Hello all, I post in this place like once every 10 years because most things I can deal with myself, but thank God for this place because when i don't know what to do regarding some advice / legal advice, I know this is the place to come to. Anyway I am having an issue with a self storage company in London (one of the big ones). So basically I gave them 7 days notice to close today, and they said they have to charge me £15 because the 7 days 'crosses over' which is basically bull****, I know they're just trying to screw me for money. This is the first issue. The second issue is they sent me back an e-mail saying they 'require the unit to be cleared during office hours for the sake of thealarms on the units' which again is crap, because I was with this self storage company for 6 months and I could take my stuff in and out as I please 24/7, at midnight, outside office hours, weekend, whatever, it wasn't a problem. But now that I gave them 7 days notice to close, they're saying I can only take my stuff out Mon-Fri 9-5, otherwise I'll trigger the alarms. Which of course, if I do, they will promptly charge me like £30 admin fee or something. And bear in mind these 7 days (9th January - 16th January) I've already paid for last month, but they're imposing this new set of conditions. This really is a problem for me because I need to move my stuff out in the weekend, and of course they'll probably put the alarms on in my unit, which they shouldn't do, and then when I move it, it will ring, and they will say they can charge me for this. Is there some Ombudsman that I can go to complain about this? Can I also tell my bank Barclays to block any payments taken out by that company? (They said the £15 they will charge me because of 'cross-over' will go out automatically' Thanks all in advance, and mods, if this is posted in the wrong sub-forum, kindly please tell me where to post it so I can get maximum exposure to this post. Thanks a lot all for reading.

Just a quick one guys if you can help. I have just bought a new Laptop with 1TB Storage. The main storage is on D: Drive (934GB) and not C:. Now C: drive is nearly full. Can someone tell me how to transfer space from D to C please. I am using Windows 10. Thanks SOD'EM

Hi This is my first post so please forgive me if its in the wrong place or irrelevant !! I have had a holiday and reason for complaint as it was not what it said it was... there are two issues that i have summarised below. The holiday company, forest holidays, dont want to know about my complaint and say they will defend any court action, so i would like to ask what do people think ? do i have a reasonable chance of winning a case against them? Details of claim - Part one of claim – Noise and disruption 1. The defendant made the following statements on the forest holidays website – “Our cabins at Sherwood Forest are dotted among the tall pine trees, blending harmoniously into the forest landscape. Sherwood Forest has our widest range of cabins, and whichever you choose, you will be rewarded with peaceful woodland views” 2. The claimant booked a holiday on September 4th 2016 with The claimant being induced by this representation of a PEACEFUL holiday, to enter into a contract. The claimant would otherwise not have entered into the contract—that is that the representation played a real and substantial part in the claimant's decision to enter into the contract. 3. Unknown to the claimant but with full Knowledge to the defendant at the time of booking, the forest live concerts were to take place for the entire duration of the claimants booking. These concerts are to take place in the same forest, on the same land, within 500 metres of the forest holidays cabins. 4. The concerts are big open air events that attract some 9000 + visitors over the duration of the holiday booking. There was continued loud sound checks throughout the duration of the stay and extreme decibel levels of live music in the evenings continuing beyond 11.00pm. The defendant knew that the holiday would not be Peaceful as in the representation at the time of booking. 5. The defendants silence, at the time of booking in September 2016, while knowing these concerts where to go ahead during the entire holiday period, gives rise to an actionable misrepresentation. 6. The forest holidays cabins are in the forestry commission Sherwood forest grounds. The concerts also take place in the forestry commissions Sherwood forest grounds. For forest holidays to say that the concerts are outside their area or control is misleading and untrue. The concerts are approx. 500 yards from the holiday accommodation. Although forest holidays may have no direct control over the concert dates, subsequent noise and disruption they do have control over the fact that they could have informed the claimant of this event prior to making a booking 7. By way of example forest holidays promote bike hire at their Sherwood forest facilities. Bike hire at Sherwood pines is actually not on the forest holidays site as they claim in this instance but is on the same site of the Sherwood forest live concerts, some 500 yards away from the cabins. Yet for the purposes of this claim the defendant states that part of the forest site is not the same part of the forest holidays area 8. The defendant claims they did not need to make the claimant aware of these concerts as it is outside of their control as stated in the terms and conditions. 9. The claimant claims that the noise and disruption was foreseeable and is so not outside of the control as detailed in the terms and conditions – “We are not responsible for anything which adversely affects your holiday which occur due to events which are outside of our control (i.e. that we could not, even with due care, have foreseen or avoided). Such circumstances include (amongst others) war, civil unrest, industrial action, terrorist activity, natural disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, foot and mouth disease. We will endeavour to manage any problems caused as a result of such an event but shall not be liable to you for any losses caused by such event”. 10. The defendant made the claimant aware of these concerts on 6th June 2017 through an email which the claimant read. 11. The claimant was unable to cancel the holiday and receive a refund as the terms and conditions state ‘If we receive less than 12 weeks’ notice but not less than 2 weeks’ notice, you will be liable to pay the total cost of the holiday” and the claimant would have forfeited the value of the holiday 12. The claimant claims that the defendant had full knowledge of these concerts but did not report this to the claimant until after such a time that the claimant would have paid for the holiday in full and would forfeit the cost of the holiday should the claimant decide to cancel. 13. The claimant went ahead with the holiday after assurance from the defendant that there would be little or no disruption. 14. The claimant made a complaint of continued noise and disruption to the forest lodge holiday staff at the time of the holiday, they stated there was nothing they could do about this and dismissed the claimants complaint 15. The claimant went onto make a formal complaint to forest holidays head office by way of letter detailing the complaint and asking for a refund of the holiday 16. The defendant’s customer service representative then telephoned the claimant to discuss the complaint and get more details, the forest holidays customer service advisor said there would be a management meeting on what they could do and how to resolve the complaint 17. The defendant then responded by way of email, denying any liability and dismissed the claimant’s complaint in full. 18. The claimant refers to the following terms and conditions of the contract – 11. Responsibilities when on location Noisy or disruptive behaviour, especially after 10pm, wilful damage to the Location or cabins or other behaviour considered by our staff to be inappropriate may result in us asking you or a member of your party to leave the Location immediately. No refunds or compensation will be given in these instances, and we reserve the right to claim compensation for damages or inconvenience caused. 15. Liability – Please read this section as it is important that you understand to what you are agreeing 
 We are responsible to you for: (a) any loss or damage that you suffer as and which is foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms or our failure to use reasonable skill and care; or (b) death or personal injury caused by our negligence; or © fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or (d) any other matter for which it would be illegal or unlawful for us to exclude or attempt to exclude our liability. To respect the enjoyment of others, we ask that noise levels are kept to a minimum after 10:00pm 17 Other Information - Any photographs, descriptions or advertising we issue, and any descriptions or illustrations contained in our promotional material or on the website, are issued or published solely to provide you with an approximate idea of our Locations and the services. All due care and diligence is exercised in the production of such information, and information concerning our cabins and their facilities has been compiled as accurately as possible by our own staff and has been checked at the time of going to press Part 2 of claim – Bike theft. 1. The claimant had two bicycles stolen from the cabins whilst on holiday and claims the defendant knew about, but did not highlight or inform the claimant of the continued problem of bike theft in the forest. 2. The claimant claims that the accommodation provided bike storage was used but was inadequate to secure the bikes considering the defendant’s knowledge of the high risk of bike theft in the forest 3. The defendant claims that they informed the claimant that they should keep bikes inside the cabin, in the kitchen area of the accommodation 4. The claimant claims that storing muddy bikes inside a luxury cabin kitchen area is not suitable or fit for purpose. 5. The claimant claims that by storing muddy bikes inside the cabin kitchen risks damaging the kitchen floors, risks safety to children in the accommodation and risks breaching the terms and conditions should the bikes cause any damage to the property to which the claimant would be liable 6. The claimant claims that the defendant knew about the risks associated with the current outside bike storage but has failed to upgrade these to secure outside storage. 7. By continuing to provide the current outside bike storage the claimant claims that the defendant is, by way of action, promoting this storage to be adequate and is to be used for bike storage 8. The defendant claims that they highlighted the risks of bike storage to the claimant by way of prior arrival email and upon check in 9. The claimant does not recall receiving or reading the above mentioned email and was not informed in anyway at the time of check in 10. The defendant claims that adequate warning signage is placed around the cabin and forest area 11. The claimant has since looked for these warning signs but has been unable to locate them, photos of main areas and bike storage do not show any warning signs 12. The claimant claims that the defendant has become liable for the loss of these bikes due to negligence, failure to disclose or display knowledge of foreseeable high risk of bike theft 13. The claimant claims that the defendant is liable for the loss due to failure to supply fit for purpose storage facilities outside the cabin accommodation 14. The claimant states that the defendants claim that bikes should be stored in the luxury accommodation kitchen is not a solution and is not stated in the terms and conditions of contract. It gives rise to significant risk and injury to children staying in the cabin. Any help would be appreciated Thanks

I was in-between houses so I put my stuff in self-storage, then I lost my job. I have another job now, but I have arrears with the self-storage company. They keep slapping on approx. £25 every couple of weeks in late payment fess. They wont allow me to take my stuff out and come to some arrangement, they have changed the locks and my bill just gets higher and higher and whilst I can’t get my stuff out every week I get charged another week for storage I feel trapped in a vicious circle my bill just escalates and they rub their hands together when my stuff stays in storage for another week. Help

As part of my care plan, while I am a hospital patient, I am considering placing my belongings into storage. I belive these may be more secure as they don't need to be moved to allow domestic staff and or the landlord access to my spare room. My belongings will not need to be moved if they went into storage. I am wondering as I will be able to qualify for 7 aftercare and free hospital treatment, Should I be paying for storage or asking the NHS to pay?

Hello, I home someone can help with this problem. Around December 2009, after finishing university I put some belongings in storage with Clockwork Removals in Edinburgh figuring I would have them transported once I started work again. About a year ago, I requested that they send my items over to France. Then we discovered that these items (six packing boxes) had been "misplaced" when they moved to new premises in Granton. I've been trying for a year to get my belongings returned or a refund (£65 x 12 months x 6 years = £5500 + value of belongings). Needless to say, Clockwork aren't cooperating. The first time, they asked if I could come up to their warehouse to help identify my belongings. Second time they said they had found my four chairs. Third time, they refuse to talk. It looks like I am having to go legal on this one?

Last October, my then landlord compelled me to leave this property by threatening to ‘make your life hell’ if I stayed, as he was unhappy about me threatening to pay my final rent with part of my unregistered deposit. I loaded up my car with some of my belongings, gave the landlord back his key (as he'd threatened to change the locks), and agreed with my landlord that I’d arrange with him to return to collect my remaining belongings. My negotiations to retrieve my belongings didn’t run smoothly: - He repeatedly insulted me during the exchanges. - He was restrictive in terms of when I could attend to collect my stuff. - He imposed deadlines of when the items needed to be collected by, even though I'd told him that my work shifts meant I couldn’t attend at the times and dates he specified. - He told me that he’d only allow me to attend if I accepted a ridiculously low out of court settlement for the money he owed me for my deposit and unspent rent (but later relented). He and I finally agreed on a time and a date for me to collect my belongings, a couple of weeks after the eviction. He cancelled at the last minute, due to having lost his keys to the flat, without so much as apologizing. This was the final straw, particularly as I’d booked a day off work to attend. I told him that I’d be forfeiting my belongings. In response, he asked me never to contact him again. I’ve recently launched legal action against him, suing him for my deposit, my unspent rent and the distress and inconvenience his illegal eviction has caused. In response, he’s counter-suing me for £11 a day for storage costs, for between when I left and the date of the hearing! Does he have a case? Thanks, Jeff

The engine in my girlfriend's van recently blew up. The mechanic who she called to come out and recover the vehicle, took a look at the damage and informed her that she would need a new engine. He also informed her that he wouldn't be able to do the work, so had given it to the 'garage A around the corner'. Quite a bit of time passed by as my girlfriend deliberated upon what course of action she was going to take. When she finally decided to get a new engine, she started to attempt to make enquiries, with garage A, to which her van had been given. Not knowing much about anything, she required a bit of information from garage A, and contacted them several times, but she was poorly received, ignored, and requests for information were not responded to. Hearing all this, I told her to get her van repaired somewhere else. Thus she made new arrangements with a more customer friendly garage. All had been arranged, or so she thought, but when the new garage B (who she had arranged to do the work after the poor customer service from the original garage A) arrived to collect her van, garage A refused to hand over the keys to the van. Although garage A hadn't done any work on the vehicle, garage A has turned around and said that they wanted £25 per day as storage fee. Whilst I know that in the absence of any written or verbal contract, whereby girlfriend consented to paying a daily storage fee, garage A doesn't have a leg to stand on, I am wondering how much of a pain in the arse dealing with this issue might be. Is this a matter for the police, whereby they simply turn up whilst my girlfriend lawfully retreives her vehicle, or is might this be a real dragged out civil matter.....civil coursts, Sheriff's Officers, etc?

Hi I've been using a storage facility for a few years to store some old stuff. Recently, they seem to have started doing something a bit dodgy with their fines system to raise some extra cash. They send email invoices and not paper ones. I didn't get the invoice this month so didn't make the payment. Then I got two letters. They are dated a few days a part but the postmarks show that they were posted on the same day. The first refers to previous correspondence asking for payment and is a 5-day late fine for £5. The second also refers to previous correspondence and is a £10 for being ten days late. Bit annoying because they hadn't sent any previous correspondence, not even an invoice. I paid the same day. That was a week ago. Today I got a letter dated 1st February. That's around the date that I paid - but it's postmarked 3rd Feb which is two days after I paid. It's a 15-day late fine for £20. So, in total, they seem to have fined me a total of £35 for a service that doesn't cost much more than that, and have got some extra cash out of me simply by neglecting to send a demand for payment, and then delaying posting the fines until it's too late for me to pay. On the face of it this seems as dodgy as all hell, and looks like an attempt to up their profits. Is this legal? I'm planning to send them a letter asking for a copy of the "previous correspondence" and also asking for a list of the fines that have been levied on the account in the last year with the dates they were posted. I also want to ask why they send two fines on the same day, and why I've been fined after making the payment. Is there anything else I should be asking? And are these payments legal? I want to make sure I know where I stand before I write to them. I paid the fines inadvertently by sending a payment for 3 months in advance so I don't have to worry about more fines for a while. I'm also planning to move my stuff as soon as I can arrange a van. Thanks, H

Car is being held illegally and racking up £35 a day storage charges! I was involved in an accident just over a month ago where a truck side swiped me and took me off the road. It is clearly the fault of the truck driver and they have admitted full liability. I then took the car to a body shop garage that is next to my mechanic and since I trust and value the work of my mechanic I thought I would get similar treatment at the body shop. This wasn’t the case. When I took the car to the body shop the owner went out of his way to ensure everything would be handled for me and at the time I seen this as a good thing. I was told that he would arrange for a like for like hire car and have the claim dealt with by a firm of solicitors who would handle the claim entirely from the third party. He told me he would take care of everything and I didn’t have to worry about a thing and that I would not have to lose my no claims bonus as he would have the solicitor recover all costs from the third party (the truck company). He also promised the car back to us within 2 to 4 weeks. I trusted the body shop and agreed for him to do the repair on the car. He then arranged the hire car which was the same model lower spec and looked like it had been in multiple accidents and had been repaired very poorly. I wasn’t best pleased but put up with it believing it would be a temporary solution while my car is repaired. A month goes by and nothing happens, I called and was told that he had not even started the work and was given excuses about it taking longer. I was angry and wanted to move the car into another garage I found that agreed to have the car back on the road to me that week. The body shop refused to release the car back to me without first receiving payment in full for hire car and storage charges. Hire at £80 a day for 28 days and storage at £35 a day for 28 days. The bill was £1200 for storage and £2800 for the hire car £4000 in total and no work had been carried out. The body shop claim to be a separate company to the hire car company and have no financial links to the solicitors but it is clear that they are all working together. Why else would he demand payment for the credit hire company as well as his own storage charges at the same time? Also the solicitors seem to be working in the interest of the garage and treating him as their client rather than myself. To me it seems like a well-rehearsed highly profitable [problem] ring with a thin veneer of legitimacy. It would not surprise me if they send cars out crashing them on purpose if the state of their hire car is anything to go by. I refused to pay and asked to see the paperwork that states the body shop can hold my car without payment and the agreed storage fees. A document that looks like it was forged by copy and pasting one of my other signatures from the hire car paperwork was produced very quickly and sent over to me via email. I have no memory of signing this at any point. I stated this to the solicitor and they immediately told the bodyshop and came back to me the next day saying that the garage would now release the car if I signed the paperwork agreeing to all storage fees and accept liability for full payment if not met by the third party. To me this absolutely stinks to high heaven of foul play and how the solicitors are working on behalf of the body shop and not me. If the shop already had the signed paperwork why would they insist on me signing it again? I demanded to see colour photos of all documents showing my wet ink signatures to validate the authenticity. This request has been ignored. I returned the hire car to them as soon as I found out they were a bunch of crooks but they still have my car and it is racking up charges with them of £35 a day and it’s now been 5 weeks. I am unsure now what I can do to recover my vehicle. The third party will not pay any charges until the claim is settled in full and speaking to them they said that they will certainly be disputing such high rates for both storage and hire. If I pay for the charges I will for sure not be able to recover anywhere near the proposed rates as storage is around £10-15 a day and hire has a maximum ABI rate of £54 a day on my vehicle type. I do not want to sign any paperwork with the garage that allows them to then screw me over down the line for unreasonable charges that the third party will not accept and this is what “my” solicitor is asking me to do. I was told not to go to my own insurance initially as they will be taking care of the full claim this in hindsight was the biggest mistake I made as my insurance would have had this sorted by now and I wouldn’t be at the mercy of these crooks. I have contact my insurance at a later date and they said that I am now locked in with the solicitor and that they cannot help in any way washing their hands of it all. I am unable to have the case passed to another lawyer as I have been warned that I would be liable for a further £4000 in solicitors’ fees at this point. The last thing I need on my hands is a legal battle with a dodgy firm of solicitors. I need to get this car back and into a garage that will repair it as soon as possible as I’m having to hire another car at my own expense, things are dragging on and the bills are getting scarily big. How can I get my car back? They haven’t provided me with proof that I signed the document they forged. Should I be going to the police? Will they help or fob it off as a civil matter? How can I deal with this and force the return of my own property? Any help is much appreciated.

The internet activity of everyone in Britain will have to be stored for a year by service providers, under new surveillance law plans. Police and intelligence officers will be able to see the names of sites people have visited without a warrant, Home Secretary Theresa May said. But there would be new safeguards over MI5, MI6 and the police spying on the full content of people's web use. Mrs May told MPs the proposed powers were needed to fight crime and terror. Follow the latest developments on our live page The wide-ranging draft Investigatory Powers Bill also contains proposals covering how the state can hack devices and run operations to sweep up large amounts of data as it flows through the internet, enshrining in law the previously covert activities of GCHQ, as uncovered by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The draft bill's measures include: Giving a panel of judges the power to block spying operations authorised by the home secretary A new criminal offence of "knowingly or recklessly obtaining communications data from a telecommunications operator without lawful authority", carrying a prison sentence of up to two years Local councils to retain some investigatory powers, such as surveillance of benefit cheats, but they will not be able to access online data stored by internet firms The Wilson doctrine - preventing surveillance of Parliamentarians' communications - to be written into law Police will not be able to access journalistic sources without the authorisation of a judge A legal duty on British companies to help law enforcement agencies hack devices to acquire information if it is reasonably practical to do so Former Appeal Court judge Sir Stanley Burnton is appointed as the new interception of communications commissioner BBC

Apart from other upfront known fees and charges, Storage Fees are another issue, as in what is reasonable? They can add significantly more to a debt than the fees laid down in the Regulations. Here is an example of what Newlyn wanted to charge a third party whilst they had his car subject to Interpleader from another thread "We anticipate that the goods will sell for £1600.00 which is considered the value amount, with the addition of £40.00 per day storage charges. " If a sealed Court Order is not received within 48 hours of this email, the vehicle will be entered into public auction to discharge the Warrant of Control" (http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?455139-I-ve-received-a-letter-from-Newlyn-they-want-to-sell-my-car!%281-Viewing%29-nbsp) If a vehicle is removed and held for 14 days so @ £40/day before auction then £560 in storage will be added to the debt along with the other fees, so a car going under the hammer for £2000 may not even clear an original debt of say £700 Storage is of itself a flexible concept, so is it an open field like one bailiff allegedly used, a secure compound, or under cover. For household chattels, then it must be undercover, but for a motor vehicle a compound would seem to be the usual. Thoughts ?

Hi If this is in the wrong section please feel free to move Last week I was looking for a storage container to put my household possessions on when we move. I looked at a container that was too big for us but needing on sharpish I agreed to take one and signed his sheet with my bank details etc. I hadn’t picked up my bank card and had no money on me so they guy gave me a key for the container and I said I would pay the next day via phone. That night we decided it was too big and expensive so I sent the guy a message the next day via text saying I would not be needing the container and will post his key back (this container yard was not always manned, sent key back to main site 20 miles away) He did try calling me that day, and again later that week but I did not return his call Today he has emailed me saying that he wants 1 month container rent that I agreed to pay (£160), if not he will pursue through small claims court My question is, do I have to pay this payment as I have never set foot in the yard or touched the container since I left the yard when he gave me the key? Is there not a cooling off period etc? Any advice will be much appreciated Thanks W

Pretty much as the title states, new policy in the handbook states we are no longer allowed keys, money, jackets (even worn) etc on the call floor and have been supplied with small lockers with repeating keys, no one is assigned a locker and its based on a trust system. The company is not accepting any liability for lost/damaged property and are sending people home AWOL if they don't take off their Jackets or putting Keys in the locker. Is this acceptable for the company to do this? It's a call centre Btw Cheers -EDIT- Right so apparently some guy got told to put his medicine in the locker downstairs or to leave and go home which caused a ruckus, policy has now been reviewed and some obvious conclusions came to (sick people need medicine and storing your house/car keys in a locker to then have a locker key on your person is a bit redundant) Only the jacket policy now- which I actually understand so all good:)

Hi We recently bought a plastic garden storage unit from shedstore. (can't post link as too few posts) They desribed it as " suitable for both indoor or outdoor use, garage or patio." The box it came it stated "Weather proof for outdoor use" However, the doors only touch at the top and bottom and there is a 4mm gap in the middle that lets rain in (the doors would need to overlap to be rainproof) We contacted shedstore (by email) who then contacted their supplier. They suggested that we add some additional door seals and they stated that the product is not waterproof! We do not think that we should have to make adjustments and that the cabinet should be fit-for-purpose as supplied. Also, the box clearly states "Weather proof for outdoor use". Shedstore are now ignoring our emails. Can anyone suggest how we should proceed please ? Many thanks in advance, H

Hi I have booked and paid for a 30 sq ft room at Big Yellow Storage. I am now using it and become aware that, indeed, it is not 30 sq ft, but 25. I complained for that, but they said that according to their records that room is a 30 sq ft. So, even if it is a 25, I have to pay as it were a 30 (!?!). Morover, in the meantime I was able to remove some stuff and a 20 sq ft room would be now enough. But they say that prices have increased and that a 20 ft would today cost more than a 25ft. The problem is that they refuse to show me any written document with their fares. I don't know what to do.

Hi . hope someone can help, apologise if this is in the wrong section. My neighbour makes biodiesel, never really bothered me, until today when my wife told me he had 4 barrels of methanol delivered on two pallets, looked online and confirmed they aer 205litres each, delivered by a big truck , thing is, we live in a small cul de sac on a housing estate, his garage joins mine, he has extended behind my garage, and its next to a kids play park and a footpath away from my house. Surely there must be a limit on how much you can store at home? As I said it never bothered me until today, but that's an awful lot of flammable liquid. Any ideas who I should contact? Thanks in advance Graham

I am hoping someone can advise me on this forum, not sure if I am in the correct place. Hastings Direct has refused to pay the storage costs for their clients car being held in our garage whilst they sorted out the claim. It has been with us for 1290 days at a cost of £10 per day when the assessor eventually came out to assess the damage. The car was written off. As a gesture we agreed to freeze the charges at £1290. The car is still with us today. Because there were complications with the customers claim it wasn't sorted for months and the customer had to involve a solicitor in order to fight his claim. The date of the accident was 11th March 2013 and the client was settled on the 16th October 2013 We periodically contacted Hastings to remind them that their charges were increasing and at no point within the corresponding did they inform us that they were not going to pay the fee. The claim has been sorted and they have refused to pay the fee. After several emails they told us we could keep the car towards the cost but as we aren't breakers we declined their offer as the car is of no value now. They then offered to pay £500 less than half of the fee. We then asked if we could keep the car to scrap at a value of £160 which would at least replace some of the shortfall. They refused to let us keep the car. So we have an offer of £500. Can anyone tell me if we have a case and what would be the best course of action to take.

I am hoping someone can advise me on this forum, not sure if I am in the correct place. Hastings Direct has refused to pay the storage costs for their clients car being held in our garage whilst they sorted out the claim. It has been with us for 1290 days at a cost of £10 per day when the assessor eventually came out to assess the damage. The car was written off. As a gesture we agreed to freeze the charges at £1290. The car is still with us today. Because there were complications with the customers claim it wasn't sorted for months and the customer had to involve a solicitor in order to fight his claim. The date of the accident was 11th March 2013 and the client was settled on the 16th October 2013 We periodically contacted Hastings to remind them that their charges were increasing and at no point within the corresponding did they inform us that they were not going to pay the fee. The claim has been sorted and they have refused to pay the fee. After several emails they told us we could keep the car towards the cost but as we aren't breakers we declined their offer as the car is of no value now. They then offered to pay £500 less than half of the fee. We then asked if we could keep the car to scrap at a value of £160 which would at least replace some of the shortfall. They refused to let us keep the car. So we have an offer of £500. Can anyone tell me if we have a case and what would be the best course of action to take.

My PC is completely clogged up with music and picture files and was toying with the idea of purchasing some form Of Cloud backup. Ive done some research online but that has confused me even more. Any suggestions ?

I packed my caravan away for winter on a registered caravan storage site. Yesterday I went to the site and pulled the cover off only to find a 9 inch dent and scratch on the side. It is clear that the owners to the caravan next to me had done the damage, there is even a scratch to the bumper which is the same height etc to the damaged to my caravan. The owner of the site spoke to the owners of the caravan and surprise surprise they denied ever damaging my van ,but they noticed that my cover had a rip to it. They must of noticed that when they where looking at the damage they had done!! I like them have insurance but why should I suffer when it is clear that they have done the damage but it comes down to there word against mine. Sorry to whinge on but I am so annoyed is there anything I can do so I dont become the injured party here?

Hi there, I'm currently in the process of a home insurance claim and would be very grateful for advice on certain aspects. The claim was initiated following an escape of water and the result is that the ground floor at my property requires replacement and a room needs partial redecoration. A Loss Adjuster visited my property following the claim and, along with estimates for the main works, requested that I also provide estimates for removal and storage of my contents to the whole of the ground floor of the property in order to facilitate the works. I should highlight here that the need for removal and storage estimates only became apparent/accepted AFTER I raised the fundamental need to clear the area to allow for flooring works. Having submitted estimates for all aspects of the work the Loss Adjuster has responded with approvals (on which subject I have other queries which I'll pose in a separate thread), however they have also advised that they will be appointing their OWN contractor to manipulate my contents. So to the questions... Q1) Am I obligated to use the insurers contractor for removal and storage of my contents, or can I insist on using my own local contractor? Q2) If I use my own contractor can the insurers impose (financial) conditions on this? Q3) Given that the removal and storage of my contents includes a freestanding fridge freezer, am I entitled to claim for any food items contained? Q4) The timescales for the work are presently undefined. My existing flooring needs to be removed and the exposed area completely dried out before any new flooring is laid. Depending on the situation when the flooring comes up, this could potentially take 1-2 weeks. Are the insurers obliged to provide Alternative Accommodation during the period of works? Any advice on this greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Not certain if this is the correct Forum but here goes..... A friend of mine had a rented storage unit locally and had plenty of spare capacity and offered to hold some of my own business items for me. His business has suffered recently difficulties and is heading rapidly towards administration and he has failed to pay his rental for his lock up unit The landlord has changed the locks and refused him entry until his debt is paid off which has, effectively, restricted me access to recovering my own goods for which the landlord has, in my opinion, no legal right to title (I have a couple of computers, 3 printers and my aged accounting paperwork that I now need urgently) Where do I stand on gaining access to recover my own personal goods. My friend has said that he would let me in at any time but it is the landlord that is causing the issue If his business does go into Administration, have I lost my own items? My friend is also renting some shelving and he wants to return that to the hire company but cannot. Many thanks

in December 2012 my fiancé approached BRIGHTHOUSE and asked if we could store our "bigger" items while we moved house and the house was decorated, (fridge-freezer,tv,3piece suite,washer) we were told we could store our items free of charge for up to 30days at a time until our new house was ready, "PICK UP AND HOLD" when our items were returned to us we would then carry on paying for them. we received a phone call out of the blue telling us our items have been claimed back by brighthouse and you will lose all money already paid on them because they have been in storage for longer than 30days. long story short ......... I could prove our items had "NOT" been there for longer than 30 days, proving them wrong I was then told "your items have not been taken from you but have been sent for service/repair" ! and will be returned back to you when they arrive back in store, bored of waiting for them to pull there finger out I phoned brighthouse asking where our items were and when they are to be returned to us ? I was told ..... we think your sofa has been sold but we will find you another one and get your items sent out to you, someone will call you tomorrow. no one phoned so I phoned them, this time I was told ........ your 3 piece suite is here but we cant find anything else we will find them and call you in 2 days. constant phone calls from me to brighthouse (head office, managers, area managers and till monkeys) have got me nowhere they keep brushing me of with we have found .... "this, that and the other" and are still trying to find the rest, Or "COME IN TO THE STORE AND ADD ON" (get bent over) they wont return our items, they wont help us to get them back, they become rude and aggressive, they wont tell us where they are, they try and force us to sign "NEW CREDIT AGREEMENTS" they force unnecessary stress and worry to my PREGNANT fiancé, they are stopping us moving in to our new house but what they will do is ...... let us come in to store and "ADD ON" to replace our original items (lost by them) which will mean losing all money paid so far and start paying from scratch ultimately paying a lot more money ! to correct a mistake made by them. has anyone else had this kind of problem? any solicitors reading this ? please get in touch. thanks in advance for any reply sent to me

I have paid a shipping company (turned out to be a one man band) to ship good for me overseas. the company has instead took my goods to a logistic company for them to handling the actual shipping but fail to pay the logistic company the shipping cost. this was since october 2012. the logistic company has since place the good in storage. i have not been able to contact the shipping company since they took my goods. i have recently been able to locate the logistic company who directed me to a warehouse where my good are being kept in storage. the storage company advised they too have not been able to make contact with the shipping company and therefore require that i pay the storage charges before they release my goods. do they have any legal right to keep my good considering the contract between them and the shipper has nothing to do with me? what are my option. Thank you