To be targeted, somone must owe at least £1,000 to the tax man – and must have at least £5,000 left across their accounts after the money for their tax debt has been removed.

This clause gives me somewhat less sympathy as, in the majority of cases, it means that people more than have the means to settle their tax bill but are simply choosing not to.

Have you run a few checks? Does your SIM card work in other phones? Do other SIM cards work in your phones? Have you recently moved to a location where O2 don't provide a signal?

This isn't just Admiral though. EVERY insurance company will bump up your premium if you've been involved in an accident that 100% wasn't your fault.

According to the insurance companies the fact that someone else caused an accident that you were innocently and unavoidably involved in means you're more likely to be involved in another accident in future and so are a greater risk.

In fairness to Currys, 30 days is a very long time to wait before opening the box and checking over an expensive purchase such as a TV, so I can understand why they're being cautious here. They haven't (yet) refused to do anything if they're checking with the legal team, but when you're 30 days after the purchase date and only then come back with a TV that was broken in the box then you have to admit that you'd be very suspicious of it having been damaged after removal.

Yeah, if they've bought a steam code from you and registered it then they're basically out of luck if wanting to return it if you ask me. I believe Valve themselves can remove a game from someone's Steam account, but it would be a very long and difficult process if you're just a third party, and they may not even do it at all.

I'm not sure how the DSRs really treat this situation, but in my opinion if you register a Steam code then you're pretty much stuck and can't return it.

If you bought directly through Steam it might be a different matter since Valve can remove the game and refund all in one go, but if someone has just bought a CD key from a third party seller then it's a different situation altogether.

When you say registered, do you mean something like a Product key that is now registered to an account? So something like a Steam key where you register the product code for a game and it then becomes linked to that users account?

Were these charges in the contract when you signed up? They can't just pull charges out of thin air.

Which provider is this? Is it a business contract? I'm not aware of any home broadband suppliers in the UK charging a deposit like this for the modem. I know it's a common thing in America, but I've never come across it in the UK. Most ADSL providers just send you one for free and wash their hands of it after 12 months (though that's another bit of dodginess altogether). Virgin Media do sort of lease you the equipment in that you return it at the end of your contract but they maintain it for the duration of the contact, but I've never heard of them taking a deposit for this.

Last time I checked they also had a price match policy for any other stores in the local vicinity (though not for internet prices) so make sure to check around first as well to see if anywhere nearby is doing the same item cheaper and ask Currys if they'll beat the price/deal that the other place is offering you.

Was it a business seller or personal seller?

If a business seller then the Distance Selling Regulations give you 7 days to return the product for a refund, even if opened, however since it's just a change of mind I think you would need to be liable for the cost of return postage if they have that in their terms and conditions.

This is pretty much how contracting works in my experience. Either by using an Umbrella company, or your own Limited company, you still get technically classed as 'self-employed' I believe, so it's down to you to pay the Employers NI because you are technically speaking your own employer.

You're right about the referral fees being a very dodgy area. I've worked with some agencies that will only give you a job provided you use one of their 'approved' umbrella companies (aka the ones that will give the kickbacks) unless you have your own Limited company to go through.

Make sure though that you get all the tax expenses you're entitled to as well. Ie you can claim for things like meals, travel to work, any use of home office, anything you had to purchase to do the job, etc.

You aren't claiming these back as an actual expense, but their cost can offset against your tax meaning you pay less tax overall.

Thing is, technically you're not paying for the insurances anymore. By rolling it into the price of the agreement (along with ramping up the already ridiculous interest rate to levels that any company with morals would be ashamed of) they can technically say "Oh but you're not paying for the insurance, we're just giving you that for free as part of the regular price".

Basically, by it being rolled in you would pay the same price with or without the insurance.

Many sites offering customised pc builds, such as the aptly named overclockers, now offer you the option to pay extra and they will overclock the machine for you. Basically, the Overcock becomes a part of your standard order. In my opinion that means that you have every expectation to believe that the Overclock will be stable. If it's not stable, and the only way to get your PC working correctly is to remove the overclock you paid extra for, then in my opinion you would within your rights to return the PC for a full refund, since they have essentially tried to give you a lesser product.

The retailer is responsible under the Sales of Goods act, regardless of what any warranty or their own Terms and Conditions say.

I doubt we'll see premiums fall. What we will see is insurance companies pocketing the difference.

The problem is that if you simply left them in the store without their agreeing to take care of them then they could possibly be considered 'abandoned' and they may now have disposed of the heaters with no liability to themselves. (I'm happy to be corrected on that though)

You're correct that you don't need a receipt, as long as you have some kind of Proof of Purchase, but if they refuse to accept that you need to follow the proper steps such as sending them a letter before action, before taking them to court for a refund. You can't just dump the heaters in their shop and walk out, then chase them for money. Essentially, you now have no proof that the heaters were indeed faulty since you have no faulty product to demonstrate.

Actually, the retailer had ALL of the responsibility here under the Sales of Goods Act. The manufacturer, Nokia, had zero legal obligation to you so you'll get nowhere chasing them for compensation.

Your only recourse would've been with Orange, but since you bypassed them entirely you can't claim any compensation from them either since you never gave them a chance.

For once it sounds like Currys have actually been owning up to their responsibilities right from the outset. The only real issue was that their own report fee, £95, is a bit excessive given that these are usually £50-60 from an independent engineer.

So what happened is that you sent an item and the recipient claimed not to receive it, yes?

Sorry but what do you expect eBay to do? They have no responsibility for that. You would need to claim from whatever courier you used to send the original item.

If it's just eyeliner can it not be rubbed off with something non-chemical like a pencil rubber?

There's a very good chance that what they 'estimate' will be way above the actual usage. If there's one thing Utility companies are good at, it's overestimating usage.

I think they roll these setup costs into the displayed price now don't they? With the actual unit price displayed in tiny text under the large price.

basically what i'd ideally like is to have them just exchange te whole thing for another off the shelf, less hassle

You can ask, but I'd expect them to refuse. After 4 months they will almost certainly take the opinion that you have simply lost the charger and are trying to get another one for nothing. I'm certainly not saying that's what's happened, but it's almost certainly the attitude they will take due to the time that has passed.

On the flip side, Channel 5 have a much better show, 'Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!' that follows some Sheriff's officers. They show there are some actual decent people working in the industry as well.

How was it paid for?

If with a Credit Card then you could involve the Credit Card company as well as they'll be jointly liable I believe.

There hasn't been anything good to come from BBC3 for a long time now anyway.