As I'm nearing to my last year of my loan. I just thought I take a closer look at my statement this month. OH MY WORD! I took out a £20k, 108 month secured loan on my property in Oct 2007. Up to now, I am up to date. From 2007-2011, on 4 occasions I made late payments. Some arranging from 4days-2 weeks late. From Feb-Dec 2012 I lost my job, and fell into arrears. But within that period, I managed to make 4 payments which covered 4 months. And because I was able to find a new job, in December I paid off the remaining arrears. Since then, I have never missed a payment and my account is up to date. on checking my statement, and balance. I was assuming my balance would be near the £3763.68 mark (12 x £313.64) as I have 12 months left. But to my astonishment and disgust. My balance is showing: Balance Outstanding: £7954.99 Repayment Administration Fee: £195 Total Redemption Figure: £8149.99 Cost & Charges: £1570 Buildings Insurance Charge: 959.18 I rang them up, and told them to send me the breakdown of charges and fees. They consist of: Building Insurance - £959.18 Building Insurance Block Policy Charge - £130 Dishourned Reciept Charge - £35 x 5 Letter - £30 x 5 Collections Telephone - £35 Monthly Charge Arrears - £42 x 13 Visit Costs - £100 Land Registry Priority Search Legal Charge - £6 Land Registry Office Copies - £4 x 2 (on the same date?!?!) Issue of Possession - £49 Online Issue Fee - £100 Court Preparation Fee - £57 Legal Costs - £162 Can someone please help me. Is this even legal? And what is this charge I have for Building Insurance/Block Policy Charge. Even if I minus all the fees/charges. The balance does not even add up to the 108 month loan agreement. Any help would be great and much appreciated.

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me help. My husband has been on DLA & Income support for several years, now they say he has to be on PIP. He has various mental health problems over the years now he has another one, he will not leave the house, he has only left the house 3 times in four years twice during a heart attack and the last time last year with a severe panic attack, on all three occasions he was in a ambulance and off to hospital. He is frightened of so many things (to many to mention) but two of the things he is most scared of is hearing people talk, and germs. So he will not go and see a GP, he discharged himself after a few hours in hospital after his second heart attack, (which was brought on by me telling him that I have had enough, and was demanding that he see a GP) . This is the problem, he has to have a visit next Monday 25th at our home, there is NO WAY he will agree to that, so what shall I do, I have a appointment tomorrow with his GP, I was thinking of asking for a letter from him telling them that he is too ill, our old GP did this two years ago, but they have just ignored this. I do know that they can not just take my word for it, that he is too mentally ill to speak to them, he wont even speak on the phone to people. When they wanted a face to face about 2 years ago, and he would not attend, they cancelled his claim, he had a Tribunal case, (which he would not attend) they eventually awarded him (after the second tribunal) his claim, and they back dated his money. This took months of having no money, I am frightened that this will happen with his ESSA as well, the only reason they have not bothered yet, is because they said a home visit will take time to arrange? All this is keeping me awake at night, he will not see anyone, he wont go anywhere, all I can do is go to see his GP. Has anybody got any ideas what I can do.

Your right to end a hire purchase or conditional sale agreement You can end (terminate) a hire purchase or conditional sale agreement in writing and return the goods at any time. This can be useful if you can no longer afford the payments or you don't need the goods any more. You will have to pay all the instalments due up to the time you end the agreement. If your payments come to less than half of the total price of the goods, you may still have some money to pay as the lender is entitled to this amount under the agreement. If you have already paid more than half of the price when you end the agreement, you can't get a refund but you usually won't have to pay any more. If you are not sure whether you still owe anything, check the original credit agreement which should show the total price of the goods and the amount you must pay if you end the agreement. The credit agreement is the legal document you signed when you bought the goods. Lenders sometimes say you must pay the whole amount owed under the agreement this is sometimes wrong. hope this helps:-D Citizens Advice

Hi My son was walking through sainsburys car park smoking a roll up and absently mindedly dropped it on the floor (he knows he's a very naughty boy etc) then from no where pops up a woman in uniform armed with a camera telling him he'd been filmed littering which is an offence and he is to be fined £60 to be paid within 11 days or it goes up to £80 or court Whilst I agree littering is bad. ..nothing worse then takeaway wrappers blowing all over the place or having to tip toe through dog dirt in the park but I've never had in issue with cigarette butts.. ..but yes..litter is litter & he did a naughty thing ...my issue is not with that, on reading the government guidelines for these 'litter enforcement officers' it seems to state that a person should be given the opportunity to pick up their litter. ..but I suppose thats the up to the officer and on reading they get some kinda commission for their fines, unlikely they'll be letting people off... .so my other issue is the car park is private property shared with sainsburys, homebase, argos & McMucks. ..NOT council land.. .the gov website also states that they are not permitted to issue fines on private property, even if used by the public without permission off the landowner. I contacted sainsburys to enquire why they have allowed their customers to be intimidated, humiliated by uniformed people claiming to be council workers loitering outside their store entrance armed with CCTV filming their customers!! Disgusting:-x!!! However, sainsburys HO don't seem too happy about it either and they contacted my local store who have assured me that they had no idea of what was happening in their car park and they are looking into it for me. ...now I'm wondering if this fine inflicted on my son (a student and forever skint) will stick ...of course i want to get him out of paying it. ..I have done the online appeal thing to raise my concerns with the council on his behalf. ..has anyone had success arguing the toss about fines on private land??? Thanks

What with CWP and MWA referals due to end on March 31st, do we think we will see a increased push to place people on these schemes before that date?

I am a very worried about getting sacked. If I got sacked, will I ever get another job?

My office was given notice to end my lease after 12years. The reason: the landlord needs the property and will not renew. The building was residential, unknown to me at the time of my occupation that the tenants were squatters they occupy 17 of the 18 flats and had been there for over 30years. I am the legitimate tenant. Few months after I started my business the squatter started to make my life a hell and make my business in operational. I complained to the landlord the reply was I must be quiet as they did not want to raise a long time problem. Several complaints were made about maintenance, repairs, cleaning and obstruction of squatters, but the landlord did not respond so I carried out all maintenance repairs by myself. Last year October the landlord was able to get rid of all the tenants after over 30years and now the landlord had sent me notice to end my lease. I have asked the landlord and his agent what they want do with property they have refused to say. What can I do? I operate on a high street in London and business has picked up since I didn't have to worry about the squatters obstruction.

This Is How Our World Could Die, According To NASA It’s not pretty Rob WaughRob Waugh – 7 hours ago 'Death star' 'Death star' Scientists have spotted a planet being ripped apart as it orbits a dead ‘white dwarf’ star - and it could be a vision of our own future. ‘We might be seeing how our own solar system could be disassembled in the future,” said Andrew Vanderburg of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. ‘We are for the first time witnessing a miniature “planet” ripped apart by intense gravity, being vaporized by starlight and raining rocky material onto its star.’ As stars like our Sun age, they puff up into red giants and then gradually lose about half their mass, shrinking down to 1/100th of their original size to roughly the size of Earth. This dead, dense star remnant is called a white dwarf. A research team led by Vanderburg found an unusual, but vaguely familiar pattern in telescope data. While there was a prominent dip in brightness occurring every 4.5 hours, blocking up to 40 percent of the white dwarf’s light, the transit signal of the tiny planet did not exhibit the typical symmetric U-shaped pattern. It indicated a ring of dusty debris circling the white dwarf, and what could be the signature of a small planet being vaporized. ‘The eureka moment of discovery came on the last night of observation with a sudden realization of what was going around the white dwarf. The shape and changing depth of the transit were undeniable signatures,’ said Vanderburg. ‘For the last decade we’ve suspected that white dwarf stars were feeding on the remains of rocky objects, and this result may be the smoking gun we’re looking for,’ said Fergal Mullally, of NASA.

Now calm down i know it is late in the evening. Ford gave me this idea on the Asteroid skimming our rooftops tonight thread.Northern lights i mean. Covering myself a touch.Your idea not mine thoughts. Oh you did not know.Sorry about that. So would you- What would you do for your last 24 hours on Earth? Netflix and chill Get drunk Go to work Spend all your savings Or something else. Not saying myself,but would be pretty tired afterwards. What minds have you got,sending me psychic thoughts like that. Go for a run i would and take a world record leap to another universe. Source with many links. ‘End of the world’ Christian group leader 'surprised' to still be alive The world didn’t end on October 7 but the Armageddon will be ‘soon’, insists Christian group leader Chris McCann http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11922005/End-of-the-world-Christian-group-leader-surprised-to-still-be-alive.html

Ever after coming across this Documentary back in 2013 it has slightly worried me. Now old Tawnyowl i must admit believes a lot of what people say to me. Have been fooled many times.And never learn any lessons.. Now once again i find it hard to believe this documentary is just a advert for a magazine. Any wise ones,any economists,anyone who has a little time and who has not seen it can you tell me if there is any truth in all this. As i say it has bugged me slightly since 2013. Well it is out there now anyone,please have your say and at least i can put it to the back of my cluttered mind now. Bear Garden seemed the right place for it. Here we go settle down strap yourselves in and be very afraid very afraid. U certificate it isn't that bad.Perhaps many have seen it before. The Plague of the Black Debt http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/plague-black-debt/

Another report predicting the end of the world due to an asteroid. Every week in a newspaper there is a report of someone predicting the end of human life on Earth due to an asteroid hit. Of course this is just in someones imagination and there is no proof. But if there was an asteriod due to hit the Earth causing either huge damage to countries or the end of all human life, would NASA or any other official body make any announcement ? Of course the answer is no announcement would be made and any reports of asteroids likely to be catastrophic would be denied. There would be a total panic with people running riot in public, committing crimes and doing things because of the limited time left. The chances are that no asteroid announcement would be made until it was visable to many and it could not be denied. A few months ago an asteriod that had not been identified previously was a near miss to Earth in space terms, proving that NASA and other bodies cannot currently track all asteriods.

Well more interesting news from the Grapevine... Interesting... I wonder if it means that BC will be bought out or if they will go from scratch...

WRT135 [#10949986] Hi all, First time poster here. I dont even quite know where to begin, I am so beyond frustrated with Vodafone that Im damaging my laptop as I bash the keys writing this! My problems all began when I did an early upgrade with the now defunct Phones4U. I currently had a Vodafone number and my prerequisite in doing an upgrade was that I had to keep my old phone number as it was for business. They got everything started and then told me the process of porting my Vodafone number onto my new Vodafone contract. They told me it was quite frankly a pain in the ass but to speak with Vodafone and they would get it sorted. So now at this point Phones4U are out of the picture. I spoke with Vodafone over the phone and they told me about general delays you get porting within the same network, as I was really busy with work I decided to just keep two contracts going and to put my old sim card into my new phone. Fast forward to 18 months later. At this point, I decided to finally go thru the porting process, after speaking with about 3 different people on the phone at Vodafone (1hr or so) they told me I needed to pay to end my old contract (about £80) and the process would begin, so thats exactly what I did. I would then go on to a PAYG phone (with my current number) and they would then be able to port my number in about 2 weeks. 2 weeks later. On the phone to them, explain the situation again as no one knows what Im talking about (getting suspicious!) The porting process begins with change over in 2 working days. 2 working days later, nothing is happening. I ring Vodafone, explain AGAIN what my problem is, they try again. 2 working days later, nothing is happening again. Ring Vodafone, explain AGAIN, I end up being disconnected from the person I was speaking too. Ring again, they advise me to go into store. So now at this point Im on about 8 hrs or so on the phone. I go into my local store, explain the situation (the story is getting very long winded now, I apologise) The lady I deal with in store is very nice and cant find my phone details, turns out they have deleted my old phone number, thankfully I have the PAC code. She rings Vodafone and is getting visibly frustrated with the people from her own company she speaks to over the phone. manages to sort something out, tells me to wait 48 hrs and try again. 48 hrs later, you guessed it, nothing. So I go into the store, and onwards its goes. What she advised is starting a new contract as apparently I no longer have one, and we can port my number with my PAC code onto it, great Im thinking, lets go for it. And finally I have my phone up and working. My first bill comes in, £180. I go into the store and ask what this is all about as my contract would only be £30 a month, they bring up my details and I ask me why I have 3 seperate phone numbers on my account, I have no idea but assume its something to do with this. I ask to speak the girl who set it up for me, she is away on holiday, so i wait, come back a week later and ask to speak to the Manager of the store. She wont agree to see me at a specific time, so I have had it up to my eyeballs and walk out. Im not paying the £180, that was there screw up and no one will admit it. I take my PAC number and join a new network. So fast forward again to now. Im receiving letters from Vodafones heavies, Fredrickson Int, they are now chasing me for £500, I assume thats because they are charging me fees for breaking away from my non existent contract. I will never ever ever part with a penny to give these guys, but here I am wasting the 50th hour or so on this hoping that because reps from Vodafone look at this forum maybe some one will fix it and the problem will go away. If not,maybe I will get these letters once a week for the rest of my life. Thanks for listening, Vodafone is the worst expericence I have ever had in my life. THE END WRT135

The home page of auction website MadBid makes a series of stunning claims. One bidder snapped up a Fiat 500 for just £193. Another grabbed “a week in the sun” for a mere £3.28. A third is about to take delivery of a brand-new Mini One for the staggeringly low price of £6.83. But a Guardian Money investigation suggests that successful buyers can actually end up paying twice the price for goods available on conventional retail sites, while the far more numerous unsuccessful bidders face losing £28 or more each. We also found evidence to suggest that the company, ultimately based in the Channel Islands, is making extraordinary profits – potentially up to £14,000 on the sale of an Apple MacBook in one of its penny auctions. We also found pricing irregularities across the website, with “sold prices” incorrectly stated across its many international versions. http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/may/15/madbid-discount-auction-website-most-complained-company

The home page of auction website MadBid makes a series of stunning claims. One bidder snapped up a Fiat 500 for just £193. Another grabbed “a week in the sun” for a mere £3.28. A third is about to take delivery of a brand-new Mini One for the staggeringly low price of £6.83. But a Guardian Money investigation suggests that successful buyers can actually end up paying twice the price for goods available on conventional retail sites, while the far more numerous unsuccessful bidders face losing £28 or more each. We also found evidence to suggest that the company, ultimately based in the Channel Islands, is making extraordinary profits – potentially up to £14,000 on the sale of an Apple MacBook in one of its penny auctions. We also found pricing irregularities across the website, with “sold prices” incorrectly stated across its many international versions. http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/may/15/madbid-discount-auction-website-most-complained-company

Hi, id like to ask any of you kind people if you can give me some advice on my situation. Im currently in the WRAG group attending A4E, which ends in July sometime. They have done nothing for me and my condition is still the same. How do i go about claiming income based ESA? So i don't have a gap in payments. All so, if i claim income based ESA would i have to go to A4E again? Thanks in advance.

The Financial Conduct Authority today announced plans to ban opt-out selling in financial services markets. Opt-out selling is the practice of defaulting consumers into buying a product which they then have to opt out of, for example by using pre-ticked boxes to sell the consumer add-on insurance. http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-proposes-an-end-to-opt-out-selling-of-insurance-add-ons FCA to ban pre-ticked 'add-on' insurance sales http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/25/fca-to-ban-pre-ticked-add-on-insurance-sales

Evening All, Does anyone know how the energy companies are supposed to inform you your tariff/deal is coming to an end?? Mine (Scottish Power) came to an end October 31st 2014 but i didn't receive any letter/email 42-49 day prior to this date informing me it was ending. I received (via SP online portal) an annual statement on 4th November and included in this was one line stating 'you may want to think about changing' Then on the 2nd December i received an email (again via the Scottish Power portal) that my tariff had changed!! I know its March now but i didn't read the Statements at the time but if there had been an email telling me that my tariff was ending then i would have changed straight away! I'm now stuck on Standard online tariff paying through the nose and because i didn't notice until now and i'm in debt as i haven't paid enough on my direct debit each month so if i want to change then i've got to pay up £200!! I phoned SP and got fobbed off by telling me a load of bull which was total lies, so much so that the woman i spoke to hung up on me as she knew she was lying!! unbelievable!!!

Got a E1 for christmas and had no end of problems with it since. I have one it is back at vodafone shop waiting for me to collect after being repaired allegedly. l am not the only one having problems u can establish this from the vodaphone reviews. It has deleted everything on my SD card. U cant set ringtones as when it had music on it nothing was recognised but the text tone could be recognised as jessie j pricetag. All photos deleted. It has also caused no end of problems with my sim card. I have not recieved text messages regarding things from vodaphone since my sim card has been in that phone to the extent my family group was suspened as l did not get the texts and my family group despite being reactivated has not been fully reactivated as noone can make calls without it charging them. Apps deleted or disappearing of the home screen and if they are on the home screen on installed they dont work. Further sim problems include telephone numbers disappearing texts from the schools not coming through. keeps dropping the wifi to forget so l have to re enter this about 3-4 times a day. I am sick of this phone. I dont even think its fit for purpose but according to vodaphone store they have not had any problems and not even one back. I know thats a lie as l have returned 2. The phone was brought on the 15th Dec using cash. My partner was told by the store manager(K) we had until the 19th Jan to return for a full refund. When it was taken back on the 17th She denied this. K is also the one that claimed they have not had any back. K also claimed it was my memory card that caused the problem but when she was shown the memory card in the e1 was not suddenly being recognised but when it went into the old phone a vodafone £40 phone it was working and being recognised she changed her mind. Can l get the money back for this phone as l dont want it as l dont believe its fixed.

I read this on the site linked at the bottom. "I thought I would put this on from today’s paper, for information, as I have not heard about it neither, and even after reading it I still don’t know how we will be able to renew our road tax. Paper tax discs will vanish from cars in less than six weeks-but half of drivers are unaware. The discs will be abolished from October 1st and replaced by electronic records. Police cameras will check number plates to catch owners who have not paid. However, a survey found that 50% of drivers are still in the dark about when the changes kick in. Nearly a third of them said they will not even try to find out what the new rules are, according to the poll by price comparison website money.co.uk. And 6% of motorists believe that the changes are not coming into force until next year. Almost a third of those polled said they will wait for instructions from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. But the comparison website claims that the DVLA has not yet started adding warnings to tax renewal reminders. The move away from paper discs, after 93 years, is designed to offer motorists more flexible payment options (you believe that you will believe anything, why don’t they give us the truth it’s to do with saving money and not for you only for them) and make it harder for people to drive untaxed. Estimates show that the changes could save the taxpayer £10 million a year. Car owners will still need to have paid vehicle tax to drive on the roads. But under the new system, the tax will no longer be automatically transferred with the car when it is sold. Sellers are expected to tell the DVLA straight away of the change of ownership or face £1.000 fines. (see money money money) Shane Teskey, from vehicle history check website hpicheck.com, said: ‘Those who fail to inform the DVLA, could be fined and they will still be liable for any speeding or parking fines and vehicle tax for a car they don’t even own anymore.’ Around 53% of drivers said they would use the new option of paying by direct debit, according to the survey. Those choosing to spread the cost by paying twice a year or monthly will incur a 5% additional charge. However this is half of the 10% surcharge currently applied to six-month tax discs, used by 23% of drivers. Motorists can also pay annually with no extra cost under the new system. Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief of money.co.uk, said: ‘Changes to the vehicle tax system are no bad thing and we fully welcome the introduction of direct debit payments, particularly for consumers who may be struggling to keep up with the soaring cost of driving. ‘It will also help to eliminate the problem of people who genuinely forget to renew their tax and end up being stung with a hefty fine. (load of rubbish) ‘However, I suspect the new system may experience some teething troubles (they hope more money) so drivers really need to make sure they’re on top of their game.’ The death of the tax disc has been well documented, (really!) and the change was officially announced in last year’s Autumn Statement. Automatic number plate recognition cameras will spot motorists who have not paid the tax. (but I thought these cameras could spot out of date discs any way). More than 1.7 billion tax discs have been issued since 1921. Last year, the DVLA issued 42.2 million of them. Link

Hi All, Basically its like this. I work at a military establishment with a woman who is starting to drive me nuts, basically. She has obsessive compulsive disorder - don't get me wrong, I fully respect she has the condition but she's making my working life that much more unbearable. She's even confiding in a work colleague that she went to see a psychologist because she said that I stress her out at work and to hear that second hand from a work colleague was not too pleasant to be honest. I have had a problem with pen chewing and putting things in my mouth, chewing my nails etc. as far back as I can remember and there seems to be no signs of it letting up - despite my best efforts, I find myself relapsing and every now and again, which has become a bit more occasional of late, find a pen or something else in my mouth, be it my fingers for biting my nails or whatever. However whenever I have been at a workstation using the keyboard or been somewhere else and this is usually some while after I have bitten my nails, for example, then she is there cleaning the desk area and I am made to feel like a dirty person - don't get me wrong - I fully respect her condition but I'm being made to feel that I can't even put my hands near my mouth or pick up a pen in fear she's going to put in a complaint and I think that I am going to be on the receiving end of something unpleasant and the fact that she has a mental illness will work against me. Furthermore, she is rather cold toward me in the office and I feel the tensity in the office is going to reach a peak before long. We have been open and honest about our feelings in the office as well. I can't help what I do at the end of the day and as I explained, since I've been a nipper, its been a recurring problem for me. Can someone offer me some advice as to what the best solution is as I will not take kindly to an official complaint from my supervisor as I feel I've done little wrong and am trying hard to work on a problem I've had difficulty in resolving in the past. Regards

Hello there. I recently signed a tenancy agreement with a social housing association for a two bedroomed first floor flat. It was a five year fixed term shorthold tenancy agreement with a 12 month starter period. There is a 4 week break clause if you want to end the tenancy early. I had the keys to the flat for 5 days but did not move into the property at any time. I started to become very ill as I was moving boxes into the flat. I suffered with headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and loss of balance. Symptoms subsided when I left the property. Symptoms returned when I went back to the property. I took three friends with me on separate occasions and they all felt the same. On the fourth visit to the flat I noticed an electricity substation in the front garden. I have always been sensitive to EMF pollution ( I have not been able to use a mobile phone for years except on loud speaker) I returned the keys and asked for a surrender of tenancy which has been refused. I feel that it is very unfair that I should be liable for any rent payments as I left the property through no fault of my own, on health grounds, as I simply could not stay there without experiencing these symptoms. The tenancy agreement states that the property would be safe but it was not safe for me. The social housing association say I have to give 4 weeks notice and pay 4 weeks rent and if I do not sign the form to say I am giving notice then they will extend the notice. I have told them I am going to seek legal advice. I do not have the money to see a solicitor. Can you advise? Many thanks.

Hi, I stupidly got a laptop from Buy As You View. First mistake there! I got it 12.3.14 my circumstances have now changed and im unable to afford it now. I moved house rang them and told them. They came banging on my door saying id absconded which isnt true since i told them. He threatened me with police and gave me 24 hours to pay £81 or he'd come take the laptop. Now after complaining and having a different man come round i payed. Now im unable to make the next payment what is the best course of action? I have read through the contract there is only my signature on it. Also they are charging me £1354.06 for a £250 laptop as i now find out. Now there is someone due round today to take payment. do i just hand the laptop back and a notice to end agreement i got from CAB or what? i cant do with the stress when they come round threatening and trying to push thier way into my house. I have a 3 year old to think about. Thanks in advance

The future has not looked especially bright for the UK’s once rapidly growing civil recovery industry, ever since its leading practitioner, the Nottingham-based Retail Loss Prevention (RLP), and its retailer client lost – and lost badly – a test case in Oxford County Court in May 2012 (HERE). But a few weeks from now, the industry will receive a further stunning blow that may well prove fatal. On 1 October, the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 will amend the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, extending the definition of a ‘transactional decision’ and giving consumers new private remedies where a trader uses misleading or aggressive commercial practices. And guidance on the 2014 Regulations, published by the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) on 14 August, expressly states that, as a result, civil recovery “is now clearly covered” by the consumer protection regime established by the 2008 Regulations. It is important to note that this does not mean that civil recovery per se will become unlawful on 1 October. Rather, any misleading or aggressive action by the civil recovery agents will become unlawful. However, given that, as practised to date by the agents on behalf of household-name retailers such as Asda, Boots, Iceland, Tesco and TK Maxx, civil recovery against alleged shoplifters relies for its profitability on hoodwinking often vulnerable people into paying arbitrary, fixed-sum demands for ‘compensation’ for which there is in fact no legal authority, it is inherently misleading. http://thejusticegap.com/2014/08/end-road-civil-recovery/

Hospitals have been told to give free or cheap parking to the relatives of chronically ill patients. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said new guidelines for English hospitals have been created in order to end the stress of "unfair" charges. Patients with disabilities, those who have frequent appointments and members of staff working shifts will also benefit from the changes, Mr Hunt said. The guidelines state hospital trusts should waive fines when an overstay is beyond the control of the driver, for instance if treatment takes longer than planned. Mr Hunt last month admitted he was concerned about parking fees being charged at some hospitals after being pressed by backbenchers to end "rip-off" costs. The guidance sets out for the first time that hospital trusts are responsible for the actions of any private firms they use to run parking facilities. It also calls on hospitals to look at introducing pay on exit systems so those visiting only pay for the time they have used. Mr Hunt said: "Patients and families shouldn't have to deal with the added stress of unfair parking charges. "These clear ground rules set out our expectations, and will help the public hold the NHS to account for unfair charges or practices." https://uk.news.yahoo.com/hospitals-told-end-unfair-parking-charges-233556779.html#BM0Avdn