Hi All, I am disputing SB status of an old CC debt with default date of March 2010. No payment or acknowledgement was made ever since the default date to any of the DCA's who chased this debt. The DCA currently chasing me had threatened court action to which I responded with the standard SB letter quoting the Limitation Act. However they have come back stating it is not SB as the original creditor had received the last payment in July 2014, which is absolutely not true. The only payment I made was in July 2014 of £1 fee to the DCA chasing at the time to produce the CCA and I had clearly noted in the letter then that this is only to be used as fee for the CCA and that I do not acknowledge any debt. It was not towards the debt and certainly not to this DCA. The interesting this is the outstanding amount quoted by the then DCA and this DCA remains the same, i.e. they have not applied the £1 to the debt (and they should not any how). Can someone please advise what should be my next action? They seem to suggest in the letter that I shall be getting Claim forms soon. Thanks in anticipation.

Hi there, Thank you all for considering my enquiry. I will try to keep it as to the point as possible. I have sought advice from many advice bodies and a couple of solicitors but I'm receiving conflicting information and a friend recommended I try here. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION I engaged a tradesperson for a range of works which were quoted at £1740. The tradesperson completed some of the works over 2 days. On the 3rd day, the tradesperson was late and sent an offensive message. Based on the offensive content of the message I refused to allow him onto my property further. He agreed to reduce fee based on works not completed. He offered a reduction of £240, total £1500, which I said was not fair based on the works left to complete. I paid a portion (£1240, 83%) of the fee, with a reduction of £500 from original quote of £1700 based on an average of 3 quotes from local providers for the remaining works. He returned the payment and engaged a debt collection agency. Debt collection agency has given 5 working days to pay full amount or they are taking me to court. Full description and timeline below. AMOUNTS Original invoice - £1740 Tradesperson offer after reduction - £1500 Amount we paid - £1240 Amount debt collection agency is seeking - £1500 + interest of £10.23 QUESTIONS 1. I have told the debt collection agency I dispute the debt. Is my best bet now just to wait until they start court process? 2. Am I correct in thinking, because of the amount in dispute (they want £1500, we paid £1240 which they returned, so effectively £260 in dispute), this will be considered as a small claims issue? 3. Were I to lose the dispute, I would be required to pay the £1500 + small amount of interest + court fee of £100-£200? So I wouldn't have to pay his legal costs or cost of using debt collector? 4. Would this type of issue (full details below) be likely to go to court? Or will it be considered on the basis of submissions? 5. Given we're talking so small amounts here, I am obviously wanting to maximise value from any legal advice. Would the best use of money on legal advice be to ask a solicitor who specialises in consumer issues to review my defence form, N9B? Thank you very much for any advice you can give. FULL TIMELINE & DESCRIPTION 28th Jan - Having found a tradesperson through an online review site I asked for a quote for some work on my property. They emailed a quote of £1740 (I'll round the figures for ease of reading). 30th Jan - I phoned the company and asked them to start work as soon as possible. 7th Feb - Tradesperson started work on the property. 8th Feb - Tradesperson attended the property. 9th Feb - Tradesperson doesn't show in the morning. I ask where they are and am told they'll be there later. After I have asked when they will arrive, I receive a 'pocket call' with a recording of the tradesperson where he calls *somebody* a 'f-ing bird, b-tching about when tradesperson will arrive'. We speak on the phone where he considers the situation a joke and calls me a 'b-tch'. I say I don't want him on my property anymore and he agrees to discount the fee for the incomplete work. 13th Feb - Tradesperson confirms work left to be completed and offers discount of £200 (total £1540). 14th Feb - On the advice of the Equalities service I submit a formal letter of complaint about the comments which says that no matter who he was talking about I find the comments offensive on the basis they are about somebody of my gender which violates my dignity and creates a hostile environment. On the advice of Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) I say I do not consider discount fair for the work that is left to be completed and will be seeking to show market rate as part of negotiating process under the Consumer Rights Act. 17th Feb - Tradesperson apologises for comments and offers discount of £240 (total £1500). 25th Feb - On the advice of CAB I seek 3 quotes for the remaining work from local providers which show market rate to be £500. I offer tradesperson £1050. 3rd Mar - Tradesperson rejects offer and threatens debt collection if £1500 is not paid by 6th Mar. 4th Mar - I transfer £1240 (original invoice of £1740, minus £500 fair market rate) and say that is our final offer. 6th Mar - Tradesperson emails to say he will be returning the £1240 and engaging a debt collection agency to seek £1500 from us. 6th Mar - On the advice of CAB I send a formal letter questioning why he has engaged a debt collection agency when we have paid £1240. 11th Mar - I receive a letter from a debt collection agency demanding £1500 (plus interest of £10.23) to be paid within 5 working days, or they will begin court process. 13th Mar - I speak to debt collection agency who try to debate the merits of my dispute with me. I say we have not received any of our payment returned. They say it was sent Friday. I say I do not wish to discuss the issue with them and just wanted to check the address to correspond with, they end the conversation saying "see you in court". On the advice of the Debt Advice Line, I post a formal letter confirming my disputing the debt and evidencing previous correspondence.

Hi, Im hoping for some advice please. My ex is trying to get a share of my property by claiming beneficial interest. From what ive read he has no claim as we are not married, house is mine & he has never paid the bills or mortgage. He has applied for a unilateral restriction to be placed on my house. Ive read I can dispute this with the land registry but im not sure where to start & cant afford a solicitor. Does anyone know the process or anymore info? Will this mean I cannot sell or remortgage my house? Thanks for reading.

Hello To cut a long story short, i had taken out dual fuel tariff with Scottish Power. When my 1 year contract came to an end they took it on themselves to issue me a new tarif without contacting me, anyway there were no accurate meter reading done by Scottish Power.so i made a complaint regarding the estimated meter readings Scottish Power decided to close the account. Scottish Power finally sent a meter reader to come and take a reading late February 2015, few weeks later i received a electricity bill shy of £800. I have been in touch and Scottish Power keep saying the bill is correct. I truly don't think my energy bill is correct, what are my options? Thanks

If you are disputing your energy bill with your supplier, it can be a very difficult and heartless job. Gas and electricity suppliers occupy a dominant position and frankly there is not a lot of competition. Once they get you on board it looks as if customer service goes to the wall. We are seeing a huge number of complaints about billing by energy suppliers. Npower is a particular concern but the others are not far behind. Did you know that your electricity supply and your relationship with your supplier is governed by the Electricity Act 1989. Did you know that if you are in dispute with your energy supplier, you are entitled to have your own check meter fitted. You don't have to rely on one chosen and monitored by your energy supplier. The only rules are that it should be fitted by somebody authorised to do so – but this can be any qualified independent electrician – and also that the meter must be an MID meter approved for billing. Here is a webpage which gives you a list of MID approved meters: – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-meter-type-approval-certificates-annex-mi-003 Did you know that if you are in dispute with your energy supplier and it is considered that you have exhausted all avenues and yet the dispute is not resolved, that you can insist that your supplier arranges a meter determination which is carried out by the National Measurement Office – pursuant to schedule 7 of the Electricity Act 1989. Once you have requested the determination, here is the procedure which your energy supplier must follow https://www.gov.uk/electricity-meter-accuracy-and-disputes#determination-process I have found that the Electricity metering team at the National Measurement Office are extremely friendly and informative. These rights are provided to you under the Electricity Act 1989. Why doesn't your energy supplier let you know about this? Because they don't like any independent scrutiny? Because they would rather sue your arse regardless of the justice of the case? Because they don't care about you the customer – they only care about their shareholders and their executive salaries? Because they are all Bloody lazy? All of the above?

Hi all. Looking for some advice please : After reading a little on the reclaiming of various fee's / charges I wanted to find out more about this matter. Looked into my mortgage paperwork and noticed that during the past few years the Broker has been paid over £3,000 and £4,000 for arrange a mortgage of £200,000 and that the rates are not high street rates eventhough my credit rating is very very good. Can you reclaim the fee's paid to Brokers and can you dispute the interest rate that the Mortgage Company is charging ? I am understanding that had a High street lender provided the mortgages the arrangement fee would be approx £400 and the monthly payment would be at least 30% less. Regretting not looking into this further at the start. Any info would be great - Thank you Forum.

Hi, first post so please bear with me. My husband submitted his NDL Cashflow to the HSBC in April this year when he realised he could not meet his commitments, mostly in return he has had letters advising him to get help from a DC and of course the phone calls. The HSBC also denied that he had written to them so he sent them copies of the recorded delivery receipts and complained about the way he had been treated, he did receive a better response to this and an apology and a refund of charges for that month, he also pointed out that he would not deal with this matter on the telephone and would they please deal with it by letter, he also received a letter offering him a reduced full and final settlement which he replied to saying if he had any money he would be making his monthly payments, no reply yet. Frankly this is one of the more baffling elements of being in debt, you do what you think is the right thing and offer what you can and it gets ignored? I cannot see any merit in totally ignoring an offer,they can always say no (in writing of course). I think it is back to the drawing board Rohannah

I entered into an informal loan agreement, the specifics of which were detailed in an exchange of emails. This loan was later increased and essentially became an investment in a joint business venture. The partnership was later dissolved by mutual consent (again there is an email chain to confirm this). My former partner and I later fell out and despite me continuing to comply with the previously agreed repayment schedule my former business partner has issued in the county court demanding interest at an extortionate rate when the loan / investment had not interest agreed. I have submitted the AOS but indicated that i would dispute jurisdiction - is this the correct approach? Is there any advice on how to proceed?

Hello, This is my first post on here. Recently i have been contacted by Buchanan Clarke & Wells (a debt collection agency). It is for an old electricity bill. I once stayed in a shared flat. I ended the contract with the letting agency, paid my electricity and Gas bills up to that point and moved out. One of the flat mates stayed on for another three months in the flat and never paid his electricity or gas bills. He stayed there with two other people who the letting agency new were staying there for three months, none of them signed a new contract. He paid all the rent from his account for the two other people - the letting agency must have know about this....... The letting agency new I had moved out, and I have an email trail showing that I ended the monthly rolling lease with them. For some reason I am now getting letters from this debt collection agency for this electricity bill. I totally dispute the fact that it is my debt. And on two occasions the letting agency have said they will contact the electricity providers and the debt collectors to remove me from this debt. Is there a template letter I can send the Debt collection agency and some advice? Many thanks in return.

Moved out of a 5 bedroom property at the end of June LL is requesting payment for final utility bills but refuses to provide copies of the bills so the amounts can be verified unless I pay them a £25 charge. They're also alleging damage and cleaning charges against myself and the other tenants but again beyond listing a few items has provided no evidence, or any invoices, receipts etc including charges for their own time and petrol. They claim they cleaned the property themselves. The wording makes out that they are doing myself and the other tenants a favour by not charging us how much it is costing to them but don't actually specify how much it is costing. They also don't seem to wish to go via the DPS as they demand payment to be made immediately without proof and then we will receive our full deposits back. Private student accommodation - 5 people. Separate contracts, separate deposits. No inventory taken and no checkout list provided. After disputing the damages without evidence provided they are now attempting to levy £25 admin fee's on top.

Hi all, 6 month AST ended and we heard nothing about return of deposit for 2 weeks until i emailed agent to ask. They replied saying LL wanted to take deductions for some things. We asked exactly what those things were, and wrote a letter direct to LL saying if we didn't hear back we'd take legal action. Finally got a letter from him exactly 15 working days after tenancy ended. Deductions proposed are to cover damage which was already existing (we have pictures, and copy of the inventory we notated and sent to Agents detailing all this). They're even trying to claim for scuffs on a wooden floor which were indicated in their own inventory!! Plus one more thing which we don't have proof of, but certainly didn't do. They claim we damaged edge of carpet in a room and sent a picture (dated 5 days after tenancy ended) showing some short loose strands/ fraying. I'm slightly concerned they may even have set this up to frame us as it certainly didn't look like that when we left! His letter detailing deductions says what he wants to claim for, and how much, but there are no receipt or quotations?? Along with letter in post, we got a notice through DPS site that LL intended to make deductions and do we agree. We ticked no and sent it back. LL has now sent it back again, claming the deductions again. We have again ticked no we do not agree and sent it back. Today have sent a "letter before action" disputing each of the claims he makes and including a template I found on the net which covers things like LL can only claim for losses incurred, these must be accounted for, cannot use as a redecoration fund etc, and we require reply and cheque within 7 days or will proceed to court without further notice. I am wary of using the DPS arbitration/ dispute service as reading case studies it seems they often find party in favour of LL. It also seems a very faceless/ inhuman process, with little chance for us to show exactly how much LL is trying to rip us off. But I'm worried now we've rejected his claims twice on the site it will automatically go to their dispute service? I would rather go to court, even if it means paying. Apparently it will cost £70 to do this. I just wondered if anyone can let me know if I'm within the right time frame for all this and doing it in the right order? Additional points: Deposit was protected and we were notified Inventory was given to us to hand back to Agent at our leisure. They didn't show us around, attend check in, or do a check out We informed Agent of all the incorrect issues on inventory (things stated as clean when they weren't/ existing when they didn't etc) the day after moving in, by notating inventory, dating and initialling. We have copy of their fax report to show they received all this. Landlord wants to sell property - as he is claiming for costs towards replacing carpets and professional cleaning (not required in tenancy agreement) we're pretty sure he is aiming to use our deposit to do up his house to sell! We have nearly 100 pictures of property when we moved in, none from moving out unfortunately However we have 2 witnesses who helped us clean and move in/ out Deposit was over £1,000. To date they have kept all of it, even though the amount they are claiming is £450. It's now a month after we moved out and they still have our money Thank you in advance

Hi and firstly thanks for looking, I am being chased by a company called RSM Tenon for an account I held with Yell. I sent them a CCA and they have responded with the information. Only problem is, they are chasing me for £1239.93 when I have worked out the amount I actually owe them is £1046.45. It also shows this amount I have worked out on the CCA, I know its not much of a difference but I feel it is rather rude to just add on money without explanation and would like to dispute this debt. Only problem is I don't know where to start in a letter and would be grateful of any help Regards Sarah

I handed my notice in 3 weeks ago and my boss is disputing my hours / workload for the period of time I worked (2 weeks.) My job is working from home and I completed some data entry which they are saying doesn't add up for the hours I've said I work. Where do I stand legally? I was never set objectives or a input per minute schedule for the work.

I am looking for some advice on how to dispute a debt with RBS (passed to Westcot) which is entirely made up of bank charges. In Dec 2010 my account went overdrawn overnight due to a payment coming off (I had no overdraft facility on my account so unsure as to why the payment wasn't just rejected?). Anyway I went 'overdrawn' by pennies - an amount less than £1.00. I went to the bank the following morning when it opened to pay this amount back in, thus taking my account balance back to 0.00. A bank charge of £29.50 was then due to be taken off at the end of that month. I couldn't afford this so I opened a bank account elsewhere, and asked that the account with RBS be closed. They refused and kept adding charges onto charges onto charges. I was made redundant in March 11, and informed them of this but they still kept adding on charges for nothing. The entirety of the sum I owe them is bank charges. They eventually sold the debt on to Westcot and it is sitting at 800+. I would like to dispute this but I don't know what the best course of action is. Should I write to the RBS, or go straight to the FO? Are there any template letters I could use?

Hi folks Hopefully I've come to the right place but if not I apologise for any inconvenience and would appreciate being pointed in the right direction... We compete in a motorsports discipline which is an expensive passtime whichever way you look at it and as a privately, (without commercial backers), family run and funded team, we are constantly looking for help with funding. We put together different supporters packages and in return for donations we would send out t-shirts, caps etc. the packages differ depending on the amount of the donation. We would also offer a pair of tickets to an event, the recipients of the tickets determined by drawing a name out of a hat. It was through the above innitiative we met a couple of supporters back in 2009 and over the years their contributions to our racing costs increased substantially and over the same period we became friends and met for meals etc. It is rather difficult to promote an individual as you would a company where the individual is more of a benefactor helping you to achieve your goal rather than a company trying to promote brand awareness, for example. In return for the funding, we gave the individuals a patch on racers' race suit, came up with a name for them and placed the logo on the racing vehicle and also entered our team under their logo so that they appeared on all timing sheets, official programmes etc. The racer thanked them publicly on television when being interviewed and we gave them access to our team no general member of the public would get. We placed their logo on our website and gave them unrestricted access to the racing paddock. As sponsors/members of our team they recieved privilleges reserved for team members such as parking of their motorhome in competitors area's which has all the fascillities for bathing/toilets/ electicity etc. as apposed to camping in the public campsite. (Which has no fascilities) They attended awards ceremonies as our guests and we gave them our rider's winners' trophy and personally autographed framed action photo's. We then joined a bigger professionally run team and as always, these two individuals were given access to all area's within this team and new friendships were made. At a point in the season we became disallusioned with the this team for various reasons and decided to leave. At this point the two individuals ceased all communications with us but maintained their relationship with the team we left. That was a blow as we had effectively lost our main sponsors as well as two people we had come to consider our friends. However, it happens and we accepted and respected their choice. We missed a few races while we assembled our old team and secured the backing of a company, (two in fact), which was a first for us and then returned to the paddock to complete the series. We have subsequently had a letter from the two individuals listing several items that were given to us over the years, each with a monetary value attached, as well as a claim for an amount of money which has been described as a loan which we had all agreed would be paid back in due course. There was never any loan or agreement in terms of the money given to us and the items listed were given to us, most of them came as a complete surprise and weren't even asked for in the first place. They have not asked for the return of these items but that we pay for them. Their letter goes on to say that if we dont pay up then they will either take us to a small claims court or serve us with a writ. What happens now? We are talking several thousands of £'s. Also, am I entitled to put a value to the privilages afforded to them over the years? Any advice appreciated. Thanks

Hi all Would be grateful for some advice if any kind soul has the time to offer it. I haven't had a car insurance claim in my 9 years of driving (and potentially 9 years of no claims bonus now to lose!) so I don't have much experience to draw on. In short, I don't agree with some of the invoiced costs which I have received this week - I damaged another car's body work & bumper - but the invoice includes cost of new Toyota, and Aygo badge. Googling an image of the car confirm to me that these are NOT situated along the side of the car or on the back bumper!! The invoice also does not contain any detail on the fields to describe 'severity of impact', 'damage areas', 'vehicle status on inspection', 'pre-accident value', 'Impact.' I am not happy, particularly as the owner of the Aygo has told me the car was photographed and accessed by the repairer. I want to dispute this lack of info on the invoice and this seemingly unconnected costs. What can I do? I haven't yet contacted my insurance company, as I was hoping to settle privately, but the work has been invoiced at £660! Background Info: Earlier this month, I was running late for work, and whilst eratically zooming into a space parallel to the kerb, came too close to a little Toyoto Aygo that was parked nearby. I scraped the Aygo along its side, and there was a little damage it back bumper. The owner and I exchanged details. Hers was a lease car, and due to this said that she would get in touch for the leasing company to sort out, and was very reasonable & understanding. She said that she would contact me with some quotes for the cos of repair, the damage didn't look huge. I hadn't hear anything for a while,so I called the Aygo's owner this week. She told me her leasing company had had the repairs carried out already! They have invoiced me & I have the option of paying privately or settling through my insurance. Claire