DWP and UC it could take 6.5 weeks to get your first payment which is going to cause significant problems for claimants and the rise in use of the food-banks and the like, could you be affected by this? I have added a PDF with a substantial amount of Q&A's. This was issued by the DWP in August of this year, the link is here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449218/universal-credit-and-rented-housing-faq.pdf or please read the attachment if you are unable to link to the site... Please use the links within the PDF to see if they can answer any of your questions If once reading the new PDF and you have questions please post them up here and we will see how we can advise you further... One question could be where do I get the information that you could have to wait 6.5 weeks before I get my first payment? The answer to that question is located at q10 of the attachment

Hi all, I have been with BH for over 5 years, and last year i went on sick!! and i have tryed my best to keep up with paying BH but from xmas till now i have not paid them as i just dont have the money to pay! i have about 5 items and 3 of them items i have paid about 2 years off them so i only have a year to pay! i got a call today to say they will have to pick some of the items up!! but i said no i dont think so! as i have paid so much of them... dont get me wrong i want to pay! But im not sure how to go about this and thats why im here, what should i do next!! will BH take part payment on top of my weekly payment? Help me please... Thanks

Is anyone able to help? I'm 65 in just under a month and know that some of my benefits will stop, at the moment I receive ESA,and DLA, my wife also claims carers for me. Will I get a letter from DWP telling me what I will be entitled too when I get my pension.Thankyou for any information given its much appreciated. pin62.

Hi All, First post on the forum, but have read many other similar threads now that I have done some searching on the internet - wish we had done so before switching to Vodafone. Brief summary: Vodafone seem to have messed up porting a number and while it can call and text the SIM can't get any mobile data at all. It's been like this for 6 weeks and Vodafone don't seem to be able/willing to do anything about it. Meanwhile they're still taking our money. I've complained in store (more than once waited in the store while staff are on hold to someone else for so long that the store closes and I get kicked out!), I've spoken to them on the phone, and have spent hours on the webchat system, I've even made a complaint directly to the CEO. Every time I complain I'm told just to wait 24/48/72 hours and the mistake will be corrected. It never is. From what I can gather only a handful of people in Vodafone can actually interact with the porting system and they are never customer facing and difficult for even executive level complaints to get in touch with. I'm on here to see if anyone can give advice about what to try next? It seems like options might be: Complain to ombusdsman services - unfortunately they won't take the case on until 8 weeks have passed, so have to wait a little longer before approaching them. Try to tackle Vodafone legally as a breach of contract - they're more than happy to collect the direct debits but are not providing the service we agreed to - perhaps there is an appropriate angle here? Something else? Maybe the better informed users of this forum have good suggestions? Looking forward to getting peoples thoughts - help! Thanks for reading Owen

Hi guys, just wanted to get something clarified. I was paid for 2 weeks wages in 1 week so was taxed more NI than usual. I just got off the phone with HMRC who said there's nothing I can do as thats the way it works...it seems quite unfair to me. What if I had a payslip showing that I earned that much in one week and the second amount in another week? The guy on the phone seemed unhelpful and short.

Hello guys, I wonder if someone can advise? On 3rd of March an enforcement officer from a company called Collectica came to our house and presented my wife with a "Notice of intention to enter & search your premises-removal notice". It transpires that this was in relation to an outstanding speeding ticket my wife thought she had cleared off via an automated payment back in December. She has had no communication from any body until that morning when the gentleman arrived. The outstanding balance of £65 is include in the new bailiff balance of £375, a massive jump in anyone's book. Now I've looked into bailiff charges and understand that there is a visiting fee of £235, rip off!, and a "Compliance" fee of 75 quid but up to now we've had no breakdown of the charges. The bailiff also states that he has a warrant in his possession but has not shown it as he is "NOT OBLIGED TOO". I spoke to the bailiff on my wife's behalf and he's given her 30 days to clear the whole balance, starting with £100 this coming Friday, or he's coming in and taking goods! Please somebody advise where she/we stand on this and in particular time scales for payment. WE HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A NOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT. Many thanks in anticipation :0)

In my local paper the council are reminding people that due to the roll out of Universal Credit,and the way it is paid, our rents will go 4 weeks into arrears, they are hoping that people affected pay small amount each week from now until December when UC will be rolled out in my area to offset those arrears. There is an option to have UC paid in advance to cover the change over, this advance will be recovered over a 6 month period. If that's right then I will be £75 short on the first 6 payments of UC if I choose to have the advanced payment, which is quite a large proportion of my benefit IMO. It is though they have taken 4 weeks from the future plonked it into the present and said we dont pay benefit for the future so what we will do is loan you the money to get by, but we want it back before the future has arrived, they will soon clock on that they could take 3 months from the future and borrow us all the shortfall if they rolled out UC payments on a quarterly basis saving the government zillions. IDS I salute your accounting wizardry.

I pay rent monthly but it is worked out on a weekly basis. I am granted 2 x week rent free payments per year. For the financial years 2007 - 2008 and 2013 - 2014 I have been charged 51 weeks rent their response to my questioning as follows... "It is wholly possible that the accounting protocols used would set the weekly rent and then multiply it by 50 or 51 but in the context of your query this doesn’t matter. Your query was inclined towards us making charges that sometimes assume that there is more than 52 weeks in a year and the fact is that there is more than 52 weeks in a year. Ie 365 days in the calendar or 366 in a leap year but 52 weeks multiplied by 7 days equals 364 days. This one or two day disparity will occasionally, every few years, even itself out by there being 53 Mondays in a year." I can't argue that there were 53 Mondays in those years but I do not recall there ever being 371 days in the year. Grateful for any assistance or advice on this matter.

Hi, I haven't used this forum before so sorry if I am in the wrong place. I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about non delivery of goods being reported to an ebay seller 9 weeks after delivery should have arrived. Basically a friend sold an item on ebay (just their second-hand stuff) and the buyer has just told them that the goods haven't been received but it is 9 weeks later. The item was sent tracked and the courier admit that they didn't obtain a signature (even though they were meant to), but the courier only gives a week to report missing items so they say they cannot give compensation, due to the fact that the missing item has been reported so long after the delivery date. The seller has explained that they are unable to get compensation from the courier so cannot afford to refund the item, and that more could have been if this situation had been raised earlier. The buyer is now threatening legal action against the seller. We are trying to find out what he should do? Can he be sued for the money? He has proof that he posted the item and that he paid for the insurance and for it to be signed for. We can't find any solid answer on the internet and even CAB were unsure. Thank you for reading.

Hi there, I have a question about what to do about Housing Benefit being overdue. I've rented a room in a flat but found a flat with a cheaper room in the same city and decided to move in there. Because of this, the council said I need to fill in a new form and submit a new lease as well - all because 'change in circumstances'. I did that mid-October. In between moving to a new flat there was a week before I could move in to the new flat so, due to courtesy of my friend, slept at his couch (apparently this caused a partial overpayment). I don't think that this should bear any burden on the validity on my present claim, except of my having to pay back the partial overpayment. By now, I've been waiting over 6 weeks for the new claim to be re-assessed and all of my meager savings have been spent. I've called a council around 2 weeks ago and was told that the claim was 'being processed' and should be done in next 40 hours and that the council did not need any more documents from me. A full week passed and haven't heard from the council so called again, this time talked to another person and I was told exactly the same thing. Again, almost a week is over and heard nothing for the council. Each time I was asked If I've been receiving JSA (I have). This time I don't have enough mone to pay for my rent... Also, got a CT bill request I need to pay the full amount urgently, otherwise I'll face consequences, such as being in arreras, sheriff, etc. K.

I read this on the site linked at the bottom. "I thought I would put this on from today’s paper, for information, as I have not heard about it neither, and even after reading it I still don’t know how we will be able to renew our road tax. Paper tax discs will vanish from cars in less than six weeks-but half of drivers are unaware. The discs will be abolished from October 1st and replaced by electronic records. Police cameras will check number plates to catch owners who have not paid. However, a survey found that 50% of drivers are still in the dark about when the changes kick in. Nearly a third of them said they will not even try to find out what the new rules are, according to the poll by price comparison website money.co.uk. And 6% of motorists believe that the changes are not coming into force until next year. Almost a third of those polled said they will wait for instructions from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. But the comparison website claims that the DVLA has not yet started adding warnings to tax renewal reminders. The move away from paper discs, after 93 years, is designed to offer motorists more flexible payment options (you believe that you will believe anything, why don’t they give us the truth it’s to do with saving money and not for you only for them) and make it harder for people to drive untaxed. Estimates show that the changes could save the taxpayer £10 million a year. Car owners will still need to have paid vehicle tax to drive on the roads. But under the new system, the tax will no longer be automatically transferred with the car when it is sold. Sellers are expected to tell the DVLA straight away of the change of ownership or face £1.000 fines. (see money money money) Shane Teskey, from vehicle history check website hpicheck.com, said: ‘Those who fail to inform the DVLA, could be fined and they will still be liable for any speeding or parking fines and vehicle tax for a car they don’t even own anymore.’ Around 53% of drivers said they would use the new option of paying by direct debit, according to the survey. Those choosing to spread the cost by paying twice a year or monthly will incur a 5% additional charge. However this is half of the 10% surcharge currently applied to six-month tax discs, used by 23% of drivers. Motorists can also pay annually with no extra cost under the new system. Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief of money.co.uk, said: ‘Changes to the vehicle tax system are no bad thing and we fully welcome the introduction of direct debit payments, particularly for consumers who may be struggling to keep up with the soaring cost of driving. ‘It will also help to eliminate the problem of people who genuinely forget to renew their tax and end up being stung with a hefty fine. (load of rubbish) ‘However, I suspect the new system may experience some teething troubles (they hope more money) so drivers really need to make sure they’re on top of their game.’ The death of the tax disc has been well documented, (really!) and the change was officially announced in last year’s Autumn Statement. Automatic number plate recognition cameras will spot motorists who have not paid the tax. (but I thought these cameras could spot out of date discs any way). More than 1.7 billion tax discs have been issued since 1921. Last year, the DVLA issued 42.2 million of them. Link

Dear All, I have another small query for you regarding housing benefit overpayments due to rent free weeks! I received a call from my Mother saying that she had been contacted by her landlord, or rather a member of staff (a national social housing group). My Mother tried to explain that they (landlord) informed her that she owed them just over £500 due to Housing Benefit overpayment! Before going into detail regarding the above, I should let you know that my Mother receives, and has done for a number of years, pension credit entitling her to full HB and CT. The HB has always been paid direct to her social housing landlord. I will also add that my Mother was also paying off a HB overpayment at £xx per month. In fact, almost a year ago, I had noticed on my Mothers bank statement, that a DD was being paid out but she could not recall what this was for. After some digging I found out that this DD related to this HB overpayment, which had not only been paid in full but was still being taken from my Mothers account. This resulted in a credit to the amount of around £900, being held in my Mothers landlords account. I spoke with a member of staff who confirmed that my Mother had indeed overpaid this HB overpayment to the tune of £900 and that they would arrange for this sum to be paid back into my Mothers account. This has now taken place and as I say, some months ago. Now, arises the present predicament. My Mother has received a call from her landlord, in which they explained that her HB has been overpaid due to the fact that HB had been paying rent for the 2 rent free weeks per year since my Mother moved into her current address. I have been told that this is in the tune of around £500 and had mistakenly been included in the above £900 that my Mother had overpaid to her landlord. I was also informed that there were a large number of tenants renting property from this social housing group who have been caught in the same trap and face having to pay differing amounts back. Now, although I have not had a chance to discuss this face to face with my Mothers landlord, or a member of their staff, a few queries arise! The 1st and most important being, is my Mother liable to repay the HB that had been paid direct to the landlord due to a problem with notification of rent free weeks? This takes me back to when my Mother moved into the current property and that it is more than likely that it may well have been a member of staff of her current landlord who would have completed any such HB application form. If, as suspected, this is the case, surely it would have been down to member of staff who completed HB application form to include the correct number of weeks for which HB is being applied? I cannot fathom how my Mothers landlord has the ability to request that my Mother repay any amount of HB when this is no fault of my Mothers, as far as I can make out. Since my Mother took tenancy she has always been entitled to Pension Credit and as such, to full HB and CT. The only matter where My Mothers circumstances have changed was at the beginning of this year when she was diagnosed with Alzheimers. At that point I made contact with AgeUK who completed and submitted a application for Attendance Allowance which was ultimately granted. This then entitled my Mother to a higher figure of PC due to the Severe Disability Premium being added. However, this would have no bearing on my Mothers entitlement to HB. Bearing all of the above in mind, until I am told/shown anything to the contrary, am I correct in thinking that this or any amount of HB overpayment paid on the above basis, is/should be classed as unrecoverable due to the fact that it has been caused by official error? In a nutshell, once my Mother signed tenancy agreement, her rent has been paid in full by HB direct to her social housing landlord. My Mothers repayment of previous overpayment of HB (relating to different property/landlord) which had caused a credit of some £900 to Mothers current landlord, as explained in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 above, should have no bearing on current matter. Indeed, I would go as far as to say that my Mothers landlord should have notified my Mother once that previous HB had been repaid and not have kept collecting this once it had been paid off. All responses and replies gratefully received.

just completed the 4 weeks slave labor. attended every day on time. so what will the job centre have in store for me next.any one know.

(Sorry if this gets asked a lot) Hi all i am new to all this and was wondering if you anyone can give me some help regarding my D.L.A. I attended my second dla tribunal on the 5/06/2014 (The first one got adjourned for more evidence) and this time i was very please i got awarded wat i used to be on high rate care component and low rate mobility i was over the moon with this result it could not of went any better, the panel were lovely people and very understanding. How ever it has been nearly 2 weeks since the hearing and i have heard nothing off them, i rang up today and was informed a letter has been sent out to me but the adviser could not tell me Wat it was :/ I replied is it the form to complete to confirm that i have not been in hospital since my claim and bank information 'he replied no its not that form and i cant tell you Wat letter has been sent, does anyone no Wat this could be and does anyone have any time scales it takes to get the payments back going and all the back pay they owe me its over a years worth of back pay they owe me and i done the sums and its rather a lot ? Also wasn't everyone in spring 2014 changing slowly over to P.I.P where do i stand with winning D.L.A i got a indefinite award too ? i am so confused I just want it all back to how it was fed up with all the hassle now i have won it seem like DWP are just doing things really slow, Thanks for reading this and any help of similar situations or advice will be much appreciated

Hi All My son left sixth form 3 weeks ago to start an Apprenticeship with a local established company. At the end of the day yesterday, he was told that his apprenticeship was terminated with immediate effect as he was "under performing". This has come as a total shock. He has only been there three weeks. He has had no issues/warnings etc. He has no time keeping issues, no days off, nothing. He was even paid a bonus this week for recruiting new clients. They would not elaborate on the "under performing", just that they are a professional company and he is not working to their standards. He pointed out he was taken on as an apprentice straight from school. He had one days training, then was put on the phones. I could understand if he had a qualification and was taken on as a full time employee with experience, but he is only an apprentice and requires training? He cannot go back to school as he has missed near on a month and AS exams are imminent. He and his employer signed a contract of employment for apprentices (fixed term) Does he have any rights? Many thanks.

Hi I placed my weekly groceries delivery on the asda website my delivery arrived and I received it unbeknown to me the delivery payment hadn't been taken and asda were delivering my groceries to me without charging my card and it only came too light when asda sent me a letter threating legal action to recover there costs ? I am very concerned as I don't have the money now to pay this oversight because as far as I was aware I had already been billed before the point of delivery which normally happens where do I stand legally because it was there error and to start legal proceedings for there own error is a bit much as I don't have the money and will incur court fees and god knows what else as well as being banned from there website do you think a letter to the ceo outlining that the error was generated by themselves and not me and that financially I am not in a position to pay out what they want please help i'm distraught with worry and cant sleep

Hi, just looking for a bit of advice about halifax and them withdrawing a 2k overdraft on a joint account. I received a letter from them as my yearly overdraft review was due (it has been approved every Jan since account opened 5 years ago) stating that they are withdrawing my OD as it has 'expired', the withdrawl letter was dated 6 jan, and i recieved it on 10 Jan, saying the withdrawl will take place on 1 feb. I rang them straight away and was told that they are not willing to discuss the matter untill the overdraft has lapsed. Also they dont have to give a reason why. I then wrote an email complaint to which i have received a reply, reaffirming it will not be discussed untill 1 feb, and 25 quid for my troubles. I ststed i was aware that an OD was a short term borrowing facility, and i was more complaining about the 20 days notice. As i dont have the 2k to pull out and pay it off, i am panicking as they are going to start charging me 5 per day plus interest and charges for using 'an unauthorised overdraft'. Further, my husbands wages are due to be paid in on 31 Jan and i am scared they are going to freeze them and use to repay overdraft. Now i have kick started a new acc opening with another bank but it has ground to halt as my husbands driving licence had not been updated with our new address (naughty i know) so the new bank has asked him to contact hmrc and get a tax notification letter but this is going to take 7-10 working days to get to us and obviously his coming payday is going to be here before that letter will. In desperation i contacted CAB and was advised to make a first right appropriation letter to the bank which i did. I personally took it to the bank and the lady disappeared with it for a good 15 minutes. She came back and said hands are tied nothing more they can do, before i left she tried to flog me a loan, and said if i do it now my chances of getting it are extremely good, if i wait til feb and they have messed up my credit rating by withdrawing the OD - i probablies wont get it! Nice. Is there anything else i can do? I cant believe they can do this. I have a good credit rating (just purchased 3k sofa at dfs in december no probs) my account has been ran in exactly the same way since it opened, the OD has been paid off in its entirety many times, and we have volunatrily made payments to reduce it over time by chipping away when we could afford it (it was originally 2.5) As a foot note, and rather ironically on the same day i received this bombshell letter about the OD, in a seperate letter it was Halifax offering me a pre-approved loan of 15k!!! Also over christmas my chip and pin card got damaged so i had to ring to order new one and they offered me a credit card with a 0% promo rate! I just dont get it, any suggestions appreciated.:

Hi all, I have had an extremely bad day. I got into Council tax arrears when my husband walked out on us ithought bills were being paid when they wasn't. long story short I set up an agreement with ross and Roberts to pay £58 by the 4th of every month. Me being stupid have always made a payment of £61.50 every month. 3 weeks before the 4th. I have never missed a payment with them. I always like to just pay my bills when the money is there so then I know they are paid and I do not have to worry. being a single mum I need to be organised and I thought I was doing ok. Anyway this morning a ross and Roberts ballief came knocking on my door demanding £160 to be paid today or they will take my stuff. he said a late payment was received. I argued this I knew I was up to date, checked my emails and theres the proof I paid it on the 6th of last month. iv been paying like this for 5 months I thought it was ok to make a payment any time between the 5th and the 4th before its due as long as it was paid before midnight 4th. I spoke and argued with the manager over the phone he Demanded £190 instead of the original £160 the ballief had slammed on me. Apparantly I cannot make a payment 3 weeks before the due date and apparently I signed a piece of paper stating that I understood this. When the ballief came back to collect the money he explained the part of the sgreement that has caught me out . "If an overpayment is received it will not be taken as payment in advance. " ok I get that, But I paid £61. 50 instead of £58. An overpayment of £2 if you take off the visa card charge they take from you. This was paid on the 6th of Aug which was due on the 4th sept. The £58 isn't an overpayment that's a payment. There is nothing in the agreement stating that I cannot pay this bill 3 weeks in advance. "if your payment is not received by the due date" doesn't this mean I can pay on any date in that month before the 4th as long as they get their payment by the 4th. anyway I have paid them the money I aint happy because I was doing so well with it making regular payments and yet still have bullies at my door. Its disgusting how they treat people how they change their charges to suit themselves how they can just demand you to get that sort of cash within hours or they will get your stuff. I wouldn't mind so much if it was a late payment or if I didn't pay but I did I have all records and reference numbers. I have always paid on the 6th of every month so I know it has been paid before the 4th of the following month. I thought I had between the 5th and the 4th to pay. Apparantly not.... payments have to be made between the 1st and 4th. I was never once told that and there is certainly nothing on the agreement that I signed that stated that. iv been doing it my way for month why now have they decided it aint right. Can they really justify their actions today. rant over .... please excuse the bad spelling.... bad day and im all worked up. Any one else had any problems with these pests or is it just me.

I have been trying to claim Employment and Support Allowance from May with severe anxiety and severe depression. Even now I have not received a single payment from the DWP due to a previous failed medical appointment which I wasn't made aware of and my appeal was rejected. Even now I am living on nil income for the past 16 weeks and I am writing to you for help on my situation as my depression and anxiety has never been so bad cos of worrying about everything and every day is becoming a struggle. There isn't a local CAB office for me to visit, the phone seems to be always busy and I've already written to my local MP but now it feels like all my options have been used and I've been left to rot

Hi,new to this site,got esa medical in 2 weeks time,,need advise regarding asking for a recorded medical,I am 59 ,male ex miner,have been unable to work since 1992 due to accident in the mines.have been on invalidity,incapacity since then,I have been accessed at 50% industrial disability,back problems,miner beat knee & Pneumoconiosis, by DWP for life, just had right hip replaced .any advise would be appreciated

Hi everyone. I bought an Acer aspire from PC world about 6 weeks ago and i have just stood on the screen and cracked it. I have dealt with this pc world before and they have screwed me over in the past so I know what to expect. The only difference this time Is the time scale and the fact it is still under warranty. Do I have a leg to stand on as I broke it myself or is the warranty useless? Thanks for your time.

I'm not sure I am in the right place, but am looking for some advice for my Dad. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and went through radiotherapy treatment which was very successful. As part of this treatment a lump (benign) was found near his appendix and he had surgery to remove this. Key hole surgery was used and during the procedure there was a bleed that they attended to but in the process cut his bowel by mistake. At the time they did not know this, and sent him home for recovery. He was in pain, but thought this was recovery until it became too much and was admitted back into hospital. After some time it was decided to open him up which is where they found that his bowel had been torn and did further surgery to correct as well as fit him with a colostomy/stoma which he was told would be a temporary measure whilst his bowel healed. The surgeon apologised for his mistake, and looking back, it appears that key hole was not appropriate for my Dad, and that removing this non threatening lump so quickly after cancer treatment was not ideal, and should have waited for him to have recovered fully. He has since not left hospital, other than being transferred to Southampton General from a smaller hospital. The staff at the hospital seem to be taking good care of him, and tell him what is happening, but the message is that whilst he is getting better, it will be a slow process. I'm worried that this could go on and on and not sure what is best to do. At the moment we are taking each week as it comes, but seems like he is making little progress to us. Any suggestions very welcome. Thanks.

help my wife has left me and my 4 kids and has not paid the morgage in 2 years ( i was giving her the money every month) i only found out this morning when the ballif sent me a letter saying i have 4 weeks before eviction i owe 17,000 and GE mony want the full amount i have about £100,000 in equity in the house and i can afford payments each month plus a bit extra but not full arreas please can anyone help

Hi Just after a bit of advice. I have a reassessment 2 weeks today. I suffer with an anxiety/panic disorder. Given 12 points last time, advised a return to work possible within 3 months. DM at DWP change this decision once receiving the ATOS report and gave me 18 points and advised reassessment in 12 months. Not long after my initial assessment I developed a swallowing disorder, Dysphagia, which is a pretty bad thing, and relates to 2 Support group descriptors, ie the swallowing and chewing food ones. I had professional help filling in my form, and sent a letter from my doctor and psychiatrist explaining my illness/es, how it affects me daily, and referring it to the descriptors, specifically the Support group descriptors. I also sent proof that I am seeing a Speech therapist who is attempting to teach me to swallow naturally again, which as yet isnt helping, and also urgently referred to the ENT for a check to make sure there is no physical problem with my throat, Yet they are still assessing me again. Im not sure what else I can tell them when I visit, my illness is clear with 10 months of medical evidence/records to prove it, it has been proved to them by my Doctor/Psych by letter. I was referred to the Psych due to this condition and losing so much weight within a short space of time (2.5 stone in 2 months) plus I am on some very strong medication, including 30mg diazepam daily, 50mg quetiapine nightly (antipsychotic drug) plus 100mg setraline daily. None of the medication is working as yet, and can take quite some time before it does. Even when it does start to work, it will only help with the anxiety of swallowing, and will not then allow me to eat/drink/swallow normally again, the speech therapist will need to do this and she thinks it could take months. Im pretty angry that I am being assessed again and just dont know what else to say, I know I am going to have a severe attitude when I go into the assessment room, I have anger issues when stressed/anxious which I find difficult to control, and on this day this is exactly how I will feel. I feel quite sorry for the person Im going to see, especially if its the same witch as before, because she was rude and lied on the report she created, and if it is her I will tell her so as soon as I see her, because I am not taking any rubbish from her this time. Any advice on what to do/say whilst im there? I will attempt to stay calm, but when you can barely swallow your own saliva at times, mainly when stressed, I cant see it being a very friendly meeting. Thanks. Daz.

Hello everyone, I am new to the site and, having read some extremely helpful information regarding tenancy deposit schemes, I wondered if someone might be able to help with one issue that I am yet to figure out. I recently informed my landlord that I would be moving out of my property of over five years (moved in Aug 2007). Everything has been very amicable up to this point, but we have just found ourselves feuding over my deposit. Last week he called to tell me that he never received my deposit (i.e. it was never forwarded to him from the agent dealing with the tenancy). As a result, he has essentially dumped the task of locating it on me. I have been in touch with all TDS schemes and none of them have any record of the deposit with them. I firmly believe it was never registered. I have proof of payment to a company called IPM, who are no longer trading. The request to pay the deposit to this company came from his agent, Sequence (William Brown specifically). I also have proof of this. Realising that the deposit was unprotected, I issued a letter requesting that my deposit be placed in a TDS. He has refused on the grounds that he never received it and has suggested that it is my problem. Now, I understand that I should be issuing a letter before action, informing him of his obligations, but I'm a little uncertain of my next move. Given that I move out in two weeks, I fear that I will not have time to clean the property to the expected standard before I leave. I am not prepared to spend money cleaning the property until I know my deposit is safe, yet I do not want him to protect it with one day of my tenancy left and then sting me for the work that needs to be done because I didn't have the time to complete it. Should I wait, or should I issue a letter before action now, with a short turnaround time, explaining that I need a prompt response in order to give me time to clean up and have a chance of recovering my deposit? Or, of course, should I bite the bullet, get the place up to scratch, and use the fact that I have fulfilled all of my obligations under the rules of the tenancy agreement to support my case? I wonder if it would be easier to wait until after I've left, but I don't want to appear to be playing games to the court, should the case get that far.