I buy and sell used spin bikes, I was approached by a customer who I had sold spin bikes to previously, they were expanding their spin classes and wanted to know if I had a particular brand of bike, I didn't have that brand at the time so I told the customer that I would be getting more in within 2-3 weeks for £150 each. I called a few of the companies who supply me but they never had any I searched eBay. I found a seller who had an auction ending that day for 10 bikes of the brand the customer wanted all in good working order, bidding was started at 99p, there was no reserve and no bids but there was a 'Buy it Now' option of £1000. (10 bikes of this brand sell for £1500) I contacted the customer back to tell them I had 10 coming and they agreed to buy them all for £1500 On the day of the auction I bid £1000 with 5 mins to go, I ended up winning the auction with a bid of £280, less than an hour after the auction had ended the seller messaged me to say "sorry I thought I had cancelled the auction, the bikes were damaged and disposed of" He then cancelled the auction, there was nothing I could do but report him to eBay and leave the relevant feedback. I called a few other companies that supply used spin bikes but nobody had any of the bikes the customer wanted, unfortunately, I had to inform the customer that I could no longer supply the bikes so they went elsewhere. Weeks later I was contacted by an eBay user who had seen my feedback, they said they were interested in the bikes but forgot to bid, a day after the auction they contacted the seller to say if the buyer doesn't complete they would be interested in purchasing for £850, I was saddened to hear that the seller messaged them back the same day to say the bikes were still available, they even went to view the bikes at the sellers gym that he owns. I've seen all of the messages between the seller and the eBay user so the seller can't deny that he made a false statement to me and then tried to sell at a higher price. What I would like to know is can I sue the seller for breach of contract and seek damages for expectation loss/loss of bargain, £1500 less my winning bid and collection cost etc? If I can sue him for breach of contract, do I sue him as an individual or sue his company as he was using a private eBay sellers account at the time to list the bikes? Thanks in advance

Hi to all. I am going to try and keep this very simple and brief. I was sent a package/gift by my relative. So it was not a online purchase or any of that sort The item was delivered to my apartment complex via Royal Mail signed for service and was received by the concierge who signed for the item and made a log of my parcel and put in a delivery note via my letter box. However when I went to collect my parcel it had disappeared from a secure parcel room. I am not here blaming the concierge stealing the package all I am saying it just disappeared. I spoke to the building management and put in a formal complaint. I contacted the police also who could not do much at this point as no proof of who took the parcel. I wrote endless letters of complaint to the building management company of my apartment complex. Who ignored my complaint s and never responded. I then did a subject access request for the office log sheets containing the acceptance and delivery of my parcel even then they ignored and after my letter to management stating I will make a complaint to the ICO they sent me the documents. I then wrote to the CEO of the company and yet received no response. I had no choice other than to seek financial claim of my missing item via the small claims court. £ under 5000 claim. So The Small Claims court acknowledges my claim and gave until 1st of October for the defender the building management company to acknowledge and put in a defence to my claim. I rang the small courts/money claim centre on the 2nd of October who said they have received no information from the defendant however they are 5 days behind. i had to wait until 7th to find out if they had received any correspondence. I ring up on the 7th and yes they have not received any information. I sent in via email a request for judgment by default on 7th October, received the confirmation email, but again it takes 5 days for it to go through. The judgment by default was sent as the courts had not received any information from the defendant at this point of time. On the 8th of October I received an email from the defendants solicitor stating that there is no contractual relationship between me and the building management, and my particulars of claim are not clear, (I have been extremely clearly in my claim form) and that the claim is misconstrued and vicarious and that the concierge company is separated and are hired separately and in so many words saying it’s not them and trying to shift blame, followed by giving me 2 options, A)discontinue the claim B) agree to an an extension for the defence to allow them a extra 1 month to put in a defence C) And if I do not agree to a or B the building management company would file for a summary judgment strike out as the claim is vicarious. And giving me a 23 hour notice to respond via email only and to seek legal advice. Note I received the email on the 8th at 9pm and was given less than 24 hours to respond via email only by 3pm on the 9th of October. And the defendant will claim between £2500-£3000 In court costs and legal charges etc In a panic and surprise that having not any response up to date and all of a sudden a letter from a solicitor o sort legal advice and was told by my legal team to continue with the judgment by default. On the 14th of October I rang the court and was told the defendant on the 6th of October put in an acknowledgment of service but have until the 15th to put in the defence. So the judgment by default is not valid. But can put in another judgment by default if they don’t receive a defence. That’s the basic of what is going on. Now my question is can the defence claim legal costs via small claims? What advice and help would you suggest. What steps could you suggest I take as I am getting stressed out. Thank you and all response will be appreciated.

Hello all I wondered if someone could help me out. I have been instructed by the ET to provide the Respondent with a Schedule of Loss or specifically "set out in writing to the Respondent what the Tribunal is being asked to award, inc. evidence and how it is calculated" so that sounds like a Schedule of Loss to me? (Pls correct me if I'm wrong) The claim is only for a deliberate deduction of 2 days' wages so for the month in question I received my normal salary minus 2 days. The claim is that I am entitled to the 2 days. There is no other claim. So I need some advice re: preparing the SoL. Can I break this down into a Basic and Compensatory award or does this breakdown only apply to unfair dismissal cases? If it does apply here too, what would be a reasonable Compensatory award in this instance or what could I use as a guide? Can I claim interest from the day of the deduction until the day of the ET hearing and if so, does this have to be at 8%? Would I be entitled to claim for anything else such as an uplift for failure to follow ACAS guidelines? (Since I made a formal complaint and the Respondent did not conduct the process as prescribed by its own policy or ACAS guidance) Thanks for reading

Hi I have posted previously re a debt my son has in Dubai He was self employed while out there for 5 months. We have now come to do his tax return and I would like to know if we can show this debt as a loss on the return. ? Thanks in advance. https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?480103-dubai-debt-and-CWD

This is going to be a very long drawn out case, unless someone can offer some element of hope for us. We completed renovations to a derelict property about 2 ½ years ago. Our porch needed a new roof which was done with a trocol membrane. In a storm back in January 2016 we returned from a trip to find a metal pole on the flat roof which had a covering of gravel. My immediate suspicion was that it was the remnants of an old tv aerial, but as it was only the pole, I have since found it to be referred to as the mast, not the aerial itself. This is important as it was referred to as an aerial when I rang to make the claim. Because of the gravel I did not notice the membrane had been punctured, but removed the pole and lifted down a bracket/clamp that was on the main roof. In the August of 2016 we noticed a dry rot problem, which had previously been identified and treated during the renovations, had come back with vengeance. I notified the company that treated our house and they began stripping the property apart under warranty to determine the source. It was then that we found the porch roof was compromised which had allowed damp to enter the property. I notified MoreThan/RSA that the pole was suspected and they sent out Building Validation Solutions. Their "inspector" was quick to dismiss the case, suggesting we would get nothing from the insurance company as dry rot was not covered. It was explained that we were not claiming for the rot but for the porch roof, hall, stairs and landing decoration and vestibule door due to the leak, and that everything else was being covered by the rot company. BVS suggested to decline the claim due to rot, but yet some three weeks later, agreed inadequate costs and issued a scope of works for a patch job with inferior materials than what was listed on his first report to insurers. After rejecting this, RSA sent out their own senior loss adjuster, from a fraud unit??? who took a statement and agreed that BVS had not conducted themselves correctly, and asked for estimates for the repairs. These were for different aspects of work, building, plastering, decorating plaster moulding etc and as they were emailed to him, he agreed them individually by email. Over a couple of months, he was aware we had begun the works as it was nearing Christmas and we had a lot of work to do to rebuild our home. 5th December he sent an email giving his account of what he had agreed "as he saw it" and was going to transfer funds. This was an inaccurate figure as he had forgotten to include some aspects of work he had previously agreed to, but after a quick couple of emails he accepted. At this time I had asked him to consider the exterior rendering of the front of the house to match the new render of the porch at our builders request. This went over what he was authorised to pay and he referred it to in house specialists due to escalating costs. We have been fighting ever since. It is worth noting that this loss assessor was happy that we were being fair and reasonable with regards to the claim, considering we were only looking for the porch hall stairs and landing even though the rest of the house was in a mess. At this time, they decided to send out a forensic investigator and she would be accompanied by the same BVS inspector that had been proven to be incompetent in the first place and we have subsequently found out lied on his report, suggesting he used pole cameras outside to assess the origin of the metal pole we found, when he most certainly did not. During the forensic visit we provided some drone images which show that the old pole that was present when we bought the property had been since been removed during renovations unknown to me, and that it could not have originated from the chimney stack after all. My reasonable and logical suspicion of a pole that I was able to prove was on the property before works began from old footage was clearly incorrect. I found out a week or so later after a few anxious nights of no sleep worrying about the implications, that the pole was in fact something my son had used to extend his reach while cleaning gutters out with a trowel, which he had inadvertently left of the large chimney stack while he was cleaning up. This was explained to the insurers, so the forensics wanted to interview my son, which was facilitated and he explained what had happened. The forensic report has recently been forwarded by the ombudsman after I lodged a complaint due to the time that has been involved and their treatment of us throughout. I have found a significant amount of inconsistencies, and the report is heavily based on guess work, estimates and opinion rather than facts. With the porch being completely rebuilt and no pole available to inspect, it is hard to understand how the forensic investigation could have been anything other than an opportunity for the insurers to wash their hands of the case based on conjecture, yet the ombudsman has declined to side with us and given much weight to the forensic report considering it was independent, and have rejected the claim. The costs of these works has been in excess of £30K which was all agreed as the quotes went through, and emails can confirm this. What I would like to know is if the RSA loss adjuster by agreeing these costs and knowing we had begun works has accepted the claim on behalf of the insurers. They are claiming that because I didn't accept the original offer of just over £20K, on the 5th December, even though the loss adjuster accepted in reply emails he had calculated the figure incorrectly, and omitted some of the previously agreed costs, they are not obliged to pay anything. They were entitled to investigate further and a flimsy forensic report with steering by BVS to clear his name was the reason. The title of the report from forensics is "Damage caused by Rot" for instance, which stinks of BVS influence, considering that is not what we were claiming for, and she has not once referred to the RSA loss Adjuster nor has he been involved since the 5th December as he was "sick" and now no longer works for the company. Any guidance would be most appreciated. We are in financial difficulties after heavily loading credit cards, borrowing from family and from our business which is struggling to pay suppliers now, on the strength of this agreed fund coming to pay them all back, and the lack of sleep worrying and what feel like panic attacks, knots in the stomach and sweating are wearing me down. Perhaps RSA policy is to break my spirt but hope I can get a shred of help to fight this one last time. 11 months almost....and counting. Many thanks if you have got this far reading and in anticipation of you helping with advice.

approx.: 10 months ago we had a leak in bathroom. called Royal sun alliance Insurance to make a claim. claim exceeded a fixed amount of money Royal sun alliance handed over to Cunningham Lindsey as their loss adjusters. 10 months have passed and still no works completed. I have attached a letter that I intend to send this week to loss adjusters. we want to know if we are entitled to compensation due to all the stress & inconvenience we have had to endure, such as doctors & hospital appointments. Cunningham Lindsey letter of complaint - Copy.pdf

I have no legal rep apart from my union rep who really does not seem to be helping at all. I received confirmation of a tribunal hearing date and three deadlines to supply information to the respondent. One was the 6th just past which asked me to explain my losses which i did......but that was not correct. It wasnt until i delved deeper i learned that i had to submit a schedule of loss. Now i filled this in with what i believed to be my losses, but my previous emplyers legal team have said that this was not correct as it does not contain any information on steps taken to reduce my loss (including any earnings or benefits received from new employment) now when i was dissmised (firstly simply because "it was not working out" and then when i challeneged this it was changed to gross misconduct) i was unempoyed for three months before i took my new job, i wasnt aware that that could be a loss. Please please can someone assist me on how to complete properly a schedule of loss...... ..their team have also said that my original email could not be accepted as the heading was "without prejudice" this was there because i simply replied to their email and that was in the heading. Now i sent this on the 6th and they have only responded to me today and said they may now not be able to meet the next deadline of the 10th because of this. Do you think it would be possible for me to ask them to grant a day extension to cover this. Hopefully someone can help as this is really stressing me and i have no legal knowledge.

Without going into too much detail (i'd written a wall of text). I've just been told I no longer have a job (after nearly a year), reason sited as not fitting the role, but told that i've "not specifically done anything wrong". It was a VERY broad ranging and high responsibility engineering role, non-stop work, but whenever I wasn't doing what one of 3 other people thought I should be doing, the back stabbing would start, meaning I could never actually do right. BUT I stayed on top of everything I needed to. This back stabbing has seen off several employees during my time there, people who I believe just needed the right support, who were badly supervised and expected to do jobs outside their level of experience or ability (and then punished for doing it wrong). The level of paranoia and baseless assumptions that has surrounded these people is just crazy, they were painted out to 200x worse than they really were. Every time anything went wrong, it had to be pinned on someone in the worst light possible. One person in particular would spend hours moaning about people to the boss and there is no way he could possibly have ignored it. This resulted in a lot of stress, one day everything is great, things are moving forward, the next day it's gone to sh1t because somebody is upset that you spent all day yesterday doing something they didn't deem important. Like building alignment jigs for product manufacture. At one point (6 months ago) one of these people raised the question as to what value I add to the company, vaguely suggested that my position was a waste of money and suggested I needed to fill in time sheets, but my job was so varied that most of what I did could not be quantified. I felt like since then that more and more unquantifiable additional work was loaded onto my plate and because the company measures performance in a very black and white way i've had a constant worry in the back of my mind. So i've "done nothing wrong", it "just isn't working". No examples of wrong doing could be given, it was just a "feeling". Apparently my technical knowledge was lacking, yet i'd done nothing wrong and yet i'd managed perfectly well. Some people were a bit snobby because I never went to Uni, but that doesn't mean I don't know my stuff and my background was there in black and white on my CV. Although I worked out very quickly that there was no chance of a long term career there (due to what i'd seen), this felt very sudden and I'm struggling to work out whether it's down to people making me look bad or whether they can't justify paying me (I know they struggle financially), or whether it's a combination of all that. I've taken the moral high ground as someone who has never felt the need to put others down to forward my own interests. I'm quite calm about all this, but in a few weeks time I fear it could turn to anger.............

hi there, was wondering if someone can give me any advice......... Long story short, my son is off to Uni the landlord of the student house would not supply students with a freezer - they have a icebox in a fridge which is inadequate for five of them - she did give her permission for them to install their own. I purchased a freezer online from Appliancesdirect to be delivered to the student house on the understanding that he will take it with him when he leaves. Freezer was delivered 10th Sept, plugged in on the 11th and was working fine, the students have been out an bought frozen food to fill it prior to moving in this week (got to admire their preparedness) My son was at the property yesterday which was when he discovered the lights are still on on the front of the freezer so their is power going to it, but the food inside is no longer frozen and not fit for consumption - have checked all settings are correct and its on max as it should be I phoned AD to be told as its still under the manufacturers warranty, ring LEC direct and they will send out an engineer, which i have done he should be here this friday, so it should get either repaired or replaced My issue is the contents, to fill the freezer has used a significant proportion of their grant money yet AD and LEC have both said they are not liable for any of that, they should claim on their contents insurance, which the lads arent able to do as the rest of their stuff is being moved in this week, their contract does not officially start until 26th sept (Monday) Where do i stand on this, can i make a claim against the retailer under the sale of goods act as the freezer was obviously not fit for purpose? Please help thanks in advance angie

I am having to retire soon due to a back injury at work. I am a hca community nurse. I am 55yrs and was hoping to work until 66 which would be my government retirement age. I have permanent damage to my spine, and no consultant will operate. I have lost my driving licence too as l have foot drop. I will hopefully receive a ill health retirement pension. However, l am going to have a serious loss of wages here as my pension will not meet what l used to earn. Can l claim compensation ? I dare not enlist a solicitor as that would cost thousands and sadly not in the union as they were no help at all once upon a time. Having not been in this situation before, l would appreciate help.My condition was brought on from years and years of kneeling on the floor and sitting under tables to get to patients legs etc! Many thanks.

Hello, this is my first post on the site and I hope someone can help. I had to take my tenants to court in order for them to leave my property. They caused extensive damage to my new build property - removing boiler, radiator's all the built in goods and smashing through walls. The Police have arrested the ex-tenants due to the extent of the damage and the matter is still pending - although the Police have informed me they are not hopeful of prosecution I submitted a claim in April on my Landlords insurance building cover through Endsleigh. A few days after Endsleigh’s loss adjuster visited and carried out an assessment of the property. He stated that the damage was extensive and that the policy would only cover to the value of £25,000 and that I would have to cover the rest. Over the last couple of months I have been emailing and calling the insurance company chasing up the claim. Endsleigh say they are waiting on the loss adjuster and the loss adjuster says its the contractor company. The contractor says its the loss adjuster. I complained a couple of weeks ago and the loss adjuster contacted me and said everything was now submitted and it would be sorted shortly. He also informed me the costs were over the cover level of £25,000 (but would not tell me the amount) and I would have to cover the rest. I was relived as it was finally getting sorted. The rental of the property is a source of income for me (I am retired), having to find the costs for service charges & council tax etc is having a impact on my finances the longer it takes to sort to out and I cannot recoup these charges. Now to my surprise, today I received a message informing me that AXA will be sending out a loss adjuster from a Crawfords. I am informed Axa are the underwriters and they have said it’s because its over £25,000, although I am not insured for anything over £25000 I am now back to square one again. I do not know why they are employing another loss adjuster but this is going to delay matters further. Can I ask Endsleigh 1) To base any settlement on their original loss adjuster’s report ? I am confused as to why they are not doing this anyway as I have waited months for Endsleigh & the loss adjuster to complete their process & report's. 2) Request the original loss adjusters report as they seem reluctant to provide me with this - am I entitled to this ? 3) Can I, not agree to allow Crawford’s to go through this whole process again? as I have read complaints about their process, online . Axa say the reason Crawfords is involved is because the damage to my property is over £25,000 but yet my building cover does not exceed £25,000. I would really appreciate an advice Many thanks

Hello, I just received email from Graham High Group Limited - Loss Adjusters that insurer approved our claim. Does Anyone know how long takes to have refund ? We have to pay our Contractor to start do works and no idea how long takes the payment process THANK YOU

Hello Caggers, I’ll try and be as brief as possible… After a long 4-year battle on a failed claim for a mis-sold PPI policy, the insurance company agreed to pay a back dated claim. I had a Mortgage Protection policy with the Halifax. It was sold to me over the phone on the premise that my mortgage payments would be covered if I was ever to lose my income. I accepted. My initial claim was for them to pay my mortgage payments when I became unable to work. They didn’t (it seems) record that I had made a claim back then even though they have some information recorded on their system that I contacted them and the medical staff that looked after me at the time contacted them. They also have records that I contacted their legal department to enquire about my employment situation when I became ill. I know I started a claim – they don’t seem to agree. Two years after my illness I was able to return to work and have been in continued employment since then. The back dated payment they are proposing covers the mortgage payments that were due at the time – which would have been great if they had paid it at the time that I made the claim. Because they didn’t pay at the time – I wasn’t able to make my mortgage payments, I got into arrears Halifax tried to repossess the house. I went through a string of court hearings and I was only able to stop the repossession by securing a re-mortgage with a Higher Rate Lender at the 11th hour. In a nutshell, I ended up losing a substantial deposit in my house to pay for the arrears, legal fees, early redemption charges etc. and I’m now paying extortionate interest only re-mortgage payments This is what I would term consequential loss – i.e. if my claim had been paid at the time I made the claim then I would have been able to keep my mortgage and none of the expense or trauma that ensured would have happened. After my illness, I was able to go back to work and make the payments on my re-mortgage without issue. My re-mortgage payments now are so much higher than what they would have been had I been able to keep my previous mortgage. The difference between the two is also part of the consequential loss going forwards. The insurance company must know that I did make a claim in the past otherwise why would it pay now, years later. I think they wanted to process a new back-dated claim because it would mean they wouldn’t have to consider consequential loss at all. I was hoping on some advice on whether this payment being back-dated would mean I couldn’t apply for consequential loss? Thank you Sunny-side-up

Hi Insurers: Ocaso Management Company - The Davies Group Underwriters - ?? I seem to be involved in a passive aggressive/aggressive aggressive and rather strange encounter with my loss adjuster regarding Alternative Accommodation. I've had a look through all the threads and my Policy Booklet and in desperation, contacted the Financial Ombudsman Service, but seem to have ended up with more questions than answers. My alternative accommodation was originally and begrudgingly booked for 21 days (after proof of a medical condition which would have been further exacerbated if I had been present) whilst works were to be completed at my property. During several (recorded) phone calls and emails, I queried how realistic this was and what would happen if the works took longer than 21 days and was told - verbally and via email that it would just be extended as needed. They have indeed extended the accommodation weekly since this time. During the first 3 weeks of the intended works, the management and coordination of the project was disastrous with either nothing being done, or further damage (with extra costs) being caused by contractors. My relationship hit rock bottom with the Loss Adjuster at this point (week 3, day 17), who was extremely annoyed that he had to sort out the mess and felt it appropriate to aim his irritation at me. I received 2 emails after this asking for the details of my contents insurance so they could share the cost of the alternative accommodation. I am unsure whether I had contents insurance at the time of the incident (Nov 2015) and never thought to make a claim as it was all structural damage (water leak from apartment above). I was never asked to provide details of this in the 5 months I was trying to get them to address the works. Apologies for the back story, but the next part wouldn't make sense if I hadn't laid that out. Last Friday whilst I was away due to a bereavement, I received an email from the Loss Adjuster saying that he would be moving me to a second accommodation closer to my (empty and gutted) property??? I emailed him on Tuesday morning to say that there was no need to move me closer to home. I was asked again for my contents insurance details which I have said that I will look into further. I received an email this evening (sent this morning whilst at work) that they have booked me into a second accommodation (B&B) starting tomorrow, no address, just the name of the hotel and no mention of a reason why I have to move again. The email came from the accommodation part of the Davies-Group. I emailed them to say this wasn't feasible, but received no response. I suspect it may be the cost - which does not exceed the policy exclusions etc - however, this has not been stated. If it is the cost, why don't they just say that they want me to move because it is too expensive? If that is the case, why was I offered it in the first place? Why did the loss adjuster originally approve it? (As a project manager and anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that these projects never run to schedule, at best, you take the time estimated and times it by 2 - I digress). Can they do this? I live in a 1 bedroomed property, am in an alternative 1 bedroomed property and am now being moved into a hotel B&B. The Financial Ombudsman Service can't raise a complaint until they know who the underwriter of my Policy is and the earliest I can get that information will be Monday morning and that is a process I was advised will take months to sort out. Time I clearly don't have. This doesn't solve the immediate problem of being inexplicably ordered to leave a property that was offered to me, to have to move unnecessarily for a second time. No mention was made of how I'm going to get everything from one place to another, or if it's suitable! At a bit of a loss. The bereavement has knocked me for six and I have a horrible feeling that there is nothing I can do and the aggressive bully of a loss adjuster is intent on making things as miserable as possible for me. (I also discovered on Tuesday that due to yet another mess up with a lack of communication from Davies with the sub-contractors, the works will take even longer to complete!) Please advise. Thanks in advance.

Paid £300 deposit for a patio window in November 15 and promised delivery in 2 weeks but turned out to be 2 months owing to a backlog of orders and the Xmas period. Cancelled immediately I was notified of the date which was unacceptable. No T & c. were left when deposit was paid but were forwarded later when I cancelled. They came with a letter promising a refund of the deposit as a goodwill gesture minus £71.40 admin charges. This was confirmed 5 times by text. However, they have gone back on their word and will not answer any correspondence or calls. I want to take it to the small claims court, am I within my righs.

http://www.lbc.co.uk/eon-posts-7bn-loss-with-uk-profits-flat-126493 E.ON Posts €7bn Loss With UK Profits Flat Wednesday, 9th March 2016 09:09 The parent company of 'big six' energy firm E.ON says annual losses more than doubled to ?7bn (£5.4bn) in 2015 - with UK profits flat despite supply business earnings falling 9% to £267 The German company blamed an ?8.8bn writedown in the value of its loss-making power generation assets for the group's net loss and said that the spin-off of its oil and gas-fired power activities from its renewable energy division, completed in January, would also hurt its outlook for 2016. E.ON warned that "the course ahead will be tougher and longer than anticipated" given the changes to its business model and weak energy costs. Germany's biggest energy firms, E.ON and RWE - which owns npower in the UK - have been forced to write off billions in the value of their conventional energy assets as the German government demands a shift to cleaner sources. The cost of closing Germany's nuclear plants - a consequence of the accident at the Fukushima plant in Japan - has also pushed them into the red. Following the release of the group's financial performance, E.ON later confirmed in greater detail how its UK business did. It part-blamed a 3.5% cut to standard gas tariffs in January last year for 2015 annual supply business profits falling, alongside a competitive market. It said overall UK profits were flat on last year as more renewable energy projects, such as the Humber Gateway wind farm, came on stream in its generation arm. E.ON has not been alone in blaming fierce competition in the household supply business for hits to its profits. The market is currently the subject of a Competition and Markets Authority probe which is expected to publish its remedies on Thursday.

Hello fellow forum members I'm looking for some advise for my sister who has had her insurance renewal come through at a higher than expected price. Upon looking into the renewal, it shows her no claims bonus is at 4 years, not the expected 9years that she should be entitled to. She rang her insurance company today to find out the reasons why this has happened, and they have stated its due to an incident that occurred in 2015. To keep this story shorter, it was a 50/50 clash of mirrors... my sister informed her insurance of the incident (as you should do) and told them that she and the other party would be sorting the issue between themselves, she assumed that was the end of it. So now due to this minor accident, that no one has made a claim on she has lost 5 years of no claims (as she didn't have it protected) due to the fact there "may" be a possible future claim. Does this sound right? It was my understanding that any accident should be reported to your insurance company, but in doing so she is now worse off even though she has gone through the correct channels. Any help or advise would be greatly received. Thank you in advance

My wife was involved in an accident, which the other party insurers have admitted they were at fault. As a result of injuries she was unable to get to work and so the her company got rid of her. The job was a temp contract leading to an employed role and she was still in the contract bit of it. Her solicitors have said they can't claim for loss of earnings as she was a temp worker at the time and the company could have got rid of her with no notice. Is this how it works? By the same token if she was a permanent member of staff, could she only claim 1 months salary as that was her notice period?! Her "solicitors" are part of the same group as the insurance company and I get the feeling their not working in her best interests, just trying to keep the value of the claim down.

After a few requests from the secretary, asking for the bushes to be pruned, my wife pruned them a week last friday. sadly she got an infection in her right hand ,which spread to her right arm. She has been off sick for nearly a week now after the infection that started in her hand causing swelling quickly spread to her arm, causing that to swell too. As my wife is part time, she only earns around £76 from her employer so I am guessing she won't be eligible for SSP.Is this correct, as I believe an employee has to be earning at least £111.00? As the accident occured on her employers premises, is he therefore legally obliged to pay her full pay while she is off sick?, furthermore, can she also claim for loss of earnings from her second part time job? As the company only employs around 4 or 5 people, are the company obliged to have an accident book? .the law states that a small company are not obliged to do so, but what is interpreted as a "small Company"? Her employer did not provide my wife with any PPE. My wife provided her own gardening type gloves. Any help with the law and any implementations would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, I got hit from behind and was without a Taxi for a week before a rental was supplied. I am trying to claim for what I have lost. Initially I was told that the previous 13 weeks earnings from the company sheets would be sufficient. I gave them those and now they want tax returns and bank statements. I have explained that two taxi companies merged a year ago and the earnings have increased and the figures on previous tax returns would leave me out of pocket and the bank statements do not reflect any earnings. This is because a lot of the income is cash and doesn`t reach the bank(used for bills etc) Only the account work which is paid by cheque goes into the account. I am simply trying to claim the actual loss at the time of the accident. Being a 3 month old car, I wasn`t happy at it being smashed but certainly don`t want to lose out over it. The taxi company is the only real proof of earnings and those sheets I have already sent them. Where do I stand please? With thanks in advance.

In Sepetemenr 2014 we had a water leak and damaged was casused, the Insurer appointed a loss adjuster and due to work commitments we appointed our own loss assessor, who provided a free service as long as we used their appointed Builders. xxx assessors appointed the builders xxxxxxx and work commenced, after they finished, they made me sign a document to confirm all the work was to a high standard, I agreed and provided this as all appeared to be ok. After 2 months we had noticed that the work they had completed was of a very poor standard, 1) THE kitchen tiling had not been completed under the appliances, old tiles were left in place and all the appliances were tile round, when we came to replace these we then found the defective work. 2) THE kick boards were not left in a good state and were falling off as they used the wrong connections. 3) the Toilet they fitted was defective and leaked. We contacted XXXX Loss assesors and after extensive denials they confirmed 5 months later in July 2015 that the Builders were liable and it was not their responsibility as our contract was with the builder! We then wrote to the Builder and sent pictures to them of the defective workmanship and confirmed that we were not now prepared to accept any work to be done and wanted a refund of the £1900 paid by the insurer to remove the tiles make good the floor and retile the floor, we heard nothing. On 20 July we wrote to XXXXX and the Builder indicating if the payment is not returned we will issue court proceedings to re cover the money paid by the insurer, as the work needed to be complete and redone and the floor retiled after levelling. On the 21 we received a text message indicating the following from the Builder!! "Contact was made through XXXXXX , and you have failed to materialise any evidence to our original response? So there's nothing else to say and I'm happy to see you in court where we will hear and see all evidence of schedules, my quote, original false allegations, fraudulent claims for fridges/appliances and the lies that where told and can be disproven, I've have texts from your husband and witnesses disproving many of your accusations/ lies. I was waiting to say nothing and wait for court! But I'm a decent, honest fair man and I'm letting you know today; XXXXXXXX has been deeply scared, upset and effected by this scandalous behaviour and is fully covered legally to seek counter claims for lost time, stress,stress to my family and work staff, false accusation, etc etc. I will not be making any further contact until I see you both face to face in court" We have written back denying his accusations and given him 7 days to refund the money so the work can now be done correctly!

Carcraft closure: 500 jobs to go at second-hand car dealer The company has 10 showrooms around the UK The second-hand car company Carcraft is to close, with the loss of about 500 jobs. The dealership, based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, has 10 showrooms around the country. Carcraft is the UK's seventh-largest second-hand car chain, selling more than 12,000 used vehicles a year, administrators said. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-32538820

http://newsthump.com/2015/04/21/wonga-declares-37-3m-loss-after-accidentally-borrowing-a-fiver-from-itself/ "Wonga’s CEO, Norman Bugger-Crumpets, said “The irony isn’t lost on us.” “I’ve begged our collections team to let us off the hook, but we’ve programmed them to be single-minded heartless w*nk-pheasants of the highest order.” “They’ve told us we either have to pay up, or some thoroughly terrifying men will come to take anything that isn’t nailed down, and maybe have a go on my wife.” "

Hello, I privately rent my house thought a letting agent and told them on their last inspection last month that the lock on our garage was broken and the goods in side were not secure, the garage is not attached to the house but about 30mts from the house. we moved everything we possible could from out there to the house but could not fit in all my sons expensive fishing gear as the rods were too long and a moped (for obvious reasons although it had a lock on ) About 5 month ago we had stuff stolen from our garden, about £1500 worth of profession fishing gear that was soaking wet and had been propped up against our patio doors to dry out, they were there for all of half an hour before being stolen , we have a 6 foot fence and also a gate that locks. so this was why I was anxious the landlord fixed the garage asap. As to if the letting agent passed this on to our landlord I do not know. Am I wrong in thinking that the landlord has a responsibility to repair and make secure the garage ??? I feel he should compensate for our loss from the garage this time......we claimed on insurance for the theft last time as I guess we were responsible for leaving out even though the garden was secure. Any advice is appreciated. I am thinking they will keep coming back so am in the process of looking for another house and I can't sleep well because of the worry and anxiety.

Last February my house was sold by Paratus amc with a shortfall of 88k,plus a 2nd mortgage of 22k to welcome finance It took a year for someone to contact me,I told them i couldn't pay as i was on pension credit and housing benefits I am trying to make ends meet by being self employed market trader but i don't make much money Lowel people have accepted £1 a month on a couple of loans and i have offered the same to other companies The ones that worry me are the outstanding mortgage and 2nd mortgage DCM are now handling the case with paratus and are investigating the way in which i gave the house back,I originally told them i couldn't afford the payments in Jan 2013 and said i wanted to sell up and ask for 6 months to do this,they wrote back and said fine they would help all they could,but 2 weeks later they said they were going for repossession as the arrears were to high,so i gave it back and left in June i have a valuation from an estate agent for between 220k and 230k as a selling price,and he said i would probably get between 210-215k,that would have cleared 95% of debts,they sold it for 158k I told DCM i was not happy with the way they sold my house ,so a complaint is going through the system now,and also the mortgage i was sold through a broker 1-2-1 mortgages went bust, was misleading so i have to get in touch with FSA I think,to get compensation I not heard from welcome but a 11k loan has gone up to 23k plus 88k =110k which i don't have what to do,I went for a small loan for my business through SWIG,who give loans to small business who cant get loans the normal way from banks etc,but i feel they will not lend due to this. sorry gone on a bit ,but thats roughly the facts