Hi, I’m hoping for some advice for my uncle. He is 71, has had schizophrenia all his life, used to live with his parents till they passed away 15 years ago and now lives alone. My mum (his sister) and my dad visit him weekly to check on him, take him some food and do a little clean for him. He receives DLA (lowest rate) and pension credit and has rent paid on a small run down flat. He is usually very private about his finances last time they visited he was very anxious and told them he received a letter from the DWP to ask for bank statements to prove his amount in savings. They asked to see the letter but he said he had thrown it away. When they asked him how much he has, it turns out he has nearly £25,000. Obviously this is way more than he is allowed and we would like to know what is likely to happen now, and what is the best thing to do next? The money has not come from any outside source, purely from his entitled benefits mounting up over the years resulting from him living very and neglecting himself and his home due to his mental illness and medication. For example; he doesn’t eat well, only one decent meal a day and my parents take him fruit and veg and meals when they can. He was going out in winter in a thin summer coat so they bought him a warm winter one. His couches and bed are over 20 years old and falling apart and he refuses to buy a new ones saying they’re fine! he only has this much in savings because he hasn’t had the mental capacity to use his entitlement to care for himself properly all these years. He doesn’t smoke, drink or buy any new clothes or possessions for himself. We are wondering whether to try to convince him to spend a chunk of the money on things he does actually need and keep receipts before sending the bank statements in, or if this is likely to get him into more trouble with the DWP? He talks about being anxious about funeral costs so we could help him get a prepaid funeral plan. He also needs a new mattress, bedding, 3 piece suite, TV, white goods for the kitchen, new clothes and shoes etc all of which he has neglected to buy for himself for 15 years. Thank you very much for your advice!

My relative is vulnerable and has mental health Moorcroft have put a hand delivered letter through the letter box on behalf of a catalogue. It states that a field operative called to discuss the account is there a templateicon letter I can send to tell Moorcroft or any other debt collectoricon not to make personal visits to my relative

can someone please help me. Rossendales want to collect on unpaid parking fines, totally about 600. I am more than willing to pay them but it needs to be affordable amount for me, there are several issues I have: 1)I am willing to pay them but the demands they have set are beyond my budget and unreasonable. I have made payments on them but not to the amount they want. 2)I have tried to negioate but they have replied in an email (I will not talk them via phone) that they will not reply to any more messages from me 3) I have mental health issues and have sent in letters from gps etc to validate my claims. I am in a very vulnerable domestic situation with 2 children. I will not say what this situation is but please read between the lines. I have told Rossendales and they refuse to work with me. due to this I my mental health has hit crisis and I ended up harming myself. I am working with mental health crisis team. 4) they told me they would hold off sending a bailiff pending medical documentation but the next day they sent a bailiff to the wrong address and are now trying to charge me for there error to the cost of £375. I have disputed this and they have not responded 5) I submitted a complaint to Rossendales over week ago and have not heard 6)I contact my LA and asked them to stop the bailiffs but they are no help and wont. I know they appoint Rossendales and can do this. How do I get them to do this? any advice is greatly appreciated. I am in utter crisis, Im not sleeping, crying all the time and I am terrified to be in my own home. thankyou

I have been studying as always after reading up on various posts, I now have a what I deem a very good question and would like some input please the question is as follows. For enforcement purposes which is the correct "vulnerability" to use as a method of protecting a debtor that falls into either category 1.Vulnerable adult. definition here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/446/regulation/2/made 2.Vulnerable household. As mentioned in many a post thanks for looking and replying 3.Does a vulnerable adult have more protection than a vulnerable household? As under PACE the vulnerable adult is very protected. 4. Does the vulnerable adult give the same protection to the household as well? IE does the household then become vulnerable and has the same protection as a vulnerable household as stated. If the adult is vulnerable and is the debtor, is it correct that the Bailiff must retire until an appropriate adult is present, as the debtor is at possible risk of being taken advantage of? Also if the Bailiff manages to bluff his way in a lays a levy will this then be deemed as an incorrect levy? How can such an adult now be protected from any Bailiff enforcement action under the new legislation and what recourse does the appropriate adult have and how would they get help in this matter? To give an example using myself as the subject ok As far as Social Services are concerned they state for safety purposes I am classed as vulnerable, due to my physical as well as mental disabilities. Because I am a danger to myself and to others and do not understand the dangers and put myself at risk without understanding the dangers, so I may harm myself or put others at risk of danger or harm, so therefore I have to have a carer to assist me in everyday chores, to make sure that the tasks are done correctly and without danger to myself But I am left alone at times to have "free time to myself on my own" so under PACE I get full protection and the need for an appropriate adult before questioning, but what of Bailiff enforcement action what protection would I have from them? MM

My uncle has recently been hospitalised after the 4th fall in a week. I am his Nearest relative which under the Mental Health Act is his Next of Kin. He has dementia and a urine inferction which made him more confused than normal. His private carer who was in charge of ensuring his safety, apparently went home for a bath and left him alone till night time carers came in to put him to bed. This is despite the fact that an ambulance was called two days previously when she had done the same thing again. He has been besotted by her - he is 97 - she is now 51, but clearly marriage has been discussed and he had said she knows how much he cares for her and has left her comfortably off. After a rocky 4 weeks in hospital and a realisation he may not walk again he has begun telling us what has been going on behind closed doors, over a period of a week, we have taped quite a bit of it on our phones and I've typed up transcripts under the suggestion of a nurse. He says she takes his papers away from him so he cant see what is on television, she takes the controls off him so he cant find out what's on and she leaves him in the evening with no access to television or newspaper so he is in silence. She also threatens him regularly that is he doesn't say please and thank you for everything so she won't do this and that for him. He's always said it to me for everything. When he grovels to her promising to say please and thank you for every little thing. She then says "it's no good apologising, it's too late now, I'm going and I'm never coming back". He evens mimics her voice when he tells you - deep and threatening. Then today he was transferred into a care home for the first time and a housekeepr was with me when he called out "I know i cant marry you, you know i'm fond of you. I'm sorry I promise I'll say please and thank you all the time if you let me have some dinner. I'll do anything you want please". Suddenly his voice changed it became deeper and sterner and it said "too late now, no good apologising now, i'm going and I'm not coming back, get yer own dinner!" Later I asked what she gave him to eat and he said "cubes of cheese", i asked what he had with it, he said "more cubes of cheese". I asked what she gave him for hot dinners and he said "I used to have hot meals, proper dinners but i can't manage proper dinners now, she says it's bad for my stomach". I asked "dont you ever have hot dinners any more?" - "not any more, she says it's bad for my stomach". My question is would this be a subject for the police to investigate. We have some tapes if they want to listen to what is said. But would they say is is a dream or hallucinations. some times he's perfectly lucid and he sounds angry about it and when he's stressed and out of it and saying it, he sounds frightened but still goes on about how fond he is of her.

Hi, hope this is right place! If I applied for my first adult passport would that flag me up with my esa and compromise my claim? As they will see me applying for that may not look good? Not sure how it works Thanks

Hi I'm 16, will be 17 in the coming weeks. I was caught travelling on a child ticket on the return leg of my journey recently (TOC was First Transpennine Express), and the RPI wouldn't excess my ticket, so I had my name, address, dob, etc taken down in his notebook. He advised that I would receive a letter from the Prosecutions dept. Should I pre-emptively write to the department offering to pay the fare+admin costs or should I await the letter? Also, what region should I be looking at for the total cost with admin fee (just an estimate)? It was approx £28 for the child return, so the adult fare would have been double that. Also, what timeframe should I be awaiting a letter in? I rang the Prosecutions dept yesterday and was told it 'may take 2-3weeks' but I've seen up to 6 months on CAG? As irrelevant as it is, I did genuinely believe that 16 year olds could travel on a child ticket, but I accept it was my fault for not checking and at the first opportunity will offer my unmitigated apologies to FGW(?) for this. I was issued a Zero-Fare excess for the journey and had my ticket retained by the rpi. The reverse of the zero-fare says that the original ticket was kept due to a ticketing irregularity. I can't have a criminal record for my future career, hence why I am keen to ensure this doesn't go to court and I plan to outline this in the letter I send to FGW. Thanks for your help.