Many thanks for your assistance. That wiki link is very useful.

Thanks for the input... Current contract says this. As mentioned this is the current contract, I would have to rifle through a few filing cabinets to find the old but it is reasonable to assume the same wording is contained. Although the notice of a change came through by email as specified within the terms above it was not seen. I appreciate this is probably not a defence, but would point out that that email never contained details of the change, just a brief summary (this particular change was not in that summary) drawing attention to check the new terms via the web. Whilst it would have been simple to drop a link to those new terms in the email this was not done, there was simply a phrase asking users to access the new t&c via their software application. It actually says The T&C are actually hosted on the web in any event. End of the day I think it is all very shady and possibly an intention to mislead. There is no mention anywhere in the email of a significant change and they were expecting their customer (me) to interact with their software to be able to check them. Of course had they served documents by mail they would have been read, digested and acted upon.

I am a small business. A business I do business with has invoiced me a for a service I was not aware I was liable for. On query they informed me that they made a change to their terms and conditions 12 Months ago and that I was sent 2 emails (one in December 2012, the other in January 2013) informing me there was a change to the t&c. They have sent me copies of the emails they say they sent on the respective dates. I can find no trace of them on our email systems. In addition from what I can make out from the emails copied to me today they make no mention of the affected change simply inviting me to visit a web page via a software application that they provide for me. There was no link to the relevant page in the email and I have not used the software application in any event. I also issued notice to cancel the agreement between us on Dec 1st 2013 but clearly this is after the date they alledge they informed me of the change to t&c. I think the argument is going to centre on service of the email(s) advising the change. It is acceptable for terms and conditions to be varied in this way? It's possible the emails were sent but as that account gets a lot of spam they may have been deleted in error. Would the Company need to rely upon a read receipt before the emails can be taken as read and the Terms and Conditions change accepted? This was a pretty fundamental change and levies an annual fee of £250.00 where one was not previously present. Thanks for any opinions, irrespective of the rights or wrongs of service this looks like a very shady practice.

Insurance claim was made two years previously when the damage was done. In a nutshell council attended (for a fee) to blow through a blocked drain. They managed to get their hose stuck in the drain (they maintained through a breach in the pipe) they then spend the next couple of hours trying to free it blasting water down there all the time. They were unable too and the hose had to be left into the drain. The claim was for a saniflow and to reroute some plumbing and was in course in full and final settlement. Fast forward two years and the road surface started to crumble. The council stuck some cones around it did a couple of surveys and then about 3 weeks or so weeks later a digger arrived and dug up the road repaired it and it appears the broken drain, (they also recovered their hose). About 6 weeks later the bill arrived which was the first contact I had from them. I have of course queried the bill asking where the statutory notice was and what happened to my right of appeal. In essence they have sent me a bill for work which I have not agreed too and which has not been subject to Statutory notice denying an avenue of appeal. To rub salt into the wound they have lumped their 10% levy on for administration costs? Are there any qualified legal brains here who can give an 'off the record' opinion? Without agreement a contract or statutory notice how can the Council prove this debt? If they do summons me I will be contesting this.

The allege a debt of around £3500 for work which done to a drain beyond the boundary of my property. The issues surround this are complicated but my position is they caused some of this damage in a jetting exercise around 2 years previously. As a result of this damage the road surface began to collapse and it is this which they are charging me for. The drain in question had been out of use for the couple of years previously. I do not dispute ownership of the drain. My question is how would the council go about claiming evidence of this debt if they raised a summons? All they have is the invoice they have issued me. At no time did they issue a statutory notice and had they done so we would have made full use of the right of appeal citing the possibility of them damaging the drain themselves. So they are demanding we settle an invoice for work which we did not ask to be done nor agree too without issuing any sort of notice nor giving us a right to appeal or query both the work or the costs involved in it via an independent contractor. My view of contract law is that an agreement has to be in place verbal, implied or written before a debt is enforceable? Clearly if they do take it to court I will have to defend it. Would I be best placed to get a solicitor or would I be able to deal with this myself? I have experience of 'courts' having represented a a number of persons in employment tribunal so it would not faze me. I understand the Small Claims is very informal anyway?

Firstly I came across this forum by using search terms relevant to my problem, it seems to be the best of its kind in the consumer field. My problem: I have received a bill from the council for £3225.00. This relates to a drain repair out in the street beyond my boundary. I was aware some Months ago of them working in the street as it (minor residential street) was closed for a few days whilst they investigated subsidence in the roadway. The demand for payment is accompanied by some photo's of a broken pipe deep in the ground and what looks like a clear repair to this pipe. The paperwork also breaks down the charges and includes a 10% inspection and administration fee levied by the council. I do not dispute ownership of the drain as I am aware that previous owners of the property used it to drain away the basement facilities. As the drain was never very efficient we installed a saniflow system and re-routed the drainage. In effect from our point of view this drain was redundant. I also understand that as the repair was previous to October 2011 I probably have liability to pay this (the rules seem to have changed regarding private drains at this time). My question is should the council have issued a statutory notice under Section 59 of the Buildings act informing me this work was needed and therefore allowing me the opportunity to instruct a drainage repair? I have done a web search and it talks about appeals and things which clearly I have been denied. The accompanying letter emphasises the need for urgent action to re-open the road even though it is only a minor residential street. Money is being demanded from me without me having made an instruction verbal, written or otherwise, I would be looking to try and negotiate this bill down certainly the 10% levy they have put on simply for drawing it up. Has anyone any experience of this sort of behaviour by a local authority? Do I have any prospect of being able to negotiate with them?