I received a windscreen invoice from UKCPS after being parked illegal in a private car park. The background to the case was that my elderly mother who is diabetic was having a hypoglycaemic attack. It was medical emergency. My mother is a Blue Badge holder but there was not time to display the badge. I completely ignored UKCPS demands for payment after reading advice on forums. I have now received the attached letter from Miah Solicitors. They have sent me Practice Direct on Pre-Action Conduct. What would action would you all advise me to take? Should I now just pay it or continue to ignore it. Are they likely to take to court and would they like win they did so. I'm unable to provide evidence to support my case. Many thanks.

I'm a secure tenant in a property. I've recently contacted the landlord asking if they will give permission to let me build a conservatory. But they are refusing to give it! They say its because it will cause more expense if they need to do any maintenance however there is nothing to maintain above where it would be as everything is plastic and maintenance free. It states in my tenancy agreement that I can make improvements to the property as long as I get the correct planning permission etc. but I don't need it as its within the alowed limit and the are not allowed to unreasonably withhold consent but they are! Anyone help please!!

I sent my horsebox (7.5T lorry) in for an MOT which I expect to cost me a couple of hundred pounds for a 7.5T lorry. When I went to collect the vehicle their invoice system wasn't working and being a regular customer (well once a year) they let me take the vehicle and agreed they would call me to take payment. Which they did a few days later, when I was presented with a figure of just under £1000! I then found out they had carried out 2 big pieces of work without my knowledge. My boyfriend is a mechanic and could have carried out this work for the cost of parts only! I told them this and their answer was "well we have done the work now so you have to pay". I told them I haven't even received an invoice and they would have to send one. They continued to chase me for the amount and I repeated that I still hadn't had an invoice! Finally a couple of months later an invoice arrived. In the meantime my boyfriend had looked at the work carried out. They had cut away trim which protected the engine bay and not replaced it. And they had cross threaded several bolt holes and only put 3 of 6 bolts in, a couple of which weren't in correctly as they were cross threaded. And this was to bolt on the exhaust downpipe. I sent a cheque for about £250 detailing why I was not paying for the labour of fitting those parts but did say I would pay for the parts. I also deducted a few hours labour for what it would cost me to get the bolt holes re-tapped by an independent engineer. The cheque was dated 23rd July 2015 and they didn't return it until 7th October 2015 (I'm sure they should have returned it before this!) They have now issued court proceedings for non-payment but I did offer some payment and they didn't want to accept. Has anyone has any similar issues and how did it get resolved or does anyone have any advice to where I stand legally? Your advice would be appreciated. Thank you Katie

I've got some tenants running some sort of Pregnant Mother assessement centre, basically subletting the property on a residential AST. A lot of pregnant mothers have visited the property. As well as several large families. A confused pregnant mom was seen on the property, & then rushed off to hospital a couple of hours later. I've tried contacting ofsted, & they dont seem to care the tenants dont have the correct permission of the landlord. Can I get an injunction on the tenants or some other legal action, without having to file a section 8? I'm concerned about damage to the property, as well as the safety of the heavily pregnant mothers, as our building insurance doesnt cover business use of the property. Not to mention our mortgage contract.qq I'm also trying to contact the correct authorities, I'm contacting ofsted again, but I have no idea who to contact about the illegal planning permission granted to them. Does anyone know who I should contact about the illegal planning permission granted to them? & if I can get an injunction on the tenants or some other legal action, without having to file a section 8? As theyre subletting illegally, not to mention illegally dealing with vulnerable members of the public. Also because of the large number of families damage to the property. I'm based in London btw ... Thanks!!!

sorry double post.

I may need to make an objection to a planning permission change of use of residential garden. Where is it that I have to look to see if and when one has been submitted, please? Thanks.

Hi all, I'm pretty sure that I don't have any rights in this situation, but I wanted to get your view. I rent a one bedroom flat and have been here over 4 years. I have an AST that we restarted for 12 months this February when the rent was increased. I discovered last week that my landlord has applied to redevelop the building - the planning permission was sought to basically demolish the building and rebuild brand new flats. Yesterday the public notice went up outside our building for local residents to send comments, etc. Obviously I object to this planning application as I will be evicted! There is no chance I will be able to have one of the redeveloped flats - this is in east London where we are going to go from a fairly run down set of flats on a low-ish rent, to a set of brand new premium flats that will cost a great deal more. Well, I'm sure that you've all seen the constant headlines about rents in London and redeveloped properties. My question is really about whether when granting planning permission if the council will take into account displacement of tenants? And whether we have a right to respond to the planning application as residents due to the inevitable resulting eviction? I just can't seem to find any info on this online. Basically, I don't want to lose my home or be evicted, but I realise there may be no choice in the matter. It's just so sad, the flat was in a horrible state when I moved in and I've done a lot to make it a real nice place. In fact, the LL just a month ago agreed for his handyman to come and put shelves up in the bedroom, so it feels like the worst timing. Thanks in advance for your advice. Claire

Can anyone tell me what the law is on planning application time limits are? Do the council have to place a notice on the building that is the subject of the planning application and if so do they have to allow a certain amount of time between posting the notice and actually making a planning decision? Thanks in advance.

Hello All, I live in a London council flat purchased a year ago (2014), there is a roof space size of a bed room that i want to insert a roof window. Also In 2009 I inserted a full size door to lead to the roof space.This wasn't discovered when purchase survey was carried out. Question is what do i need to do to get the permission? and also do i have to apply for a retrospective permission for the door or has this already passed a limit? Thanks in advance

Warning! Do not use these companies: AK Management (UK) Ltd and their other connected company, Money Essentials!!! This company contacted me saying that I had been accepted for a loan from one of their 'in house lenders', which does not exsist, all they do is e-mail you lists of loan providers and other brokers, which you can find off the internet yourself. However, today they took £89.00 from my account without my permission, for their loan broking service! I contacted my branch, who agreed that their service is appalling, but cannot claim the money back. However, they are looking into this companies service. What I need to know is how I can get this money back quickly? They are refusing to refund the money.

We were granted planning permission for a rear and side (wrap around) extension which doubled the floor area of our very small bungalow. The approved drawings showed that all of the walls except the front facade are to be demolished and a completely new roof structure is to be constructed. All work is being carried out under Building Control supervision. However, a local busy body complained that we are undertaking more than just an extension. The council have agreed and requested that a new application for a new build/rebuild is to be submitted. The enforcement officer has been involved but (for the time being at least) has not issued any formal notices. The planning and enforcement officers view is that the planning permission notice description does not state that all of the walls and roof are being demolished and the drawings alone are not sufficient (!). Furthermore, had we built the extension first, and then demolished these walls and roof, we would have been ok (there is no condition in our Decision Notice to state the order of works). We are adamant that our PP is valid and are building to the approved drawings. We currently do not have a mortgage, but will be looking to either take out a mortgage or sell the property once complete. If we go down either route, I presume that any lender's or buyer's solicitor will undertake a Local Search, yes? If so, will they be advised of the local planners current opinion/dispute, and will this have any merit in view of the completed property looking as per the drawings in our existing PP for the wraparound extension? Via a telephone conversation, the enforcement officer stated that upon any future sale, the council would have to advise a solicitor that the property does not have PP.

I live in a flat complex of 36 flats. These are leasehold, and the landlords agent is SIMARC. We are attempting to arrange for VIRGIN MEDIA (VM) to install a broadband and TV cable system in the complex. (VM) are willing to go ahead, and applied to SIMARC for wayleave permission. The response from SIMARC: We wish to confirm that we, ourselves, would not be able to sign your agreement on behalf of our clients, the Freeholders without first sending the papers to our client’s solicitors for their comments. We are informed our clients solicitors fees are £250 plus VAT and upon receipt of which together with the Wayleave Agreement payment of £750 we shall then put the matter in hand. As a consequence of this exorbitant demand, which VM and the residents have no intention of paying the installation of any system has now halted. Is there any way forward? SIMARC are notorious for demanding high fees, a lot of info. is available on the www. Thanks.

I have just been reading through 'the credit reference agency explained' section on the experian website and noticed that under the section 'what is credit reference information?' and the sub section 'credit account information' it explains that lenders can only share your information with your permission and that you would normally give this permission when you sign the initial agreement when excepting the terms and conditions etc. This has lead me to wonder, if I have an account which is now marked as defaulted 8 (agreement ended) would this not mean that the permission I gave ended when the agreement was ended? I have nothing from the bank that says the agreement has ended, I am just going on what is stated on my experian credit report. Hopefully this all makes sense, any thoughts from somebody more qualified than myself would be much appreciated. Many thanks, from a first time poster.

Hi all, A friends father is profoundly deaf, and he has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He cannot discuss anything over the phone, etc, so it would be easier for his daughter to be given access/permission to discuss any appointments, care etc for him on his behalf. he is happy to do this, as it is now looking like an care plan will need to be put together soon as it is untreatable, a nd without it, his daughter would struggle to discuss info with medical professionals. Is there anyone who knows anything about what this letter should say, we have been told that he just needs to write a letter giving permission, but it is how to word it? Kind regards Lisa x

Hi, First of all, sorry if this is the wrong place for this topic, but it seemed right to me. Some time ago, I was planning to set up a website and I paid a company to register a domain name. I paid for nothing else, and did not sign up for anything else. About a month later, I got a new job and so gave up on the website. The domain name was paid for with a single fee for a year, and I paid that and didn't see anything for 2 months. I had set up a dedicated email address to handle everything related to the website, and after about 2 months of being inactive I stopped checking it. As it turns out, about 2 months after I paid that initial fee, the company had set up a direct debit (over paypal, using the details I had given before to pay for the domain name) to pay for some extra monthly service, without me ever giving my permission. At first I assumed it was just a mistake and that (with some hassle), I should be able to get my money back, or at least cancelling further payments. Looking through my emails and the tales of others, it looks like I might have trouble. In one email I received it says that the contract lasts for 1 year (what "contract" this is I am unsure of) and I have read of similar experiences, with threats to reduce peoples' credit ratings and so on if they do not continue payment for the full year. They have not replied to my email yet, and I am not hopeful that it will be productive anyway. If I pay this fee monthly for a whole year, it will total more than 20 times what I originally actually consented to paying. Furthermore, what is to stop them simply tying me in for another year once this year is up? Surely none of this is legal, and I am wondering if anybody has suggestions about what I can do about it, as they are clearly experienced in screwing over their customers and getting away with it. Their only defence as far as I can see is that they sent me an email (hidden well within a tidal wave of spam from the same company) saying that I could cancel this extra service within 30 days, but after that I would be tied in for a year. Obviously, I missed this email because I stopped checking the account after a few months of not getting any emails other than spam. Do they have any ground to stand on legally? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

im typin this on behalf of my mum who is sittin on sofa dictatin to me i am to tell you we are in scotland so people who reply should bear that in mind please also i dont know if this is right place to post this but i hope so mum said this site has been great help in past with her welcome finance fight which is still ongoin. Anyways, mum has severe arthritic joints, carpal tunnel syndrome, aneamia and diabetes type 2. she has enlarged spleen and her liver function is bad due to many years on medications. she is on various medications and may need spleen removed in new year as well as her ovaries. my mum works 16hrs per week in a supermarket but is holding onto the job by skin of her teeth due to absences which in my opinion are caused by her job makin her condition worse despite doctors givin her sick lines with advisor note to be moved from her current position. She works in chilled cabinets which causes her arthritis to flare up bein in the cold. mum applied for dla and was refused despite doctors and consultants fillin in forms. at appeal, the lawyer actin for mum asked for middle rate allowance but people at appeal said he only asked for lower rate and then he contradicted himself few times makin mums appeal a farce and she thinks this is why she was refused. she appealed the appeal and they sent her a cd but no list of reasons why it was refused,and they sent the lawyer a list of reasons but no cd. mum saw the solicitor today to discuss appealin again because in th appeal they said mum was workin so she is fit and healthy. mum only manages to work because she gets help to dress from my dad, mum cant use knives or lift heavy pots of water etc because due to carpal tunnel syndrome she has burned her legs and arms which she showed solicitor today where she dropped pot of water last week but she does this quite frequently because she is not one to accept she cant do things but she is learnin now she really does have problems. mum thinks she was indirectly discriminated against because she has a job ( which she may not have for much longer as she keeps droppin things and she cannot go up and down the stool needed for her job and she keeps havin time off due to knees and wrists) and because she has condition which varies from day to day even tho her medication doesnt. her doctor is shocked she was refused because with mums problems, she could not get in and out of bed ( arthritis in spine as well) if she lived alone even with the bed rail she got from physio nurse if her carpal tunnel is playin up because she has no power in her hands wen its bad...... so she needs dad to help lift her. she has swivel bath seat to get in and out of bath or shower because she cannot bend her knees properly. Mums mobility is takin a batterin over past year and she suffer bouts of depression over it which doctor does help her with. The doctor has said mums health is deterioratin and will continue to do so and if she lived alone she would be a risk to herself. He is even tryin to get mum amenity housin all on one level because she is gettin worse. mum has appoinment with neurologist next month to investigate her carpal tunnel syndrome more thoroughly as one of her hands looks deformed because she sits with it a certain way as she says its less painful that way. mum has worked all her life and refuses to give into her disablity but this dla appeal is causing her serious upset because her doctor told her to apply and he has filled in 3 forms for dla apparently sayin she is a risk to herself and she needs personal care durin nights ( dad has to help mum move durin night or her spine causin severe pain..... my parents spent £400 gettin orthopedic mattress to help mum durin the night as she felt terrible wakin dad to help move her) mum got herself a different car 2yrs ago wen she started havin pains in her shoulder adn wrist joints....she got car with gears high up and automatic handbrake because she started pullin shoulder muscles wen she was puttin her handbrake on...... dad got handrails put outside front door and also 2 new handraisl for goin upstairs..... they have spent fortune tryin to make life easy for mum without askin for help and mum made things worse by not tellin doc how bad she was gettin. Mum is not a cabbage, but wen her conditions flare up which is quite often now, she cannot function without any help. Mum is also deaf in her right ear, and this was in her dla form but at appeal they said they didint know that because mum just said she had to ask the people to speak up or look at her so she could lip read but they said that wasnt in her appeal notes yet it quite clearly shows it was in the paper she showed me. mum is askin if anyone has any advice for in scotland on how she can appeal again. she is told she needs a point of law to ask for permission to appeal to upper tribuneral but her solicitor thinks its best just to leave it and apply for somethin called PIP which replaced dla. mum is quite adamant she wants to fight this because she feels as she has variable illness and no diagnosis yet for liver and no decision made on spleen and she is holdin down a job that they have held this against her, her doctor is shocked as well because he says she cannot live alone without hurtin herself. can anyone help mum on this. She said it would be much appreciated. I forgot to add ( mum still dictatin to me) that mum cannot walk far and she cannot use walkin aids due to carpal tunnel syndrome and she obviously cant drive wen her condition is bad, but her car is her lifeline ( she has done under 2000 miles in one year) and she thinks this is held against her too. also the doctor who came to house to do check for dwp has said on his forms he was with mum for over 50mins and asked her to do several things but dad said he is liar as he was with mum at time and the doctor was in house for 23mins and never moved off the chair he sat on.... so is that not falsifyin a legal document or somethin.... thanks in advance for any help

Earlier this year (late April /early May) I verbally sought advice from my local planning department as I'm looking to have a conservatory built. I was advised that as I live in a semi-detached property I could project 3 metres from the existing rear of my house without permission but any further I'd need to subject a planning application. Having now employed an architect and submitted the plans on 31st May I've recently discovered that the legislation in my area has now changed, as of 30th May, meaning that formal permission is no longer needed for the 4 metre projection of the proposed development. As you'll appreciate I feel misled. So having submitted the plans and paid the fee before the application could be validated and registered I feel that I've wasted significant funds which the council have refused to refund on the grounds that the application has been validated and registered. Does anyone have any advice on whether it's feasible to continue pursuing this with the council?

Hello to anyone that might be able to help -I hope ive posted thi in the right are wasnt sure. I live in a one bed house with my 13 month old baby and need more space. Im told that I have very good potential to extend to a 2 bedroom house but dont have the funds to do it and a poor credit history will not enable me to take a loan out. will my mortgage company (ge money) consider a further advance with a poor credit history and a recent payment arrangement due to hardship. Im guessing they wont even consider it but just exhausting all my options! Any suggestions welcome

Hi, Anyone else had this happen to them? Am more than annoyed that they have just done this. This is what Ihave sent them, comments welcome. There must be some form of redress. thanks Doug Good Morning, I have noticed that the telephone line to my property (as below) has been removed by yourselves. Please confirm this. Can you also indicate why you failed to get my permission to do this and to trespass on my property without consent. The fact I am looking at broadband packages when my Virgin account ends is even a further annoyance. This would mean additional costs of putting the line back rather than just activate an already existing line. As it was myself who had the phone installed when I moved in, at my expense, then I feel that your removal of this is unjustified. I would ask that you refund the cost of installation which I paid to have to line installed. I would also ask that any code of practice breach by yourselves should have a penalty payment as well

hi, this is quite a long story but i will keep it brief. i split with my ex at the end of January. when we were together i got a new car and i had no problem with her driving my old car while we were together as hers had seen better days. I continued to pay the insurance on it and also the loan on it.. so all she had to pay was for fuel. When we split she said she would pay me an amonut per week to cover what i was paying on the loan for it (this loan ends jan 2015). However, and as of today, no payments have been made to me despite me chasing her for it. This lead me to inform the police of the situation as i felt technically she is now driving a vehicle without my permission. I also cancelled the insurance on it when we split, but gave her notice of this to allow her to insure it herself. When i contacted the police and explained, their initial enquiries showed it looked as though the vehicle was not insured and they said she admitted she was driving it but that i had "gifted" her the car (which i hadnt, id only let her use it while we were together to give her time to get her own). the police advised that this was irrelevant as the log book and loan for the car were in my name. However when the police heard an "agreement" was in place where she would pay so much a week for the car they withdrew the legal support saying this was now a civil matter as technically because she wasnt paying this had caused the problem. Although not the ideal thing to hear, it leaves me wondering what next.. I want to cover myself legally, i dont want to let her have the vehicle as im already paying catallogues which were in my name for goods which she has kept in her house (this i dont mind). this exceeds the value of the vehicle. But the situation is this.. I have a vehicle in my name, im paying an outstanding loan every month on it, and it appears (according to the police) that it isnt insured. How can i either get my car back, or get it scrapped or something so that it is off the road? The tax runs out end of september so could i declare it SORN then if all else fails and let DVLA know of the situation? PS i also dont have a spare key so i cant just go and take the vehicle. Any advice appreciated.

Hi I have a mortgage with GE Money, its currently up to date with no arrears but only interest only (£450 p/m) The house is in negative equity by about £20k and needs approx £10k spending on it to make it sell-able but even then wont be worth anywhere near the outstanding amount i owe on it. Ive asked my mortgage lender for permission to let but they have point blank refused and suggested i contact a broker or independent financial advisor. This is futile as i have just been discharged from bankruptcy in the last month and dont have any kind of savings etc Ideally id like to keep the house and rent it out in the hope that the house prices rise and i can sell it and break even and ive explained to GE Money that its likely that i wont be able to make my repayments soon and the house may be repossessed unless i rent it out but this all falls on deaf ears. The reason im wanting to rent it out is that this house is no longer big enough for me and my partner and our three kids so we are hoping to rent a larger house ourselves. Has anybody got any suggestions as to what we could do as me and my children are wanting to move in with my partner and her child and as it stands at the moment its not going to happen and causing a lot of heartache

Hi all In short, my Fibromyalgia wife got her 15 point at tribunal after failed WCA and put in WRAG group. We did request support group and had good reasons for this on Reg 35(b).The first tribunal's decision was that: "We cannot see, however, how being asked to attend the occasional job focused interview could constitute a serious risk to the appellant's physical or mental health" I replied to the first tier Tribunal to ask for a change of mind or permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. I included a supporting report from my GP who supported our view. Their statement of reasons said that 'attending the occasional interview in our view would not constitute a serious risk to the appellant's health'. The ESA wrag group requirements from the gov.uk website which states that persons “have to go to regular interviews with an adviser. The adviser can help with things like job goals, improving your skills, work-related issues”. In my view, 'occasional' and 'regular' are 2 very different things and noted this in reply to First tier. Now they have said they can't change their decision and refused perission to appeal to Upper tribunal. I know I can appeal directly to the Upper Tribunal which I intend to do. I know the Upper Tribunal can't accept any new evidence, but could someone advise me on whether the First Tier had a duty to consider the GP report which we gave them after they refused support goup for my wife. Many thanks JTucker

Hello I am really stuck on how to handle this situation. My Grandmother died 4 weeks ago and has left no will, I have dealt with everything so far as my father lives in the usa and cant be bothered to come back and deal with her affairs. My father was not close at all to my Grandmother and hasnt bothered with her for around 10 years., he is an only child. My Nan has around 20K in an account which will decrease to around 17K once the funeral is paid etc. I have been in contact with my dad who made it quite clear he doesnt want to come back to deal with anything and is happy to sign for me to be the administator. My question is, will he still inherit from the estate? i know it sounds calous but i dont want him to as he didnt care about her or bother with her and i know she would not have wanted her estate to go to him. I have spoken to a solicitor who has advised me that he will inherit, do i need to get him to sign something to say he relinquishes his inheritance or by me having grant of letters of administarion, does that automatically give me authority to distribute the estate? A solictor was going to send a letter to him, that if he signs will give me power of attorny but i really feel reluctant to do this if it means i have all the paperwork, flat clearing, probate etc to do and he just sits in the usa and waits for a cheque although i am not sure that he knows she has money in an account. I would rather it go to charity then him have it. Any advice greatly appreciated Many thanks