The only person who is definitely not to blame here is the driver of the car: you smashed into them, causing significant damage to their car. Your suggestion that they should pay because they can probably afford it is a disgraceful abrogation of responsibility. I doubt you'll find many people on this forum who think that is acceptable behaviour. If you think the Council caused you to smash into the car (and frankly the evolution of this thread casts a lot of doubt on that proposition) then that is a matter between you and the Council. So do the decent thing, man up and accept your responsibility. And then sue the Council if you think you have a case.

They're great links from BazzaS. But personally I think you would struggle to get a much greater amount of money if you took TC to the small claims court. I can appreciate why the experience was deeply frustrating and stressful, but your losses were limited and the holiday itself was presumably delivered as advertised (unlike Mr. Jarvis' 1970s ski holiday!). Might be time to draw a line under it and move on.

Actually you can charge your kit in certain 2nd class seats too on SWT. One of the funniest things I saw involved a SWT toilet. It was those disabled toilets with the automatic curved door. A poor chap was on the throne but failed to lock it. Half way through his enterprise the door, apparently of its own volition, began slowly to open, revealing himself to the entire carriage. It was like one of those prizes being revealed on a 1970s game show. The unlucky fellow couldn't even reach the button to close it. Was it so wrong to laugh?

I travel on SWT every working day. It's expensive and frustrating when the trains go wrong. But I've no beef with the staff, who have always been polite to me. And to be honest, I completely support their efforts to crack down on fare evasion: I pay a small fortune for my ticket, so why should someone get a free ride?

There's loads of really good advice on the MSE flight delay forum, and there is also a useful "Monarch Complaints" Facebook page (if that's the airline you're having issues with). There were two really significant cases before the Court of Appeal this month. The Dawson case is about how long you have to claim (2 or 6 years) and the Huzar case was about whether technical faults can be considered "extraordinary circumstances" (which means airlines don't have to pay out). Depending on the circumstances of your own delay, you might want to wait for these judgements (anticipated in a few weeks) before starting a claim.