Charity regulator finds serious failings at unregistered organisation READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/charity-regulator-finds-serious-failings-at-unregistered-organisation

http://cag.tw/22e4 (link from original article contains banned word)

http://news.sky.com/story/tougher-fines-to-hit-serious-speeding-offenders-in-the-pocket-10740681

I’m quite worried about this. I now have two-step verification set up, but I don’t understand how I could be logged into someone else’s account. At least it’s my son’s account, and not some stranger’s, but this simply shouldn’t happen. http://www.mcelhearn.com/serious-security-problem-with-amazon-how-is-this-even-possible/

Scottish gin threat as juniper stocks disappear THE JUNIPER plant which is used to flavour gin is being killed off by disease leaving Scottish stocks in a “critical state”, according to a new report. Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/scottish-gin-threat-as-juniper-stocks-disappear-1-3927219#ixzz3phho8kWs

Hi, I have to be careful as I believe that I am being monitored on external websites by my employer. I am disabled. I take various medications including high strength opioids, some of which are transdermal ( a patch or plaster which lasts for 3 days at a time) and also some which I take throughout the day. I have seen the Occupational Health several times through work and each time they have agreed that my condition is likely to be covered under the Disability Discrimination Act/Equality Act. The most recent assessment was in August 2014, and each assessment states that whilst I am never likely to be free from sickness absence given the nature of the condition, I am fit to remain in work whist I maintain my routine with medications etc. The Fentanyl patches are relatively new and have been in use since June this year, the rest of my medications have been in use for the past 5 years or so. I work for a Government department in a Customer Service Centre. I have had my current manager for the past 2 years. Yesterday my manager called me to a meeting. She is unhappy that I am in work 'under the influence' of these 'drugs'. The side effects do leave me drowsy at times and she has seen me struggling to remain awake at times, though this is certainly not every day nor every week. She has said she wants to have another Occ Health assessment as she feels it's possible that I am unfit for work, however, she also wants to start disciplinary proceedings for attendance issues. I have had 16 days absence in the past 12 months, with 13 of these days related to my disability. 5 of these days have been discounted as I have a 'reasonable adjustment' to discount 5 sickness days a year where these are related to my disability. I beleivethat she is looking to either a) terminate my employment on the grounds of capability, or b) prevent me from taking medications in works time. I can deal with a) as I can prove that I am capable fo doing my work to a good standard and within the KPI's set given that I have all my monthly coaching reviews which prove that I am exceeding the standards for all KPI's. It is B that worries me. The taking of medications takes no more than a couple of minutes. I have a reasonable adjustment in place to have additional breaks for this and to get up and stretch/walk around as necessary. Without the meds I would not be able to function due to severe and unremitting pain. She also made reference to my driving. I do no driving at all for work I merely drive to and from work. I am aware of the new laws around driving and I take those into account every time I get in my car. Previously my employer has had the stance that how I get to and from work is none of their business, and they will not give allowances under reasonable adjustments for this. They have previously refused my applications for homeworking. I used to have Access to Work funding buyt the Taxi company withdrew their service after several delays getting payment from the DWP, despite the fact that I always paid my share on time. I have contacted several other taxi companies who are willing to offer an account but unwilling to accept Access to Work contracts due to their previo9us experiences egtting paid. I cannot afford to pay £60 per day upfront even though I would be able to claim the majority back at a later stage. Any help appreciated.

These people are the bane of my life. I have all my debts sorted and arranged apart from these monkeys. My debt in April when I started asking for an arrangement was £2152.62. Between ex and me that was run up. He wasn't paying etc etc but I have been looking to pay and agreed to them from June I would pay £70 pm if they would freeze interest etc I paid £70 last month and it hasn't even touched it. Since April till now when this has finally been sorted cause they wouldn't agree an amount the account is now at £2401.66!!! The interest that is going on is more than what I'm paying them. They are essentially using me as a cash cow (MOOOOO) I wrote to them recently in an email to ask them what the heck was going on, that I would continue paying the £70 pm if they could reciprocate with freezing the interest and if not I would reduce payments to £5pm. I got this back from advisor: Thank you for your email. Please note, your next statement is due to go out on 8th August 2015 and you have 28 days from this date to make your next payment. We note your request to suspend interest and charges on the account, however, we are unable to agree to this at the present time. Your account and financial situation will be reviewed within six months. At the point of the review, we will look at the payments that you have made since the arrangement was agreed. We will also take into consideration the interest and current payment rate. Your interest is not frozen at this moment. Before we can consider your account for review, it's really important that you keep up to date with your agreed payments. Paying regularly, and on time will have a positive influence on the review decision. If you wish to talk to us about the above, or anything else, please contact us on 0345 074 2107. Yours sincerely Ansab Adris Customer Correspondence Team Is this right or actually something they can do and are just not willing to do? It looks like it still all going through Fashionworld and not their in house collections team or 3rd party. Just looking for some advice on what could happen and what to do next. Thanks L x:|

Hello all. I'm hoping for some advice. Over the last few years, I have found myself increasing in debt (various catalogues, credit cards, overdrafts and a personal loan). Towards the end of 2014, my long term relationship broke down and (stupidly) all debts are in my name. In addition to this, in early 2015, I was diagnosed with with a life long medical condition that meant that I missed around 8 months of work during the last 15 months or so. I have now found suitable medication to control my disease and am back in my full time job . Everyday I receive letters from one debt collection agency or another and to be honest, I have been stupid and just bin most of them. I now feel I am in a place mentally and physically to deal with this massive mess and am hopoing for some guidance really. I am a registered health care professional (not a doctor or anything that well paid - my net pay is £1350 per month) but was worried that declaring myself bankrupt would affect my ability to register with my professional body and as such, came across something known as an IVA. It seems to be something that could be of great help to me but there are so many companies out there offering it, Im not sure if it is something that can be trusted. Thank you for taking the time to read and for any help.

Hi all, I hope anyone can advise me what to do please. I receive child tax credit and child benefit for my 18 year old daughter as she attends college. I was sent a letter from child tax credits asking me to send them proof that my daughter was still attending college. All well enough I thought. ,until my daughter dropped the bomb shell that she hasn't been attending college since October 2014, she'd been leaving the house and going over to her friends 3days a week instead of college, all this without me knowing. I had asked her to get proof for college attendance nearly 3 weeks ago and she said she was waiting for the tutor to sign the proof. So tonight I reminded her the deadline to receive proof was coming up 31st May, for her to break down and tell me the whole lie she's been doing. I am really stressed and panacing at the minute, I can't believe she has been doing this for all this time and I haven't known . What can anyone advise me to do here! My heads mashed up! I'm on esa due to anxiety and depression ,so also get council tax benefit as im a single parent just me and daughter at home. Thanks in advance to anyone who can try and help .

I need help serious people. This a bit long story. My husband took out a home broadband with ee on october 25th from a ee store. As we are on talktalk already, both the pushy rep and the contract stated/s its a simple transfer of services, we dont need to anything, just pay the final bill from tt and enjoy. No BT engineer visits required. ok fine - so i thought. The woman pushed us into taking the contract as she claimed that ee would give us faster speeds than talktalk cos theres no cap of broadband speeds. Complete LIE. She told u we would only be paying 21 a month for the broadband instead of 26 for the life of the contract later we found out that was a complete lie too...it was only for 3 months. Another complete lie. i got my router on 10th november. then on the 12th, out the blue, a bt engineer turned up telling me he come to install a new phone line ( which id be charged 50 quid for ) as i had an exisiting line told me i didnt need one and that ee were just supposed to transfer over. so he did furher line checks and left. my so called ' go live' date was 12 th november. It is now 17th and here i am, still with TalkTalk and phone line still belongs to TT yet EE are billing me for a service THEY ARENT EVEN PROVIDING. Surely I cant pay for both. After emails back and forth from EE, which havent got me any further to sorting this issue ourt, i even emailed the ceo but no response n over a week. i now want out from EE. with no penalty, i want to be released from the contract. I believe i was missold and pushed into taking the contract. They havent done as what they should have done which is stated in my home broadband contract that its a trnasfer of services only, ive found postal addresses for the ceo directly which i want to send. my question to u guys is, would ee be in breach of the sales of goods and services act 1982,, and also some help with a nice but firm formal complaint letter to send off, cos im not good with this stuff, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in Advance. please please help me ASAP.

Hi guys I have just gone on the sick yesterday because of the company I work for. Lots of us have been voicing our concerns over asbestos for 2 years,the company have taken no notice what so ever. Final straw came this year when we had a asbestos report saying ceiling was clear so we started work. One of the guys said lets just check this again comes back it had never been tested it was asbestos. So now a big investigation,on my interview they was sounding like I was wanting to make a claim for compo and talking differently with me then the other guys.also asked the others if I was suffering from stress. All the bosses are defending the company's trying to get it to look like a one off,last Friday they got in one one the company this is befor the investigation is complete,I spoke and as well as others. Later that day I was called and summons to office my contracts manager filled out a counciling form I had no idea what I signed as I could not read what it said to scared to ask.(I was singled out) Couple of weeks after the inveragation started I catch them again windows open doors not sealed this has been going on in hundreds of tenants houses. Back to this week working away one of the guys noticed asbestos rubbish in with ours so work stopped,asbestos guy came in said job has not been done correctly. Company's now seems to be out to get me I have been bullied a few times since working for them,I have plucked up the courage this week and reported them to the HSE. Others on the team have had the same thing with the company's asbestos been drilled and not rported. They have had me to occupational health and she agreed with me about asbestos exposer guess I will have to go back now as it's happened gain. I really do want them taken to court and punished for what they have been doing I'm I doing it right way

I purchased a brand new home from one of the countries' leading developers in Feb 2014. There are 12 homes in our cul-de-sac. We exchanged contracts and moved into our so-called new homes within 2 months of each other. Some were not finished and residents were forced to move in by the developer. After some weeks, a couple of residents were moved out of their homes to allow a remedial team access to sort all the issues. They entered the homes but have just patched up most of the items. In the coming weeks/months numerous problems occurred and the developer was very slow at correcting snags, as well as what appeared to be more than snags. we set up our own action group. We have got our MP and local councillors involved and held constructive meetings with the regional Managing Director from the developer. Before the initial meeting we paid for a surveyor to survey one house and use it as a test case. The survey was damning and advised that if he was representing a prospective purchaser, he would advise against the purchase. the developer, having ignored the comments by our surveyor, paid for a survey for each of the 12 homes. Each home has come back with a failed survey based on some structural issues and also ground levels are too high, mostly above the air bricks and damp proof course. In our opinion, they have broken the contract to provide us with homes that are of proper quality. We are seeking some advice as to what we can do legally, to !. potential for comepensation as this has been a horrific year for most families 2. in a court of law, can the court force them to buy the homes back at the new market value, plus award all costs involved since the purchase. 3. Would we have a winnable case in a court of law, based on the fact the survey have all come back with major issues. Comments are welcome please.

I have a mortgage with GE Capital and have had this for 8 months now. Last month my husband went from being paid weekly to monthly which falls on the last friday of the month. My pay day is the 28th of the month. I contacted GE to advise them of the change and asked them if we could move the day our mortgage is due from the 20th of the month to the 28th of the month. They wrote back and advised us that yes we can move it but it will cost us £188.00 in interest to do so. I couldn't believe they could charge us so much. They tell us it is due to the loss of interest. Our previous mortgage company charged us £25 for administration charges, which at the time we thought was scandalous, but this it takes the biscuit. We habe no choice other than to pay this, otherwise we will incurr charges for not having the money available on the 20th of the month.

Apologies if this has been asked before but I need to send a complaint to Orange PCS Limited that will get some action. Does anyone have a contact name and address for someone that I can write too. Thanks

I need some advice for what steps i should take in pursuing my insurance company for high risk of loss of life due to negligence. I will be vague on the dates/times/full details due to this potentially being a high profile case. a few months back i had an accident and damaged my car. No other parties were involved just myself. The insurance company did the usual protocol and recovered the vehicle and sent it off to garage 1. Garage 1 quoted the repairs and carried them out, on collection of my car i noticed the steering was not correct and there was a loud knocking noise from the engine bay. I was told the car was fine by the garage and that it was just my suspension hitting the bottom of my car and as for the steering it was just due to camber in the road. I was not satisfied with this and believed there to be more to it i contacted my insurers and complained and they contacted garage 1 and they responded that the car was fine. i insisted an independent assessor comes to look at my car and he agreed that there was serious issues with my steering and a knocking sound was indeed present and not caused by the suspension. Garage 1 then had no choice but to take the car back and rectify the issues. Garage 1 wasn't able to find the fix for the issues they paid for it to be taken to a main Dealership for my model of car, let's call it Garage 2. Garage 2 were instructed to correct the steering issues and investigate this knocking sound, when i collected my car back from Garage 1 the steering was fine and no longer caused any issues. But the knocking sound was still present. I drove it for maybe 2 weeks before this knocking sound turned into a shunting sound like something was moving around. I contacted my insurance company and notified them that this issue still persists and is intact getting worse. They instructed that i could take it back to Garage 1 and get them to investigate but i had lost faith in them and insisted it goes back to Garage 2 (the main dealer) My insurance company said this was fine so i took it back to Garage 2 and they had a quick inspection and said there is something wrong with the car but without being booked in for a full inspection and paid for they can't investigate further. I asked at this point if it was safe to drive and he said he couldn't say for sure if it was. i went back to my insurers and told them of this information and their response was it is a weekend and we can't do anything until monday, i reminded them of the fact that i've been told the car may not be safe to drive and they again insisted there's nothing they can do. monday came and went and still no contact from my insurance company, i then called again the following week and insisted it's getting worse and worse by the day. They said i could take the car to Garage 2 and pay for the inspection fee myself and if they feel this issue arose from the original accident they would refund me, but only if they accepted the price quoted for the repairs by the garage. I couldn't afford to pay this expense and risk losing out on the inspection fee and my insurance company just seemed disinterested to help me. Another week passed with no follow up call and i once again contacted them and let them know this issue is now worsening and i need to get it fixed. They just repeated what they said before and i got frustrated and ended the phone call abruptly. Now to the serious part. I was travelling along a dual carriageway at approx 65mph and all of a sudden something shifted and a loud bang/pop/crack occurred and my steering was thrown to the right in full lock almost instantaneous, i then hit the central reservation and flew through the air and bounced along for about 30metres or so down the carriageway. I am not seriously injured, just bumped and bruised from the impact, no one else was involved. The car is an absolute wreck and i've had 20+ friends/family question how the hell i am still alive from looking at the wreck. where do i stand in terms of pursuing my insurance company for negligence? the risk of loss of life was so great and it's thanks to my cars safety features i am here typing this. I believe this to be a mechanical failure due to negligent repairs, i have proof of all the calls, repairs carried out and problems that i've notified them of. any help/advice would be appreciated. I can supply more details if needed as there may be gaps in my story. thanks

A female friend of mine sold a property back in Oct 2013. She had no mortgage on that property so all the proceeds from the sale went into her bank account as you would expect. She then proceeded to buy a new property. Everything was going well regarding the buying of the new property. The conveyancing company accepted her bank money transfer to pay outright for the new property. She was expecting to collect the keys to her new property. However, the conveyancing company said that she had to prove that the money she paid for the new property wasn't obtained by criminal means in order to prevent money laundering. My lady friend was fuming angry and had to prove that she obtained the money from the sale of her previous property. She did that and all went through ok. I was angry over this issue for two reasons. Firstly, the conveyancing company accepted all her money into thier bank account and then wanted her to prove that the money wasn't obtained by criminal means. Secondly, I thought that it was up to the accuser to prove guilt rather than the accused having to prove their innocence. I therefore assume that the law has completely changed. A person is now guilty until they prove themselves innocent even though the accusing party has no evidence to to support their accusations.

Hello, Most of you know that I told you that I got a Job, well I lied because being on Job Seekers is the most embarrassing thing in the world, please don't have a go at me because I hate people knowing I'm on Job Seekers but this is the time I need serious help fast. Today, my 4 week sanction ended however I signed on today at 1.40pm but the advisor who I saw told me that she has no choice but to send my claim to a decision maker for another sanction, this time because of my email address which I told you about a few weeks back its (gay_guy1986 with yahoo) anyhow, she said, I am not expecting any employer's to get in touch with me with that email address as she states some might be homophobic, is she correct? I think this is just stupid reason for a sanction, I don't think I can cope with another sanction, next sanction is for a 13 weeks. I am already behind on my council tax which I need to attend court next 2 weeks because I had no money to pay it. I feel really stressed right now, I thought about taking my own life today when I got back from Job Centre, I just can't cope anymore with Job Centre, I've had enough. I have been crying today (yeah, that's coming from a guy. just show how stress I am right now and life is so hard for me) I have come of a short 4 week sanction and now am getting a longer one Any advice on what to do, like I said, please don't have a go at me because I am really not in the mood. I just need some sensible advice Thank you.

Just after some advice on the following and maybe some general fiancial advice rather than full ins and outs of benefits so sorry if I have posted in wrong section and also sorry if it sounds a bit depressing. My mother has been diagnosed with cancer. Hopefully treatable with a 6-9 course of chemo. Anyway. They havent really thought about it yet but sooner or later my mom will go onto half/no pay from work. Mother earns about £1300 a month and father earns a touch less. They have never been much good with money and the majority of their wage goes to paying off debt which totals around the £10.000. Unsurpringly they have no insurances. If she does start to lose any pay then they will struggle to pay the mortgage/debts and with this news my dad is also struggling mentally and also drinking so I also worry about him loosing his job. If it gets to the stage where they have got to worry about money on top of everything else then it may be too much. Knowing nothing about benefits I believe they would be entitled to is carers benefits and free prescriptions. Is this correct? Can they claim for anything else? How much is carers benefit? Posted it in here as I am hoping that I can get involved and help to manage their finances through benefits and entitlements. To keep the cheery theme going they have also talked about wills. They were also talking about signing the house over to another family member just in case they have to go into a home. Can you do this? Dont know how true it is but our neighbour passed their house to their kids to avoid paying care home fees. Seems like to good to be true many thanks

I had a bailiff letter back in November last year with regards to outstanding council tax. I sent an email to the company (Rossendales) and asked for a breakdown of their charges they added on to the debt - there were three different years to be collected. I offered to pay £100 per month to them, or I'll put the money aside to pay the council as and when they took the debt back. They refused to accept this amount. From what I could see, they have added three separate amounts on to the original debt, which I believe they cannot do. Now, I have a bailiff sitting outside my house with a van, saying he's going to remove my goods. He has not at any time entered my property, and won't either. What can I do about this? Any help appreciated Zeb

I have noted the number of concerns expressed about Parcel2Go and thought ought to add my own. Prior to the Post Office privatisation I sent the majority of parcels through my local PO. There may be odd concerns but I have to say my figures show a problem rate, expressed as the percentage of parcels that gave rise to problems, was approx 0.04%, over 3 years total. My problem rate with P2GHermes is 48.20%. A staggering figure. That is all documented. Friends and I have done 'test' parcels and sought feedback, the results have not been good.at all. I have tried taking matters up with them on their 'chat' line, almost entirely in vain. The chat operators are 'homeworkers' just manning a computer, they have no way of knowing what is really going on and have to email P2G themselves if they want info other than that on their screen. 2 operators come up with different answers. The customer service system is amongst the very worst I have even seen in a long working life. Their web info is misleading, it only includes selected positive feedback. They edit negative comments off Facebook etc. There are a whole host of issues from standard service issues to legal issues re contract responsibilities and matters of public safety. Any company operating in this way ought to be brought to the attention of all potential customers. A couple of us re now using the internet to ensure all our contacts are aware, and make others aware. We are also putting together a dossier to send to ebay as they actively promote P2G and may be able to put some pressure on. You might want to consider passing this to your own contacts?

Hi all, Please may i have advise; the following is an email i sent to Phones4u on on the 16/12/2013 Thank you ---------------- Good Morning, My misses visited your Hounslow high street store on 05/12/2013 in order receive advice or a resolution on what appears to be a very common issue with the Samsung SII, the issue began on 03/12/2013, whereby the phone remained permanently in airplane mode. Your store advisor took a brief look and commented as follows (Actual quotes) 1.“It’s finished” 2.“It’s Gone” 3.“Not working” 4.“Gone” 5.“Sorry it’s finished; No warranty left, only 1 year” 6.“If you pay £80 we can try to fix, but not guaranteed, pay us £40 we will try!” 7.“You can buy a new phone, your contract finish in 5 days!” Later that evening she described the conclusion of the store visit: I replied “Warranty has expired… that’s it! We can't do anything!” We visited carphone warehouse (14/12/2013) which happens to be directly opposite the actual Phones4U shop in order to purchase a new phone; we proceeded with the 2 year contracted Samsung Note III. Before we walked out of the store with the new phone we kindly asked the repair individual if he could take a quick look at the Samsung SII, he said “yes no problem” and for no charge he tried to connect the phone, whilst downloading Samsung KIES to his PC he revealed “All Samsung’s have a two year manufacturer’s warranty, you should pop over their!” we were absolutely dismayed as we were told by Phone4U we have no warranty. We promptly walked across the road into Phones4u and explained the situation; they said “yes no problem”, “Take a seat” and immediately dialled tech support which resulted in an authorised warranty repair. We now have a new phone which we can’t return unless faulty; and an existing phone which will be repaired within a week; the original intention was to use the existing phone with a pay as you go sim card. We were intentionally misled by your staff which has resulted in an unwanted new Phone at an unnecessary two year cost of £800. Thank You ***** ******** They have offered a £25 good will gesture. Second email sent 17/12/2013 Forename: **** ***** Surname:****** Address:** ****** Avenue, **** **** Evening Mobile:******* Sim cardNo:************** IMEI No::************** REF::************** Retailer:209 High Street, Hounslow,TW3 1BL Sales Person:Bhavin I would also like to point my wife has highlighted other rather alarming comments mentioned by the advisor. Such as: 1) Its completely gone 2) Nothing anyone can do 3) You have no warranty left 4) Its a very bad problem 5) its finished She was also left without a phone whilst our son contracted a possible case of meningitis, she was not able to call an ambulance, unable to call me, and she was unable to coordinate the collection of out other son from school. Records available. Thank you. They again said thier is nothing they can do and still offered £20 Final email send 18/12/2013 I have no option but to contact trading standards + legal advice + online consumer protection forums. This is a very serious case of misconduct. Cost to us has been huge 1. Overlap line rental £30 2. Unnecessary mobile and contract £800 3. Taxi to take child to hospital £45, couldn't contact me. 4. Unwanted phone and mobile 5. Serious consequences for my sons due to the inability to communicate 6. All contacts deleted by your in store staff 7. Time taken to search for an alternative phone 8. Cost of accessories My wife would like to sue phones4u based on point 5. Please see: Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008). Response, they have denied all responsibility andhave stated some phones have a 1 year warranty. There is nothing we can do…. Good bye! That’s it. Please could someone help me with my options, Thank you all.

I unfortunately moved to Vodaphone from O2 so that I could run my business from my mobile by having a landline number added to my mobile. What a mistake. I deeply regret moving over because of the lack of signal and constant signal dropouts when on the phone to clients. How on earth can you run a business, with what was the main business supplier, on a network that is truly not fit for purpose. I have contact Vodaphone on several occasions, spending an hour on the phone this weekend to them alone, to complain and now have no choice but to try and cancel the contract. I have a business contract with them and would like to know is it possible to cancel the contract without paying for a line rental for the duration. I pay nearly £50 a month for a contract that is not worth £5 a month. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there, So a year ago when I was extremely broke, I got caught for stealing a sandwich from m&s. stupid mistake-I know. I literally hadn't eaten in a couple of days because I actually couldn't afford food, literally so it seemed like a better idea than asking my friends to borrow some money.. As it happens the police were there and gave me a fine but because I didn't have any identification on me they just trusted that I had given the right address and name. I did have every intention of paying the fine but I really didn't have the money straight away and as things progressed and with me moving into a cheaper address it got forgotten about and because I had never received any reminders it remained that way until 2 days ago... Apparently the bailiffs went to my old address and gave a letter to the new tenants from marston high court enforcement officers & certified bailiffs and the fine has been increased to £420! I'm so scad because I really can't afford this, especially not when I still haven't managed to pay my rent this month but I don't want to go to prison What can I do?? Please help! I wouldn't mind now if I just paid e original fine and perhaps loaned money for it but I definitely can't pay the full 420

Hi. We have had major problems with this company (also known as Trans-aXion). Over a year ago we had a large electrical item delivered to the UK. We paid an extra amount for insurance. The unit was badly damaged when we got it - it had obviously been dropped. We immediately complained to the company. After many non returned phone calls, and non replies to emails, the company asked us to send photos of the damage, which we did. We were told that the courier was actually DHL, and that it was their problem. We pointed out that our contract was with Parcel Network, not DHL, and it was the responsibility of Parcel Network. The company then asked us to get a quote for an inspection and repair. This we did, but had no further response from them with regard to this. Months went by without any resolution, so after contact with our local Trading Standards Office we sent letters, including a final letter threatening legal action. These were ignored. We approached the Financial Services Ombudsman to complain, since we had paid for insurance. We were told that the FSO could only act if we could obtain the name of the underwriting company. After many attempts to elicit this information from the company, I finally had an email that stated that there was no underwriting company, since this was handled 'in-house' by Parcel Network. I believe that this constitutes misrepresentation, since we were clearly offered, and paid for, insurance that did not actually exist. Trading Standards became more involved, and have been exceptionally helpful throughout. They too sent final letters to the company, which were ignored. We issued a claim to the Small Claims court, and a hearing was listed. The company applied for this to be set aside because they argue that they did not receive the claim forms. They belatedly applied to the court for the hearing to be cancelled, because no-one at Parcel Network was available to attend. They pleaded difficulty in traveling from Oxfordshire - even though the company is in Coventry! The judge ruled against a telephone hearing, and put the case up for re-listing. The company are making what amounts to a bizarre defence of their actions. They can give no reason for the lack of proper insurance, no reason why a loss adjuster was not immediately sent out, and no reason for the extensive delay in resolving this issue, of which we have copious evidence. It is quite remarkable that the company keeps spending money on court applications, but refuses to refund us for the damage done to our property. We are now waiting for the new court hearing, and to see what the judge makes of all this.

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