a while back... When we lived in croydon they over paid us housing benefit by ?? 400, they now want it back and have handed it over to whyte & co debt agency! They sent a letter, then two days later we recieved a pay now or go court letter! I want to pay and have paid half ??200 up front and have asked to pay the remainder in ??50 installments......... But they are being absolute gits about it, the women is saying "no" and that we must pay the rest immediately, I explained that I am a fulltime mum and my oh has low income but the cow is still being a bitch, She said you have to claim benefit to be allowed to pay in installments! I said we recieve a bit of housing ben but she said "no, only jsa or income support" Its really upset me, its eoins birthday today and we spent alot on presents and party bits and its xmas soon. we are not rich atall and I cant believe they can be so mean.... I have paid half and agreed installments . Want to cry, dont know what to do?

i think they should be happy with ??50 instalments,whats a total cow,and im sure the courts would be more than happy with that,most ppl who get fines from court for various things only pay it back at about ??5 a week,even if its a ??500 fine

maybe you should spk to citizans advice,i cant remember who you can talk to about this

god they should be thankful you paid ??200 upfront!!!

on a better lighter note "happt birthday to Eoin" 1 today yay

didn't want to read and run, but don't know what to suggest. It is distusting that they want the money back and that they wont help to make it easier for you to pay.

I have contacted croydon council and they said its out of their hands and with debt agency! Apparently they sent letters to the croydon address about it........ even though I rang BEFORE we moved to give them new address details and tell them we were moving ( because of council tax ect)! looks like I may be stuck on the phone then.!!
Thank you girls xxxxxxxxxx

I'm going through the exact same thing but they want back every single bit i've had since moving into my house which is four years ago. They came out the other week and said i owe them going onto 3000! I rang them up and said good luck on getting that off me when i don't work and ohs income is low and luckily they've been nice enough to accept ??25 a month. Obviously i still feel reluctant to pat it because they shouldn't have gave it me in the first place if they didn't think i was aloud it (which with the income we were getting i have been told i should get it ) but if you ring around they should let you pay in installments. They cannot refuse! as long as your paying them something they can't do nothing.

I even got a bailiff come and check all my stuff to take and he gave me a week to pay the full amount and if i didn't he would come and take my stuff so i rang the town hall and explained everything to them and they let me pay ??35 to keep the baliff away and then told me i could pay ??25 a month.

Ring around people like citizens advice places and tell them you can't afford it and someone will come to the rescue.

Sorry to jibber on so long but i can't stand these people that say your entitled to something one day then say now you have to pay us back.

Good luck hun

Lisa xxx

they are truely evil.... I rang again and she said a sturn "no" I explained that I am eligable for JSA but choose not to ( as I am not seeking FT work, only pt, and not seeking every day!!) After me babbling she gave in and said ??50-nov, then ??80, then ??70. I said ok cos I was getting tearful and it upset Eoin, he's never seen me cry before! Its not ideal but I want to spend day celebrating with Eoin (at the farm!) not getting abuse from them gits!

Thankyou again girlies, xxxxxxxxxx

~I agree - as long as you have agreed to installments you cannot be seen as refusing to pay!!!

Just a note re bailiffs - if they ever come round to take stuff, tell them it all belongs to your OH (or parents or someone!) and then they have to get a proper list of everything drawn up to see what if anything you do own.... takes a while longer and gives you some time to sort stuff out.

I've recently had a similar problem with an old debt from the pub (just over ??100) a company called the AIC text !! me to ask me to ring them, so i did..... they then agreed ??5 week with me. I got a one ringer from them about a week later, then another a week after that, then a text message asking me to ring them. When i did noone knew anything about it.... then a couple of months later i got a snotty letter saying that i was refusing to pay and i had to fill in a financial statement for them or the bailiffs would be round. (I wasnt working at this point) so i rang them. I was told I was useless because I wasnt earning and being a stay at home mum was no excuse, so I lost it and played hell with the receptionist (who wouldnt put me through to a manager or even the person I had dealth with previously), pointed out that I'd been paying for a couple of months, and told them to stick their letter up their arse. Never heard anything from them again, until a couple of weeks ago when I stopped the SO, and they sent me a cheque for an over paymet I'd made, addressed to a complete stranger!!!!!!
So i rang them and asked what the hell it was only to be told I would have to send the cheque back recorded delivery before they would send me a correct one, but they were adamant that the details on the original cheque were right - So I sent them a snotty letter with the ripped up chq back, telling them that as it was now money they owed to me, they had 7 days to get the chq to me before I started claim proceedings... :lol: I also asked for an apology for their discriminative staff, though I doubt I'll get one.


Sorry for going off on a tangent there.....

but you've paid half of it, and have offered installments. Write down the time and dates of any conversations with them, and ask them to send you a financial statement to fill in, and they cant do anything to you!


Good luck hon

xxxx

Hi

Im in a similar postion however over council tax, they wanted full amount i have been apparently overpaid (?still waiting to see why as i was open and disclosed everything)

After snotty phone calls i took the kids up there and said go on then have their shoes coz its the only thing i have that is worth anything it was busy at the time and quickly got ushered into office where i was told if it did come back that i was overpaid (and it related to a few years earlier) i could pay in instalments.

Its sad that sometimes it has to come like this, good luck sorting it xxDBxx