THE DVLA is to overhaul its new computerized system for driving licences following chaos as holidaymakers tried to hire cars abroad. Last month, when the UK scrapped paper licences, drivers had to access the DVLA website and obtain a code to prove they were legal to drive, yet the code was only valid for three days. This left drivers trying to hire a car more than three days into holidays having to search for somewhere to get online or run up roaming charges by connecting from mobile phones, leading to a flood of complaints. Now the DVLA has announced it will change the system so codes last for three weeks, expected to cover most holidays this summer. http://www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0.15/news/on-euro-weekly-news/uk-news/130898-dvla-changes-tune-following-car-hire-chaos

Having researched the drink driving law I came across this article (see attachment) I think there is going to be a new level for a positive breathe sample from 35 down to 22 can someone read this attachment and confirm that what I am reading is correct.... Your comments please as always

Hi Guys Back in Feb i booked flights to spain and the flights are in 3 weeks. I paid a higher price to have ealier flight times at 6pm as i didnt want the later flight because i have 2 young children. I got an email this morning to say my flights had now changed to 20.40 so 2hrs40mins later. No apologies just said that i could get a refund.Which im not going to do as the refund will probably take a week to get to me and i dont have the money to book more flights without it. This is a huge inconvinence to us as not only did we pay the extra for the earlier flight, but will now cost us more to pay to keep our room on in the hotel, probably cost more in car parking and means we wont get home till after midnight. Is there anything i can do? I dont think its acceptable that they can just change our flights like that with no apologies or no option to have any money refunded for the extra i paid. As expected I cant get through to them as they probably have so many people calling about the same issues. Thanks

Good afternoon, hopefully this will be a 'quick' one. I've had an e-mail from my landline provider (BT) about the changes coming into effect on 1st July about charges to 08.. numbers etc. I use an 0844 number to make international calls on a regular basis. This is currently charged at 1p per minute. (is that what is called an 'override service'?). From what I understand from the e-mail, if I use this service after 1st July, I will be charged by BT a minimum of 9.58p per minute, despite the 'provider' (I think it's justcall) advertising it as 1p per minute. I'm confused. Can someone help me out please?

Hi all, Our LA is proposing to change waiting restrictions in our neighbourhood, supposedly on the prefix folk use our area to collect kids from school, which is not the case at all, however we do get a lot of white van man up the next road and some local business parking from 7am to 3pm ish.. maybe a few station parkers but nothing too extreme. But my main concern is A) the cost to me and B) the state of the footpaths and lighting locally, and C) this will push the parking to the next available road that has a width restriction to its already narrow entrance that goes out of the estate which will undoubtedly cause chaos. esp for the poor folk that live on that particular corner, apx 100 meters away from us. Any advice please consultations end 26th June.

In my local paper the council are reminding people that due to the roll out of Universal Credit,and the way it is paid, our rents will go 4 weeks into arrears, they are hoping that people affected pay small amount each week from now until December when UC will be rolled out in my area to offset those arrears. There is an option to have UC paid in advance to cover the change over, this advance will be recovered over a 6 month period. If that's right then I will be £75 short on the first 6 payments of UC if I choose to have the advanced payment, which is quite a large proportion of my benefit IMO. It is though they have taken 4 weeks from the future plonked it into the present and said we dont pay benefit for the future so what we will do is loan you the money to get by, but we want it back before the future has arrived, they will soon clock on that they could take 3 months from the future and borrow us all the shortfall if they rolled out UC payments on a quarterly basis saving the government zillions. IDS I salute your accounting wizardry.

Having read a lot of posts here and on several other Forums it concerns me at the lack of detail on paperwork issued by the Enforcement Co's. I accept they are only doing what they have been told to do so more needs to come from the "top" on what should be included. Whilst there are different debt streams all seem to lack for basic knowledge - possibly Council Tax is nearly there but should to my mind always list the amount "charged" by the Liability Order. Magistrates Court Fines should list the Court where the fine was awarded, the amount of the fine, the offence, when or if a Final Steps Notice was sent. PCN's should list dates & amounts of when different letters were sent & to what address. At present it is made so difficult for debtors to find out what the letter or visit from the Bailiff is for & where to find further info seeing as laot of time the Bailiff or Co is uncooperative. As I say just a suggestion.

H can anybody help me, I've just been moved over to Support Group on ESA, Do i have to get intouch and tell child tax credit about this change please? just dont want to be stuck owing them money in a month or so. thank you clare

Apologies if this has been posted before, I couldn't see it. The way of paying charges will change as of Monday and anyone heading around the M25 from the north or east into Kent or towards the Channel will need to pay remotely rather than at a toll booth or machine. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dart-charge-dartford-crossing-remote-payment http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/cost-of-motoring/dartford-crossing-dart-charge.html HB

Hi all. I have been reading up on the proposed pension changes in 2015/16 and am slightly concerned about my parents. They are both 68 years old and my Father gets £190.00p/w pension which is including pension credits and my Mother gets £26.00p/w as she never paid any contributions and worked cash in hand (regrets it now) Will they be affected as in my Fathers will drop to the new rate of £148.80 (I think) meaning a drop of £41.00ish and £164.00p/m?! Although they get carers, DLA and housing benefit they just about get by so a significant drop like this will put them right in the mire, or, will it balance out so they do not lose out as a couple? I really am quite concerned about this so any pensions people that understand this more than I do I would appreciate any input. Thanks

Hello I am hoping someone could advise me. A few years ago we bought a shop from the owner who also owned the freehold of the whole building which included our shop, another shop and several flats above. We have a standard commercial lease, we are the first tenants of the shop so we hold the head lease. Since then the landlord has sold the freehold to an investment company but our landlord took a 999 year lease on the ground floor of the property which is basically the 2 shops. The landlord was paying a peppercorn rent to the new freeholder and we paid our rent and service charge to our original landlord, as do the tenants of the other shop. recently our landlord has sold the ground floor and we have a new landlord. My question is this - are we still the head lease or are we now the sub lease? Are our obligations eg to pay the rent even if we close the shop still the same? Has our legal position changed at all? BTW I am sorry if I have some legal terminology wrong. regards Cathygh

Hello, this is an 'academic' query I'd like to ask. I was doing some background reading recently around ET matters (I'm doing some voluntary work at a CAB at the mo) and I noticed that there was a time apparently when tribunals were limited to a costs award of £500 against a claimant (a golden age?). Could someone tell me when this all changed? I imagine it must have been years ago given the blank look I got when I asked at work. (I assume that when the limit was removed it may have had a similar effect on the number of ET claims submitted as had the 'recent' introduction of upfront fees?) PS - heartening to see so much helpful advice and support still be shared on this site.

Today (19 Sep 14) RLP's practices were featured on BBC Radio 4's 'You and Yours' programme. The repellent Vanessa Willetts spoke for RLP. Apparently RLP don't think that their methods are either aggressive or misleading, and she says that consequently they won't be changing the way they work. It can, therefore, only be a matter of time before they end up in court. Meanwhile, let's see if what she says is true - but remember, this is RLP, so don't hold your breath - or if they do change anything. The You and Yours piece was interesting in the time allowed, and Richard Dunstan made some good points. It did mention that the Law Commission say there is no legal basis for RLP's claims. Sadly, there wasn't time to feature: - the Oxford case, which one of RLP's retailer clients brought, and lost spectacularly - RLP's highly amusing demonstration of the Streisand Effect, in which they tried to stifle criticism (including reporting of the above case), by hiring expensive lawyers to send a risible letter that achieved no more than giving us all a laugh - RLP's lies about consumer websites being investigated by the police for criminal activity RLP's deceitful attempts to infiltrate this website by the use of sockpuppets like Frogboy - the simple fact that no-one who has followed CAG's advice on how to deal with RLP's aggressive and misleading claims has been taken to court, nor has anyone had to pay anything to RLP unless they chose to

Barclays is set to move around 2.3m savers on to a new type of Isa which for two thirds of them will mean worse interest rates. The bank has already closed 11 of its cash Isas to new customers and will now be withdrawing them from existing customers too. The new Isas will pay less than the two per cent annual interest, meaning more meagre savings rate for 1.6m customers, with 740,000 benefitting or remaining unaffected. Barclays has said that it has been urged to simplify its Isas. Lee Chiswell, head of savings at Barclays said: These changes will make it easier for our customers to understand their products and easier for staff to serve them. We are writing to all impacted customers to let them know how these changes will affect them, and we have worked with our colleagues to ensure they can support customers who have any questions about these changes. http://www.cityam.com/1407333497/barclays-isa-changes-hit-savers http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28675631

From 1 October 2014, people in five areas of the UK will need to include the area code whenever they dial a local number from a landline – in the same way people currently do when calling from mobile phones. At present the code can be omitted for local calls from landlines, but this means Ofcom is unable to make available new local numbers beginning with a ‘zero’ or a ‘one’. The change will free up new telephone numbers to be issued in areas where supplies are running low. Which areas are affected? The change will happen in five dialling code areas: Aberdeen (01224): Includes Aberdeen and the area to the west, including towns such as Westhill. Bradford (01274): Includes Bradford and the surrounding areas such as Baildon, Bingley, Cleckheaton and Shipley. Brighton (01273): Includes Brighton and Hove, as well as places such as Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven and Southwick. Middlesbrough (01642): Includes Middlesbrough and surrounding places such as Stockton, Redcar, Stokesley and Yarm. Milton Keynes (01908): Includes Milton Keynes, Bletchley, Newport Pagnell and an area to the north as far as Ravenstone. When will the change happen? If you live in one of the five areas, you will have to dial the local code from 1 October 2014. However, it is good idea to get into the habit of dialling the code from today. What if I forget to dial the code? After 1 October 2014, if you dial a local number but forget to include the code, you will hear a free message asking you to redial. Will the cost of a call change? No. Dialling the code does not affect the price of the call. Will phone numbers change? No. We can create more numbers without changing anybody’s existing phone number. This is important for us, as we know that number changes are costly and inconvenient for consumers and businesses. Why is the changes necessary in these particular areas? The number of telecoms companies has increased significantly over the last ten years, leading to more competition and cheaper landline bills for millions of homes and businesses. But it has also led to increased pressure on the supply of new phone numbers in these five areas. Asking landline callers to use the code locally is intended to safeguard the future supply of new landline numbers and avoid the need for more disruptive measures, such as changing existing phone numbers. The supply of new landline numbers also ensures that consumers and businesses continue to enjoy the widest choice of telecoms providers. How will the changes create more numbers? Allowing callers to omit the code makes it impossible to allocate local numbers that begin with zero or one – such as (01224) 077 345 or (01224) 118 456. This is because, if a person dialled such a local number and omitted the code, the network would interpret the dialled digits as a mobile number (e.g. beginning 07) or directory enquiries number (e.g. beginning 118), rather than a local number. This could lead to the call failing to be connected, or being connected to the wrong number. Has this been tried anywhere else? Yes. In November 2012, Ofcom implemented the same change in the Bournemouth dialling code area, where the process ran smoothly. (Going into the change, Ofcom research showed that 81% of local residents were aware of it, and 94% said they were not concerned by it.) How are you going to tell people about this change? Telecoms companies will help to communicate the change to their customers. Ofcom also expects to engage with residents through local media, local councils and business groups. Together, Ofcom and the telecoms companies will ensure callers in the Brighton area are informed of the change in good time, and the local community is prepared. Who should I contact for further information? Ofcom is working with telephone companies to ensure callers in the five areas are informed of the change in good time, and the local communities are prepared. In the meantime, if you have any questions you can email dialthecode@ofcom.org.uk.

if my first shift begins at 0400hrs and my employer tells me (with only 9 hours notice...) that my next shift day will start at 0745 hrs, is this legal? does it not have to be 24 hrs notice if the start time changes more than two hrs either way of ( 0400 )? and, does the first shift day then count all week, ie; on the fith day the employer still cannot change the time by more than two hrs ( without 24 hrs notice ), either way. basically, can my shift start time be changed by more than two hrs without 24 hrs notice? thanks

I am 40 this month and am currently on £220 Housing Benefit per month and £202.70 Income Support (Incapacity Benefit) per fortnight, and I have been concerned about the "horror stories" concerning the ATOS reassessments based on their medical examinations. I personally take medication, like Sulpiride for anxiety and paranoia, and Omeprazole for a hiatal hernia caused by my abdominal obesity, ie. I look like a pregnant man, my belly is so big. My knees are also quite stiff, and I don't like resting on them to look in cupboards and so forth. So when I get a letter from ATOS/DWP saying I have to come in for a medical, I just go ahead and answer truthfully, right? If I'm deemed fit for work, I will have to attend interviews and so on, but for a while will only end up with something like £71 per week during the "assessment phase", but eventually end up on the "work-related activity group" at £99.15, right? That sounds not much less at all than the benefit I'm on now, which is a good thing. And I've been thinking about reentering employment for a long time now, as voluntary work just isn't cutting it and I want more money, frankly. The job market is dismal, but I'm strangely confident, for some reason. I would class myself as only slightly disabled, but is it the fear of reduced benefits or having to travel to interviews that are petrifying the genuinely needy disabled people out there, leading to the poverty and suicides we've heard about when they're deemed fit for work? Or am I missing something? Also, does the Universal Credit mean that Housing Benefit and ESA will be all combined into one lump sum per month?

I wonder if you can help. I purchased an item from Laura Ashley online. It was very heavy and I couldn't lift it, when it was delivered. The delivery driver placed it down and it did not move after his delivery. I booked a handy man for three weeks after I placed the order (the time they said it would take to arrive in the order confirmation email) It arrived earlier than that, but I couldn't change the date of the handy man When he arrived we unpackaged it together, too heavy for just one person. It was broken. Laura Ashley wont do anything, they say they will not replace it. The sale of goods act when I ordered it stated a reasonable time of 3 - 4 weeks to claim for damage. When I stated that to the customer relations manager, I was informed that halfway through this month the act changed to 14 days, and as such I am out of time, so goodbye. Can anyone advise me on this. Yes perhaps I should have opened it earlier, but I was in danger of damaging it if I did it on my own. They are just wiping their hands of me.

Just a heads up for my in law He's been sent a letter stating that his his workplace is moving from weekly to monthly pay As this is basicly going to mean a month of no pay he will not be able to survive financially (min wage job) Any advice or suggestions?

Hi guys (1st post here) I've read through quite a few posts and I think the advice you guys give is nothing short of amazing, I have a Wonga loan which I have now cancelled all cards and CPA with and I'm setting up a standing order with the details they have given me... My account on Wonga shows... Total amount owed - £1124.79 Capital repayment - £880 Interest repayment - £233.79 Transmission fee - £11 Their reply to me cancelling my CPA and debit cards was to say that 'interest will continue to accrue on the outstanding balance' is that something I just have to accept as I have asked for interest to be frozen whilst I make payments as and when I can afford to, So I guess my question is exactly how much should I be looking to pay back? Thanks in advance guys.

hope this is not true http://www.ldascotland.org/index.php/welfare-reform/122-the-dwp-turns-nasty-on-personal-independence-payment-claimants

Hi. Need some advice. We work in a care home environment. There is a good team there but some problems have occurred with a new boss. Background. We are part of two homes. The main building which provides 24/7 care, and ourselves that provide more independent living. Both have been run seperatly until now. The main building can be heavy going, whilst ours provides care taylored to the individual. Both have separate teams of staff and both are on a different rota. Change of boss. A new boss for both the homes started. At the time we passed a recent CQC inspection, whilst the main building had some minor issues to resolve. However, there were some minor drug errors from agency nurses at night at our place. The boss was livid and said he would make changes. The nursing side is the responsibility of higher management and is not provided by the care workers. But then: The boss held a meeting with the care workers and his tone was very harsh towards the care workers. Those that attended the meeting felt he was blaming all the care staff and nothing was mentioned about the fact it was agency RGN's and the responsibility of senior management. The care staff have never been involved with this side. As a result the staff have experienced the following. In addition he has made additional changes which is destroying the good team we have. Many of us are also worried about the needs of the service users and he is also implementing changes to our contracts: 1) The boss is clearly showing discrimination towards the women at the home. In addition he keeps having a go at our overseas staff who live in the UK. 2) Changes of working shifts. An additional late shift has been introduced without the staff consent. Whilst they have changed the hours to make them more social after we had a meeting, the consultation period was cut short and not everyone had enough notice to attend. 3) Compulasory training. Whilst we all agreed to training, we now have an additional task to perform with the nurses to ensure that they give the correct medication. This benefits the service users. However, we all received threatening e mails stating that unless we all attended, staff would be shifted to our main building. We were given 4 days notice. Then the dates were changed. Not everyone could attend and reluctantly they have agreed another date. 4) Poor attitude of boss. He has stated to a number of people, including myself he does not care about the staff here. He is often rude and blunt to everyone, questioning if we have the right motives. There is always an unpleasant atmosphere when he visits. 5) Change of pay date. With our last wage slip, a letter was enclosed changing our pay date from 24 to 27. Some of us have already have done overtime expecting it to be paid on the 24th of next month. In addition some of us have problems with paying the rent/ bills as payment for these are due on the 24th. One person has had their rent date changed but they have to pay another 4 days rent which they cannot afford. We were not asked about this change but I understand that our contract allows the employer to change our conditions. 6) Change of workplace/ rota. We have been told that our rota will be changed. We are now expected to work at the main building some weeks, which is different hours, type of work, and is more difficult to get to. The rota we are being told, will include compulsory shifts regardless if we have childcare commitments, college or other work commitments. We are concerned as many of the residents have individual needs and do not want different staff who do not know them. Their quality of care may suffer. Before the bosses arrival we had a great team and we were praised by the CQC for our level of care. Whilst there were some issues with the agency nurses, the care workers are being targeted. All our hard work appears to being dismantled and we all feel that he has no regards to us and we feel that he is bullying the team. I understand that at least two staff, including the main building have had run ins with him and they are even instructing their solicitors. It appears his behaviour is not just limited to our site. Many of us are not with a union but they are assisting them too. Any urgent advice would be needed on any of the points above.

Hi, Im a little worried on whether i need to declare my partner to WFTC and CHB if i do this does anyone know what will happen? Will my money stop?, Will they want to know his income?, will there be a history check? Has anyone been through this situation, if so can you give me some advice. Thanks Emma

I've just applied for DLA for my three year old son due to his developmental problems. I'm not sure he'll qualify but my Health Visitor and his Social Worker seem confident he will be awarded something. I'm a single mum on full benefits. I get Income Support as a Lone Parent, Child Tax Credits, Child Benefit and CSA off his dad. Do I need to inform any of these that I have applied for the DLA or do I just wait to see if he is awarded anything? (His dad is aware of the application so no doubt has already informed the CSA in the hope it will reduce his payments)

Just after a little advice please. I work for a Local Authority. They have decided to revise the pay scales for managers and introduce new bands etc. As a result they have re-evaluated my job role and assigned it to a grade in the new structure which pays less than my grade in the current structure. They have given a year's protection but then I take a pay drop. This isn't as a result of a restructure or change of role so my question is can they justcome up with new scales and decide to pay me less in the same role? Thanks for any advice.