My son was signed off his JSA because he was a day late signing on. He was then told to do a rapid resign - which took two weeks- and was subsequently asked to repay a months JSA because it was claimed he was not eligible for it due to the fact that he had been automatically signed off during that period. he is now being pursued by debt collectors. where does he stand legally? is there any successful way to appeal against what seems to be a rather high handed action?

I recently paid 465 pounds into my bank via the express deposit till. i have been using this facility for years without any trouble. This time though the bank appears to have lost my money. I went down there with my receipt for the amount but they can find no trace of it. To cut to the chase I have made an official complaint and they are investigating. Where do I stand if they can't find the deposit? Would they be obliged to compensate me?

I recently signed a contract with T Mobile for an LG GT500. I had to send the first one back because it didn't work properly. They replaced it with another one which is just as bad if not worse - it is constantly crashing or freezing. In short it doesn't function as the spec suggested. What legal rights do I have re: cancelling the contract or getting a new phone?

I have received a PCN for driving in a bus lane in Wandsworth. But there are several bus lanes on Wandsworth Road, Lambeth, and the PCN does not say which one I was in nor does it say which direction I was travelling in. As I understand it if there is more than one bus lane and they haven't specified which one I was in I have good ground for appeal. Any thoughts on this would be welcome. Cheers

I have a Honda Jazz that I bought new in 2008. It has been pretty good up until now, but for the past 6 weeks or so I've been having a problem with the battery. What happens is that sometimes after car stalls the battery seems to go instantly flat and it won't start up again. A couple of weeks ago this happened while I was giving a driving lesson (I am a driving instructor) and was very embarrassing for me. When the AA guy arrived he said that he was experiencing more of these sort of problems with Hondas and said that in his expert opinion, he was also a lecturer in automobile electronics, the fault lay in the smart charging system (or the avalanche diode, as Honda refer to it). He said that the on board computer was not receiving the correct information from the smart charger and was closing down when it should be charging up - hence the instant flat battery. I took the car to my Honda dealer and they ran extensive tests on it before concluding that there was nothing wrong with the battery of the charging system. I wasn't entirely surprised by this as the AA guy had told me that was what they would say. They said there was nothing wrong with the car, but it has since happened again - so there must be. Any suggestions as to what the problem could be and where I stand legally if the car cannot be relied upon to do the job for which it was purchased would be welcome.

Ok, thanks crem. I ll hang on in there.

I recently received a PCN from Bromley Council for being in a bus lane. I appealed on several grounds - the killer one (I thought) being that the photos of the offence did not list the date, time, day of the week (not listed at all), and location of the offence in the correct order according to Section 5.12 of the Home Office's The Bus Lane Enforcement Camera Handbook (Second Edition) - but the appeal has been refused. Is that because there is a new edition of the Bus Lane Enforcement Handbook (that I don't know about) which has changed the above regs or is it just that the council can ignore these conditions if they choose? If so I am going to appeal again on the grounds that some of the wording on the Enforcement Notice is incorrect. Any advice would be helpful. Cheers.

Hi has anyone appealed against a bus lane fine in Shortlands area of Bromley Road, Bromley, Kent. If so any advice on how to fight it.

My son is being hassled by MBNA over credit card debt. They are constantly ringing him to settle a debt, about £1000, that he simply can't afford to pay. He is a student who has not been able to find a job and is just about scraping by on his student loan and the little amount of financial help me and his mother can give him. MBNA's bullying is beginning to wear him down. He has tried to reach an agreement with them but they simply will not budge. They have now threatened him with court action. My instinct is to let them take him to court where I would guess that any reasonable magistrate would throw out MBNA's claim on the grounds that my son simply does not have any money to give them. I would welcome any advice anyone could give me. Does anyone have a specimen letter that has worked against this company and stopped their harrasment? Thanks

Does anyone know the law as regards the connection of lead piping to copper piping in domestic plumbing? My elderly parents have recently been asked to pay for the repair of water pipes that were joined, I'm lead to believe, illegally with a sweated joint instead of the approved connector. What chance do they have of claiming the money they have spent on this back from the company that failed to do the job properly in the first place?

Hi Crem, yeah I know what you mean. But I felt I had a stronger case going with what I did. Sorry couldn't help you out more. Cheers

Hi there, last April I received a bill from Thames Water asking for £127.00 for the previous half year. But I did not pay it because it actually had 'do not pay' stamped across it. I assumed that they would send a reminder at some later date. They never did. Just before Christmas 2008 I received a final demand for the above amount plus a demand for a further £167.00 for the half year from April 2008 to October 2008. There was an additional charge for a previous amount (not specified) which Thames said was because a previous bill had been estimated. I paid the first bill for £127.00 just before Christmas but have now received reminder for second bill. Three questions: 1) Is there any legal time limit between a company issuing an initial bill and then following up with demand for payment (what I'm getting at is could I have refused to pay bill for Oct 2007 to April 2008 on grounds that it had come too late?) 2) Since they were six months late issuing the reminder for the first bill could I claim that it is unreasonable of them to expect me to pay a further bill of approx £200 after such a short period of time? Could I legitimately demand extra time to pay it? 3) Since I have a water meter which is easily and constantly accessible I am mystified as to why any bill should have been estimated. What should I do about this?

Hi just thought I d let everyone know that I beat the bus lane fine from Merton. I challenged them using the following letter; The photographs do not identify my vehicle beyond reasonable doubt. I would also point out that the bus lane markings from Victoria Road to the Lidl Car Park (on London Road opposite Tooting overground station) are not consistently and clearly marked. As can be clearly seen from the photographic evidence you have supplied the line defining the outside edge of the bus lanes running from Victoria Road to Lidl car park, and particularly the bus lane between Finborough Road and Lidl car park, are not consistently uniform. In some cases the bus lane line has been worn away completely in other cases it looks more like a dotted line. As a London Council it is your legal responsibility, as stated in the London Local Authorities Act 1996 to maintain the bus lanes properly and the evidence shows that you have not done this. Additionally you have not clearly stated which of the bus lanes on London Road I am supposed to have entered. Again this is a contravention ofRoad Traffic Regulation Act 1984.. Furthermore, the pictures of the alleged contravention supplied on the PCN do not conform to The Bus Lane Enforcement Camera Handbook published by the Home Office. This states as an “operational requirement” in item 5.1.2 that: “Every image of the offence shall show, in addition to the offending vehicle, in the order given: the date in days, month, and year, the time in hours, minutes, and seconds, the day of the week (not shown), location and frame count from the beginning of the recording. The data shall be imprinted on the image or included in the violation record at the time the offence is recorded.” The images do not show all the required data and do not show it in the order given. Only “approved devices” can be used for CCTV enforcement. The failure to show the correct information and in the correct order must mean that the device used was not approved and therefore not lawful and the images are inadmissible to show any contravention or alleged contravention. The failure of the PCN to show lawful images renders it void and therefore there is no evidence of a breach of the bus lane order or regulation. Should these representations be rejected then please treat this as a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the following documents: a) A copy of the bus lane order or regulation giving effect to the Bus Lane. b) A copy of the Safety Audit for this road layout. c) A copy of the engineer’s scale diagrams showing the layout of this Bus Lane, the road markings and the signage (including warnings of camera enforcement). d) Copies of any approvals of deviations of signage from TSRGD. e) Logs of maintenance visits verifying existence and condition of the signs. f) Certification of type approval of the CCTV device. g) Details of the number of times that the videotape used has been degaussed and reused. h) A copy of the Camera Enforcement logbook recording the alleged contravention. i) Copies of the still images showing all the required information in the correct order. j) The number of PCNs issued by London Borough of Merton in respect of this location. k) The number of PCNs issued by London Borough of Merton in respect of this location and cancelled by them following informal challenges. l) The number of PCNs issued by London Borough of Merton in respect of this location and cancelled by them following formal appeal to them. m) The number of PCNs issued by London Borough of Merton in respect of this location and cancelled following appeal to a PATAS adjudicator. n) The number of PCNs issued by London Borough of Merton in respect of this location and not pursued by them for any other reason. Hope that helps anyone in a similar predicament. Thanks to all who contributed.

The employer is sending the correspondence to his mother and I's address, but he does not live here anymore. Are we obliged to tell them where he does live now or would we be justified in simply returning the letter to sender marked 'no longer at this address'?

Thanks to everyone for their advice.