On Friday (27th March) I sent out a few CCA requests - 1st class recorded post. With the weekend etc I guess I can assume that the letters were delivered on Monday. With the Easter week-end bank holiday days coming up, when do my 12 + 2 days end? And - on what day should I be planning for my follow up letter (assuming they don't reply) to drop through their letter box? Thanks, Mike

Ron, thanks for posting this - I'm waiting for a response from MBNA at the moment, so it will be interesting to see how similar it is to yours, if at all. Regarding threads about the morality of challenging agreements - I haven't seen any, but I take the same line as you - the banks seems to be the most immoral and corrupt orgainisations around. Regards, Mike

That helps, CitizenB. As I have already bought some £1 postal orders* I'll go with that option first and see what comes back. Regards, Mike * 50p charge on each one! Could a building society cheque from a savings account be used instead?

Thanks, CitizenB. The pt version looks somewhat more daunting and seems to carry a greater risk. Or am I missing something? Also, when pt says you need to leave plenty of time for the bank to respond, how much is plenty of time? The 14 days for the "standard" CCA request seems reasonable to me - is this reasonable in the pt version? Thanks, Mike

That's great, thanks

OK, here goes - I have several cards with quite large sums on them and I simply have not been able to keep up with the payments. I have had what I believe to be default notices on a couple of them. Although a member here for a while, I have just stumbled across this whole CCA request strategy and am hoping for some help to get out of my mess. My question is: is it too late to go down the CCA request route hoping that the original paperwork is not in order? Thanks for your help, Mike

You can get the recorded delivery slips from the post office ahead of time - filling them in at home can save some time in the queue. So, when writing to a bank, specifically when writing to a bank regqrding a CCA request, is it worth including the tracking number in the letter? Regards, MIke

Ah - thanks.

When sending a CCA request, I have seen it advised that you shouldn't sign the letter and you should send payment using a postal order. Why is the reasoning behind this? Thank you, Mike

Hi, I have been looking at the whole CCA requests idea for a couple of days. There is something that I don't have the experience or knowledge to decide on; that is which version of template letter should I use. I guess the official one is here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/show-post/post-162367.html but there is another here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/show-post/post-422937.html which has the phrase "I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company." I also remember reading a post by PTxxxx about this not being the best route to go. So, please could someone verify what I should be sending? Thanks for your help, Mike

Are the DVLA allowed to give RK details to a PPC for anti-social driving? If so - its shocking!

I think it would be reasonable for them to use an estimate based on previous usage. Mike

Rob, what is the preocedure for this, and how much does it cost? I plan on changing my old paper licence for a new style photo licence and don't want to lose my motorcycle entitlement. Thanks, Mike

I had another one recently. The customer offer to pay usage + the owed amount spread over 6 months. The energy company wanted the owed amount paid back over 4 months. So, no "half now" payment demanded! Yet the amounts outstanding were broadly similar. Who makes these rules? What guidelines are given by the regulators? I there are no guidelines, why not?! Nottslad - I would agree that it would usually be the best option IF the energy companies weren't charging more for the energy through PPMs and if it was made easy and cheap to revert back to a credit type meter. There was a guy on the radio earlier in the week (from Energy watch I think) who made an interesting comment - The energy companies are not allowed to cut people off if there are vulnerable people living in the property. The guy on the radio made the point that many people with PPMs are cutting themselves off every week because they are unable to top up their meters. So, vulnerable people end up going without energy! This is not acceptable. I have no proof, but I suspect the energy companies are make more profit per energy unit with PPMs, but the they won't reveal the numbers. This is what fuels my suspicion. Surely it is time for someone in authority to take this industry by the scruff of the neck and make it do the right thing. Mike

A couple of years ago (May '06) I bought a vehicle, got the MOT, tax and insurance and happily drove it around. When a year was nearly up I decided I would not use it after the tax/insurance/mot ran out, so filled in a form to declare SORN. I got a letter back stating I wasn't the registered keeper and therefore couldn't declare SORN. Somehow I had missed that I hadn't received the V5C even though I had done the right thing with the paper work. Anyway, I promptly forgot about it, but was reminded when the previous owner got in touch saying he had a fine from the DVLA for not declaring SORN. I provided him with copies of the letter from DVLA and my SORN document. Armed with those he was able to pursuade DVLA that no fine was due. He did advise me that they said I should write to them stating I am now the registered keeper. Again, I forget all about it. The situation now is that I guess I am still not the registered keeper and I have forgotten to re-new the SORN at the end of May (no reminder as not RK). What can I do so I don't end up getting stupidly fined? Thanks, Mike

Hmm. Thanks. Just to add some context to the question -- I do pre-disconnection visits. I'm starting to see an increase in the push to have PPMs fitted, something which I don't think is always beneficial to the customer. A case in point -- recently I called on someone who owed £300. The energy company wanted half to be paid during my visit via a card and the rest of the debt to be paid off over 4 months. This was not possible for the customer, but they offered £100 by the end of the week and the balance to be paid off over 6 months. The energy company rejected what I thought was a reasonable offer saying they would pursue a warrant of entry to have a PPM fitted. So, are there any defences that a consumer has against the energy companies in circumstances like this? Thanks, Mike

I have a few questions about pre-disconnection visits (PDVs) and pre-payment meters (PPMs) ... 1) When a customer has some debts, What rights do the energy companies have to insist that a pre-payment meter is fitted? I know this goes to court and a warrant can be issued, but is there a defence that can be given at this point. 2) If the customer offers to clear the amount outstanding in, say, 6 months, can the energy company still insist on a PPM? 3)It is said that the reason the energy companies charge more energy supplied through PPMs because it costs more to collect the money that way, but do they make more profit from PPMs? Is there an online resource that can help with this? Thanks, Mike

It is generally believed here that these private parking companies regularly break the law - using documents purporting to be official documents in order to obtain money, not having proper company details on letters - to name just two. When the police are informed of this they are usually dis-interested, or claim it to be a civil matter. If you could post the ticket here (blurring personal details first), some of the more knowledgeable ones could have a look and see whether laws have been broken. It would be interesting to know if your policeman friend would follow this up. Mike

Ah - OK. I have no idea about that - I have driven a fair bit around mainland europe, but have only read up on road rules in France. If I had come across a congestion charge sign in France, like the ones you passed, I'd have been equally if not more confused as I don't speak the language well enough. All that said, I'm not sure you'd get it passed the appeals. Mike

I agree with you arnneisp - the sign that G&M posted mean something to us as we have some additional knowledge. Visitors do not - and that sign doesn't really make things clear. Are we supposed to pay a charge when it is congested? That said, you are supposed to familiarlise yurself with local driving. Signs may be international, but there are variations. My quiestion is how did they track you down on your next visit? Oh and ignore Hoenst Parking's posts - his contributions to the forum so far have been less than helpful (said with British understatement ).

I've got some time due to me. Name the date and location and I'll be there. Mike

I think there is a small kick back to the supermarket - at least there are for other business who do this. Asda are saying that any proceeds will go to charity, indicating to me there is some money coming their way. Also in the Asda press release they state that the only carparks they will operate the scheme on are car parks that htey own. There will be no need for them to operate it as another business.

Very good - made me smile

Was this in a private car park or a council car park? Maybe you could scan and post a picture of the ticket (having removed personal details) so we can take a look. In case it is a private parking ticket, do not contact them in any way at this stage. There are template letters on this forum for dealing with private parking tickets, but we need to ensure it is a private parking ticket first before using them. Mike

I had a similar thing - I travel into town quite often in the evenings and most often arrive after congestion charging time. On one occasion I realised I had got to my destination early - the M4 was unusually clear. This led me to wonder whether I had entered the zone and needed to pay. I genuinely didn't know and couldn't figure it out. I phoned them the next day and asked them to confirm whether I had entered the zone during the chargeable period and was told that this info wasn't available to them for three days. Yet unless I paid before then I would risk getting a penalty. So, I asked if I could pay and then have a refund if it turns out I didn't need to. No chance - no refunds. Iniquitous!