I am now in a position to tidy up my finances. I have been making monthly payments to Lowell for 6 accounts. I have sent to a CCA request for all 6 accounts. They have replied for 3 and the other 3 are currently on hold. The 3 that i have have had a response for were all mobile contracts. Lowell stated Three have been unable to supply all the documentation i have requested and because of this Lowell are unable to recover these 3 debts by court action. They also said "never less, we do believe they have supplied enough evidence to demonstrate the accounts are valid and owning as i have been making payments since 2012." They go onto to offer me a 20% discount to close the accounts... I emailed them requesting as they could not pursue i would like to request that you do not contact me regarding these debts and continuation to do so will be classed as harassment and will be reported accordingly. They replied along the lines of "please be aware that the outstanding balances are correct and due" Where do i stand with these account now? Thank you.

An interesting story that featured on SCOOP today has caught my attention. The link to the story is below and the article says the following: Council tax dodgers in Wyre could be targeted by a team of specialist lawyers under plans drawn up by town hall bosses. Law firm Greenhalgh Keer has been lined up for a six-month pilot scheme that could see residents who refuse to pay up pursued more aggressively. A report published by Wyre Council’s resources portfolio holder Coun Alan Vincent (pictured), who will make a decision on the plans next week, said chasing up the most persistent offenders is too “time-consuming and costly”. He added: “Unfortunately, the council does not have the in-house resources for anything more than the occasional case.” Wigan-based Greenhalgh, which currently has arrangements with 35 local authorities, specialises in chasing up council tax and business rate debts. The trial scheme, which would cost the council nothing, will “test the water” with a dozen pre-selected cases. http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/news/law-firm-set-to-chase-council-tax-1-7055615

Hi All, I made an online purchase for a premium hotpoint washing washing machine that cost nearly £600 including a whatever happens cover. Goods arrived Wednesday 19th June, I have encountered nothing but problems since hence I am seeking advice. Background - The washing machine strives on it's anti stain technology feature which I put to the test the very day of delivery after running the first wash cycle on auto clean mode as per instructions in manual guide. I used fairy washing powder and found after the cycle had ended the clothes were still stained. Perplexed as to why this had happened I set about purchasing a more stronger detergent as I thought Fairy was quite mild. The next wash I used persil liquid tabs that were placed directly in the drum, this time after the cycle had ended not only did the clothes have the pre washing stains but it also now had new additional stains from the liquid tablet which looked like blue watermarks on the coloured clothing. I rang currys and encountered a long catalogue of blunders with customer service until eventually an call out was made for an engineer to come out and inspect the machine. I originally wanted a refund but I was told that the machine had to be diagnosed and fault found before a refund/exchange is offered. Fast forward to when engineer arrived and this is when my real problem started - Engineer asked me to demonstrate how I would start a wash cycle. I explained I only used fairy washing powder once but have been using the liquid tablet which I place directly in the drum. I thought I would demonstrate both methods; however when I started placing the washing powder in the soap dispenser he corrected me immediately to say I used the wrong compartment. Ok fault admitted, I inserted the washing powder in the wrong place. So soap dispenser was taken out and rinsed thoroughly. Next I showed how I would use the liquid tablets in the drum which I did correctly and he told me to start a program. Once program had started engineer stated he thinks the problem should be fixed now as he believes it was a user error. Hang on I said "what about my ruined clothing which was as a result of correctly using the liquid tablet in the drum"? His response was it must have got trapped in the drum somewhere which shouldn't happen again. in total he spent 15 minutes from arrival to finish and went away as he had other jobs. Fuming that he did not return to review the wash cycle I called Currys and experienced their rubbish service again about how to wait after wash cycle ends and check to see if clothes are still stained. Two hours later the verdict was in - as expected clothes had been ruined again. So back on the phone to Currys and again another encouter with an unhelpful member of staff who spoke to Hotpoint. Hotpoint claim as no fault was found and it was user error, I need to run the machine on auto clean mode so that it can get rid of any residue which was as a result of misuse. Fine, I hang up and run the machine as per instructions on auto clean a good few times. The results after adding more dirty laundry - the same as before. At the end of my tether I wrote a letter with pictures of ruined and dirty stained clothing and emailed head office highlighting my concerns and requesting a refund under SOGA as goods are not as described in product specification and are not fit for purpose. Currys called me today apologising for my experience but explained that they still need an engineer to inspect the machine again as last engineer found no fault and placed blame on user error. The representative used this excuse to his full advantage despite dismissing my claims that I have given Currys every opportunity to rectify the problem and also implemented their suggestions of running the machine on auto clean mode to counteract any build up residue from the first cycle. Furthermore he quoted me SOGA by saying I need to give them a chance to repair the problem before a refund could be issued. He was very insisted and even wanted to try and arrange an independent engineer to come out at my expense. I outrightly refused to pay for the engineer call out. I am now awaiting to hear from him again as I asked what the protocol would be if I did allow another engineer to inspect the machine as I do not want to find that like the last engineer they disappear again after a short while without viewing the end result. Phew that was long! Ok so now I need to know where do I stand with this legally? Do I follow up Curry's suggestions and pass from pillar to post with no expected result in sight or do I contact my credit card company and ask to put in a claim under section 75? I have only had the machine for less than a month and have all the photographic evidence, letters and call logs as evidence to prove my case however I need to know where I stand legally. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

More support for the advice that you should not ignore completely but that you should make it clear that you are up for a fight. Here are some heavily redacted extracts:- Full horrible story here:- http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/law/article3698204.ece# Shocking. I had always thought that the United Kingdom Crown Prosecution Service has great integrity

http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/personal-finance/pressure-growing-to-crack-down-on-ppi-firms-1-2795828#.USEFNDqEh0M.twitter but in scotland its a frre for all to fleece for now dx

Hi, Hope someone can help here? My background is simple. I am on a DMP with Payplan repaying £44k of debt. £2900 relates to HSBC debt which is now been sold on to Metropolitan Collection Services. The original debt was near £4k In 2009 I wrote to HSBC asking for a refund of bank charges. Between 03/04/08 and 06/03/09 they charged me a total 0f £650 in bank charges. I was going through severe financial difficulty. My wife fell pregnant and with complications couldnt work, then fell quickly pregnant again and could claim any maternity allowance. I racked up these charges and a large overdraft with HSBC which was rolled up into a managed loan. Interest was 16.9%! But i was desperate so went with it. Some time later (2011) i entered my DMP and now pay the agency through paypln. Whilst clearing out some old paperwork, I stumbled across a letter detailing the charges and that HSBC wouldnt pursue this further. THis was dated 19th June 2009. At the time I didnt pursue it any further because of all my other debt issues. I am now wanting to take this up - I have succesful PPI claims across a number of my debts which is reducing the outstanding debt balance significantly (approx £5k to come off!) - With interst the £650 would be around £900 - a third of my outstanding balance. I cant find anything anywhere on how to pursue this further - its clear i was in financial hardship but at the time they didnt want to listen. Can someone please please please help? If needed i can upload the letter Edit - would the money be paid to me as the accounts close and with an agency if succesful?