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Hi, I lease small newsagents as a sole trader which is failing due to fall in foot trade and the economy in general, have had it on open market for almost a year and have reduced the price twice. The decline in the past year has been frightening. My partner runs it, (he wanted it) but doesn`t take a wage as he cannot afford to, I work full time elsewhere and am injecting cash into business every month. I have a bank loan of 9k, arranged after the bank called in their overdraft and 7k due to HMRC after an accountants error. I am currently paying HMRC monies each month from my own salary. We are both at our wits end trying to keep business afloat but it is proving almost impossible and we are considering closing up and asking for early release from the lease, it only has 18 months to run. Of course, this means that we have no chance of recouping any monies as nobody will buy a dead business and essentially walking away but with 16k of personal debt which I would have to pay off my salary. I have no assets, rent my house and run cheap car, no savings either. Just wondered if anybody could offer any advice or views.

Hi Everyone Can anyone provide any advice on how I should complain and attempt to get the original Business Loan Repayment Insurance Cost and subsequent Bank Charges back on the following:- In 2004 we had a Limited Company who banked with Lloyds TSB, when we needed to consolidate the debt of the the Overdrafts with this bank. We took out a loan for £40,000 plus a charge of 7017.00 for Business Loan Repayment Insurance and a £400.00 Arrangement Fee, this was secured by a Guarantee and Charge over our Property. We had many problems during the period up until 2009 when we allowed our company to be struck off by Companies House. We paid all outstanding Creditors off. We had many Bank Returned Fees during the period 2004 - 2009 which added to this Limited Companies demise. We started a Partnership in the same business and Lloyds provided a New Loan ro clear the outstanding Bank Accounts of the old Limited Company. This amounted to a New Loan with the same Guarantors as with the old Limited Company, the loan was for £70,000 with a £1,000.00 Arrangement Fee. This was the amount outstanding plus a small working Overdraft. The outstanding figure would have been £7,000 less if we had not been forced to take out the Business Loan Repayment Insurance in 2004, and I note they never pushed this Insurance for the New Loan with the New Partnership. When they closed the old Limited Companies Accounts they ommitted to open the New Partnership Accounts and as such we where paying continued excessive Interest and Charges on the Old LC Accounts even though it had been closed. One of our old customers paid an outstanding invoice via BAC's to the old LC Account and the Bank transfered this into cyberspace and we have never received into our new account, even though we have complained about it many times. The banks actions over the years have caused the new partnership considerable financial hardship and continue to do so. Please Help!

Hi there, I really hope someone can offer some advice, i'm going around in circles with the bank and despite making every effort to resolve my situation, the bank are continuing to be aggressive. My husband and i ran a successful business for 7 years, which held a £10k overdraft which we jointly guaranteed. Due to losing our biggest customer, and the immediate withdrawal of credit limits by our factoring company for a few of our other significant accounts, we sought independent advice from an IP and were advised to place the company in to voluntary liquidation in March 2012. It was frankly a heartbreaking time of worry and stress for us, as anyone who has been through this situation will know, it is incredibly expensive to close a business and we borrowed money from family to settle our factoring account, to pay for the liquidator and as we had personally guaranteed our cars we had to sell them and pay the shortfall on the sale. Natwest held all of our personal and business bank accounts: A business account for the liquidated company A further business account for a separate unrelated limited company in a different industry sector it is important to add the liquid business bank account has no borrowing and is a profitable company and has been for 3 years Our childrens bank accounts Two current accounts for my husband and i A 7 yr term personal loan account in my name for £20k (paid every month on time for the last 3 and a half years) As a result of the liquidation and the subsequent financial strain our personal Natwest accounts were up to their agreed over draft limits, with regular small sums of money being credited to them. The liquidation process progressed and after the final creditors meeting we hadn't heard from Natwest regarding the PG and so we contacted our business manager who informed us that all of our accounts had been moved to head office and he could no longer advise?! We then contacted the business collections department to arrange to repay our PG, we were told that there are no repayment options, we are no longer welcome as customers of the bank due to our liquidated company, that our overdrafts and personal loan would be recalled via letter and they would expect payment in full within seven days, and further that they could and would take available funds from any of our other accounts, including my children's accounts to reduce the overdraft! My husband and i were totally shocked, we had both banked with Natwest since we were 16 and 19 respectively, we felt sure this information was incorrect and made three further calls to the collections department to try and gain some clarity. None was offered and we were offered three further conflicting pieces of information. We waited for 7 days for the demanding letter to arrive, or infact any kind of written communication regarding our accounts. Nothing arrived and as we wanted to resolve the situation ASAP we wrote a letter and sent it by recorded delivery to our ex business manager and to the collections dept, which outlined our willingness to repay in full, but that we didn't have a lump sum of available funds could we make an arrangement as we wanted to protect our credit files and move on from this experience. After two weeks we still hadn't received a response and so we wrote to the above contacts again and also sent a recorded copy to Stephen Hester's Office, stating again our willingness to resolve the situation and how much we wanted to avoid any further action, seeking clarity on the points the collections team had made, and lastly requesting copies of the PG and also my loan agreement as i had been advised that this would be required to make an official complaint. Lo and behold we received a response from the executives complaints team, saying they would send the above documentation and clarify the issues raised within two weeks. A week later i received a copy of a loan application made by husband in 2009 (which he never accepted) addressed to me with a covering letter saying please find your loan agreement attached.... does this contravene data protection? Obviously i contacted them to explain, and was assured it would be sent out asap. In the meantime we had a letter from the CEO's office outlining that due to our company liquidation, the bank take a "one" view and assume we are suffering financial hardship as a result and therefore recall ALL personal borrowing, furthermore they won't be able to discuss any recovery action until they have issued a formal demand, which will result in a default on our credit files, at which time we can attempt to make a payment arrangement! A few days later i received another letter saying they can't find my personal loan agreement. This was 2 weeks ago, and i still haven't had a formal demand. To be honest i am worried sick, i really want to avoid a default, but i have no savings due to the failure of my main business, and have no idea how to proceed? Any advice to my incredibly long and waffly post would be very much appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

HI All To cut a long story short I Sar'd RBS a year ago over some other issues and recently was surprised by the amount of charges on My Business account looking at the information sent with the SAR it appears that these charges have been excessive over many years after speaking with the business relationship manager he told Me " That as my Account was to be sold to Santadare I would under no circumstances be able to make a claim for these " has any body had any experience of this ? or is it just RBS doing what they do best:-x Thanks CB

Hi all, So I'll start at the beginning. My partner and I moved into a house on the 7th August 2010. My partner signed the contract and signed two cheques, one for the first months rent and the second for £450 deposit, to be paid to the DPS. We settled in nicely and enjoying our first home together On the 30th November 2010, I received an email from our letting agent, stating that they would no longer be responsible for collecting out rent and gave us the landlord's details to pay future rent to. We were informed that his brother would be dealing with the property. In January 2011, 5 months after moving in, we realised that the deposit cheque had only just been paid. This was from out joint account, that we put money into and don't really check. We never received a deposit ID for the payment, and as neither of us had used the scheme before we didn't even realise that we needed one until research after we had left. We gave our one months notice in august 2011, and left the property in September. Fast forward to June 2012 and we have still not got our deposit back, despite emails back and forth between myself and LL's brother. Because we don't have a deposit ID, he says he cannot release the deposit. So I stated that if he contacted the DPS and gave them proof of ownership of the house, and a letter stating the letting agents were no longer in business, that should be enough to release the deposit. Is this correct? He states that he does not have a letter stating they are no longer operating and so is unsure as what else to do? Should my partner and I move onto small claims court? Or is there another way? Thanks for reading!

Hello I came home today to find that a card had been put through my door from the local county court. There was a number on the card which told me to call it to make an immediate payment or they would be coming to seize my goods. A bit of background. I used to be a sole trader and unfortunately this business venture fell through. I couldn't repay one of my creditors so they took me to court and I received a summons. I filled in the relevant paper work on the summons and offered to repay them £5 a month. I continued to pay this for about 2 yrs, and then I had my son. Once I came home from hospital, I completely forgot about this debt. They didn't write to me or anything. I have received no communication with regards to this debt since the original arrangement was made. And now I have received the above. I am worried that they can come into my home and remove my goods, even though I don't trade any more. Do any of you have an advice for me?

http://www.businesszone.co.uk/topic/finances/controversial-payday-loan-firm-wonga-targets-small-businesses/40966

I overpaid my business rates by about £400 in January & needed to travel abroad for a few months. In January I was told that I should apply for a rebate upon my return and a cheque would be issued to me. I returned in May & applied for a rebate. 2 weeks later I get an email from the council saying they can't give me a rebate, because a cheque had been issued and cashed already. I was out of the country & at no point received a cheque. I'm not sure what to do. The council say they can't be of any more help and are considering the matter closed. Surely if a cheque has been fraudulently cashed, that's between them and their bank. I'm not sure where I stand with this. Can anyone offer some advice?

Hi is there a place I can go to for templates for excessive business bank charges for a ltd company (they kept sending me overdrawn and then charging me) they have told me there is over £600 in charges applied to the account, I tried using personal account template letters but they have written back stating that its a business account but i cant find any templates anywhere, please help someone????

Hi there, this is my first post as only just joined. My husband received a phone call from Capquest this morning asking him to confirm his postcode and d.o.b, which he refused as he didn't know who they were, and they told him they had sent him a letter, but wouldn't tell him any details! The letter arrived in the post about an hour later! The letter stated that NatWest wish him to pay a debt owed to them of over £60,000 and that he should contact Capquest to avoid litigation. There is an ancient debt with NatWest as a result of a partnership, dissolved in 1991, which the remaining 2 partners carried on the business, and then it collapsed leaving an overdraft of around £20k. My husband ended up carrying the can for the whole debt (being severally and jointly liable apparently) and it was agreed in court that he would pay £50 a month. This was in 1996. There was 1 attempt in 1997 to increase payments and he has heard nothing more in the intervening years. The ironic thing is they wouldn't give him any more information on the phone because his date of birth didn't match their records (but his name, current address and previous address did!) He was then accused of failing to co-operate when he refused to send proof of his date of birth! (how that would help when they obviously have it wrong is anyone's guess!) Any thoughts on how best to proceed with this one? Do business overdrafts come under the CCA? Would this come under data protection if they are sending letters to people without confirming their identity first?? Thanks Sarah

Hi, Not sure whether to post this here or in the business bank account forum, so apologies if it's in the wrong place! (There is a related thread in the Debt forums: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?304533-Natwest-Capquest-old-debt-being-chased%281-Viewing%29-nbsp) My husband was in a partnership in the early 90s, and the business had a bank account with Natwest. My husband and 1 other partner left the business, with the 2 remaining partners carrying on trading under the same name. The business subsequently failed. To cut a very long story short, the 2 remaining partners went bankrupt, the other ex-partner "made some sort of agreement" with the bank, and my husband copped the whole lot, resulting in a court order, which he has paid every month since. Last saturday he received a letter from a DCA demanding repayment of the whole amount. He phoned them, but they had a different DOB so they wouldn't give anymore details. We have written back telling them it is subject to a court order so there is nothing they can do. However, this evening we have discovered the other ex-partner died in September......this timing can't be a co-incidence. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience, and if so, what you did. Sorry that's a bit waffly! Sarah