I Have always paid my CSA i have no problem with supporting my children , however i am in the process of being re assesed , as i earn more i would expect to pay more again i have no problem with this As they have asked for 3 wage slips (one of which that i dont have ) there will inevitably be a delay as i,m told that the new rate will run from when the reassesment was requested approx four weeks at present My question is do i have to pay the arrears of in full or can i be given time to pay in installments if i can pay in installments is there a time limit that it should be paid in eg 6months, a year ,etc Thanks in advance

Hi and thanks for the add to the site, just a query, i have just got off the phone to pay FGA Capital my monthly payment, and i have 1 last payment to make in August, then i thought that would be the last payment, but i asked for the remaining balance to be given and was told it is an extra £500 (back end fee) that is in my agreement, i have asked for a breakdown for what this FEE is for, surely it is not right, i would agree if it was for admin charges, but £500 excess for what, i have asked for the agreement to be re-sent out to me as i no longer have that document as it was years ago that i got the car on finance, i feel i have paid for the car plus interest and the car was not worth the amount in the long run, will never get another car on finance again. Can anyone shed any light on this please. Thanks

Hi everyone , My daughter is coming uo to 19 years old and i lover her very much and have constant visits with her weekly , We have a great relationship, The problem is that her mother ( my ex wife ) says that i should pay until she is 20 years old, My daughter works in mcdonalds part time and goes to college part time , she also receives EMA as her mother fiddles down the local cash and carry and so gets benefits , What im after is some advice to what to do , I think her mother is taking advantage of me with the csa payments , im not on amazing money myself and have never missed a payment in 17 years but its a lot of money every month that my ex wife seems to want to take it until she cant get any more money out of me Thanks

In November last year my 78 year old mother, with my assistance, entered into a 12 month sim only contract with Orange. She had good coverage at this time. Two months ago she moved into a residential home where there is no Orange coverage at all so is unable to use her Orange sim for texts or calls. She does not have any internet on her phone. She called Orange customer services to advise them of her situation and to ask permission to end the contract early only to be told that it was "her fault" that she had moved. I, personally, would have thought it was extenuating circumstances but not Orange. They insist that she either pays the contract off or carries on paying it until November. The phone is her lifeline, so she now has to pay for two contracts which leaves her no money for anything else, but it is important for her to have contact with her family. my husband and I will not be renewing our contracts with Orange, EE or T-Mobile when they come up for renewal. I ask you Orange, is it worth losing two contracts just for the sake of ending my mother's early. Your loss not mine!! However, that is terrible customer service!!

Hi. I am a head tenant and the sublease contract with my flatmate is till 31 May. I am not happy to leave with this person -after 6 months she's still a stranger, she treats this flat as a hotel, and I am a cleaner! She uses all my stuff in the kitchen and bathroom without permission (recently even toothbrush!) I experienced also some difficulties to get money for the bills. We lock our rooms as there is no trust. I am fed up and found new subtenant already. (this is my friend) I told her 3 weeks ago her contract won't be extended. She said that we have 1yr contract. I explained her that this is my contract as a head tenant with a landlord. The copy was given to her just for her information. Our sublease contract is for 6 months and it's signed by both of us. I don't see she has started packing, she avoids me. I don't see her at all. I texted her confirm the moving out date as I need to return her deposit. No respond at all! I had the same situation 1 year ago, I was asked to move out from my previous place. That things can happen to everyone. What am I allowed to do if she refuses to move out? What can I do in this situation? I have a new person- my friend - and he must move it on the 1st June. I am also going for holiday beginning of June so it has to be sorted. Am I allow to change the locks to this flat? Can I get into her room on the 1st June? (Landlord has a spare key)

I recently decided to move out of a rented property I share with my sister, this will be the 23rd of may, we are on a rolling contract and i have given 30 days notice, the agent bridgfords have decided to give notice as well so good timing on my part, but they have advised I am still liable for rent and repairs etc untill my sister is due to move on the 30th of june, surely this is wrong??

Hi All I have a quick question for you all as I seek the best answers possible for my issue I have been renting a property for over 12 months now on an AST (Assured shorthold tenancy) and I have decided I would like to end the tenancy early. Reason being is that in December 2013 I reported to the estate agents that the boiler was not producing hot water nor was the central heating as hot as it should have been. On top of this, the boiler would lose pressure within 2 hours of the boiler being off resulting in me not having any central heating....... or... luke warm heat should I say! I would wake up in the morning for work to find there is no heating and I am like an icicle. I could only manage to get the heating on by physically filling it up with more water to increase the pressure They sent out an engineer just before the new year and he diagnosed the hot water issue but said he would return in January to repair it. In january I had nobody come to the property and I contacted the estate agency again who said that they will tell the landlord and send the engineer again. The engineer came in february and did nothing... again! (seems like he wanted to just make his money for not fixing the issue). He told us that he needs to get a specific part to give us hot water but wasnt sure why the boiler was losing pressure. He gave me his number personally and told me to contact him if the problem persists even though I told him the pressure problem persists I then had to take it upon myself to find a way to get some heat from the radiators by balancing them as bleeding them did nothing and I then at least had some central heating but the pressue issue still persists (Ice cold in the mornings and when I get back from work). I still also had no hot water either but was lucky the shower has its own heating supply. Then I decided it was getting ridiculous and I called the estate agents a number of times till it dragged into MARCH 2014. I let them know I was unhappy nothing was done and they immediately sent the engineer back to the house where he did a quick temporary fix to the boiler so we had hot water but said the pressure issue must be from a leak (a leak we cant find) and that he will need to come back in a few days to fit the part to have constant hot water. He returned and carried out the job but this was last week and it is now APRIL and the issue with the pressure still exists Now for the main question: Do I have any rights to end my AST tenancy agreement on the basis that the landlord/estate agents failed to repair the property in a reasonable time frame? I have no break clause in the contract but surely I am supposed to be able to rent a property that has warm living conditions. I must also add that the issue with the boiler has caused my gas bill to be sky high due to me needing to use it on full as soon as I return from work as the house is just so cold. Any help would be appreciated!!!! Thanks guys

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet or not. While being directed to another site I decided to do a little browsing and searching and came across this from Jackie Baillie of the Labour party in scotland So discredited has the process become that even Atos is pulling out of carrying out the assessments for the UK Government and has indicated clearly that it is because of attacks on staff and the reputational damage that it has suffered. The helpful briefing from Inclusion Scotland states: “the Work Capability Assessment is unfit for purpose regardless of who is contracted to carry it out.” I point out as gently as I can to the Scottish National Party the hypocrisy of its back benchers lodging motion after motion heaping condemnation on Atos, when we heard not a word when NHS Lanarkshire and Salus made a profit by helping Atos to deliver the very assessments that are so abhorred. That is another case of people saying one thing in public and another in private. The full debate can be found here. Just page down a couple of times http://www.theyworkforyou.com/sp/?id=2014-03-04.4.0&s=atos#g4.12 Elsewhere on that site I found out that atos are looking to be able to access medical records!!

Hi all. I am in the 10th month of my 6th 12-month assured shorthold tenancy agreement. For years I've been trying to get the estate agents to deal with some serious problems such as bad damp and mould in the bedroom, a boiler that constantly breaks down and a ceiling that leaks every time the people upstairs take a shower. It's always seemed like so much of a hassle and so cost-prohibitive with all the fees associated to move so I've just been lying to myself that one day they'll fix this stuff but I've really had enough. I can't imagine what the landlord would think if he knew how just how well these people were taking care of his property considering the fees they must be charging him. The only times the landlord upstairs has gotten the leak fixed (temporarily until the shoddy work breaks down and it starts leaking again) is because I personally chased down the upstairs landlord, the tenants and/or the contractor. The estate agents have done nothing apart from send an email or two. This has been an issue off and on for five years now (this time it has been leaking since August). They are already asking me about renewing my agreement. I have put them off saying I don't know, but how's that discussion with the landlord upstairs about making my lounge not be a rainforest anymore coming along? I'm getting the usual routine -- we'll send out emails, feel free to contact us in a week if nothing's happened. There's a break clause that means I have to give two months' notice if I want to vacate. That time has just passed for two months from the end of the current agreement (late April). If I determine shortly (come on, bonus!) that I can swing the cost to move, what are my options about giving notice for a period just beyond the end of the agreement? For instance if my agreement ended April 25 and I told them on March 25, I want to move out on May 25 and would like our agreement to just default to a periodic one for that last month is that doable? I really don't want to sign any more long-term contracts with these people because it's not right that I'm paying all this rent and they are not keeping the flat liveable. I'm sure they're going to push back on anything other than a 12-month agreement because that might cause some uncomfortable conversations with the landlord about just what they've been doing with his money all this time. This is not a backalley "Joe's A1 Flats" agency but a big, well-respected firm. Baffling. Any help with what language I can use to negotiate this would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Afternoon Everyone, Advice needed, or alternatively, a lift to Swansea!!! I'll try to be brief, and to the point. Hubby went for job interview, last Monday morning, as a CE Driver. Took licence with him to interview, only to find out, CE entitlement had been removed Phoned Swansea, their reply "As you didn't meet the sight requirements, we revoked your licence" Rewind back to last year, Hubby went for his medical, as required, and the Numpty (as he will now be known! Lol) forgot to take his glasses. DVLA wrote to us and said he had to take another eye test, which he did, and he passed. Eyesight test was on the 27th, form had to be back ioth them by the 30th. Form was posted on 27th, so would have been back in time, however DVLA didn't scan it on to their system until the 7th, hence being outside their deadline. Numpty, however did not pick up on this when his new licence arrived, he, and I, just assumed as we had sent the new eyetest off in time, everything was ok back to this year, filled in Form D2, emailed to DVLA Monday 10th February 2014, received read receipt at 13.40. this time, we have proof they have the form!!! Phoned them, to be told it takes 72hrs for forms to be scanned on to their system. will phone back Thursday. Phoned Thursday to be told, it sometimes takes longer. phone back Saturday, to be told "There is currently a back log, we are dealing with emails received on the 8th. we'll wait a couple of days, and phone back then. Phone back this morning, it's now over a week since form was sent in. Guess what, they still don't have it. They're now processing emails from the 13th, they've gone straight past it, but they haven't lost it?! But to send it in again, I mean WTF? we can email again, even though they lose them, or we can post them, but know full well that it will get delayed Where is the accountability? How can they get away with this? How can they blatantly lose something, and deny they have? And whilst all this is going on, we have no money coming into the house. so we're having a fine old time here Just so, so cross with them! And to make it seem worse, Numpty's medical is fine, his photocard is fine, every god damned thing is fine, apart from 1 box with a cross in it, and his signature, and yet they still can't issue a licence!!!! Arrgggghhhh!!! :evil::evil:

What happens at your first post work programme meeting? I've been informed about it occurring as my time is coming to an end. I'm coming to end of my work programme at end of March I started WP 2 years ago 22nd of mark so will that mean my post work programme will be at end of march not the start? Reason is because I've just decided benefits is enough really I've luckily had an opportunity arise through a friend where I can secure some part time work (hopefully) which is fantastic that is just awesome to me! and i'm hoping to begin before this horrible post work programme crapp. Reason I ask is my last work programme appointment was like a year ago or more and I only had a handful over my entire time.... they got my wrong address on their system and never bothered to sort it, I had few phone convos now n again with my advisor but my impression was they couldn't contact me probably tried I guess but never fixed it and I didn't bother because it was crapp anyway (Aside the useful C.V's they gave me which were actually a help) but beyond that utter crapp. Do they ask for a post work programme report etc? I'm kind of worried too they'd try sanction me if I haven't been in ages saying I didn't attend the work programme enough or something like that blah blah but truth is work programme when I did go really did not help at all. But I don't want to be sanctioned in case I don't secure this part time work but I'm hoping I do, I'm really feeling excited about it but of course risk is I end up sanctioned and in the deep end right before I get myself some work. Any info on this post work programme stuff would be appreciated!

I rather foolishly swapped from O2 (who I have never had an issue with) to Vodaphone simply because I wanted to use there "sure signal" product, my existing number was ported over on the 21st of January and since then I have had no voice mail and since Saturday when a technical chap assured me had fixed i,t no incoming calls, well actually it rings once and cuts off. The time I've spent on the phone to Vodaphone can now be counted in hours. It's my work phone and I have my own business so you can imagine how frustrating this is, i've spent approx an hour again this morning only only to be told I will just need to be patient. Can it really be acceptable that 8 days after it should have been working it still isn't, I'm hoping that by sharing the awful customer service I've received with as many people as possible it may deter others from going with Vodaphone. this is my first post, I'm going to spend the rest of the morning posting the smae on as many sites as possible!

Hello. I have a private arrangement with my ex to pay maintenence for my daughter who is 17 and enrolled at college this September. This arrangement has been in place since, well, the start so to speak, some 15 years and have been informed - told - by my ex that i have to keep paying until she is 19. Is my ex right.....? Seeing as there are no CSA involved and its a private arrangement, do i still have to follow their rules...? Thanks.

I am hoping someone here can advise me as I am at my wits end! My husband's aunty left home on 29th November to escape an abusive relationship for which she is receiving counselling. She came to live with us with a few meagre possessions and no money, bar an ISA. I have absolutely no clue about the benefits system but have helped as best I can. We went to the job centre (chocolate fireguard comes to mind) and they were of very little use. We went to a meeting with a department from the counselling sessions that we were led to believe knew about benefits, they merely gave her two phone numbers, one of which was wrong!. Then we went to CAB who advised her to apply for ESA and PIP. Although the adviser admitted they dealt with debt not benefits! To cut a long story short it has taken us till now to even get a form from ESA. It has come and we haven't got a clue how to fill it in for her. A lot of the questions don't seem to apply to her. She has now been away from home for over three weeks without a penny. We are able to support her but she needs to be getting more independent and knowing what her future holds. Can anyone advise on how to fill this form in... .I would be so grateful!

It states in our Union agreement (contractual) that we are allowed a 30 minute break . (regardless if it is under 6 hours) And this must not be taken at the end or beginning of the shift. The management in our office are making people take there break at the end of the shift . Therefore in our opinion we are getting no break at all because taking it at the end is just us leaving and going home they are basically paying us for the break but we don't actually get to have it , some people are complaining they are feeling dizzy and really hungry for a bite to eat as we work through lunch. we have talked to management about it and they refuse to let us have it during the shift ( so they can leave earlier) it suites them but not us! Plus they go out for an hours lunch ! The cwu are not helpful so we are going down the law route and are filling in an et1 as a joint group thing. Can we sue them? Will we get them in court for this

My assured shorthold tenancy was entered into on the 5th July 2012 and I was of the opinion that this automatically expires on the 5th July 2013and therefore there is no need to provide notice to our landlord that we would be moving out on that date. We have found a new flat and intend to move in in early july, however when I phoned the rental agency he informed me that we need to give me 2 months notice? how can this be when there is nothing in the contract stating this and we have a section 21 letter from the landlord (sent to us when the contract was originally signed) stating that they will require possession on or before the 4th July 2013!

Hello everyone, I'm getting tangled with a bit of a situation with my estate agents over the professional cleaning of the property my flatmate and I have now vacated. The contract says: "To return the property and the contents at the end of the tenancy in the same clean state or condition as they were at the commencement of the tenancy and to ensure the property and all fixtures and fittings have been professionally cleaned. A copy of the professional cleaning invoice may be asked for as proof." The estate agents suggested we let them deal with the professional cleaning after we moved out, calling their cleaning company. Since the estimate they presented seemed more expensive than the average tariffs proposed by other cleaning companies, we arranged our own professional cleaning team to come in and carry out the cleaning before we vacated the property. However, the estate agents still disputed the "cleanliness" of the property. We were not provided an official list of what further cleaning was necessary and, although our cleaners were available to come back and complete the cleaning for free, the estate agents arrange the further cleaning with their company, without letting us arrange further cleaning from our cleaners. This happened despite the fact that I went to talk in person with the estate agents right when I was notified that further cleaning was required, in order to arrange our own cleaners to come back. I was made to wait and could not speak directly with the property manager as she was apparently too busy at the moment. While I was waiting, they arranged for their own cleaners to come and clean, which I was notified only when they had already started cleaning and I was told that telling them to stop cleaning then would incur into a service canceling charge that my flatmates and I would have to pay anyway. This seems quite unfair to me, especially considering that we respected the contract. I was wondering if anyone had some advice on how to proceed on this situation. I am afraid that the estate agents will want to charge us with the further cleaning, taking the amount out of our deposit, so there won't be a way for us to stop this payment. This is my first post here, I'd like to thank everyone for their help, I've read a few threads and this community seems to provide an invaluable service to people who encounter this kind of problems.

I moved out of my old property at the end of June, and am having issues with my landlord making charges. To set the scene, I was sharing this flat with a friend and it was a real state when we moved in. Very old furniture, dirty bathroom, floors, walls, a real state. The only good thing was that the kitchen had just been refurbished, but the flat was in a real state of disrepair when we moved in. We reported everything – to their credit they did send someone to repaint, but the cleaning was totally up to us. We replaced the shower head and rod and tried to make good what we could. Problems continued throughout our tenancy – some dealt with, some not. One thing I reported the very day I moved in (unfortunately over the phone so not in writing) was that my bedroom window was stiff to open and close. Now, 2 months after moving out, he wants to charge me £140 for fitting a new hinge, and says that the window does not close. I pointed out that I lived in that room for a year, including one of the coldest winters I can remember, and that I wouldn’t have been sitting there with the window open! I do not remember seeing an inventory when I moved in – I asked him to forward me an inventory with my signature on it; he has sent over the inventory from before we moved in which I had never seen before and not signed. My old flatmate signed on check out, which I’m worried will be a problem. I worked really hard to try and make that flat livable with no support from the landlord, who always seemed to resent spending any money on it. We had leaks and a pest problem for the whole time we lived there. He has also never given me DPS details, and I am worried we may no be protected as I cannot find anything on the DPS site. I’m not entirely sure where to go from here, as I don’t want to pay for a problem that could have been sorted had they gotten their finger out earlier. Any advice much appreciated!

I had a payday loan with MEM/Payday UK and I just looked at the email trail of all the loans I had taken out. It looks like I rolled over multiple times, approximately 8 times it looks like it. I finally could not carry on and in December 2012 I sent them an email saying I could not afford to pay the rollover fees all the time, nor could I pay the full amount. I never heard anything back from them apart from their automated emails telling me I had not paid yet. I received an email from Credit Resource Solutions approximately two weeks ago, saying: Well pdf was blank. Today received the same pdf, except this time it was not blank. I've attached pdf with details blanked out. It seems that CRS are making false representations in this letter? Apart from that, anyone suggest a course of action? I'm guessing best way forward would be to contact payday uk/month end money, and request statement, and work out a payment plan with them?

Hey there, I have been on a debt management plan with CCCS for a number of years, paying a total of £48 each month to five different companies with a debt totaling around £15800. I have a mortgage on a house with negative equity, which I can currently renting out as I am living with my girlfriend rent free. She has offered to give me a lump sum of money to clear this debt (she's an absolute belter!!!), however I am a little bit worried about explaining that I am living with her and she has money. My question (number 1) is if I tell them this, is there any way that they can try and get the money from her as we are in cohabitation? (question 2) I spoke to CCCS and told them I was hoping to make a settlement offer and asked their advice for how much I should start at. They told me it should be however much I have and they would not advise on a specific percentage. The problem is that I don't actually have any money and will be relying on my girlfriend, she says she's happy to give me it but I don't want to completely wipe her funds out, after all she has her own bills to pay and children. Can anyone suggest what sort of percentage I should offer? Thanks in advance!

Just found an email addressed to me by name stating that I owe a sum of £150 to Month End Money. The email comes from Credit Resource Solutions, but who on earth is Month End Money? I have no idea who they are. Abit concerned about this if I'm honest. I would have treated it as spam except it is addressed directly to me. Anybody know who they are?

Hey all. I applied for ESA last year and got refused. I won on appeal and they recommended that I should not be re-assessed until August 2013. I was placed into the ESA working group in August 2012. In February I got a letter asking me to go to an Ingeus interview. I went on time but they were 30 mins late and had to get out of the place. I told them to contact me to rearrange an appointment but I have never heard back and still get my benefits. Should I contact them to try and sort out an interview? Will my ESA stop in August? I'm going into hospital for a week at the start of August so don't want come out and have to sort it out. Thanks for any help

I was sanctioned from 27th October to 27th March, was told when I signed on that day that my money should be in next day. Person who signed me didn't know I was sanctioned and it was ending. I phoned Job Centre who told me that I was going to be paid yesterday. Which I didn't. I phoned them again, now told that I needed a JSA 4 form(rapid reclaim) which they never told me about. If they did then I would have had my money in by now. Also Crisis Loans have been made obsolete. So can't get money. I don't understand why they never told me this before. I phoned up on the 28th March and the person never told m to fill out a rapid reclaim form.

Hi just some background infomraiton. I moved into my old property on 27th April 2012 and moved out on the 27th April 2013. The property was supplied as fully furnished (NO INVENTORY), £450 a month payable on the 7th. And £450 put down as a deposit. On the tenancy agreement it states she would put the deposit in a DPS scheme which she didnt. Ive complained about her on here before shes a little bit mad. (Read: coming round and 5am to put bins out and randomly walking into house so we had to keep doors locked at all times). So now the tenancy is over, she did an inspection on the 27th when I was there, and in front of 4 witnesses said everything was fine, everything was wonderfully clean and asked for my bank details to return deposit. This did not happen. I contacted her and asked her what was going on. She said she needed to make some deductions but didnt know how much yet because she hadnt finished doing all the work. When I pressed her she produced this list by email. Hi Danielle, I have not managed to clean the whole house yet because there is so much to do. The bathroom is fine. SMall bedroom / when I moved the bed there is oil on the carpet and also some a blue stain, which you did not mention. I have arranged to get the carpet cleaned 15 May and it shouldnt cost any more than 45pounds. I have asked for pictures but she has not replied as I rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned ALL the carpets The curtain rail also needs fixed to the wall. It was attached to wall when I left and has never fell off in the year I lived there why would it fall off now?? Front bedroom, I have had to remove the border, not sure what you have done but there are peices misssing all around it. All the wallpaper in the front bedroom is peeling / rotting because of rising damp which is visible on all walls. I advised her of this on regular basis through tenancy The curtain also needs to be fixed to the wall. Again, it was up when we left??? With Curtains!! And if you drive past the curtains have always been up! Hall / bottom step has a large oily patch and the small hall was not cleaned. Actuslly there are oil marks all around the house. Oil??? Again asked for pictures, not provided Lounge / is not too bad. I have has to paint the conservatory which has marks on the walls. Read: rising damp. all the marks are black mould. Kitchen I have not tackled yet, but the light needs repaired. Bathroom piping burst over winter and flooded kitchen, all the kitchen lights fell out of the ceiling and kitchen was nearly foot under water. She knew about this and had someone come and re-fit the broken lights. Dont see why I should pay The cooker and fridge need cleaned but I have not checked it yet the rest of it yet. My parents actually cleaned these for me, because I cant bend to well being heavily pregnant and they were spotless. Cleaner than when I moved in seeing as I had to buy new oven racks the old ones were so manky I'msorry it is taking me longer than usual, There was alot of wood left lyin ariound and in the shed which I have disposed of. Wood from when she had the fence replaced. "Christine do you want me to take that to the tip for you when I go tomorrow, nah its fine love" I think it will be a couple of weeks before I can assess the cost, hope you are feeling OK with the baby. I have an odd job man who will fix the curtain rails at a low cost but the light I will have to get an electrician. Seeing as she was being such an arse, I respectfully sent her a request for details of the DPS scheme, as well as Gas Safety Certs which I know she doesnt have. She has not responded. Just wondering what I should do now. Should I send the same again, in a letter with recorded delivery? And then issue small claims? How do I even go about doing this?

I received a letter stating my Housing Benefit would end in December. I hope to have a job before then but what if I don't get a job? Is there any other benefit I can claim instead?