Hi All, I am taking a company to court for damage to a vehicle I own. The defendant has defended and made a counterclaim. I am at the stage were we have recently exchanged witness statements and a court hearing has been set. Looking through the witness statements they are made up of lies throughout by two witnesses. I received these statements on the final day they had to be submitted and I am unsure if I can make the courts aware of their lies. By lies I will explain, I am being counter sued for a certain amount, an invoice has been sent to show the cost of damage that they say I done to their property, within the invoice it has parts used which in the witness statement states they were put on after the incident that I am claiming for. I am unsure if I can send a letter to the courts to highlight this or is it to late and I will have to see what happens on the day. In the court directions for the witness statement request it states that we should send any relevant documents or evidence to the courts to come to a decision, however this is new evidence at the last minute. I hope someone can shed some light for me. Thanks

Hi all, my son got a letter from Freds demanding £150. He hasnt a clue what its for but obviously was a little worried about it. So having loads of experience thanks to CAG, I rang them. I refused point-blank to give them any personal details via their "security questions" routine, and simply asked who, if anyone, this money was owed to. They wouldnt/couldnt tell me as I wouldnt fill in their blanks via the security routine. Five minutes passed and then we got to the threats of potential CCJs etc if it didnt get sorted. I retorted ( pretending to be my son) that if they thought they could send a letter to a certain address confident that they had the right person, without any "security check" - a letter that contained a name, address, reference number and amount demanded, then a further "check" would be pointless and only serve to extract further information from their target. as expected, I learned nothing, but neither did Freds. I told them at the beginning of the call that it was being recorded, and it was. But this has now got me thinking - what if I make a few calls to Freds along the same lines and record them all? Surely I would have demonstrated ( to a possible court) that I had tried to sort this and that my refusal to furnish a DCA with further information should have no bearing on the fact that the "debt" hasnt been resolved? After all, they made the initial demand, so surely the onus will always be on them to prove it - they have already sent the most basic of details via the letter, so now send details that "prove" it? Surely I could not be expected to give any personal details to a company that makes nothing more than a demand for money without providing any details? Thoughts anyone?

ECJ Gender directive. Background. Draft Directive on Equal Treatment On 2 July 2008, under its ‘Renewed Social Agenda’, the European Commission adopted a non discrimination package including a proposal for a new directive on equal treatment. This proposal prohibits discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief outside the employment sphere, in the areas of social protection, including social security and health care; education; and access to and supply of goods and services which are commercially available to the public, including housing and transport. The new directive would come on top of four other directives; one on discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin, both within and outside the labour market; one on discrimination in the labour market; one on equal treatment between men and women as regards access to employment; and one on equal treatment between men and women as regards access to and supply of goods and services. On the 2nd April 2009 the proposed directive was adopted by the European Parliament. The Government Equalities Office ran a 12 week public consultation from 5 May to 28 July in 2009 on the Commission’s Proposal. It has since published a summary of the responses. Negotiations on the Directive are continuing in Europe. Gender Directive Article 5(2) of the Gender Directive allows Member States to permit differences relating to gender in respect of insurance premiums and benefits if gender is a determining risk factor and that can be substantiated by relevant, accurate, and regularly updated actuarial and statistical data. st On 1 March 2011,in its final ruling on the Test Achats case regarding the opt out in Article 5(2) of the Gender Directive2004 the European Court of Justice(ECJ)declared Article 5(2) to be void with effect from 21 December 2012. As of this date, all Member States must consider the provision to be invalid. The ruling applies from December 2012,however its impact on insurance contracts concluded prior to this date and on those that remain in force beyond it is not yet clear. Test Achats, the Belgian Consumer Association, originally brought their case, before the Belgian Constitutional Court in 2009. They argued that the opt out provision in Article 5(2) was contrary to the principle of gender equality as enshrined in primary Community law, and in particular to article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union**. The Belgian Constitutional Court referred the case to the ECJ. The Advocate General gave her opinion to the ECJ on 30 September 2010 that the derogation should be annulled. IMPLICATIONS; Car Insurance,Over a long period,Insurers calculated premiums based on whether a driver was male or female.although statics showed that there was little difference in the amount of accidents occurred between women and men,there is evidence to show that costs to address incidents by women for the Insurers were significantly less. Young and new drivers are expected to be hit the hardest and already face high premiums. Traditionally,drivers with no history gave women an upper hand as they were rated as a lower risk than male drivers. A report from one leading Insurance company in July 2012,has revealed that insurance for a new male driver averaged £1060 more than that of a female in the 17-25 age group. The new ruling means that this mode of decision making will be unlawful. It is expected that young womens policies will rise,whilst young mens will fall slightly,and could see a 10% benefit. Young women meanwhile could face increases of up to 25%. As the December deadline approaches,It is a good idea for those women likely to be affected to sort out policies ASAP. Another way of softening the blow is for drivers to consider telematics (Black Box technology) which give scope for young drivers to prove their abilities as safe drivers,and enjoy discounts as a result. LIFE INSURANCE The ruling is likely to impact on life and health insurance too,since women have longer life expectancy than men. Whilst there is not much information available at the moment,it is accepted that womens premiums are expected to rise,although not by the 25% expected in the case of young womens car insurance premiums.Index linked or guaranteed policies are unlikely to be affected. Variable premiums however,could see an increase or decrease. Some experts are suggesting that those with variable policies should think about switching to a fixed one,but consider that prices could go either way. As always The CAG suggests that you seek independent expert advise before making any decisions. HEALTH INSURANCE Little changes are forecast,since women and men already pay similar rates,although women could see a small drop in payments for Income Protection Policies,which pay out for sickness,with men seeing a slight rise in policy payments. Looking around for a better policy before December is an option for those who think they may benefit.