I purchased a 57 plate Mondeo form Fowlers motors in Stoke on trent 8 days ago, funding was provided by Advantage Finance. I got the car home everything was OK until Wednesday of last week when I lost all water in the cooling system. On closer inspection there was a big water leak coming from the water pump and radiator. After phoning Fowlers who supplied the car and not getting any joy I got in touch with Advantage who supplied the finance, they told me to take it to a garage for an independent inspection. Off I go to a garage for a independent inspection and get a report, it was quite shocking, £4,000 worth of repairs wanted to bring the vehicle upto standard. I faxed the inspection report over to Advantage Yesterday a recovery truck turned up on the order of Advantage saying the vehicle was being repossessed :-x:-x:-x I phoned Avantage up who said the vehicle has been repossed because of a fraud on the account, I said fraud what are you on about? He said, that inspection certificate you provided us was fake. I was like "WHAT"? He said the vehicle is being repossessed end of story, you will be billed for any outstanding monies good bye. Anyone had any trouble with Advantage

Hi all I am new so apologies if I have posted in the wrong place. I hope to be a big contributor in matters motoring, but first my problem - don't laugh! I will be as brief as possible. My neighbour keeps 1/2 dozen chickens and I have no issue with them doing so at all EXCEPT this. One of the chickens and only the one flies over the 6ft wooden boundary fence into my garden and leaves its droppings everywhere. I have a small dog and last week I let the dog out without realising that PAXO was visiting and the blasted chicken pecked my little dog. The dog was shaken, but not injured as such. BUT chickens have sharp beaks and I do not want my dog injured obviously. I spoke with the neighbour who said she would clip the chickens wings. Great, problem solved. Except she didn't do so, but decided to buy some very flimsy chicken wire and staple it to the existing fence raising the fence by about a foot. It didn't work and the chicken still flies over, squashing the chicken wire as it lands on the fence on route. My question is this. where do I stand legally? I do not want to harm the chicken - it is quite cute, but I cannot allow it to peck an eye out of my dog either. I do intend to make my next request slightly more formal but also am trying to maintain neighbourly peace at the same time. But if they don't clip its wings or at least ensure it stays out of my garden and it attacks my dog again, I need to know what I can do. Kill it? Take it to KFC for a nostaglic visit? put the oven on? Waste a fortune lining the pockets of a slimy solicitor? Any help appreciated. As you can probably tell, I have retained my humour through this and I mean the chicken or my neighbours no ill feeling, but this needs to stop. The thing is in my garden EVERY day, several times a day too. many thanks

I used my grans freedom pass and got caught. I have phoned/emailed tirelessly to try and settle out of court but they are not backing down. I offered to pay triple the fine but its seems they just want to prosecute me. I don't care the fine I just can handle that I will get a criminal record as this is my first ever incident with the law and I am a student When is your trial date? have you settled out of court?

after two years of inefficiency,unreturned calls and ignored emails i have had enough.i tried going through their complaints procedure but only received a whining reply from the person i complained about! i am considering picketing their local branch to make them take my complaints seriously.is there a way to do this legally?

The words 'responsible lending' I find a con. I know the amount of debt I am in is my own fault but the last year I have started up payment plans with them and tried to get myself back on track. I have 3 that I use still, WDA which this month I paid off in full and then had to reapply because it is a huge amount. Now I am having trouble with Quid Market. They gave me a PDL when I probably shouldn't have been accepted but it was a massive help none the less. Last month, I was going to pay off my loan in full so I didn't respond to any of the defferal messages and thought it would be dealt with. As I thought it had been dealt with and as I recieved a tiny bonus as well last month, I splashed out on my boyfriends birthday present before realising I may have over spent so I would apply for my QM loan due to me. When I went on my account area, it looked like it was saying my account was outstanding but I owed nothing, so I emailed their customer services and said you've made an error and I wish to reapply. They then said ohh no there was a fault so we didn't take the payment but out fault we will hold off and take payment at the end of the month. one hour later, I had my banks fraud squad on the phone for all these attempts to take money off my card. They told me the name of the company and because they were authorised card payments, there was little they could do. Fuming, I called QM to ask what they were playing at as they had admitted it was their fault. They refunded my money, which sat in uncleared funds for over a day until I called and demanded it back right now as i would probably get penalised and it was them who emptied my account. The end of the month comes along and with me starting a new job soon, I thought i should defer this loan and save a bit. I didn't get an email from them, so i emailed customer services and got no response. Payday comes around and they take full payment, bang on time. I thought OK, I'll just have to reapply for one, and as my WDA loan had been wiped by that one, I went to apply for it there and then. I sent through my details, as per, and they asked if they could have my new work details as I had explained I needed to change my paydate, I said I hadn't had them confirmed but I was still at my current place for the time being. Then I got a decline from them. Wasn't too panicked at first because, they had done this before and someone had 'ticked' the wrong box apparently. Anyway, I called and got through to possibly one of the most condescending idiots ever. He said they have a system and apparently the amount I pay out now is over that and therefore it would be irresponsible for them to lend to me. I said I've never not paid them back on time, where he then said I had last month, I said I could send them every email I had which they took all the blame. I said you didnt even send me a note that it was due, he said we did, we sent 5 and then ratteled off dates in July, I said I got those, I mean where were the ones in August. He then kept saying because you defaulted and we didn't charge you...I had to keep reminding him that I didn't default it was their fault. He said no no no, they were nice enough not t charge me, I said you admitted it was your fault. Anyway he gpes on to say he doesn't like turning customers away but they have to be responsible. It is my own fault but now, with 3 weeks until payday, I have nothing. Last year, I admitted to my mum I was in trouble and she helped me but we fell out massively and didn't speak for 3 months. I've just got a new job, I get to finally move up in the world and now I'm in a horrible position so I can't be happy about it. If I go to my mum again, it will be 100th handout probably and shes a single woman, 2 kids, I am an adult, who is useless. I am trying and I know it is my fault, but I have a new boyfriend who I'm scared will chuck me if he knows about this and also run the risk of falling out with my mum again. I've no one else to turn to and of course, the lure of applying for more PDL's to try and get myself back on track is failing as no one is willing to lend to me. I doubt there is anything else I can do besides see the dissapointment in my mums eyes again. My niece is having her first birthday party this weekend and I can't afford to get there let along buy her a present. I hate that everytime I think something is going right, something like this happens and it never seems to end. Advice or just understanding would be really welcome. I feel so alone when it comes to debt and no one understands. S

Hello, if i anybody could help i would be most grateful. In approx 2007 my current partners ex wife claimed income support and was made to claim CSA from my partner, he was already at this time and has never stopped paying her direct weekly. Due to us moving alot, the CSA lost contact with us and nothing else was heard. until in about 2010 when a lady visited our house from criminal investgations at the CSA. Now my boyfriend has kept every reciept from the payments he has made into her account, but he didnt give them to the CSA for fear that she would get in trouble because she had claimed benefits for spells during the time the CSA were requesting payment so he didnt tell them and foolishly hoped it would go away. He has always and will always pay for his children but he quite rightly didnt want to pay twice. So it got to the point where he was interviewed under caution and he had to show the reciepts proving he had paid, so that was fine, his ex wife spoke to them and told them that she was happy for the money to be classed as payment for that period and then accept direct payments thereafter. BUT the CSA are still pursuing us for payments that shouldve been taken before the money reached her due to the fact that she was claiming benefits for some of the time. so the CSA are now calling me and my partner up to 30 times a day asking for payment of nearly £1000 by card!!! i dont see this as fair as this isnt going to his kids but to the secretary of state and hes already paid what he shouldve paid anyway. could anybody advise me on where to go from here. if anything i think it should be his ex wifes debt.

Hi, like many others I have had to use the services of a Payday loan company to help with my finances. I used Minicredit for a small loan of £100. I rolled over the loan for the first month hoping to pay it all off the following. Unfortunately this was not possible so I applied to roll over again and was refused. I phoned to ask why and they said it was due to my credit file. Having recently checked my credit file there were no changes since taking out the initial loan. They were having none of this and demanded the full balance of £134, I offered to pay that months interest of £47 to which they accepted but even with that payment they would not roll over the loan, they still wanted the outstanding balance. I asked them kindly if they would reconsider but was told no. I sent a formal complaint and get the standard reply back, once again refusing and stating sections of my contract detailing my obligations to pay back the loan in full. Since then I have sent them a further letter to make a complaint, asking for interest to be frozen and a payment plan to be set-up, and again this was refused. The balance is now £880 and they are threatening legal action through the courts. I thinking this might be the best route as I can then highlight their ridiculous charges and lack of assistance with the matter. Really need some advice on where to go next, do I try FOS? or is there a better route to take?

I am severely disabled; I am a recipient of High Rates of Care and Mobility of Disability Living Allowance. I also have a four year old dependent. The dependant’s father lives in the same property but we are not a 'couple'. He is also suffering with severe health problems and cannot work. We have separate living areas. I am upstairs and he is downstairs. We lead separate lives but have managed to create a stable environment purely for the child we have together. I also require around the clock care and assistance because of my mobility needs., we do not have any kind of other relationship but have been friends for over 20years. I have never denied or tried to hide the fact i have a child with someone who lives in the ground floor area of my rented accommodation. However after several investigations into the living situation I have with my child's father, both Housing Benefit and the DWP were in fact in agreement with what they found and were happy with the manner in which the interviews were carried out. The main concern was obviously for the dependant and also we felt it was wrong to claim more Housing Benefit etc..for two separate addresses. Investigating Officers agreed! An officer from Christchurch Housing Benefit visited me in my home on 27th July 2010 and was not concerned about the situation and assured me not to worry. I heard nothing more on the subject until I was interviewed last August 2011 by a Customer Compliance Officer from the DWP. He explained that he was following up on a visit from Housing Benefit 13 months previous. I was claiming as a single claimant as I am not part of a 'couple' I was informed by the interviewing Officer that if by three months i had not heard back from the DWP, the Decision maker would have in fact agreed that i was not living as a 'couple' with my child's father. I did not hear anything back from the DWP until i went to the Post Office on April 5th 2012. The amount that was normally there was actually more than £200 lower than what it should have been. I immediately called the DWP BC at Chippenham. The gentleman I spoke to was kind and considerate and was surprised. He informed me, that on 30th December 2011 it was in fact decided, I was living in a couple (I am not) and this is why my benefit had been reduced to such a lower rate! The gentleman urged me to Appeal this decision. The following day I received a booklet from Income Support to fill in asking the details of My 'partner'..But I do not have one!!! I telephoned the DWP again and was told NOT to complete form A2 as this was admitting i was in fact in a relationship with my child's father. I contacted Disability Wessex; I was in total shock, upset and extremely scared! I required help and quickly.. My failing health and quite honestly my mental state is also suffering. Disability Wessex have Appealed on my behalf and sent this letter of Appeal dated 21st April 2012 to the DWP...On April 21st 2012 I received a letter informing me that from the 24th March 2012 i would receive £126.88 a week, this would change again on 14th April 2012 to £133.04 a week. On the 26th April 2012 I receive a confirmation letter from the DWP to say that my Appeal against being in a 'couple' has been 'logged' Then on 11th May I received a letter from Housing Benefit to inform me that all payments have been suspended. Now I am quite honestly beside myself with worry, my main concern being for my 4 year old dependent! I telephoned Housing Benefit who were very lovely but powerless to intervene because Income Support had stopped on 24th March 2012.But as I pointed out above.. it had not. It had been recalculated to a 'couple' rate.. Even though I had insisted several times I am by no means in a 'couple' and I am appealing the decision!! On 16th May 2012 I received a letter from Income Support informing me I am no longer entitled to Income Support as of 24th March 2012 because my 'partner' (who is not my partner) receives an Industrial Injury Payment on a weekly basis and this left the amount of Income Support at -£25.02. As you can see and have read...this is all very muddled, THERE APPEAR TO BE MANY ERRORS and it is extremely confusing. I have been left with no money at all and have waited over one week for a 'Standard Reclaim Form' from Housing Benefit (who have been very kind).I have telephoned the DWP several times as I need the Appeal dealt with as a matter of urgency, I have no money coming into my household and of course the usual utility bills, food, clothes, my medication (12 Prescription items per month) plus my rent, need to be paid! I AM FEELING 'BROKEN' I was also in receipt of Severe Disablement Allowance..this was on the basis of my Higher Rate Care within my award for DLA.DWP have agreed this should not have ceased as it was Income Support that was affected NOT my SDA.. I have been told in no uncertain terms to 'kick' the father out and you will get all your Benefit reinstated..this does not feel or appear a very fair comment to make to one so vulnerable and in need of help. This is not in my opinion the manner to treat disabled people/claimants. . I am asking for your intervention and for you to please listen to my plea for your help.. May I thank you for reading this. For your time and for your kindness. UPDATE... Since writing this letter, my Severe Disablement Allowance has been re-instated (£80.70 pw) but Housing Benefit will not pay anything towards my rent until I complete the Re-claim form as a 'Couple' and complete the 'Partners' details..I cannot do this because I would be lying.. They are standing by Income Supports decision to cease any payment until a decision is made at Tribunal. I do not know when this will be. I was informed two weeks ago by the DWP it is classed as a matter of URGENCY due to the threat of Eviction. It is 5th June 2012 today and I am petrified of what is happening. I feel scared, victimised, depressed and very desperate. I do not choose to be disabled and ill, I would rather have my health than endure such poverty and distress. I am still awaiting a date for my Tribunal and I am very poorly. This whole situation is having a terrible effect on both my mental and physical health. I have also recently received a letter from 'OVERPAYMENTS' I telephoned them and again they were very helpful. The lady I spoke to explained that there are two categories for Overpayments, one is 'Fraud' and the other is ' Mistake' she explained that mine was a 'Mistake' so to try to put all the worry to the back of my mind.. This, although kind of her, is easier said than done...It is June 23rd today and I have been told by the Tribunal service it could be another 9weeks....[/

Hi All I have never used one of these forums before so please bear with me. I have managed to get myself trapped with 5 payday loans - Wonga, Quickquid, Mr Lender, 1Month Loan & Payday Express. My husband lost his job earlier this year and as a "temporary" measure we stupidly took out these loans to make sure all of our priority outgoings were covered, ie. rent, council tax etc. It has got the the stage where I am rolling over each loan which is costing over £700 per month and leaving us very little to live on. All in all I think the amount of debt is around £3000 My credit score has improved slightly since it was very poor last year but it is still not high enough for me to take out a personal loan. I am worried sick at the amount of money we are paying out, especially as we are not actually reducing the debt, just prolonging it. Is anyone else in this situation or has anyone managed to overcome it? I would REALLY appreciate any advice you could give me to escape this payday trap. I am aware that I have been overwhelming stupid in taking out these loans in the first place so please don't criticize me too harshly! I have learned my lesson and hopefully if I can ever get out of this position I will NEVER touch a single payday loan with a barge pole. Any advice/help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated