http://www.itv.com/news/central/2016-03-02/disabled-woman-claims-council-bailiffs-illegally-seized-her-car/ A disabled driver claims police and council bailiffs may have broken the law by seizing her car after accusing her of not paying a £60 bus lane fine. Blue Badge holder Cherry Clarke says she was physically removed from her Toyota Yaris by an officer before it was towed away from her home in Perry Barr in Birmingham. She has now been told she has days to pay the fine, which has risen to £93, or her car - her only means of transport - will be sold to pay the debt. Birmingham City Council claims it sent numerous letters to her address and that no Blue Badge was on display when the Toyota was taken.

Car is being held illegally and racking up £35 a day storage charges! I was involved in an accident just over a month ago where a truck side swiped me and took me off the road. It is clearly the fault of the truck driver and they have admitted full liability. I then took the car to a body shop garage that is next to my mechanic and since I trust and value the work of my mechanic I thought I would get similar treatment at the body shop. This wasn’t the case. When I took the car to the body shop the owner went out of his way to ensure everything would be handled for me and at the time I seen this as a good thing. I was told that he would arrange for a like for like hire car and have the claim dealt with by a firm of solicitors who would handle the claim entirely from the third party. He told me he would take care of everything and I didn’t have to worry about a thing and that I would not have to lose my no claims bonus as he would have the solicitor recover all costs from the third party (the truck company). He also promised the car back to us within 2 to 4 weeks. I trusted the body shop and agreed for him to do the repair on the car. He then arranged the hire car which was the same model lower spec and looked like it had been in multiple accidents and had been repaired very poorly. I wasn’t best pleased but put up with it believing it would be a temporary solution while my car is repaired. A month goes by and nothing happens, I called and was told that he had not even started the work and was given excuses about it taking longer. I was angry and wanted to move the car into another garage I found that agreed to have the car back on the road to me that week. The body shop refused to release the car back to me without first receiving payment in full for hire car and storage charges. Hire at £80 a day for 28 days and storage at £35 a day for 28 days. The bill was £1200 for storage and £2800 for the hire car £4000 in total and no work had been carried out. The body shop claim to be a separate company to the hire car company and have no financial links to the solicitors but it is clear that they are all working together. Why else would he demand payment for the credit hire company as well as his own storage charges at the same time? Also the solicitors seem to be working in the interest of the garage and treating him as their client rather than myself. To me it seems like a well-rehearsed highly profitable [problem] ring with a thin veneer of legitimacy. It would not surprise me if they send cars out crashing them on purpose if the state of their hire car is anything to go by. I refused to pay and asked to see the paperwork that states the body shop can hold my car without payment and the agreed storage fees. A document that looks like it was forged by copy and pasting one of my other signatures from the hire car paperwork was produced very quickly and sent over to me via email. I have no memory of signing this at any point. I stated this to the solicitor and they immediately told the bodyshop and came back to me the next day saying that the garage would now release the car if I signed the paperwork agreeing to all storage fees and accept liability for full payment if not met by the third party. To me this absolutely stinks to high heaven of foul play and how the solicitors are working on behalf of the body shop and not me. If the shop already had the signed paperwork why would they insist on me signing it again? I demanded to see colour photos of all documents showing my wet ink signatures to validate the authenticity. This request has been ignored. I returned the hire car to them as soon as I found out they were a bunch of crooks but they still have my car and it is racking up charges with them of £35 a day and it’s now been 5 weeks. I am unsure now what I can do to recover my vehicle. The third party will not pay any charges until the claim is settled in full and speaking to them they said that they will certainly be disputing such high rates for both storage and hire. If I pay for the charges I will for sure not be able to recover anywhere near the proposed rates as storage is around £10-15 a day and hire has a maximum ABI rate of £54 a day on my vehicle type. I do not want to sign any paperwork with the garage that allows them to then screw me over down the line for unreasonable charges that the third party will not accept and this is what “my” solicitor is asking me to do. I was told not to go to my own insurance initially as they will be taking care of the full claim this in hindsight was the biggest mistake I made as my insurance would have had this sorted by now and I wouldn’t be at the mercy of these crooks. I have contact my insurance at a later date and they said that I am now locked in with the solicitor and that they cannot help in any way washing their hands of it all. I am unable to have the case passed to another lawyer as I have been warned that I would be liable for a further £4000 in solicitors’ fees at this point. The last thing I need on my hands is a legal battle with a dodgy firm of solicitors. I need to get this car back and into a garage that will repair it as soon as possible as I’m having to hire another car at my own expense, things are dragging on and the bills are getting scarily big. How can I get my car back? They haven’t provided me with proof that I signed the document they forged. Should I be going to the police? Will they help or fob it off as a civil matter? How can I deal with this and force the return of my own property? Any help is much appreciated.

I've got some tenants running some sort of Pregnant Mother assessement centre, basically subletting the property on a residential AST. A lot of pregnant mothers have visited the property. As well as several large families. A confused pregnant mom was seen on the property, & then rushed off to hospital a couple of hours later. I've tried contacting ofsted, & they dont seem to care the tenants dont have the correct permission of the landlord. Can I get an injunction on the tenants or some other legal action, without having to file a section 8? I'm concerned about damage to the property, as well as the safety of the heavily pregnant mothers, as our building insurance doesnt cover business use of the property. Not to mention our mortgage contract.qq I'm also trying to contact the correct authorities, I'm contacting ofsted again, but I have no idea who to contact about the illegal planning permission granted to them. Does anyone know who I should contact about the illegal planning permission granted to them? & if I can get an injunction on the tenants or some other legal action, without having to file a section 8? As theyre subletting illegally, not to mention illegally dealing with vulnerable members of the public. Also because of the large number of families damage to the property. I'm based in London btw ... Thanks!!!

I recently got a job as a temp for an admin position, although the agency did not charge me for finding work but when i looked at my payslip they are charging me 5% of my gross weekly pay for MANAGEMENT FEES! is this legal? when i enquired with them, they said this money was deducted as a Management fees for admin related duties such as processing my timesheet, payroll and paying the invoice finance company that advances them the money to pay my wages every week. As they have to wait for a month before they get paid, is this legal or could i take them to an industrial tribunal and sue them for breaking the law. But in all fairness in their agency terms and conditions it clearly specifies that a management fee of 5% will be deducted from my wages, but if this agency is breaking the law, i do want to take further action....PLEASE ADVISE!!!

Hi I'm new to the forum and hope someone can help. I discovered today - following a leak through my ceiling - that my water tank has been illegally installed - the engineer isolated it immediately and told me what would need to be done to make it safe again ( in summary a pipe that should have been fed to outside wall was just cut and left in cupboard to drip - hence the leak) we have been in the house since it was built - a few years ago now - and so I called Cala (the builders) who advised they would send someone out to write a report on it and then they would advise if they would fix it. I don't think they are going to deny that it's their responsibility but they just don't seem to be in any hurry they won't get someone out until next week and then who know how long it will take to process report etc. in the meantime I am left without any hot water and 2 small children. What kind of pressure can I out on them to hurry up and would paying for the work to be done myself and then pursuing them for compensation be an option or more hassle than being without hot water for a while Many thanks

I signed a 12 month AST which was due to expire 19th December 2014. Once I had given my notice to the letting agent that I was not going to renew (I have bought a house) then agent asked if they could begin viewings for a potential new tenant, so we allowed this. They found a new tenant quickly and asked (via telephone) if the new tenant could move in at the end of November. We completed on the house in October and so the keys were handed back on 25th November 2014 on the basis that this was a joint and voluntary surrendering of the tenancy agreement. This was all done via telephone and nothing received in writing. I wrote a letter, which I took with me when I went to the letting agent to handover the keys (see attachment). The letting agent wrote 'return of keys only' underneath and signed it. I have received no other communication from the letting agent to say that the tenancy agreement has ended and I presume I am still bound by it. The deposit has not yet been returned, despite me asking for it. I have cancelled the standing order for the rent and am worried that I am still liable for the last month of rent. Have I been evicted? Where do I stand legally?

Hello, Just wondering if anyone can help. I was caught using a freedom pass - which I shouldn't have been. I had some extenuating circumstances which I explained to the officer and although he started off being quite serious - at the end of the interview he didn't show me his notebook, seemed to put a line through what he had written, gave me back the freedom pass, told me to top up my oyster and not use the freedom pass again. he had taken down all my details before that. I am not really sure what happened, but I believe he let me off. It's quite surprising and I just wanted to check that this is the case or if he was just giving back the pass but is still going to process the conviction. I got a bit overwhelmed and confused - so didn't ask?

Hello all I received a fine for being in a bus lane in April. I appealed the decision on the basis that it was a new bus lane and I had to access a side street off the road, I also got totally lost and had no idea where i was. I was on placement as part of my university degree. I did not hear back from the local authority, no letters etc. This has been logged with Royal Mail as a dispute over lost post. I had difficulties during this time with my teenage daughter and did not even think to chase it up. Well to my horror a bailiff turned up at my door yesterday and my car was clamped. I had to pay £330 to have it released...that was all my rent and my for my children ( i have 4). The bailiff was nice enough but after he left, taking all the money i had i became very angry and began to question what had just happened!. For a start I had no letters from this company, not one. They said they sent one on the 10th August, this may be lost or not sent but I know i never got it. They also said they visited my home on the 22nd August at 07.20 and left a letter as no one was home. Now at this point i knew they were lying because on this particular day my husband had taken the day off work as we had a wedding to attend. It was also the day my daughter had to collect her GCSE results and her and my hubby were up early to get ready so they could collect them before we left for the wedding. My husband is an early riser and he was awake at 6am. ..no one came to my door and no letter was left! Also I have no idea how they came to that amount, i did not see any paper work and was not even anything apart from a receipt. I paid because I was not in a fit state to question anything ( my daughter was in her bedroom recovering after a self-harming incident). I am going to take this further but i would like advice on how to word my complaint letter to the company and any specifics i should include, eg legalities. Thank you in advance.

I had sent my car to a mechanic to get it fixed. Unfortunately the mechanic and his landlord have had a dispute over the rent lawfully due and the landlord has now decided to lock the garage and has taken the keys to my car. The landlord claims not to have taken anything from inside the garage and only secured the garage with his own padlock. My mechanic has not been able t access the garage and the police have refused my mechanic from re-entering the garage. I am therefore unable to retrieve my possessions. I have agreed with my mechanic that I can have my car back and will not owe them any money. My mechanic was unaware that the landlord had came and taken my keys and locked the garage. I have spoken to the Landlord of the building ad he claims not ot have the keys to my car. In addition the landlord has stated that he will only allow me to have my car back once he is able to obtain a copy of my logbook and drivers license. I have tried to contact him to arrange a date to regain possession of my items and he is giving me the run around. I feel that he is messing me around and I do not believe that he should have a copy of my logbook and drivers license especially as I think he he has the keys to my car and come steal my car at any time in the future if I was to get a spare key cut. My car is now impounded in the garage and the landlord does not appear to be forthcoming in allowing me to regain my possessions. He has told me he will only return my car at a date and time of his discretion. I feel powerless and given that this would appear to be a civil matter I can not even got to the police or can I report him for theft? I want to know what legal action can I take and what part of the law am i protected by. I need to do something asap Can someone help me

I had a flat in Edinburgh with two flatmates, those two moved out and I gave a lease to a girl so she could sign up to the lease and move in. I gave her a set of keys as I was going away for a couple of weeks. I came back to the girl moved in, was paying the rent and bills into my account and so I assumed everything was fine. It was then in the last month that I found out she had not signed up to the lease and was therefore living illegally in my flat for the past 6 months. She then went on to move out without paying the remainder of what I was owed and so I have been left out of pocket. I realise I probably cannot get the money from her as I was not careful, but would I be able to report her to the council to show she had been living with me illegally? As she had been dodging tax as well and I do not wish to help her. Thanks for any reply.

Looking for a bit of advice as I currently can't afford to employ a solicitor. Will keep this as bried as possible; I work for a limited company in Scotland, quite often from home, and recently there was a dispute over delivery of an order. I was one of the representatives that dealt with the matter which wasn't resolved, customer was very unhappy. Some months later I receive an envelope containing court documents from my manager; it seems the customer is holding me personally responsible and claiming the £180 through the small claims procedure at a Scottish Sheriff Court. However he sent to the documents to the wrong address, they were sent to an old company address. When I received the documents the court date had already passed and a decree had been issued against me. First one of the directors of company contacted the court and explained the situation, without success and I have now made a formal complaint to the court. I had a free meeting with a solicitor who stated that it was a "abuse of process". Firstly the claimant should have raised an action against the limited company, not me personally and secondly of course he should have sent the documents to the correct address. Here is the response from the Sheriff Clerk: In relation to small claims procedure - when a party raises a claim against an individual or a company they are required to provide the information as set out in FORM 1. When a claim is lodged, court staff check over the claim to make sure it is presented in terms of the rules (ie: parties are suitably identified and designed/ that a claim gives sufficient notice to the defender and that if it is for a supply of goods and services a brief description of what was supplied etc). In addition the value of the claim is checked to make sure it is raised within the limits for these types of actions. I am not aware of any requirement upon court staff to check addresses prior to service of a summons. These details are a matter for the person raising the claim. The validity of a claim is a matter for the Sheriff if the claim is disputed by the defender, by returning the formal response by the return date specified in the service copy summons. In this case, according to our records no such formal response had been received and the pursuer applied for decree in absence, which was granted in terms of the rules. As the case has been extracted any appeal would, in terms of the rules, be out of time. It is for the appropriate party seeking to have a decision by the court reviewed, to lodge the appropriate application, with the appropriate court and within the appropriate timescales as provided by the rules. If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of my response to your complaint you should write to Mr D Shand, Sheriffdom Business Manager, Edinburgh Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, 27 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LB to ask for your complaint to be reviewed. I'm astounded that someone could raise an action against me at a different address for something that is not my responsibility. The claimant I have discovered knowingly put the old address knowing that the papers would not get passed onto the company for at least several weeks thus getting a successful claim at court, he didn't even need to attend, since the papers were not returned by the cut off date, he won by default. Any thoughts? My own thought is to take the Sheriff Clerk to court for the sum of £100 and have the papers sent to a completely unrelated address; therefore he won't get the papers and I will win the case by default; then see how he feels about it. I've made my formal complaint to Edinburgh but the only response is that a decision can take up to 90 days. I could go to a solicitor but it's going to cost me around £500 to have the matter dealt with. Any advice gratefully accepted, thank you.

In yet another humiliating court defeat for Iain Duncan Smith, thousands of sacked Jobcentre staff may be entitled to compensation due to an employment tribunal ruling that they were unlawfully sacked. Story http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/jobcentre-illegally-sacked-thousands-of-workers/ As the article states I wonder if IDS will attempt to retrospectively change the law on this one.

http://sunderlandnow.co.uk/news/10-local-news/2114-investigation-into-police-van-parked-illegally-outside-of-greggs-bakery.html#

Hi All I just joined this site after not being able to find an answer for my problem anywhere on the net. Basically, I am only currently 18 and have a default on my credit score from early 2011. I registered with Very when I was 16 in order to buy a dress. I can't quite remember how I signed up but do remember paying for the dress there and then and receiving it soon after. I also received a letter a few days later telling me I had a credit account for £150.00. Looking back, I now know that it is illegal to have a credit account under 18? Which makes me think it must of required a minimum age which I probably entered in order to receive the dress. Anyway, being younger and stupid, my mum asked if she could buy a few things using the account which I agreed to, not really thinking into it or about the future. She informed me that she'd pay it all back and as I didn't want the account (didn't buy from Very regularly) I just left it to her. Things happened at home and I stopped talking to my mum and was advised to move out by the police (can provide proof of this) and I moved on without even thinking about the account. Then around 3 months later I received an email from Lowell informing me that there was a debt of £270 which had been sold to them. I sent them an email in December 2011 which I received no response to. They sent me another email in April 2012 and being 18 now and understanding it more, I called them and explained my situation. The woman stumbled over her words when I told her my date of birth was only 1994 and she informed me that the debt would be investigated for the account being used illegally. She told me they'd sent many letters to my Mum's address which I obviously never saw, so I gave her my new address so they could keep me updated. I then never heard from then again, and still haven't. I've now come to apply for credit and been refused so I signed up to Experian and saw that I have a default on my score from 2011, from Lowell. I work in HR and have monthly income, and have done for the past 2.5 years. I pay my car insurance and phone bill every month without fail and so it's frustrating that I haven't even had a chance to obtain credit. (I'm aware that low age etc. is bad for credit too, but obviously having a default at 18 is bad!) Is there anything I can do to get this removed from my name? I don't really have a clue about this stuff so any help you could give me would be great! Thanks Laura

Hi I rent out my home to a charity .One of their workers parked her car up onto the front driveway .The driveway has not been dropped therefore she has driven over the pavement to do so. I have in the past provided residence parking tickets,arranged with the council for the tenants to get parking tickets to be able to park on the road which has plenty of resident parking spaces. I had also previously informed 2 senior members of staff that cars are not to be parked up at the front as the neighbors had complained that their vehicles parked legitimately infront of the driveway where being clipped by the cars of drivers trying to squeeze past onto the pavement to park.They have also been informed that parking wardens do and have issued parking fines for vehicles parked on on the driveway. When I attend to the property i buy a weekly dispensation order and park in the residence parking spaces on the street. The car which was parked up on the driveway was damaged due to a bay window tile falling and now she is claiming repair damages from me. Am I liable considering she has negligently parked as is at fault ? From my basic understanding with her insurancer it seems shes stating she parked infront of the house ,I dont think she has informed them that shes parked up onto the driveway . Parking is not included in the tenancy contract . Am I liable? my insurance company states not as the other party as acted negligently so how can the car owners insurance now be chasing me for damages over £1000! Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/14089/online-news/councils-acting-illegally-on-bailiff-fees-