Got myself in a bit of bother with the local council, I basically owe them 1 months business rates in the sum of 338.10. I got ONE reminder then bang a magistrate court summons which says I must attend on 18th Jan. Now, i've got no problem with paying the amount, its not something i'm trying to get out of, but the manner in which they've gone about it really disgusts me. They've now inevitably added £85 "costs" on as well. Another thing that really bothers me is that along with the summons there is a red leaflet that says UNLESS YOU HAVE A VALID DEFENCE (AS OUTLINED BELOW) YOU DO NOT NEED TO ATTEND COURT. It then lists examples which are and are not valid defences. Who the hell are the council to decide what does and doesnt go in a court of law? Its disgusting. I spoke to the council today and said I am sending the cheque for £338.10 today but I am not prepared to pay the costs, a snotty women said unless the costs are recieved IMMEDIATELY then the summons still stands. In that case I will attend court and have my say, if i'm paying their "costs" then i think i'm entitled to a hearing. Theres been loads of bad press recently about my local council which I haven't paid much attention to, now having been on the recieving end I think I agree with it.

Try [EDIT] They are a national network of quality independant garages and you can view motorist feedback reports before choosing one.

Does anyone know, can I make a subject access request for employment records? In particular i'm after my old contract of employment and company car usage records. Thanks

I was at a hearing on Wednesday with NPAS (the national parking adjudication service) They conduct the parking ticket appeals. They claim to be independant despite being funded by 60p for every parking ticket issues....but thats another story. I won my appeal no problem. To conform to s66 of the RTA 1991 the ticket MUST have two dates, date of contravention and date of issue/date of notice. This has always been NPAS's view however a few months ago Barnet council disagreed and applied to the high court for judicial review on the matter. Justice Jackson held that NPAS were right and that a ticket without two dates was a NULLITY and that NO FINANCIAL LIABILITY arises from a ticket which is non-confirmant. This has become known as the Barnett -v- Mosis judgement. The adjudicator said that despite the high court saying it is so, certain local authorities still do not accept it and will reject any representations based on the point. He said any appeals on this point will succeed. But, if you are past the appeals stage, i.e. you have paid the ticket then a county court route will work also. Then your only limited by the 6 year statute barred rule. My advice is go for it. Its a dead cert as they say!

I've just bought a laptop from www.ebuyer.com, it was advertised as "free double memory" meaning 512mb instead on 256mb. It says "free double memory" on both my order and invoice. When I recieved it it only had 1 x 256 stick installed. I contacted them straight away using thier "e-notes" system. Its took them over 2 weeks to respond and they basically just give me a URL to learn about their returns process. I develop software and I needed the laptop ASAP as my old one got stolen, so I loaded it up and started using it straight away. I dont want to return it now, i'd rather forget the extra memory if it came down to it. But, the extra stick of memory, or a pro-rata refund would be nice if I am entitled to it. Thoughts?

I see, Thats the answer then. I will get on with it immediately. Thanks

I was thinking that, but I can't start a claim for money they haven't actually had off me yet.

Hi, thanks for replies. The first diagnosis I got from my GP was post viral fatigue, except I have everything but the fatigue! Well my appointment with this specialist was supposed to be on the Monday, when I phoned the hospital they said it was cancelled as the doctor had been called away all week. I managed to get hold of the doctors secretary and asked if I could have a private appointment, she gave me another number for another one of his secretarys at a private hospital. Rang her and she said no problem, he can see you tuesday evening. Well, so much for him being away all week. So I saw him, and he's referred me to go for an MRI brain scan. He says I dont fit with having post viral fatigue. Dont know if thats good or bad news.

My story in brief. 1. Claimed against Halifax and recieved settlement soon after "without prejudice" 2. Withdrew my settlement which left my account -2.78 3. Halifax continued to apply unauthorised overdraft charges and now account stands at -293.00. 4. The amount is ALL penalty charges aside from the 2.78 5. Have recieved about 6 identical letters stating I must bring the account into order as per the terms and conditions. 6. Wrote back twice stating amount owed is penalty charges and I wont be paying. 7. Recieved formal Default Notice this morning giving 7 days to pay. What do I need to do? I see my options as 1. Pay the £293 in to satisfy the default notice then begin a new claim and recover it. 2. Do nothing, let them default me then start proceedings to have it removed - has anyone done this successfully? 3. Is there a 3? I was hoping they would just take me to court for it, that would be fun. But i'm worried now they will just issue the default to damage my credit rating, then write the money off to bad debt. I consider option 1 to be the easy way, but 2 would be more fun

Do you still have the ticket? If not get it by DPA/FOIA, then check if it has two dates on. If it doesn't its a nullity. Have a look at other posts in this section for further details of this point.

I have been ill for nearly 4 months now, its one of the reasons I haven't been on here much. My GP is at a loss, just kept saying give it time, then give it a little more time. 3 months in she finally referred me to a general medical specialist at the hosptial, it was about a month wait and I was supposed to see them on Monday coming. I have it all confirmed in writing etc. Then a letter today saying the appointment has been cancelled and the next availible appointment is 4th October. Needless to say I am absolutely livid. I dont understand how this can happen. Is there anything I can do, are they in breach of any duty of care? I'm probably going to try and get a private GP appointment and get a referral to the specialist that way. Its money I cant afford but I have little choice. I am managing to work but less than 60% of what I was before. And steadily deteriorating.

The date of issue trick comes under the Road Traffic Act 1991, a high court judge has recently ruled that a ticket without two dates - i.e. date of issue AND date of contravention is a nullity and cannot be enforced. Your ticket mentions a completely different act so unsure as to your chances. The man for this is Neil Herron, neilherron.blogspot.com He will tell you if you have a case and how to go about it if you have

Watch this space. I will be serving a claim on these jokers very shortly. Its 3 months late as I became very ill just after starting this thread. I'll post the details shortly.

Post it on pepipoo.com, they are the "experts"

Everything you need to progress to the next stage you should be able to get from the statements. Highlight all the lines which say charges as notified. Then bang it all into the spreadsheet and see how much you're talking about. I've had two successful claims with Halifax, just follow the process and you'll be okay. Its straightforward.

Read the FAQ's Everything you need to know is in there.

Carry on with your own plans and set your own timetables. If its anything like my experience it will involve. 1. Preliminary letter, 14 days 2. LBA, 14 days 3. File claim 4. Settled in full

Suggest you read the report yourself and make up your own mind. The bank is wrong, however.

First Direct have given me 30 days notice of closure of all my accounts. Quick rundown of the history. Sole account, issued total claim for £3126 on 4/4/06, settled in full without prejudice on 24/4/06 Joint account, credit card, another current account, issued total claim for £1126 on 20/6/06, settled in full without prejudice on 29/6/06 Letter arrived 14/7/06 giving 30 days notice. Okay I have parachute accounts in place, clear overdraft with first direct, no credit card balance and switching to the parachutes would be painless. However, their attitude has annoyed me. If want to show them that they cant behave like this. So, am probably going to seek an injunction to prevent the closure as Bankfodder has indicated on a couple of threads. The first account was operated the worse and had the most charges, however they didn't try to close it after the first claim. The other accounts, although they had charges were run pretty much normally. And there have been no charges for months. The last charges were 2nd current account, Sept 04 Joint account, Oct 05 Gold card, July 03 I beleive the closures are related purely to the second claim. Another bit of evidence I have is I recieved a new card for the first account (old one was expiring) just prior to the second claim being settled. I feel this shows they were happy to continue offering me banking facilities prior to the second claim. Comments? Do you think I have a case Bankfodder?

Hi, I'm about the hand my car back to the finance company under the provisions above. I've enquired and they sent me a letter. I just want to clarify a few points that dont seem quite right. I've been trying to find a copy of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 online but couldn't. I beleive section 100 is the relevent one. Return of the vehicle - you will need to make an appointment to return the vehicle to our agent. Appointments are on Tuesdays only and subject to availibility. Can they do this? You must attend this appointment in person and the vehicle must be fully comprehensively insured, have a valid MOT and current road tax. The vehicle wasn't taxed when I bought it, I paid for it myself so why should they get 7 months free tax? The return process will take no less than one hour, ensure you have sufficient time for its completion. I would love to find that the act simply states the goods must be returned to the lender, i.e. I take the car, hand the keys to reception and then leave Thanks

I'm sorry to say that this one won't be going any further. My Uncle Alan sadly passed away in his sleep last night, he was only 43. Very sad news.

What is a part 20 defendant?

Most of them are java based and pretty easy to set up, there are some free ones about as well.

Preliminary letter sent, standard complaints letter back Letter Before Action sent, recieved a response offering £120 from a £235 claim. Phoned them saying I want the difference otherwise making a claim. They said no problem, we will refund it all but you should understand we are doing it because we value your custom and not because we feel we are liable in any way. He then went on to say that they are reducing the charges to £12 because the OFT has said this is fair. :o He said these are the terms of the agreement, I would be expected to honour that agreement and if not they would have to consider withdrawing the credit card.

Not bank related. About 12 months ago someone issued a claim against my company regarding a car we sold on eBay. This was before the days of this forum and when I had no experience of the county court system. The claim was rubbish and revolved around scratches on the car and no spare key (S reg punto for £800) I couldn't believe it as they came and inspected the car before they bid. I think they were just trying it on basically similar to another thread running at the moment about a car on eBay, the difference here is that we were/are a business. I went to solicitors about this, the did a basic defence and sent it, they also filled in allocation questionaire. We got then a "Notification of Allocation to Small Claims Track", on it were instructions from the judge to the claimant saying. "The particulars of claim must be clarified, the claimant must submit a revised particulars of claim giving special attention to the law on which the claim relys. Unless the claimant do comply with these instructions the claim does stand struck out." The claimant never complied and we got a letter from court that the claim had been stayed. It was my view then, and even more so since learning from this forum that the claim had no merit whatsoever and the claimant was trying it on. The solicitors cost was £300+vat, I was wondering if we could issue a claim against this claimant for this loss we have incurred. Is this possible? If not its just one of those down to experience things, at least I know now what to do should any more come though.