Hi hope someone can help. I'm taking redundancy money soon and I want to take a year out to set up a project I have in mind. I have enough money to live on for a year so I won't be accessing any benefits as I don't want any hassle to get another job. I'm concentrating on getting a grant for this new project and going out promoting it. Someone's told me they think I will still have to sign on else it might affect my state pension. Does anyone know anything about this? Thank you.

Hello. I just want to say, I don't dispute my loan with WDA (well kinda, they did give me a loan when I couldn't afford to pay it back). I know I owe them money, I just disbute how much I owe them. I took out a loan with WDA for £385 (with interest total owed was £518) last year, I was unable to pay it back and was put on a payment plan. In the summer this year I could no longer stick with the payment plan and WDA refused me another payment plan. Since july this year I have not made any payments to them. while I was on a payment plan they froze my interest. My balance was £350 at this point. Last month I got emails from ardent DCA asking me to pay up, they are asking me for £515. I have told them my balance was £350 but they are telling me WDA has added £165 interest for no payment since 31/05/13. They claim to have put a *Daily Interest applied £2.75 charge onto the balance but that doesn't even add up to £165. Also on the statement of account letter that WDA provided me with last month it says "Default Date: 29/06/2012" so how can they default me and then add interest? Or freeze my interest and then re-add interest? Ardent DCA told me they will accept £360 in Full and final settlement of this account, if I don't pay and want a payment plan split into 3 months it will be on £515. How is that legal? I refused and today I got a letter from moon beevers solicitors, please advise me guys; 14 november 2013 Ref;xxxx Re; wage day advance We act for the above named, having been instructed by its collection agents. Debt & revenue services, whom we understand attempted to contact you regarding the det you owe wage day advance in the sum of £515. You will appreciate that you are contracually bound to make payment and our client cannot continue to tolerate non-payment of that which is due. If you are experiencing genuine financial difficulty, then we urge you to contact debt and revenue services to explain your circumstances and agree to a payment plan which you are able to manage and maintain. In the absence of such contact by you and/or payment in full within 14 days of the date of this letter, then it is our clients current intention to issue county court proceedings against you for the sum of £515 in addition to legal costs and any interest due. Such proceedings will be issued out of northampton county court and served upon you by post. If proceedings are issued and you fail to sere a legitimate defence our client will request the court to enter a judgment against you in its favour. If any judgment so awarded remains unpaid it will be subject of enforcement action without further notice. For the avoidance of doubt and so that you are fully aware of our clients intentions, we feel it only fair to inform you that out clients preferred methid of enforcement in your case is to apply to the court for an attachment of earnings order. This means the court will be requested to order your employer to decuct monies from your wages in payment of your debt and legal costs etc, subject to a protected earning rate. This matter has now reached critical stage, but not to late to resolve the matter. Contact debt and revenue service. Yours faithfully, xx

Been treated badly by Bristol Street Motors? I have, and I plan to make them pay. I would welcome contact with like minded people who fancy a bit of direct action.

I received paperwork from NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT on Wednesday 3rd yet it was only on Monday 2nd that Lowell actually told me over the phone who there client was. Obviously I want to defend the claim but im clueless on what to do now and need to get this form back within the time period????? some background hope this helps with your information. I had a credit card with capital one and defaulted on the card in 2004 and have had no correspondence from them since around then. I also have been accepted for a credit card from capital one less than 6 months ago. so 1st things 1st what am I completing on the court papers so I can get them back within time. Any help is greatly appreciated

British Airways overcharged me £270 for hand luggage which was within the allowance. I am really cross about this and really want my money back but wonder if I have any chance in the small claims court. My only hard evidence as such is that they charged me (giving me a receipt), along with my ebay purchase history which shows that I bought 3 ladies handbags 2 weeks prior to travelling which were very close to the dimensions allowable (but under the limit) for handbags. I already wrote to the CAA who said they have referred the matter again to BA. That was three months ago and heard nothing since. Extended version of above story to give clarity if needed:Travelling to Zambia from Heathrow with BA, we decided to 'take advantage of the generous hand luggage allowance' as BA encouraged one to do. We turned up with two sets of hand luggage which were purchased to fall inside the measurement criteria i.e, one large hand luggage and one handbag each. At Heathrow the BA Customer Services Manager!!! denied our handbags with the spurious reason that they were neither briefcases nor laptops and he pointed to a sign which mentioned briefcases and laptops but had no mention of handbags. I objected that online reference is definitely made to handbags but I was flatly refused. There was no opportunity given for us to measure our handbags in a handbag bin (I do not even believe I saw such a bin-only for the large handluggages which our large hand luggage fitted) and a tape measure was certainly not used to dismiss our bags which anyway were within the 45x36x20 cm limit for handbag, briefcase or laptop. On complaining to BA I have merely been told they will not refund me but their reply did state that hand luggages included hand bags!!! Big deal! How can I take BA to court since they wrongly charged me 270 pounds for these hand bags which were within all the criteria of weight and size and type. I still have one of the handbags and the recent ebay purchase information of our hand luggage/hand bags as proof of sorts. The maddening thing is that the reason for rejection was so spurious!!!! Can I win with so little evidence??

Hi all, Hoping to get some help if possible as no one seems interested, neither the company nor my bank. I set up a website 2 years ago when i started a company however through ill health it was all wound up and dissolved. In Oct 2011 i had a payment leave my bank for the yearly payment for the website which i had forgot to close as an oversight, at the time i contacted them and stated quite clearly that i wanted it closed and everything ceased. i was informed that as i had not contacted sooner i woul hae to pay the yearly charge which i accepted and very reluctantly did. This morning i have awoken to find that they have now taken more payments for the domain name and hadnt cancelled the website, instead in october it triggered it to become auto renew. I have contacted the company and i am currently talking to brick walls, there attitude is tuff, it wasnt cancelled and we have the money. I have tried talking to my bank who have said i will have to wait for the payment to be shown on account before anything can be done, the bank is Lloydstsb surely this can't be right. So the questions are where do i stand with Easyspace as they didnt have my authority to use the card and what can i do. Hopefully someone will be able to help. Thanks Simon

Hello, I am hoping someone could give me some advice. About 4 years ago I had a contract phone with Three mobile. I went on holiday to Cyprus to visit my father, prior to going, I phoned 3 to ask if it would be ok to take my phone and was told that so long as I did not call out, I would be fine. I never made any calls, but my then partner called me often. When I returned home, I received a bill of approximately £300 I queried this and was told it was because I accepted the calls. I terminated my account with them and told them I would not pay as when I asked about it prior to going on holiday I was not told about receiving calls. I now have this letter from Bryan Carter/Lowells and a claim form from Northampton Court saying I have a limited time to reply. The claim is for £273 due under an agreement between the original creditor and the defendant to provide finance and or services and or goods. Interest of £60 Court fee of £30 and solicitors costs of £50 I really don't have a clue as to what to do - I am unemployed and cannot pay - and I really think I shouldn't have to pay anyway. This is a very worrying letter for me to receive. Any advice would be extremely helpful. Thank you

I 'll try to be brief. My car is exempt from tax. I stupidly thought I therefore didn't need a tax disc. However, I was clamped and had to pay a £250 fine and get a disc asap, which I did. They sent me a form saying that I may have to go to court and to complete and return the form. I did this immediately. Today I received a summons to go to court and possibly have to pay a £1000 fine plus costs! I am distraught. I did everything they asked of me, and very quickly. But in the court letter it says I did not return the form that they sent me. I most definitely did as I was very upset and made sure it was sent immediately. Is there anything I can do? I have tried phoning but no one would speak to me about it. I have now composed a letter stating I was not avoiding paying any monies due and that I returned the form they sent me immediately. Is there any chance they can cancel the court appearance? Thanks

When I moved into my house, Midland Heart never informed me of the anti-social behaviour and racist behaviour of my neighbours. After living in my house for a few months, my children and I went through a lot of aggravation with the neighbours, and when the local school found out that my children and I (black/mixed), were living at this address, they were visibly shocked, and went on to inform me that the last family to live in my house had to be removed by police escort because of these neighbours. In fact they informed my that they, the police, the council and Midland Heart themselves had fought to get the neighbours removed. And when the previous family in my house had been moved for their own safety, the police had told Midland Heart "No more". Midland Heart paid to have an 8 foot fence put up between our two houses (as the neighbours had constant knife and nail throwing competitions between each other, and my car got that damaged I had to sell it for scrap), Midland Heart also pressured me into having covert cameras fitted into my house, to catch the neighbours drug dealing, selling stolen property, racist behaviour towards my 6 yr old, stealing from my garden, climbing the fence and walking through my house if we had the back door open to get fresh air. (it got to the stage were we could not use the back garden for 2 years). When I had my car and washed it every Sunday, they would make monkey noises at me. My then 6 yr old, was so frightened of them, that he wet the bed every night, and used his action men toys, power ranger toys and toy story toys to block his bedroom door because he was so scared of the bad people coming into the house to hurt him. What they put us through was nothing compared to what they put the last family through. Midland Heart should not have put my family and I in this house. We went through 2.5 years of stress and hell. My question... can I take Midland heart to court?

I have just been informed that the first of three statutory instruments....The Taking of Control of Goods Regulations 2013......which will underpin the Government's package of reforms to bailiff law will be laid in Parliament today. I will post a link later and I will also post further information that I received today. PS: The Taking Control of Goods Regulations will be implemented in April 2014.

Hi in a mess I bought a car off Advantage Finance in 2009 costing 5k I did not get PPI but with interest needed to pay back in total about 9k. I paid regularly for a long time then due to job loss had to reduce payments. Got another job with less money and made an arrangement to pay £100 per month and did so for a while. I have paid in the region of 6500 but the noticed how much I was being charged , after a few phone calls they said they would remove charges but never did, to cut a long story short I requested a SAR sending the necessary £10 by recorded delivery 2months ago but have heard nothing but I have received a summons to a magistrates court were they have asked that our car be returned. I want to dispute these charges that they call late payment charges, have I the right to ? There is a lot more details I can give but hope you can get the general picture

Hi, I don't know if I have got this in the right place but here goes. My daughter at Christmas last year started using Love Films so she could watch it on her kindle. Fine not a problem until noticed that love films were not taking 1 lot of money each month but 2 lots and on the same day. I have rung them over and over again asking why they have been taking 2 lots of money but I keep getting told you much have opened up 2 accounts on the same day. I know I am blonde but I know that I did not do the filling in of my card details twice I am not that stupid. My daughter also cancelled this account 2 months ago and low and behold on my bank statement they have took 2 lots out again . I have rung them and they said they can put a hold on the account but they can not reimburse the money they have taken even though it has been cancelled and I have told them 2 accounts were not opened at Christmas. They now owe me up to date £59.89 anyone have any ideas what I can do to get this money back I am my wits end with this. The money should be in my account not theirs.

Has anyone else encountered this? Wonga take their repayment in several smaller amounts on one day. Add them up to find they have taken an extra penny ?

My social worker sent my ESA50 form of 6 weeks ago and I haven't heard anything back from the yet, I'm being transferred from IB to ESA and was wondering how long this normally takes, I was on a section 3 under the mental health act while he filled the forms in and am currently on a CTO, would this have any diffidence on my its taking so long?

guys i received a similar letter from civil enforcement ltd few montha ago.. after reading few forums ive decided to ignore them... after the final reminder I've received a letter today saying that they are intended to take the matter to Northampton County Court. It is not from Newlyn. i wish i cud attach the letter here... Anyway the letter still looks fake to me as the County Courts Act (section 69) looks like scanned and pasted into the letter. They say they will seize my vehicle/good, and many other things they can possibly do. What shall I do? Do I continue to ignore them? It just bugging me. Please do reply

I have jut returned back to BT for my phone and broadband Service active 28/06/2013 Bill generation date 29/06/2013 Taking direct debit 9/07/2013 Just confirming, do people who you set up a direct debit payment with have to give either 10 day or 14 days notice as to when they are taking payment from your bank account Not complaining Just confirming

TAKING YOUR PET ABROAD GUIDE Documents Source: https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad PART 1 - OVERVIEW When travelling with your pet dog, cat or ferret, the rules you must follow depend on the country you’re going to or coming from. Travelling within the EU (or into the EU from another ‘listed’ country) When travelling to or returning to the UK from another EU or non-EU listed country your pet needs: Ø a microchip Ø a rabies vaccination (make sure your pet is microchipped first or the vaccination won’t count) Ø apet passport or official third country veterinary certificate Ø tapeworm treatment (for dogs only) You must also use an authorised carrier and an approved route. You must wait 21 days from the date of the rabies vaccination before travelling. Travelling into the EU from an unlisted country An‘unlisted’ country is any country not included in the list of EU and non-EU countries. When travelling to or returning to the UK from an unlisted country, your pet needs: Ø a microchip Ø a rabies vaccination (make sure your pet is microchipped first or the vaccination won’t count) Ø a blood test - the vet must take the blood sample at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination (the date of vaccination counts as day 0, not day 1) Ø an official third country veterinary certificate Ø tapeworm treatment (for dogs only) You must also use an authorised carrier and an approved route. You must wait 3 calendar months from the date the blood sample was taken before travelling. The vet must give you a copy of the test results. These must show that the vaccination was successful. You don’t have to wait 3 months if your pet was vaccinated, blood tested and given a pet passport in the EU before travelling to an unlisted country. Guide dogs and other assistance dogs Assistance dogs are allowed to travel in the aircraft cabin with their owner on approved route sand carriers registered to carry assistance dogs. They can normally also travel in areas of other forms of transport where other animals aren’t allowed. They can travel on more routes than people with pets. Apart from that, the rules for assistance dogs travelling under the EU pet travel scheme are the same as for other dogs. The Guide Dogs Association website has advice about takingassistance dogs abroad. When you return to the UK Staff from the travel company will scan your pet’s microchip and check your documents. If you don’t have the correct documents or your pet hasn’t been properly prepared it will be put into quarantine or sent back to the country it travelled from. You must pay the costs for this. Other types of pet There are no restrictions on bringing pet rodents, rabbits, birds, ornamental fish,invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles to the UK from other EU countries. Pet rabbits and rodents from other countries must spend 4 months in quarantine. They need a rabies import licence and must enter the UK at a Border Inspection Post. Contact the Animal Health andVeterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) for more information on the rules for travelling with these or other species of pet. PART 2 - MICROCHIP Your pet must be microchipped before it’s vaccinated against rabies. Make sure the vet records the number of the microchip on the pet passport or official third country veterinary certificate. Transport companies in the EU can read microchips that meet International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards when you check in for your journey. You must bring your own microchip reader when you travel if your pet’s microchip doesn’t meet ISO standards. Tattoo You don’t need to have your pet microchipped if it’s been tattooed with an identification number and all of the following are true: Ø your pet was tattooed before 3 July2011 Ø the tattoo is clearly legible Ø your pet was vaccinated against rabies after it was tattooed Your vet must record the date of tattooing, the tattoo number and the date of the rabies vaccination in the pet passport or official third country veterinary certificate. PART 3 - RABIES VACCINATION AND BOOSTERS You must get your dog, cat or ferret vaccinated against rabies before it can travel to another EU country or back into the UK. Get your pet microchipped before the rabies vaccination or they will need to be vaccinated again. EU and listed countries You must wait 21 days after the vaccination before your pet can travel to or return to the UK from another EU or non-EU listed country. After the first vaccination and waiting period, you can enter the UK whenever you like as long as booster vaccinations are given on time and you continue to meet the other entry requirements. Unlisted countries Your pet must have a blood test 30 days after the rabies vaccination.The date of the vaccination counts as day 0, not day 1. You must wait 3 calendar months from the date the blood sample was taken before travelling. The vet must give you a copy of the test results. These must show that the vaccination was successful. You don’t have to wait 3 months if your pet was vaccinated, blood tested and given a pet passport in the EU before travelling to an unlisted country. Part 4 - PET PASSPORT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Your dog,cat or ferret must have a pet passport or third country official veterinary certificate to enter (or re-enter) the UK. Ask your vet for a pet passport. The passport stays valid as long as you continue to meet the entry requirements Third country official veterinary certificate Outside ofthe EU authorised vets issue official veterinary certificates instead of pet passports. This certificate allows your pet to enter the UK (or another country in the EU).You’ll need other supporting documents too. Check your certificate for full details. You must arrive in an EU country within 10 days of the date the certificate was issued. You can then use it for up to 4 months for travel within the EU. Other documents Your transport company may need a statement from your vet confirming that your pet is fit to travel. Check with the country you’re travelling to for information about any extra documents you’ll need to enter with your pet. Travel with more than 5 pets You must get a health certificate for each group of more than 5 pets you want to travel with. You get this from the country you’re coming from. You must do this at least 10 days before you want to travel. You need this certificate in addition to the other rules for pet travel for the countries you’re travelling to and from. This rule is for travelling with your own pets. There are different rules if the animals arebeing sold or re-homed. Part 5 - TAPEWORM TREATMENT (DOGS ONLY) Your vet must treat your dog for tapeworm and record it in the pet passport or third country official veterinary certificate every time you want to enter the UK. The treatment must be given between 1 and 5 days (24 to 120 hours) before you're cheduled to arrive in the UK. Your vet must record the following details in your dog’s pet passport or certificate: Ø the name and manufacturer of the product used to treat your dog Ø the date and time they treated your dog Ø their stamp and signature The treatment must have praziquantel or equivalent as its active ingredient. You don’t need to treat your dog for tapeworm if you’re coming directly to the UK from Finland, Ireland, Malta or Norway. Part 6 - QUARANTINE You must put your pet into quarantine when it arrives in the UK if doesn’t meet the entryrequirements. You must pay the costs for this. You’ll need to book quarantine premises. The quarantine premises will normally deal with all documentation on your behalf. They should: Ø submit an application form for an import licence Ø arrange to collect your pet when they land Ø organise clearance through customs Ø arrange transport for your pet to the quarantine premises Check when making the reservation. If they don’t do these things, you’ll need to do them yourself. Read detailedguidance on quarantine or contact the pet travel scheme helpline for advice. Release from quarantine Your pet will become eligible for release when it meets the entry requirements . The veterinary superintendent or quarantine kennel owner will tell you when your pet will be released from quarantine. Part 7 - CONTACT THE PET TRAVEL SCHEME HELPLINE For more information, contact the Pet Travel Scheme helpline. Pet Travel Scheme helpline pettravel@ahvla.gsi.gov.uk 0870 2411710 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (closed on bank holidays) This is the Taking your Pet Abroad Guide in PDF:

Hi , I am just about to drop this letter off in my local branch. Anyone have any advice before I do. I really am at my wits end as we have been in a debt management plan for the last six years. Only now are we debt free thanks to the mis selling of PPI but the RBS still seem to want more blood. Its the principal of the thing now!! The Manager Royal Bank of Scotland Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx 13 May 2013 Account Numbers - xxxxxxx, xxxxxxx, xxxxxxx Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing a letter of complaint over the way in which we have been treated over the years as a Royal Bank of Scotland Customer. We fully intend sending this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service depending on your reply. The “last straw” was a letter which we received on the 10th of may 2013. xxxxxxx xx. We paid off our account in full, including solicitors on 27 Nov 2012. Yet we have received a letter saying that the bank is pursuing us for 2 lots of solicitor’s fees after this date. We also have in our possession a letter from the solicitors instructing our file be closed dated 21st Nov 2012. The amount is for a paltry £53.16. Considering the thousands of pounds unfair charges, interest and Payment Protection which I have paid over the years it felt like one final kick in the Teeth from the illustrious (bailed out) Royal Bank of Scotland. I shall note a few of my complaints in no specific order but please review complaint as a whole as the problem seems to be endemic to the RBS. 1. Recieved Letter of Default the first time for account xxxxxxx on the 19th April 2007 (copy available if required) Recieved copy of notice to Default first time for account xxxxxxxx on the 19 April 2007 (copy available if required) These Defaults are still shown on my Credit File and are still having a detrimental effect on my credit score. Could you please remove at earliest opportunity as these are now expired as more than six years from date of default? Why have I continually received default notices for same accounts up to 2011 (copy available if required) Defaults may only be issued once on one account. 2. Prior to our going into serious Debt my wife and I were punished with an astonishing amount of Unfair Bank Charges. Alongside the seemingly perpetual Miss sold payment Protection (which we have now had refunded) Each Time we contacted the RBS because we were struggling a personal finance manager would convince us that a refinance loan was the answer to all our problems. “We were not aware at the time that a commission was paid to these employees on a target basis. Can you confirm this please? Due to the nature of my job up to 50% of my income was overtime which my wife and I always went to lengths to explain to your employee. At the time the person selling the loans always suggested that we put the larger amount on our applications. With hindsight I always felt rather uncomfortable with this but considering our worsening financial position was in no position to resist as your finance manager obviously knew best. I now realise that due to the banks policies of meeting targets I was the victim of irresponsible lending by your establishment. Unfair Bank Charges from January 2007 – May 2008 = £2732.00 (17 Month Period) I would also like to point out that previous to this period the charges are not much better. My wife and I really were quite a good source of income for the RBS while it lasted. 3. It was January 2007 that I finally faced the truth about my financial affairs as I simply could not handle the unfair charges any longer. I went to a Debt management Company by the name of Payplan. “This is a Company which the RBS endorses on all your Debt Advice Literature even to this Day.” We tried to be as cooperative as possible at this time as we always intended and now have, to pay all our creditors. The RBS seemed to go out of its way to be as threatening as possible. We followed Payplans instructions religiously and contacted all our creditors, except the RBS as instructed by Paylan who are “endorsed by the RBS. We paid as much as possible to our creditors after completing a an income and expenditure sheet but the RBS continued to add unfair charges, interest and then solicitors fees after taking us to court a year later. (We had not missed a payment through Payplan). All through the difficult times my wife and I never missed one mortgage payment. 4. Recieved a letter from RBS on 19 April 2007 which seemed typical at the time but scared my wife and I witless. It was a demand for immediate payment of £853083.80. If we were lucky our house was only worth £100000!! This scale of incompetence as it seems now was what constituted to our situation in the first place!! (A copy is available if required) 5. Although we never missed a payment on our mortgage we reached a stage where I was not working full time due to the weather and requested a payment holiday on my mortgage. As this was a repayment mortgage this was an agreed option when we took the mortgage. This was only for a month to help out but was refused on the ground of our other accounts. Another incidence of not interested in helping. “We stll managed to keep up payments but my family suffered.” I really did not intend making any complaints to the RBS after the PPI scandal but as I have said the pathetic attempt to elicit another paltry amount from my family really does make me angry. The misery that your rotten institution has caused my family over the years does not bear thinking about. We do realise that we must take some of the blame but your bank as far as we are concerned should accept responsibility where due for its irresponsible lending. I would like all my charges and interest paid for charges returned, to put me in a position to which I would be if I had not paid them. I Have all paperwork and statements to prove any claims which I have made. I await your response and I shall be contacting the Ombudsman if not satisfied. Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx Thanks for your help

I am employed by a contract caterer as a chef/supervisor. 2.5 years in post. Since a change of chemical supplier I have developed a form of contact dermatitis, which means the slightest exposure to foodstuffs without gloves means a lot of discomfort and pain. EG if I peeled and chopped 1 onion,within an hour may hands feel like I’ve poured boiling water over them. This develops into a very irritating rash lasting for days and has to be controlled by topical steroid cream. As a result of a grievance my employer has admitted that they failed to provide PPE. Training on new chemicals, has my signature forged on a day when I was on leave. I was forced under doctor’s instruction to be off for 3weeks to allow my hands to heal before I could begin to use gloves to control my condition. I received SSP –£86.70 for 3 weeks. I earn 7.30 per hour and I work 37.5 hours Financial loss is £561 I calculated this as follows: 37.5 hours x £7.30 =£821.25 earnings Minus £86.70 SSP x 3 My question is: can take my employer to the small claims court to recover my loss ? My union are encouraging me to submit a pesonal injury claim, but say it could take years to be settled. Because of my low income I cannot afford to wait years. Thanks in advance for any advice. Additional info. I have formally asked my employer to py full pay - they have refused.

Hello there This appears to be a unique one, in the respect that there does not seem to be any legal cases similar which have gone through. Myself and my girlfriend rented a flat on an AST from April 2011. Our deposit was not protected. We moved out in December 2012, giving 2 months notice (it was a 12 month contract which rolled into a monthly one). We were to embark on a once in a lifetime trip away as we had both lost our jobs. It took over 6 weeks to get our deposit back in full, a time in which we thought we would have our deposit back. Subsequently we had to borrow money from friends and family and were emailing daily asking for an update. Now, we have suggested to our old landlord that we would be taking action, based on the deposit not being protected or the prescribed information given, and the subsequent suffering caused by not having our money back within 10 days. To a cynic it may appear that we are being greedy in seeking a penalty, however we are completely genuine that our trip was ruined in part, and this was due to the law not being stuck to by the landlord. Anyway, the landlord has responded angrily to my email saying we are giving them 30 days to respond to a proposed small claim. His latest email states: "We have no desire to enter in to litigation with you and xxxx however I would highlight to you both that the fact we returned your deposit in full does not mean that we did not consider there to be breaches of your tenancy agreement on your side. There were a number items missing from the flat including the remote control for the gate. There was furniture missing which substituted without our consent. I had to assemble the sofa you left downstairs and get this up to the first floor which actually resulted in me injuring my back and being off work for a significant period. We did not charge anything for cleaning or redecorating which we were entitled to under the terms of your tenancy." [there was nothing missing, or any inventory at the start or end of the tenancy] "As I have said above we made no complaint about any of this as we believed you to be kind and decent people. If however you do proceed with any claim we will be issuing a counterclaim against you for all losses we have incurred together with costs and interest. We will also be seeking an order for costs on an indemnity basis for all costs incurred in defending any claim against you relating to a deposit that you have been repaid in full. we shall be instructing a litigator at a charge out rate of £300 per hour plus vat which we shall be seeking to recover from you in full for the costs of defending a wholly unnecessary and unjustified claim again with costs and interest." I replied with the fact that this would be a small claim and as such no legal costs would be expected to be met by either party, and also that since there was never an inventory carried out and that its been 3 months since we left, we could not be held responsible for any item broken or missing. He said "You are not correct regarding costs and as I have stated previously you should be very careful about relying on blanket misrepresentations of the law made by non lawyers particularly as this is a gamble that could end up costing you both more than you are trying to claim, notwithstanding having county court judgments made against you. I estimate the costs that would be incurred in defending such a claim would easily exceed £10,000. I reiterate that we shall rely on these emails and your previous correspondence on this issue. You are entirely wrong that you cannot be held liable for missing items 3 months after you have moved out. The court would require evidence of the condition of the property and of missing items which we can very readily provide." So.... My question is...does anyone have any knowledge or awareness of similar cases where the tenant has left and the deposit has not been protected? And also, general opinion on his responses...is he using scare tactics? He refuses to give a postal address for correspondence.. Appreciate this is quite a lengthy post, so thank you for taking the time to read it, and hopefully to respond. Thanks, D

Hello, I am a 25 year old male from England. Having just received my latest letter from the DVLA I can honestly say I am furious to say the least. :-x Anyway... I am a provisional license holder who has been taking driving lessons for the best part of 2 years. I have lost count of the amount of lessons that I have had already and that is probably a good thing lol. To help me through this I have decided to go out and buy a car to get some extra practice due to the rising cost of driving lessons etc. I was all ready to get a car until I went to the opticians for a routine eye examination. My problems started on 14/1/2013 when I went to Specsavers. When looking in my drawer a month previous I came across an old letter from my last hospital check up which said "examination of the Fundi was difficult on the right disc due to Nystagmus but the left disc looked fine." - It also said that I have "good occular eye movements". I thought nothing of the letter until i went to Specsavers then I suddenly asked what is a Nystagmus? she explained what it was and I (probably stupidly) told her about the letter. Her reply was that I needed to declare this to the DVLA as it is classed by them as a Notifiable condition - which meant that I could be fined and my insurance void if I didn't. Thinking this was going to be just a quick - Yeah your fine sort of job I printed off a V1 form and sent it in the post. I received a reply on 26/1/2013 saying they have written to my doctor for more information. This was disappointing to say the least as I am still waiting to get my little car to finish my learning. I immediately made an appointment with my doctor to hopefully speed things up. While I was at the doctors surgery she said a letter from DVLA has come through and that it will be replied to now (presumably by other staff at the NHS). On 16/2/2013 (exactly three weeks later) I telephoned the DVLA to find out what was happening. Someone on the phone said that the DVLA have received my doctors letter and that they will send me a letter soon. Today being 25/2/2013 I received a reply from the DVLA!! This time it says that "we have now received medical information which has now been passed to the medical advisor for further advice. This could take up to 8 weeks" The thing is I don't want to wait another 2 months. If I did it would defeat the whole object and slow my driving down. Judging by what has been said online about the DVLA I don't expect it will be 8 weeks, I expect 2 months just for them to say I need another appointment, then a further few weeks to make it and more time after just to make the decision about my fitness to drive - Even though I meet the legal requirements after all. Is there anything I can do to speed this stupid process up? Can I still take my practical driving test while waiting for the DVLA to make their decision? (I am obviously a provisional license holder) Additional notes: I have worn eyeglasses for a while now to correct short shortsightedness and have no other eye problems or serious illnesses. I can read a number plate from 20 - 25 meters away without a problem. My friend has congenital Nystagmus and cannot see his computer screen without being really close up. I am not like that and was unaware I even had this silly Nystagmus thing! lol. If you have probably sensed my frustration in this post I apologize as the last letter has only just come about an hour ago. - Thankyou in advance for your replies!

Hi all new to this so hope someone can help. My son originally went overdrawn about 4 years ago by £1 the bank slapped charges on his account which sent him overdrawn again so they added more charges this went on for years, the only money he had going in to the account was his JSA some months they where taking up to £70 leaving him with just £30 pounds to live on for the next 2 weeks they knew it was benefits as it went straight in to his account from DWP which I have recently found out through this site that they where not legally allowed to do, the question is can he claim the charges back and how to go about doing this by the way he has opened a new account with the PO to put a stop to nat west. thanks

...in february. We filled out his form a couple of months ago. What is the procedure please? He has kinda accepted that he will be put on JSA. But what is the timescale of things happening. And what happens IF & WHEN he finds a job & they sack him because he isn't mentally capable of holding down a job at the moment? Will he find himself with no benefits or can he go back on JSA straight away?

Hi All I'n new to the site and am hoping someone can help. I am taking British Gas to court because for 4 years they have been billing be as a business whe I am a residential customer. I have wrote to them , called them and emailed them for over 4 years telling them that I am a residential customer. They have sent me ridculous bills (which I have not paid beciase I am not a business) and they have still not transferred my account to a residential one. An invoice for over £7k was the last straw so after them investigating the matter for 6 months and getting nowhere I decided I had enough and filed a claim against them to which they have responded with a defense and a counter claim for thousands of pounds through there solicitors Eversheds? Does anyone know anything about this firm or has anyone taken BG to court? The couter claim has worried me a bit so any advice would be helpful.

Good Morning all, Can someone please help me? I can not find the section that gives help and advice etc on how to take on your creditors from an IVA. Can someone please post the link to that section -thanks in advance Regards Geoff