Sorry, parking charge notice. I do know the difference.

I know it's effectively a contractual charge but no breach of contract occurred. All four wheels of the vehicle were inside the parking bay and I have photographic evidence of that. I am, to put it mildly, a little angry that some pos PPS employee thought that they could con me into paying their charge and did so in such a way that I consider amounts to attempted fraud. Needless to say I'm also a bit annoyed about the waste of time that they are causing me. However, have no problem and in fact am quite enthusiastic about arguing this matter in front of a county court judge. Some people might have missed the ticket and some might roll over in front of a company whose business model seems to be at least a bit questionable. In answer to your question, no I didn't wait for the notice to keeper and no, I haven't read pofa. However, no contractual breach occurred and I'm more concerned about exposing and punishing this company for their actions.

On the penalty charge notice . The attachment is my photo of the only part of the car 'outside' the bay. Don't worry dx, I can handle this one. I only posted it because the 'infringement' is so ridiculous. I expect they'll cancel it without much of a problem. If they don't I'll be billing them for my time and then pre-emting any chasing letters etc by commencing proceedings for recovering my costs. They can counter-claim for the fine if they like.

Apparently in the world of Premier Parking Solutions this amounts to parking outside the parking bay and is worthy of a £100 fine. Rest assured that all four wheels were inside the (small) bay and the photo shows the only bit of overhang. I'd like to think this was issued by some over-zealous newbie warden but then he/she placed the ticket right at the bottom right of the windscreen no doubt in the hope that I would move the car before I noticed it. I've already 'appealed' and put them on notice that unless cancelled forthwith, I will be seeking recovery of costs for my time. I'm actually quite tempted to report them to Action Fraud as well.

Well this has moved on but not very satisfactorily. The Ombudman has told me that, based on information from Allianz (M&Ss insurer), the PPI account was closed in January 1990 and that they have no records prior to that date. In other words there is a record of one month's PPI premium being paid and any records before that have been destroyed. I find this remarkably coincidental. I have asked the Ombudsman for the evidence supplied to them of the PPI cancellation they say I will have to make a subject access request. I also asked them for confirmation the M&S/ Allianz don't have any records prior to January 1990. They seem a bit insulted that I have even asked the question. Finally I asked whether M&S/ Allianz have ever produced records prior to January 1990 when it suited them to do so. They ignored that question. I am a bit surprised and annoyed by the Ombudsman's evasiveness. However, I think I'll go ahead with the subject access request. I'm extremely interested to know whether they have any offline records and also when the decision was made to destroy pre January 1990 transaction details. I suspect that this will end up the Information Commissioner.

Quick Update. I had a reply from GE saying that they had no information about me to respond to my Subject Access Request. Still cashed my £10 cheque though. In the meantime I obtained a copy of the title deeds to my then house using a historic records enquiry at the Land Registry. This listed the legal charge that FNB put in place. I have now obtained a copy of this from the Land Registry. This is a copy of the loan agreement with FNB with an agreement number and shows the amount added for payment protection insurance. I'm sending a copy of this with a FOS PPI complaint form to GE.

Does that apply to M&S chargecards? I have just received a very low settlement offer from M&S for a chargecard taken out in 1986 and running to about 2001 or 2002. Should I make a separate claim to Genworth?

Well I have form on this. In the bank charges heyday I issued DPA proceedings against Santander as they claimed to not have certain data. They miraculously found it. I've just done a quick calculation. If the card balance was half the credit limit throughout the term and they charged 70p per £100 of debt each month , then the total amount recoverable including simple interest at 8% would be almost £2,600. Whilst I can't remember what the balance was in the eighties I know that I was running every credit card I had at its credit limit for most of 1995 to 2000 and so I don't think the calculation is way off. Even if it was quartered it's still a hell of a lot more that what M&S has "reconstructed".

Thanks for this. I read elsewhere about them reconstructing on old accounts. My subject access request should tease out what data they actually hold. I find it hard to believe that they disposed of everything before 2000 as we know from the old bank charges claims that financial institutions tend to keep very old records albeit not necessarily in computer systems. Follow up email to my telephone conversation. Your Ref: CHARGECARD ACCOUNT NUMBER: Dear Sir Following my discussion with your PPI complaints team I write to reject your full and final settlement offer. You have accepted that I had a chargecard account with you from 1986. I believe that the account was closed around 2001. You have also accepted that I had PPI policy on the account. On this basis I find it hard to accept that in total I paid £6.85 in premiums. From research I understand that your PPI charge was around 70 pence per £100 of outstanding balance. I believe that the credit limit on the account was £750 for most of the agreement and I certainly had a rolling balance for most of the late nineties. Your PPI complaints team agreed to re-open my complaint and send me details of the PPI calculation. It would have been helpful if this could have been sent with your full and final offer as it will apparently take you another four weeks to provide it. In addition to your calculations please also send me all details that you hold about this account including: date it was opened, the account opening form, credit limits applicable throughout the term of the agreement, monthly account balances throughout the term of the agreement, PPI premiums paid throughout the term of the agreement and any other information you hold about me in your systems. Please treat this as a subject access request under the Data Protection Act. I would remind you that a subject access request is not restricted to records held in computer systems and includes data held on microfiche, scanned documents etc. Please let me know if you require payment of the statutory fee for this data. Yours faithfully

I've had a reply and a settlement offer of £45.55! This is premiums of £6.85 plus interest. I had the card from 1986 to around 2002. Having spoken to M&S they claim to not have any records going back before 2000 but they've somehow based the offer on an average account balance. If I remember correctly I only had a credit limit of £750 on the card but I was running close to this for most of the nineties. Am I wrong to smell a bit of a rat here? They've now re-opened my complaint and are sending me more detailed calculations.

They were actually very nice over the phone taking my details and then checking their systems. They even put me on hold whilst they checked another system. They were really apologetic at the end. However, I'm not buying it. I don't believe for one moment that they don't have records going back decades even if they bought the company from someone else. They would have acquired all of the archives. What I could believe is that the records are on microfiche or on scanned microfiche somewhere. From the threads it's pretty clear that I have to go after GE. I think a subject access request with some additional comments about their obligations in respect of offline records is the way to go.

Will do and, sorry, I called GE.

This is, as they say, interesting. The reason I made a PPI enquiry to Santander about this was that The Claims Guys sent me a form with First National Bank on it but without any account number. I took out an FNB loan in the very late nineties and paid it back in 2002. I should mention that I used the Claims Guys to make enquiries and I've submitted the resulting three claims myself. To get more details I made an enquiry on the Santander website but they only replied with details of my old current account. When I rang them up, they gave me details First National Bank with an address in Harrow. I'm not sure that there's any business there anymore since there's no website and emails bounce. I subsequently read that Santander sold FNB to GE Money in 2003/4. I have just rung them and they took details of my name, old address and date of birth. They then said that they couldn't find me on their systems. The only way they could proceed is if I supply the account details and proofs of identity. I think I'm being given the runaround here which is unsurprising given that Santander are in the mix. What I find curious is that the Claims Guys enquiries seem to have found something. Given that both Santander and FNB effectively still exist albeit the latter is trading under a new name, I find it hard to accept the excuse that they don't have the paperwork particularly when I remember that I had to make a DPA court claim to get Santander to comply with a subject access request over bank charges 10 years ago. Could anyone confirm who I should go after here? The lack of paperwork is very convenient but I'm unsure who I would actually make a PPI complaint to. That would at least give me a starting point.

Thanks DX. Anything that Santander are anywhere near is going to be tricky but I've had fun with them in the past

I had a secured First National Bank loan in the late nineties which I believe had PPI. At the time FNB was owned by Abbey National/ Santander. I submitted a PPI enquiry to Santander but they only came back with details of my old bank account with them. I believe that FNB were purchased by GE Money at some point. Should I be making my enquiries with them?

Has anyone been asked to fill in a second full PPI questionnaire after completing their online form? I rang them up about this and they said that the posted questionnaire had some additional questions and this would help them to assess the complaint. I'm naturally concerned that this is another delaying tactic as they do seem to be going at a glacial pace. I also wonder whether they're looking for differences between the online submission (that they don't send you a copy of) and the new form. On balance I don't think I'll bother to spend another half hour providing them with information that I've already sent them.

In the event I complained to the Ombudsman on the basis that life is too short. The bank have provided what the Ombudsman has described as a 'fairly unusual' response admitting that they got it wrong and inviting me to make contact to discuss any 'impacts' their actions had. In reality I didn't suffer any direct financial loss as I negotiated my way out of the situation they had created. I did spend a few £ writing to them and chasing them and no doubt they did do some reputational damage with the auctioneer. My question is whether it is reasonable to seek financial compensation in such circumstances or just move on. The cheques were for nearly £21k in total and the bank's actions technically placed me in breach of contract. I would welcome any advice.

Been a while since I've been on here and I'm a bit out of date. I was chatting to a friend who has three defaults on his credit file with 2-3 years to run. He's considering paying the debts which will result in the defaults being marked as satisfied. Can someone confirm that these will drop off his credit file on the sixth anniversary of the default. I seem to remember that there are circumstances where the satisfied record remains for six years after the satisfied date but I can't remember the detail.

It's now just under 9 weeks and still no acknowledgement or reply from the bank. I've had a quick look at BCOBS and I can see that there is a basis for a claim. I've also drafted an FOS complaint. In the bank charges days we didn't generally bother with the Ombudsman but I wonder whether it would be as well to make an Ombudsman complaint as well as drafting an LBA. I think any particulars of claim are fairly straightforward and similar in outline to madpriest's although the specific issue is different and I don't know how to go about assessing the value of the claim.

Thanks Marc. Going to be a bit like the old days

Anyone have experience in litigating against their bank for reputational damage over an incorrectly bounced cheque? Brief story. I issued a cheque for £20k as a deposit for a property bought under auction terms and conditions. Cheque seemed to clear my account but then was returned. More than sufficient funds in the account. Bank said that they didn't have an up to date cheque mandate for the account despite the fact that I submitted them for both my personal and business accounts. Bank made no effort to contact me by phone to confirm whether I had issued the cheque. I submitted a complaint on the day this happened (30 August) and sent two follow up reminders but so far I've had no acknowledgement, let alone an apology. The bank weren't to know this but bouncing a cheque for a property purchase under auction terms and conditions is a breach of contract with potentially dire consequences. In the event I sorted this out but it has damaged my reputation. I have told the bank that I want a clear apology that I can show to the auctioneer and a sizable charitable donation in compensation. However, given that don't seem to give a damn about the matter and that I seem likely to have to either go to the Ombudsman or litigate, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the way forward and specifically whether the legal option is worth considering.

Good advice. Thank you.

Thanks. The first step is a letter to Direct Line. This potentially means that if you want to create hassle and unnecessary cost for someone, all you have to do is make and then withdraw a bogus motor insurance claim. Wonderful.

Can I insist that it is deleted? If they refuse do I have recourse to the Ombudsman or the court?

Thanks for this. Does that status mean that the "claim" will not have any impact whatsoever on future insurance quotations? If that's not the case then it's unacceptable to me.