I had a serious accident last week when a car pulled out of a side road in front of my bike, resulting in multiple injuries to me. The Police are still dealing with it but I have approached a solicitor, on the recommendation of a friend, with a view to a compensation claim. They have agreed to take the case on a no win no fee basis, with their fee capped at a maximum of 25% of the compensation award. I have no prior experience of this whatsoever, so I have no idea whether this is a normal deal or not. Is it likely they will just take 25% of whatever is settled? Would a better deal be available or should I just go with this one? These are things I need to decide so any help gratefully received. Yours painfully Yog

During the summer 2013 a limit will be introduced to the total amount of benefit (including Housing Benefit) that an out-of-work household can claim. This is so that no family who are out of work will receive more in benefit payments that the average wage paid to people in work. If your benefits are above this limit your Housing Benefit will be reduced to the amount you are above the cap From April 2016 the benefit cap will be reduced. New amounts are: Single parents and couples with children: £385 Single adults, no children: £258 For those in London, the amounts are £442 and £296 respectively This cap will apply to the combined income from a number of different benefits and tax credits including Jobseekers Allowance Income Support Employment and Support Allowance (unless in the support group) Child Benefit Child Tax Credit Housing Benefit The cap will not include one-off payments, non-cash benefits and things like free school meals, nor will it include Council Tax Reduction Scheme. As before, it will be applied to the UC monthly amount or as a reduction in HB. The UC childcare component will not count towards the cap. People not in receipt of HB or a UC housing component will not receive sufficient benefits to be affected. The following will not be affected by the cap. All pensioners are exempt from the cap The cap won't apply if you receive any of the following benefits Working Tax Credit Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment Attendance Allowance Employment and Support Allowance if paid with the support component Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit War Widow/er's Pension If you lose your job (through no fault of your own) after a period of 12 months continuous work, the cap won't apply for nine months.

I have a 2005 application form sent in reply to a CCA request. I'm happy that's it's unenforceable as a CCA, but one issue I'm particularly interested in is Cap One's signature on the form. Just want to know if they hand signed them. It looks hand signed, but does anyone know if this would have been the case? I can't attach mine at the moment, but it's the same as in post number 62 on page 4 of debtuptomyeyeballs thread entitled Help-Needed-Capital-One-Default-Served (can't post links)

Surprised there's not a thread about this already. Last year, it was announced that there would be a £26k benefit cap for many people of working age. They've now gone one step further and introduced a benefit cap as a whole, which includes DLA and housing benefits. So, you're going to have 2 people with the same disabilities and care needs and due to the cap, only one will get DLA. How is that even legal? Will try to find more information this later.

Hello to my family of Caggers, I have been off forum for awhile due to 'other' personal matters but I am looking to do battle with an old enemy of mine Capital One. The account was started approx 2002 and expired in 2004 due to Bankruptcy.They were advised of severe financial difficulties but they continued to take PPI and apply charges....... They were SAR'd in 2011 and they failed to comply. The usual letters were sent by r/d but I was unable to follow up due to circumstances. So, I have recently SAR'd them again and have received much the same information but I do have PPI/charges info which had been missing from the previous request so I have achieved that thus far. However, there is no copy of agreement and they have stated that as the account is no longer active they do not have to provide this information as it falls outside the DPA. The PPI was charged monthly as you would expect but there was also charges of £29 for membership. Has anyone expereince of claiming this from them and winning? As I was in a good paid job at commencement of the account before going self employed I would not have required the plan. The screen dumps provided show 'YES' for PPI but that proves nothing without having sight of the original agreement. Having researched through the forum I see that Cap One are getting very creative with their delayed evidence and I would like to reduce the time spent playing electronic ping-pong or posting/receiving snail mail to get funds that I am entititled to. I also intend claiming unfair charges applied to the account but as these will be over the 6 years, does anyone have any experience of how claims are going currently with Cap One? Would appreciate guidance or suggestions please. Shelley

Hi guys This is a shot in the dark really but does anyone have a copy of a CAPITAL ONE Credit Card agreement from 1999? A good friend of mine is being put through the mill by Lowells and they have now supplied a recon agreement in response to his s78 request. They have supplied a copy of the front of the actual signed "Application Form" (which contains no prescribed terms of course) and are obviously suggesting that the recon T&Cs were on the reverse. It would be really nice to know exactly what was on the reverse of the agreement as opposed to what they say was on it. Any help would really be appreciated chaps. Thanks

Hello, I can't find this subject anywhere, so I hope its ok to post it here. I have received a letter from Santander explaining that they did not specifically tell me about the Cap Margin increase, (and, that part of my mortgage was on a fixed rate) I have looked at my statement of 2008 to date. It shows: 1) Details of the early repayment charge 2)The interest rate (SVR) is 5.34% I'm very confused about what I should do (if anything), the gist of the letter is that Santander could have mislead me as the communications sent to me in 2008 may have left me unaware that I could have moved to a better deal offered by another lender. Their letter says that I would need to call them if I have any complaints, I'm slightly unsure about phoning them, as it might be a way of them putting me off making a claim,(if I'm eligible) I would appreciate any constructive advice on this please many thanks

Can anyone please can tell me if I will be affected by the benefit cap: I get: housing benefit : £74.84 Jobseekers: £66.58 weekly I am single and in a 1 bedroom flat, so going by these will I be affected? any help would be great thanks as I am just worried that I will be affected btw I am in a Housing Association.

Apologies for cap letters, just C&P from FB group Atos Miracles: BREAKING NEWS ON BENEFIT CAP....courtesy of Paula Peters who was present for PIP stuff today! as you all know the cap is: £350 single person £500 couples and single parents. Exemptions are ESA Support Group,DLA/PIP those benefits included in the cap are the following; JSA SDA HOUSING BENEFIT COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT ESA WRAG GROUP INCOME SUPPORT INC DISABILITY PREMIUM INCAPACITY BEN BEREAVEMENT ALLOWANCE CARERS ALLOWANCE WIDOWS ALLOWANCE THIS CAP WILL INCLUDE ALL THE ABOVE SO YES YOU WONT GET MORE A WEEK THAT £350 OR £500 TO PAY EVERYTHING YOU NEED AND THOSE WORKING ON LOW WAGES IF THEY EARN OVER THE CAP ,IT WILL BE TAKEN OFF ANY HB YOU GET AT PRESENT UNIVERSAL CREDIT: WORKING TAX CREDITS SCRAPPED APRIL2014 ATOS NOT ALLOWING AUDIO ASSESSMENT RECORDINGS BUT YOU CAN USE A ADVOCATE TO SPEAK ON YOUR BEHALF NEW CLAIMS START OCT BUT MAYBE DELAYED INDEF/LIFETIME 2015 ONUS ON CLAIMANT TO GATHER EVIDENCE PIP WILL USE ONLINE TRACKER SYSTEM AND THOSE WHO CANNOT HEAR OR SPEAK WILL BE ABLE TO USE A APPOINTTEE WITH CLAIMANTS PERMISSION. YOU WILL GET PHONECALL USING TRACKER FOR ALL OTHERS WHICH YOU WILL BE ASKED A LOT QUESTIONS (18PAGES) BEFORE THE CLAIM FORM IS SENT OUT. 3MTH QUALIFYING TEST FOLLOWED BY 9MTH PROSPECTIVE TEST THIS MEANS A YEAR IN TOTAL AND THOSE WITH FLUCTUATING CONDITIONS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS NONSENCE INFO RECEIVED FROM KATHERINE MARSHALL CAM PATEL WHO ARE BOTH PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS FOR SOUTH EAST /LONDON I realise it's not the clearest of posts, I think someone was taking notes as they were going along, but it might give someone a heads up, even if it raises as many questions as it answers, so to speak.

hi guys i have a debt that i defaulted on. The default date registered on noodle is 26/03/07 so i guess it will drop off on the 26th. I have not acknowledged the debt for 6yrs. Cap quest have sent me a letter today saying they r giving me 7days or they might take me to court. Should i just ignore it and hope they dont apply to go to court in the 5days left un til it fall off or should i contact them

Wondering if you could help please? My mother, who is disabled and elderly, has had a letter this morning (Monday 12th November) from Red debt collection services claiming that she owes Capital One £416.43 for an outstanding credit card debt. The issue is this: She has never had a Capitol One credit card and does not know where this debt has come from. Red claim that they have already contacted her and offered a "generous discount" on the debt, which is not true as this is the first she has heard from them. She has only been in her home for a few months and is at a loss as to how they have connected her name and address with this debt, and is very anxious and worried. The letter claims: "We will be sending your account to a field agent or one of our chosen debt collection specialist partners unless you arrange repayment." She is now very concerned that someone will come to her door demanding money for a debt she does not owe. The letter does not state how long she has to contact them before they send an agent out, and she is therefore worried that unless she does something in the next 24 hours she will be in trouble. I was therefore hoping that someone would be able to offer some advice as to what action to take please? I state again that she has no knowledge of this debt; she has never had a Capitol One credit card; she has only been in her home a few months and does not know how Red have linked her name and address to this debt. Thank you in advance.

Hi i could really do with some help with this debt Capital one cc and this is not showing on my CRA now made last payment almost 7 years ago however still being hassled by DCA's including Mack hall, apex, scotcall, lowell, bcw, frederickson, red, 7 DCA's confused.com. Scotcall are now making me 8am phone calls every other day i just answer and then hang up otherwise i have to listen to their silly voicemails asking me to call. - I have just put in a claim for PPI on this account as i was a student when i took this out back in 2000 !!! and would never of ticked the ppi box as i had no income to protect, so wouldnt of been able to claim. When i rang up cap one to claim they could find no trace of my account so had to send them a photocopy of an old statement which dated back to 2002. Thankyou

Lets just document the relevant bits of PMQ's yesterday: Derek Twigg: More than 2,500 households in Halton are affected by the bedroom tax. The chief executive of the National Housing Federation said this week: “The bedroom tax is ill-thought and unfair as thousands of disabled people will have no choice but to cut back further on food and other expenses in order to stay in their…homes.” Will the Prime Minister now drop this callous policy? The Prime Minister: Let us be absolutely clear that this is not a tax. Let me explain to the Labour party that a tax is when someone earns some money and the Government take some of that money away from them—that is a tax. Only Labour could call a benefit reform a tax increase. Let me be clear to the hon. Gentleman: pensioners are exempt, people with severely disabled children are exempt and people who need round-the-clock care are exempt. Those categories of people are all exempt, but there is a basic issue of fairness. How can it be fair that people on housing benefit in private rented accommodation do not get a spare room subsidy, whereas people in social housing do? That is not fair and we are putting that right. Edward Miliband: I notice that the Prime Minister has a new tactic, which is to ask me questions during our exchanges. All I can say is that it is good to see him preparing for opposition. The Home Secretary shakes her head. I am looking forward to facing her when they are in opposition. Let me ask the Prime Minister another question, because he did not answer the one about the bedroom tax. He talked earlier about the hardship fund. Let us look at the facts about the fund. Some £25 million of it has been allocated specifically to help disabled people hit by the bedroom tax, but how much do his own figures show he is taking from disabled people? The answer is £306 million. Will he admit that the vast majority of disabled people hit by his bedroom tax will get no help from his hardship fund? The Prime Minister: First, the whole House, and the whole country, will note that there was no apology for the mess left by the Labour party. Let me tell the right hon. Gentleman that his figures on the spare room subsidy are completely wrong. The last thing he said before sitting down was that we are cutting the money going to disabled people. That is simply not the case. In 2009-10 the money spent on disability living allowance was £12.4 billion. By 2015 it will be £13.3 billion. There is no cut in the money going to the disabled. This Government are protecting that money, in spite of the mess he made. On the spare room subsidy, pensioners are exempt, people with disabled children are exempt and anyone who needs help around the clock is also exempt. As he is fond of reading out letters from constituents, let me read from one I got on this issue from a pensioner: “We are expected to find up to an extra £60 per month out of our pensions for having extra bedrooms.” Of course, they are not, because they are pensioners and are therefore exempt, but they have been terrified by the right hon. Gentleman’s completely irresponsible campaign. Edward Miliband: I think what that means is that there was nothing in the briefing on the question I asked. Let me just make it clear, because the Prime Minister obviously does not understand it. His own impact assessment—he might like to read it, by the way—states that 420,000 disabled people will be hit by the bedroom tax by an average of £700 a year. That is £306 million. The money in the hardship fund allocated to disabled people is just £25 million. It is basic arithmetic. Will he admit that the vast majority of disabled people will get no help from the hardship fund and will be hit by his bedroom tax? The Prime Minister: The right hon. Gentleman is completely wrong, because anyone with severely disabled children is exempt from the spare room subsidy—[interruption.] Mr Speaker: Order. Members must not shout at the tops of their voices at the Prime Minister. The question has been asked, it was heard and the answer must be heard. The Prime Minister: The right hon. Gentleman completely ignores the fact that anyone with severely disabled children and anyone who needs round-the-clock care are exempt from the spare room subsidy. The point he has to address is this: we are spending £23 billion on housing benefit. That is up by 50% over the past decade. That is £1,000 every year for every basic rate taxpayer. We say that it is time to reform housing benefit, and it is only fair that we treat people in social housing in the same way as we treat those in private rented housing. He has no proposals to do anything about welfare, other than to put up borrowing. Edward Miliband: I think that we have established today that the Prime Minister does not understand his own policy. It is shameful to do this and not even understand the impact on the people of this country. He pulls out all the stops to defend the bankers and their bonuses, but he has nothing to say to the disabled people being hit by his bedroom tax. He stands up for the wrong people. It is no wonder his Back Benchers and the country think he is totally out of touch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Facts There is no exemption for disabled children who require their own room in the HB regulations. In fact the DWP are currently taking a case to Supreme Court to argue against disabled children being entitled to their own room. There is similarly no exemption for people requiring around the clock care in the HB regulations. You may be entitled to an extra room if you have a non-resident overnight carer, however this is not an exemption. Plus does not apply if your partner is your carer. If the Prime Minister (with all his special advisers) does not understand how the Bedroom Tax will work, god help the rest of us

Citizen Advice Bureaux has released the following : - What is theBenefit Cap Read more: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/benefits_welfare_benefits_reform_e/the_benefit_cap_what_you_need_to_know.htm

Got to work this evening to find a message from one of the girls in the office to say Capquest have been ringing my employer to tell them to get me to ring them - are they allowed to do this, my employer isn't impressed with me because they are ringing him? I don't know what this is about other than they left him with a 'case number' and a telephone number telling me to ring them.. . Need to know what line to take with them when I call them Many thanks.

Ensure you're not being overcharged or fooled into thinking the price is lower Two pricing rule changes, completely free of charge CAP and BCAP have today announced changes to rules governing price comparisons rules and the use of price claims that are inclusive or exclusive of VAT. Advertisers can now compare products that may not be identical, but nonetheless meet the same need or intended purpose. The Advertising Codes have also been changed to allow advertisers to make VAT-exclusive price claims, provided the claims are clearly addressed to those that pay no VAT or can recover it. Find out more about these significant changes, including a full regulatory statement, here.

Hi Requested an SAR first week in Novenber usual £10 fee enclosed needless to say Cap One did not honour the request and since then have sold the debt to CFS Holdings. Received a phone call from CFS last week re the debt with Cap One I explaned that an SAR was sent to Cap One in November, when the caller heard this he became anxious and started to stammer and really had no answer. Following this telephone conversation the SAR arrived two days later. I have had numerious calls from CFS and also letters the most recent came this morning in the form of a card informing me that someone will be calling on Wednesday between 9am and 9pm also received a phone call from CFS this morning when I explaned about the caller coming on Wed they knew nothing about this. What do I do I have not had an oppourtunity to go through the SAR. HELP. Dessie

Hello there guys, I was hoping one of you could offer some advice on how to deal with my capquest issue. I will give you some of the background. I started receiving hundreds of phone calls (up to 30 a day) from the lovely capquest in October 2010, I ignored this for about a month then decided to tackle them head on. I sent a Modified CAG prove it letter to them and I also sent the FOI letter to my creditor along with the 10 quid. So both the creditor and the DCA are aware of my identity and current address, surely? Things went quite, I assumed that Capquest could not provide me with any signed agreements and the creditor certainly neglected to include it in the information sent to me. I heard nothing for over two years. In December I then began receiving letters from "debt managers LTD" who are apparently perusing my debt to capquest, not to my original creditor. Debt managers where threatening doorstep visits so are dispatched a combined prove it a no doorstep collections permitted letter to them. I got a response from their complaints dept. saying that the matter has been referred back to capquest and I have now received another letter from capquest complaints offices. I am a bit baffled by capquests letter; it is full of apologetic platitudes but does make a strange request. They are asking me to confirm my address history in order to ensure they are pursuing the correct person. Why would they do that? My original creditor is in possession of this information. I am tempted to make a strong worded response along the lines of isn’t it a bit late in the day to be asking if I am the right person and why the hell should I help you do your jobs. Would this be silly? They have given me 30 days to respond which was kind. Should I play ball or just stone wall them and re-demand proof of liability? I am worried about some kind of Capquest ruse. Your help has been amazing in the past and I was wondering what any of you could recommend. Cheers Le_bonn.

Read more.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20950691

Not sure if this has been posted already http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/dec/22/benefit-cap-delay-dwp-criticism

I lost my tribunal today - there seemed to be a lot of assumptions and quite frankly, ridiculous suggestions. I have clearly demonstrated that I need care frequently - they've agreed; but claim I don't meet the criteria for mid rate care - yI know I do meet the criteria. Their arguments were: Me: "I wander off if I'm out" Them: You've got a tongue in your head, haven't you? Can't you ask people? Er, there's an assumption that someone is around to ask and that a) they can show me (you can't just tell me - I will still wander off) and b) understand me when I'm talking (Some people can't. A friends wife can't understand me at all - I once went to talk to her and then had to get him to speak to her) Me: "I trip over the dog" Them: "Oh, we all do that. Can't you put them outside?" Well, no. Mum works nights (therefore, sleeping during day time) and they'll just bark. It's not exactly fair on them, is it? Me: "I struggle with shaving and am allergic to wax" Them: You could always use an electric shaver" Funnily enough, I've tried that and I can't shave close enough. Doesn't solve the issue of leaving lines of hair everywhere. Now, I've either got to appeal to the upper tier or do a new claim or both. I really don't have the energy to do this. I have demonstrated that I do meet the criteria for mid care; yet, they've decided I don't. Or do you have to be unable to do anything for yourself to get mid care? They agree that I can't cook a meal (or could; but burn myself or the food) and that I need help during the day amounting to a few hours - why isn't that enough?

Hi All, I'm not new here but also not a frequent flier, in the past the info and advice I have gained from this site has stood me in good stead...... so I'm back again, sorry. I have 2 defaulted (delinquent) credit card debts on my file that I would like some advice on, apart from these my file is good with loans, mortgage and mobile phones all perfect. The defaults are from a time shortly after a difficult period in my life, I'm now in a much more stable position and would like to get these errand debts at least under control. I would like to point out I am not looking to avoid my obligations but I'd like the odds to be in my favour where ever possible. The first is for approx £1800 to Cap 1, the default date is Aug 07. I sent CCA request which was not satisfactory so I told them the account was in dispute and just turned my back, since then I've lost count of the amount of DCAs the debts been through, all the usual supects. It's now with Low ells. In light of the fact that next Aug the default date will be six years ago am I best to leave this well alone? The second is to RBS and is at almost 5k, default date on this one is 2010. I would actually be willing to start paying this off, there are charges on the account but I wondered whether it was best to start clearing the debt first before sticking in a SAR. Also if I start making payments on this will it's status on my credit file change and start looking favourable again? I'd really welcome any advice on this matter as next year I'm looking to expand what has been a one man band working out of a single garage and get proper premises and I'm guessing I'm going to need the banks help. Many thanks in advance.

Ok here's the situation, about 2 months ago I finally paid the balance off on my Cap 1 card (sent a cheque 10 days before the due date to the value of the balance of that months statement) I didn't hear anything for 2 months when I received a statement claiming I still own money on the account. I replied explaining the situation & that as far as I am concerned the account is paid off & I want the account closing. I've now had another letter saying they can't close the account as there is still an outstanding balance & it has to be paid by the 30th of November. What do I do? Pay up & forget about it, ignore them & run the risk of them sticking a load of charges on the account or send the letter I have just drafted which reiterates the contents of my original letter & advises them that any further demands for money will be considered harassment & treated as such.

Ongoing issue with Cap 1 thought was resolved ages ago..... I've had threads relating to it before here but it is still not finished! Briefly, had Cap 1 loan with PPI added + interest. All paid except a portion of PPI that I refused to pay when I realised it was useless (self-employed). A/c in Dispute. May 2008 took it to ombudsman. Oct. 2009 result - PPI must be refunded + interest. Cheque rec'd for balance after witheld part of PPI deducted. Aug 2011. Saw CRA report. Default showing from Cap 1 Nov 2008!!! No wonder my score was crap. Referred case back to ombudsman (who had ordered the loan be reversed to how it would have been without PPI being added - it would have been in credit!). Aug 2012 Ombudsman ordered Cap1 to remove default and pay me compensation (punitive, but something). Chq rec'd 4 weeks later. Default removed from Experian. But not Equifax. They are refusing. Ombudsman told Cap 1 again to remove Default. Still refused. Even though I sent Equifax a scan of my letter from the ombudsman and various emails between us proving that they must. My plan is to send a LBA to Cap1. 3 questions if anyone can help, please:- 1. The correct address to send the LBA to at Cap 1. The last address I had was in 2009 - has it changed? Cap1 PO Box 6750, Nottingham, NG2 3YA. 2. Because this has impacted my family life seriously, how do I calculate it in terms of compensation if/when it goes to court? The main thing was re-mortgaging. We had to get a buy-to-let mortgage on our property in order to raise funds to buy another house for us. Because of my 'bad record' I had to have my name removed from the deeds on OUR house we were renting out. The new mortgage was put in my husbands name only. The new mortgage for OUR house had to be in my husbands name only, too. 3. Does 'defamation of character' still apply these days? I certainly feel I have been discriminated against.

Hi All, I was being chased by Capquest for a Cap 1 debt, which I expect the PPI & charges reclaim to pretty much cancel out. I sent a SAR request to Cap 1 which was received on 2/8/12, on 6/9/12 I received a letter from them stating that they cannot comply with my request unless I provide them with a signature.I am confused as to why they want a signature as I have married since opening the account & they will not have my current signature on file so I am understandably reluctant to provide them with it at this stage. They also did this with my CCA request, but supplied it once I had sent the template letter from here. Is there a similar letter I can use for the SAR please? As they have already supplied information to me at the address on the SAR request are they in breach of DPA? They also state that the 40 days does not begin until they receive a signed request - is this correct? Any advice on how to proceed with this would be gratefully received