I am writing is in the hope that someone who has had a similar experience may be able to help us. We run a small family owned retail store in the UK. In February we received a call from a man who wanted to buy a high quantity of produce from us. Taking orders over the phone was a normal occurrence for us as our handheld streamline device allows us to do so if the customer giving the relevant security details ie: number in the address and postcode, D.O.B etc. We had no reason to suspect this was a fraudulent transaction as the card details went through successfully and the 'customer' picked up his order later that day. We heard nothing more about this case until the beginning of June when we received a letter from First Trust bank stating that there had been a query with the transaction back in February and that First Trust would be removing the money from our account. There was nothing in the letter stating that the transaction that had taken place in February had been fraudulent. It wasn't until we rang First Trust that an advisor told us the card that had been used was stolen and that we were responsible, since then we have been to the police, our local bank branch and we have contacted the customer help line several times and after being transferred numerous times we have gotten nowhere as we are being told it is nothing to do with the bank and that we are somehow responsible. If anyone can advise us from a similar experience they have had with the banks we would be extremely grateful. We do not believe it is right that the banks can take that money from our account (nearly £1000) plus charge us a fee of £75 to do so, we also do not believe we can be liable if all security was passed by us over the phone and the details came back as verified to allow us to carry out a transaction over the phone via the banks streamline device. If anyone knows of any agencies that we can seek advise from on this matter it may also be very helpful Thank you for taking the time to read this Jonny

Hi I really hope someone can help. I own a ground floor flat (and share a freehold in the building). My upstairs neighbors have a rooftop garden which has no guttering - when the roof garden was built the existing guttering for the house was cut short and a 1 inch pipe taken from what was left to the main sewer pipe (which I have been told is illegal) which runs down the wall past my bathroom. Because the pipe is too small to take water from the gutter the gutter has been overflowing and as a result has leaked into my bathroom and living room. My living room has original larve and plaster ceilings which has been spewing water onto my newly polished floors. The ceiling was so soaked earlier, and holding so much water, I had to poke a hole in it to drain the water away and prevent the ceiling from coming down entirely. When I asked my neighbors to have the guttering repaired and for someone to come round urgently to stop the leak they told me to sort it out myself and when I mentioned that I will have to put this through the insurance they became annoyed and told me that it is joint responsibility and not solely there's. As far as I am aware, because their roof garden is an alteration to the house myself and my other neighbor have no responsibility for its upkeep and repairs - and that we are jointly responsible for any maintenance/repairs for the rest of the roof. The roof was altered to create their roof garden and because it was done badly, and I'm told illegally, my home has suffered massive damage. Does anyone here have any experience with this sort of thing? Whether I'm right or wrong I would like to be a little more clearer on it when I have to speak to them again. Many thanks in advance

I've been having a lovely issue with EON. Towards the end of my tenancy at my shared accommodation two of the people I was living with decided they had had enough of paying bills and refused to pay their shares after the myself and my other house mate had paid ours. I spoke to my landlord who said I should contact EON and see if they would put the names of the two non-paying members on the account so they would be chased for payment not myself and my other house mate. First of all I spoke to one of their advisers and told them what the situation was and how/if EON could help. The person I spoke to said that if I posted a copy of the tenancy agreement and letter with a brief explanation of the problem they would chase the two non-payers. After about a month of not hearing anything I contacted EON who emailed me a response saying the two listed were responsible and they would look for payment from them. After 5 months my house mate received a letter from LCS ,at her new address, saying she owed the amount and demanding payment of the bill plus a £95 admin charge. After she sent them a copy of the correspondence I had had with EON it transpired I had been put on an attached but separate account that owed no money where as she was on the account owing money. After a few phone calls from her I rang EON and explained the situation. They said they would sort it. After about an hour I received a phone call from a 'resolutions manager' who asked if i was in the property at the time, I said yes and that I had explained that at the time and all the evidence I sent also clearly showed this. He then said he would look into it as it sounded like a 3rd party issue (something I am now aware of but was not told anything about and they would also have been aware of it when they looked at the evidence I sent them) After waiting all day for a phone call I rang up and the 'manager' who said EON's legal department said they can change any advice or correspondence given when they like. After a week this 'manager' emailed saying he was closing the complaint, that it was 3rd party issue and that the previous correspondence didn't matter. I then asked for this to go a stage higher, which to his credit he did but failed to inform me he had sent it up. After a few days of waiting I received EON's 'final resolution' letter which was just a copy and paste job from the previous email. I have now taken the case the Ombudsman and hope to hear from them soon. What I want to know is, can a company say you don't have to pay/aren't responsible for paying then a few months down the line just say no you are now we have decided? Also according to some bits I have read online firms like LCS aren't allowed or supposed to contact you whilst the complaint is open, LCS however have been contacting my house mate through out the process and although she said only contact her at these times and via this number they have continued to use another number at times she is at work. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh and to say I will never have any involvement with EON again is an understatement.

I have no idea on this having been asked by a relative if I knew the answer. Facts: Uncle aged 69, Aunt 65. Both not working and are claiming their SRP's plus Guaranteed Pension Credit. Their total income is about £222 a week. No savings whatsoever. They own a 2 bed house valued (rightmove) £180,000. They mortgaged their property for £80,000 (unbeknown to the family) 8 years ago to invest in a pension [problem]. They lost their money (it ended up in Nigeria we think) and the police have said that they have no chance of getting it back. The mortgage was interest only and was due to be repaid last December. Obviously that was totally impossible given their limited income. 3 weeks ago the bank obtained a repossession order for the 11th October . They have packed up but have nowhere to go. The council won't have anything to do with them as they say that they are the 'authors of their own misfortune'. Are they right in saying that? I thought that the council had to prove: •you deliberately did (or didn't do) something •that caused you to leave accommodation •which you could otherwise have stayed in, and •it would have been reasonable for you to stay there. Any suggestions most welcome Thanks

I am looking to buy a 50% shared ownership of a house which has been repossessed. The amount is only small and I have the right in the lease to purchase the other 50% but here's the question- could I be responsible for any rent arrears in relation to the other 50% of the lease. It is highly likely that if they couldn't afford the mortgage then they couldn't afford the rent. There is no mention in the lease or in the sellers details.

Hi ALL I have recieved this letter from Santander,I will type it out as it is in letter as scanner is not working.. Dear xxxxxx NOTIFICATION OF TERMINATION Finance Bal....... Outstanding Bal...... Date of termination........ Despite our previous letters, including a default notice, you have not paid the arrears. ( approx £500.00 ) so therefore we have today terminated your agreement, the unpaid balance above is now due. The agreement provides that we may take back the goods, the subject matter of this agreement, from you after termination, However, as you have paid more than one third of the total monies payable, we are not entitled to take the goods back,without your consent, unless we first obtain a court order allowing us to do so. We now require immediate return of the goods. To avoid legal action being taken to recover them, please contact us on the number for us to arrange collection of the goods. IF THE GOODS ARE NOT RETURNED IMMEDIATELY, WE WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTIONTO RECOVER THEM. YOU MAY BE LIABLE FOR THE COSTS OF THIS LEGAL ACTION. After the goods have been recovered and dispossed of them, we will also require payment of all remaining monies due pursuant to the terms of this agreement. You will be liable for costs etc. P T O. Please be aware that as a result of this termination, any credit protection insurance you have taken out will be terminated with immediate effect. Yours Sincerely Denise Armitage. So then guy's what is my next step, oh I have never cca'd them, but I dont want to rock the boat anymore, if they are coming to remove the family car? Mr W

Hi The external drain which deals with waste from the kitchen is totally blocked and flooding our front garden. My husband attempted to clear it by putting rods down but cannot open to cover as a key is needed. The Landlord doesn't have anything to open it and informed us that as he's away on business we'll have to sort this ourselves! I'm far from happy about this as I don't believe it to be our responsibility as it's an external drain plus we cannot afford to get anyone out to clear it for us. It is really badly blocked, any water going down the sink or from the washing machine is flooding straight onto the path and quite frankly I'm sick of my kids having to wade through it everyday dragging all sorts of mess into the house with them. We live in a detached house and the drain isn't shared with anyone else. Any advice appreciated Lisa

Good morning, I would really appreciate some assistance if possible. I am currently in the process of selling a property. The land registry title contains three restrictions, two of which are in my name and one in my ex-partners name, with the property being in joint names. My conveyancer has written to all three creditors listed on the title requesting settlement figures. We are currently waiting for their responses. However, I have since found out that one particular creditor, namely, ‘Shoosmiths’ have since passed on my debt/details to ‘Eversheds’ for some reason. I only found this out yesterday after contacting Shoosmiths asking why things were taking so long. I passed this information onto my conveyancer, who is obviously waiting for an official response of sorts. Can anybody please tell me how this will impact on the sale proceedings? Will Eversheds need to apply to have their name put on the title before any further progress can be made or can they simply ride on the back of Shoosmiths? Many thanks, Borris

I have recently found a place to live after being homeless since January. I went to view the property and it smelled really bad of "dogs". There are carpets in there but they are in a terrible condition. Although I may accept this property, can I force the landlord to replace the carpets before I sign the lease and move in? Thanks in advance

Hi all, haven`t the foggiest where to ask this but our water is high in the outside drain and loo going down slowly. Problem happened before but I can`t remember which way the flow went and who was the end of line before the waste went into main sewer in the road? I suspect my neighbour is last in line so the blockage must be from her to main sewer so is she responsible? last time, I am informed, due to my bad memory, that the problem was in the main sewer way down the road?

Hi everyone, The fence at one side of the property (council) that I live in was damaged by the gales in April.After twenty or so e-mails from the council and numerous calls from me I was informed that the fence which is on the right,as you stand with your back to the house, is the responsibility of my neighbours.Could anyone confirm this for me.

Just after some basic legal advice for an issue I have. Last year I paid a deposit for rental of a holiday villa in Spain. The villa was advertised on a UK website. I paid the deposit by bank transfer to the agent in Spain. I have since found out that he was not passing the bookings on to the owner and keeping the deposits. He is currently untraceable!! My question is :- As the agent was working on behalf of the owner in securing bookings, does the owner not have some responsibility now that things have gone wrong. They seem to think not, however I disagree. Any comments gratefully appreciated.

A bill arrived at my parents address from STW. It was address to myself and my old flatmate. I rang an told them that i would be paying half and to contact my old flatmate to recover the other outstanding monies owed. I tried to give them the address of our letting agent but their exact words were "we dont care who pays it as long as it's payed" i sent them a cheque for half the outstanding amount and a letter explaining the situation also giving them the address of our old letting agent to contact my flatemate. i also asked them to remove me from the account. i have now received a notice of court action demanding the remaining portion of the bill. the letter makes no reference to my letter i sent to them and simply threatens me with court action in 2 weeks if the bill is not paid in full. i cannot afford to pay my old flatmates half. I am fully aware of the jointly and severally laws. my question is: if STW take court action against the account, who will be liable? will they simply harass me for the rest of the money and leave my old flatmate out of it? will i get a CCJ whilst my old flatmate gets away Scot free despite both our names being on the bill? i have been more than helpful, paying my share and giving contact details to obtain monies from my old flatmate. we do not speak anymore.