My car is insured with Hastings Direct. It was damaged in storms at Christmas whilst parked overnight and then bodge repaired on my insurance by Hastings approved repairer RGM Bodyworks of Haverfordwest Pembrokeshire. The repairs were so bad that Hastings had to send out their own independent engineer form AIA Independant Assesors who agreed with another bodyshop that RGM have caused £3000 worth of damage to my car which has actually written my car off as I only paid £4100 for it a few months ago. Now Hastings claims dept and the repair agent Fleet Accident Repair Group ( FARG as they like to be known) are doing everything to delay and bully me from getting justice and my car repaired. The bodywork and paintwork is so badly repaired that their engineer states it in his report which I have managed out get out of them. We have a disabled child and our car is now useless to us, we have to depend on friends to get our child to hospital and appointments etc now. I recommend that you stay well clear of Hastings Direct and their agents FARG as they are totally useless and a rip off. You get treated like you are something they have trod in on the street.

Hi, i was wondering if anyone else has had the same experience with Direct Line as we have and if so could give me some advise Just under two years ago my son passed his driving test and after searching the internet we found a quote from Direct Line that we could manage. We call them and after being asked a great many questions to confirm when and to what degree my son would be using the car. I explained that the main reason for this was it would help reduce my sons insurance premium in the future they were happy that i would be the main driver and him a named driver which entitled him to "Named Driver No Claims Bonus". Two days ago i called Direct Line with a question ( not related in any way to this)only to be told that the insurance policy that i had been paying for the past two years was in fact invalid and my son had been driving uninsured. The reason they gave was "he was on the insurance policy as my spouse not my son". After a number of telephone conversation they accept that they have made a mistake and in no may have we mislead them or are responsible for this error. They have told me that the policy is to increase and i have no choice but to pay or go else where. For my part i have asked for a refund on the said policy for the difference i would have paid if i had the policy for myself. I have also pointed out that if my son has lost his two years no claim bonus and as i will be leaving them mid year i will also be losing out and wish them to compensate me us for their mistake. Any advice on where i stand legally and what to do next or is there anywhere i can go with this would be great, Thanks.

I have just checked my online banking to find out a company called HFO services ltd have set up a direct debit on my account. Anyone know who they are as I have never heard of them or no what this is for! Thanks

On 28th January 2014 I was hit in the rear whilst stationary by another vehicle and subsequently contacted my insurance company Hastings Direct to process a claim through the insurance company of the person that hit me. I've since experienced a catalogue of errors and miscommunications. I was firstly advised once my car was collected to go for an assessment of damage I would receive a 'hire car' (not a courtesy car - but I would not be liable for the cost of this vehicle) only to later be told that this is not the case and I shouldn't have been advised this. I asked that the recording of the conversation be listened too and that someone should call me back. No-one called and so a couple of days later I followed up and asked again. This time the call was listened too and I was issued a 'hire car' for one week despite the fact that I was indeed misinformed. So, my own car although deemed it would be a total loss was collected to go to a garage for repair assessment and I was informed by Hastings Direct that if I were to want my car back then that would be no problem. I followed up to be told it was a total loss and at this point I did mention that I may want the car returned at some point. I received a call a few days later from the 3rd party valuations assessor who informed me that the valuation of my car was £600. I then called Hastings Direct a couple of days later as I had heard nothing from them and informed them that since I was hit in the rear whilst stationary I didn't feel I should be liable for my £200 excess and the person that hit me should therefore be liable for this. I was told that once his insurance had accepted liability they would waiver this. NB. Why did he have to accept liability when every insurance company would automatically see this as a non-fault claim??? To add to this I have text messages from the person that hit my car admitting liability! Also I have photographs taken at the time of the accident. I then had to chase Hastings to have the hire car collected or I would have been liable for the costs after one week! At this point they decided that it was time to issue my final payment. I was then advised it would be £250(!!) as I needed to pay my policy off in full and pay my excess. Naturally I didn't want to do this as I had my car from brand new for 14 years and it was reliable with under 60,000 miles on the clock and most of damages were cosmetic. I asked for my car back to then be informed it was with a salvage yard and I would need to pay £99 to have it returned!!! This is the first I'd heard of this. At no point was this communicated to me and I was lead to believe my car could be returned no problems straight from the garage. The conversations went from bad to worse and I reluctantly accepted the £250 cheque as I was getting nowhere fast and told the situation of waiting for liability with the other persons insurance could go on for a long time, months if I didn't accept. Then the case would go to the Recovery team so that Hastings could try to reclaim their costs from the third party's insurance. I then asked if Hastings would send me my £200 once admission of liability was in and was told no that they need it before the cheque is issued. I was then advised by Hastings that they would instruct Carpenters (solicitors) to contact me to try and reclaim my £200 excess from the third party's insurer and that they operate on a 'no win, no fee basis'! A fee to reclaim my £200!?! WHY AM I PAYING INSURANCE!!? Being forced to pay an excess on this is a joke. Being left without my car and a £250 cheque is a joke....albeit not a funny one (unless your Hastings Direct). I've done nothing but have to chase Hastings Direct constantly and the outcome is a far cry from satisfactory. Avoid Hastings Direct at all costs.

I ordered a car seat for my LO on the 30th of Jan, at the time I arranged a delivery date for 11th Feb, this was confirmed in my order email from them. Today, less than 24hrs before the delivery date i get an email from them saying that there is a new "estimated" delivery date of the 28th Feb. I also found out they havnt taken payment yet as they havnt received the seat. Is there anything I can do about this?Do i have any rights, theyve really screwed me over as i now dont have a car seat for my LO that is safe and made appointments that required me to have it that will now have to probably be cancelled.

Hi All Hope you can give me a piece of advice. Took a loan out with Yes Car Credit in Sep 2004 made repayments of over £10k over 3 years got into difficulties. Owe £3904 now. DLC did make me an offer in 2009 to close the account for £904. Hillesden Securities are reporting on my credit file default date 03/09/2008 but I believe I received a default notice in Sep 2007 from DAF. Last payment/contact with Direct Auto Finance 08/05/2008 Could someone tell me when the debt becomes statute barred and when it will drop off my Credit report. I have the ususal problems with my Yes Car Credit CCA, deposit put against insurances, PPI missold, kept in small room with my small children for 4 hours until I signed etc. but I dont think its worth pursuing any of that now I am nearly free. I just want to check when I will be free. This is the only default on my Credit Record. Thanks MrsHippo

Just to clarify first of all, I do believe that Lombard Direct is now part of the RBS. In this respect, I'm sending my claim direct to the RBS PPI Customer Concerns at Manchester. Does anyone disagree? I have printed their questionnaire out and I am of the opinion that is deliberately long - winded (Eleven pages to be exact) to deter claimants. The original loan was taken out in 2002 for 60 months so has been repaid for a long, long time. The questionnaire is after totally irrelevant information, I am therefore, sending my claim in letter form. The loan was for £5000 and a PPI Premium of £777 was added to the loan amount. By my calculations I reckon the refund. ..if they pay, should be in excess of £1400.

Hi there guys, I wonder if you can point me in the right direction... I purchased a pram from Asda direct back in march 2013, over time it has developed a number of faults. I rang asda direct and explained the problems, I was given the choice of a refund or a direct replacement...due to the nature of the faults I chose a refund. We were told to package the pram up and we would receive an email with all the details and the arrangements for the manufacturer/courier to collect the pram. We never received the email. We rang again around 22nd January and we were told the adviser hadn't put it through properly, so again we would receive an email the next day. Guess what?? No email! So again we rang on Thursday 23rd January and we were told the previous adviser had again done it incorrectly. She managed to arrange the courier and said they would collect the pram on Friday 24th January between 8am - 8pm. So I arranged to be there all day....Guess what??? Nobody turned up...I'm sure you can see a pattern arising here! So obviously very annoyed and without a pram for my daughter for a whole week now I rang that evening asking for an explanation and they told me the adviser had forgotten to forward the reference number to the manufacturer so the courier could not be arranged! WOW 3 different advisers were unable to their jobs properly! She said that the manufacturer/courier was closed during the weekend so she would arrange for it to be collected on Monday 27th. I asked if they could confirm on Monday via email for peace of mind. Again I arranged to be there on Monday and waited in all day, I did not receive an email so I rang around midday to confirm that the courier was still coming...I'm sure you can guess what happened next...that's right, the adviser I had spoke to on Friday hadn't even put the request for the courier through! So another wasted day and even more time without a buggy! The adviser then said she would send the relevant email through to them to arrange the courier and it would take between 24-48 hours before I hear back from then. I told them this was unacceptable and this was going to be the last chance. I asked to log this as a complaint and she said she would. On Tuesday 28th I managed to email the courier/manufacturer...they are a company called Obaby, they emailed back the same day and said due to asda directs strict policies they were unable to arrange collection until they receive the correct details, she said she would send asda direct an email again requesting they send over the info they need. In the meantime I had rang Asda house and they explained they were unable to help with Asda direct problems...I also sent an email to the head office CEO of asda but they failed to even bother to reply. I rang Obaby again on Wednesday 29th to ask if they had received anything back from Asda and surprise surprise they hadn't! I explained to them that I will give Asda until Friday 31st and if I hadn't heard anything then I would be sending the pram to the manufacturer myself using a signed courier service and once they are in receipt of it I will give Asda direct 7 days to make the refund before I will be starting proceedings in the small claims court for refund + costs + compensation. I also rang asda direct making them aware of the same thing. I spoke to their legal team to collect the address for making such claim. I have made so many calls and wasted so much time on this...meanwhile our 8 month old has had no buggy at all and we have had to pay additional transport costs. I have just ordered a new pram today as we cannot do without any longer...needless to say we did not buy this from Asda! What I wanted to ask is am I well within my rights to do this? What sort of things can I claim for under the small claims court? Is there a template letter I can use to send Asda threat of legal action? I would appreciate any input anyone can give on this matter. Thanks for taking the time to read this!!

Hi, I am a new user and new to forums. I was hoping to get some advice on how to get a refund from Loans Direct. This is my story: I signed up to Loans Direct and then chose not to use their company. I called them up and cancelled my account, which went fine. But when i asked for a refund they told me that they hadn't taken any money out of my account. I have proof on my bank statement that they have. They told me to email their support team with the statement as an attachment, which i did. I got a courtesy email back saying that they have received my email and that they will get back to me as soon as one of their agents become available. I waited a couple of days but still no reply, i emailed again, Waited another couple of day and still nothing. I sent one more email and still nothing. So i called them back and explained why i was calling. The man on the phone told me there was nothing he could do and no one else i could speak to as he was the manager. I couldn't even be put through to a support department or customer services as there wasn't one to speak to, only email! I got told all i can do is send another email and wait! How am i meant to get any where if they don't reply to my emails and i can't speak to anyone? Regards Shay

:mad2:Ok where to start before taking this out for my daughter we phioned hasting to see how much her insurance would go up once she passed her test as the quote was for £158 whilst she was learning We were told around £100 - 250 for the year depending on her driving feed back - Fair eneough i thought so understand that she did not use her car much for 6 months as she was learning in the drivers instructers car and did not do a lot of other driving infact the car stayed in the garage for nearly 3 months Whjen she passed her test in Dec the insurance jumped to £376 A MONTH when i finally got up off the floor and called the insurance company they said that was correct and e-mails since sent have had no reply asking them to justify this cost My daughter at most will drive 60 miles a week in a radius of 9 miles this has got to be a rip off, its a fiat panda 1.2 no mods basic car low mileage

Can anybody advise what figure might be considered reasonable for a declined direct debit. I believe that £25 is massively excessive when the only action required of them is to inform the recipient that the dd has been declined, but it's difficult to identify a benchmark as to what might be a more appropriate figure. Does anybody know of anything that can be used as a measure of this?

I've had my finance with Banque PSA for 3 years and changed my direct debit date shortly after starting the agreement to the 19th to coincide with my payday. I have now had to find new employment and my pay date has changed to 5th of every month starting from February. I received my last wage 19/12/2013 and they received payment then for December. I contacted them last week when I received my new pay date to see if they could change the direct debit - I was advised it can only be changed once so no it can't be done for 5th of the month. I will now miss Januarys payment on 19th but they refuse to agree a payment plan before the payment fails and I have to wait for there to be a missed payment to be hounded and harassed by phonecalls regarding this. I've advised I will pay my full payment on 5th Feb presumably for Feb and pay £80 additional to cover Januarys for the next 3 months. Are they allowed to do refuse to change my direct debit date? If so I will receive letters, default notices and phonecalls every month going forward as I can't pay on the 19th. Any advice what to do? It's not that I can't afford to pay or am refusing to pay I just can't pay 19th of the month anymore

When providing an offer for my car (deemed a total loss by Hastings Direct), I enquired about buying the car back(which has or will be category d) as I'm aware that many car insurance companies offer this to customers. However, I was told that I would not be able to - this is something which I'd need to discuss with the salvage company. Surely as the other person has admitted liability, Hastings Direct are just trying to make money out of me, when I'm not costing them a penny - it's the other's party's insurance ultimately paying. I don't understand how my car insurance company has the right to tell me I can't buy the car back. I pay my car insurance with the expectation that in a claim where I'm not at fault, my insurance company will offer me the best service. Has anyone had any similar experiences? Really not happy

I bought a washing machine on boxing days sales from sonicdirect.co.uk it was delivered a few days later and found to have a faulty door - which kept on locking after the wash cycle. spoke to sonic who asked me to ring samsung. ..rang them and got a RMA number. Rang sonic and they wanted ME to bring back the washing machine, when it was them that had delivered it in the first place!!!! Went to the store to the store when the sales lady fobbed me off suggesting I buy another washing machine and 'top it up' with extra funds to buy the new machine. I said i want the same washing machine and suddenly ALL of this make are SOLD OUT!!! Luckily they had a new delivery coming in but they wanted me to PAY for having a replacement washing machine delivered - why should i pay if the machine they delievered in the place was faulty!

Hi all, Some advice would be welcomed.... My wife took out a loan with Lloyds back in 2007 and spent 3 years paying the load without missing a payment. she then fell pregnant and due to financial constraints an agreement was made with Lloyds in writing that she only had to pay £1 per month for 12 months until she returned to work after maternity pay etc. However 6 months into the agreement Lloyds then sent a defualt notice and demanded the remainder of the loan to be repaid in full. Several letters have gone to and fro with no resolution. Our arguement is that if Lloyds have made an agreement for 12 months why without warning did they default the account after 6 months and pass it to a debt collection agency? Their answer to this was that they agreement was not a formal agreement even though it was put in writing?, they also stated that it is policy that after 6 months of defaults the account automatically gets passed to a debt collection agency? My question to them is why make an agreement in writing for 12 months knowing full well that after 6 months the account would automatically default and be plaed into the hands of debt collector? We have continued to refuse to pay any more of this loan until they accept responsibility for mis-advising and defaulting the loan agreement having made an agreement that they then resinded without warning or discussion. To date the debt has been passed to no fewer than 5 different collectors, all of which have been sent notification that the debt is in dispute, and yet letters keep being sent to Lloyds who still refuse to answer specific questions. This has been going on since 2010, today a letter was received from Lloyds that they have sold the debt to 1st Direct and already the barrage of phone calls and text messages have started. Although we are not in dispute of the loan agreement itself, we are in dispute as to how the account has been handled which is shockingly poor, we are in dispute over the fact Lloyds deliberately or unintentionally made agreements which would have knowingly breached their terms and conditions, therefore placing the account into default and subsequently into debt collectors for no reason causing us an adverse credit history though no fault of our own. What can now be done? i look forward to your responses.

i have been paying a direct debit to my electricity supplier based on their average usage estimates even though they periodically call or send someone to takes readings.. i have just moved out of the address and when notifying isupply energy they have responded in the mail with a £441 pound bill. ive never seen, had access to or been told of any outstanding monies owed and this seems a bit underhand that they suddenly drop this big bill on me dating back 10 months. just wondering how the world has allowed them to carry on with such behavior ? cheers all : ) ..just wanted to say that the service i bought was their 12 month fixed price electricity tariff. just wondering also if someone might tell me if the meaning of the word "fixed" has changed in the last 10 months?

Im wondering if anyone can give any advice regarding Direct Collections Limited. We run a company in Ireland with directors from the UK - Both Directors live in Ireland. The above debt collections company sent us a letter about a supposed debt, but sent this to the parents house of one of the directors in the UK. We publish our company trading addresses on our website, so not sure why they would send letters elsewhere. We sent them an email saying we do not acknowledge this debt and would like to have the debt proven i.e any communications from us, contracts, invoices etc. and any County Court Judgement documents, if any. Today one of the debt collectors "Keith Roriston" from Direct Collections Limited showed up at one of the directors parents houses demanding the debt be paid, he was told repeatedly by the directors mother that the person they were looking for didnt live there and lived in ireland but he wouldnt give up. We called Direct Collections Limited today and tried to speak to one of the "Case Managers" but she was extremely rude and wouldn't acknowledge anything we were saying, and when we asked for an email to us to prove the debt she got irritated and put the phone down on us. We phoned back again and got put back through to her, and again she was rude so we asked for her manager - she tried to refuse saying it wasn't relevant, but then we threatened to call the police and put in a claim of harrassment and she finally put us through to her manager "John Buckley", he said "how am i supposed to know who you say you are" and i said "well obviously im not acknowledging any debt but can confirm the address you currently visited and reference on the letter etc." but again he said he wouldn't divulge any information or discuss the case. If Direct Collections Limited aren't going to engage with us except for harrass parents of one of the directors, how are we supposed to deal with the problem? I just want to clarify, that we are happy to pay any debts we have, we run a purchase order system too to try and track any orders etc.. we have checked emails in relation to the company trying to chase this debt through the debt collection company but cant find anything. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello, I have recently had 2 failed direct debit charges from 2 different organisations. (not a bank which authorises the payment but the company who collect the payment) One has charged £25 and the other £20. I can't see how they incur charges from their bank as they state and if so I don't believe the charges reflects the true cost to them for a failed direct debit.
 My question is: 1, Is this lawful? 2, Is there a maximum they can charge? Thanks.

So... trying to set up plans for my GF. Wonga have replied and are cooperating, so are quickwuid. I am now trying to deal with Lending Stream who will just not play ball. 2 live loans with LS... One has been going on for 2-3 months and the other 2-3 weeks. After making the same offer to all creditors, I got this reply from Lending stream We are sorry to let you know that we would not be able to setup the payment plan on your accounts until we receive the first payment towards the account 1792016 for an amount of £XXX.XX so we would request you to make at least the first payment so that we can discuss further with the repayment options. Our policy states that the first payment towards the loan has to be made in full as initially agreed. We are sorry to inform you that we would not be able to freeze the interest/charges. We are willing to help you in clearing your outstanding balance and can provide you with an extension for up to 10 days or we can setup the partial payment arrangement on your loan wherein you can make 50% of the payment this month which would be £XX.XX and £XX.XX respectively and the remaining amount can made along with your next month's scheduled payment. Please be informed that the outstanding balance of your accounts is £XXX.XX and £XXX.XX respectively and these amounts are valid till 25th November, 2013. So I replied, explained that it is not possible for me to pay more than what I offered, explained that I am making my best offer and that i want them to be fair with me, explained it is the same amount that the other creditors are signing up to, explained why my circumstances have changed and what went wrong.... Can I do anything more? Can they refuse to help as they have and offer something that would create further debt? they would make this month easier but then next month would be an extra 50% of what the original agreement was... "can provide you with an extension for up to 10 days or we can setup the partial payment arrangement on your loan wherein you can make 50% of the payment this month which would be £XX.XX and £XX.XX respectively and the remaining amount can made along with your next month's scheduled payment. " I got another reply.... this reply is exactly the same as the first... I have responded explaining again, that I (THIS PERSON) have no other option and that if they try to take more or request more, I would be in financial hardship/poverty. I have asked if they are actually refusing my offer of payment for £80 a month. (This would clear the debt in 5 or so months) Yet to await another reply... Can I do anything further ?? Thanks!

Hope someone can help, i have searched previous forums regarding Direct Auto Finance. Lots of really useful information, but just after a little bit of advice. I have received defendant’s defence from Irwin Mitchell, stating what iguess is normal response, that i cannot prove what the agent said and boxeswere ticked re PPi, gap and breakdown cover etc. I explained i was told i couldn't have the car without the insurances. The insurances with Interest were more than the cars value!!!! I have not received anything from the court yet but i have been informed thedefence is in the post, i was hoping some advice on what the next step is. many thanks in advance.

I was perusing Tesco Direct the other day and ordered a new TV, I ordered (or so I thought) a 47inch LG 3D TV but today I received a 32” LG 3D TV and a completely different model to what I ordered. I went back and had a look at the listing and found it had been removed, I then checked my order history and found the 32” TV is what I had actually ordered and not the 47” the listing stated. I have a habit of printing off order confirmation sheets and web pages so I had a look, sure enough they both say 47” and are for a completely different model to what I received, my conformation email and dispatch email also state 47” Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation, I haven’t contacted them yet as I’m at work but I would quite like to receive what I ordered so are they under any obligations to supply what I ordered? It might be a mistake but it seems pretty sneaky and how it was not spotted before it was dispatched is anyone’s guess. It wasn’t ridiculously cheap either, no £49 iPad job lol it was around £170 less than other retailers so I just thought it was reduced.

hello all, received a letter this morning for shop direct finance company telling me i have an outstanding debt of £36 from 4th october 2010 and my debt has been passed on to mkrr and to contact them. now, i said in a post i made before that i had a debt relief order made in 2011 and i know all my debts were covered on there. i also checked my credit report recently and there's nothing on there. i called shop direct and the man i spoke to was very nice, took my account number and then hung up! so does anyone think i send a prove it letter to mkrr or should i just ignore? many thanks for your help in advance

My daughter has been issued with a parking notice from parking direct at Ealing Broadway station. Having spoken to Popla is appears that any idea of appealing is pointless as they seen to be in favour of this company. To save all the hassle I will be paying the £60 fine but want to know if legally Parking direct have to accept 30 x £2 cheques as full and final payment.

hello i was unlucky to get [problem]med off this company loans-direct. in searching for a loan i had gotten a link to say i had been accepted for a loan, after entering my card details £69.75 was taking out off my account. after phoning loans direct i was told to write a letter and send it off before the 14 days is up so i did this. i have had no phone calls and i have rang them 4 times now asking about a refund. today i give them another ring and they put me through to one of the managers who said i can have a refund of £40.75 as they keep £30 for set up fee which is not in their terms and conditions i have a good look through so they are trying to fob me off. she also said something about they take money off depending on how many days my account is active which is also not in the terms and conditions. i have more then likely racked up the phone the what i have managed to get back off them. what to do? any help would be great.

I am hoping someone can advise me on this forum, not sure if I am in the correct place. Hastings Direct has refused to pay the storage costs for their clients car being held in our garage whilst they sorted out the claim. It has been with us for 1290 days at a cost of £10 per day when the assessor eventually came out to assess the damage. The car was written off. As a gesture we agreed to freeze the charges at £1290. The car is still with us today. Because there were complications with the customers claim it wasn't sorted for months and the customer had to involve a solicitor in order to fight his claim. The date of the accident was 11th March 2013 and the client was settled on the 16th October 2013 We periodically contacted Hastings to remind them that their charges were increasing and at no point within the corresponding did they inform us that they were not going to pay the fee. The claim has been sorted and they have refused to pay the fee. After several emails they told us we could keep the car towards the cost but as we aren't breakers we declined their offer as the car is of no value now. They then offered to pay £500 less than half of the fee. We then asked if we could keep the car to scrap at a value of £160 which would at least replace some of the shortfall. They refused to let us keep the car. So we have an offer of £500. Can anyone tell me if we have a case and what would be the best course of action to take.