Heres what happened... I always pay my orange bill via direct debit. My bill date is the 22nd of each month and Direct debit then comes out on the 7th of each month. In March I decided to pay my bill in advance via my card. This was so I didnt have to worry about my phone bill for a few months. As per their website regarding this it says: "On the top of all your bills you'll find your bill date. It's important because, while any payment before that date will lower your Direct Debit for that month, any payment you make after that bill date will go towards the month afterwards instead. It doesn't mean you've been double charged, but to avoid any confusion the best time to make a card payment is after your Direct Debit payment collection date, and before your bill date." That means if I paid money on my card after the bill date (after 22nd)... the direct debit would come out as usual on the 7th and the money paid in will count towards the following month. I first paid £40 in March, that didnt go through until the 23rd of March.... Of course 1 day after my bill date so the direct debit for March came out of my bank as usual. I then paid another £60 which cleared on the 20th of April (before April's bill date). Total balance on my Orange account was then of course £100.... Meaning as my phone bill is £33 a month I would have April, May and June's bill covered without them taking a direct debit. On the 22nd April (April's bill date) I had my bill for £33 and they actually took it off my balance on my account... My account then showed as £67. That had clearly been paid. However today they still took the direct debit from my bank account (Which put me overdrawn) and I look on my account and that £33 they took was reversed so my balance was back to £100. The charge will be £30 for going into an unauthorised overdraft... Am I thinking correctly that orange should have to pay that??

Good afternoon, I am considering making a Full & Final settlement proposition to the DCA on a debt that was originally an overdraft from Barclays. The debt is currently with Lowell Portfolio, and the total debt is £650 The default was logged on my file on 28/10/2010 and was originally by Barclays, but after Lowell got the debt they also logged a default for it, which I had to contest with the CRA in order to get Barclays to remove their default as Lowell as new owners had added one, which Barclays eventually did. Anyhow, I got the odd letter from Lowell, threatening various things etc, then got the "solicitors" letters which then turned back to Lowell letters etc. Most recent letter is one saying they are about to pass it over to ScotCall as of the 18th April, but can still communicate with them till this point. I am fed up of these letters, and know that scotcall do doorstep visits which I want to avoid as don't want them coming round when im not there and my partner and 18 month old is. So this is why I am considering writing to Lowell offering a F&F of approx. £200 as that is all I can realistically afford, as I am not in a position to make monthly payments to them, and ideally do not want to even acknowledge the debt unless it is to make this F &F and get it paid up and satisfied. What do you guys think I should do, and do you think they will take £200? Thanks in advance

Hi Everyone, Most of us are always at the receiving end, so this is something different. I need some help and advice please as I am having to make a claim against an ex-friend. My then "Close" friend was in dire straits and I lent him quite a substantial amount of money in 2006. How stupid did that turn out to be. Here is a brief detail. I needed some work done on my car and my friend offered to fix it as he is a mechanic and did a good job. He gave me a price and I paid him. He told me that he was really broke and if I wanted other things done... anything .. like painting, decorating - any job at all, he'd be happy to do them. Basically, he did other work for me and was paid every time. He gave me a price and it was always reasonable. He would do the job and I would pay. Pretty straight forward. But he said he had to pay off a loan and needed some money an I agreed to lend him. He signed a loan agreement confirming that he borrowed the money. He then continued to do work as and when required and as before,I always paid him in full. Then things got bad for me. I became ill etc. and had my own troubles. You can see the threads I started on CAG. Of course i asked my friend to repay the loan, and really any amount would do as now i was so broke. However, as you can guess nothing was repaid. Things got worse and worse for me and all I could do was keep phoning him and request him to repay. Initially he took my calls, and promised to come round and pay me etc. then of course, he stopped taking my calls. My debts got pretty bad and in March I was so close to having my house re-possessed. This case is in my CAG thread. I just managed to save my house. Bottom line was - push came to shove and I just thought - serve him a writ and get it over with. So I did some research and served him a writ of claim through Moneyclaim. As I have written proof that he borrowed the money, it seemed pretty straight forward. However, he had put in a defence stating that he worked for me full time, I had deducted a certain amount every week and therefore the debt had been paid. He then inserted a counter claim stating that I owed him seven weeks wages. Both are lies. I was quite shocked by the blatant lies. From my research I learnt that I could serve an application for summary judgement using N244 as he has no defence. But I could not do that until after he submitted a defence to my claim. I see from CPR directions that he can basically say anything and make a counter claim. There were no written agreements regarding his work, no wages were given nor deducted, no money was owed from my side. The only written proof of anything is the fact that he borrowed from me. If there were any terms regarding deducting of wage for repayment, these will be in the loan agreement he signed. Clearly thats not the case. The loan agreement basically stated that he borrowed money from me on a date and it gave his name and address. It did not stipulate a repayment date or interest. Can anyone advise on how I can handle his defence and counter claim? Thank you Wrecked.

Hi, First time poster so apologies if I've broken any forum rules/etiquette. I'll try to explain the situation the best I can... I put in a new claim for ESA on 4/2/13 which I was informed was unsuccessful in letter dated 4/3/13 due to a Work Capability Assessment I attended 22/8/12 ( I didn't bother appealing at the time as I was eligible for carers allowance/income support and to be honest I had enough on my plate to deal with at the time)... I've since appealed and was sent out an appeal form which I swiftly returned and then was sent another letter asking for more information which was also swiftly returned. However as of yesterday (3/4/13) I've still to receive a payment, although I have had 3 crisis loans in this period. I know my initial claim date is within the 6 month period of failing a WCA but I strongly reject the suggestion that my condition hasn't worsened... (Hence the appeal)... I was also told that as of 19/3/13 my appeal was valid but as of 28/3/13 it's status was changed to dormant. I also should mention that I'm up to date with my sick lines and sent an 8 week one in on 19/3/13 as my previous one was due to expire 25/3/13. I think I've heard pretty much every excuse possible in the last 2 months for the hold up, I've received several call backs and the reason for the delay seems to change from week to week... Even the call handlers on the ESA, crisis loans and benefit enquiry lines have been puzzled by the delay going by the information they have on their system... So much so that one extremely helpful individual took it upon their self to put me on hold for 45 mins and phoned several numbers on my behalf before being informed that a decision would be made on 4/4/13... Today. This individual also advised me to ask for a call back and then to ask to speak to a supervisor and make a complaint. Basically I'm just looking for any advice on how to go about making an official complaint??? I already have a reasonably detailed timeline of my phone calls and correspondence with them and I'm considering emailing my MPs secretary about it as I had correspondence with them last year regarding another matter. Any assistance/advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance

Just thought I would put some info together for peeps. NHS Complaints procedure Most medical care and treatment goes well, but things occasionally go wrong, and you may want to complain. So where do you start? Every NHS organisation has a complaints procedure. To find out about it, ask a member of staff, look on the hospital or trust's website, or contact the complaints department for more information. You may want to make positive comments on the care and services that you've received. These comments are just as important because they tell NHS organisations which factors are contributing to a good experience for patients. If you wish to make a complaint about an NHS organisation, contact them directly first. If you're not sure where to start or how to get in touch with an NHS body or independent regulator, try one of the following options. Complaint against an NHS Practitioner If you think an NHS practitioner or social services employee has been guilty of professional misconduct, you can complain to their professional or regulatory body. Examples of professional misconduct include: practitioners who have a sexual relationship with a patient, practitioners who claim that they're competent to practise but are not, practitioners who falsely claim that they're qualified to practise, breaching confidentiality, and manipulating patient's medical records. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman If you have tried the NHS complaints procedure but are dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. The Ombudsman carries out independent investigations into complaints about government departments, their agencies and the NHS. Include the following details in your complaint: your name, address and telephone number, name and contact details of anyone helping you with the complaint, name and contact details of the healthcare provider you wish to complain about, the factual details of your complaint (listing the main events and when they happened), why you think your previous complaint wasn’t resolved to your satisfaction, and how this has caused you injustice, details of the complaints you've already made to the healthcare provider and the outcome of their investigations, and copies of any relevant documents (it's usually helpful to number these and provide a list). Keep copies of everything you post, and make a note of when you send it. The healthcare professional regulators in England are: Doctors: the General Medical Council, Nurses and midwives: the Nursing and Midwifery Council Dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists: the General Dental Council. Dispensing opticians and optometrists: the General Optical Council. Pharmacists: the General Pharmaceutical Council. Arts therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists and podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists, prosthetists and orthotists, radiographers, speech and language therapists and social workers in England: the Health and Care Professionals Council. Osteopaths: the General Osteopathic Council. Chiropractors: the General Chiropractic Council. Please feel free to add or shout for more info.

Hi, I left my employment a month ago, not on great terms, as I left to set up another company. I would not attempt to break any of my compete clauses. Today I met with a potential client. This client was not a client of my previous employer, but was a potential client (as is anyone). I was told by a senior director that someone from my previous employer had called them a few weeks ago, obviously after I had left, to state I had in fact been terminated due to some invoicing irregularities. This was the language he used. He would support me and back it up with a statement as he felt it entirely strange for them to do this, as the only reason would be to discredit me or suggest I was not of good character. Needless to say there were no issues of 'invoicing irregularities'. I was quite shocked and upset. So what is the advice? Do I contact my former employee and ask them to withdraw this, maybe suggest I will take it further. Or go straight to legal and sue them?? Help appreciated.

Hi i was on support group in November 2011 i was transferred to (wrag) i appealed the decision and my tribunal hearing is in late January 2013 i am very worried as i think i have not presented my case well i suffer from depression, diabetes, high blood pressure and neck pain etc. December 2012 i had a letter from job centre plus my benefits had stopped because its been payed 365 days i phoned job centre plus they have sent me another form (esa3) i posted back by special delivery, i phoned job centre plus a week later just to check if they have received the form job centre plus said they haven't received any forms from me a couple of days later i phoned them again still the same answer i got in touch with royal mail regarding my special delivery, royal mail confirmed that they delivered this item end of December 2012 royal mail also sent me an email with the signature of the person that received my letter also the date it was received yet job centre plus still saying they haven't received the form please advise me what i should do. My health is worsening all the time i have no money coming in, i have been to (cab) regarding my tribunal case (cab) booked an appointment with welfare right adviser, the adviser was no help at all. I am left on my own to defend myself i don't know what to do now.

Hello, I'm sure you all get fed up of this question!! Other agreements I've had were clearly not enforceable due to absence of prescribed terms, but this one is 9 pages long - of which they have only sent pages 3 - 6. No signature from bank; just a stamp on page 3 saying its been received and a sqiggle underneath. Any thoughts on this one most greatfully received

Hi Is there any known legal regulation that states that once a debt has been passed on to a collection agency you no longer have a right to pay the creditor direct? I have seen many collection and enforcement agencies state you no longer hold the right to make payment direct but where is this legally set in stone and can the Local Authority/Creditor state any reasonable grounds for refusing to accept the payment if you make it direct to them? Thanks

Hi Im not completely new to CAG, had and account and with help managed to claim £1300 back in charges a few years back, but forgot my login details and had to change email accounts due to being hacked! I now need some new advice, in total im about 10K in debt and have considered Bankruptcy, but due to a small windfall im in a position to make settlement offers, I have two secured debts(3rd and 4th charge) and several small unsecured debts. My current position stands like this - In December 2007 myself and my then partner bought a flat on a shared Equity scheme, we raise half via a mortgage, the Government then lent the other half etc. 5 months after buying, she left me for a married man( I laugh now). due to the market crash, the flat is now worth half or the original purchase price of 220k. We are planning on selling so we can both move on, the selling price, just about covers the mortgage, and the government to there merit, have agreed to wipe there claim. Which means the two creditors with charges wont recieve a penny from the sale! Ive come into a small windfall and would like to make a complete debt free, fresh start to life, start enjoying life again. The windfall only covers about 50% of what I owe, clearly the secured debts are the most important, but ideally I would like to get rid of all the debts. How much would be a reasonable offer to make, Ive read some people have made offers of as little as 20% and been accepted. Should I make seriously low offer and see what they?? Also would email be ok or should I write, using recorded mail? Also I know there used to be template letters on the forum, Ive searched and cant find them, anyone able to point me in the right direction? Cheers Jimmy

I noticed today when about to pay for BT years advanced line rental a clause saying a charge of £1.50 per month would be made if at least 2 calls werent made in a month. It seems a very strange clause in a contract in which you can make as many calls as you like for free, but dont make any and you are charged. I wonder what Moron at BT thought that one up. I actually noticed that I fell foul of this charge once last year. Needless to say I havent paid for the upfront line rental and I am looking for another provider and made a complaint to BT about the stupidity of the clause.

Hi, Thank you for this forum. I've read some interesting stuff here but I haven't managed to find quite what I'm after, so here is my situation and a couple of questions. I moved into a property to rent with a couple of my friends, the landlord wants to sell this property and is asking that we let him or the estate agent show some potential buyers around. I'm ok with this in principle and will move out when the tenancy expires (this isn't a situation where he has surprised us with this and wants us out early). There is a term in our contract that he must give us 24 hours notice to show people around, but doesn't say that we can ever refuse. The problem is that I would rather be in the house to keep an eye on things when people are over. It would be fine if it was just the landlord, but bringing potential buyers is bringing strangers and people that I do not know into the house. There is nearly half a year left on our contract and already people are starting to come round and look at it (it takes a long time to sell a house I gather). So far I have been able to arrange for myself or one of my housemates to be in when people are visiting. Soon it will not be possible for someone to be in, like when we all have work and suchlike. It makes me extremely uncomfortable to have strangers coming round to the house, the landlord has promised to keep an eye on them but there is only one of him and sometimes multiple people visit at the same time (like as a family (sometimes with kids), or as two different parties coming to view at the same time). I fear that people might take something or look at my personal stuff. I believe that I am within my right to tell the landlord that I do not want people to come round if I am not in, despite the term in my contract that he can show interested applicants with 24 hours notice. Is that correct? To be honest, I didn't think I would have to endure six months of this. When I signed the contract I assumed, perhaps naively, that it would just be in the last month. Had I known it would be as much as this I probably wouldn't have signed or I would have tried to negotiate some other terms. Regardless of if I can tell the landlord that I don't want the people in my house when I am not here, I don't really want to do that. I don't want to upset him, he's a nice enough guy and is just trying to sell the house, it must be pretty tricky for him to do that while there are still people living there. Besides, we are still here for another six months, I don't want to start a war. So, with that in mind, am I allowed to install CCTV in the house? I wasn't thinking of anything drastic, just a web-cam or two trained on our valuables. It makes me ill to think about having lots of people coming round to the house and being nosy or risk them taking things. I've lots of valuable items, camera gear, computer accessories, spare mobiles, models, etc, etc that would be very easy to steal or accidentally break and having some coverage would make me feel better if I could watch it at work. Also, if something did happen and I caught it on camera, I wouldn't feel so bad about telling the landlord I want him to stop future visits. My housemates think I'm paranoid :/ What do you think? Thank you for your time

I'm writing on behalf of a friend who is very streesed out. Recently she asked for more help with the job as she has been working 50+ hours a week and not getting paid for it. She asked for help and threatened to leave if this was not given. Since then she has had a number of meetings with management and HR saying there are issues with her work. Then she was given a letter saying due to the fact she is unhappy at work she will leave at the end of August, She had 7 days to contest this, which she didn't (instead buried her head in the sand). Now she is worried she has lost her job and is being pushed out. Should she take this to court? Would she have a case or have HR covered themselves? Thanks in advance

Hi folks, I'm in a position to pay off a lump sum on my credit cards. I currently owe approximately £4000 to MBNA (Virgin); £3,300 to Barclaycard; £4,000 to Ulster Bank; £9,500 to Halifax and £6,000 to Santander. There has been some history of late payment on all accounts but nothing too bad. Barclaycard has already closed my account although obviously I have to keep paying it off. Halifax have just sent me a letter telling me they are closing my account in 2 months time. I want to make full and final settlement deals rather than partial settlement deals, how can I best go about this? Will they accept them? What percentage should I be offering as a Full and Final Settlement? Has CAG got a template letter you can direct me too? How can I get them to accept these without the settlements having an adverse affect on my credit rating? All help and advice gratefully received.