Am I right in thinking that in instances where private car park operators issue tickets, there is no obligation for the registered keeper to pay any charges, unlike it is with tickets issued by local authorities?

Are the bills all based on meter readings or estimates? I am surprised at the level of the money owed for the electricity. Are you cultivating pot plants in there?? But seriously, what power source are you using for heating in your home, is it gas or electric? And how big is your house? If you have paid 9 payments of £30 for your electricity by DD, then that means a payment of £270 so far, and the same figure for your gas. Electricity usage of £620 seems incredibly high.

Time for stage 2 Maybelline and good luck with it. I just got a result with my old local council over the service charges on my old flat. Stage one was a fob off, so I went to stage two and they have accepted my complaint and admitted that things are not as they should be. Keep fighting them. As Delboy would say "You know it makes sense":)

Excellent post Fivelaws. Do you mind if I post the content of it on to a couple of motorcycle sites that I frequent?

Lisa, I see what you are getting at now. You still wanted a U-fix tariff but wanted to be switched to an anytime U-fix tariff rather than the off-peak one. But instead they switched you to a Relax tariff which has no limits when you have used up your allowance? Looking at the T-mobile site, they should have switched you to U-Fix £25. T-Mobile (UK)

My partner has been paying £40 a month into a Pearl Saverplan for almost 10 years. The policy is due to mature on the 1st September. They have not paid any bonuses on the plan for 5 years now and the upshot is that she has paid in £4800 and will only receive £4718.97 back from them. I believe this is a very poor show by Pearl and totally unacceptable. She would have got more from putting £40 a month under her mattress! Does anyone have any ideas as to how we can challenge this in any way?

Did you ask them to provide a run down of what the new tariff actually provided prior to switching? And were you monitoring your phone usage, as a bill of £266 is a hell of a lot of calls?

Nice result to the problem. Hopefully they have put it all in writing for you.

Have they tried to take a payment from an expired card and then levied a penalty charge of £80? If so, then it seems an unfair penalty charge. I would contact them first of all and ask them to justify the charge and ask them to refund it. If they don't, then the next step is to sue the buggers!!

Are you happy with their valuation? If not, then you can dispute it. I presume some of the money they have deducted is the policy excess?

Hagenuk, I found this with a quick Google search:- Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 2402 If you scroll down you will see the permitted hours of the bus lane are 7am-7pm Monday to Friday. This is also in the link too:- (3) The controls specified in article 3(1) do not apply in respect of - (a) a vehicle entering or stopping in a bus lane so as to avoid an accident; (b) a vehicle entering or stopping in a bus lane to allow a person to get or give help in consequence of an accident or emergency or otherwise take action for public safety; © a vehicle crossing a bus lane in order to get to or from any road adjacent to the bus lane or any vehicular access to premises adjacent to the bus lane; (d) a vehicle being in a bus lane to such an extent and for such a time as is needed to comply with any requirement resulting from works or an emergency in any part of the road adjoining the bus lane; (e) a vehicle being used for ambulance, fire brigade or police purposes; (f) a vehicle stopping in a bus lane if it has lawfully entered the bus lane and it has to stop -(i) by law; (ii) to avoid an accident; (iii) in circumstances beyond the drivers control; I hope this helps you. Edit. Ignore the above. It seems they changed it to a 24 hour bus lane in 1999 Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2127 Sorry

Rosemary, Thanks for that link, it will prove most useful. Its good to know that the level of the exit fees is coming under the microscope.

The letter I got back from Northern Rock stated that one of the things that the £250 fee covers is the "electronic discharge of our charge registered at Land Registry". I e-mailed the Land Registry and asked them what charge is levied for this service. The answer??.....................................nothing!!!! I don't mind paying a reasonable fee for the service but given that all Northern Rock had to do to discharge my mortgage was to :- a) Prepare the redemption statement and the associated administration b) The electronic discharge of their charge registered at Land Registry (which costs them nothing) c) Despatch of the title documents I don't see the above costing £250. Nationwide charge £90 for the same service. So I have just written to them to ask me for a full breakdown at how they arrive at such a figure.

I would ask them for a full explanation of how they have applied their charges and also ask to see a copy of the T's and C's.

It has amused for me such a long time that the motor insurance companies can operate in such a way. This amusement was heightened when I moved house in March and cancelled my home contents insurance. I was paying by monthly instalments and all I had to do was cancel my direct debit and inform the insurance company of the cancellation of the policy. There was no demand for me to pay short term rates in the way the motor insurers do. My partner had an identical experience when she cancelled her home contents policy. The question that has to be asked is if the home contents insurers allow a cancellation midterm and are happy to apply pro rata rates then why can't the motor insurers?

When you phone up, they usually tell you that the phone call may be recorded for training purposes. Surely we could do the same and inform them that the call we are making may be recorded for training purposes?

Side, Is there any chance you can post a copy of the LBA that you sent them please?

How old is the vehicle? Have you contacted another Nissan garage or even Nissan themselves to see if it is a "characteristic" of the vehicle or an actual fault?

Makes you wonder what we pay line rental for:mad:

If the friend only had third party cover, then I don't see that Tesco would have paid out anything to cover their losses. I'm not sure if your friend can make a claim through the MIB for this, it might be worth investigating. In respect of the policy, with the car being a write off and unusable, I would imagine the onus is on your friend to actually cancel the policy, but this should only be done if the car is not on the public highway. If it is still parked on the road, it legally needs to be insured.

My issue with Northern Rock is the size of the charge and whether or not they can justify such a hefty charge for the service they are providing. NR charge £250 but Nationwide only charge £90 for the same service. Why do NR charge almost 3 times as much as Nationwide for the same service? Nationwide will also waive the charge if the mortgage has less than 10 years left to run. I had a mortgage with Northern Rock for 16 years and I feel very aggrieved that they have charged me such a hefty fee for a service that I feel doesn't get anywhere close to costing what they have charged me for.

Marie, Before going the court route , I would suggest you investigate the BT complaints procedure. I would also ask them to provide you with the terms and conditions relating to faults and repairs, and a copy of the engineers report.

I doubt the phone would be working if it had been hit by lightning.

Marie, The engineer is saying your phone caused the socket to blow, yet the person from complaints says it was lightning? Seems they can't make their mind up. I would be asking to see the engineers report. It might be a good idea to phone up BT and ask them what their complaints procedure is as well. I am pretty sure they have one. Ultimately it must lead to OFCOM. PS. Quick edit. Did the engineer actually test the phone itself? I've not known them to do that because the phone is usually the property of the householder, not BT.

I wonder if this is something that they are requesting on every single application to view a credit file? Is it worthwhile writing to them and asking them that?