Hi, in 2013 I hired a car from Europcar in Rome. I paid in advance and, after an uneventful rental period, returned the car. After, and with no warning or correspondence, an 'administration fee' was charged to my credit card for a supposed traffic violation. I queried this immediately but was told by Europcar that the 'authorities' would be in contact with me regarding the offence. It has now been over 18 months since I hired the car and no one has tried to contact me about any such offence. I therefore contacted Europcar again saying that I presumed that no such violation ever existed and consequently I wanted a refund of the fee. They have replied saying that, as per the T&Cs, they have fulfilled their legal obligation by providing my details to the 'authorities'. How can they be allowed to do that? I have no proof that any traffic violation ever happened. Without proof how do I know that the charge is not bogus? If they are allowed to do this then it is a licence to print money from their customers (whether or not there was a traffic offence or not). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am looking into all previous credit cards and store finance, and want to see a list of charges for these. Do I have to send the £10 SAR fee if I only want to see a copy of charges to my account, rather than the endless statements? I have quite a few and don't want to pursue futile claims. please advise.

Hi guys ill keep it short and sweet, i just received a letter from harlands saying i didnt pay my january membership even though i had money in my account and still have money in my account so i dont feel i should have to pay a £25 fee for this. what would the best response be and should i contact harlands or just contact the gym ?

At Derbyshire Districts CAB we want to make sure that people in debt know that there are sources of free help; that they don’t have to pay whopping fees to a debt management company in order to get out of debt. To that end we have started the Fee Free campaign and we’re asking as many people as possible to help spread our simple message: You should NEVER have to pay for help with debt. Please help us get the word out. If you’re on Twitter or Facebook, if you have a blog or if participate in message boards and forums, you can help spread our message. You can visit our Twitter account (https://twitter.com/DD_CAB) and retweet our Fee Free messages. You can also find out more on our blog (http://feefreedebthelp.blogspot.co.uk/) and download posters, articles and pictures to share on social media. We think that our message can make a big difference to people struggling with their finances and we hope everyone can give it their full support.

Hi, I'm wanting to bring a claim against a former employer for wages which were not paid - this relates to a very brief period of employment (1 month) between April and May 2014. As I am now a full time student with a limited income, I believe I would qualify for fee remission if I file the claim on a paper form at my local CC. However, I also understand that if I file the claim using MCOL and pay the court fee, I can claim this back from the defendant as part of the claim (assuming, of course, I'm successful). Just wondering really which is the best option? Part of me really wants to make the former employer cover this cost on top of what they owe me, however at the same time it is a gamble in case the claim isn't successful, or as I suspect may be the case the director does some jiggery pokery and winds up the company to avoid payment - and being honest I could do without being £105 out of pocket whilst I wait for it to be heard etc. Cheers,

A new fee-free template for basic UK bank accounts has been revealed by the Treasury after a deal with major banks. Basic accounts do not offer overdrafts or cheque books, and may be given to those with a chequered credit history. Some holders of these accounts have been hit by initial fees of £30 or more after a direct debit or standing order payment has bounced. The cost can then escalate if the fees are unpaid. Under the new terms agreed, these one-off fees will be scrapped. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrea Leadsom said the new accounts would give basic bank account holders "certainty and clarity". "It will end people being effectively locked out of their basic bank accounts due to high fees and charges when their payments failed," she added. Account holders should also be offered a debit card, in order to withdraw cash from the UK's ATM network. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, welcomed the move but said it came a year later than planned. Inside a debt charity: Matt Barlow, chief executive of Christians Against Poverty, says: We ask all our new debt clients to open a basic bank account with a bank that they don't owe money to. It is often not an easy business, especially for vulnerable people. In some cases, staff at the local branches are unaware of the basic bank account and we have found they inadvertently up-sell, offering the client a current account which results in rejection when they carry out a credit check. This is especially hard on someone who is trying really hard to get their finances back on track and take their first tentative steps to addressing problem debt. One of the other biggest stumbling blocks is that the banks want photo identification, which can be too expensive for someone without a passport or driving licence. There are only one or two companies which allow other forms of ID and we would love to see the Treasury tackle that issue. Another difficult element is the lack of a debit card with many of these accounts which really hit people in rural communities who end up travelling to a cash machine out of their immediate area and are unable to do shopping online. 'Fair fees' Some banks have, at times, withdrawn or reduced basic account holders' access to cash machines, prompting criticism from campaigners. There are an estimated nine million users of basic bank accounts in the UK. Nine High Street banks have signed up to the deal, accounting for 90% of the UK current account market. Access to basic bank accounts is extremely sporadic across the sector” says Mike O'Connor Chief executive, StepChange Banking industry body the British Bankers Association, which worked with the banks to develop the new template, said the revised account was aimed at people who might not be able to open a standard account and customers in financial difficulty. "These basic accounts will make it easier for more people to manage their money. They will have many features that will help people to budget, pay bills and save up," said BBA chief executive Anthony Browne. The EU authorities agreed a directive earlier this year that said all residents should be given the opportunity to open a basic bank account, with fees that were fair, and allowing people the opportunity to switch providers. Kevin Mountford, head of banking at price comparison website Moneysupermarket, said: "While the main banks have always borne a degree of responsibility to provide such facilities, these have often lacked clarity around fee structures and uncertainty as to who can and cannot apply, so this should now change. "It is essential that all banks fully enter into the spirit of this ruling and create basic banking products in order to help those customers who have been badly underserved in the past." Mike O'Connor, chief executive of StepChange debt charity, said: "The experience of our clients is that access to basic bank accounts is extremely sporadic across the sector, and things like high charges and limited access to cash machines can cause real problems on a day-to-day basis. "This move will give hope to the millions of people who currently feel locked out of the banking system, and help them to regain control of their finances. "However, signs of financial difficulty should not be ignored. We would urge banks and those across the credit sector to do more to recognise when people are falling behind on their essential bills and credit commitments, and signpost them to free independent debt advice as early as possible." More ...

Viewers who avoid the licence fee by only watching catch-up shows on iPlayer could have to pay up, the BBC’s director general warned yesterday. Lord Hall’s comments come amid growing concerns that younger viewers are using free catch-up services to dodge the £145.50 annual charge. He insisted that the licence fee has ‘plenty of life yet’ but admitted it could be changed. Currently, a loophole means viewers who only watch catch-up shows instead of on TV as they are broadcast do not have to pay the licence fee. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2731277/Now-BBC-threatens-make-iPlayer-users-pay-licence-fee-Director-General-admits-charge-modernised-apply-programmes-catch-service.html#ixzz3BPWSiM4D

Hi, I've just terminated a rent agreement for a residential property that was under a business let with my own company - was accommodation used whilst contracting away for home. The letting agency are being quite difficult about the cleanliness of the property when I moved out, even though I cleaned extensively and left it in good condition (I've been renting and letting my own property for 15 years and I have never seen anything better, tbh). However, their inspection has revealed some dust and a few other items that could be attended to. They are asking for around £250 for what is, at most, a couple of hours work!? They are also asking for the carpets to be "professionally cleaned" and will not accept that anybody other than a "professional cleaner" is able to do this, even though this is not in the contract. FYI, there are no stains on the carpets and they are in good condition, as described in their own checkout report. Additionally, the carpets are not suitable for using a wet vacuum cleaner and I suspect that the only option is normal vacuuming (which I have already done) and the application of dry cleaning powder of some description. Of course, they have refused to detailed what professional cleaning actually entails and there is nothing about this in my contract. How can I challenge this requirement? I have offered to do the work myself or via a local friend (I do not normally live locally), but they have refused to let anybody other than a professional cleaning company back into the property - they reason that this is because my agreement has now ended. The only alternative they have provided is that I may source a "professional cleaner" of my own instead of using theirs. I'm not aversed to spending some money to put this right, but the amount that has been proposed is absurd for the work that actually needs to be done. I've lived there on my own for a little over 8 months, returning to my main residence every weekend, and basically only using the property for a small amount of the day. Throughout that time I have treated it like my own home and kept it very tidy/clean. I appreciate that there may only be limited options to resolve this dispute - the letting agency has no interest in compromising, despite my efforts to come to a reasonable agreement with them. Would appreciate any input from those with experience as, beyond getting a third party to clean, I am not sure where to go next. Thanks, J

Hi there, I would appreciate help and advice on the following matter (please see below). For over three months now, I have lost signal at my work place. I am unable to receive or make calls from my mobile phone. This is not only frustrating but is very disruptive. This problem with the loss of signal has only occurred recently as I used to get full signal on my mobile phone for the last 7 years that I have worked here. I have now phoned many times and have also written a formal complaint letter to Vodafone. To summarise, Vodafone has confirmed that they are having issues in the area which is affecting phone signal and are not be able to give me an exact timescale as to when the issue will be rectified. I am not in the position to wait indefinitely for Vodafone to rectify their issues. From my point of view, I have been paying for a contract for which service has not been provided. With this, I have asked for my contract to be terminated however have received a reply saying I will be charged an early termination fees of £193.00. If Vodafone are unable to provide me with a service, surely they should provide a refund on my monthly bills that I have paid for the months that I have not been able to use their service, and to waive the early termination fees of £193.00 so I can move to another provider? Has anybody else been in a similar situation? What is your advice please? I have also emailed Lee [#8437881] - but have had no response. Thanks in advance for your help/advice.

Hi all, I am just about to register online for the County Court Business Centre, which is www dot moneyclaim dot gov dot uk I am wondering if I type in my name as is eg - first name: Joe surname: Bloggs or should I do as in the template letters & enter: [FIRSTNAME LOWERCASE] of the family [sURNAME LOWERCASE] eg - first name: joe surname: of the family bloggs Or does it matter on this website? Thanks for the help - am just beginning a battle with IDR Finance regarding an alleged Barclaycard debt, and I have received a claim form from the County Court Business Centre, so I will be sending the three letters out regarding the information they should provide. THANKS!!!

I took out car insurance on the 7th January, choosing to pay monthly. The policy was approximately £600 a year, and payments were for £50 a month. I sent my proof of no claims off as requested to the local office and heard no more. The next payment came out of the account on the 23rd January for another £50 as expected. Then on the 5th February we get a letter saying the insurance has been cancelled due to not receiving the no claims proof and we owe a further £75 (apparenty £50 of this was for a cancellation fee they imposed) We did call the local office and spoke to an unhelpful lady, who couldn't pass us on to the manager as he was unavailable, but said he would call back the next day. A total £175 for less than a months insurance seems like a rip off to me. I don't want to pay the extra cancellation fee and don't see why I should, especially as they happily took the second payment at the end of January. The lady couldn't explain why we owed this much and said she wasn't prepared to speak to us any longer and hang up. My wife wasn't rude on the phone or shouting, but simply asked for an explanation as to why the policy was cancelled without warning and why so much was still owed when we had the policy cancelled on us within a month of it being taken out? Any suggestions where we go from here - straight to the fso?

There is no date on this, so I don't know how long the information has been available.. http://www.which.co.uk/money/credit-cards-and-loans/guides/how-to-deal-with-debt/debt-management-companies-why-to-avoid-them/

Hi, I have gone through various threads on this site regarding this ridiculous "admin fee" which harlands charge, however I'm still unsure what to do. I joined the gym a month ago now and my first payment was due on the 20th, however I had misplaced my card on the 18th (I later found my card.) After misplacing my card I did not add any funds into my account because I was worried someone would use my card if found. I added funds into my account on the 24th after I finally found my card again (it fell out of my jeans pocket in my cupboard!) I thought the DD payment for gym would be taken a few days late with no hassle. As last year I made 2 late payments with my student accommodation rent and all was fine. Although a few days ago I was shocked to find a letter from harlands stating that they will be charging me a £25 admin fee for missing my payment. I was completely unaware about this admin fee until I read the letter and don't understand why they charge so much for a late payment. I am unsure what to do as I want to continue going to the gym and I am happy paying the original £22 DD I have set up, but I refuse to pay this £25 "admin fee" which harlands have charged me. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi, At a previous address I lived at, the tenant received a letter from Vodafone on 11 Aug stating an outstanding balance of £652.03 had been transferred to Lowell Portfolio l Ltd. Outstanding call charges/line rental of £199.48 Early termination Fee: £452.55 They received a letter from Lowells the same day, nd there had been nothing from Vodafone prior to this at that address. I have been overseas for 3 years now. Before leaving the UK for Greece I spoke to Vodafone and requested that I transfer my contract to Vodafone Greece. They said it wasn't possible as it was a different company. I sent in a termination letter. I should have done something about this as soon as the letter from Vodafone/Lowells came, but have been busy with work. The tenant of my previous address has now received a letter from Scotcall of Notice of an impending debt collection visit. Apparently Lowells passed it off to Scotcall. The tenant is understandably upset at this, and fearful of credit issues. I dispute the early termination fees, which seem exorbitant given I had no choice, and tried to transfer my account. I am happy to accept the outstanding line rental/call charges, and would have paid them if I'd ever received a letter from Vodafone at the time. What should my next steps be? I am in France currently, and need to stop Scotcall from harassing the tenant of an address I don't actually live at. I would like to pay my outstanding debt, but dispute the termination fees. Should I email Scotcall, and send them a letter regarding the fact that I am disputing the debt with Vodafone, along with informing them that they should stop harassing people who are not me, at an address i don't live at? I have just emailed the Vodafone address listed in this forum, no automated response yet but when I do hopefully the Vodafone rep (Lee?)can advise me? UPDATE: Just got email back from Vodafone with #8350027 appended to the subject. Assume this is the reference?

Hi, I'm one of two tenants (spouse and I) on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreement whose fixed term ends at the end of the month. The agency recently proposed a new fixed term agreement, but we now want to continue on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy. We are aware of the risks, and are willing to take them. We made it absolutely clear that we are not signing another document (so no agreed periodic tenancy). However, the agents still want to charge us £70 per head (£140 in total) for every six month period of the SPT. They justify this with our tenancy agreement which reads among the obligations of the tenant: "To pay £70 inclusive of VAT per tenant & guarantor for each extension of the Tenancy." When pressed that this would be for no work at all, they replied: I've read a number of posts like 218974-Fees-charged-for-going-into-Statutory-Periodic-Tenancy or 395672-Rollover-To-Periodic-Tenancy (links removed due to insufficient privileges), but I think our case is marginally different: Our lease does not specify what an "extension" is. The agents claim it's not for them. However I cannot see that this actually in my (and not the landlord's) interest to "renew the tenant references" and to "ensure their insurance is still in place". The question is now: what can I do about it? We will definitely contact the Landlord and see if we can work it out with him directly (this may take some time, as I only have postal address). But with respect to the agency - is there a good strategy to move on? Play the delay game: Just do nothing. Is there a fixed interpretation of the term "extension"? (* see footnote) Dispute the fee as unfair (are there precedents)? What are the consequences of non-payment? I mean £140 is a significant amount of money, but probably not enough to being sued out of the house for breach of contract (I can live with two months' notice, or I would not be going for a SPT, but anything shorter would be a pain. Same holds with any kind of legal proceedings). Thanks in advance! Footnote: (*) Ha. Just found the following at the end of the tenancy agreement: This would imply, that a SPT is NOT an extension. But unfortunately I am not a lawyer.

Households are being alerted to a new [problem] that involves fraudsters purporting to be from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). [problem]mers are reportedly calling households claiming to be from the FOS, which deals with complaints from consumers about the financial services industry, and telling the person on the phone that they need to pay £150 to “release” compensation for which they applied. The FOS said it would never "cold call" households and that the service was completely free, so it would never ask for money. It has said a customer had been in touch to warn of the [problem]. It advised anyone who had received a suspicious phone call to call it directly on 0300 123 9 123. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/11135365/Ombudsman-warns-of-new-150-compensation-fee-[problem].html

Apologies if this has been asked elsewhere. I did search and didn't find anything. Motorcycle policy taken out online and paid for with Grove & Dean (Performance Direct); full business use declared. Grove & Dean representative calls to check details and then says there's a further fee because one of the intended uses is motorcycle training (not mentioned on website). Cancel policy straight away, before start date of policy. They retain a £55 administration fee. I was under the impression that distance selling regulations require a full refund to be made if whatever has been purchased online hasn't been used. Was I wrong? This company seems to be using this as a business model! Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I currently have a santander credit card that I used to consolidate a couple of small cards and take advantage of a 30 month interest free offer. Every month when I get paid, I log into my Santander online banking and pay my bills, including my credit card. Today, as I do every month, I logged on to the Santander online system to find my credit card showing a late payment fee, and a double payment required as I missed last months. Knowing this wasn't the case - I logged on, read my latest statement and paid my latest payment - I phoned up Santander. In summary: - Although my new statement was ready, I should have waited until the evening because it wasn't due then (???). - If the statement is showing too soon, then we need to put you through to our online banking department..... - ...Online banking didn't understand what this had to do with them, put me through to complaints - Complaints reiterated that I shouldn't have paid the statement that was online and before my very eyes asking for payment, because it didn't really exist until the evening even though it existed. Managed to get the fee removed as a gesture of goodwill for my sin of punctually paying my bill, but this is absurd. Nobody could fix this mistake, all they could do was blame me for not paying my credit card statement that they had sent to me six hours later, because that's how bills work, right?? I still need to make a double payment as a minimum, and i was assured my credit record will be fine (but they wouldn't send me a letter stating this, which I thought would be useful when it turns out they don't bother removing the mark from my file). Apart from bang my head against my desk, can anyone advise of a complaints route that gets this sorted? Why should I be penalised because their system doesn't work properly?? Thanks for reading.

My leasehold flat is rented to tenants and the landlord's agents, a company with a reputation for charging high fees, is demanding a registration fee of £120 from me. This is not for permission, just for registration; my lease says that a "reasonable" registration fee is payable. I have offered them £40+VAT for this registration as I had understood that this is what LVTs / First Tiers have determined as reasonable for this kind of clerical work. They have refused this sum and requests from others to have similar cases resolved through First Tier have been met with a response that LVTs / First Tier do not have jurisdiction over registration fees. Any suggestions on how I can get this fee reduced? Thanks

I opened a Natwest account in branch about 8 years ago and was very much guided into getting this account that had a monthly £12 fee. The associated policies were 'sold' as an aside really, just a bonus of that account and I was told that this was a very good account for my credit rating. In any case I had mobile phone insurance and breakdown cover elsewhere and nothing much else applied to me but I didn't know I was paying for insurance policies every month, I thought the £12 a month was what the account cost. a year ago I stopped using the account as such although it was still open and forgot about the £12 fee each month to the effect that when I finally opened some post from them I now owed them nearly £1k in charges due to the fee pushing my account into the red. I managed to clear the £1k, I couldn't face much of a fight with them at this time, I had major surgery in the summer and have spent all this time since recovering. Then I read about these packaged fees and they were unjustly sold. Am I right in thinking I might be able to reclaim these fees?

Hello, I opened a Tesco credit card with a £400 limit. I spent £399.94 on it. Then they added about £6 interest which took me over the limit and they charged me a £12 over-limit fee. Can they do this? Thanks

hi i took out a mortgage in 2003 with TMB for a buy to let. i borrowed 85%. i have just received a copy of my mortgage offer where i note a payment labelled 'HPA Fee' has been added to the loan. what is a HPA Fee? cheers

Hello everyone reading It's been a long time since I posted on here but here's my query About a year ago a ' Finder' got in touch with us and informed me and my husband that we had some shares in a company that my husband was once employed by. We were aware of these shares but to be frank thought they weren't worth much . Our finder gave us the information via e mail how on how to claim for our shares. My husband did agree via email to pay the finder 15% . We claimed the shares and intended to pay the finder his 15% but our circumstances have changed and now we cannot pay him. We have received a claim from the court now . We did not sign any contract but did agree in an email to pay him . Is this legally binding and how do I respond to the court claim? Many many thanks for any help, most appreciated

I looked round a house and applied for it, giving £105 over to the Letting Agent. About 23 hours later I decided that I didnt want to move into the house. I rang up the LA and they refused to refund my money. They say it clearly states in the Terms and Conditions they gave me that the monies are non refundable. The Terms and Conditions they gave me had to be signed and handed back at a later date. As I decided so quickly I didnt want the house I never signed the documents, and thus never handed them to the LA. I have not signed anything agreeing that the £105 is non refundable, so should they be forced to give me my money back. I told the LA that they could give me a part refund, as I'm sure they mustve made some phone calls and had an employee take the house off their website. But they still insisted, 'No'. That £105 included the refencing fees. I have never been referenced so they must be able to give me at least something back. But ideally I'd like they whole lot back. Does anyone have any pointers or ideas?

Hi all I have been looking around the site with a view to attempting to reclaim excessive charges from Birmingham Midshires, I just wondered if there was anything new, I should be aware of. Most threads are pretty old, I'm obviously a bit behind the times! Fee's charged equate to £2,000 which would bring my mortgage arrears down nicely. I'm sure we've had our mortgage longer than the 6 years statement of charges they sent me. Would I be right in thinking, we could claim up to 12 years? It may be the case that we remortgaged 6 years ago, is it possible to reclaim on the original one too? Any answers would be really appreciated, Maddie