Oops forgot to add, I invited the Bailiff in before I knew he was a bailiff but he chose not to enter the property as he had parked on double yellow lines and wanted to move his car.

Hi there, I have a lodger whom rents a room from me, we recently had a Bristow and Suter Bailiff turn up at the front door (shared door) and ask the lodger for Council Tax arrears for a previous address. The lodger does not have any possessions, the contents of the room she rents are mine. In addition, the council tax arrears are for a public house where she and her former partner were relief managers for a couple of months and the Council Tax was believed to be the responsibility of the brewery.

Hmmm this is a good one, council will only really send a ticket out if a professional witness (Police Officer, PCSO, Warden) has seen the offence first hand. If it is a professional witness that has seen it they will have made a statement to the council. If this is the case, they will probably have other aspects such as a description of the driver, the car and the litter as well as factors such as the side of the vehicle the litter came from etc. Also, they wont have taken down your number plate for no reason, and the fact you were on that particular road at that particular time ..... seems the evidence may not be in your favour.

Ok just found the following: Q, Is it an offence, punishable by a fixed penalty ticket, to use a mobile phone whilst a vehicle is stationary in a lay-by or at the side of the road with the engine running? A, It is indeed an offence to use a mobile phone whilst a vehicle is stationary in a lay-by or at the side of the road with the engine running, and the important point to note here is 'with the engine running'. Many people think that 'driving' refers to actually moving along the road in your car - and in most instances, this is the case. However, if you are sat in the driver's seat of a vehicle with the engine running, then you are technically in charge of that vehicle, so the penalties that apply to using a hand held mobile device while 'driving', do apply to you. This means that even if you are sat in a lay-by, away from the main flow of traffic and you use a hand held mobile, then you open yourself up to prosecution. What about the second part ... the time delay ???

Hello, A friend has asked me about the following: She recently received a ticket for using a mobile phone whilst driving however there are a couple of factors that she is not happy with: Firstly, she pulled over in a nearby space to answer the call, and thats when the officer spoke to her and gave her a ticket (he was on a bicycle). Secondly, the time on the ticket states it was half past 5 in the evening when she received the ticket, however, this is the incorrect time, it was half 6 she pulled over and answered her phone. Any idea's should she refute or not ?

Personally, I would accept the fine, if you take it to court. The magistrates are likely to stick you some extra costs for wasting the Police and Courts time. Fine - £60 Costs - anything up to £500 (saw a bloke get £430 costs recently for a littering offence) You decide !!!

I am currently on a Payplan DMP and have been for 25 months now however I recently checked my most recent credit card statement as I was hoping the debt would be showing a nice decrease by now. The debt is £2000 on the card and the payment is £30 per month, however, I have noticed that the debt is actually growing, looking into it, it seems although I am paying off £30 per month through Payplan, the nice Credit Card company are charging me £46 per month interest. Any suggestions with regards to this ? I can afford to pay this particular bill any higher than I am currently giving (£30 per month) however if this continues I will never be free of this debt and it will continue to grow. I have noticed this is similar on an overdraft I have with the same bank, I am paying £50 per month to try and clear the overdraft and they are charging me £165 in unauthorised charges and interest per month. I have begged the bank to freeze interest on both these charges however it seems they are refusing. Is this unreasonable behaviour as it seems I will not be able to ever pay these debts off instead they will just continue to grow.

Forgot to mention its a ticket issued by a private parking company acting on behalf of local authority.

I have today received a parking ticket for parking on double yellow lines. The reason is my car battery died and this was the safest place to park in this weather, I took the battery off and charged it up and left my car in the safe place overnight (off a main road). I came back today to find my car covered in snow with a parking ticket on top of the snow. There is a car park near to where I parked but it was snowwed over and covered with ice and its down a gradient which I did not feel safe driving or parking down with my car having no power. Is there anything I can do ?

Just to add, I have today received a ticket for parking on double yellow lines, again with the wrong VRM. However this isnt 1 digit wrong it is ALL digits wrong, my car is an 'S' reg and the ticket is issued on a 55 plate. Parking Attendant must have been asleep.

Ignore or appeal on the basis of wrong VRM ?

Councils have to act in a reasonable manner when dealing with enforcement issues, as do the courts and Police etc. Thats why people on benefits who get fined by the courts for being naughty get a length of time to pay it. I am sure that if you wrote to the Council in question, explain your cicumstances and make them an offer (I would offer £5 per month instead of £10 if you are struggling) then I am sure they would accept. They dont have to accept but they do have to be reasonable in the circumstances, if you cant afford it you cant afford it.

Just read the bottom and its a Civil Parking Ticket not a Council one, its issued by ParkRight on behalf of the Council.

Hello, I have just found a parking ticket on a car I have been using for parking near to my flat. I have just got home from Ikea and was unloading stuff and must have forgot to move my car (only there for 30 mins) 2 things about this ticket are a bit strange, the first thing is the double yellow lines on which they were issued, I know a bit about traffic law and am certain that the lines need a bar across them to signify the beginning and the end, these don't as they are on a large piece of ground which they go all the way around with no start or finish. Sort of like a really big circle. The second thing I think is the most important one, it has my car details on the ticket but the number plate on it is for a 55 plate car, whereas mine is an 'S' reg. It has the 55 number plate details on the ticket and on the payment slip so nothing corresponds to my car.

Hello, Last week I had my car serviced by Nationwide Auto Centre. A few days after I noticed smoke coming from the engine, I took it back and they said that this was just coinsidental that the same time as service, something went wrong. The problem was that the Turbo inlet pipe was clogged with old oil so it had forced oil through the gaskets on the top of the turbo. They fixed this at a quite expensive charge and said they would run oil through the system and fixed it for me. When I collected the car they also said that the turbo was slightly worn but had around 2 years worth of wear and tear left in it. When driving home I noticed lots of smoke from the exhaust, which I ignored as I was told to expect it for just old oil that had dripped into the exhaust. I didnt drive the car over the last few days then last night whilst driving home, I lost all power and loads of smoke started pouring out the exhaust, also the engine light and emissions light came on. I took it back to the garage today and they said it was the turbo and would cost a further £1300 to be fixed. I am going to the garage in a moment to ask them about their complaints procedure and to speak to the manager, but I intend to take things further as a part they have worked on and supposedly fixed has failed.