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 all, Seeking a bit of advice for my son actually, so I hope someone can shed some light on this situation. He drives for a courier firm so is up and down the motorway everyday, usually travelling down to London and back. Today completely out of the blue he received a letter from Staffordshire Police offering him the opportunity to attend a 'CRASH' course rather than face prosecution and any attached endorsements to his license. As you can imagine he was totally gobsmacked as he hasn't got a clue what it is about because the letter has no information about the alleged offence, when, where, who seen him ....etc. The police must have written to his firm to get his details and they haven't even mentioned it to him, but that's a different matter. Letter Page 1 : [ATTACH=CONFIG]49776[/ATTACH] On Page 2 it states: To take up the offer, you must contact our CRASH Administration Team on 01785 232722 to reserve your place within 21 days of the above date. No correspondence will be entered into following the expiry of this date and we will at this time commence proceedings against you for the offence. The cost of the course is £85. The final paragraph states: Should you consider that you are not liable for the offence for which this offer has been made, or you choose not to take up this offer, please disregard this letter. You will then receive further communication from us in due course. [ATTACH]49775[/ATTACH] I hope someone can just clear a few points up from this. Is it normal to offer someone a course for an offence that they know nothing about, for speeding or other offences at least you have the facts first, and then the offer of a course. How can anyone consider themselves liable or not liable for an offence when they have no knowledge of when or where the alleged offence took place ? Considering his van has hands free which is fitted by his company and transmits through the radio how and who has come to this conclusion and decided he was driving whilst using a mobile phone ? If he wants details of the alleged offence and the circumstances would he likely get them before the 21 day deadline expires ? Thanks for any input on this.

Hi All, I am new to the site but have been looking around the various forums to try and gather some info. back in 2007 we bought a new house then around 2008/2009 I had to take a reduce salary in order to keep my current position. With the increase in mortgage payments and reduced salary this meant that I was unable to keep up with my credit agreements. Originally I owed around £35k however after a round 4-5 years I am down to £13k. I have agreements with all my creditors and have met the payments every month since the problem occurred. I will list the details below: Lloyds Load £4569 Pay Lloyds direct Defaulted 15/06/10 Pay £185 per month Lloyds Credit Card £880 Pay Lloyds direct Defaulted 29/11/2010 Pay £80 per month HBOS Credit Card £3324 DCA Blair, Oliver Scott Defaulted 14/04/2009 Pay £65 per month Esure Loan £2150 DCA Blair, Oliver Scott Defaulted 30/01/2009 Pay £45 per month MBNA Card £1000 DCA Idem Servicing No Default Pay £50 per month MBNA Card £1000 DCA Idem Servicing No Default Pay £50 per month I am currently paying £500 per month to try and clear my debts and should be clear in around 26 months. my first question is would it be worth sending a CCA request to any of these companies? Secondly some of the defaults are due to be removed early 2015. Will this remove the payment history along with the default account or will it still remain an open account (minus the default) as debt will still be owed. Thanks in advance DJ

Back in June i took a training course to the amount of £500. (this later got reduced after i paid) to other people to £250 not me. I paid full. Did the course(after the tutor re arranged it a number of times) Also cut my exam time down as she was late in turning up. I pass and have been awaiting my certificate since then. they told me it had been delivered but then got returned to sender as we were on holiday. then they asked me to pay an extra £30 to get it sent again. (after i paid the £500 already. After around 10 emails back and forth ive still not recieved my certificate and its now february. My question is im i entitled to get a full refund of the £500 i paid? And do my training agin with a more reputable company? As all im getting back is excuse after excuse and this is costing me business as ive not got a certificate to show people. I would apreciate any advice given. Many thanks

Hi guys, I've been signing on to JSA now for about four months. From the moment I signed on I informed them that I would be starting a part time "Access to HE" college course in September, lasting a year, for 10 hours per week. They accepted this, signed me up as requiring full time work until september, when I started college I had this changed to part time. A month ago they started requesting paperwork from my college, and asking me questions about how I was paying for it. I told them I had a student loan, and brought them all the paperwork I had including the accepted student loan forms. Two weeks later they asked for more paperwork as my learning agreement didn't state my hours, I got a signed letter from the college stating my name, hours and course along with contact details should they have any questions, and gave that to them along with my learning agreement. I was told that everything was fine, I signed on as usual and was told my payment had gone through and would be paid on the usual day. on monday I received an ES48 letter, saying "A doubt has arisen on your claim for jobseekers allowance, as it appears that from 09.09.2013 you may not be regarded as available for work because you are a full-time student". The letter then directs me to read a leaflet that was supposed to be included in the pack, that is conveniently missing. I immediately rang them up, and was told not to worry about it, as the letter was probably sent out before they received my evidence, and that my payment would go through as normal. This hasn't happened, I've not received my payment, and it looks like they're investigating me for something they have concrete evidence isn't true. So does anyone know how long they can stop my payments for, and if there's anything I can do about this, as it seems someone has lied about my status.

Hi all! I finished pointless WP in July 2013 and am STILL seeing my advsior Neil for every wednesday for 3 months now. When does that end seeing them every WEEK!!!!!? Also he said he wants to put me on a employability course What is that and how long is that? Can I say I don't want to do it? I'm worried!!!! thank u

I wonder If anyone has any thoughts. I’ve just successfully passed my post graduate diploma in architecture [RIBA Part 2] and today have received a letter from the university [of Greenwich] stating that I owe them over £500 still – I found this odd as I pay my fees myself and I paid them upfront in September as you basically have no choice and are booted off the course if you haven’t paid in full by December. So I contacted student finance and they state I haven’t paid for and 'extra' 20 credits. A little background – the diploma is 240 credits and it paid for on a per credit basis – the University had a major shake up half way through the course and we had a new Dean of school who basically came in, sacked all the tutors, brought in new ones and turned the course on its head. Whilst this was disruptive I seemed to get along fine with the new course structure but the problem is the balance of credits has been changed around so when I started the course was structured something like this: Yr 1 80 credits Yr 2 100 credits Yr 3 60 credits The reshuffle came about after Yr 1 with further adjustments to after yr 2 so what I ended up doing was: Yr 1 80 Yr 2 80 Yr 2 100 New students do 3x80 credits but somehow with the re-shuffle of the course one of the units that is key to the course is now worth more credits than it was when I first stated and as a result has to be tagged onto my final year… …basically I’m not happy that they want £500 for the ‘extra’ credits that I didn't sign up for and had no choice but to do because they decided the final year is now worth more...ts essentially the same as it was when i started but now its 'worth' 20 credits more than it used to be. I can’t just ignore it as I still have to go back and do a further course to become an architect and they won’t let me register for this until the balance is paid in full! I've spoken with the head of finance and the people that assign the credits – they won’t budge. thanks J

I've read and seen so much about people ripped off, or their Qualification not being worth anything! Does anyone know a Good Home learning Place thatd give me a proper qualification, and what PI course is also above board? thanks in advance.

Hello, would be grateful for some advice here. My boyfriend recently did 57mph in a 50mph zone on the M1 in Yorkshire (roadworks) realised what he'd done and wasn't surprised to get a penalty notice. He's opted to do a speed awareness course rather than the fine and points. Then, and this was a complete surprise, he got a second penalty notice from Derbyshire for a week later, also a really marginal over the limit. South Yorkshire Police have sent his details to the awareness course providers, he's registered with them to do a course re: the M1 incident before September 2nd. The girl he spoke to says that you are only allowed to do one course (i.e. avoid points and a fine) every three years, so although the course covers off the South Yorkshire Police incident, he will have to take the fine and the points re the Derbyshire one. Is she wrong - she might not know the law? It crossed his mind that by doing one course, he might satisfy the requirements of both South Yorkshire and Derbyshire Police. He's not denying the fault, I should stress. Any help gratefully received; and I'm not hiding behind him - I don't drive! Kind regards, Magiciansgirl

hi,today i did my fortnightly visit to the work program,my adviser said i need to get some new skills,to have a better chance at getting a job,i am 55 years old and not very fit (beer belly) any way she said i need to go on this 10 weeks construction course,consists of tiling ,plastering, bricklaying ,do you think i am to old to start learning these trades ,as i have only done ware house work in the past,she said go home and think about it,and we will discuss it next time i go,

I have been making some discrete inquiries with my local job centre over the last few weeks on claiming JSA. My redundancy payment balance is now looking rather small and any extra will help. I am in my third year with the Open University doing a Law Degree. The adviser at the benefits office has given me a form saying that if i wish to claim any sort of benefit then i have to give all details on my course. My understanding is that as long as i do not spend more than 16 hours a week studying, i am within the regulations My question is, considering the degree course is not full time education, but a part time study course, and in my own time, why do i need to declare it

Hello all. I recently signed up to a 12 month CompTIA A+ home study course through Computeach. I pay monthly. After a few months of study and failing my initial exam, Ive decided that i am not cut out for IT and returned my study books to Computeach with a letter explaining my decision. I have also cancelled my direct debit. I wish to find out if Computeach can legally tie me into a 12 month agreement where i am effectively paying for nothing? They have obviously emailed me stating that im signed to a 12 month contract and need to continue payments. I never met face to face with them before i signed up; it was all done over the phone and even then i was not asked any questions to gauge my level of IT experience. Any advice would be most welcome. Regards Justin

When I was 19 I was sold a plumbing course. The salesman arrived at my house and begun his campaign. I managed not to sign on the night but he kept phoning and I finally buckled. He came round my house, I signed a loan agreement with Barclays in April 09. It was for £5,995 interest free over 60 months. A few days later I had second thoughts and thought this was a [problem], so called the sales person to say I wanted to cancel and he said I couldn't. I attended the first training session in Birmimgham which was convient as I could stay for free with family. I then received a letter saying the centre had shut down and they would be in contact. 2 months later I phoned to find out what was happening and they hadnt got a new place. They then wrote to me saying the new place was in central London, nearer but less convenient. I phoned to say I wanted to terminate the course as it would cost me more for London, they said I couldn't cancel. I informed them I wouldn't pay and they said that would be a breach of the contract. I stopped paying. I am now being per-suede by Apex, but they havent been too heavy lately. Reading the forums I was going to write for my contract but when they phoned I asked for it and they have sent me the loan agreement. It is just the loan agreement. It says on the agreement after I sign it I will have a short time to cancel the agreement, they will tell me how, but I told the salesman a few days later. I wasn't very good with contracts and reading things at that time. Can I get this debt cancelled as the salesman refused my right to cancel, and furthermore they moved the location of the course. Many thanks and any advice is gratefully received.

Hi there, I am serving my 5 day notice from my current job. I have being an apprentice for 4 years, and the job at the end of it wasn't what I expected. I was sent on a HNC course by my company and made to sign a contract. It was a two year course, and I signed two contracts. I quote: "If you leave out employment for any reason within one year of receiving this financial support, the company reserves the right to deduct the full value of the course fees paid from your final salary." "If you leave out employment for any reason within two years of receiving this financial support, the company reserves the right to deduct 50% of the full value of the course fees paid from your final salary." They have said I am liable for over £1800, my final salary (week in hand, plus few holidays) is worth a few hundred. But they are claiming I need the pay it all. Is this true??? Also I have read on the Direct Gov website: "A deduction must not reduce your pay below the National Minimum Wage rate (except a limited amount for accommodation). This applies even if you have given your permission for it." Does this also apply to me, or have I forfeited that right? I don't mind them taking my final salary and I was lead to believe this is all they can take. Thanks for reading and all your help,

My daughter is British, was born in the UK and went to school in the UK, and now is trying to go to drama school in the UK. This means getting a LOAN to pay for the fees, (not a grant, a loan), keeping in mind the course fees have just tripled. We've been living the last several years in the EU (Germany), and while here, she tried to apply for a loan in advance for the course she has been accepted on in London. The loan authorities said there was no problem, but she must apply when she has a permanent UK address. She moved to the UK, got a flat, then got a job, and applied again. The loan authorities said there was no problem, but she must apply at a later date, approx. 4 weeks before the course starts. Now, we have received notice to pay the outstanding fees, shortly before the course starts. My daughter has now applied again to the loan authorities in the UK, but this time she has been informed she does NOT qualify for a loan, as she has been living in the EU for the last several years! WTF is wrong with this country?!