Hi all, Had my car (oldish worth It failed on front brake imbalance, and corroded/worn discs on the front. Garages quote was extortionate (when isnt it ) so I got somewhere else to do the work at a 1/3 of the price. Car was in today for another MOT as it exceeded the retest deadline, and it has failed. I turned up at the garage, they said the rear brakes were shot and needed replacing, I asked why this wasnt picked up on 1st test & they tried fobbing me off that: 1st answer - I had broke it driving it to/from the garage 2nd answer - It had broke on my drive 3rd answer - the mechanic who fitted front brakes broke it So the garage showed me on rolling road that the rear right brake wasnt stopping the wheel, whereas the left was. He didnt know why without taking the wheel off etc. He showed me the readings on the computer and said that was a fail. I then asked to see the results from the first test which he uhm'd and ah'd about because it was going to take him "forever". When he found them, he found that the 1st tester has since been sacked, and on the first test he had found the right rear brake was faulty - had recorded it on his test sheet but not transferred to the MOT refusal form which I was given. I was therefore only quoted for work to the front brakes. The guy changed from me being at fault to being apologetic at this point and has said he will "sort it" whatever that means. Question is - where do I stand? The car being worth what it is, I have already paid out for 2 x MOT's, front discs/pads fitted, amongst other bits and bobs & the tax is due at the end of the month. If this repair costs another £50 - £100 (which knowing the garage quote it will be!) I would have originally considered scrapping the car and getting something else. I have therefore wasted the front discs/pads and an MOT if this is the case. Having all the work done at the same time would have also cost me less than having two visits. Are they liable to fix this issue, or anything like that? My main worry is if I had taken it back during the retest period, would they have passed it and only tested "the fault" which was front brakes. Thanks in advance.

My car's windscreen had cracked right across the bottom the past winter. I had it replaced on my insurance by Auto Windscreens in Romford / Harold Hill. It was done at closing time on a Friday, and was told not to drive the car for a couple of hours to make sure it sets. Which I done. A couple of weeks later, I noticed that there was a whistling sound coming from the passenger side of the windscreen when driving on the motorway. It's very distracting and quite loud. Then today I took my car through a car wash, and water literally poured in from the top of the windscreen, literally soaking the seats and carpet, and also causing my dash camera to stop functioning. I took pictures of the water. I sent them an email asking for them to take another look, but so far haven't heard anything back. Should they fix this or is this "acceptable"?

Hi, After some advice, I unfortunately took out a greenwood personal loan in 2011, The agent filled in the paper work, I signed it and that was it i had the cash given to me there and then. After a few weeks the agent stopped turning up, I called number on the card to state that he had not turned up, they informed me he was under investigation and another agent would be around to collect my money (They did not take card payments then else i would have paid). No agent showed up for the coming 5 weeks; I called the head office again stating the issue and they said that as soon as a new agent is appointed to the area they will be around to collect. (During this time, i had kept the money i was due to pay back). No Agent ever showed, the next thing i know i have a default added to my credit file. Start date: 29/10/2011 Default Date registered: 13/01/2012 I called the customer service department to ask why this had been added given the situation, they explained that they had sent letters to me about the overdue amount, and as i had not responded issued a default. I contested that i had never received such letters etc, It transpires that the 'actual' paper work that was sent off to the office had a false address on it (I live in Cornwall, the paper work had a Devon address on it - which i have never lived at). I had explained that this was false, the customer service agent could not understand why this address was there, or why the agent had set up a loan outside of his 'area' and passed it on to the 'regional manager'. The manager was less than useless; however I had the full balance to pay him as i wanted to get this sorted. Greenwood have stopped correspondence with myself in relation to rectifying the issue. Thankfully, im a little anal about paperwork and I have the following: - original contact. which i have supplied to greenwood (They have dismissed it saying this does not match theirs. ). - A copy of the statement i gave to the regional manager. - Receipt for final payment. - List of all calls made to them (BT Supplied me with this). The only thing i do not have is a "Request to call" which apparently is required by doorstep lenders? (Never signed one) I've asked them that they update there records, as i believe that the default was added in error, they are refusing because "they are within there rights to update CRA about defaulted accounts" So my question is, Where do i go from here as this has been going on to long and i feel they should have resolved this in that time.

A close family member was driving her car on a roundabout when a cyclist left the pavement attempting to reach the roundabout itself, ie not joining the traffic but crossing it and collided with her car (he was fine, luckily).It was caught on CCTV by a house on the roundabout and several police cars arrived, two of which were traffic vehicles and the rest local police vehicles. The traffic officers went into the house, watched the CCTV and told us it absolutely wasn't her fault and she had nothing to worry about, the cyclist had inexplicably cycled directly into her path. There was some damage (ultimately costing almost £1000) so she went through her insurance. She's come to renew her insure now and has found that the insurance company has recorded the claim as being her fault! She has protected no claims but it is still affecting her quotes with the same insurance company and other companies. Any advice on what could be done to remedy this as obviously it isn't true that she was at fault.

My partner has a loan with mutual that he has paid on time every single month. Mutual has reported to the CRA that payments received on time every month. As the balance was down to him owing £250 in October he decided to get it paid off by Christmas so in October he paid £180 (leaving a balance of £70 to be paid this month). He had an email from Equifax last week stating derogatory info had been placed on his credit file. It was from Mutual - they have reported him as a (1) , we contacted his agent who said their system is up to date so its correct. Contacted Head Office who refused to discuss it and said he had to contact the local Mutual branch, contacted the branch who have said their system is up to date and they dont know how it was reported as that and they cant change it. The issue here is my partner got the mutual loan, a contract phone and a credit card last year to build up a credit (as he had never had anything his score was really bad and he wants to get a mortgage next year). So his credit file was completely clean and the ''score'' was 850 ... this one mark has put him into the poor category with a ''score'' of 650. What can he do to get this rectified? Mutual Agent, Head Office and Local Branch all say they cant change it

Please can anyone advice me as I am in a right mess. A month ago I bought myself a Golf 1.6 16v on a 2001 plate, the car was sound but due to my job working for Domino's as a delivery driver I decided to have a new cambelt kit fitted by a mobile mechanic. Two weeks later when on my way home from a hospital appointment 10 miles from home, a bolt in the engine sheared off wrecking all 16 valves, I called out the mechanic who stratched his head and help to push the car onto a side street where is stayed for a week, every day he said he was going to recover, it finally came back to my drive on Tues its now Saturday. He's taken the engine out and taken it to his house, he's also now saying that it isnt his fault the timing belt had failed and "not to worry as it is under guarantee". A few days later he told me that the parts company (not the manufacturer) was going to supply all the parts to fix it? Within the conversation he mentioned the parts company name, so I called them. They knew of this incident but had not agreed anything as it will need a full investigation, which could take months however this mechanic had ordered parts (don't know what though) they arrived on Thursday and my car was promised back yesterday, then I got my ex-partner to call him today and he then said it will be done today. I have lost £300 in wages and my little girls follow up appointment in Manchester is Monday, I am a single parent and running out of money fast as I can no longer work been without my car for 2 weeks now? And the mechanic isn't answering his phone now!

Hi everybody my first time in using this forum I have a problem with a well known high st bank that I had a credit card with some years ago,due to getting myself into financial difficulty I went to all my lenders and negotiated a repayment plan with all lenders. After paying all lenders I found out a year later that a certain bank had placed a default notice on my credit score even though the account was settled. I asked the bank to explain why as the payments had been adhered to and there response after many visits to the bank and telephone calls that they could not remove it. I then contacted the Financial Ombudsman and there findings were that it was incorrectly applied and should have been applied by the bank a year earlier but this was not the case and there recommendation was that it should be reapplied at the earlier date! Can a incorrect default notice be left to stand and can they re apply it? The reason the financial ombudsman said it should be back dated is that it should show a true reflection of my account but due to them putting me on a repayment plan and my payments didn't meet the minimum percentage of what they needed but this was also not explained to me. They now even refuse to speak to me or enter in any form of correspondence what can I do regards Jon

Hi, I am looking to speak with Lee of Vodafone as he seems to be the guy who can help me in a situation such as this. I had a very large bill in January last year (2012) and consequently ended up 3 months in arrears. I set up a payment plan of 330 per month and this is evidenced on my credit report as AP for April, May & June. For some reason however my credit report shows me going from 3 months in arrears to 3 months in AP and suddenly to 6 months late in July and defaulted in August then satisfied in September. I have bank statements that show I have paid the 330 in July, August & September. I also made a card payment of 330 during that time as Vodafone said they had a payment missing and even though I knew I had paid I paid to avoid default. Vodafone are now saying that they appear to owe me 330 pounds. Yes that is because I paid an extra payment to avoid default which they subsequently did anyway and it is only when I got in touch with them that they mentioned the 330 they owed me. I dont even want the money back, I just want the credit reference agency updated to show the actual situation rather than the current one. One that shows me going 3 months in arrears, then entering an arrangement to pay and regular payments until the debt was satisfied. I have copies of bank statements and credit ref agency print outs etc and am planning to send them to Esther at QA but have seen some good things on here about Lee and some not so good things about the responsivveness of the QA team. Thanks for your help, hope to hear from you soon. Jamie Paterson.

Have just seen this on the BBC Local news.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-22686167 Motorists are being advised to contact a solicitor immediately if they believe they have been wrongly convicted.

Hi Guys, I am sure that this has been asked a thousand times but I have tried searching and cant seem to find a definative answer. I have requested the breakdown of charges from equita and they are as follows: Debt: £263.16 Statutory Visit Fees: £42.50 Levy Fee: £31.00 Attendane Fee: £140.00 Card Fee: £1.00 Total £477.66. So firstly I have only ever been visited twice, both times I was not at home so their visit fee is correct. BUT, the levy fee and attendance fee?? I have never recieved notice of the levy or why they would bring a van to take goods that I have not had notice of. Also, I live at my partners house, it is not my house - if they gained access for example through an open door and did a levy of goods can this be classed as trespass as I had already informed them at the beginning that I did not own the house or the belongings within the house which if they record calls they will have a record of this. Is there anyway I can claim back the levy and attendance fee? Just little help would be gratefully recieved. Thanks for looking.

I went to buy a used car from a dealership on Saturday on finance. On Monday I found out my application was rejected. I was very surprised about this as I was under the impression that I had good credit history. I decided to pay for my credit report through Equifax, and was very surprised to see an account with several late payments, showing in red, as 'very poor'. It turns out that this credit account is my mother's, and should never have been in my name. I have contacted the company who the credit was with and they have said that as it is in my name, and there is still outstanding debt, that nothing can be done. My mother has also contacted them to explain the situation. They have told me that until I pay the debt off that it will remain in red on my file, and then it will be settled. The debt is no longer with them but is with EOS. I am unable to pay the debt off as I don't have the money available, and as it isn't mine I shouldn't have to. I really don't know what to do next. I really need to get this bad credit account removed from my credit history, but I'm obviously in a very difficult situation in that it is my mum who this debt belongs to. I'm 22 and this is going to really affect my life at this stage when I will be wanting to get a car, mortgage etc. Does anyone have any advice on who I should contact and what I should do? Thanks

I was recently issued with a "PCN" by a 3rd party parking firm responsible for managing the car park at my local train station for not correctly displaying a ticket. The penalty is £50 if paid within 14 days, increasing to £100 thereafter. In my view, this is clearly an intimidatory tactic designed to panic recipients into paying up without question. Despite being able to produce a valid ticket, the firm's appeal process takes no account of this and therefore discriminates against well-intentioned users of the car park who, unlike deliberate avoiders of the parking ticket fee, have paid the required fee and are still hit with an extortionate penalty. Having asked the parking firm to justify the level of the penalty in relation to any loss incurred (ie. none), the response was the standard "breach of byelaw 14". My other point of contention relates to the fact that I purchased the ticket from a rail ticket machine (rather than a dedicated car parking ticket machine) by the station ticket office prior to entering the car park. There are no signs by this machine explaining the terms and conditions of car park use, therefore the ticket / contract was purchased without a clear explanation of the t&c's. The t&c's are only displayed by the ticket machine in the car park itself but the information board is not lit and therefore not clearly visible at the time of purchase (0625). As for the threat of "debt collection agency", presumably any disputed 'debt' cannot be established unless determined via the courts. I would be interested to know if these would be considered as valid arguments in this matter

I spoke to one of Hastings advisers and he informed me that my policy had been cancelled 2 months shy of its renewal , he also mentioned that when the payment was due to be taken the direct debit was rejected which I agreed with him that my pay was not credited to my account until the day after due to an administrative error. Although apparently it is normal Hastings practice to put the payment through a second time which was stated in the letter which I have in my possession from Hastings the adviser assured me that the payment was again rejected. I have contacted my bank and they informed me that no payment was attempted from Hastings either by direct debit or debit card. When I subsequently contacted another Hastings representative after I had discovered that the policy had been cancelled I was informed that it would not be possible to re-instate the policy even though I offered to pay the remaining two months balance and even more frustrating is that the representative offered to waive the £55.00 cancellation fee if I took out a new Policy with the Sales Department. Not only has Hastings acted completely without concern for their customer knowing the additional strains put on us serving military personnel at this time during the Olympics but now without the no claims bonus to which I am entitled my insurance is costing an extraordinary amount.

Hi All, Just looking for a little advice with this one. I have an oustanding Payday loan with a well known PDL company. Needless to say I got into financial difficulty and was unable to pay the full amount; they refused to accept any proposal, so I sent the letter offering and ignore everything else. I went through a period of about two months where I was getting up to 10 calls per day on my mobile and home phone line from them with just a recorded message. Some as late as 9pm. Complained regarding telephone harassement, still continued, threatened OFT and Trading standards complaints. Calls stopped, and then the snail mail battle began: On 17th Sept I received a Default Notice from this company. Dated 13th September with the following wording: Firstly I've taken note that they have failed to allow for postage times and the actual date that the Default Notice was effectively served on me. So to start with their breach date is quoted according to the Default Notice as 27/09/2012; whereas it should be 01/10/2012. Secondly I have received another letter today dated 20th September advising that as I have failed to respond my account is now in default and is in the process of being passed to a third party for legal action. So strike one with the incorrectly served default notice, and strike two with the account being placed in default 7 days before their Default Notice indicated and 11 days before the legal breach date. Can anybody offer any advice as to how to word this in a letter to them? Another quick question I have though, if somebody could be so kind as to assist. On their Default notice; the address they have provided is not included on their Licence. Does this mean they're canvassing or conducting consumer credit related business from an unlawful address? Thanks in advance

i was issued a FPN today, i have just noticed the address has been mis spelt, does it make the ticket invalid? responses greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

1st time post and looking for advice. I parked in the council car park last sunday, purchased a parking ticked and placed on the dashboard of my car. I returned a couple of hours later to see a penalty charge notice issued by the council (it appears to be completed correctly). On checking my parking ticket I realised that it must have flipped over when I placed it on the dash or whilst closing the door. So the ticket has been issued correctly but as I had a valid ticket to park do I have grounds to appeal? many thanks

1st Credit have replied stating they do not have my cca and that at present they cannot enforce the debt:). A paragraph from the letter says "you have not specified upon which ground you rely for your notice under s10 of the Data Protection Act and therefore we do not consider this valid: furthermore this is not a valid request as it falls under the exemption in Schedule 2 section 2(a) of the Act" could someone kindly decipher that paragraph for me!!!:-|