Hi all, Not sure exactly which forum to post this too I wish to take my lender to small claims court for 5k (I believe the maximum claim I can make). A solicitor has mentioned that they may counter sue me for considerably more. Can they do this? i.e. surely if they counter sued in the court the limit would also be 5k ; or do they get the "option" at that stage to proceed legally in a different direction i.e open court hence the potential for an increased counter sue. I assumed I would be "safe" in small claims court from further action within that court. thanks in advance

I am currently in dispute with john lewis i bought a miele wahsine machine from them a year ago if flooded my kitchen a month ago i asked for it to be taken back they agreed but have refused to pay for damage. i have provided photos of damage new carpet need new laminate flooring and frnch polisher for the doors. i have pre actioned smaill claims against them.this runs out on te 2st of december which i will have to take them to court. they have now asked for a engineers report for them to come to my house or when it is taken back immediately.Because of the damage to the kitchen by the machine the cost of this means we cant afford a new machine until john lewis pay us for the damage.There cooker has failed so it has now been agreed they will take back dishwasher washing machine and cooker. total nightmare

Hi I have now sent two letters to bank of scotland claiming and explaining my current financial hardship, requesting that they refund bank charges that have been applied to my account since 2005. The first letter was sent feb and the second in may but i have had no reply. What can i do?

Please can you direct me there? Thank you

Hi all, I've been reading this forum for a while now and finally decided to register. I'm very impressed with the advice offered here and I'm hoping I can get a little too with some PPI Claims. I'm an Engineer by trade and hopeless at writing letters, I'm hoping somebody could proof read my words before I send them off. Would this be OK? As the title says, I think I have grounds for three separate claims, should I ask for advice using three new posts or should I lump it all in here first? I'm really hoping somebody can assist, both with the wording and also to confirm that I have valid cases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20543308

Evening all, Im after some advice, Last friday i was taken in to the office by my boss and suspended on pay. There were two claims made against me by the apprentice. One that i had hit him over the head with a first aid box and another that i had hit him round the face twice for no reason. The first, hitting round the head with a first aid box, this was completely accidental, and rather than a hit id would of called it catching him with a box as i passed him, i apologised. Nothing more was said and i was surprised he moaned about that. The later, was rubbish, i hadn't hit him/ touched him whatsoever. Iv got a few theories as to why he may have made up the later accusation, he'd been dragged into the office twice already that week, his college tutor had been in and dragged his dad in for his poor attitude at work.He'd also told us that the boss had threaten to terminate his contract if he didnt buck his ideas up He does get quite a bit of banter thrown his way tbh by everyone even the boss, mainly for his poor attitude and stupidity in the job. Iv also been at the job a lot less than him( him 2 1/2 years apprentice, me 9 months fully qualified) and settled in considerably better than him, and looked upon alot better by the other employees. My boss is notorious for not being able to manage a situation and passing the book, which is what he has done in this situation. rather than drag me in the office and have a word with me/ asked me about the story he has gone straight to our HR department and asked them what to do. Obvs as soon as he has mentioned hitting to them, understandable they have said suspend pending investigation. I got a letter today outline my companys zero tolerance to bullying (there zero policy literally covered every possible aspect) and that i was under investigation for: "Striking an employee" "Gross Misconduct" "Bullying in the workplace" I have a meeting next tuesday with my manager also attended by the HR Manager. Im really after some advice on which way to go about the situation regarding the fact that i consider his main accusation a lie. Iv spoke to the lads in the workshop who have all said theyll support me should it come to it and witness that they have never seen any violence in the workplace. Iv worked there 9months+ and on a full contract passing my 6 month probation periord. Iv never been in any othe trouble there and worked the most overtime out of everyone there over a 6 month period. I feel personnally im a valued member of the team. The lad is only 18 and very immature, personally i believe he is trying to take some pressure off himself and put it on to me, with the recent whispers of contract losses in the pipeline. Im now worried about getting sacked but feel it would be ridiculous due to being innocent Any help or advice gratefully received.

Hello, I am facing a problem with my non fault claim(my Mazda 6 car was smashed while parked) Sequence of incidents: After the accident I went through Mazda Accident Aftercare, because of "call Mazda first" campaign". Their aggressive advertisements always say the customer is better off going through them instead of insurer. Actually they are a claims management company in disguise. They arrange a hire car from enterprise for a price double that of enterprise advertised prices. My car is written off. Mazda Accident Aftercare valued the car approximately 1500 pounds cheaper than their own website advertised prices(My car was also bought from Mazda dealer last year). They did not take my proof into consideration and did not even give me any explanation about how can I buy the car with their offered money. Mazda Accident After care took the hire car back, and told me to process the claim through my insurer. Also they told me as my written off car is in a garage I need to arrange rental from my insurer. Now what are the choices I have? I have legal assistance from my insurer. Can I directly deal with the third party insurer? There is a case of Mazda misleading the customers to claims management company by an aggressive advertising campaign, but that is an issue I will take separately.

Banks In Secret PPI Lobbying Push As the cost of the mis-selling scandal continues to rise, the UK's biggest banks strive to limit their total bill. Britain’s banks have embarked on a secret lobbying drive to curtail the soaring cost of the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal. The effort to limit the industry’s bill comes as the tab for the four biggest high street banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland) last week passed £10bn following a rush of new claims submitted in the third quarter of the year. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) is now in talks with the City regulator to urge it to declare that the point at which consumer awareness of PPI mis-selling is widely-known has now legally been reached. Under existing rules, customers have six years from the date on which they were sold a PPI policy to complain that it was mis-sold; however, they are also allowed to submit a claim three years after the point at which they say they became aware they were mis-sold to, even if that date is after the end of the six-year period. The BBA is now arguing that because publicity about PPI mis-selling has been so widespread in the media and an advertising blitz orchestrated by claims management companies (CMCs), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should now declare that the ‘point of knowledge’ has been passed. http://news.sky.com/story/1008736/banks-in-secret-ppi-lobbying-push

Hi everyone, good morning. Wondering if anyone can explain if no claims are transferable from overseas? I have a friend who has just bought a car and wants to start driving but the insurance companies are being difficult. She has been driving for 7 years in Spain and has 7yrs NCB, therefore can this be transfered and recoginised by English insurance companies? I would have assumed so because of EURO UNION? Look forwards to any advice Best wishes BB

Dear All, I bought a ticket for a journey starting in London, travelling A-B-C (A and B are in London zones 2 & 3 respectively, C is in the country). Unfortunately my railcard had expired and when my ticket was inspected on the train I was given a Penalty Fare Notice. The penalty fare regulations set out the amount payable for a penalty fare; £20 or twice the single fare, and I was charged twice the single fare for the whole journey, A-B-C, even though my ticket was checked between A-B (and there was no possible through-train). This put me in the position that I would have been better off having no ticket at all, rather than having an invalid ticket. If the PFN was issued correctly, it should have been for £20. I appealed (twice) on the grounds the amount of the PFN was incorrect and therefore invalid but was rejected both times. I also wrote to London TravelWatch, but as the process of the appeal went as planned (even though I think the appeal was wrongly decided) they couldn't get involved. The amount I was overcharged was less than £100, and on principle I would like to pursue this to recover the money, but is the next step the small claims court?

A PPI claims company took on my claim for mis-sold PPI, after I had initiated the claim myself and it had gone as far as the Financial Ombudsman who had all the details and were dealing with it. They said they could still pursue it separately and achieve a larger pay-out because they knew all the legal angles. I filled in all the appropriate forms for them, and very shortly afterwards,received notification from the Ombudsman that the claim had been successful and that payment would follow. I asked about the claims which the claims company had sent in, and was told they hadn't yet been picked up. Following this, I received directly from RBS, 3 cheques for mis-sold PPI from 3 different loans I had taken out with them. About a month later, I received a letter from the claims company demanding payment of fees relating to these pay-outs. Apart from the amount they asked for being totally incorrect and far more than the percentage they had quoted for their fee, I am not convinced that the claims they pursued were ever taken up. I asked for a proper invoice, detailing their fees, but was sent a second reminder, followed by a phone call from the company. I suggested to them that the pay-out I had been awarded was the result of my own claim, and not theirs, and said that I would be willing to take the matter to court if necessary. I then heard absolutely nothing for 9 months, then received a letter threatening court action if their fees were not paid.They also offered me a reduced payment if I paid within 7 days. I really don't know where to go with this now - whether it would be worth fighting for or whether I would be getting involved in a legal and financial nightmare. Can anyone advise please?

HI, I hope I am posting this in the right section? Time in employment 5+ years, new ownership June 2012. I handed my notice in at work in early September due to alarm bells ringing financially after the business ownership was transferred. I was paid in increments for August salary, debt collectors and arrears made me nervous that the business couldn't sustain payment of my salary each month. I handed notice in in early September, worked my notice period until 1st October when we were greeted with a text message to inform us that we were having our salaries withheld due to stealing and poaching. All untrue. I handed a grievance letter to my previous employer which he refused to accept receipt of, we then re-sent via special delivery. I was in a state of distress so visited my GP who signed me off for 1 week. I sent the fit note in to my previous employer at the same times as the grievance letter. Shortly after this we received a letter from his solicitor outlining the reasons for withheld salary, we responded refuting all claims and demanding payment before court action to recover outstanding payments. I received no response or monies and proceeded to file a small claims application against the business name due to our previous employer refusing to accept communication from ACAS. I have had a response to our service of claim whereby he has changed the address to which all documents relating to my claim should be sent from that of the business to his current home address, he is also contesting jurisdiction. Unfortunately I have never received a payslip from the new owner of the business so I am unable to determine the name of the company that pays the salaries on behalf of the business. Although the reference from payment received are that of the trading name of the shop we don't know from which account this was sent, whether it was a personal account or another business account. What I have been able to ascertain after a little research is that my previous employer does trade in a company name which he has applied to be struck off the list of companies register at Companies House (This information I found out this morning). Here are relevant dates; 21/08/2012 Employer applied to have his company struck off. 10/09/2012 Notice handed in. 01/10/2012 Employer withheld salary payment due. 01/10/2012 Grievance letter and fit note submitted to employer. 10/10/2012 Letter received from employer solicitor. 12/10/2012 Response letter to solicitor. 26/10/2012 Claim issued against employer. 31/10/2012 Deemed served. 06/11/2012 Acknowledgment of service declaring intention of defending all of the claim and contesting jurisdiction. 20/11/2012 Employer must dispute jurisdiction by this date. 21/11/2012 Company will be struck off Register of Companies. 28/11/2012 Employer must file his defence by this date. The next course of action for me is to object to the dissolution of this company. Where I really need advice is the following; Is there a template for the objection? Should I now make a small claim against this new company, although I have no proof that this company is responsible for the payment of wages for the business? Can I notify the courts that I believe that the claim could be against the individual, the business he is closing down or the trading name of the shop or is it enough that I have included the trading name of the shop - where do I stand legally with this claim and who it is directed to? As he has given his name and home address as the address for all correspondence is that the new defendant or is it all smoke and mirrors waiting for the company to be dissolved? I hope it is clear to see that he is looking to dissolve this business to escape the outstanding payments to me, another employee and who knows who else. I really hope some one can offer some help and advice as time is running out for me to object to the closure of this business. Thank you in advance.

Been repossessed 5 times this year, I know record time. In my world anyway! Wrote to one company i.e. Blenheim, that have stated that I am owed 400 pounds in excessive mortgage fee arrear charges. NRAM, claim their charges were fair. Just wondering what I can claim on, and I really want to go further with NRAM. Any ideas?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/rate-swap-scandal/9639202/Barclays-in-court-over-mis-selling-claims.html

I have decided to try and get back all my £12 charges from Cap1 along with a small amount of PPI that I never needed. I have already received all the info back from them, and I sent off my separate claims letters 3 weeks ago, one for £550 of charges and another for £150 PPI. How long before I escalate this claim and what would be the best way forward, FSO or court?

Comes as Lloyds announce they are to set aside a further £1b for PPI claims,bringing the total for them to £5b http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20164521

Hi everyone, hoping someone can give a little advice. A friend of mine has just started a small hobby business selling hand-made cosy sacks for small pets. Lots of people make them and there are various online tutorials showing how to sew them etc. She sells them mostly via her facebook page, but also on eBay and Preloved. Over the last couple of days, she has been receiving angry messages on facebook and ebay from another seller who makes them demanding she remove hers from sale immediately. This seller claims her sacks are copyrighted and that my friend is infringing on her intellectual rights by making and selling them. Obviously this is silly as my friend's designs are not exactly identical and as I said before, many people make them for sale. The reason this nasty seller seems to be picking on my friend is because they have both used the same fabrics for some of their products. It turns out that they both live in the same area and are likely using the same store to buy their materials. A complete coincidence. Yesterday, the angry seller registered the copyright with some online company that gives you a fancy certificate and registration number. I know this means very little, as it's no proof that the work is hers, but she has now faxed a copy to eBay with the intent of getting my friend's listings pulled. She has also allegedly reported my friend's page to faceboook. Just now, my friend received an email from Preloved saying her advert had been removed due to this person's report. My friend is very upset and doesn't know how to defend herself from these attacks or protect her ads and listings on various sites. Does she have any grounds to get a solicitor involved? And is there any where she can get some free legal advice? She has been trying to call her local CAB all day, but the phone is constantly engaged. Thank you for any advice.

Hi, im a little confused about the bank charge claims, im not really sure on how to do a spreadsheet. So the steps you have to take is to do a spreadsheet, and attach a preliminary approach for repayment and send that to the bank, is this correct? Would love some help, Thanks for your time. Also just to clarify, can i claim back unnarranged overdraft fees, things that say on statement just bank charges, and unpaid dd charges?

Hi - I'm currently quite in some predicament as by the looks of it I have to start 2 separate court actions relating to the same item... In a nutshell: Sold an item of quite some value (bit more than 1k) to a retailer of these speciality items in the Netherlands (I'm a private individual). The transaction has nothing to do with Ebay and was completely independently negotiated. As an alternative to Paypal we agreed for the buyer in the NL to pay the money into an escrow account run by a solicitor practice in Germany. Following confirmation from the solicitor practice in Germany, that the escrow deposit had been received, I sent the item via courier (UPS) in July 2012. According to UPS tracking the item was received and signed for 2 days later. 5 days after receiving the item the recipient claimed the item to be damaged (claiming the packaging was intact externally and he had no time to unpack it earlier). Based on his comments and images sent, I raised an enquiry with the booking agent who forwarded my claim to UPS. UPS requested an on-site inspection of the item; - which the recipient refused. As UPS rejected liability in the first instance, the booking agent's goods in transit insurance based their rejection on UPS' decision. I have requested the recipient since mid August 2012 numerous times (in compliance with the terms and conditions set out by the German solicitor company holding the escrow deposit) – to return the item to me in order for me to agree to release the money in the Escrow account back to the him. Since my first request in August 2012 he has not returned the item to me and instead come up with various insinuations and accusations apparently justifying why he is going to keep the item at his premises till further notice (unless I provide him with an unlimited guarantee to release the money in the escrow deposit account to him, no matter in which condition the item is returned to me - in which case he could send me an empty box and still try to force me to release the money to him). Hence I have already sent a letter before action to the courier booking agent and only received an acknowledgement letter from their solicitor missing any date by which they intend to respond as well as missing any additional information I requested from them. Separately I'm now in the process of filing an European small claims case (ESCP) against the buyer in NL in order for him to return the item to me or for him to pay the item. I'd be very grateful for further advice - eg. regarding the UK small claims time-scales (the CPR only state a reasonable timespan) tomorrow the 14 day deadline set in my letter before action has been reached yet due to their acknowledgement I was told by someone with a legal background I would have to provide them with another 14 days before filing the claim? When submitting the claim, does it have to be accompanied by a covering letter - if so - are there any templates on here? Further can anyone advise me regarding successful self-representation in court as due to circumstances I cannot afford a solicitor? There had been a similar thread some time ago ("DHL Courier Service - lost items - no re-imbursement") and due to not having enough posts I cannot contact the OP and others who had been successful in similar cases directly... Also regarding the ESCP - where would I have to file it? I'm hoping to be able to file it here rather than in NL based on 'place of performance of the obligation in question' - however I'm not sure if returning the item qualifies as that..??? Further regarding claiming costs of proceedings - as I cannot foresee which expenses I might have during the course of the ESCP can I just state an estimated amount? - the guidelines available for download don't specify it more in detail! I'd be grateful for responses from anyone with personal experience of the ESCP!!! Also - would it help to put pressure on the person in NL to file a criminal report for embezzlement (and may be attempted fraud as a few of his statements/claims were quite dubious to say the least - however I haven't much tangible evidence for that) with the police - if so here in the UK or in NL? Many thanks

Hi folks Please don't hammer me for not reading the forums. I have! - just finding it a confusing mass of information, really need to find guidance on the first steps. I've read a lot about what PPI is, SAR letters, and the letters to make the claim. Read lots of peoples experiences etc. What i am not sure about is the first steps i should take - i have no idea whether i have a claim or not. Should i ring up all my previous lenders and ask if i had a policy? Should i do a SAR to literally every lender (cc's, personal loans, mortgages) - to get the info first? that's a £10 x ? - maybe £80 or more, which i don't have to risk if i don't even know if i have a case. Was seriously tempted to use a firm to chase the PPI claim, because i know a few people who got money that way - but got seriously put off by some posts on here (sounds like the PPI claim companies are as bad as the banks). If probably got myself confused reading too much on here and am suffering a bit of information overload paralysis . If you know what i mean. Basically - any advice or links to a page i may have missed, showing how a complete 'PPI virgin' should start off - would be most welcome. Regards AJW

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/loans/9615276/2000-borrowers-have-at-least-five-payday-loans.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19946766

The FOS report that they are currently receiving 1500 PPI related complaints every day. In the August issue of their news they give some examples of cases they have upheld,and also those rejected.Worth a read. http://financialombudsmanservice.newsweaver.co.uk/Newsletter/1nqfti6z0ss1ejplibozya?rss=true

Hello, I paid for a holiday package for four people for a sum just over £20,000 - this was supposed to be a highly deluxe holiday, however turned out to be not as thought. In summary; £20,000 was agreed The tour operator added £1,500 a day before the holiday explaining that you would have to pay this or face cancellation I have evidence of the rooms we received in photograph and video form He has admitted various regulation failures on the PH/PTR 1992 He simply says he has the proof that he did book the hotels, however I know he did not pay for them or reserved them for someone else, he takes great confidence in this but never provided us reference numbers The reference numbers on the itinerary were his own, he justified this as saying he keeps the original information (again admitted in letter). I also took a picture of an email the hotel staff showed me, where he books a room a few hours before arrival, the email name is the same as the reference number on the itinerary, but none of the hotel codes meant anything on his itinerary. He put this down to their error, giving us below standard economy rooms, even though we were promised the top rooms, and then refuses to make up the difference in compensation. I gave him every opportunity to resolve our complaints but he simply said pay the 1500 or face court action, he has now issued a claim and his evidence is one paragraph of gobbledegook. I have now issued a counter claim for £10,000. Solicitors so far are asking for £3,000 on account, meaning they can't be bothered looking until they are guaranteed something, and one solicitor confirmed the case has prospects following the PTR and SoGA (Sales of Goods Act) for not taking due care. Trading Standards are assisting, though this is not conclusive at this time, and would not provide any benefit for the claim (as far as I know). So, does anyone have any tips or experience in dealing with this? This tour operator has acted very badly and really has abused us.