I recently rented a car via a 3rd party website. After the rental I found out I had been charged extra for damage and theft excess protection insurance by the 3rd party website on top of the quoted price. I don't need the extra insurance as I already have travel insurance on my credit card which includes this. Upon checking their website I see it is checked automatically but not included in the headline price. It's up to you to un check it and opt out. Unfortunately I missed this. I emailed them and asked for it to be cancelled but they refused on the grounds that the rental had already started. I booked the car 1.5 hours before pick up so there was no way I would have spotted this before I picked the car up as it didn't appear on my credit card statement until next day. I thought all these pre selected charges requiring an opt out had been banned now. Is it worth disputing the extra charge with my credit card company?

A special register allowing people to prevent charities from pestering them for donations will be created following the death of a Bristol poppy seller. 92-year-old Olive Cooke killed herself in the Avon Gorge last May after battling depression. Shortly after her death it was revealed she had been bombarded with thousands of messages from charities she supported. The Fundraising Regulator (FPS) hopes to launch the service this year, subject to approval from members. HOW WILL IT WORK? Users create an account and choose which charities they want to block from contacting them. Each account will last two years - and users will be asked if they wish to renew their details three months before they expire. Charities which spend more than £100,000 per year on fundraising will be required to bankroll the register by contributing £15,000 annually. It will only apply to fundraising communications and not information letters, or calls put out by charities. http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2016-08-26/charity-regulator-planned-to-stop-persistant-donation-pestering/ https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/about/purpose-strategy/

If you're annoyed by nuisance calls, you can opt out of them by text message. The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) has been running for a number of years, but according to communications regulator Ofcom only 48% of the people it surveyed knew that mobile numbers can be registered on the TPS (compared with 88% who knew about home phone numbers being eligible). The "text-to-register" service lets you add your number to the "do not call" database of the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which is good news (provided it works). If you want in, all you have to do is text "TPS" with your number to 78070. And that's it. You should get a SMS reply from the TPS, which confirms that your number has been added into their database. http://www.bitterwallet.com/mobile/today-you-can-opt-out-of-cold-calls-by-text-92175

The Financial Conduct Authority today announced plans to ban opt-out selling in financial services markets. Opt-out selling is the practice of defaulting consumers into buying a product which they then have to opt out of, for example by using pre-ticked boxes to sell the consumer add-on insurance. http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-proposes-an-end-to-opt-out-selling-of-insurance-add-ons FCA to ban pre-ticked 'add-on' insurance sales http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/25/fca-to-ban-pre-ticked-add-on-insurance-sales

Hi guys i work for a company who look after the virgin media contract, i am working at the moment over 70 hours a week which is tiring me out to be honest, i have a family and have very little time for myself or my kids you keep telling them about it in the nicest way possible even though its hard to keep your cool sometimes and they take Sh*t all on aboard what i have to say. I am on template pay (pay per job) now i can make some decent money when i get the big jobs like quad's, triples and duals. But lately ive been finishing my own work by 3pm ready for home and i always seem to get lumbered with other peoples because they simply cannot keep up or had worse problems than myself in the day i never seem to get any help my way when im struggling and all my manager can say is swings and round abouts, seems to be enough swings but no round abouts my way. My biggest concern is the pay im owed, i am missing money from June, August, September and October and when i keep submitting my wage query's i hear nothing back this goes on for months and up to this day i still have not received any money im owed. I have joined the cable workers union but obviously want to the company to rectify this problem first without involving the union, a lad i work with has also submitted a grievance to the HR of the company and said they are looking into it he has told me to look on google for the template letter regarding pay but not having any luck could anyone be so kind to point me into the right direction and is there any law to me doing more than 12 hours a day can i refuse to work after 12 hours ?

Consumers and small businesses should be allowed to exit their landline, broadband or mobile contract without penalty if their provider increases the cost of their monthly deal, Ofcom announced today. Ofcom is telling providers how to interpret and apply current telecoms sector rules2 in relation to price increases during fixed-term contracts. Ofcom is also confirming the cancellation rights it expects providers to give consumers following price increases. This Guidance sets out that: Ofcom is likely to regard any increase3 to the recurring monthly subscription charge4 in a fixed-term contract as ‘materially detrimental’ to consumers; providers should therefore give consumers at least 30 days’ notice of any such price rise and allow them to exit their contract without penalty; and any changes to contract terms, pricing or otherwise, must be communicated clearly and transparently to consumers. http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2013/10/23/protection-for-consumers-against-mid-contract-price-rises/

Hello, I'm new here, just found this as I am looking for help. It's a bit of a long story. Anyway, here goes. I have worked for a large retail company for the past three years. I am employed full time on a 38 hour contract which is 5 days over 7. I have two problems really. The first is the lack of support for my illness, clinical depression, which I've suffered from for about 10 years or so. I made my employer aware of this because I like to keep things open and honest. I suffer very very badly when I have my 'down times' to the point where every tiny thing I have to do seems like a massive mountain. Despite this I have an excellent attendance record and never have sick days. For the most part I struggle though but I can't describe how difficult I find it going in each day during my down times and having to pretend everything is ok, put a brave face on it. It's utterly exhausting to the point where by the time I get home I have nothing left for my family. Basically my family are suffering because all of my energy goes into ensuring I don't let my illness impact my colleagues or my work. I try to keep in touch with my managers, letting them know when I am going through a 'down time' but generally they are very dismissive and have a pull your self together attitude one even asked me "see this depression thing, is it only when your working you get it or do you get it at holidays too?". Well, I've coped so far and struggled on despite the impact on my home life as I don't want to loose my job or have a bad attendance record however recently I'm at breaking point. Basically, although I work in a shop I work "back of house' so to speak dealing with stock deliveries and paperwork. There are four people who do my job. We do not need people in my roll in on a Sunday as there are no deliveries and no work for us though they do like one of us to be in for the odd job which is totally fine. Generally they have always given each of the four of us one weekend day off to be with our families which was perfect. However, recently the rotas are no longer generated by a human being, but by an automatic computer program and for the last six months our shifts have been horrendous leaving us working evenings and weekends despite the demands of our job role staying the same. I barely see my family any more and rather than having a stable, rolling rota like we used to have our shifts are now totally eratic and have no stability or routine at all. This has played havok with my depression making me worse than I have every been in my life as I relied on that stability and seeing my family for support. I've gone right down hill and my doctor agrees the lack of routine and family time is certainly not helping. I tried to talk to my employer about this but was dismissed out right and told "well get used to not seeing your family cos that's just the way it is. You shouldn't be so dependant on family time." So that got me nowhere, but a friend told me as UK shop workers we can opt out of Sunday working legally. I was so happy because I thought I'd found a solution that would at least give me one set day a week to spend with my family cos as it stands I work myself into a panic each week when the rota is released. I look at it and cry when I realise I'm on my third week without a day in sight that I can spend with my family. So I thought this way I can rely on having that one day every week. It seemed perfect. I also understood that if I opt out my employer can cut my hours by a day, which was fine because I felt my health was more important and it wasn't going to be a huge loss financially after tax etc. So I went to them with this, telling them again about my stress and depression and that I would like to give three months notice and opt out of Sundays. Well they wouldn't have it. They told me if I did that then I would be demoted to a completely different job within the shop on a considerably lower rate of pay. It was my understanding they couldn't treat you unfairly if you opted out. I feel like they are doing absoloutley nothing to help support me when I feel like I'm going through hell. Where do I stand on all of this? Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

The above company are offering to stop all of my unwanted phone calls, silent calls, sales calls etc. for a one off fee off £30. Considering how many I get I would be happy to pay them if they are genuine. I am subscribed to The Telephone Preference Service but it does not seem to stop may of them. has anyone any first hand experience of Opt-Out UK ?

Hi, Working in the creative industry, I recently decided to become a freelancer using an umbrella company. I have been offered a one month assignment by a recruitment agency. However they require me to sign a conduct regulations 2003 opt out form Can anyone explain what this is? Not sure if it´s just some bureaucracy or something I truly should worry about? Advice is very welcome! Thanks, Mia

Hello all and good new year, I applied for a mobile with CPW, I only made one application and was accepted. I applied for a mortgage and was refused as two many applications on my equifax credit report, (£500 application fee lost). On my credit report CPW have entered 6 entries in table 1 search for one application! reason OPT IN. at two address on different dates. ie 3-nov;4-nov and 5-nov. (my current and previous) As I only made 1 application is this legal? I have contacted CPW, they have stated that it was a computer error and contacted equifax and removed one entry, when they should have removed 4 - two at each address. As they have admitted the mistake and I have lost money due to this error, are CPW liable for my losses? THanks