My mate was transferred to another company, but being on a monthly salary was still due money from the original firm, received a letter saying they obtained a quote for damage to the vehicle he was driving when employed by them. They went on to say that they would just keep the money due to him to go towards the repairs to the vehicle, bearing in mind that it was three years old by this time and very high mileage, due to the nature of the work the damage would be described as fair wear and tear, considering the vehicle was not designed to go off road etc, but that was the nature of the work. Question is can they keep the money due to him??

Hey guys, I have a payday loan with Quidmarket which I defaulted on several months ago. I've recently started a DMP with Payplan and have done the following: I've informed QuidMarket about the DMP I've requested in writing, via email, that they do not call me at work I've advised them on several occassions that everything must be in writing as I have learning disabilities and struggle to remember things However they are constantly calling me at work....today for example they have tried 3 times in the past hour despite me repeatedly saying that they cannot contact me at work as personal calls are not allowed. Can someone please help as I'm going to lose my job if this continues Thanks Katpuss

Immobilise is a FREE national property register, on which people can register items belonging to them. It was set up in 2003 and works alongside the Police National Mobile Proprty Register, so the authorities can trace owners of lost and stolen property. This makes it harder for a thief to dispose of stolen goods and greatly increases the chances of them being identified. It also leads to a huge number of items being identified as stolen and being returned to their owner. Immobilise can be used by members of the public and businesses to register their valued possessions or company assets, and exclusive to Immobilise all account holders registered items and ownership details are viewable on the Police national property database the NMPR (www.thenmpr.com ). This online checking service is used by all UK Police forces to trace owners of lost and stolen property. In addition Immobilise is checked daily by a huge range of recovery agencies and lost property offices. Immobilise enables you to register and keep track of all your valued possessions. It's quick and easy to add any of the following: Bikes, camera , laptop, tablet, mobile phone, satnav, computer, games console, ipod, tv/radio, home cinema, jewellery, watches etc. You can even add images of your items. Immobilise helps Police identify the owners of lost & stolen property thousands of times each day. Loss & theft updates you make are immediately available to the Police nationally. Combat the sale of stolen gadgets & valuables; alert the second-hand trade & publicly checkable stolen goods database CheckMEND if an item goes missing. Simplify insurance claims and Police reports with certificates of ownership. Great member offers from Immobilise's numerous supporters, often helping support provision of Immobilise. These features are unique to the FREE Immobilise service. Register your property free at Immobilise and improve your chances of getting it back if it’s ever lost or stolen. http://www.immobilise.com/index.php

Hello, I have now officially moved abroad and no longer resident for tax purposes. I have left a correspondence address in the UK at a friend's because the customer service officer at the branch told me they couldn't keep my account alive if I had a foreign address. My friend, for his own reasons, is not very happy with receiving mail for me and is a bit paranoid about possible consequences for him. You will be probably aware that Halifax gives often incorrect advise both in person and by telephone, so I wonder if anybody has a clue on how to move from here. I will probably receive a couple of letters a year and in 3 years I will receive new ATM and credit cards, so this could be a problem. I would like to keep this account alive as I still do online shopping from the UK. Any help will be appreciated.

Ikea is sprucing up its offer by selling cheap six foot Christmas trees in a bid for more festive business as analysts claim as much as 62pc of the high street is already on sale Famed for its flat-pack beds and the meatballs in its restaurants, Ikea is branching out in the festive rush by selling real Christmas trees - for five pounds. The Swedish out of town giant yesterday revealed its tactics for trying to entice shoppers away from the high street - offering customers a £20 coupon if they forked out £25 for a real, 6 foot Nordmann fir. Ikea said rivals were selling trees for as much as £79.99 elsewhere in Britain, with the average price £48. Brigit Hartelius, deputy country manager for the UK, told the Daily Telegraph it was all part of giving customers an "affordable Christmas". But more cynical analysts said it was simply part of the cut and thrust at Christmas as competition for shoppers hots up. Last week, accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers said 62 per cent of the high street was already on sale or running promotions amid fears hard-pressed families coping with rising energy bills will cut back this Christmas. More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/10506222/Christmas-offers-best-gifts-cheap-presents-real-Christmas-trees-best-Christmas-trees-Ikea-Hawkes.html

Hi, I took early retirement in December 2012 and have 4 private pensions as income. I have been getting the same money which does not quite give me my full tax free allowance. Then I started to claim ESA for a disability , which prevents me from working, I have had for almost 2 years. The ESA income takes my money to just over 10.1K Now this where it gets interesting so be warned, lol. From January to September I have been getting the same amounts of private pensions with no change. From Jan 2013 I was claiming Jobseekers allowance, then that stopped in or around March 2013. Then I claimed ESA but that was stopped after about 2 months by the infamous ATOS. I reclaimed again in July 2013 and am getting a reduced amount of £44.34p a week. In Sepember HMRC sent me another tax code saying as I was receiving a further private pension, my main pension tax code was no BR, reduced from 839L, and 20% was taken from my monthly pension payment. After visiting my local tax office and telling them yet again what I was receiving, it was then changed to 358L. I asked about the extra pension I was supposed to be receiving and someone at HMRC had just put it on the system! Anyway, after being told who the company was, I contacted them and it was a mistake on their part and was told they would contact HMRC to put things right. A week or so later I recieved another tax code for my main pension and this was 339L.Up to this point no tax code changes were made to my other 3 private pension incomes. After going to see them, HMRC again, may main pension tax code was then increased to 655L, at last some improvement! They had wrongly assumed that I was getting a further 5K a year in benefits and pensions. On or about 10th November I spoke to a member of HMRC and told them about my incomes from pensions and ESA again, and was told that my new main pension tax code would now be 408L, and there would some changes to my other pension payments. So I have now received another set of tax codes, and my main pension one has gone down again as well as one of the others been different tan what I was told. Now, as the tax free allowance is £9440, and I get 10.1K, that works out at £696 to be taxed at 20%, which equals £139.20p per year. So far I have paid over £200 approx in tax, and this does not seem right. Every time I have spoken to someone on the 0300 number its a different person at a different office and it seems that one office does not know what the other is doing. They tell me one thing but do something different, and I am getting very frustrated with them now. Apart from going to see them at my local office yet again,is there anything else or anyone I can speak to so I can get some satisfaction over my ever changing tax codes.

Hi guys, just a light hearted piece of advice needed, im having a classic head says one thing heart says another, i know the ultimate decision is up to me but what would you do. Im 29, Not very fit anymore at all, I used to play a lot of football (goalkeeper) from the age of 6-22 then stopped, have always missed it so looked at getting back in to it, Had my first 90 minutes the other day, i did ok, but the problem is obviously after/the next day, I had aches and pains and places i didnt know existed. I guess throwing 16 stone through the air and landing on elbows, back ect.. will do that. The team want me to sign up and be there keeper for the season starting but i just dont know if i am up to it physically, will these aches and pains get better, will recovery time improve or am i just to old, fat and out of shape. Help, decisions decisions

These are from a book called Disorder in the Courts and are things people actually said ...in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place. ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning? WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?' ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you? WITNESS: My name is Susan! _______________________________ ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact? WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active? WITNESS: No, I just lie there. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth? WITNESS: July 18th. ATTORNEY: What year? WITNESS: Every year. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you? WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which. ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you? WITNESS: Forty-five years. _________________________________ ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory? WITNESS: I forget.. ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot? ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning? WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam? ____________________________________ ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he? WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ. ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken? WITNESS: Are you sh*tting me? _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time? WITNESS: Getting laid ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: She had three children , right? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: How many were boys? WITNESS: None. ATTORNEY: Were there any girls? WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney? ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated? WITNESS: By death.. ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated? WITNESS: Take a guess. ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual? WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female? WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work. ______________________________________ ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people? WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight. _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? WITNESS: Oral... _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time? WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample? WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question? ______________________________________ And last: ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS: No.. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor? WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

hello, I recently sent a letter to Natwest claiming financial hardship and asking for charges to be refunded. My account was a student account with the student overdraft, however when I graduated it went to a normal account + overdraft. I had been using the account even though I was overdrawn, as money would go in and out monthly but there was always enough left in that I was managing to pay off the overdraft. Im now up to 1400 on the overdraft and since January have been charged crazy high interest and overdraft fee's. We recently moved to the ROI and my husband (who Im financially reliant on) became unemployed. He is working now but I have copies of all of our Irish social welfare etc for the last few months. I explained to Natwest that it is basically their own interest and charges that are making me go over my overdraft each month and that any money I do pay into the account is being taken completely by charges and interest. I am stuck in a cycle now of paying a useless £50 a month and seeing the overdraft not decrease at all. I cant afford to pay off any more at the moment. I received a pretty standard letter back from them 2 weeks ago basically saying that they wont refund me the charges as they subscribe to the lending code and the charges are fair. Interestingly they also state that "we have arrangements in place to deal with customers sympathetically and positively when it is identified that they may be experiencing financial difficulty". They then go on that they are satisfied the charges I seek to reclaim were properly charged and that the supreme court judgement of 25/11/09 upholds their position. Im a bit stuck on what to do? do I respond and send more proof of hardship? and try and claim again? Or shall I go straight to the financial ombudsman (natwest kindly sent me a leaflet about how to go about this!) The charges only total about £400 but if I got them I would take it off the overdraft which would then stop further 'overdrawn' charges from happening. Any advice much appreciated!

Hi Moved out of shared accommodation into my own flt but the landlord is now claiming that I have ripped the carpet and is going to keep my deposit to cover this. I vacuumed the carpet before leaving and there was definitely no tear in it and he's since sent a photo and it clearly looks like its been cut to me. This man has had more money off me than I care to admit in addition to the monthly rent and I refuse to let him get any more money out of me. How do I fight this? Let me know if you need any more info. Cheers Matt

Any general advise please. I was involved in an accident whilst coming towards a Keep Clear Box. The road had filtered into 2 lanes and as I arrived at the KCB a 7.5 truck was on the inside lane. I noticed a vehicle suddenly pulling out from a Ford garage and the driver looking left then suddenly pulled out turning right and straight into my offside. He claims that I was in the KCB . He was potentially obscured by the truck but should have shown more caution . My point is I was not in the box and though he claimed I was this meant that I would have had to be hit then decide to reverse backwards with traffic behind me. What I would like to know is even if I was in the box moving forward or stationary am I at all culpable? Without the box he has pulled out of a side entrance and hit my car on the main road. The fact that 2 of his colleagues said they saw me in the KCB when they work in the garage 50 metres away makes little odds to me. Also the garage manager refused to give me the drivers details ; stating that " all my insurance company want to know is that he was a Ford technician". I have asked the Ford Admin Dept to verify if a police report was filed within 24 hours as I did not receive the details. Any views thanks. Also just received a response from Ford Unfortunately I cannot comment on the circumstances as we do not yet have the completed accident report form for our driver. I can advise that the drivers name has been given as J>*** *******r. We are not obliged to give his personal address, as he was an employee driving in the course of his duties the business address is sufficient. All correspondence should be directed to the address below. As I understand it, the vehicle belongs to a customer and therefore once again I cannot give you their personal details. The insurance company is *******. However they will not be aware of the accident until we receive the form and forward it to them. I will chase up the form today. Now I do not have the driver details but they are refusing to give owner details. No mention of police report also.

i cleaned apartment replaced carpets now my bill exceeds £570 deposit by 80 quid am i able to do anything or am i stitched up again thanks for your time

A female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Western Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time. So she went to check it out. She went to the Western Wall and there he was, walking slowly up to the holy site. She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, using a cane and moving very slowly, she approached him for an interview. "Pardon me, sir, I'm Rebecca Smith from CNN. What's your name? "Morris Feinberg," he replied. "Sir, how long have you been coming to the Western Wall and praying?" "For about 60 years." "60 years! That's amazing! What do you pray for?" "I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims." "I pray for all the wars and all the hatred to stop." "I pray for all our children to grow up safely as responsible adults and to love their fellow man." "I pray that politicians tell us the truth and put the interests of the people ahead of their own interests.." "How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?" "Like I'm talking to a bleddy brick wall."

We may have a buyer for our home in Spain and I would very much like to return to the UK to be nearer to my children. Unfortunately we have had to drop the house price so low that we will pretty much just cover the mortgage and there won't be enough left to settle our debts in the UK as we had hoped. We have defaulted debts in the UK that will become statute barred in two years. I'm worried that by moving back we will suddenly be bombarded by debt collectors. Is there any way that we can stay under the radar? We will need to rent, as we won't have money to buy, but we'll hopefully have enough cash to pay six months rent up front. Will the agency still need to do a credit check? Can they do a check if we ask them not to? Will looking for employment result in a credit check being done? How about obtaining an enhanced criminal records check? I will need one of those. What other things would flag us up? We could, once we find jobs, start some kind of payment plan, but it will be many many years until we can clear everything which means we will probably never ever be able to build a credit rating again as we are getting on a bit. I am really hoping we can hang on until the debts become statute barred or we win the lottery and can clear the lot. Wishful thinking, I know. The debts are all unsecured and there are no CCJs. However I'm worried that if a CCJ is taken out when we return, we won't have the money to settle it. Presumably creditors can apply for a CCJ at any time? Alternatively we could just stay in Spain and hope for the best, but if we don't return soon it is very unlikely that my husband will find a job if we return in a couple of years. The longer we stay away, the more difficult it will be. If we had any way of paying the debts, I would happily do so, if only to be free of the worry and guilt, but we are just not in a position to clear them.

Natwest passed my debt with them onto Moorcroft some months ago. I made a repayment arrangement with them, which I stuck to, but also complained to Natwest as they didn't inform me they were passing it on and, in my opinion, did so unfairly and unnecessarily. A week later I had a letter from Moorcroft telling me they had cancelled my direct debit with them and that Natwest had taken the debt back. A couple of weeks later they rang to ask why I had missed a payment! I referred them to their letter and the woman said, 'Oh, Natwest have given it back to us again, didn't they tell you?' When I said they hadn't, she told me she would contact them to find out what they were playing at. Then I had 2 letters on the same day, one from Moorcroft to tell me they had suspended their collection until they heard from Natwest and one from Natwest to tell me they had given the debt back to Moorcroft. I then made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, sending them all correspondence. Natwest have now written telling me that Moorcroft have attempted to contact me to set up a repayment plan, but as they were unable to the debt has now been passed to Westcot. For a start, Moorcroft haven't attempted to contact me. I've had nothing in the post and no missed calls. It may be that they tried to call my landline, but I've asked both them and Natwest not to use this as it's dodgy and doesn't always ring. I've sent a snotty reply to Natwest telling them this and will forward this and their letter to the Financial Ombudsman, but is there anything else I should do to prepare for Westcot getting in touch. Assuming they don't try contacting me on the landline either! Thanks

Hi, 2 years ago my husband bought me a beautiful 18 carat white gold diamond engagement ring from a prominent high street jewellers. In May I noticed it had lost its sparkle. I sought the opinion of an independent jeweller who felt it was cracked. He explained that the chances of this happening are about a million to one, but that someone has to be that 'one'! I had insurance bought specifically for the ring from the original jewellers, so took the ring back and asked to claim on the insurance for accidental damage. I won't go into the details but the customer service I received was disgusting. The 'report' came back to state that it was not a crack but an inclusion. The mark could be seen from 6 inches with the naked eye and was NOT there when my husband bought it. I took it to a further independent jeweller who was equally disgusted with the way I ahd been treated and also felt that the stones as cracked. However when she looked closely at the ring she noticed its is NOT HALLMARKED! It has never been re-sized and only re-rhodiumed once. It has been to QA and head office of the high street jewellers and no one noticed it. I took it in to the store and asked for a replacement. They obliged and ordered me a ring. It came and was sent off for valuation which they agreed to do as a 'gesture of good will'. I requested that the diamond be sent for 'mapping' of all the flaws - they initially refused as this would mean taking the diamond out of these setting (£100) and then resetting it (£100). I spoke to the area manager who then agreed to do this. Having spoken to my husband and friends I've actually had enough and don't want anything more to do with the high street jeweller. Speaking to the independent jeweller he explained that the ring is poor quality, the shank is too thin to last a lifetime and the stones are not set well enough and will at some point fall out. I need to point out at this point that the jeweller stands to gain nothing from me, this has all been free and impartial advice. So now I don't want a new ring. I want the money back (the ring has gone up from £650 in 2010 to £999 now) but the current value. I also want to keep my original ring as it has sentimental value, and the jeweller has explained that I could have the shank at the back replaced with a wider, stronger shank, much better (not cracked!) centre stone and secure the shoulder stones - but obviously done by a very experienced independent jeweller not the high street jeweller!! (Wouldn't trust them with a barge pole now). So what I want is the £999 and to keep the ring. Having looked at the Sales of Goods Act I found this passage: If either a repair or replacement is not possible, or the cost is greater than the value of the item ( disproportionately costly ), or the customer claims either option is taking an unreasonable amount of time or is causing unreasonable inconvenience, the customer is then entitled to keep the goods and claim a price reduction from the retailer to compensate them for the fault in the goods - this would be the difference between the value of the product in perfect condition and the value of the product in the faulty condition Now as my ring is unhallmarked it is worthless - there's no way to prove it is 18 carat white gold. My interpretation of the paragraph above is that I could keep the ring and claim the £999 as this would be the value of the product in perfect condition and a form of compensation. To be honest if I managed to get the original £650 back I would be happy as this would pay for the alterations on the original ring. I know any warranty etc would be void but I want nothing to do with the high street jeweller after this anyway. Would this be right/possible? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Oh and the 'compensation' they sent me in the post was a £20 gift card and a compliments slip!!! I was insulted!

Hello everyone, I really hope that I can have an answer to this problem and that it may help others as well. Recently, after much struggling with a sense of guilt! I decided to go ahead and use the services of a claims company to try to reclaim some of the PPI I believed I had been mis-sold. Within a few days of contacting the company i received a call and made a few claims through the company. I believed it to be a no win no fee so was quite happy to pay the charges should they be successful and should I receive any payout on a successful claim. Today I received a bill from the company for over £400 for their services. In the same envelope was a letter telling me that the bank had made me an offer for over £1100. Delighted - no! I thought I was going to be over £600 better off after I had paid the claims company, was I ever wrong:( On closer scrutiny the bottom line is this - Whether I agree to the Bank offer or not the claims company want their fee. The bank offer is to pay £1100 and to take over £900 of the money for an existing loan I have with them.(not in arrears) I feel like I'm being ripped off because I am being asked to pay a claims company before they will process my claim and the bank want to keep most of the award from the PPI complaint. it goes like this - 2 forms in the letter for me to sign - one for the claims company to get their money the other for the bank to get my money, only I dont get the full 1100 from the bank I only get £180 after the existing loan is settled, and I dont even get that unless I pay the £419 to the claims company up front. And, to add injury to insult even if I don't agree with the banks offer (not the amount, just taking the money they owe me to pay an existing loan not in arrears with the payment) and reject the offer, the claims company have billed me anyway. 'Rock and a hard place' and the word 'squeezed' come to mind. Now my perspective is this (and I would appreciate any sensible comments and advice on where I stand and how to proceed in all this from a legal perspective please)-: the claims company should not have billed me prior to my accecptance of the banks offer because as far as I'm aware the bank should pay the full award settlement to me before I have to pay the claims company. This is not the claims company getting me the money legally due to me it is the claims company getting my money and the bank keeping it. I'll end up a further £240 out of pocket!!Which I can not afford - I can barely make ends meet as it is. The history with this bank is this: I had 2 loans with them in 2003/2004. I went into arrears with payments because of redundancy. After a period of time of paying off a reduced amount they were bought out by a larger bank and that bank wrote to me and offered me a solution to consolidate the existing amounts outstanding into one new loan, thereby getting rid of the loans and the bad debt. I accecpted that new loan agreement nearly 6 years ago and have not missed one payment in all that time. The bank now want to take the money I'm being offered for being misold PPI on those original loans and use it to pay off the balance - surely that cannot be right? I know I owed the original loans but a new loan agreement had been extended by the bank and agreed. I want to contact the claims company and tell them that I do not accept the bank offer and do not accept that I owe them any fees until I receive the settlement in full into my bank account from the bank. Can anyone give me some sound advice please? Many thanks in advance

I defaulted on a credit card 10 years ago and have been paying monthly ever since. I have increased the amounts over the years and have never missed a monthly payment. It was with Mastercard RBOS that I had the card, there is still approx £2000 still to pay. There is no interest applied to the account. Just wondered if I have to continue to pay this or as the debt is so old could I request the remainder be written off. I do not have my credit file but I assume the original default will still be there as I am still paying the debt monthly so it would be live so to speak. Any advice helpful