The finance and accounts team at my place of work alerted us to this, is it the same thing? https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home If so, it's important to understand it's not a rebate in the sense that you don't end up with cash in your bank, it's an adjustment of tax. In other words, based on your tax rate and the amount of time you claim for, you'll be taxed a smaller amount to compensate for your home working. I think a lot of people have missed that point and expect to be issued with a cheque. As for whether or not you can claim for doing a course; if you've spent a day working at home, rather than in an office or your normal working environment and you've therefore used your own heating and electricity, you can claim. It doesn't matter what you were actually doing at home, provided it was for work and it took you the day.

I have a couple of further thoughts along with BankFodder's, whose advice you should follow. If they do in fact have GPS data, then that data will only be accurate enough to place the delivery driver near, or at best, in your building. It will not be accurate enough to place him definitively at your door and certainly doesn't prove you received the parcel, even if it was pinpoint accurate. Moreover, any GPS trackable services I've ever used tracked the van, not the package itself, which would further dilute its usefulness. Secondly, if their claim is that your package was delivered, Royal Mail will have a signature from the recipient, which won't be you, right? Unless you gave the delivery company express permission to deliver to someone other than you, then won't liability for the lack of delivery rest with the Royal Mail through their failure to deliver to the correct recipient? To obtain the signature data, can the OP SAR Royal Mail themselves to get it, or on the basis that the company was the Royal Mail's client in this case, would that data only be available to them? OP, I take it you have knocked on a few doors just to double check nobody else took this in for you and just hasn't bothered to contact you?

I would certainly explain that it's unfair of them to expect you to be out of pocket as a consequence of their mistake, even if it is only temporarily, and that you want them to transfer the money to you first. I assume their initial approach was to ensure that you actually pay the penalty and don't simply take the £200 without settling anything. It's notable that there's no apology in their message. I think I'd be pointing that out to them. The other option you have (albeit one I wouldn't condone) is to tell them you've paid it. That's all their email asked of you, not proof that you'd paid it, just that you should tell them when you did.

As a quick aside, on the subject of the MOT and any suspicions you might have about it, you can use https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history to check the past MOT history of the vehicle. That will tell you when the vehicle was last tested and what faults existed at the time of the test. If no faults were recorded in relation to the brakes or driveshaft boots, yet the car has done very few miles since the MOT, you might choose to report the garage responsible for the test via the telephone number at this link. I would normally expect such a complaint to go nowhere, but having had cause to do this in the past, I can confirm my complaint was taken very seriously indeed, to the extent that a car with known faults was submitted to the garage in question for test. I gather you don't think the sales garage and the MOT station are connected, but I think there's a suspicion they may be 'friendly' shall we say. You might choose to make their life as awkward for a day.

The first thing you'll want to do is make sure you have screenshots of the advert you posted, any photographs that went with it and all pre-purchase conversation that went on between you and the buyer. Keep that safe. The next thing to establish is how he paid you. Did you send him an invoice that he paid, did he send you a payment for 'Goods and services' or did he send you a 'gift payment'? Your account history should tell you what sort of payment it was and you would know if you'd sent him an invoice. If he paid you as a gift he's had it. PayPal will not refund him because he's broken their terms and conditions in sending a gift payment (which avoids fees) when in reality he was buying an item. If he paid you for goods and services or paid an invoice you sent he will have the option of opening a dispute with you, which can eventually be escalated to a claim that PayPal will decide the outcome of. That process allows you to submit evidence and your own narrative of what happened, so you have a good chance of winning that claim and him having it decided against him. Personally, I would block him on Facebook and then simply keep an eye on your emails. If he pursues a PayPal claim you will receive an email notification to tell you.

@labrat I'll bet it isn't the subframe itself that's broken. It'll be the subframe mounting bolt(s) that have sheared off inside it. Because the bolt is seized inside the subframe, it effectively renders the subframe scrap. I suspect the garage are simply talking in terms the average customer is more likely to understand than going into the detail of it. The Golf, Jetta and Beetle, which are all mechanically identical, are notorious for it. A smaller independent garage may have tried to get the bolts out, but you very quickly reach the point where time/effort/cost is simply not worth it and replacement of the whole subframe is the better choice. Of course the OP could approach a salvage yard, either local or online, and ask about the cost of a good used item, which would be substantially less expensive than what I assume is the price VW are charging for a replacement.

Have a read at this link: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/uk-coronavirus-help-and-your-rights/#carfinance The content available via that link describes guidance issued by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to payment deferrals. Their guidance suggests those struggling with repayments should be able to defer for a maximum of 6 months. You've already deferred your payments for 3 months, so your lender should support you in deferring for a further 3 if you need to. Importantly, those deferrals, up to a total of 6 months worth, will not be recorded as missed payments on your credit report. Of course, the way I read your post suggests you've already defaulted on at least one repayment in the current lockdown, is that correct? If so, await the input of others on the forum. I've no idea if it would be possible to roll a missed payment into a further 3 month payment deferral, but I would imagine that might be your most fruitful bet at the moment. Hopefully the lender has their sensible hat on. In the mean time, a quick thought and word of warning from me; I would think you want to do anything you possibly can to retain the car and come to an arrangement with the finance provider. If you've already begun to default on your repayments your credit report will be in imminent danger of being tarnished, which will make obtaining a replacement vehicle on finance at a later date very difficult. That's clearly a serious issue when it's your livelihood and not simply a means of transport. Others will be along soon I'm sure.

I think it'd be wise of you to tell us the story behind this; why is the balance negative in the first place and how did that come about?

Looking at your photo one thing is quite clear; that panel has been repaired (badly) in the past. You can see in the 'chunk' that's missing towards the front of the wheel arch there's a significant depth of body filler in there (the green colour around the edges), some of which has de-bonded from the steel and chipped out on impact. My point in raising that observation is to highlight that at some point in its life the owner has had their repairs done 'on the cheap' and certainly not by any sort of Mercedes approved repairer. Maybe it makes no difference to the OP and the claim against them, but it certainly impacts the financial cost to the hire company, reducing it considerably. I'd therefore want to be quite wary of how much they were claiming it cost to repair.

Perhaps @BankFodder meant to respond but hasn't had an opportunity yet. Tagging in case they may appreciate a gentle nudge. But in any case, you must do as BankFodder suggested in post #6 - write to the bank and raise a formal complaint. Inform them that you, as their customer, are giving them a direct instruction to recover your money which has been taken without your permission and without justification. Ask that they issue a complaint reference number as it is your intention to pursue the matter with the ombudsman if they refuse to perform their duty. I would ask them to confirm, if their position remains the same, that their response on the matter is final, then you can proceed to the ombudsman with your complaint. Personally I would write to Turo at the same time, marking your letter as a Letter Before Claim and informing that unless they refund your money within 14 days you will begin a claim in the county court without further notice, during which you will claim your money back, plus costs and interest. Search the site for examples of a LBC. You don't need to go into detail about them saying the failure wasn't mechanical etc. You want your money, they've got it and they haven't - as far as I can tell - anywhere near justified why they've taken it. I suppose they may attempt to fob you off by telling you the contract was between you and the vehicle owner but it was Turo that took your money, not the owner.

If there's illegal activity taking place in the house call the Police, particularly if it's making you feel unsafe. I would begin keeping a detailed diary of what happens in the house in relation to this person, including each time you raise the matter with the landlord so you can demonstrate that you raised the issue with them and what their response was. I would make it clear that you will be reporting the matter to the authorities each time an incident occurs and invite him to reflect on whether he wishes his property to gain a reputation for having the Police attending regularly. What does your tenancy agreement say about having others to stay in your rooms?

To address your point about where the packages are and why you haven't received them, I believe this to be an increasingly common way of going about theft/fraud. The fraudster makes a purchase using your card details and enters your address as the delivery address, thereby reducing or eliminating the chance of the transaction being flagged as unusual or potentially fraudulent. The fraudster then tracks the package post-purchase but pre-delivery and intercepts it before the delivery driver rings your door. With a lot of deliveries now you can actually track the delivery driver street-by-street as they're making their round. It would therefore be possible to either intercept the driver outside your home, or even on a street near you. You can imagine the scenario: "hello mate, I'm Mr X, I noticed you're heading to my place next but I'm about to go out. Any chance I could have my parcel now?". Queue some semi-convincing fake ID and Bob's your uncle, parcel intercepted.

Others will need to advise you on whether there is any wrong-doing here, but I can tell you from experience this appears quite common. More than one garage I've used follow a similar process; cars are scheduled to arrive for MOT during the morning and are all tested and notes taken of any failure points. Assuming repairs are authorised, they're carried out and a pass recorded. If they're not authorised for immediate rectification, the fail is recorded. I've never had any cause to complain about it myself, it always struck me as a reasonably sensible way to go about it. It certainly assists the garage in organising their workload; tests can be completed one after the other and then the ramps are free to accommodate repair work for the remainder of the day. As it's the same garage completing the repairs your vehicle doesn't need retested, only the repairs verified.

Well, provided they people in question now live in a house with decent GPS signal, it'll be accurate to around 3m; accurate enough to establish their address. If the signal is weak it'll still be good enough to identify the address to within a few houses and certainly the street. Provided the folks haven't moved county, if there was any doubt over the specific house, the OP could always go door-knocking or name plaque hunting. Clearly the OP wants to avoid an on-street argument, so it would be advisable to retreat immediately following confirmation of the house, but it's a possibility. GPS trackers these days are inexpensive and would comfortably fit in an envelope or small package. At least then a LBA could be sent with confidence it has been served on the intended recipient.

You could always send a letter to their former address containing a cheap GPS tracker and hope it's forwarded to their new address. If it is, bingo, you know where they live. If not you've only lost a few quid. I should say, I've no knowledge around the legalities of that. Hopefully BF or another site team member can shut this idea down if it's a no-go.

Hi Hillards, I'm not an expert in this field, I'm simply replying because nobody else has so far and I had a couple of thoughts of my own. Enterprise are not treating you well, that's for certain, but as a service provider they're not obliged to provide that service. They are free to set the rules of their business, within the law obviously, and in this case they are exercising their right to prove your wife's identity prior to authorising the hire. I imagine it's a limitation of their software system that paper copies of documents do not suffice, probably because they don't have any way of entering them into their electronic system. It's dreadful advice saying you should apply for a credit card in order to increase your 'footprint'. Apart from anything else, you might find you're refused for that too on the basis that you don't have any recent credit history. People of my parents' generation are keen to avoid credit if they possibly can but it's amazing the ways it can work against you. One final word from me; clearly you'll be searching around alternative companies if this need occurs in the future, just be aware that many of these companies are actually one-in-the-same behind the scenes. For example, the Enterprise branch near my home is actually also the local Sixt hire depot plus one other I can't remember at the moment. Before making enquiries about the hire, make sure their premises are actually different.

Thank you for that Surfer, great spot!

Hi King, Yes, 5 years, which was another part that made me wonder why they were attempting to sell a service to me. My understanding from having seen similar situations with cars that are bought and faults emerge is that the guarantee doesn't strictly come in to it either given the time allowed under the Sale of Goods act before a defect is reasonably expected to be caused by wear and tear.

Hi folks, If this isn't in the right place could the mods move it please, it concerns a boiler I had installed in April 2016. When my wife and I moved into our current home in March 2016 we had the heating system replaced by a company called Ecovolve. Ecovolve have subsequently gone out of business. The boiler is an Alpha 28KW model. The boiler has developed a fault whereby it loses pressure over time. I have had my usual heating engineer out to inspect it and he has diagnosed a faulty pressure vessel within the boiler itself. After pressurizing the vessel and filling the system it will continue to operate for a period of time before the same thing happens. It is confirmed in each case that the pressure vessel has lost pressure. I have contacted Alpha (by email) to inquire about a repair but they have responded by offering me some sort of service plan, which of course they want me to pay for. My understanding though is that any fault should be covered by the Sale of goods Act, or am I wrong? Any help much appreciated, I'd like to be more knowledgeable before responding.

Hi GraphicsCard, I'm sorry to hear you've had the same experience. Ultimately though I'm not sure what can be done, unless you have ideas of your own. In the end I pretty much had to chalk it up to a bad experience and take the loss on the chin. In the end the person whose card was used raised a chargeback with their bank and because I didn't send the item to the registered address the claim was successful and I was down nearly £400.

Hi, Not that this will particularly help you, but my boiler does this too, only in my case it will only do it with the hot tap (not the shower) and only when I leave the hot tap on at a constant reasonably slow flow for a period of time. So, your fitter's diagnosis of a pressure problem might be right but in my case we have extremely high water pressure (I live in Scotland at the bottom of a hill on top of which is the reservoir) yet it still does it. I believe the issue is more related to the flow rate than the pressure. Effectively our boiler 'goes to sleep' because it isn't seeing enough flow. I guess having a pump fitted will alleviate both issues.

Yeah, nothing there at all. The only history shown is the last payment received (from the hacked account) and then my transfer out to my bank account. Nothing after that. Strange one. The only thing I can possibly think of is that the bank has decided against the person who claimed their account was hacked and has reversed the chargeback, is that even possible?

Hi Dx, Yep, thanks for you help, I do sincerely appreciate it. This is a hard lesson to learn. Although, strangely, I logged in to PayPal this morning and my PayPal balance is now showing £0, not the -£360 it was showing the other day. I don't know what's going on. I wondered if they're plundered my credit card for the amount to get my account back to zero before I managed to remove it but it doesn't look like they have. Thank again.

Hi Hannya, First off, I realise wholeheartedly how stupid this whole escapade is. The 'buyer' messaged me from an Ebay account asking me to contact an alternative email address. If Ebay's system should have picked up on that, it didn't, but in any case I emailed said email address and a deal was made. Payment was received via PayPal and the item dispatched, received and signed for. I didn't issue an invoice, they sent payment direct to my email address. The next day I received an email from the owner of the PayPal account telling me the transaction was not of their doing. Subsequently they have been refunded and my PayPal account now shows a negative balance.

Thanks for moving this dx. I have reported it to Action Fraud. I'm not what you mean I'm not out of pocket? PayPal are presumably going to want me to clear the negative balance, and if I don't doesn't that pretty much render my PayPal account unusable because any payment I receive into it will go towards clearing the negative balance? What am I missing? Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.