Hi Dee, First things first - LIDL cannot issue you with a fine - all it is is an invoice for a parking charge that LIDL or their agents will argue that you incurred through the way you used their car park. In truth, they can only enforce these by going to County Court. Not only is this costly for them, but they have a very low chance of winning. The legal odds are stacked well against them. Firstly, they would need to prove that you were driving, that their charge was reasonable, that the agent and/or LIDL have the appropriate land rights to issue parking charges, etc. Secondly, Graham White knock out these template letters by the 1000's - litterally! It is not even solicitors that send them out. You can do the math yourself, if a good solicitor costs £200 an hour then LIDL would be on a hiding to nothing given that they wouldn't be able to recover the costs at County Court. The people that issue these tickets are less than **** - they do this job becuase no one else will have them. They will threaten anything from bailiffs, to credit records - it is all hot air - much like the space between their ears! God knows, how are government can let them get away with it! All in all, relax and carry on ignoring you have nothing to worry about! All the best, TFT

No, no, no. You are going about this the wrong way, Michael Browne is spot on here. You contact them and you will be stacked on the mugs list for increasing letters and threats from them. You can only inherit a CCJ once the private parking company issue you a claim, you lose and then you fail to pay within 30 days. The chances of this happening are so remote that you will probably scoop the jackpot before hand. I have dealt with these companies on my behalf and other people. I have won every time because I ignore them. Their 'invoices' are so tied up with legal complications that they haven't a leg to stand on. Don't waste your time with the CAB, they're are toothless and useless. Take the advice on here and you wont go far wrong my friend. Regards, TFT

"8 months on, I have now received another letter from AS Securi-T Ltd! It states that in the absence of any payment in regard to the outstanding debt, the full amount of £174 is now due! If this remains unpaid after 23 September 2009, Jon Tutte, Litigation Manager will register the debt and costs with Northampton County Court." Notice the deliberate intention to decieve here, Local Authorities register PCN debts with Northampton County Court, not private parking companies. What he means to say is that they will submit a claim form, costing them at least £30. Now, I smashed these fools once and I will help you to as well. All you have to do is nothing. They wont take you to court, Jon Tutte is most likely a made up name and the litigation manager is propably nothing more than one of the ticket issuing peasants that works for them. It is just a last ditched attempt to see if they can blag some money from you. Disregard them and worry about more important things such as what you are having for dinner tonight. All the best, TFT

Hi Pennine 2009, firstly are you absolutely sure that it is Excel parking that have done the search as opposed to a different company with a similar name. Regards, TFT

I must say, you have my complete and utter sympathy and I can only imagine how difficult life has been for you. You wont see it right now, but your life will become the best it has ever been. You will take pleasure from simple things such as berrying on a Sunday afternoon, or sharing a joke. Your friends will be real and genuine - if you have nothing apart from yourself to like or love then they must be genuine friends. I will be blunt though, I think you have the wrong attitude about things - you lost everything you ever loved but most of it was material - a flash car and a nice house. It is not your fault at all - who made you fall in love with these things, these trinkets - were you born wanting a £50,000 car - of course you weren't. This is how the system works, it makes you fall in love with things and desperate to have them, you work harder and harder to have them, ultimately making more and more money for the real keepers of wealth in our country. And then when it all goes pete tong, who pay's the price - you! Notice how Fred the Shred is just like you - his company failed but he walked away with £7million. Also, out of interest, with £460k of assets were you not tempted with a new start in another country - somewhere out of harms way? I wish you all the very best, and the speediest possible recovery. Chin up and stay strong, TFT

Tip Number 1: Private companies in the UK have no legal right to fine individuals or companies unless they are acting on behalf of a government body or have specific laws laid down allowing them to do so. I'm affraid, Excel have no more legal right to fine you or your father than I do. Tip Number 2: Excel could not sue you for the amount of the so called fine - in the UK, you can only so for actual damages - therefore they could only sue you for the amount of money you had actually cost them - probably 50p or there abouts. Tip Number 3: Your father is disabled and your vehicle had a blue badge on display - it would be a pretty tough cold hearted judge that would find against you. Tip Number 4: County Court Claim Fee + Hearing Fee would be at least £55 for Excel - this is what they would have to cough up before taking you to court - this is not a viable business model for them which is my PPC's very rarely take people to court. Don't forget other costs, man hours, postage, etc - all expense they wouldn't get back even if they won. Tip Number 5: They cannot do anything to harm you or your father in anyway (including reporting to the credit agencies, sending people to see you, etc). All their threats are hot air just to scare you in to coughing up. In summary, Excel and their colleagues are a joke. File their letters for reference but ignore them - don't pay - it is a [problem]! Kind Regards, TFT

Hello everyone, At the moment, I am involved in suing a vehicle finance provider for penalty charges. Recently, both I (Claimant) and the Defendant had to submit our court bundles - I got mine in very early as I was going to be unavailable for a few days before the deadline. Checked with court, they received my hearing fee and bundle - no probs. However, the defendant failed to submit their bundle - instead they wrote to the court and I advising that they would settle for commercial reasons. They said they would only settle after I had discontinued my claim. However, I though this was very unfair, after all what if I had discontinued my claim and they didn't pay up - I would have had to start over. Anyway, I have written to the defendant and said as soon as you pay I will file the notice of discontinuance. Does anyone think I have been fair and reasonable here? Thanks, TFT

Hi pink1, I am not a betting man but if I were I would back you to win this case. As jackieandwayne have already stated, the check out is what its all about and if no burn mark was detected at that point then how on earth can they prove it was you that did it? In addition, burn mark in a kitchen could reasonably be considered fair wear and tear - lots of hot pans, kettles, etc it is certain that it would happen at some point. TFT

Might be invalid under the Unfair Contract Terms Act, however, we would need much more info. TFT

Hello Sarah, help is here However, first some facts are needed. Could you tell me when you first moved in to the property please? TFT

Essentially, you cannot make them accept your offer of payment; however, if you have no money then they would be fools not to. There would be little point in suing you as they would merely end up losing more money. A judge is not going to make you pay what you haven't got. I believe there is a letter on the site for offering token payments to creditors. I will have a look and post the link up for you. All the best, TFT

It is possible that he could have a solicitor represent him; however, he would not be able to recover the costs of employing that solicitor even if he were to win and, even the best solicitor in the world could not argue the fact that he didn't do any inventory check-out (this would be central to your argument). Don't be deterred even if he were to use a solicitor - they are not nearly as expert as they would have you believe. On a more positive note, his solicitor might advise him to settle out of court with you if you presented a strong enough case - his employing a solicitor could work in your favour. TFT

Excellent, make sure you ask them for a written or emailed quotation so that you have the evidence of the figures they quote. This is very important. Keep us updated. All the best, TFT

Ignore, ignore, ignore

Furthermore, with regards to the oven - accepting is probably the best thing to do if you believe you were liable for its condition. As others have mentioned, this demonstrates reasonable behaviour which will strengthen your case. That said, if you still think it is excessive, you can always get three comparative hyperthetical quotes from oven cleaners. TFT

Well done. Firstly, if you get any phone calls from him do not answer them. Simply send a text message advising that given that the matter is in dispute you think it is appropriate if you only communicate with each other by written letter. This way, you can prove everything he has said to you. Secondly, with regards to the previous tenant being a friend of the landlord I should imagine that it would be pretty easy for you to discredit any witness statement that was provided as the witness is not impartial. I think the judge would see that for what it is. In addition, if the landlord were to try and do that it would be quite weak anyway - 3 years is a long time. I think a judge would be quite impressed with the memory of the former tenant if he were to sign anything now with regards to the condition of the property. I really wouldn't worry about this if I were you it would be a very poor tactic of the landlord and very easy to rubbish in court. TFT

Hello, sorry I have been away. Whatever you do, don't sign away any check out inventory. As for Emma's comment, the landlord may not be legally obliged to allow you to rectify any problems; however, it might be viewed as unreasonable by a judge. TFT

In general, the letter appears to be fine. My advice, firstly keep calm - treat this as though it were a business arrangement at work and try not to get personally involved (although it is your deposit). I tend to find the more removed I am from a situation, the clearer my judgement is and the stronger my argument is. Having said that, I perfectly understand your frustration. Firstly, I would write a list of every bit of work that you think is fair and reasonable and every bit that you think is unreasonable (e.g. caused by someone else or overly picky). Just focus on the work, rather than the costs quoted. Once you have done this, go down the list of all the work that you think is reasonable and try and get three hyperthetical quotes for the work. By doing this, you can demonstrate to a judge that any extravegant costs quoted by the landlord are unreasonable and will unduly enrich the landlord. Once you have done this, draw up a statement to go with your letter giving details of all the work that should be reasonably done and the reasonable costs for carrying out such work. At this point, you can adapt your letter to advise of the specific amount you want returned. The key to success is to be consistent with your facts and figures - a well presented case will always go in your favour. Out of interest, have you signed any check-out inventory? This could be quite important. TFT

I think that you are going to need to reclaim your full deposit from him, less any deductions that you consider to be fair and reasonable. I think that based on what you tell me so far you stand a very good chance - without a check in inventory any check out inventory is meaningless - there is nothing to say that any damage was done today or 10 years ago. Your landlord seems to be a bit of a problematic character. Because of this, you might need to sue him for your deposit in the county court - this is an easy enough process but wont be immediate. By the sounds of it, there is quite a few pounds on the line so it would be well worth doing in my opinion. TFT

If this is the case, your landlord is on very very shakey ground if he/she wants to deduct any of your deposit - a county court judge would not look favourably upon this sort of conduct - how could he prove you did the damage without a signed inventory check in. If you need some help, then I am more than willing to assist you and fortunately know quite a bit about this area. TFT

Firstly, could you confirm that no inventory check in was completed when you moved in to the property? TFT

Holding a group of tenants jointly and severally liable is nothing unusual for a letting/rental agreement. No doubt, one person may be a far bigger contributor to the problem than others; however, it would be almost impossible for the landlord/agent to prove in most circumstances hence why this arrangement has come to be practiced. The question is, can you prove that you are being unfairly singled out and that other people have not had the same deductions. If so, ask liberty living why they have only deducted from your deposit. Also, have you checked that your deposit is infact protected in one of the government approved schemes. This is a legal requirement and has been since April 2007. TFT

Hi there, I think this will largely depend on your credit record. I have just graduated uni but have had a car finance agreement for £9000 since March 2008 with no employment. My parents pay for the car for me; however, the finance is in my name and I had no troubles. Do you know if you have had any credit problems in the past e.g. defaults, etc. Also, a maxed overdraft might hurt your chances a little. My advice, go and chat with a specialist car finance provider - Santander Consumer Finance are pretty good despite owning Abbey you might get quite a different response. At the end of the day, it might just be the recession, no income and no assets is higher credit risk for lenders. Final suggestion is try Zopa, it is a community lending website and probably the place where you will stand the best chance as they offer young people loans. All the best, TFT

Failinig that, you could always through it in the local river along with the shopping trolleys :D:D

Out of interest, when does a debt become statute barred in New Zealand - is it the same as the UK, shorter period or longer period? TFT