Purely as a general observation, i think it's high time the current credit reporting system should be given a seriously big shake up. It should only show defaults in the past 12 months and the need for a satisfaction note and charging for repairing the file once obtained should be removed and replaced by the creditor having to clear the file as "Paid". These are simply basic suggestions as a starting point and people who have never had credit shouldn't be penalised for that either, as they currently are.

There is a school of thought that suggests the legal system is run as a business (UK Justice PLC for example), in which case the rich and powerful will always prevail, except on the odd occasion they let "the little guy" win just to prove it's "real".

I expect the court thought he was being greedy, not needy when he appealed the amount of compensation for consequential losses. Sometimes it's better to take what's on offer - half a loaf being better than no bread as it were. Things have obviously changed since i knew anything about the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Direct Selling Regs - not for the better it would seem though!

When i said tripartite it was to illustrate that DSG/PC World could in the circumstances have cancelled the agreement on the victims behalf - no more, no less and certainly nothing at government level. The 14 day cooling off period relates to the Direct Selling Regulations so retail credit may be different. However, about 25 years ago for a short time i worked on a commission only basis selling a well-known American vacuum cleaner/home-cleaning system. Because these weren't exactly cheap (but worth every penny and yes, i still have a 25 year machine that still out-performs anything else i've ever tried) they were offered on finance. As they were sold in customers homes the Direct Selling Regulations were in force and as such, there was a mandatory 14 day cooling off period. This had to be pointed out to the customer. I was always under the impression this was the same for retail credit, however if you say not then i'll bow to your greater knowledge. That said, i have paid my car insurance by monthly payments for decades and each year i get a letter advising me of my rights to cancel, what i can and can't do etc and in every one of them there is a 14 day cooling off period. All this has led me to believe that there is/was a mandatory cooling off period on all finance agreements. As for the £8k, i didn't realise this was only for "general damages" - like i said i only skim read the thread. I also thought the courts and/or the guys solicitor would have applied for compensation as well as general damages during the same court hearing. Perhaps this isn't how it works then?

I've just "skim read" most of this thread so apologies if i repeat something already said. Firstly, the finance on the latop was a tri-partite agreement and DSG (Currys, Dixons, PC World) should have simply cancelled the agreement then and there instead of telling the victim it was a separate issue. Secondly, what happened to the "14 Day Cooling-Off" Period??? He is within his rights to cancel without prejudice the finance agreement. As the laptop had been returned the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx should have sought restitution from DSG, not the victim. Thirdly, it seems this has been blown completely out of proportion - would it not have made good business sense to offer a Modem either FOC or for a heavily discounted price to keep the victim (and HFC) happy? Lastly, £8k is laughable as far as compensation goes. Because of the reduced credit score that he would have, he probably forked this out in extra interest on "sub-prime credit" loans he may have used in the intervening period. Never mind the fact he had to go bankrupt as a result - that's condemned him to paying sub-prime credit fees for the rest of his life!

I see what you're saying but if you consider that if they go too far (they're not far off IMHO) that laws will go out the window and whatever arms can be found will be brought to bear. That said i seriously doubt a 12-bore in a novices hands could out-shoot an M16, GPMG or similar in the hands of a fully trained soldier, not that we have many of those left now, thanks to successive governments!

Thanks, i have at least some understanding of it now! With laws etc like that though, i can see people taking up arms to protect their property from thieving **** aka bailiffs aka legalised thieves. Now where did i hide my 12-bore?

Something i'd like to see - a bailiff in court on theft charges for taking a Mobility vehicle belonging to someone who had recently moved to an address and either didn't need or already have a tv licence so they were totally unconnected. Obviously i wouldn't want them to be inconvenienced, just see the bailiff sent down for theft. Kind of self-contradictory but you get the idea? As for the other bit, what on earth is an "interpleader"? I've not heard the term before.

The charge for carrier bags is something else this govt has brought in, can't remember the ins and outs of it though but it's along the lines of a green tax on supermarkets etc. Annoyingly the charity shop was given the bags i expect so is just making pure profit on them - i know it's for charity but there are limits!

"A spokesman said non-payers cost the BBC £216million last year, adding: ‘On behalf of the honest 95 per cent of people who do pay, we have a duty to enforce the law on those who evade the fee.’" That doesn't even make good business sense when you consider "The BBC sub-contracts the collection of the £145.50 licence fee to private firm Capita. Last year, it signed an eight-year deal with the corporation worth £560million" So they're shelling out £560m to recoup £216m - no wonder they're going down the tubes!

While the "Pain Diary" is an excellent idea, would it not be more relevant to when the assessment actually happens to have it as a piece of evidence to support the rest of the form? Or maybe both?

Thanks for that advice, i've got to fill an ESA form in and not looking forward to it. IN fact last week when i should have been filling it in, i was too rough so they might be getting it back late.

I know exactly how you must feel - most of the problems i have aren't covered by the WCA either but it doesn't mean i'm fit for work! The knackers yard maybe........

Not being funny but do you think you would be able to manage a week in one go? That's the other bit ATOS miss, you might be able to do something for a while on one day but you can't do it day in, day out.

Shame - we could chop ATOS employees up and burn them to keep warm when we can't afford the energy bills!