Thanks Martin, I will wait a few days for the payment to be returned. The lady was helpful but I was pretty forthright with her so she didnt have much choice! and I did believe that she was doing the refund.

I was wondering about this new requirement to insure a car between end of use and sale I get what they are trying to achieve in getting the morons who actually drive without insurance to pay up. But it seems to me that garages and dealerships will start doing a roaring trade in part exchanges at the expense of private motor sales as a result of people not wanting the hassle of sorning or expense of insuring an unused vehicle.

I wrote to my creditors, explaining my circumstances and offered to pay £10 per month. I was unsure how to go about it at the time, but the ones I enclosed a £10 cheque with the letter accepted it and went along fine, the one I did'nt put a £10 cheque inwith the letter continued to hound me. My suggestion is write to them and enclose the first payment with that letter. Also in the letter ask them to halt any interest, that worked for me, it was a few years ago, but worth a try. Good luck!

I posted a new thread about Hastings Direct and unauthorised debiting of my card and afterwards came across this thread. Mine was a little different, I do not hold a policy with them (and wont in the future after my experience) I paid the deposit/first installment for someone else who gave them thier own details for the monthly direct debits (different surname and address to me) and 2 months later out of the blue they debited my card! the cheek; here is a link to my thread on my run in with them.

Heres my update; I phoned Hastings Direct this morning, I made my position very clear as you can imagine..... they told me that when I had made the first installment I had apparently agreed to them using it for "subsequent payments if required".......I recalled no such thing, only the worldpay authorisation. I asked them in that case to email me a copy of what I had agreed to, she said she couldn't do that, I said she will have to otherwise I would go to the FSO, suddenly I was asked to hold, she said she had spoke to her supervisor and refunding the amount to my card as we spoke. I asked her are they storingmy CVV number? she answered she was deleting my card details. I told her any payment of that policy must be directed to the policy holder. She didnt break any data protection rules which was good. That was at 9am, I have not recieved the amount in my account yet. I expected it to be instant as it was being refunded to my Visa Debit card? does anyone know how long that would normally take before I phone them and verbally bang some heads together (they are open until 9pm) Many thanks

Thank you both for such quick replies! I had a look at the chargeback process and that was exactly what I was hoping might be on my side. The insurer is Hastings Direct. Just to clarify that I was not party to any direct debit agreements, all I did was pay the first installment which seemed to be a separate part of the payment policy completion process, the DD was all in the policy holders name. I must admit I am hopping mad about it and tempted to invoke chargeback straight away. I did not incur any bank charges but it is really the principal of the matter and having to spend a load of precious time sorting it out. How do I know that they will destroy my card details? they have obviously used the CVV code just yesterday as it was Point Of Sale without me present, anyone with a light finger in the Hastings Direct office since the 25th of July onwards could've ordered themselves something nice online, used a gambling site or order a food delivery courtesy of yours truly! I will update tomorrow of events....

Hi all, Having checked my bank account I can see that my step daughters car insurance company has debited money from my bank account using my Visa Debit card without my agreement on the 20th September; it says POS on the statement (Point of Sale) I used my Visa Debit card online to pay ONLY her first installment on 25th July, she provided her bank details for a direct debit for subsequent monthly payments. I remember doing the Worldpay password process for it. My step daughters insurance was taken online and I entered my debit card details separately to pay only the first installment and she entered her bank details separately along with all her own details for the insurance policy itself. The policy is entirely in her name and address (her surname is different to mine and so is her address) I have not even seen the policy or the payment schedule. Surely they are breaking some rule for them to have done this. When I made the single payment I did not enter into a credit agreement with them, I did not give permission for them to store my card details or use them again! Please can anyone kindly advise what my postion is before I make some irrate calls in the morning. Many thanks in advance.

Hello! I would welcome advice before i phone them tomorrow to argue my issue! I bought a used Saab in June, it was owned by Saab from new until I bought it with just over 10k on the clock. It had its first service (by Saab main dealer) when it turned 3 years old with 15k miles in October. It is a diesel so I am accepting that its noisier than any petrols that i owned before however in the last few months it has been particularly noisy even after long journeys and many folk have commented. It had a bit of smoke but I did'nt put two and two together. Today I checked the oil as I was worried that it may be low and causing the noise (even though no lights on) and discovered that the oil level is at least 1.5 inches over the max! who knows how much over it was when they serviced it as I have done at least 2000k since October. When i checked the oil the car had not been used for 5 hours and was on flat driveway. Really worried the engine is damaged, thought i was being a neurotic female about the noise of the engine. I will be phoning them tomorrow and need to be prepared for a frosty reception, if i could at least be pre-armed with some knowledge it would be useful - hence post on here. p.s under warranty til June... many thanks! I also noted that they charged me £12 for screen wash at the service but I couldnt be bothered to argue at the time, but I had filled the screen wash the night before to avoid being charged, i shall tell them about that too!

Hi, i wonder, can anyone help with any of my questions please? 1. what is meant by 'Service Charges' on an BOS Business Account - they appear to have been charged quarterly? thousands over the years. (The account has been open for 10years+ and I can't find the original T&C's when the account was opened- I am afraid they will get suspicious if I ask for them - I want to open a new account elsewhere in case they close this one- I will proceed with the claim after this.) 2. Can I claim back 'referral charges'? 3. Is it right that they should charge £110 a year to 'set-up' the overdraft - even though the overdraft is already in place and the amount has not changed from year to year. Also they deduct the amount before they send the letter and the letter says to refer to the attached COGT but don't attach these (what is COGT?!) So many questions! if you can help on even one, it would help me. Many thanks

That's what I thought, thanks. Do you know if they have used the correct Road and Traffic regs act - 1984? Many thanks

Hi Please can someone review my letter to see if I am right? I was issued an Excess Charge Ticket in a Council car park...is this the same as a PCN under Road Traffic Regs Act? Many thanks To Whom It May Concern: Ref: I am writing with regards to the above parking ticket, which was placed on my vehicle on 10th November 2006. I wish to formally make an appeal against this ticket on the grounds set out below. 1. The ECN issued contains the date of alleged parking infringement – however, it does not state the date of contravention or a date of issue. This is not in accordance with Section 66 of The Road Traffic Act 1991. Therefore, this ticket is invalid. Should there be any doubt in this matter, I refer you to a ruling made by PTAS in February 2006, which must be followed by way of Statutory Interpretation. 2. The ticket is headed up as an Excess Charge Notice and was contained within a Penalty Charge Notice Envelope, this is contradictory. 3. The ticket is unenforceable by you because it refers to Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984, this has in fact been superceeded by the Road Traffic Regulations Act of 1991. 4. Nowhere on the ticket does it state the ‘Owner of the Vehicle’ is responsible. I am not in fact the owner of the vehicle it is leant to me by a leasing organisation. Please also note that at the age of 31 this is my first ever parking ticket, I would not have appealed had I not been shocked and distressed by the extortionate charge of £30 or £60 after 14days. I was 12 minutes late back to the car after queuing in the Royal Bank of Scotland, I feel that an excess charge of this size is disproportionate to the alleged contravention. Do you realise that £30 is the cost of 1 days childcare and I only get £27 a month tax credits, I live on the breadline, work fulltime with a 3 year old suffering from my lack of time to be with him, pay full council tax bill and do not have this sort of money to fritter on over-inflated charges deemed lawful by you. On the basis of the above points of fact, it is clear that this ticket is invalid and cannot be legally enforced. Should any further action be commenced against myself with regards to this ticket, I will have no further hesitation but to refer this matter into the hands of either PTAS or a Civil Court. I would be grateful if you would confirm receipt of this letter within 7 days by way of the Self Addressed Envelope enclosed, and request that should you disagree, you must inform me in writing no less that 14 days before commencing any action relating to the alleged offence. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hi, Got my first ever parking ticket yesterday at the age of 31 not bad going, I was 12 minutes late back to the car parked in the council car park. It is headed Excess Charge ticket but enclosed in a Penalty Charge Notice envelope. (Surley 12 minutes excess parking is not worth £30 or £60 after 14 days!) Also there is only one date on it - and it just states - "Date", nothing else. I am happy to pay a nominal charge but £30/£60 for that is extortionate! Any views on what I can do please?

Hi texel, yes mines BOS too but in England. Many thanks and I am sure we will chat soon. I am researching at this stage as I want to open a new business account elsewhere incase they shut us down, that could be a disaster!

Hi to all, Just a quick hello, I not swedish and not really a hamster ;-) in fact I am not very exotic at all. I have just started running the accounts for a very small business that has been going a long time and noticed the whopping bank charges the business has paid the same bank over the years. (Excuse the cheesy similie but it says it all..) like a hamster I might look cute and fluffy but I have quite a set of teeth on me and when I bite I will hang on in there! The business always thought they had a good relationship with thier bank but it appears the bank always refused requests to increase thier overdraft which gets used during quiet periods and when the tax bill needs paying - no wonder - they have made a fortune in charges! The business has fluctuating cash flow because the work is seasonal but has a good overall annual turnover and has always acted honorably, in very quiet periods they can struggle and it appears the bank has not helped by dragging the cash flow down further by charging them to the hilt. Well that's me, I can't wait to get to work on this as I really see that an injustice has taken place. I look forward to reading your experiences and sharing mine.