This very recent Local Government Ombudsman's decision (released 10 days ago) is another one of importance. In this particular case, a motorist had incurred a penalty charge notice from London Borough of Haringey for wrongful parking. As the contravention was for parking as opposed to a CCTV contravention, she received a Penalty Charge Notice on her car advising that the charge was £130 but if she made payment within 14 days, she would be entitled to a 50% discount bringing the penalty down to £65. She told the council that she could not pay and offered to clear the debt over a 15 month period at £5 per month; the Council refused but offered here a further 14 days to pay at the reduced rate. She refused to pay. A warrant of control has been issued and passed to bailiffs to enforce and the debt has risen from £65 to £513 (to include bailiff fees of £310). PS: Please see the next post for a copy of the decision.

My broadband contract with BT was recently about to end. I called them and asked when my broadband contract would end and i was told 2nd Nov. I arranged for Plusnet to take over my broadband. I made the changeover day on the 3rd Nov and so that is one extra day. Now i have my final bill from BT, i cancelled my DD so the bill has not been paid. It lists a charge for £65 and it says it is a charge because i left BT within the 12 months, so they charge £65 for the equipment because i did not fulfil my contract. I thought i did the right thing by making my change 1 day after my contract end date. How can BT do this when its obvious i have been using their service for one year and one day. I called there customer helpline, i spoke to some Indian man who i struggled to understand, he did not accept my argument and told me i got charged for the equipment because i did not fulfil my one year contract with BT, he refused to refund me. Im really confused by this, i thought i was doing the right thing. When i initially arranged my broadband with Plusnet i called BT to let them know i was moving, they told me they already had been notified by Plusnet and i did not need to call them. Plusnet do everything and that includes the cancelling of your BT account. You dont get an option to close it yourself. If i had been given an option to do it myself i would have found out about the stupid charges and i would have made other arrangements so that i could avoid the charges. Guys what can i do here?