I've had a motorbike insurance policy for less than six months, which I paid in full up-front. I've now sold the motorbike, which I'm not replacing, so rang to cancel the insurance. I was hoping for a small refund, but I've been told I need to pay AN ADDITIONAL £15 to cancel the policy (over and above the annual premium I've already paid). Regardless of how this is calculated (and whatever the small print says), this is just madness. If they said "OK, we've cancelled the policy, but you don't get a refund", I'd be disappointed. But to be told I have to pay them extra after using less than 6 months of the policy, means I've vowed never to use Hastings again for any bike or car insurance.

Hello all, I have filed a MCOL against my old landlord for four weeks' rent. I was claiming HB, then began full time work, and thus became entitled to a HB run on payment. I have proof from the council that this was paid to the landlord, albeit after I paid my last rent. So, because I was up to date on the rent to the day that I left, and he also received 4 weeks' housing benefit run on, he was effectively paid twice for the same month's rent. This has been going on now for a year. I have sent over a dozen calls/letters/emails and received either no response or 'I'll call you back' (never did). Only when receiving the court documents did they actually phone me up and say there was a cheque for the original amount *roll eyes* However, I calculated the interest owed and it's £38. Plus I have already paid £35 in fees. All the stress that this has caused me makes me unwilling to give up (potentially) £73. But then if it goes to court, I could get nothing and have paid even more! So, what would happen if I accept the cheque now but carry on court proceedings for the remaining £73? Is there a way to ammend it to show I've received partial payment of the debt? I have got in writing from them that they have the cheque for the original amount. Would this count in court as admission of guilt evidence? And would a court take into account that they have prolonged this process and never once offered to settle it, even though we have provided them with evidence months ago? Obviously I know I have done this in the wrong order, but now I am panicking I don't have a valid claim. Does anyone have any insight into the likelihood of my claim being awarded? Also, I assume when I pick up the cheque they'll want me to sign to say that upon receipt of this cheque, I'll discontinue court proceedings. What should I do then? I've tried the Property Ombudsman but they are not TRO listed. All your help would be much appreciated! Thank you!

Hi, Two weeks ago I was evicted from my flat, as the landlord was not paying his mortgage and the property was repossessed. I was told by the agent that I would receive my full deposit back as the landlord had broken the contract, making it null and void. Yesterday I received my deposit, however there was £72 missing. I rung the agents accounts department to find out what this was and I have been charged a checkout fee. This checkout fee is mentioned in the contract however, we were told the contract was null and void, so are they still able to charge us this? I did point this out to them on the phone, but they refused to agree with me and said the charge was to get the deposit back. Are they able to charge for return of the deposit? I believed before that a checkout fee was for checking against the inventory for damages, but the agents were not able to do this as the keys were taken and locks changed by the bailiffs? Please help, as if eviction isn't enough stress without throwing more problems in!!

Hi and thanks for the add to the site, just a query, i have just got off the phone to pay FGA Capital my monthly payment, and i have 1 last payment to make in August, then i thought that would be the last payment, but i asked for the remaining balance to be given and was told it is an extra £500 (back end fee) that is in my agreement, i have asked for a breakdown for what this FEE is for, surely it is not right, i would agree if it was for admin charges, but £500 excess for what, i have asked for the agreement to be re-sent out to me as i no longer have that document as it was years ago that i got the car on finance, i feel i have paid for the car plus interest and the car was not worth the amount in the long run, will never get another car on finance again. Can anyone shed any light on this please. Thanks

Hello, I've recently found this forum extremely helpful. A couple of weeks ago my wife, in desperation to pay a bill, tried looking on some internet loan sites. Well as you can imagine, this led to broker's fees even though she said she clicked cancel at the last minute. Two companies have been contacted by phone, email and letter and have said they will give a full refund. Fingers crossed. But a third, 'CreditMaze', refused the recorded delivery letter we tried to send. We have just finally gotten them to answer their phone and they say that they can only give us back £30 of the £70 they took from our bank. They claim it's an administration fee. Is this true? Thankyou.

I need a little advice please, my step daughter has just rented a new flat. After moving in the Agent said "are you wanting to stay here more than 12 months?" she replied I would like to. The agent said "because there will be a £95 renewal fee and we can take it out of your deposit you paid " I thought that this was illegal to take money from a deposit, isnt it supposed to be lodged with an independent company and only payable after the SHT has ended.... I will be grateful for any advice please.

Hi, Another question for anyone who can help! I asked my landlord (they are a property company) if I could change energy suppliers over the phone last year, they advised me I could as long as I provide them with the new reference number which I did. I've just moved out and on the check out form I see they have said if I've changed without written confirmation from them that it will be £100 admin fee. I'm guessing they would take from my deposit? I'm not happy about this, they told me I could but I have nothing to prove this, anyway it's my money paying for the supply surely I have the right to change to whoever I want as long as I provide them with the information which I did. In any case, how can they justify £100 admin fee, what is the cost to them that I have changed? Can I fight this in anyway? Seems completely unfair to me Many thanks Jess

Hi everyone, , I have been paying their "overdraft useage fee" of £6 every month for a very long time now, after agreeing an overdraft of £300 right at the beginning. Apart from maybe twice, I've never gone over the £300 agreed overdraft and have a very healthy credit rating etc, but I discovered that I am paying this £6 every time I got over £100 overdrawn. my gripe is the fact that I was under the impression that, by agreeing an overdraft, I was doing the right thing and I wouldn't be charged for it. Does anyone else know about, or have specific experience with this issue that can offer me some advice? I would like to be able to claim this back ideally. Thanks all, looking forward to hearing from you.

Hi all. Looking for some advice please : After reading a little on the reclaiming of various fee's / charges I wanted to find out more about this matter. Looked into my mortgage paperwork and noticed that during the past few years the Broker has been paid over £3,000 and £4,000 for arrange a mortgage of £200,000 and that the rates are not high street rates eventhough my credit rating is very very good. Can you reclaim the fee's paid to Brokers and can you dispute the interest rate that the Mortgage Company is charging ? I am understanding that had a High street lender provided the mortgages the arrangement fee would be approx £400 and the monthly payment would be at least 30% less. Regretting not looking into this further at the start. Any info would be great - Thank you Forum.

Hi just looking for some advise. Cut a long story short I had a fine of £145.44 left to pay to Phoenix Commercial collections. This was originally a lot more due to 'first visit fees' etc which after querying because I was home all day, appeared they had been 'applied in error' and were then removed. A settlement plan of 4 x instalments was offered in letter form to which I made the first instalment 3 days later. the letter did not state a timescale in which to respond just please confirm by return, hence me making the payment. However 3 days after they dated their offer letter they then applied a Compliance Fee of £75 which they now claim is due to me not calling them to confirm acceptance of their offer (they gave me less than 3 days as it took 2 days to arrive, in which time I already made a payment) Surely making the required payment, early, is acceptance. I have since cleared the balance in full however they are still demanding the £75 even though I never missed a payment, paid the last two payments off two months early and had made the first payment within 3 days of their offer. Surely this is completely unfair and as I have met with their offer they cant enforce this?

went onto the GOV.UK site to renew tax disc queried this when i was charged £165 and not £125, Was told by DVLA that i had used a tax disc renewal service that charges £40.00 for renewing tax disc. Debit on bankstatement came up as taxdisc.direct.co.uk Any one else had experience of this? Registered this with the DVLA as a complaint and also with citizens advice consumer line.

Hi Would a SAR to a bailiff company produce the paperwork regarding accounts they have collected on Ie Statements of accounts and charges added etc? Thanks

Hi I had a five year fixed term deal with the halifax which expired in February this Year which reverted back to the standard variable rate so I presumed there would be no redemption penalty when I sold my flat . I had a surprise when my redemption was two thousand pounds more than the amount i borrowed . I called the halifax and they couldnt explain to me what the charges were and I spoke to two different customer service agents , they both just said it was interest on the loan . As the mortgage was interest only and I was paying this back monthly anyway I am bewildered as to what these charges are . I am going into a branch tomorrow to get a better explanation ,just wondered if anyone else could help ?

Hi We were will with Sky Fibre Broadband for a year. Throughout the course of the year we experienced problem after problem with the speed. We have rung up Sky on numerous occassions to complain. In Jan 14 they offered us deal on the broadband which meant a recontract (12 month term) which we did. We continued to experience problems with the speed. We had a conversation with a lady from sky tech team in March and she arranged for a new modem router to be sent and she said clearly that if it does not sort out the problem we can come out of the contract. Last week I signed up to Virgin and cancelled my sky. Sky said there would be an early termination fee on the broadband. I tried to explain to them that we were told that if the speed does not improve from the new modem we can come out of the contract. I told their cancellations team to review the taped conversation with lady from there tech team. They then transferred me to the tech team and I agreed for them to send an engineer out to check the broadband. The engineer came out the day before virgin were going to install. The engineer advised me that the original installation was not done correctly hence the drop in speed. I told him to put it in his report. Sky are still trying to trying to charge an early termination fee. Surely they can't do this as they never provided the service I paid for. Can anyone please advise me what to do. Thanks

Hi all, I joined Gym4all on Feb 14th on an their orange membership, this means there's 'no contract, monthly payment, £25 joining fee' & £12.99 is taken out of my bank every month via Direct debit. On the 4th of April I received a letter from Harlands which I didn't open until now, because I've been busy from exams, and have been away from my home where the letter was sent. This is what it said: Harlands administer the collection of all payments due under your membership agreement with Gym4all. Your bank have advised us that your April installment has been returned unpaid "refer to payer" as there were insufficient funds in the account to pay the amount due. we will therefore debit your account on the 15th of april 14 for the total amount of £37.99 made up as follows: installment: £12.99 admin fees: £25:00 total due : £37.99 once submission has been made the debting of your account cannot be stopped. What should I do? I want to quit the gym because i have no time for it at the moment and i don't want to pay the admin charge. How do i go about cancelling the gym membership and not having to pay the admin charge. I have no qualms about paying the installment fee. any help would be greatly appreciated.

My girlfriends mother went to the dentist. At the end, she asked if she would be entitled to the reduced payment for being on benefits. She was told by the dentist that she didn't have to pay, and instead had to fill out a form and send it off. (Apparently this is not usually how it works, she is supposed to pay up front then claim back?) She has now received a Penalty Charge Notice for incorrectly claiming for the reduced amount, even though they also mentioned in their letter to her that they cannot confirm if she is illegible or not. My girlfriend sent them a letter disputing the charge since her mother was only inquiring about the reduced amount, and simply followed what she were told to do. Apparently there is a back log on their post, and it won't get read for another few weeks, although they are getting additional charges for non-payment. What should they do?

My son has just paid his business rates by credit card after the bailiff levied on goods. The original debt was over £4000. After a visit to the council it was reduced to £2888. I paid the bailiff an amount of £3489 Making a difference of £601. When I enquired as to what the extra fees were for I was told Enforcement. Today on the phone I was advised that the fees were 101 for charges and £500 because the debt was over £3000 . I have been looking into this further and found this web site and the chrges just dont compare what do I do now. I have paid http://www.bdl.org.uk/images/02_EW_NDL_Bailiffs%20and%20Council%20Tax.pdf Any help would be appreciated

I'm currently not sure how to proceed with this, I have sent one email and they have responded but pretty much ignored what I said. Before i purchased the membership i was told there would no cancellation fee if i had to cancel the contract due to relocation for work. I admit my mistake was that i didn't get this in writing so I'm not sure if i have a leg to stand on when it's their word against mine. Here's the email i sent on 28/02/14: "Dear Sir or Madam Cancellation of gym membership. Member ID: xxxxxxxx I wish to cancel my gym membership with Total Fitness due to having to relocate because my employer has changed my location of employment (active from 31/03/14). My new employment location (Slough) does not have a Total Fitness gym nearby, therefore I will not be able to continue to use your facilities anymore. Before I signed up to the gym (in November 2013) I asked the sales person (Name of sales person) if there was a cancellation fee should I have to cancel due to relocation because of work and he informed that there would be no fee required should I have to cancel for the reason stated above as long as I can provide proof. I recently tried to cancel my membership at both the local gym (in Lincoln) and at head office but was told I would have to pay a £100 admin fee even though I provided them with the appropriate documentation from my employer as verification. It must be noted that I wouldn’t have signed up to the gym if I had been told about this fee (and I asked specifically about it), I feel I have been miss sold the membership and therefore believe that I should not be required to pay this fee. In addition to this here is an excerpt from the OFT Guidance on unfair terms in health and fitness club agreements which is relevant to my circumstance (with sections in bold being particularly relevant). ‘5 Financial penalties on members Paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 states that terms may be unfair if they have the object or effect of: (e): requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation. Other factors affecting unfairness 5.4 Many factors influence the fairness of terms that require full payment of the subscription from the member who cancels early. For example, does it reflect the supplier’s reasonable losses in such circumstances, were other membership options available to members, was the term clear and prominent, was the member misled, and what is the effect of other terms in the contract? Some of these factors may be relevant only to individual disputes, in cases where a term that is generally fair may nevertheless be unfair in a particular case in light of the actual circumstances. Sections 2, 4, and 18 of this guidance are also relevant, together with the discussion of Minimum Membership Periods in Part III. Circumstances beyond a member’s control 5.5 The fairest terms allow members to transfer their membership or to cancel the contract without penalty if the member, for example, has to relocate, or has suffered redundancy, or has a medical condition that prevents his use of the gym. Such terms take positive account of the interests of the member.’ I hope that we can come to a fair solution to this matter as I feel I should not have to pay this admin fee for cancellation however I am willing to compromise if the offer is reasonable. I would also like to add that my experience using the gym has been very positive and I hope my final opinion of the gym will continue to be a positive one. I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your help with this matter. Yours faithfully" And here is their response on 5/03/14: "Re: Total fitness membership number: xxxxxxxx Thank you for providing documentation confirming your relocation to an area where there is no Total fitness centres. Unfortunately total fitness cannot be held responsible for a change in member’s circumstances and memberships cannot be cancelled in the first year as per the terms and conditions of the signed twelve-month membership agreement. Relocation is not an unusual circumstance and is therefore not a valid reason to cancel your membership. However as a compromise we are willing to allow you to terminate your contract with us, waiving the remaining balance of £280.00 upon receipt a £100.00 cancellation fee. Therefore, please forward a cheque for £100.00 payable to Total fitness 2010 LTD to the address below. Alternatively you may contact us on 01614402680 to make the above payment using your credit/debit card. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter. Yours sincerely" Any help on what I should (and can) do next would be much appreciated

I was paying £10.00 a month for a product called Business Focus, that was in 2004, I've contracted Lloyd's making whatthis was for, and not one member of staff knows, can anyone help me please

I have been charged 6 unpiad item fee of £25.00 each by santander for a total of £76.85 therefore adding another £150 of charges means total is £226.85 i am struggling financially and this is not helping i have an agreed overdraft of £100 but this must have gone over for a few days. Can i get a refund of charges as they are not just some of the transactions are only for £1.

Me and the missus bought a new car last week. The old car was insured through quotemehappy and they also offered the best deal for insuring the new car. The old policy had around 6 weeks left, but when I went to cancel it, they want to charge me a 53 pound 'cancellation fee'. Seems rather stingy since we're keeping our custom with them. It'll actually be cheaper to just let the policy expire in 6 weeks than cancel it. Is a cancellation fee common practice? Anything I can do about it?

Hi All, I know tenancy contract renewals are something that have been discussed here quite a bit previously, but I'm unclear on a point relating to this case three years ago between OFT and Foxtons. My girlfriend has just been advised by Foxtons that they plan to deduct £96.00 from her deposit because around 6 months ago the fixed term agreement lapsed into a periodic one (monthly). At the time all parties agreed this was fine. My girlfriend did sign a form from Foxtons on taking the flat, that had a clause that read: "If the tenancy is renewed, we will make a charge of £80 + VAT to cover our administration". From what I can tell, doing nothing and just letting the tenancy automatically go into a periodic one doesn't constitute as renewing, but I'm not a lawyer! They basically have done no 'administration'. My girlfriend did query in general why they were charging a renewal fee and the response was: "The renewal fee is charged whenever a tenancy passes its original tenancy length. As this tenancy became a periodic tenancy you stayed longer than the original end date of the 27th May 2013." It's also suspicious that they are taking it out of the deposit (or at least trying to), which surely isn't for these sorts of items. Does anyone have any experience here? It seems like total bs to me. I was reading about that OFT v Foxtons case but that seemed more related to admin fees being charged to landlords rather than the tenants. I'm not sure how anyone can get away with charging almost £100 (or anything in fact) for doing precisely no work. Before she goes in guns blazing it would be good to get a clearer picture of where she stands. Thanks in advance

hello yesterday a bailiff visited my home because of unpaid council tax fees, i agreed that i would pay what i owed but needed to go to the bank to get the money. The bailiff stayed in my living room and while i was out wrote a list of my furniture ect. when i returned and paid him he gave me a breakdown of the fees and on it i noticed he charged for a levy fee he said it was a % of what was owed but would not answer me with a direct answer when i asked why they added a %. I have looked up what a levy fee is today and it says that it was a list of good. surly if i was going to the bank to pay what i owed he did not have to write a list of goods to be seized and therefore i do not owe a levy fee. does anyone know if this is true.

Hello all I used to have an additions account which I closed several years ago. I have had my account since 1998 and in 2000 I had ODI added to the account. I can't remember whether the Additions was upgraded or applied around the same time as the ODI or whether I had it from the start?!? I am complaining about the ODI but want to see if I an get my Additions fees paid back also. How would you approach this? Should I request a SAR to see the account activity or is it too far back to even have a chance of getting them refunded? As mentioned I can't remember whether it was just upgraded as some have pointed out or I had it from the start! I know I cancelled the Additions several years ago, but again I'm not sure which year..Probably around 2004! Also I want to try and reclaim the bank charges that I have had since having this account which I know there are quite a few! Again do I have any chance of getting them refunded? Many thanks in advance Sean

I am Fuming I took up the monthly free trial through credit expert. I canclled my membership within 30 days and was assured no payment will leave my bank accont. Six this evening 14.99 was debited. Contacted Barclays who do not want to know as to a charge back, head agaist brick wall comes to mind help