Need a bit of advice on how tax credit claims work. My partner and I moved in together in autumn last year (2014) and we are now about to apply for working tax credits as a couple. Previous to that she had been living alone for two years after separating from a long term partner. They were claiming tax credits together as a couple and I assume that their claim would and SHOULD have ceased when she moved out and lived alone for the next two years. I am uncertain as to whether she claimed as an individual during that time. During our recent discussions about a new joint claim for the two of us, it came to light that she has just been asked by her ex to submit financial information relating to their joint claim up to when they separated two years ago. I am slightly confused as to why. Is it feasible that the tax office would be wanting information from so far back? And for what reason? The reason I ask is because I am concerned that her ex never stopped their claim when they separated and what the consequences of that may be for us. Is it just me or does it sound a bit suspect?

Hi, Quite a long thread but easier to get it all down now and get the situation up to date. I correspond for someone who has a long term mental health issue, as a result of a head injury they received years ago. I've done this for many years without issue. I'm sorry that I have to be quite ambiguous about the person, I hope you don't mind. The person had a payment schedule with LTSB since 2007/2008 and had been paying monthly. It was agreed back in 2007/2008 with LTSB ( pre Lloyds-TSB split ) that I was the point of contact for all communication in the matter and everything was to be addressed to me since contact with the situation causes great distress to the account holder. Recently, as a paying in book was nearing empty, a renewal was requested 2 months prior to it running out, but no paying in book arrived to enable continued payments. Next thing a letter from Lloyds Bank arrived, addressed to the account holders name, against the communication agreement that had been in place all these years with me named as addressee of all correspondence, the letter saying that "as we haven't been able to agree a suitable repayment plan we've transferred your LLOYDS BANK PLC debt to a debt collection agency, Moorcroft Group Plc. We've instructed Moorcroft Group Plc to arrange collection of the outstanding amount" ; then 4 days later a letter, again addressed to the account holder, arrived from Moorcroft stating they had been instructed by LLOYDS BANK PLC to collect an overdue amount ( the figure showing the total outstanding balance ) and went on to state the purpose of the letter. Interestingly, both the first Lloyds Bank letter and the Moorcroft letter both came in envelopes with the same return address on the backs being Po Box 17, Stockport SK1 4AJ. I thought that was pretty odd. I wrote back on behalf of the account holder pointing out that a repayment agreement was already in place and had been since 2007/2008, and that Lloyds Bank had by way of not issuing a replacement paying in book when requested, caused a non payment/missed payment situation to arise, forcing a default situation. I pointed out that since Lloyds Bank had caused this situation through their action ( non action ) that it was they that had defaulted/renaged on the agreement that was in place and made note of fair practices guidelines etc, also asking them to ask Lloyds again on return for a new paying in book so that payments could recommence. I requested Moorcroft contact their 'client' to confirm this and requested they hand the account back to Lloyds. Six days later another letter from Moorcroft arrived, this time in a bright yellow envelope, and again addressed directly to the account holder, asking for them to send within 7 days a payment proposal. Around a week or so later ( 27th November ), a letter arrived from Lloyds Customer Priority Team in Brighton, AGAIN addressed directly to the account holder, saying that due to the situation they would now manage the account. Included was an I & E sheet which they requested be completed, and suggested phoning them would be easier. They ended the letter saying they would hold action for 28 days from the date of the letter and stated that if they had not heard from the account holder in that time that they would either telephone of write again in order to maintain regular contact and keep the records up to date. On the 3rd December a letter from Lloyds Customer Services ( BX1 1LT ) arrived finally addressed to me as per the long standing account holders wishes, the letter said they where keen to investigate the concerns raised and suggested I phone them, going on to say that they would mark the 'complaint' [?] as closed two weeks on from that date but they'd re-open the complaint and review the situation if I came back to them with the required information. Am I missing something? what information? in any case I did not call them, it seemed nonsensical. 19th December another letter from Lloyds Customer Services arrived, again addressed to me, ( so at least they're getting that right ), The letter thanked me for letting them know of my concerns regarding the account, then went on to bullet point a few statements in my letter to them ( apparently, even though it was Moorcfroft I'd written to ) The first bullet point statement was actually incorrect as it said " you have opened a letter addressed to XXXXX despite agreeing with Lloyds that all correspondence should be addressed to you" [sic] The actual statement was that I had read an OPENED letter ( letter had been opened by the addressee and resulted in avoidable mental trauma/distress ) The two further points where correct. The letter apologized for what had happened, but went on to say they could not find anywhere on the system a letter of authority allowing correspondence to be addressed to me ( sent to the account holders address I might add ), but goes on to say they have contacted the customer priority team who have agreed to manage the account given the customers health issues. The letter confirms a paying in book was finally issued ( arrived a week ago I think and a payment was sent to include the missed payment plus that month, so all up to date ) But, then the letter gets confusing sayng the account has now been passed to Moorcroft Debt Recovery Limited to manage, however once a letter of authority is returned I could contact Lloyds to have the account considered to be brought back in-house for Lloyds to manage. In acknowledgement of the issue, they offered £50 for my time and the confusion caused, and to take that offer up I was to contact them on the letter headed details ( presumably telephone ) but I have not called. They state I have the option to contact the FOS if I so wished, and the letter is signed in ink. Nearly there... 8th Jan a letter from Moorcroft arrives addressed directly to the account holder, saying that they acknowledge receipt of payment against the account, which they note was "direct to our client" ( the payment being made to Lloyds using the Lloyds issued payment book as per the agreement with Lloyds TSB ) the letter goes on "We would refer you to our recent letter which informed you that we were now responsible for the collection of your account and would therefore ask you to contact us within 7 days of the receipt of this letter with an offer of repayment It is important that all payments are made directly to us in order that we can ensure that your account is administered correctly. This will assist in ensuring that no further collection activity will commence. Any payment must be attached to this letter and made payable to "Moorcroft Debt Recovery Ltd". Alternatively please see contact details below" What the heck? I'm really confused now, I thought with the payment book arriving and a payment having been made as per agreement that things where back on track, but now Moorcroft are saying they want payment sent to them and made out as payable to them and not Lloyds as per the Lloyds payment book and Lloyds comment that the Lloyds customer priority team would be dealing with it in-house. I have signed the NEW authorisation request that Lloyds sent but I'm having trouble getting the account holder to sign it as they ( the acc holder ) is saying that if they sign it that constitutes a new agreement or agreement to a variation of the in place agreement etc. The account holder wants me to send a *condition agreement letter to Lloyds or a CCA request to them and ignore Moorcroft. * I've since read about a conditional agreement 3 letter process online, but it seems rather sketchy and related to FMOTL rubbish, although to a degree seems valid ( and acts in much the same way a CCA request is a request to see that a valid lawful agreement is in place, but the conditional agreement thing seems to go a step further and borders on questionable. ) I can only think ( being generous here ) that Lloyds have 'lost' the correspondence agreement from 2007/2008 at some point in the splitting up of Lloyds Bank and TSB. The account holders situation has never changed apart from money getting tighter and tighter due to rising costs and welfare reforms. They've not worked in years and are in recipt of DWP ESA being in the contribution based Support Group ( unlikely to ever work again ). Any ideas what I should do? or which to contact ( Lloyds or Moorcroft )

Manager reduced a birthday cake to £1.20, it had a price sticker and relevant barcode sticker added to it. At the checkout a rather officious food hall assistant walked past, looked at the cake and said ''I have just reduced that and it was £6.50, no way would we reduce it to £1.20. She then picked it up, fumbled with the stickers, checked the barcode, muttered under her breathe and said ''I'm not putting up with this'' assistant stood there looking so smug and self satisfied, I had to resist the urge to slap her. The lady behind me in the queue suggested that the assistant was alluding to the fact that I had swapped stickers to make the cake cheaper. Said assistant then came back and questioned the manager who by this time had opened the checkout next to us and in a voice loud enough for all to hear, pointed at my cake and questioned him as to whether he had reduced it, to which he said yes. I am incandescent with rage and unable to compute in a sane manner as to what I should do. Any suggestions?

Well on 22 July they sent out a marketing email saying that in future you can have Alert Only at £ 3.99 , ie without ID Fraud Insurance. They said you can make this change quoting reference NEW01 by email to customersupport@experian.co.uk Today there was a reply : No you can't do it , you have to call us !! Hopeless !!

I am a 53 year old woman.live alone, working 20 hours a week on minimum wage. get a small amount of tax credits ..Pay full council tax and only get £19 of my rent........after i then pay all my other bills and monthly bus fares I know i was definatly better off on benefits... However i need to work for my sanity Back to the original question I suffer with Restless leg syndrome and take Topamax and Zopiclone... Do i qualify for a perscription excemption certificate and if so how do i apply.. At the end of the month i have barely enough to eat let alone get my percription,but without them i would be in trouble!! And i wear glasses and have a nhs dentist that i am happy with both of which i would be unable to affored were i not helped in some way... Thankyou for advise.

Hi, first post so please bear with me. My husband submitted his NDL Cashflow to the HSBC in April this year when he realised he could not meet his commitments, mostly in return he has had letters advising him to get help from a DC and of course the phone calls. The HSBC also denied that he had written to them so he sent them copies of the recorded delivery receipts and complained about the way he had been treated, he did receive a better response to this and an apology and a refund of charges for that month, he also pointed out that he would not deal with this matter on the telephone and would they please deal with it by letter, he also received a letter offering him a reduced full and final settlement which he replied to saying if he had any money he would be making his monthly payments, no reply yet. Frankly this is one of the more baffling elements of being in debt, you do what you think is the right thing and offer what you can and it gets ignored? I cannot see any merit in totally ignoring an offer,they can always say no (in writing of course). I think it is back to the drawing board Rohannah

Hi all, We intend to enact the 6-month break clause in our AST, as we will be emigrating soon. It seems to be the 'standard' 2-months-notice affair, but the wording has me really confused: Surprisingly, this agreement is not approved by the Plain English Campaign! The tenancy began on the 28th February, so would it then end on the 27th August if served correctly? If so, would I need to serve the notice on the 27th or 28th June?

Hi , im new here , just a quicky. what should a cca look like ? I have recived CCA, however it is titled SECCI, is this correct ?

Hi all I have an interest in a car which has been purchased using Blackhorse. I'll give you a bit of background info as this might get confusing. my friend owns the car and the finance is in her name, but neither of us could afford the finance if we were paying it alone. I pay half of all costs for unlimited use of the car, and obviously this includes the finance. If she decides to sell I only have to pay 50% of the book value at the time of sale if I want to buy it and if I don't I get 50% of what it sells for so it was a decent idea for me and my friend and it's worked well. The only problem is I've had a bit of financial turbulence since January and I've had to restructure my finances so at the moment I've not been able to pay my share of the finance (although this will be cleared up by the end of May). We've got one payment due on 13 April, and then the last and final payment (the amount borrowed was over 60 months) was due on 13 May. As the final payment is double the normal payments, and the fact that my friend has been carrying me for the past couple of months there's no way she could afford the final £320 that Blackhorse would want. When she rang them up they gave her the following options... 1: Split the final payment into 2 payments, but they said they'd place a default marker on her credit file which she doesn't want. 2: Cancel the direct debit and pay it on her card (?!?), but I'm assuming this would end up with another marker on her credit file. This option also made no sense as I can only assume by 'card' they meant a credit card which she doesn't have. If they meant debit card then it still comes out of her bank account so that confused me. 3: They'll not take the payment out this month, but carry it over until May and then take the double payment in June (by which time I'll be sorted financially and I'll have caught up with my contributions to the car). Strangely they said this wouldn't involve a marker being put on her credit file. Now my friend has chosen option 3, but I'm not sure this isn't going to adversely affect her credit rating. Am I right in assuming it's similar to a 'mortgage holiday' where you don't have to pay for a month? If so, why on Earth can't they just split the final payment as it would still be cleared on the same date. If push comes to shove I can borrow the money and get some money into her account for the final payment in May, but it would involve a payday loan and I really don't want to end up in that situation. I do feel bad about it as well as my financial problems were entirely avoidable and self inflicted, a nd I don't see why she should have her credit rating trashed because of it. Anyone who could help clear up the confusion or even give alternative options to present to Blackhorse would be greatly appreciated.

Today I received a letter informing me that "We cannot pay you Jobseekers' Allowance from 1 Match 2014. [...] from 1 March 2014 to 14 March 2014 you were not and could not be treated as actively seeking work. As a result of this decision your benefit may be sanctioned if you reclaim Jobseekers Allowance." I understand why the decision was made. However, some things are not clear to me: 1) What is the length of the sanction? 2) Why do I need to reclaim?

Hi my loan was sold by Lloyds Banking group to Aktiv Kapital which im fine with, had the letters confirming the sale back in July last year. My only confusion is around how they are both reporting the same debt on my credit report, it has only been the last 3 months aktiv kapital have been reporting it. My simple question is are they right to both be reporting the same debt? thanks

I'm getting all in a muddle. I read its possible then I read the oposite Basically I sent SAR to halifax and egg. Both packs came back and both were missing the defult notices that appear to be the key to success in removing defults My phone call to halifax yesterday suggested she will only send templates and Basically I had terms and conditions so the defult notice wouldn't matter anyway Can you get defults removed or is it pipe dream? They were dated 2010 when I was out of work and too young/inexperienced to know that mistakes made now would cost me so much in future. (Trying to move home) Any help would obviously be amazing and any more details you may need ill add. Thanks gyus

Hi, for some time have been thinking of changing banks, i decided to give barclays a go , the first attempt i applied in my local branch, but from some reason unknown it wasn't successful , but they told me that they would keep the details used on file, so if i at a later date wanted to apply again i could do it online as my id had been verified , earlier this week i decided to apply online, which gave a successful result , i got given my account number & sort code, ( direct banking 20-25-25) which is given for online applications according to what i have read regarding it , i also on the same day got 2 e-mails once welcome to barclays +t&c's and the other with my membership number fairly standard practice & no confusion, until the next day, i get an e-mail saying and offering a cash card account, i thought a bit odd, i contacted them by phone and was told that they couldn't tell me anything ,saying that i would have to go into a branch, and of course no one at the branch to help , arrange an appointment or try another nearby branch, mmm, i don't think so, so i left it at that if they don't want my custom then that's their loss i thought, plenty of banks out there, Today i received 2 letters from barclays a welcome letter and one with the pin number from the debit card? also a request for a specimen signature , Could it be that the e-mail was sent in error, or less likely that the letters got sent out before they decided not to give me a current account as per e-mail,. both e-mail and one of the letters are dated the same date, On another note reading some of the stories here I'm beginning to think i made a mistake in choosing barclay's, But i do know one thing i won't be using the personal reserve , infact i will probably get them to remove it, as the charges are horrendous , But a proper overdraft would be fine,

Over the past few years I have been receiving Debt Collection Letters at my address, addressed to my father in law who incidently has been deceased for the past 7 years at the age of 92. The letters have never stated what the debt was for only the amount of the debt owed. I have ignored most of the letters but 2 years ago I did write a letter back to one of the Debt Collectors informing them that the gentleman in question is deceased, never lived at this address and that he has never had any debt in his life. That was the end of the matter??? or so I thought. Someone knocked on my door the other day asking for my father in law, I asked what it was in connection with, they replied an un paid Mobile Phone Debt dating back to September 2007 when the contract was cancelled. I explained all the above to them, and that he had never had a Mobile Phone. They went away happy with my explanation, I think????. My question is who if any is responsible for the debt if indeed it does exist.

Hi, just wandered if someone can clear it up for me,theres so many schemes,ive tried reading everything but its baffling to be fair, to set the story up,we have been on council/housing association for a number of years now,since a couple of months ago we now have a decent wage,all in about 30'000 a year,we would like to get our own house,now or in the future, my credit score sadly is pretty bad,through poor judgment in the past! my wifes is okay, the goverment introduced the homebuy scheme which you put up a 5% deposit etc, we have looked into moving, i guess what im asking is how does this work exactly, with the credit scoring,the lenders etc, is still the normal process or do they take other factors into consideration to help get the house, my post is pretty confusing i guess but the more i read the more i get confused myself!

Hi guys, I'm posting on behalf of my houseshare. Basically, we've just had a massive bill for the gas and electricity that was almost the same as our winter bill (only about £20/£30 difference). Obviously we're confused as to how that happened because we haven't been using our electric heaters or central heating for the whole duration of the latest bill. I've called npower, they insist that it's correct because we sent in the past week. However, we're still confused how we have managed to use that much when there are fewer of us than there were in the winter. Please advise. It could be nothing, but there's no harm in asking. There are a few things that has changed in between getting the 2 bills. We had our meter for electricity changed in March. The pressure in our boiler keeps falling, so there may be a problem. Lastly they've changed the charges. I've attached our bills. We'd appreciate it if you could take a look. Thanks in advance. Zoe[ATTACH=CONFIG]45352[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]45353[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]45354[/ATTACH]

Hi all, im writing this on behalf of my mum who is currently trying to claim back PPI. Has anyone heard of a case where the box for PPI hasnt been ticked but PPI is active on the account?? My mum has a letter from 1st credit stating PPi is still active on the account yet she received her orginal argeement today and the box for Payment Protection Cover was left clear?? Does this make sense. Also we noticed on the bottom of the orginal agreement her signature is there but there is no date which i thought was odd as surely every agreement from a bank should be dated?? Any advice on what to do next or if anyone has experienced this would be really helpful Thank you.

I tried to get my statutory £2 report from Equifax but it comes up with this each time : Please Note: Unfortunately we have been unable to retrieve the product(s) you have requested based on the information you have supplied. Please verify the information you have entered below and, if appropriate, resubmit your application. If you have tried to request your Statutory Report and the information below is correct, it will be necessary for you to order it by post by completing our printable application form. The information below its referring to is my card details...What does this mean, as I used the same visa debit card for Equifax and Experian but I was wondering, if its because I already have an account with Noddle. Thanks

Hi, I am new to this forum, so please excuse me if this 'problem' seems a little trivial. I work in a large college of further education on a full time academic contract. About four years ago i took promotion from my job as a lecturer in English to the post of curriculum leader in Additional Learning Support. Since taking the promotion, I have become increasingly confused about what my role is and how I can provide a high quality service. In my opinion there are two main problems. The first is that my job description does not bear any resemblence to the job I actually do, so I have nothing to guide me in terms of actions and performance. The second is that there seem to be so many people (the majority on agency contracts) employed to do the same job, but on different rates of pay, that any notion of equivalence or line management is renderd invalid. I have talked to my manager, her senior and the Head of HR about this situation (tactfully) and I have been assured that I will have a change of job description. However, so far nothing has happened. I am beginning to dread the next academic year because I am afraid I will have nothing to do except watch a team of specialist support people take up the work whilst I wait to be admonished for being 'under hours'. i am sorry if I have confused people, but any advice would be appreciated.

i purchased a sim and dongle to use with my laptop from t-mobile for £7.50 per month about 15 months ago. At the time i was told that it would have a price cap and stop me using up more that £7.50 per month. I've been getting emails telling me when i've nearly reached the limit and when i've hit that limit, i cant download for the rest of the month. the device has been a bit slow of late and i went to check for an upgrade and to my horror, was told i was paying betweek 30 and 50 pounds per month. I was shocked. feel like an idiot. how do i get m y money back? has t-mobile done this to anyone else?

Hi After searching the internet for an answer I have come across this forum - I really hope you can help My partner has recently began to provide deliveries for his takeaway business. I have been parking in a close by loading bay after the loading only times are over (after 6.30pm) but have been harshly told today 1. that this road is not supposed to be used by 'private vehicles' (there is a steady flow of traffic through this road despite this!) 2. you need a permit to park in a loading bay unless you are a van or truck or bus Please note the delivery is brought to the car, the car is never left unattended, the engine is always running - the car is not parked and left. Oh, at least one other business provides deliveries and also parks in the loading bay, but they are actually parked between deliveries as the driver also works in the restaurant. Thanks for any help available

I'm new to the forum. I posted on here earlier today but don't know how to find the post i put on. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hello, I'm confused about the criteria of Statue Barred Debts, specifically if a Creditor writes to the Debtor. For instance if an alleged debt is over six years old BUT the Creditor has maintained contact and demanded payment throughout those six years but the Debtor has not acknowledged the debt by way of payment or written acknowledgement. Is this debt considered Statue Barred? Thank you.

Would a handbrake be covered by an arnold clark warranty ? Had the car for less than a year , i know the foot brake is not covered but wondering about the hand brake..

Please accept my apologies if this thread is in the wrong area. This is my very first post so bear with me... I have held two Barclaycard Visa/Mastercard credit cards for over 12 years. I recently came across your forum through tweets. I decided in August to email Barclaycard to ask "Why they have been deducting PPI aka Optional Payment Protection from my Barclaycard VISA account especially as I clearly remember sending a letter asking to cancel pre 2006?" I also said that I will be claiming back my charges for all the overpayments. They were quick to send me an email but it did not answer the original question they apologised for the error and said that they would rectify the mistake. I sent another email as I was unhappy with the response. I thanked them but asked them to confirm if the message sent were a standard response as yet again they failed to answer my question. This time I asked them for copies of all my statements for the past six years as I know for a fact I definitely cancelled before then. After that they wanted to call me, due to the nature of my work I'm not allowed to take personal calls or switch my mobile on. Unfortunately they were unable to reach me so they sent a letter stating that this matter will be referred to the PPI Complaints team. I received three letters, two stating that they needed more time to solve query and one letter asking me to fill out a FOS questionnaire (they failed to enclose said questionnaire). To be honest I forgot about the query as I assumed they were messing me around. I just returned home tonight to find a letter from Barclaycard stating "My understanding of your complaint is that you feel you were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) having reviewed your complaint, we are not satisfied that the PPI policy was suitable for your needs...blah blah..As a result, we have upheld your complaint." WTF?! *excuse my french* They would therefore like to place me in the position I would have been in had the PPI policy not been added to my credit card account. They offered a full refund of the insurance premiums paid together with interest paid on premiums plus 8 per cent per annum simple interest plue a refund of default charges and interest on those charges. Breakdown as follows: Refund of payments made by you for PPI cover £1126.31 Refund of Interest charged on PPI Premiums £1369.65 8 per cent interest per annum £369.43 Refund of default charges and interest £24 Total refund payable - £2889.39 The letter is dated on the 11th September and they have given me 10 days to return an Acceptance Form. They claim that this is their FULL and FINAL settlement. They also state that they are not required to retain statement information for more than 6 years and they have calculated my payments made since 2005. They said they would be happy to recalculate if was able to provide statement information for prior to 2005 (unfortunately I cannot). At the end of the letter they are telling me to tell HM Revenue & Customs that I have received a payment from them. They said if I am unhappy or remain dissatisfied I am entitled to ask The Financial Ombudsman Service to review this complaint. Phew...What do I do now? Should I take the money and run? Ideally I would like them to wipe the debt off both cards just under £4.5k and say goodbye to Barclaycard once and for all. I would really appreciate your help and I will definitely be making a donation. Thanks for your help in advance!!!