First post - so please bear with me. I am self-employed - have been for years and was always the one to claim for WTC and CTC with partner who initially was self-employed too. He has been employed for approx 6/7 yrs now, however, I never changed the details with Tax credit people although I did make sure the declared money was near enough same as his actual wage. Its very possible there will be an overpayment however, I'm hoping it isnt massive and I accept my mistake and will take a reduced amount , not a problem. However, at this moment I havent yet informed them as after a meeting yesterday with Citizens (which made me much worse) and an appointment today with a solicitor ( he helped a little) I am still unsure how to go about this. The solicitor said honesty is best with them, but after having a look on the net I am terrified of what will happen - havent eaten or slept properly since Saturday and this is now Wednesday. I always knew about it - but genuinely thought as money was almost on a par it wasnt a problem. Main reasoning behind was I (stupidly) thought that if went through partners wage he would have been taxed on it and slightly worse off , therefore, left it going through our normal account with me as first named. I have convinced myself I will lose everything - kids, partner, and go to jail over this. The very thought of the word fraud terrifies me and I am a complete mess. Looking for some genuine advice,help or reassurance in any way that someone can give me, that contacting them will not result in what I think it will. I was all for not renewing when forms come back out however, solicitor thinks they may question this. It would be a big hit to lose each month - but the terror I am going through would at least stop. Incidentally, this was brough to light as oldest is in college and the SAAS (bursary people) contacted us saying needed additional information regarding self employment for us both - mine isnt the problem. Yes, I always knew about the emplyed/ self-employed issue, however, I honestly didnt think of it as fraud and I am upside down now. I truly dont think the overpayment would be massive, although for 6 years it will be a couple of thousand possibly - its probably around £20/30 difference per week maybe. Does anyone know whats seen as worse - the timescale involved or the amounts of money involved?? Can anyone help in anyway please???

First off i would like to apologise for posting another deposit issue but i am really worried and i cannot find anything relevant to what i need solved. I signed up to speak about this so hello to everyone on here!! My problem is on the 19th of March i went into Arnold Clark to see a Vauxhall Meriva 2008 model that myself and wife liked on the website. The car was in good condition but i was told i wouldn't be able to test drive it until it was mot'd or in for a service. Its apperance was fine but my overall concern was that the car would be having 3 children under 4 in the back on carseats. The salesman told me they would fit in fine and that the boot was as big as my Vauxhall Vectra 1.8 2000 because the seats can slide forward more while upright (reducing leg space though). I looked at websites after i paid this when i got home and the difference was about 120 litres i think - so not the same size. Also when my kids are older the sliding the seats forward is not going to work. I was told he would give me £200 for the Vectra towards my finance deposit and i had to put down £100 cash. To be honest i am a sucker for sales reps and i did it. I got a tiny slip saying; the sum of £100 received with my name, vehicle reg, method of payment. It does not say refundable or non-refundable. The only other documents i signed were for him to have permission to check my vauxhall vectra?? I have no paperwork my side at all. The car has been reserved since the 19th on the website. He was off work the 20th and 21st. Called me on the 22nd to say the finance was accepted but they needed my full licence so the finance company had my ID but since i just passed on the 13th, that has not come through yet ( he knew about my licence before i paid any deposits). I have since purchased a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTi Turbo Diesel. It was from a local dealer and not Arnold Clark as it was massive in comparison at £400 cheaper and less miles. What i want to know is: Do Arnold Clark need to refund my £100 deposit or is it gone now? Will they try to get my Vectra because he said he was using the p/x value towards the deposit? Will they try to force me into buying this car aswell using weird terms etc? I thought at most i would lose the deposit but i am now scared. This is the first ever time i will have bought any car on finance from a dealer as my Vectra was through a friend. I might also add the dealer who sold me the Astra gave me £695 p/x..... Could someone brighten up my night and help me with what to say when i call to cancel the deal tomorrow??? Sorry for rambling on but as you can tell i am worried about this.

Hi, I have two seperate issues I need guidance on. I have a mortgage with NRAM and a secured loan with GE Home Lending. I am in arrears on both as I have been out of work for the best part of the past two years due to having something of a specialist job. GE recently issued proceedings against me for possession and the first hearing is due to take place next week, 20th Feb. In the next couple of days, due to help from my parents, I will be able to pay off about 75% of the outstanding arrears with GE. I have also, since the new year, had a sharp up turn in the number of job interviews I have been having (I've had seven in the past couple weeks alone). My objective is to get the proceedings adjourned since I am hoping that despite the length of time I have been out of work, things are looking up and I should hopefully be in work soon.. If that's the case, I will have no problem keeping up the monthly payments and a contribution towards the debt. After this week's payment the arrears will be less than £400, or less than £800 if you count this month's normal instalment, which coincidently also falls due tomorrow. In addition to this I do not believe that GE have followed the pre-action protocols. For a good few months I had agreed a payment arrangement with them, which was about 70% of the monthly sum due. Over Christmas I advised them that I would be looking to make the normal monthly payment for January, and then about 20% extra towards the arrears. This was rejected. In fact I had made this proposal based on the fact that I had some shares that I could sell that would raise the said amount (or thereabouts). I had told them that I would investigate how long it would take to sell them, but by the time I did they had already issued a rejection letter. A coupleof weeks later I received a refund of council tax that equated to about a third of the arrears. I then telephoned and advised them of this. By this time it seems they had already sent word to their solicitors to issue proceedings as the claim form was issued on 15th Jan. No written response to that proposal was ever offered. So it seems to me that they have no investigated all the options, even though they did, for a time, agree payment arrangements. Is this still not a breach of the protocols? They never served a letter before action either, instead claiming that a default notice dating back some 8 or so months was good enough. Now, I am a lawyer by profession myself, albeit it I work in a totally different field, so I have rough idea of how to behave in court. It's just I am not up to speed on the law relating to these sorts of claims. I really just want to buy some time by way of an adjourment time so that I can hopefully get a job secured in the interim. Now, my common sense tells me that I have, at the very least, some argument to put forward in that respect. I am just a bit worried that I will get some sort of gung ho judge who will cause me trouble, so any tips or advice on repsentations would be grateful. Seperately, as I say I am in arrears on my main mortgage with NRAM. However, they are not enough to have yet generated a claim in court. This is because it is their policy not to do so until the arrears are over two months. I have done my best to keep the arrears below this, aiding in part my mortgage interest assitance (whoich pays about 40% of the monthly amount). Despite being informed that I am not working just about every time I called them, they wrote a letter saying "we don't know why you're in arrears". They say they want to send a field agent around, who has been pestering me by telephone and even showed up at my home while I wasn't there. They say that if I refuse they will charge me for it! Is this right? What exactly is this field agent meant to do? To be honest I don't fancy the idea of someone coming into my home and casting an eye over al my belongings (not that I have anything of huge value there, but it's just feels like an invasion of privacy). Where did I stand on this? If anyone can help on either of these issues I'd be grateful. Sorry to sign up just for this, but I have trying to get help from a legal aid firm and/or Shelter, but thus far to no avial. Thanks in advance.

Hi This is my first post so please be gentle with me. I have read a lot of posts but none of them seem to be able to fully answer my questions. I will be as honest as possible and feel awful about being in this position however I Know most of you have been in a similar situation. Basically all out problems have come to ahead we cant face anymore sleepless nights and lying to ourselves that things will get better, We have come to a sudden realisation we have to do something before we both loose our marbles. Sorry if this is very wordy I'm just trying to make sure as much info is here as possible. Out problems started in 2004 we took out car finance and 24 hours after signing for the car we had changed our mind we went to tell the garage and they said we have signed therefore the car was ours (we were young and stupid and said ok ) They said we would have to sort it with the finance company. Car garage went bust 2 days later and we were stuck with the car after trying to assort things with the finance company they took the car away after 3 months now we have an outstanding debt of over £7000 for a £2000 pound car. We paid them for a few months and then stopped (again stupid but we didn't really think about the long term implications at the time) Company chased off and on for a few months and then nothing, We then had various small debts credit cards with capital one all of which probably added up to a few hundred pounds. Which we also failed to pay. 4 years later we took out a loan with welcome and was all paid up apart from one missed payment when we changed bank accounts. 12 months on we still owe them £287. It may be easier if I just list all our debts instead of writing an essay to each one Alliance and Leicester £3576.20 4/03/2002 I still have both copies of the unsigned agreement (we have never made a payment but cannot deny we have had the loan it paid for our wedding)Not written to them or had any calls so we have never updated our address with them despite several moves. (no excuses we took the loan and then never had enough money to pay them as my husband lost his job a week later) This is now with first credit who tried to offer us a discounted settlement in 25/10/2012 London and Scottish - £977 personal loan from 2003/2004 They still chase from time to time but no payments made in at least 7 years this is with Robinson way Capital one £200.01 my husbands credit card from 2002 not made payment since 2005 however we still get the occasional letter London and Scottish car finance £7061. explained above. Hastings Direct 1249.47 (recent debt) Npower £880 - Recent owing balance after moving house, Children Nursery £1300 which we have received a court summons for we have filled in the paperwork and stepchange (cccs) advised us to make an offer of payment of £23 a month to. This happened as I had all 3 children in a nursery and before and after school club to enable me to work full time. Then tax credits dropped the amount of money we received and we could no longer afford the luxury of me going to work, (a complete other issue however I cant believe we managed to get into more debt trying to work and do the right thing) Nhs overpayment - I owe them £564 Welcome finance £287 this is recent (last 2 years. We have discussed the situation with stepchange and they have provided us with a fairly manageable budget (we know it wont be easy) to start e debt management plan taking 6 years and 7 months to pay off at a rete of £189 a month which we should be able to mange with. It feels so good someone helping us take control however scary at the same time. (we are still in the process of deciding weather to sign and go ahead with the dmp. My questions are - I spoke to someone who advised me that going back and paying the debts that have dropped off our credit file will make it worse for us in the long run as it will damage our credit file more for being honest and paying the debts. We literally have no current credit except a £400 overdraft with our current account which we have only used in an emergency. Hopefully we will need no further credit ever except I would like a mortgage one day. (I can never see this happening though) So do we fess up and pay the old debts? my only fear is making the situation a whole lot worse, I don't want to leave off the old debts and pay off the newer ones then the old ones come back to haunt us and have to start a dmp all over again. I'm really sorry about all the useless info I'm just trying to give everyone a clear picture. My husband and I know we should have dealt with this sooner sometimes burying out head in the sand seemed easier. But receiving the court summons was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. I'm tired, 8 years of sleepless night ignoring telephone numbers I don't recognise and generally looking over out shoulder is taking its toll. Please can someone offer some advise, We will be taking a dmp either way we are not strong enough or organised to fight this on our own, But I just don't know what to do about the old debts, I appreciate we have had the money and should pay like everybody else I know someone is going to say that. but I'm so scared of making a bad situation worse. I'm sorry if there is way too much info here once I started it all came pouring out, Thanks in advance N

Hi guys, I hope someone can put my mind at rest, as I am worried sick about the following: I had been claiming JSA up until December 2012, upon which I finally managed to get a job. I stopped claiming, signed the booklet and sent it back to the job centre. Received all the bumph from them and presumed the matter was closed. Today my mom received a letter from the council stating that the DWP had informed them that I had ceased claiming JSA. The Council then have queried whether or not I still reside at my moms address or not. In June 2012, I moved in with my partner who works full time. After a bereavement, I stayed with her to support her which eventually led to me moving in. At this point my mother informed the County Council and I ceased paying the dependants allowance for HB. To date I use my moms address as my registered address for all correspondence, bank cards, bills everything. At present no correspondence has been received from the DWP relating to my change of address. After doing some searching I have discovered that moving in with my partner may be a ‘change of circumstances’. As a result the DWP should have been informed and therefore, I may have been receiving JSA, when in fact as a result of my partner working full time, I should not have received anything at all. I have worked out that I would have been overpaid £1960.00 up to the point I stopped claiming. Call it naivety, stupidity whatever you will; I believed that I was entitled to continue receiving JSA providing I was adhering to the job seekers agreement. I am now petrified that I may have committed benefit fraud and the potential implications of this. I have decided to explain the situation to the DWP tomorrow; explaining that I may have been receiving JSA when I was not entitled to. If this is the case, I want to enquire with them as to, whether I can repay the entire sum through monthly instalments. I was wondering if anyone can offer any practical advice? What will the DWP do upon declaring this and will they accept repayment without criminal sanction? Thank -you

Hi there Im really glad I have found somewhere to seek some advice My partner has been employed full time on a 40 hour contract with a private coffee shop since November 2011 October 18th 2012 Unfortunately she fell from a horse in October last year fracturing her pelvis. She was signed off from work for a initial period of 6 weeks from October 18th 2012. Her employer was made aware of the accident on the day of the incident and later informed that she had been signed off for a minimum of 6 weeks She was kept in hospital for a week and advised that she would recieve a letter from the hospital within 6 weeks for an appointment to be re scanned and hopefully signed back to work. As the weeks past my partner recieved a few emails from her employer asking for updates on her condition and mentioning things like "You need to keep us informed of your progress as we have not heard from you and you arent keeping us up to date" etc etc etc Even though they were well aware that no progress could be reported until the 6 week scan had taken place...During the course of this incident she attended the doctors twice and reported back to her with the outcome and that her progress was going really well etc Just after the 6 week period elapsed leading up to christmas she had still not recieved any letter from the NHS with her appointment date? I kept telling her that she should have got in contact with them sooner as she hadnt recieved the appointment letter,Let alone the actual date of her re scan. She then contacted the hospital who gave her an appointment for around 4 weeks later! Which happened to be christmas eve. 5 weeks after the accident She feels completely fine,Has no pain,Is walking the dog for miles a day and in generally fine health. She sends her employer a email stating that she is feeling great and is looking forward to returning to work. Her employer replies in a rather negative tone stating that "We have taken on temporary staff in your absence as we did not know when you would be returning to work and we have to think about them...We cannot have you back until you are signed back to work from the hospital" etc Although this is more than likely true that her employer would not be able to take her back to work without the re scan being done and her being signed back to work due to insurance purposes,The emails she recieved were all written in a negative tone which made it sound like they didnt really want her back (Just that feeling you get) December 17th App. She emailed her employer again stating that she is feeling fine and will be returning to work after recieving her fit for note work on christmas eve and will drop it into work on her way back home. Her employer replied by saying "Do not drop the note in on christmas eve as we will be too busy.We will also need to arrange a welfare meeting before you return to work to so we can discuss how we proceed and what you can and cannot do with regards to work and duties,The meeting will be on January 9th please bring the fit for note work with you then" December 24th Me and my partner fell out and she stupidly sent an email to her employer stating that she is resigning and moving back to Scotland. Within a few hours she retracted her resignation by sending a text message to her employers personal mobile with no reply to either her resignation or her text message. Christmas Eve We attended the appointment at the hospital,She walked in and spent 10 minutes being examined by the consultant,No need for a scan and was told that she is fit to resume work with no restrictions. When we returned home my partner found a email from her boss which reads along the lines of "We are sorry to hear of your resignation,The standard procedure is to work your notice but we will over look this on this occasion,We also feel let down as we have been paying you sick pay during your time off from work" (Even though the goverment actually pay for statutory sick pay and claim it back from the goverment,It also confirmed my fears that they were never really interested in her returning to work by saying that she didnt need to work and notice and to basically go) I did some research online and found some advice which stated that if you withdraw your resignation before your employer formally accepts your letter of resignation then you can legally withdraw your request to leave and the employer must honor this. My partner walked down to her place of work and entered the premises to speak with her boss regarding the situation. When she walked in the door the shop was empty and her employer saw her and ducked down hiding behind the counter,Her husband (Joint owner) walked over and said "She will not be seeing you today,Come back in the new year" Apon returning home my partner drafted a text message to her employer and sent it to her stating that she will be seeking advice from ACAS after christmas as she had sent a message to her personal mobile stating her wish to withdraw her resignation and disregard the email that she had.Which she is within her right to do by law,Also the fact that she had attempted to come and speak with her regarding the issue to which her employer declined A few hours past to which my partner recieved an email from her employer stating that she had just noticed the text message on her phone (some 12 hours later) And that she had accepted her request to withdraw her resignation and to come in on January the 9th for the welfare meeting. Her employer does not seem the best at knowing what is required by law and doesnt really seem to know what she is doing with regard to rules and regulations contracts etc and apparently does alot of research online as to what the rules of being an employer are. I imagine she spent those hours researching online only to find out that we were in fact correct and back peddled to accepting her withdrawl. Since then her boss has been very rude to her on a few occasions when she has asked why her sick pay hasnt been paid in,On the last occasion she got the reply "We are in Spain with the family and we are closed hence why you havent been paid,You should know this!" So my partner had to go for 2 weeks without sick pay because her employer didnt pay it in or inform her that there would be a delay. Where we stand now My partner is going to attend the welfare meeting on January 9th although she is very hesistant to do so due to the awful atmosphere caused by all this mess. The people she worked with who were her so called friends no longer speak to her and I honestly do feel so sorry for her as she has done nothing wrong apart from fall off a horse and try and return to work...I have had to pay for her keep since the accident and we are really struggling financially and its hard to know which way to turn as we need her in employment asap but she is really worried about this meeting and the atmosphere as it may be unbearable Could you give us some advice on how to proceed? *I can provide exact emails from her employer if required Kindest Regards J

Hope this is the right place to post. I wonder if anyone can give me any advice to help put my elderly neighbour's mind at rest? Our neighbour (we live in Scotland) has had DLA including High Rate mobility (he has a car) for more than 20 years after a serious accident at work caused severe back problems. He's had a long running dispute with another neighbour (trees) and this man has been telling people he has taken pictures of him carrying a heavy bag of pet food into the pet shop -he visits it often- and has passed the pictures on to the authorities to make sure he loses his benefits. Our disabled friend walks with a stick, has had his front garden tarmacced so he doesn't have to walk far to his car.As well as the back injury has diabetes and is having treatment for malignent melanoma. He takes a cocktail of drugs, is often in horrendous pain and has been prescribed morphine. It does seem unlikely that after a lifetime award the renewal form was coincidence and he's convinced it's not, he would have carried the bag-he always wants to help out and was probably in bed for days after, but surely people with a disability have good and bad days? I wouldn't have thought if he was being investigated they could use photos taken by a member of the public but he beleives they can in Scotland? Any help would be much appreciated he's making himself ill with worry. Many thanks, Carol

Hi all I applied for a loan with cfo last week , gave my bank card details ect , was told via website and phone had been approved but following day recieved an e-mail saying i hadnt been accepted . my concern is , i get payed in 2 weeks , and no money has been taken from my account yet ( basically no money in there ) but will they try and take money out despite the fact i waas turned down for a loan ? thanks for any help Kh41

Last week I was in M&S. I needed to pick up a pack of bacon and ham for my daughter. As a life-long vegetarian, I don't like handling meat, even wrapped, so I took one of the plastic bags for loose fruit and veg and popped it in there. There was a sale rack of clothes just next to the food hall and I had a quick look then stupidly walked out forgetting I had the meat in the bag. Next thing I knew a man in a hoody and jogging trousers ran behind me and asked me to step back inside, he didn't say who he was, he wasn't in any kind of uniform. He told me to go upstairs, and took me to a little room where there was a girl writing notes. I was informed that they were calling the Police and it was up to them if I was given a FPN or "locked up". They took the meat off me and he asked the girl to put it back in the fridges. He took my name and address and by this time I was so scared I needed to go to the toilet badly but was not allowed to go even though I said I would leave all my belongings with him. I was told it would be up to the Police if I could go to the toilet or not. I was asked if I had drugs or anything sharp that could harm them (I am 60 and disabled). When the Police came I was asked my name and address and one of the Police asked this man "Do you really want to do this for £2.49?", I was then issued with a FPN, I haven't paid yet, I haven't the money, we live on a State Pension. I was also given a letter about banning from their stores and Drydens Civil Recovery. When the Police were about to leave I asked again if I could go to the toilet and they said yes. I have medical problems, bladder problems, severe spondylosis and I saw my GP in April because I have been having spells of almost fainting where everything seems to go far away. Have just lost my elderly Mother too. Please can anyone advise me what I should do. I haven't even told my husband as he is also disabled and I don't want to worry him. I haven't been out since this happened, I feel so scared.

Some one help please? The story is that back in April 2011, or there about!after numerous irritating phone calls I decided to pursue a PPI claim. I received the claim pack and I signed up after, again, numerous pushy phone calls. In July 2011 I then received the Letter of Authority to sign and send back so the Claim Group could continue with my claim. I never signed the form and I still have it with me! I heard nothing from the group until last month when i received an e-mail that stated that the Bank had now paid out and I owed the claim group money. In fact it was a reminder to pay the outstanding invoice. Between the initial start and now I had moved and got married. I never updated my details withe group as i was under the impression that I had decided not to pursue the claim because i had not sign the Letter of Authority. I decided to call the Group to ask what the outstanding invoice was for? They stated that the bank had paid out and i had received the money so i owed them £900! 39% of the payout. I have not received the money as i do not use that bank anymore and never updated my details with them either. The banks letter went to my previous address. The claim group e-mailed me a copy of the letter. At the bottom there was a form for me to fill in to say that i was happy with the payout. This was to be completed in 10 days. I obviously had not signed it as i never received it! The worse thing is that i now use a debt management agency following the breakdown of a relationship that left me in a lot of debt with that bank so most of the money would have gone toward the paying the loan off. The claim group are now contacting me at my workplace about the invoice. I don't have the money to pay them and as far as i'm concerned i did not authorize them to carry on!I have explained this to them and i stated that surely if was pursuing the claim i would have kept them updated with my details..They stated that i had entered into a legally binding contract and would have to pay them the money they also claim that they have a signed letter of authority from May 2011. If thats the case why would they send me another in July?? Please help i'm not sure how i stand on this...

Hi, could someone help me with the next letter to send, i had a visit from resolvecall last week, my partner answered the door and confirmed i lived here!! he was caught off guard! anyway i sent the doorstop letter and got this back today, the creditor is arrow global, resolvecall came to do the doorstop, but return letter is from scotcall, assume they same company?? i think the debt is from a catalogue from a couple of years ago, cant remember last time i paid but at least 12 months ago, and money has been very tight since. this is letter i had today ::Resolvecall informs me that as part of the credit agreement I signed and entered into, I agreed to pay the full outstanding balance and that where necessary the creditor could recover the debt by outsourcing the debt to a third party which included by way of doorstep collection. The second paragraph of their letter reads "Therefore the licence you state that has been revoked is irrelevant which for the avoidance of doubt we do not agree to, is not binding on us as it does not fulfill the relevant principles of contract law" I have no idea what this means or to what is refers. They end with stating that they are entitled by law and under contract to recover monies outstanding and can take reasonable steps in accordance with regulatory guidance, which I assume means they can send someone round?? what do i do next please? any help most welcome, if anyone can draft a reply to help please

My husband has been employed for 6 years by his current employers. He is contracted as a driver but has been a drivers mate for last few months. Friday before last he was doing a delivery and whilst unloading an order, someone got into the cab of the lorry and stole the safe which was bolted to the floor containing £4000, neither himself nor the driver heard anything or flet anything as they deliver large kegs which make a lot of noise and movement. The police were called straight away and arrived within an hour. My husband phoned the company and informed them what had happened. My husband went to work on the following bank holiday Monday and Tuesday, Tuesday he was interviewed by someone from HR and he gave an honest account of what happened. The driver is an agency driver not a company employee, he also had an interview and gave his version of events. He told HR my husband had hid the money in the fuse box of the lorry at first but then my husband moved the cash to the safe, when in actual fact my husband said he would put the money in the fuse box if he couldn't get it in the safe, cash was in a large envelope and both my husband and the driver forced the money into the safe through the opening (With a struggle) My husband said the agency driver was very secretive that day more than normal, the driver was walking away taking phone calls (Could be a coincidence we know) I don't know why the driver said he put cash in the fuse box area. My husband was then suspended on the Weds whilst an investigation is underway. He has had no letter or anything from the company. During his 6 years he has never had any problems, no disciplinarys of any type, he has a good work record. The transport manager has told HR he is 100% trust worthy. We have no idea whats going on, but because of my husbands age he is worried the company maybe looking for an excuse to dismiss him, he is 56. He belongs to no union and we are worried and not sure what to do.... Can anyone offer any advice? Thank you..

Hi all, Apologies if this is in the wrong section. Two years ago myself and my partner separated when I was pregnant, when he moved out he took the tv and the sofa. A few months later when my daughter was only a few days old, a tv licensing enforcement officer called, I was in bed at the time feeding the baby. I spoke to him through the window and asked him to call back, he posted a payment card through the door and left, then I recieved a court summons. On this summons he'd made a statement with a lot of lies eg. I'd said I owned a tv, I had watched tv that day etc. He had my name but no signature, no make or model of any tv, no N.I number and no D.O.B as asked for on the form. I went to court and pleaded not guilty and then it went to trail as it was my word against his. The judge found me guilty because Mr X had worked for the tv licensing for 20 years and maybe I was confused as I'd just had a baby! (exact words). Anyway I was fined £180 plus costs and I have refused to pay, even when the bailiffs came knocking I stood my ground, but now I've recieved a letter from the courts stating I have 7 days to pay in full or I'll be arrested, I dont want to pay this fine, If I was guilty fair enough but I've been fined for something I havent done. Any advice on whats likely to happen when they arrest me please, because I'm not in a position to pay within 7 days anyway. Many thanks in advance

Nationwide charged me £15 fee for going over drawn on a account I very rarely use just for online shopping - I said I would like money in to cover the costs they said they would refund the costs will this affect my credit rating?

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Last year I started getting a lot of aches and pains, after many GP appointments I was diagnosed with Joint Hypermobility. My GP took this further and is 99% sure I have Ehlers-Danlos and POTS, but has referred me on to a Genetisist which I am still waiting for. I am in incredible pain all day (feet, ankles, coccyx, shoulders, wrists, fingers), suffer with excruciating feet when standing for more than 10 minutes or so, my heart races, dizzyness, migraines-the list feels endless! Chances are I have passed this on to both my children as they both show signs. Anyway, to the point, after being placed on ESA I had my Work Assesment medical, which the result was disallowment as I recieved zero points! The things I told her were either ignored or used against me. Because I take my Son to school etc. I am a single Mum and have no family near me, how is he meant to get to school? Regardless of pain there are things I have to do, albeit with difficulty or in pain. She asked me at the Assesment if I was OK saton the chair, I explained to her that whether I stood or sat I would still be in pain, so no points there either. She had never heard of any of my conditions. She did the physical which I told her would be fine, my condition means that I bend too much in all my joints, so these were marked as normal. I recieved my letter today (as I have appealed the decision) to sign for the tribunal, but after speaking with Citizens Advice I am really anxious. They cannot represent me due to funding, so I have to go alone. I feel I am going to be scrutinised because I have no-one to go with me. I'm not sure what I need to bring. I have moved house and so my fantastic GP has changed and the last 2 I have seen have been awful! Any advice as to what to expect would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for this forum. This is my first post so i hope that someone can help me. I recently received an A2 income support review form, which isn't due but not unusual in itself. The strange thing is that it had a "GI/CI" stamp on the first few pages, and a cover letter which isn't from my usual jobs/benefits office. On the envelope i'm supposed to send it back in has a particular persons name on it so i am getting anxious that i am under investigation . It also had this GI/CI stamp on the envelope. Does anyone know what this means? TIA

ok im a bit of a techno geek but this latest one has me thinking most people dont know this but new routers have a system called WPS installed this is designed to make setup easier by allowing people to enter a pin number instead of a wireless key, if this is correct then the router transmits the wireless key to the computer however this pin is a new vulnability as if its left enabled then a router can often be brute forced and broken in less than 5 hours now heres the bit thats made me think and may worry people may shops have wifi computers running as till's, ive noticed several still have this option to set up (ive got a help post on the tech forum to try and find out how widespread this is but ive found 4 stores) so it would take someone around 5 hours to break it once they are on the network then another program can intercept and copy that data, including payment data (the shops ive found have been informed btw) would you feel safe using your card in a store like that?

hi can anybody give me any advice at the end of november my partner got his job back after being made redundant in may, i was still working part time so we claimed h/b and c/t for that period, however i didn't phone h/b to tell them until january 5th as i was told i would be intitled to a 4 week run on as my partner had been unemployed for more than 26 weeks (just). so my benefit stopped immediatly as from phoning them or so i thought i recived a few revised benefit letters each time phone and told them i was no longer entitled to benefit s could the stop it which they did then here it comes august 1st 3 letters arrive 1 for housing benefit over payment, one for council tax over payment and 1 demanding payment in 14days now yesterday i get home and another letter asking me to ring with in 7days to arrange an appointment for an IUC if i fail a court or jury may decide in my absence and my faliure to say any thing basically wouldn't look good , i really didnt think 5 weeks was such a major deal i was obviously wrong does any one know what steps i should take i really dont know what to do?

Hi everyone, I have been a total pleb and due to various circumstances left it rather late to inform the council that I had a wage rise last year. I know I should have done it immediately later but at the time of the rise I was under incredible pressure with debt worries after separating from my husband who left me in huge financial difficulty together with the fact that i was undergoing various medical tests which at the hospital as I was (an still am) showing symptoms of MS. This ommission came about because I was sorting through this years paperwork and unusually for me have left the tax credit renewal rather late. I rang the council to tell them about my wage rise in April 2012 and that I think I had forgotten to tell them about my rise last year. The lady on the phone said that due to my 2012 rise I would not be entitled to which I said that I expected that. This meant that I would have been overpaid by 3 months. Whilst talking to her I explained that I could not remember if I had told about last years rise, and when I confirmed my normal pay, she said no. Today I have realised that my tax credits figure has reduced from the original one I gave when claiming and Have tried to call them back about this but was on hold for over 45 minutes during my lunch hour then had to hang up. SO, I know I have been overpaid by 3 months for defo and am sure that for the majority of last year I was also overpaid by some and I have tried to create a spreadsheet to work it out which includes the rise in salary and drop in tax credits. I make it approx £1000 overpaid. In addition, I think I am currently being investigated as my employer explained that he had received a request for an Employers statement wanting details of my pay and pay dates. I am totally worried sick that I am about to be called in for investigation and wonder what is going to happen next. Shall keep trying to ring them to explain or has it gone too far?? Any help would be really appreciated. I know have been totally stupid for not telling them last year but I genuinely did forget due to over-rising circumstances......

i have discovered today that i have been overpaid housing benefit since February this year. i only just realised this today when a letter came asking about a re calculation. so i checked my statements and there they were 5 monthly payments since february at different times each month amking them hard to take note of. it's a lesson to check my statements more carefully and regularly to be sure but i am now worried stiff about any action they may take as this has been a complete and honest oversight i have no trouble paying it back in one go straight away, but i'm still worried they may take it further. what is likely to happen, i'm terrified after reading some stories on here. advice on next steps needed, please i

I should give a brief explanation of the history behind this one.. In 2007 I was working as a self employed Roof Tiler and had a fall due to a hypo attack whilst working at height . ( I am a type 1 Diabetic) This resulted in injuries including some to My back which meant I was unable to work.. I went through to early 2009 not working or claiming Any benefits at all.. After X rays ect it was decided I would not be able to continue in the job I had done since leaving school 37 years earlier.. So I started to claim ESA which lasted for about six months and I was then booted off the benefits as they said I was no longer allowed.. So late 2010 I went back to work in Roofing... I lasted 3 days and had a breakdown due to the fact I could not go up at heights again... So once again I went reluctantly to the Doctor who started treating Me for depression. And once again I am on ESA. I have been diagnosed as having clinical depression and am having treatment for it. Yesterday I had to go to ATOS for a medical and during the questions the Doctor conducting asked if the Fall and events of 2077 were connected to the depression I am being treated for at this time ?? I said possibly ? So now my worry is if the two things are connected which in all honesty they likely are will I be kicked off again as the whole episode will be classed as one ? IMHO they are connected but are totally separate entity's connected by consequence ?? Is it the job of the medical examiner to try and link things like this together ?? I apologise if this sounds like I am simply after money but prior to these incidents I worked full time and hard for 37/38 years !! I am trying hard to get past this episode and really want to return to work but its taking a little time.. Thanks .

hi, there I'm a 21 year old uni student home for the holidays, And i attempted to use my Children's Bus pass to get a discounted fare on the bus. The bus driver took my card and told me that it had expired and i was too old to use it. since i was going to work, I paid the cost for an adult ticket and said that I didn't know that i couldn't use it as a bus driver had let me use it yday. I am really worried that i will get a court hearing. I don't want any legal trouble as it might affect my course of study at uni. how likely is it that i will receive a letter from them? The card itself does not have my address or phone but i had to fill these details in to get it in the first place so they might have them in their computer systems. thanks for your help!

Hello i have been looking on this site and have noticed that good advice is often given, anyway about a month ago i was in London and got off at a London Underground station where ticket inspectors and the British Transport Police were present. I did not have enough money on my oyster when the ticket inspector checked my oyster card, so she called one of the BTP who was the closest to her and ask me to write down my details. I tried my luck (VERY STUPID IDEA) and gave a false name and address, however the ticket inspector and the transport police officer found out that the details where false so i gave them my correct details the second time around. the ticket inspector asked for my phone number and i gave it to him, after that the British Transport Police officer asked for my phone number too (WHICH I DID NOT GIVE IT TO HIM). i was then caution under the PACE act answered all the questions truthfully and signed the paper. I know i am defiantly going to court i just want to know how much is the fine going to be (A ROUGH GUESS FROM WHAT I HAVE EXPLAINED AND YOUR EXPERIENCE IN SIMILAR CASES) What will the ticket inspector do with my phone number will he hand it over to the British Transport Police and why did the British Transport Police officer as for my phone number I know what i have done is wrong and i am regretting it now and this happened a month ago and i have still not heard anything from TFL, this happened about a month ago, the ticket inspector told me i would hear from them in the next 21 days it has been longer than that PLEASE HELP THIS IS REALLY MAKING ME SICK WITH WORRY THANKS

Hi, I've been on ESA from March 2012 and I've got to attend a ATOS Medical on Friday. I suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome as well as cysts on my wrist. I've really nervous about going to the medical. Does anybody know what sort of questions I'll be asked?? My daughter is coming with me for support but I'm still very worried. Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.

Can anyone give me some advice, i feel suicidal and have no one to turn to, i am guiltyof claiming wtc still when my husband came back home for the last year, I have a son in long term hospital and suffer from severe depression myself, most days i don't know if i am coming or going, but have still managed to keep working. i had aletter from wtc saying they knew my husband was living with me, and i had 30 days to prove otherwise. i am at my wits end, do i do nothing , or just tell them that i have made a bad mistake and own up, will i be definitely prosecuted , will i go to prison, i don't know what i should do. i have claimesd about 2100, overpayment , please can anyone give me some help..