Finally got sick of the "best day to pay" messages sent the "stop" message which is given in the text message. This was done last weekend today, low and behold, another message comes through! I will be making a formal complaint to the Information Commissioners Office regarding the fact they have breached the request to stop messages. I've attached the screenshots of the stop request and message received in breach of the request. Will be interesting to see what Brighthouse say about this as it's a complaint they won't be able to handle, only respond to as the ICO will be involved. Brighthouse reps ... attempt to defend this breach!

Disabled men lose high court bid to stop Independent Living Fund closure Judge rules that Mike Penning, former minister for disabled people, had not breached equality laws over ending support to live in the community. More Here: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/08/disabled-men-lose-high-court-bid-stop-closure-independent-living-fund

Hi I'm in panic mode at the moment as my fortnightly housing benefit payment should of gone in the bank today (goes in for monday but can always see it saturday) I went down to my local council office about 4 weeks ago to take a load of recent payslips as they had totally miscalculated our payment and was over paying us by around £70 a week, so I wanted to get this re-calculated a.s.a.p so to prevent any problems. As of last week I hadn't heard anything back from them and have still been getting overpaid, so I called them to chase up what was going on but was just told "Oh this can take a few weeks" As of today I've still not heard anything but now it appears for some reason they've stopped my benefit, which on our low income and the fact we have 2 children whom get DLA, we are entitled to. I'm absolutely panicking because there's no one available at the council to speak to today, the rent is due and I have zero money. Surely even if there have been overpayments made, which aren't my fault as I've provided all details of our income whenever they've asked, they can't just stop payments without warning? What I'm really kicking myself about is I can't find the receipt the woman gave me the last time I took the payslips down to show I'd been, I suppose if it comes down to it I can insist they view CCTV footage to show I was down there!! Is there anyone available on weekends I can speak to about this?

This morning the Local Government Secretary; Eric Pickles shocked local authorities ( and no doubt bailiff companies) by announcing that he is seeking to "outlaw" local authorities from using CCTV camera's and "spy cars" to "milk" parking fines from motorists !! Additionally, Eric Pickles is seeking to amend the law to stop councils from using bailiffs to collect parking fines !!! Clearly there is no messing around with Eric Pickles as his office are planning to release a Consultation Paper later this month with the consultation period running for 6 weeks with plans to implement the new changes from January. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10337749/Councils-using-CCTV-cameras-to-fine-motorists-to-be-made-illegal-within-months.html

Hi everyone, last june i took out a payday loan with the above company, well actually a number of companies, following a break up with my wife i spiralled massively out of control. I don't even know how many payday loans i have. I am today in the process of trying to work just how much i have borrowed and how much i owe. But my most pressing issue is with the above company. The loan originally was for £350 i think, i contact them in october last year and made a token payment of £20 and they tried to enroll me in their own DMP which didnt seem appropriate at the time. In December i had further email correspondance with them and offered to pay them £20 per month but requested a copy of my original credit agreement and a breakdown of the account as the debt was some £700 at this point! The accepted my offer of £20 but ignored my request for a copy of the agreement and refused to send me statement of the account. As they wouldnt provide this i foolishly didnt pay the £20 per month agreed. My previous landlord has (moved out September) has contacted me to advise there is some official looking post, to cut a long story short 1st stop have applied and obtained a CCJ (February) at my old address and have now made an application for an attachment of earnings order (16th April). This is bad and could cost me my employment!!!!!!! So i need some advice desperately, should i apply to have the CCJ set aside on the basis that it was sent to the wrong address and the company refused to provide me with a breakdown of how the amount was arrived at, or should i fill out the form and request they suspend the order and offer to repay them over the next 3 months, which i can just about afford to do?

Hi all, My bank (Abbey) began repossession hearings against us (£4500 arrears), we pay £727 per month. Attended court 3 weeks ago and Abbey representative failed to show. Sat in front of the judge on my own and he ordered that "the matter be adjourned generally with liberty to restore", also advised that we make a written offer to the bank to clear the arrears (which we did immediatley). Bank wrote back and stated they would continue with repossesion claiming that they HAD attended and the judgement was made in their favour. I rang the court and asked how this could be, woman was not helpful, said she couldn't check and besides, the judgement had not yet been written out as they were "overworked". Advised that I wait a few days for the written order in the post. Waited 1 week and still nothing. Called the court again and explained the urgency (20th June deadline!) She confirmed the case had been adjourned! And faxed me copy of the judgement to that effect. So I thought I had a case for malpractice against the bank, until I received a SECOND judgement letter on Saturday ordering the repossession!!! Same Claim Number, different Judge. What should I do given that I now only have 2 days to sort this out? Can anybody help!!!!!

Hi All, I'm no saint an fell into arrears with a payday loan with the subjected company. I'm not disputing that i owe them their money but want to see if anyone can clarify if there charges are enforceable. In my contract it makes no mention of the following comments made in my most recent correspondence so does this mean they can't be enforced? "you have also incurred a charge of £75 for a letter before action fee, as well as an additional £75 for your account being passed to our litigation department." If i'm engaging with said company in regards to settling the balance are they able to say the following: Your balance of £500.39 will only stand as of today’s date, this may increase due to any additional court fees added onto your balance. Please note the courts will never make you pay more than what you can afford, if you want to go proceed with one of these payment options please provide the most up to date card details for us to take payment. As most have said, they are unprepared to acknowledge StepChange which i have several agreements in place. I don't understand why they seem so hell bent on obtaining a court order to have this repaid when all my others have been happy to agree to what StepChange and i have been able to sort. I don't mind paying it off, fortunately i'm in the position to do so but i just wandered if i have a way, with the fee's mentioned above of disputing and having them removed? They'll do £509.39 over 10 monthly payments or £425.33 at 85%. They also recently sent a DPA form to my employer. I'm assuming in conjunction with obtaining an order for an attachment of Earnings. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Hi All, Really hope someone can help me with my predicament. Around June 2013, i stupidly took a payday loan with 1st Stop Group. The amount was £250 and unfortunately i couldnt pay the repayment due of around £325 therefore i contacted them immediately and informed them. I asked if i could pay £100 per month which was point blank refused. I then heard nothing more (despite chasing them daily to resolve the matter!) for around 4 weeks. I then received an email stating my bill was now £500 and again, they would NOT accept £100 per month and that failing repayment of the full balance, they would start CCJ proceedings, i again pleaded to them to accept £200 per month for 2 months and £100 final month. They again point blank refused and would not even begin to negotiate a repayment plan to repay the debt. The next thing was court letter with a claim for £640 roughly, i replied to the courts with all correspondence showing that i had tried my utmost to resolve this matter and 1st Stop Group refused point blank to do anything but request the balance in full. I included all correspondence between myself and 1st Stop Group and low and behold, the court sided with them and entered a CCJ against me for the full amount. I stated the full amount should be paid within 21 days, which i simply wasnt able to do so i contacted the courts and they told me to contact 1st Stop and see if they will accept a payment plan, which i did. Low and behold, i contacted 1st stop who then ACCEPTED £100 per month (after the CCJ has been entered!) yet they were unwilling to even discuss a repayment plan beforehand. I requested their bank details and was point blank refused again, i was told the only way i could pay it was by debit card and i was not willing to hand over my debit card details. The next thing was a letter through the post with an attachment of earnings order application and the amount now around £840, i replied to the courts outlining how ridiculous this whole situation is, showing that they were unwilling to discuss a repayment plan before the CCJ, showing that they wouldnt give me their bank details, and i was legally obliged to provide all my outgoings which i duly did. My outgoings leave me roughly £220 per month after all bills. The court ignored my letter and replied with a suspended attachment of earnings order for 21 days, stating the full amount of £840 is to be paid within 21 days or the attachment of earnings order will be sent to my employers. When i am only left with £220 a month how can they state a "monthly payment of £840 until the full balance of £840 is paid in full". I dont want this going to my employers and quite honestly, i'm not only disgusted with 1st Stop Group but also the courts who it seems genuinely ignored every piece of correspondence i sent to them outlining the situation. They seemed to immediately just side with 1st Stop on everything despite my genuine attempts to resolve this matter on numerous occasions. I'm now in the position where i'm going to have to sell my car to one of these horrible cash for cars places to get this paid in the next couple of weeks in order to not have the attachment of earnings order sent to my employers (which would no doubt cause me lots of trouble in my job). Please, if anyone has any advice i'd really appreciate it as i'm depressed, not sleeping, and quite frankly disgusted with this company who had no intentions from day 1 of doing anything other than going through the courts. Regards, B&T

Hello everybody. I'm in a bit if a pickle here and could do with some advice. I am currently on a debt management plan with Payplan and I have been so for around 5-6 months. My debt primarily consists of payday loans and originally totaled approximately £5000. I have managed to pay off around £1200 since the DMP's inception making monthly payments via Payplan. Whilst the DMP was being setup I advised all of my creditors that they should expect to hear from Payplan in due course with an offer of monthly repayment. This would also include details on my other creditors balances etc (there are around 10-12). 1st Stop Payday Loans , stated from the outset that they would not accept the DMP (they are the only one!) as my account was already in litigation and that I should except court papers through shortly if I did not arrange a payment plan with them separately. Though they advised they had their own 'in house' DMP service they would look at putting me onto. I obviously did not take them up on this. A few months passed without incident and although i missed a payment on my DMP everything seemed to be going smoothly, until the other week 1st Stop came back with threatening emails. I again stated I was on a DMP with Payplan yet they were not interested in this. This week I've received CCJ forms and they are the claimant. I've spoken to Payplan and they have asked me to fill out certain sections on the form and to send it to their legal department. They will then forward on information on my financial situation/ income/expenditure in the response pack to 1st Stop. I have not yet sent this back and I'm wondering what (if anything) else I could be doing or thinking about before I do. First of all the balance they've put on the CCJ form (£405) isn't in my opinion correct (its as if they haven't taken my Payplan payments into account and have continued to charge fee's & interest). I have told Payplan about this and they have asked me to send in the forms anyway. I'm essentially wondering what do 1st Stop Payday loans expect to get out of taking me to court? I cannot afford to pay them more as stated in my DMP. Wont the court see this as well and set the CCJ repayments in line with that? Appreciate any advice given. Regards Dan

Hi Ive been in discussion with a payday loan lender about the charges they are adding to my account. Originally the balance to payback was £405. It is now over £700. This is just interest and charges added on. I had an email glitch months ago, meaning I have no copy of my contract, nor their terms and conditions. I have asked many times for them to forward me a copy, but they refuse to do this point blank. I have now sent a complaint to them, asking for this info, so im hoping their complaints process will mean i get the contract and statement of account type thing showing when they have added interest or charges. The reason for this post is really to see if there is anything else I can do to argue about the extortionate charges they keep adding. thanks

Hi all, Having recently started a business and been talked into looking into eBay more by a friend, I liked the sound of their £19.99 a month 'shop', which would allow us to display 200 items. What they don't tell you is that as soon as you list your 1st 5 items, it will block you from listing any more until you ring a costly number to find out what other hoops you have to jump through to be able to list any more! Added to that, we only had 1 evening to list our items due to other commitments so we had settled down to doing this when we were blocked from adding more listings. I straight away checked my emails but there was no message of explanation there so I used the virtual chat and found out that this is the norm if you're new and that the expensive line you need to ring is only open between 9 and 5pm. We were told this in the evening so could not list our products on the day we needed to. I told them this was very close to mis-selling as these things were not mentioned when I agreed to a subscription. I told the lady that I would be cancelling my subscription immediately as we would not have agreed to go ahead with the subscription if we had known about the hidden parts! Problem here is that I have since read that even if you cancel, they will still charge you the money for a month and then some! My question is:- after agreeing to use paypal to pay them, how do I stop them from taking the money without cancelling our business paypal account (it's used for our online private website)? Please help! Thank you.

Hi guys Had a loan out with these guys in 2012, have made some payments after defaulting they applied for a CCJ. This was agreed to be paid in 4 installments, i paid the first 2 and heard nothing for a while Now i have an attachment of earnings request for about £500 Now i can pay the entire amount today which i may do but i had one question, none of this shows on my credit file, is this not a bit dodgy? I mean i had the loan so i owe the money but it not appearing worries me. The attachment of earnings carries a £100 fee also Cheers chaps

We all know how hard it is to stop these constant dca calls. The ideal solution would be to get your number removed from their system. I tried a cheeky method and it worked. I diverted my phone calls to .............wherever you want. when they realise its obviously a wrong number they remove right away. you need to be creative in where you divert it to. Only do it for a few hours or you may forget to undivert!!! Places that are sure to get your number removed....banks ( that's the best ) insurance companies, speaking clock, police ( only general enquiry number ) the bbc the oft etc. Have fun

apparently according to various news reports, 15 lenders heave left the payday market ahead of the oft/fsa deadline to sort out there business practices. Does anyone know what ones have closed up shop?

Stop Payday loan adverts on television. please sign this petition & keep passing it on http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/42019

Parking fines could double because they are not enough to stop people parking their cars illegally, it has emerged. Norman Baker, a transport minister, is looking at raising the amount councils can charge for parking illegally - currently capped at £70 outside London. The Liberal Democrat is concerned that the penalty is failing to keep pace with fines in the capital, where the maximum is £130. Councils make £400 million a year in profit on parking fines which they are legally bound to spend on transport projects. More ... Lets put this in the correct wording shall we. First the subject heading - ... to increase profit, Second, a Liberal Democrat, some nobody from a nobody party who should never have been where they are and never will be again. We all know this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with illegal parking but all about turning big bucks into even bigger bucks. Seeing as the private con brigade base their invoices on council fines, they will no doubt jump at the chance to double theirs as well. [PS. £400 million would easily take care of all the UK potholes, so what are they spending it on?]

Hi there, I have a number of payday loans, including First Stop Finance. The payment date was today, having already rolled over the loan once. My wife has been to the CAB in Portsmouth regarding the debts, and has produced, (with help from the CAB) a common financial statement to send to each creditor, along with a token payment of £30 to each creditor. I emailed First Stop a copy of the letter along with the CFS, and they have basically ignored the request for a repaymen plan. Problem is, I have an IVA, due to end September this year, and they have threatened to contact the IVA company if I dont repay the loan in full by the end of today. This was received by email a short time ago. Dear Mr. xxxx Thank you for your email. I have reviewed your income and expenditure and unfortunately on this occasions, we are unable to accept a reduced payment arrangement. If the balance of this loan is not repaid in full today, I will have no option but to contact your Independent Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) company and advise them you have obtained further credit whist in an (IVA). This may result in your (IVA) being cancelled. I would also like to draw your attention to section 2.1.09 of the terms and conditions under your obligations, where it states "you are not under an Independent Voluntary Arrangement or considering entering one". Should this matter be resolved through the courts, we shall provide this information as evidence that your have falsifying your application. Thank you xxxx Account manager Regards 1st Stop The letter with the postal order is being sent out today, and all card authority has been stopped. I have also changed bank accounts to stop them swiping the money. Just wondered if there is any advice in here meanwhile. Many thanks.

I can see a similar question on here but don't want to gatecrash the askers thread & my circs are slightly different maybe. I'm sure I have asked on here before, but no joy. Son is in 2nd & final year of 6th form, he will be 18 in March next year, & leaves 6th form in May. He's hoping to do an apprentiship, with an IT firm from May, 100 pounds per week. I currently work 30+ hours a week self employed, & claim working tax credits, housing benefit etc. Have 2 teens, daughter is 16 in January & at school another 2 years. When will CSA payments stop? Relations with the kids dad is cool, but he literally is counting down the days to when his CSA goes down lol (he pays 240 per month for them both which comes straight out his wages on a DOE as he was bad at paying when I was on IS yrs back & I didn't receive it anyway) Thanks x

Back in July, I moved house (and to a different town and different local authority area at that). I had earlier this year had a large number of PCNs, most of which were succesfully fought and repealed with one outstanding which I paid. As far as I was aware all outstanding matters had been dealt with, and there certainly weren't any new PCNs in the last month or so before leaving, so if there were and the ticket was removed from my car I would have had time for the NTO to arrive before leaving. Today, I've come home to a letter from Equita regarding an unpaid ticket which apparantly has been through the court and a warrant of execution granted. They do not include any PCN number, any reference number for the warrant of execution they apparantly have, the VRN of the car involved, nor are they demanding any specific amount of money, only that I contact them before 'further enforcement proceedings' are started. The usual bailiff threats of a visit from the door and removing goods are not made. In the past I did have some PCNs which ended up with Equita, and this is not like any letter I've seen before, those all demanded a specific amount of money, were properly reference with the PCN and VRN and were much more specific about what would happen if I didn't pay. Also, as I scrapped my car as part of the move I've never had it registered as my new address, nor have I registered on the electoral role so I'm uncertain how they've even found me - my only guess can be they've searched council tax registers for people with the same name (my surname is uncommon) and are fishing to see what response they get. This is also the only letter I've had regarding this alleged ticket at all, so if they or the council knew where I was previously I would have expected correspondance before things got to this stage. A few things I'm wondering Is this likely to be a fishing letter to see if I'll respond or would they actually take action against this address without response from me or something else to confirm that I am the person they are looking for - if they are fishing it's even possible that this has nothing to do with me - my name might be uncommon but there were 2 of us in the phone book at my old town! Can they proceed without some kind of verified proof of where I live? What would be the status of the warrant of execution that already exists? Would that be to levy distress at a specific address (i.e. my old one only) or would it cover anywhere where they know (or believe) me to be? Would 'further enforcement proceedings' mean that they need to go back to court before they can do anything else at a different address? Can I apply to have the court order for the warrant of execution set aside on the grounds that I didn't know I was being taken to court and have had no opportunity to defend myself? If I go down the route of making an out-of-time witness statement on the grounds that I didn't have the opportunity to fight the PCN, accept it and pay a lower fee, or file a witness statement in time is this likely to be succesful (I've never had success with an O-O-T yet, but I've never before had the argument that I didn't live at the address they sent the information to)? Can I find relevant information out without contacting Equita - it's not about avoiding a ticket, it's more that to them all I am is a name with a sum of money attached to it and their greater concern is getting me to pay it, not about whether or not I actually owe it or have grounds to fight it so I don't consider them an impartial body to get information from! How long would Equita wait before taking any further action, to give me an idea of how long I have to sort this out? Any help would be greatfully appreciated!

Hi Folks, My wife has been part carer for her elderly father who has severe MS for the past year. It is mainly to give her mother some respite, help around the house and always be there driver as they don't drive and can't get shopping or do doctors trips etc. She has been making sure she does 35hrs a week whilst also looking after our two kids while I work long hours often away from home. The issue is she is beginning to struggle to maintain the 35 hrs a week and although she will continue to help out when she can she wants to reduce the hours to below 35. We realise this will mean stopping the carers allowance and are happy to do so. We just want to know when is the best time to do this to avoid being overpaid etc. Also what is the best number to ring. We are currently paid it every 4 weeks. This is the only benefit we receive as we lost CHB recently due to my wage, unfair indeed but hey ho. Thanks, Mark

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?315048-Ida-vs-Nicotine Above my previous failed attempts stop date 02/01/2013 OH stopping as well been to the chemist and armed with patches and gum I have no choice i must stop this time

Hi, I was moved to wrag from i.b on filling esa50 with out atos medical as I do suffer with lots of health issue. I do have unstable angina and this medical condition is should be under support group. Upon taking advice from cab I call dwp and ask for gl24 last week.they stop my payment this week. Is it true if you appealing then they stop your payment? I was getting payment under I.B:???::???:

Hi, first post on this forum! I tapped a car lightly recently while reversing (didn't see it, wasn't there when got in my car, plus whoever owns it decided to dump it on double yellows on narrow street). I didn't think much of it, was really slight, so didn't bother to check for any damage, as didn't expect any. Last week my insurance company phoned saying they had received some complaint about me being involved in a collision. As they used the word collision it didn't occur to me that this was related and besides I had totally forgotten about it anyway. I told the insurer that I didn't have a clue, they phoned back same day saying to forget about it, they were getting 'the details removed'. Now a few days later, i get one of those NIP things from the fuzz, with the form to declare who was driving at such time and place, which clearly referred to date and place of the knock, and I have since worked out that he term collision means pretty much anything, including prangs in car parks. Clearly I must have done some damage (cant imagine how!) and/or been witnessed (dont think there is cctv anywhere there, but cant say I have checked) So I realise I must send in form declaring I was driver, however not to sure what happens after that. If I get a summons I would be tempted to plead guilty by post (and send a soppy mitigation letter about how contrite I feel), but I'm not too sure how likely the police are to take it further so it may never get to that. How do i find out what the other party has said etc? E.g. they may be using the opportunity to fix existing, and more serious damage. Also i feel I should phone up my insurance company and ask them what the heck's going on, as they told me to forget about it and didn't discuss the details of any complaint with me, but is it wise for me to do so, judging I told them I didnt have a clue what they were on about when they phoned, which was true? Also I know that most insurers insist on accidents being reported to the police, and that the police by default ask to ID driver, and by default serve an NIP when crimes like failure to stop are alleged. So in fact this could just be the word of the owner, as they cant have gone far tho I saw no one in the street at the time. I would actually be OK with paying for repair if I have done any damage, but it seems that I don't even have that option. Plus seems to me that any damage issue is separate to any failure to stop/report complaint anyway so, any tips/experiences/advice you could give me? thanks in advance!

My head's a shed at the moment so ANY help/advice would be greatly appreciated. In September,my son (motor biker) was involved in an altercation with a female car driver. There was an argument but no collision or accident so he drove off. He received a call about 2 weeks later asking him to give a witness statement at the police station,which he did.The driver had reported him, claiming he had damaged her car and assaulted her, which is not true. He received a letter about two weeks from his solicitor informing him that the police were to take no further action and the matter was concluded. He was not arrested, charged or bailed. Also, he has not received a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP). He thought the matter was finished with but now received a summons to go to the Magistrates Court on three offenses, failing to stop, failing to give name and address and a section 39 assault. I have found case law that for a prosecution to succeed a NIP is required if the driver is unaware of an accident taking place (Metropolitan Police v Scarlett [1978] Crim LR 234 and Bentley v Dickinson [1983] RTR 356. Does anyone know the procedure, i.e.if a driver was unaware of an accident they should receive an NIP before going to court?

Hi, I'm a new user to this forum and really need advice. Some years ago my nephew picked up his mums bus pass by mistake and used it. He was caught by inspectors, taken to court and fined. As he was on benefits he tried to pay the fine in instalments but the court refused this and passed the account to a bailiffs. I tried to help him resolve it and made 100's of calls all to no avail. BUT...this means they have my phone number. Since then the bailiffs have passed the debt to a company called Apex who buy debts. Now Apex is continuously calling me (this morning at 7am) asking for my nephew. I have told them he doesn't live here (he has asked me not to pass his number on) but they still keep calling.. ...any ideas on how I can put a stop to these calls please. Thanks Sue