Thanks for all your advice. I was given a hire car but only had it for a couple of days, even though I was given the impression that I would have it over the Christmas period whilst my car was repaired. We even put £25 of petrol in it because of this. I have asked for a refund of that which Mazda First say they will sort out. It was as if the garage rushed the job to get my car back to me before they broke up for Christmas. I've already tried a friendly approach to Mazda First saying I expect a new panel to be fitted but they just said it would be up to the engineer. It doesn't sound very promising but let's see what happens on Tuesday when he comes to assess my car. I will reiterate that I want my car back in the same condition as it was before the accident and that means a completely new panel, not just a repair. Wish me luck!

I also have motor legal cover if I needed to use that?

Thanks, both. As it is a Mazda, I decided to use Mazda First who deal with it all for me. They liaise with the third party insurers and I won't have to pay anything at all. I did notify my actual insurers too though. I'm beginning to wonder if I made the wrong decision.

Would appreciate opinion on this: A car went into the back of mine on a busy rush hour road and the driver admitted their guilt. All going through insurers okay but as my car is only 8 months old, is a limited edition model, and was perfect before the accident (which caused an indent/mark where the other car hit mine, and put the rear panel out of alignment with the left-hand side panel) I expected the garage to just order a new back panel and replace it, thus putting my car back into the position it was prior to the accident and guaranteeing no loss to its value. However, they did a repair only. Furthermore, just after they brought my car back, I noticed the the two panels were still not perfectly aligned so I immediately notified them and my insurers. My insurers said it was up to the garage if they replaced the panel or just repaired it. The engineer is coming to see my car early next week to assess the situation. My question is, am I within my rights to demand a new panel be ordered and fitted as opposed to just having the existing panel repaired?

Just seen this on the Consumer Focus website: Once a decision has been reached the energy supplier has up to 28 days to put in place any remedy that the Ombudsman has called for.

Bit of an update here. This went to the Energy Ombudsman and it was eventually agreed that npower would provide a letter of apology and a payment plan. However, they have not met their deadline for doing this. As this Final Decision was binding on npower doing the above by a certain date and they have not met this date, I wonder if the £300 does not need to be paid now? How do we stand legally? Any advice would be appreciated.

Reply has been received from Executive Complaints and advice re next steps would be really appreciated as I believe back billing (at least) applies. By the way, their letter dated 12 July was not received. "You recently wrote to npower’s Customer Service Director Gareth Pickles in relation to your billing query and the delay in issuing the final bill to you. As a member of the Executive Complaints Team, this has been passed to me to investigate and respond on their behalf. After completing a full review of the issues you have raised, please find below a detailed response to these points. I am very sorry for the delays in issuing a final account to you. I understand how frustrating it is when you do not know where your account stands. I apologise for the confusing messages you have had from us. As you moved out of Flat xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, on the 01 July 2013 and the bill was originally produced on the 1st January 2014, your account will not fall under the criteria of final bill write off's. This was not introduced until the 01 June 2014 and your account had already been billed at that point. I understand that you did not receive the actual statement until April 2014 and for this I am sorry. I understand that you may have received a letter dated the 12 July 2014 offering as a resolution to your complaint, a goodwill gesture reduction of £145.38 on your account, leaving the balance to pay of £300.00, I feel that the offer is fair under the circumstances. The balance can also be spread over a 12 month instalment plan. If you are happy for this as a resolution to your complaint, please can you contact me back on the details below, within the next 7 days. If you have not contacted me back after this time I will apply the goodwill gesture, set up the 12 month instalment plan and close the complaint without the need to inconvenience you further."

Wow! This is a great page and I didn't even know it existed. Lots of information on it though so will have a good read to find out the bits I need to know. Thank you.

No, they haven't responded at all except for the standard letter on 1 May saying they have raised a complaint on my daughter's behalf. We will send another letter to the Customer Services Director, attaching all previous correspondence, and send it recorded delivery. Would you agree that the back billing law applies in my daughter's case? I believe it does.

Still battling with this so would appreciate some advice. Had a letter from npower dated 1 May, that was obviously a standard letter, saying they've taken the feedback seriously and raised a complaint on my daughter's behalf and they are confident the matter would be resolved shortly. Didn't hear anything so sent a letter dated 21 June to the person who sent the aforementioned letter saying that other than receiving further remainders to pay the disputed amount owing, nothing else had been received. We asked for a response within 10 days. Now, 7 July, my daughter has received an Act Now to Avoid Court Action demand saying they will proceed with a summons with possible additional costs of £120. I would just appreciate advice as to whether to take this further, does the back billing law apply (no final bill was received until 9 months after leaving the property), should we go to the Ombudsman, should we reply to the Customer Services Director who sent the Court Action letters? Help!

Just an update that apparently my daughter rang npower up when she moved out of her flat last July to ask for a final bill. They didn't respond at all and no bill arrived. Now they respond (letter received 12 April) apologising for not getting the final bill to her on time and that it falls short of the service the customer deserves, etc, etc. My daughter sent a letter back to them saying that she is not liable for any payments due further than 12 months away from the date she received their letter and asked them to send an amended bill within the next 10 days or she would consider the matter closed. No response yet! Did we do the right thing?

I will get more details tomorrow as I'm going to speak to them on her behalf (it's npower, by the way). I'll update when I know more; does seem a bit strange!

My daughter moved out of her flat early last July 2013, and she asked for and paid the final gas/electric bill. However, she has now just received another final bill for over £450. She has spoken to the company who say it is their fault and the amount is for Jan to July 2013. They say she can pay via a payment plan. Needless to say, she is very upset. She paid by direct debit when she lived there and made sure she paid the final bill. She lives on a very tight budget and manages her money accordingly. Can anyone tell me where she stands here? What is your advice? Thanks:-)

Thanks again then! I'll update this post if anything changes following union involvement! Won't hold my breath though.

Thanks for all your replies but no-one has actually answered my question, sorry! WPL = fine, no problems with paying that as I want to use my car and understand I now have to pay to park at work. Extra money on top of WPL that the company has said will pay for new barrier/attendant costs = problem with this: is this a cost we have to pay under our terms of employment?