Hello, I bought a Volkswagen Golf (63 plate) in January for £14,500 cash, since buying it, it has suffered five misfires, three of which have occurred in the past three weeks, the first two of those three I was told it had been "fixed" and it's currently in the garage again being "looked at". The trouble is, this has left the car incredibly untrustworthy and it's reliability questionable at best. The last two misfires occurred in the first 9 miles of a journey to work, not exactly a lengthy journey. Volkswagen are prepared to offer me a new car "at cost", but will only give me part exchange value for this car that has the misfires and is clearly defective to be suffering misfires on two cylinders. It has spent around 10 days in the garage now in the past six weeks. Although they say they'll "definitely fix it" before I get it back, they said this twice before, so I have lost trust and confidence that the car can actually be fixed. Unfortunately, the part exchange value leaves me around £4,000 short of what I need to settle the loan I took out for it, they're prepared to give me this extra if I agree to add £4,000 on to the finance of a new car, which isn't ideal. Do I have no way of getting a full refund or a better price? The car is unsafe to drive and at this rate I'll have no choice but to take my car back and quite literally risk my life on the roads - the misfires leave me with no power and as I travel on single and dual national speed limit carriageways, this makes overtaking and anything else you may reasonably expect to be able to do in a vehicle rather difficult. Forgot to mention the car has only done 12,300 miles, nowhere near what I would consider engine-breaking mileage.

Hi my daughter who has bipolar got into a relationship 15 months ago with what we now know to have been a controlling, manipulating serial criminal he is now behind bars for burglary my daughter is in court this week charged with handling stolen goods, this is a complete nightmare, I have been visiting the police, mental health, GP etc for over a year voicing my concerns, as I have not been allowed contact, her phone was taken off her and she as not been allowed to answer the door to me, they told me they could not discuss things with me to the data protection act. I now know my daughter had not kept any appointments with her GP or mental health and therefore is not taking her Lithium for her bipolar. My daughter who was a quiet law abiding person till June 2013, is now seriously in debt no bills have been paid for months. She also as a drug addiction. I have numerous appointments this week to see different professionals concerning her health & now her soon to be criminal record. Her car as been crushed, she as nothing of value left. She only had an overdraft before this man took over her life. My daughter is in ESA support group and has been for 2 years, she receives mid rate care DLA & low rate mobility. Debt collectors have written from sky, wonga, money shop, nat west credit card, 02, admiral car insurance, rac insurance, overdraft nat west, tv licence, An attachment of earnings form as come from the water company this was received 11-9-14 this has to be back in within 14 days. She has a charge certificate for a parking fine I filled in a witness statement after advice as baliffs were on verge of calling they said the case is on hold pending my statement arriving There is a conditional offer of fixed penalty for a driving offence this as to be returned by 4/10/14 She also has to have a defence go in by Tuesday as she as a rapid repossession order for her landlord to take back her house, I have had to fill this back in with advice off a landlord friend as the Law Centre cannot see me till Friday. I feel overwhelmed by everything as I have a disabled husband and nephew to care for I simply do not know where to start the debts total around £8,700. I would appreciate any help as I am at a loss right now what to do next. I longed for the day I would see my daughter again but now I have her back with her life in tatters

Hi, First of all i would like to thank everybody for their continued support on this site and the help offered to many has been great, I have spent the late night/morning reading through the forums and getting ideas and seeing how much of a general ball ache all this is going to be! So i have been in this spiral for a few months now but today is the day i miss my first payment I have been rolling over alot of loans and paying some off however now im stuck I have no more money this month due to having to fix my car and now i cant pay back one of my lenders.. My debt portfolio looks like this: Payday Express - £630 (due today) been rolled over twice and took a further loan out this month WageDayAdnavce - £160 due next month only taken out 10 days ago PiggyBankLoans £250 due next month rolled over last two months next payment due next month MiniCredit - £700 however have agreed a payment plan of £69 per month started that 8 weeks back. they where very easy to deal with i thought contrary to what i have read in other threads. Quid - £299 just been paying minimum payment for months now next payment due next month Lending Stream - £174 with two payment left of £107 (30th oct) and £87.10(nov) I also have a £1600 overdraft and two credit cards totalling £400 I always make my minimum payments on my overdraft and cards. and dont see them as a long term problem as i am slowly paying the three off and don't use or even have the cards any more as I cut them up months ago. This month i also paid back toothfairyfinance over £500 for a £400 loan. I made over £1000 in payments to these accounts this month and still fall short and now i need to regain control. I tried setting up a payment plan with express last month however they said as i had only recently taken out the 2nd loan (the two total £490) they would not even discuss it with me and they rolled it over i made a partial payment and and had a reduced amount. This month I then took out the second loan again for a total of £490 with £630 after fees. They will not even consider a payment plan when i phoned them this morning the loan is due today i only rolled it over but I don't have the £160 and i was about to borrow off tooth fairy to pay it and after reading through all this it is the last thing i should do and i need to stop. I have about £500 spare each month to pay off these loans. I now have moved back home to live with my parents, my mum is aware im in financial bother but is in no position to help i have lied regarding the escalation of my debts and she has helped in the past. If a bailiff or somebody knocks at the door i fear i will become homeless. I am in full time work. I have already been on payment plans with quickquid and wonga and paid them both off respectfully. in the past 6 months. Im now at my wits end and this whole situation is becoming terribly depressing. I have looked at a debt management scheme with payplan and step change, however if they don't agree to work with them what else can i do? Thanks One very stupid man PDL Total debt - 1584.48 Card/overdraft - £2000

Hi, It’s another topic from a long time reader, as itseems that I don’t have the applicable knowledge on here to contribute to thewealth of experience of other posters. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this I throw myself at the mercy of the forum, and any advicethat you can offer regards to my current predicament. History:- Back in 2005 myself, and a business partner had abusiness account. We were not limited, just partnership. The business grew, more cash flow was required, and soonan overdraft of up to 23k had been run up. We were expanding rapidly, staff andstock.. The overdraft was extended numerous times, in smallincrements each time incurring a £500 arrangement fee. This was never once,signed for, at one time, it was done twice in 1 month where the manager hadupped it twice, after being asked once.. After trying to chisel away at this, and reducing thesum, on the advice of a business manager, it was turned into a business loan.It was less interest, and looked better to the bank to be seen to repay it. This happened simply by talking about it, on the phone.An email was requested to confirm that’s what we wanted to do, but this wasnever sent. ( im male, and it’s in our nature not to do as asked sometimes). Thefunds landed in the account. Payments were made on this up until the recession starteda good few years back. When we couldn’t afford the payments. It just neverseemed to end. Payments were crippling us, they kept increasing also. We had itback down to just over 10k when we couldn’t pay anymore. So, we worked out somesums. Working out what was left to pay, and what we have paid,meant me had paid over 25k back, and yet had another 10k left to go? This didn’tadd up, given the term of the loan, and how long it was paid, that the 10Kwould not be paid within the timescale of the alleged agreement. This andcaused us to start asking questions. At the time, the overdraft was under 3kalso. We had (due to financial reasons), stop paying, approx.2008 and we had banked with another high street bank for a while before this,so the business could be run under a new name, while it was being closed. As the old business ended. I sought work elsewhere, andthe partner continued to run what was left of the business. After no payments were made into the account, they tookover a year to phone the business and ask why? We asked for confirmation of anydetails verbally to managers, regarding copies of agreements as we felt we weretreated unfairly, and they never phoned back. More time passed.. and we gotletters every 6 months informing us the balance. After seeking advice on here in 2011, I requested a CCAfrom them, with the 1£ PO for each of us, as per the template on this site.Nothing. We sent another six months later, Nothing! so they’ve nowhad over 2 years to respond. Over a year back, my wife’s mobile phone rang.. Andsomeone on the other end, not saying they were from RBS asked if a (my Name)was there, and was it the same ( My Name) that had a business called (Businessname) ?? They then said it was RBS, and could they talk to me. She said yes, that’s my husband. She put the phone onto myself. The conversation was very vague. I informed them that the alleged account was in dispute,and that details had been requested. They also asked, repeatedly, if I had acopy of anything, I said “I had something, but not sure what it was”. They keptasking.. “do I admit I had an agreement”.. I would not answer this. How they got the wife’s mobile, is beyond me. I had thesame phone number at my house/previous house since 1998, and the same mobilefor the last 8 years. Yet? they didn’t have my details? I may have what looks like an agreement, however it’s notsigned by me, the other partner, or the bank. There is in fact no signatures atall, or provision for one. There are no dates, and the sections regards to paymentsare linked to points which don’t apply, or not there. It’s so vague, it doesn’tcover much. Over a two years ago, they have since sent me the firstletter ever asking me to talk about a repayment plan. Followed moths later bytelling me that they had passed the debt onto a third party collection company. (I have dealt with an HSBC loan a few years back, ofwhich we settled before it got to court, and looking at how quick that moved,makes me think that RBS may be hiding something. The HSBC did NOT mess around,from letter of default, to court form in under 3 months) There have been numerous agencies that this has been soldto, Triton, Zinc (nightmare), Westcott , I’ve lost track. I have not acknowledgedANY in writing, since in my opinion, since RBS did NOT send a CCA as requestedall those years back. There’s been over 10 differing agencies, and letters fromRBS every 6 months telling me that the new collection agency will be XXX I have a drawer full of letters, threats, act. There’scalls to my mobile, of which I had given them as they were calling my wife inwork, asking to speak to me. Despite informing them that its nothing to do withher, she still gets calls now. She has ended up blocking them. Calls to me, happened several times a day, in work, home,after 6pm.. I had to change my number. Almost harassment, and job costing. Yet, over all the years, the ex-business partner remainsUN CONTACTED, despite mobile being the same, same address and so on. Im thinking it was a fishing call, and there only lead, that’sbrought this. I also think that fishing to my wife’s mobile, to ask for me, isa grave data protection breach of her records. And, sending these details toother parties is a further breach. The current agency, is Tenon, and again, no communicationon my part. A few letters inviting me to London (Could not afford this) andthen the threat of a home visit after 6pm, over the next few weeks to discussface to face. This puts a burden on my relationship, and suffering fromdepression/anxiety, compounds the situation. What if my 6 year old answers thedoor to someone? The wife is Overall, it looks like the goalposts were moved, andrates/payments/arrangement fees were repeated added onto the balance, which isnow 25k ish. ( funnily, it’s never gone far over it, over the last year orso..) Over 12K of charges, and fees. In the 6 month statements, they debit theloan payment from an account, then charge an overdrawn fee, then return themoney back as it was overdrawn, charging for the bounced DD and returnedpayment.. Charge city.. The total figure consists of 2 accounts combined, 1 anoverdraft, and 1 loan. I cant make head or tail of any figures, as they changeper DCA, that just demand 1 amount. A date for SB is not known exactly, but by memory, isnear. I don’t know exactly when, as there are no dates on anything I possiblyhave. My Experian/Equifax is clear, except for a satisfiedCCJ.( nothing to do with anything here) No defaults, no delinquent payments. Not sure where to go from here really… But I need thisending, its making me ill, and I can see why so many people can just fold,calling it a day. Im not ready to roll over just yet. Im thinking SAR, but If they have no details on me, thenwill an SAR give them something.? The only legal advice I’ve had, advised that the courts won’tbe interested, unless they can provide a CCA, is this why so far, were still inthe DCA route for 3+ years? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks. Loops

I have a number of debts as detailed below that I have been making reduced payments against, for a little while in some cases. My age and circumstances now make it unrealistic to expect to continue doing so, and actually clearing the debts impossible. I am about to contact all and advise accordingly requesting that the balances be written off. If they aren’t I will reduce payments to a token £1 per month. At intervals I have been asked to increase payments, and I have responded that I am unable to do so and have volunteered an Income & Expenditure statement to bear this out. I have occasionally been offered a reduced lump-sum settlement opportunity including writing down the £24K mortgage debt to just £1,200 however, so I hope they will see the reality of things which is that at current payment levels the c£4K debts would each take over 60 years to clear, the c£25K debts well past 400 years, and I will clear the CCJ in 2085 aged 135! I'm not sure at the moment what approach to take with the CCJ, or even if that is possible and the debt will actually pass to my family/estate on my death … still looking in to that. Details, if it helps … My debts date generally from early-mid ‘00s and span a business collapse (Sole Trader) from which I never really recovered despite a short-lived further attempt. There is also a CCJ. This all had a devastating effect, including eventually the repossession of our home just a few years ago since when we have rented our way in to retirement. We have no assets and just state pension income. All debts are with DCAs except for one which is with the original debt-holder Cheltenham & Gloucester/Lloyds TSB. These are: Intrum Justitia from Nat West, Business Loan, Bal now £3,931, paying £5/mth since ‘03 Link from ?? (need to check), Bal now £3,702, paying £5/mth since ‘04 Fredrickson from HSBC, Cedit Card, Bal now £3,862, paying £5/mth since ‘07 Moorcroft from Nat West, Personal loan, Bal now £3,118, paying £5/mth since ‘04 Direct Legal and Collections Shortfall on repo sale of home by mortgage lender, Bal now £25,852, paying £5/mth since ‘10 Chelt & Gloucs/Lloyds, direct. Shortfall on repo sale of 2nd property mortgaged to release working capital, Bal now £24,000 +/-, paying £5/mth since ‘99 Also a CCJ in '02 for £50K at £50/mth since then Some have been with other DCAs too so they actually go back further .... for example Phoenix Recoveries, Lowells and Robinson Way at times as some were reassigned, but because of moves and more I just don’t have all correspondence anymore and can’t tie them down now. So …. I think my plan is sound, however before making contact to see what I can achieve I'd welcome any advice/comment ... good idea or not, any best way to go about it, anything further I might do to help myself, anything I could say in order to help, or avoid because it would hinder … that kind of thing. I’d love these to disappear so I can breathe easy now. Thank you for any assistance.

i've been working for a company for just over 1 year, 1 year on the 1st of june to be exact, and pretty much since i started i've been having some major issues with the management. i wont go into them all, as i could literally be here all day having a moan, but there are a few things i hope can get clarified with your help firstly, i was pulled into a meeting with my immediate boss who said he had a few issues with me, none of them had anything to do with my work, timekeeping etc, in fact he even went as far to say that the owners were delighted with my standard of work. he was basically nit-picking over incredibly trivial things like 'not having a valid excuse for not doing overtime' here was me thinking i didnt need a reason to not work o/t, and not being forced into it? anyways, at the end of the meeting he basically said to me that because i was employed for less than 2 years, he could sack me right there and then, without reason, and in his own words 'because i just dont like your face'. is this correct? and where would i stand with this? i have other colleagues who could & would back me up that i get treated differently to most other employees. (the dislike from him basically stems from me standing up for myself and others and refusing to be bullied, like he has done with a lot of the younger guys in the company) secondly, i just heard that we MUST sign a sheet of paper that states that if we don't hand in a receipt for filling our vans with diesel, the amount will be deducted from our wages. my question is, is this legal? as far as im aware a receipt from the garage isnt a vat receipt (i have to request one), so that cant be their argument. also, we use fuel cards, so the company get a monthly report from the card provider which in turn has all the info they would ever need on it. again, if i dont sign this (which i have absolutely no intention of doing so without further clarification) i will be hauled in and looked upon as a troublemaker, just because i dont bend over and take it in the ass like i should! thirdly, we are being issued with PDA's, which again comes with a sheet that says we accept full responsibility over any damage or loss, needless to say they haven't even provided them with protective covers etc. i should also add that my job involves a fairly regular amount of being up ladders, in lofts, and under floors, yet they say we must carry them on our person at all times! chances of damage are pretty high i would estimate....i certainly dont fancy having to fork out £400 every 2 or 3 months if i so much as get a scratch on the screen of something i didnt request. i'll stop for now as i could really start getting into the nitty gritty, but if anyone could help me on those 3 issues for now, i'd be greatly appreciative thanks