http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/meter-clocks-set-to-wrong-time-could-mean-millions-overpay-energy-bills-105148366.html

Hi All, Received my first response to my CCA request from HBOS card services. The card was taken out in July 1999 and was defaulted in 04/2009. I guess this will be removed from my cra file on 14/04/2015...fingers x. Paying them through Blair Oliver & Scott at £60 per month I have received a reconstituted copy of the t+c, apr etc for the card above. The copy simply states my new name and address and the current terms. Apparently this conforms to s78 of the CCA 1974 so as far as they are concerned this is enforceable so this is the end of the story! I was at a different address when taking out the card so surely this isn't a true copy of the original, recon or not?? They did go on to say that they were looking for the signed agreement under s60/61 but apparently this isn't required by law. DJ

I applied for a post as a cook in a nursery 0nly 10 hours a week. Its not in my home town and I gave my boyfriends address as it is literally round the corner. I spend most of my time at his house anyway but pay my council tax and bills at my flat where my grown up son lives. Well now I have to have an enhanced CRB check and they want proof of address.I have nothing in my name at my boyfriends place ,everything is at my flat address. I have a passport (although its in my former name, I have an adoption certificate and loads of utility bills etc for my main residence but nothing with the address that I applied for the job with.. The job offer was on the proviso that I could provide all the necessary documents. What am ii to do, any advise would be greatly appreciated

Hi, I received a letter saying that hmrc were doing a compliance check on me & wanting 6 years bank statements & wanting to know all my sources of income. I have worked for the same employer for 22 years & never anywhere else. I phoned the officer dealing with it & he asked me to send 1 years bank statements & again pressing me to almost confess that I work elsewhere as well as my full time job. I told him that I don't work anywhere else & he asked if I earned money from any hobbies. The penny dropped when he said that. I ran a small mobile disco which I done fund raising events & occasionally friends birthdays. it was never for a profit & was only 2 or 3 a year & I got between £50 & £70 each to cover my expenses. He asked me to write down how many & when & how much I got paid for them. I have not done any for over 2 years & my memory is not very good. I noted down 4 that I could vaguely remember & sent them off. That was 3 weeks ago & I have heard nothing back. How long do you think it will take to complete this? & what do you think they will do?

Hi all i need to get a bank account just a very basic one just to have wages paid into via bacs and a cash point card to draw money out i dont need a debit card or anything like that....so does any body Know the best place to get a very very basic account preferably with no credit checks Regards Casper

I have recently had some dealings with a bailiff from ross and roberts, the problem as such is sorted, in that I never ever let him in my home and I am paying the council directly. However I cannot find this bailiff on the register as a certified bailiff. On my "first notice" it only has his name as S Jackson I'm not entirely sure what his first name is, I've searched the company and the surname and another mr jackson comes up but not with that initial. I am dealing with the council first to ask how much I still owe and I will deal with ross and roberts once the council have replied, as I'm interested to know what my charges are etc I annoyed this bailiff because I was recording our conversation when he turned up at my house, the reason for this was many years ago I was threatened by a bailiff from the same company, another one of my questions is was I legally allowed to record that converstion ( I warned him I was doing so and what my reasons were before he started to talk to me, he then said to someone during a phonecall "she is recording me and I haven't given her permission"). We were outside my house so a public place. Thanks for your help, sorry I've been a bit vague , if I told the whole story I would be here forever and a day, so I kept it down to essentials

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help me please. We're receiving Working Tax Credits for childcare. Unfortunately for us, we genuinely failed to inform Tax Credits about changes to our circumstances namely - son went to school in September and we did not inform them - daughter's Nursery fees went down in January this year and we did not inform them - husband changed jobs late in Feb also not informed Anyway, we received our Annual Declaration a couple of weeks before we received the Compliance Check letter from the Compliance Team and at that point, I thought to myself there's no way I'm sending that off saying it's true so I thought I should write them a letter reporting everything. Unfortunately for us, they beat us to it with their letter! I wrote to them enclosing all our childcare receipts for the whole of last year from January 2012 and from January to June my claim was correct. July and August amounts were different, September different, October different and November and December were the same but different. But from January 2012 it should have been £90 a week rather than the £205 that it was originally when my son was still going. I know it all sounds really awful and we feel terrible that we did not report it before. But we had a lot of various things going on i.e. health issues, work issues and children issues we just honestly didn't think of it. In my letter I pledged to give them whatever other info they needed and also added whatever supporting documents I could e.g. sick certs from GP and hospital letter. I also apologised for not keeping our responsibility and acknowledged it was wrong of us to do so. We have always reported all our changes in the past. The thing is about three weeks later i.e. today, we got a letter saying that they still have to complete their checks and that they will need all the usual information for renewing our claim because the advisers on the TC helpline would not be able to help us. So they need details of our income etc. The letter says that the claim has been amended to reflect our current childcare costs as reported by our Nursery and our documents. It also says that "my decision does not affect any other action we may take which may include proceedings in a criminal court". This is what has really thrown me and I am so so worried. I cannot even call the line until Monday as they are closed. We had a check last January as well but we were with a previous Nursery and our childcare amounts were all over the place as we were constantly paying different amounts. Due to this the Officer dealing with our claim adjusted it but informed us that he didn't think a penalty applied to us as we reported all our changes and he could see for himself that getting those right would have been extremely difficult. I am so worried we are going to end up in court. Has anyone else had similar letters/problems? Please can someone help?

Ok, to start I will introduce myself. I am Dave and am new to this forum, and could do with a little bit of help. Tomorrow I start a new job for an online gambling company. I'm not based in the bookies but in the offices, and I'm a marketing assistant. I've been out of work for a while after being made redundant in my last job so just happy to have found something! The one potential problem is that I received all my correspondence in the mail today, and one thing has jumped out and worried me slightly. BAsically a form came in the post asking me to give consent for all these background checks because some gaming company employees handle sensitive data. So I'm a bit worried as I have a criminal record from when I was a young man, including one shoplifting incident and one aggravated vehicle taking. I was a teenager/early 20s when all this occurred, and am now in my late 20s and a changed person who hasn't been in trouble with the police for over 6 years. However, the shoplifting was less than 7 years ago, so will not be spent on my record. Add this to an awful credit rating, and any background checks on me will have me removed by security (joke). The one ray of hope I'm clinging to is the fact that my job itself has nothing to do with credit card information or anything sensitive. I'm working in the marketing department, which gives me no access to any of this. Is it company policy of all gaming sites to give this form and how vigorous is the check if I have nothing to do with this? I'd appreciate the help of someone who might have experience with this, as it's making me a little nervous.

Hi there and thanks for assisting me with this problem. I have received a copy of a credit agreement following an sar which they say I signed in 2005. the last page is signed by myself but the credit agreement does not seem to be the one I actually signed on the day. how can I check that this is genuine and whether this is enforceable? your assistance would be greatly appreciated as I have a court hearing next week for an application made to stike out my defense for non provision of the credit agreement

Hello, My friend has been working in a clothes shop on and off for 5 years, she has been employed by a recruitment place that covers all the shops in a shopping centre where this clothes shop is located, she covers in the shops when people are off sick etc. Anyway this clothes shop offered her a permanent job which she accepted, she then had to sign a form which said that a pre employment check was going to take place on her, she thought that this meant a criminal records check and so signed the form. She then got told that she could not have the job nor can she carry on covering in the shop as she failed the checks. It turns out that the clothes shop did a credit check on her and that she failed the check based on her credit history. Is there anything that she can do at all please, she is so upset especially as she has been working in the shop on and off for the past 5 years. I appreciate any help that can be given. Thanks.

Hi folks. Back in my teens, I was taken home for being too drunk - no caution, warning, arrest or fine followed. On another occasion, I was taken to the hospital after being run over (which was partially my fault because I was running around in the road, and yes I was drunk). There were no injuries (thankfully) and therefore the police didn't do anything; they just told me off for being an idiot. I've never had DNA, photos or fingerprints taken at a police station, if this helps. I sound like a complete idiot - I apologize. I use to hang around in the wrong crowd and drink way too much alcohol, but now I have grown up and have a degree, wife, a child and other important responsibilities. I'm going to be applying for a job working in a school as an I.T. technician and know I'll have to undergo an enhanced CRB check. I've read numerous things online about similar-ish cases, but can't seem to find a definite answer. I'm just clueless on what the police hold against my name. The last thing I want to do is be dishonest on an application form, it's completely out of character. Any advice would be very much appreciated, East

Hi Can someone look at the attached HCEO letter posted through my door the charges costs etc do not look/feel right need someone in the know to advise. I have access to online banking to pay the Orig creditor - is there any advantage to paying the OC and then arguing costs. i do not want to pay over the odds , But a £522 for execution and officers fees ? He has not been into the premises and has no levy - this is first contact. Yes I knew about the CCJ, I contacted the orig creditors solicitors to arrange a payment plan ( i suggested 4 payments) ,they said they would revert shortly - well they did , via HCEO , oh well its my own fault . see attachment for costs. [ATTACH=CONFIG]46010[/ATTACH] Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice

Hi all, I have a quick question with regards to moving out of a rented property on the last day of the tenancy per the AST. If we as tenants move out of a property on the last day of the tenancy agreement date, which happens to be on a weekend, what rights do we have to ensure that the inventory inspection is carried out on this day, with us being present? We have been informed that the inspection is only carried out during the Inventory Inspector's normal working hours. Therefore, if the move out date happens to be on a weekend, it will be carried out on the next working day.. this is a problem as we cannot be present since we will be abroad. Many thanks in advance for your response. Ferntree

Dear All, Could you please advise on what would be the most optimal course of action in the situation as per below in order to claim against the non-compliant landlord with Housing Act 2004? The situation in few bullet points: 1. We have signed a 12 months fixed term AST with a private landlord starting from July 30th 2011 and then renewed with a new AST contract on July 30th 2012 with a new increased rent and the second fixed term has ended on July 29th 2013. The deposit of £1,494 has been paid in July 2011 to a letting agency (property was let as LET ONLY) and the letting agency has transferred it to the private landlord. 2. Shortly before the end of the second fixed term (ended on July 29th 2013) we have run into a disagreement with the landlord over his long overdue flooring repairs which he hasn't completed before the agreed date July 5th 2013 (we have vacated the property for two weeks to allow him to complete the flooring repairs affected by a damp occurred long ago and before our initial tenancy started back in 2011) after which we were due to return back from holidays with two small children (4 years old and 6 months old). Upon our return the floors were missing and their condition has been totally unsafe for little kids which has later been confirmed by the Council Environmental Officer who visitted the property and confirmed a tripping and feet laciteration hazard in an official HHSRS report. 3. After I have threatened a legal action to complete the floor repairs - the landlord become somewhat 'unstable' and 'emotional' (exact quotes of his series of messages from him were: 'don't tempt me you stupid little dick' and 'I will come over, punch you in the face, cut your head off and will **** into the hole' - all these have been reported to local police shortly after') and he has served Section 21 to evict us as soon as possible despite the the fact that the AST fixed terms is to end within less than one month. Since he threatened that 'he holds my deposit and will not return until this matter is resolved' I have started to look around to understand what the story about the deposits and finally found out that the deposit should have been protected with one of the Tenancy Deposit Schemes and that the certain prescribed information has to be served to me within 30 days after the deposit has been paid or 30 days after April 2012 when when the new Housing Act 2004 amended legislation (I think it's called The Localism Act 2011) has come into the force. 4. Shortly after discovering this fact I have searched through the various schemes trying to find my deposit and also requested the confirmation in writing from each of the schemes. All schemes have come back to me by email and confirmed that this property has not been registered with them and I was also not able to find it through my own searches on their web sites. 5. While I was still a tenant (on July 11th 2013) I have sent two postal (recorded) letters to the landlord requesting to provide the status of my deposit protection and to protect the deposit if it has not been protected yet. These have been ignored / unanswered. 6. At this moment the tenancy fixed term has ended (on July 29th 2013) and we professionally cleaned the property throughout (have an invoice) and have moved out from the property 7. Since there was no inventory check-in, the landlord has asked me to simply had over the keys to a letting agent and said that the deposit with all the deductions will be returned after 'inspection'. Shorting after end of tenancy I have sent the landlord another recorded letter (template has been taken from shelter) to request of the return of the deposit within 14 days. I had to track his new home address (or rather an old home address as he seems like moved back to his original home which he used when purchased the lease on the property he rented to us) through the land registry in order to get this letter signed for by him as the initial letter send to his mailing address specified in the AST contract has returned with 'Gone Away' sticker. ----------------------------------------- 8. Now as I am writing this I am waiting for for a postal letter from the landlord with a cheque for the remaining sum of the deposit after deductions which are unknown as of yet (hopefully the breakdown of costs of repairs will be in that letter) - although I fail to understand what damages he have come up with as a 'revenge'. The question is as per the first paragraph of this post and in particular I would like to understand what is the optimal step forward here: 1. Accept the cheque and all the deductions (whatever they are) and then take him to county court for 'Failure to comply with Housing Act 2004': i.e. to claim just for 3x Deposit amount which would be £1,494 * 3 = £4,482 and is below £5,000 limit for small claims procedure or 2. Don't accept the cheque and take him to the county court for deposit return and for 'Failure to comply with Housing Act 2004' and therefore claim for deposit return and 3xDeposit: i.e. to claim for £1,494 * 4 = £5,976 and which is above the limit for small claims procedures which might mean that I would be risking to end up paying his solicitor's costs if I lose this case (for whatever reason) And in addition to this - are these still valid concerns in terms of potential appeal against my claim? - Because of the fact that the tenancy has started before April 2012 - can I still claim after my tenancy has ended - i.e. I am no longer a tenant and in Option 1 above the deposit has been returned back to me? I.e. Can the landlord appeal here to a precedent appeal court ruling (can't recall the particulars of the ruling) that 'non-tenant that have deposit returned cannot claim for return of the deposit again' and that claiming just for 3xDeposit compensation isn't allowed? - Does the new legislation (The Localism Act 2011) that came into force on April 2012 actually apply in my case? i.e. my first tenancy in this property has started before April 2012 and before the new legislation and contract got renewed in July 2012. If I am not mistaken the new legislation states that 'all tenancies commenced or in effect on or after April 2012 should have deposit registered within 30 days after April 2012'. I would really appreciate your thoughts and opinions on this. All I am trying to make sure is that whichever option I go with from the above - I will not end up going beyond 'small claims procedure limit' and that the landlord has no option whatsoever to appeal against the claim/court ruling based on past precedents 'that ex-tenants can't claim if deposit is already returned'. Many thanks, Alex

hi if an employer issues you with a company credit card, is a credit check carried out on the the employee?

hey guys Is there anyone here who is right up to date on the recent changes to Enhanced CRC checks where the government lost that case and have had to change them, possibly! My girlfriend is in a strange "predicament" where she is in a job already and wants to apply for another internal job but they will be doing a ECRC check ((her current role is more or less the same and she had a ECRC years ago) She had a stress related incident a few months back resulting in a caution and is very very stressed about the check what it might show. I just wonder if anyone is up to date on it now or have we got to wait until the changes filter through in any case I think it is best she does not apply, for now, as it may trigger something, she may the lose her job and that would be catastrophic for her! Im inclined to advise to speak with an employment specialist solicitor and see what they advise as part of a free 30 min consultation if she can get one? Thanks in advance Sew

Hello, this is an interesting tale, and involves the wife, mobile phone company 3, and persons unknown. The wife had a mobile dongle that we used in a laptop, when going out for a day to car shows etc. It was only a fiver a month, so she did not notice when the payments stopped. She had a call from 3 a few weeks back, asking for her by name, and then asking to confirm postcode. She gave them the postcode, and they refused to speak to her, as it did not match their records. Another call next evening, and this time got the person at customer services who was custodian of the brain cell for the day. A sensible converstaion, where the wife pointed out her 3 mobile phone was registered to this address, and still paying the bill, so she could not live anywhere else. All straightforward so far. It appears that 3 had a call off a person unknown in London, asking for a change of address. They than asked for an Ipad, or Iphone or some such to be sent. We do not know if that happened. When the address was changed, the bill was sent to the new address, after a couple of months of not paying it, 3 suspended the account. Then they started to chase the wife for the unpaid debt. Now as stated, she was not aware it was not going out of her bank, so after many many hours of talking to various brick walls in a call centre, she just paid the bill to save getting agro. During one converstaion, 3 actually suggested that it must be one of the wifes' freinds that had done it, which we find incredulous. All of £15, to bring it up to date. She then decided to cancel her 3 mobile phone contract (due to expire anyway) and went to various mobile phone shops, where she failed credit checks. we did an online credit check, and 3 have put a black mark against the wife, for a £15 debt, that they cancelled the direct debit. It also appears from the check, that not only living in Birmingham (as we do), and having an address in London, s he has also lived in Leicester for some time, and had a Shop Direct Finance agreement, and owes them money as well. Gets about a bit, does my lady! So the big question is what is the best course of action to get these bad credit ratings off the systems, when they are there fraudulently? It also strikes me as very scary that a person can call a number, and get a change of address done, with absolutely zero checks done.

Theresults of DVLA sight tests should begive to the person undergoing the test. Why you may ask? One part of the testinvolves a periferal vision test to press a button when a light spot appears.If you boob on the test by not pressing the button, they do not tell you. So you wait for the new licenceand low and behold you get a letter saying it is not being renewed!! Now how doyou appeal and how quick can retest to appeal the refusal? The answer is not clear and DVLA appear to have no sense of urgency. A neighbour of minehas not been able to drive since early October 2012. It is now 17th January2013! He sent, after considerable expense, a specialist eye report by special delivery at the begining ofDecember. Update- It is now 22 Feb and after he had written to them he has received a reply and a D1 to complete again! I ask, does this pay to declare honestly what problems you have? Does this make DVLA unfit for purpose, rather like the Home Office was described about 10 years ago?

hi all , had a tax credit check this morning that in itself isnt a problem but i feel that the questions are extremely intrusive , the have asked for my wifes employment details (fair enough) and my self employment receipts etc(fair enough) , but then they go on to ask about all my household expenses , loans hp , tv license etc which i fiond rather strange , they want all of this for a period of 3 months. Is this just standard as all seems rather strange> many thanks in advance

Hi one of my friends had received compliance check letter from HMRC. We are not sure why he had received the letter as he is not self-employed nor own a business. he is on a permanent job with a company and earns a single household income. He pays taxes promptly which looked after by his employer while paying his salary. He doesnt claim any benefits except for child benefit(not tax credits). He only works for one company. he was asked to send bank statements, payslips and p60s for the past 5 years. very scared to hear this. Has anyone faced a similar situation???? your inputs and suggestions will be of great help. Thanks

I have over the last few months estabilshed that the following companies search (or dont in some cases) the CRA's listed below: Bank Of Scotland Experian & Call Credit Bank of Ireland Experian Leeds Building Society (mortgage) Equifax Leeds BS Credit Card (MBNA Equifax) Creation / Sygma Bank Equifax Santander Experian Halifax Experian Barclaycard Experian & Call Credit Ikano Experian Nationwide Experian Interestingly I got Credit from the following companies and NO credit check has been registered either as a full search or a 'soft' search Moto Novo Finance ( 2 x car credit agreements agreed and paid out Pay 4 later (part of Standard trust Bank ? ) 2 x furniture agreements paid out etc... Hope this may help

Hi to you all. I was making a complaint to Barclays when a customer service advisor did a credit check on a loan for £7100 for 60 months without my permission,but the loan got declined because the customer service advisor did wrong information by spelling my middle name wrong,other details wrong. So I lost 50 points off my excellent credit score,I have made a complaint,but Barclays don't seem bothered. I have asked for £250 goodwil for the stress of messing my credit score,but they admit that this could have happened,but they will not offer me a goodwil. So I have passed my complaint to the FSA,their are waiting for their reply,asked for the recorded call to prove it. So any advise would be helpful.

Hi everyone, hope someone can give me some advice on this. Basically came out of the army and now my local police force is recruiting. 20 years ago I had a IN10 (driving with no insurance) and an £80 fine. Took the risk of moving a friends car and got caught. Wondering if anyone knows if driving offences show up on the enhanced crb check ? cheers

I took out a Barclays select loan in Nov 2000 which i am still paying back. I lost my job 12 months ago and have started making £1 payments due to advice from CCCS. I noticed on one of the other threads about checking whether the loan is actually enforceable. There is such a volume of information on the site i have a little problem following some of it. So what do i need to do to check whether the loan is enforceable?

An acquaintance of mine had three debts to NatWest (two overdrafts and a loan), She had a DMP in place, set up over six years ago. She was making one monthly payment to those nice people at Moorcroft, who were the collection agency NatWest had instructed. (Yes, I do mean 'nice people' - read on). When Fredrickson took over the collection process I noticed that the letter chasing the loan threatened Court action whilst the two about the overdrafts didn't. I wondered why. It transpires that her payment was being allocated only to the loan account only whilst the overdrafts remained at the same level. I (she) got this info from Noddle (CallCredit) and a full check with the other CRAs confirmed it. The result is that the two overdrafts have now become Statute Barred. Thank you very much you nice Moorcroft people. So it may be worth checking - are you in a similar situation? Could a wrong allocation of payments mean you have Statute Barred debts (or maybe close to being SB)? Worth a look? Go to www.noddle.co.uk/ - you may be lucky too. If this advice is useful to you or you think it may be useful to others a reply/comment will keep it high in the list.