This topic was closed on 03/07/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/07/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/07/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/06/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

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This topic was closed on 03/05/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support their. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/05/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support their. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/05/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support their. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/05/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support their. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/05/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support their. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

Good to know, well done. (I stuck to my gun and that was the last I heard from them) Conclusion: It's worth fighting if you think they're in the wrong.

Nope. I told them they would have to make their case in court, and that I would defend to the end. That was the last I heard of them. :-D:-D:-D:-D (Sorry for late response, I only occasionally pass through these days!)

Quick update, have received the letter saying that as I haven't paid or responded (?), they treat it as a refusal and have added the surcharge, etc. Ah well.

I have asked them... They haven't answered. It definitely wasn't me who cancelled it, that's for sure!

Much appreciated, thanks.

Can anyone point me to where it says that HB will only get backdated 1 month? It seems as if all Local Authorities apply this rule, but I am finding it hard to locate the exact legislation permitting them to do so. I would be very grateful on behalf of one of my helpees.

It's worth keeping in mind that CA counts as taxable income, and entitles to equivalent NI contributions to be credited towards your pension. I could be wrong, but I don't think that's the case with other state benefits like UC, so if that's the case, you'd still be better off claiming CA even if it came to the same £ for £?

I used to get a card with my certificate, yes. I haven't received one for at least 3 years, only a letter confirming my entitlement. And I can confirm that it has happened again, because I got my confirmation letter of my renewal in the post today, and guess what, no card. On the other hand, just to confuse things further, 2 days ago, I received hubby's certificate (only about 4 months late!), and his DID come with a card, for the 1st time since we started having him on pre-paid, only about 2 years ago. And yes, as Bazza posts, the DD is supposed to automatically renew. "so you don't have to worry about forgetting to renew". Ah! There's a laugh! > My "sanctimonious" comment was simply because here at CAG, we have tried to never have a "it's your responsibility" blanket approach when a member comes up with a query. From the early days, we have had the "it's your fault you had bank charges", "you shouldn't have got in debt", "you were supposed to check where you parked", and so many other campaigns where we made the big companies back down and change their ways. It's always disappointing to see the cop-out "it's your fault, you should have checked" response, which besides being highly unhelpful, (it's only an opinion, not based on any legal precedent) comes across as just cutting the debate short. Like I said, I think that I have more than one legal argument up my sleeve if it comes to that: 1) the Direct Debit guarantee, which protects me against wrong amounts being taken in error, and which clearly stipulates that a DD will continue until *I* instruct the other side to stop; 2) the Hong-Kong/Phillips argument (not the customer's responsibility to check bank statements: whilst it is more an argument to do with banks disputes, I think the principle itself is sound and sufficient to be used in other cases); and finally 3) the good faith / lack of care argument: let's not forget that in a small claims, the judge will decide on the *balance of probabilities* whether I intended to defraud the NHS, or if it was down to an admin error (not mine, btw!) and that at the very least, the NHS body should be held responsible for their failure to adhere to their own procedures. As you can see, it's far from as clear cut as just a "it's your responsibility" thing. On a separate note, apologies for the harsh tone of my previous post: that was the day Ophelia hit the UK, and the change in pressure made me very irritable, which I only noticed the day after when it had passed!

For starters, certificates haven't come with a card for a few years. You just get a letter. The reason I didn't notice is because you can't prove a negative. It gets renewed every year, I open the letter, put it on top of the pile of letters to be filed. Secondly, even if it had crossed my mind, the fact that hubby gets one as well means that it didn't even register in my mind that we got 1, not 2 letters (they don't come at the same time, before you ask). Thirdly, I disagree with your assertion that the law is not on my side: The Direct Debit Guarantee is quite specific that an instruction must be carried out unless and until *I* advise them to stop. That same legislation which normally puts the onus on us customers to check we are not being charged over and over again, works both ways: I gave them instructions, they carried them out, then decided to stop carrying them out. There is also an interesting case law which I used extensively in the old bank charges days, when the banks tried to tell us it was our responsibility to check our bank statements. Turns out that this isn't the case, I can't remember the name right now, but I have it on file in my old paperwork, on the lines of Phillips v Honk-Kong company, I'll dust it out when and if I need. Finally, you are not a judge, and whether you think I am right or wrong, you cannot possibly know who the courts will agree with, so instead of coming across all sanctimonious with the "it's your responsibility" nonsense, why don't you stop with the gaslighting? Thanks. PS: No, I am nowhere near 60.

Hi there. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/2794/regulation/2/made#f00004 As far as I am concerned, that's your defence, right there. I'm in the same boat and as far as I am concerned, they're going to have to take me to court if they want the penalty. As for the time frames, I wouldn't rely on that, they're indicative, not mandatory.

Not really looking for advice, but since I commented on someone else's thread, I thought I'd better start my own just to keep things straight: I get a pre-paid certificate for my prescriptions, have done so for a few years now. I pay by DD, £10.40 a month, I don't notice it coming out of my account, I get a letter once a year telling me it's been renewed, and I tick the box at the back of my prescriptions, no fuss, no hassle, my pharmacist has known me for over 20 years, that's it. Or so I thought... Got a letter the other day telling me that I had got myself a free prescription and that I didn't have a valid certificate, so I was being fined, bla bla, pay up or there'll be a surcharge... I e-mailed back to appeal, saying it must be a mistake, as I am on the pre-payment scheme, giving them the Direct Debit Ref. A few e-mails back and forth, where they couldn't find my name, my address, the DD, the usual, before finally working out that they stopped my DD a few months ago (but not the other one, in hubby's name, which is probably why I didn't notice!) and so, I cheated and I must pay. Yeah. No. I don't think so. I have pointed out nicely that they were the ones who cancelled my DD (for reasons best known to themselves), who didn't notify me that they had done so, I have acted in good faith all along, and the legislation is on my side, so I'm not paying, take me to court if you want the money, because I'm not doing it until a judge says so. That's where we're at. I'll let you know what happens next, if anything. Meanwhile, I can't even apply for a new pre-paid certificate, because their website is not working!

OP, did you ever get anywhere with this? I know the thread is nearly a year old, so I'm thinking by now, you must have had a resolution one way or another? I'm asking, because, as people might guess, I am having problems with them, and I have just told them to take me to court if they want the penalty charge. About to start a quick thread on this.

Yup.

Long story short, I used my card in Spain for a hire car. The hire car company added their "extra" insurance without me noticing, the amount I saw going off was, I thought, what they usually "block" in case of accident to make sure you have enough funds. As the card was new, I didn't have a PIN for it, so they made me sign on a digital screen. When the money didn't unblock on my account after a couple of weeks, I contacted the broker, who then advised that I had bought the extra insurance. (yeah, right) I contacted Clydesdale to raise a dispute, but they would have none of it, their standard response was "you signed for it", even though I told them it had been done fraudulently, asI would never have taken the extra insurance. How can I prove this? Well, I have an annual "reduce your excess waiver" policy, which covers precisely the extortionate amount hire car companies usually try to get you to take out as "additional cover". Why on Earth would I agree to pay £250 for something I buy for £35 per year here? So, instead of suing the hire car company, which is in Spain, and therefore practically immune from justice, I am going after Clydesdale, arguing breach of their fiduciary duty. They never even examined my claim of fraud, they just went with the "there's your signature, you agreed to it" attitude, despite me repeatedly pointing out to them they had a duty to at least investigate. There'll also be a couple of £12 charges on top, as the £250 amount would have cleared my balance, so I didn't pay attention to the postal statements they sent me (Clydesdale doesn't do online checking for credit card customers, only if you also have a bank account with them, which is another complaint I have with them, but that's a different topic) and didn't realise I was supposed to pay something that month, so they slapped me with a late payment charge. I'm not having that kind of behaviour, thank you very much. :-p

Hello all. Here I am, still knocking around. Quick help needed, if you please? I am taking Clydesdale CC to SCC, spent 25mns talking to drones, not one of them was capable of giving me the correct address fr service (!). 1 - Does anyone know where to send it? 2 - If it turns out to be HO, which is in Glasgow, am I right that I can still pursue them in England using the "out of jurisdiction" CPR rule? Thanks in advance, folks. B.