurance and the car was seized. I have had business insurance for the past 12 years but having changed jobs it was no longer required, however since then I have done a few shifts at the local Chinese takeaway, Due to various reasons it never crossed my mind that I needed to update the insurance..... my fault, end of story. However my concern is this, I had been doing deliveries earlier in the evening, but for the past hour before being stopped, I had actually only been working the counter, as it was quiet I asked the owner if I could nip to the shop to get some milk ready for when I finished work, as I came back out of the shop 2 police people were waiting for me, it was then that one of them informed me of this situation, he also said he had seen me entering the takeaway with a red bag (ie delivery bag) and this was his evidence. As I was not using the vehicle for business at the time of the stop surely they had no right to seize the vehicle? his remark about the "red bag" is questionable as every takeaway in the area if not the whole country uses these red bags, I believe that he didn't really see me enter the shop after a delivery and just used common knowledge to back up his claim. He also entered the time of the offence of driving with no insurance as 22.30, which is the time I was on private use, seeing as the last time the vehicle was used for a delivery was 21:20, and from this point on I swapped duties with another and became counter staff. The long and short of it is can they stop me/caution me, and seize the car retrospectively?. I am particularly concerned about the seizure as the car was not being used for business purposes at the time of the stop. (By the way the reason for the stop they said was because somebody had informed them the day before that I was driving without business insurance, but absolutely NOBODY is privy to that information. Sorry to add so much detail but hopefully it will reduce the number of queries.

Here's the DWP's 'Business Plan 2014' I found on the whatdotheyknow site. Interesting reading - and artfully worded as always to encourage and inspire the troops (excuse my sarcasm). If their systems only ran as well as their literature promises... https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/jobcentre_plus_performance_manag#incoming-440496

Does anyone have any experience regarding Clydesdale Bank and their Tailored Business Loan (TBL) We switched to a TBL in 2010 after being advised to do so by CB and they are now looking to charge us £26,000 early break costs as we are looking to sell the property.

Hello, I would appreciate any advice given on the following problem I have. A little background information. In June 2011 I opened a Limited Company and rented premisses (light industrial unit) to start a business. The lease was under my own name as the landlord would not make it on a name of a Limited Company (but it was OK on directors name). When I moved in the councils representative came along and took the details of the Limited company to send the bill to. I explained, and showed him that, I have not started trading and I will only start in 6 month time, at that time he told me that I don't have to pay for first 6 months and then would only pay %50 of the rateable value as a small business. I completed the form and sent it to the council. All correspondence with council was on the name of Limited Company. The address of the unit was also the registered address of the company. After 6 months the business still was not trading and it was likely it would never trade due to the nature of business and the current economy. By then we had spent all available money on research and development, which showed that the business was not going to succeed. We moved out and the company is now in liquidation. Today I received a letter from City Council at my HOME address demanding a business rate of £1803 for business premisses (period of 06/10/11 to 30/09/12) with a note "If not paid in 7 days it will be passed to a bailiff". What are my options? Should I just Ignore it as it's a Limited Companies liability? Thank you!

Can anyone offer some advice. I wanted to sell my business in 2009, I contact a business Estate Agent who agreed to market it for me at a good price I signed up with him. From then onwards I heard very little going to nothing from the company. In 2011 I discussed with my employee about selling and she wanted to buy. I wrote to the agent and withdrew my business. My employee then advised me she was not able to pay the amount I was asking for it. As I was by this time becoming ill with the stress of running the business I agreed a lower price with her and we eventually exchanged contracts in February 2012. I had heard nothing at all from the business who I originally was selling through - out of the blue in December 2012 they wrote to me telling me they had not received anything from me withdrawing the sale and wanted 3% of the original selling price - which in 2009 was considerably (500%) higher than the figure I sold it for. I wrote back sending a copy of the original letter. They now have issued a County court action for the full amount. I walked away from my business with literally nothing after forty years by the time all debts were paid, and now live on a pension there is no way I can pay them this money. I feel I did all the right things - they never sent one interested party to me in all the time they were my agent. The contract stated I had to give 28 days notice and then there would be no charge - I did that. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi all, Currently looking into starting my own business and had a mentor meeting at JCP with a guy from chamber of commerce who raised a question of legality. I am planning on running a computer repair service from home and offer a same day service for customers who drop off the computers rather than me picking them up. This guy I spoke to yesterday stated that I wouldn't be able to do that, I would not be able to have customers dropping off their computers/laptops etc.. I have looked online and cannot find any information regarding this other than the council regarding the change of the property usage. This isn't an issue since the room I will be using as a workshop is the cellar which I am in the process of fitting out and was never used for any purpose. The vehicle traffic would not be much higher and I have parking for at least 4 vehicles off the main road. Anyone know who I need to contact to find out more information, Is it the Council regarding the business? Regards George

This is my first but I have followed and read others post with interest. Please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong place as there seem to be many different forums that would be suitable. I am desparate for some advice from anyone who has similar experiences. I will try and keep it as brief as I can. In 2010 we bought a small retail business. We took at a secured loan for £145K to buy the business and the business premises. Lloyds put the first charge on the business premises, but as there was a shortfall, there was a second charge on our residential home. The business did not perform as well as the previous owners suggested - but that's another story! Then the recession really hit us, a supermarket opened nearby etc etc. We therefore decided to close the business in November 2012. We have been in contact with our Lloyds business manager throughout and were told that a different department would be in touch. We were told that we could not rent out the premises or sell until we heard back from Lloyds therefore the property has stood empty. The letter from Lloyds says they will consider a repayment plan, a lump sum or will consider any plans we put forward. If we do not respond in 14 days they will seek to sell the business premises and our home. We really don't know what to do or how to handle it. Things aren't helped by the fact that the letter is dated 18 February and didn't arrive here until 25th - so when do our 14 days begin. Also we have tried contacting the person who is handling it and left messages - they don't ring back ! Naturally we are desparate to hang on to our home as we have three small children. Please don't anyone think that we do not accept our responsibility for paying back what we borrowed - we absolutely do but we just don't know what approach to take with the bank. We think we are going to ask if we can try and sell the business premises ourselves which should pay off £80-£100K of the debt - are they likely to let us do that. Also there will naturally by a short fall of around £65-45K - will they make us sell our home. We have around £90K equity in the house. Oh, and naturally they are charging us a ridiculous amount of interest each month which is crippling us. In the early stages of the business decline our business manager indicated that we may be able to go on a payment plan to cover the shortfall however, we are already on a debt management plan to pay off a few suppliers that we owed, we have no savings, my husband is working but we have very little left to live on. Does anyone think that they would consider deferring any action against our home as long as we made a token payment each month until things improve. Any help or opinions would be welcome. We are, like so many others out there, are absolutely desperate. The whole thing is having a terrible effect on our family. I have spoken to Business Debt Helpline who had some good points to make, tried CAB but can't get an appointment and can't get through on the phone. A side to this, while we had the business we incurred ridiculous bank charges due to bounced DD's/Cheques etc. I have read on here that these charges may be reclaimable. Last trading year our charges were over £4K should we persue Lloyds for getting some of these charges back or will that just create an even worse situation as we owe them so much. Sorry this is so very long, thanks to anyone who has read and thanks to anyone who responds.