I live in an area of NE London where the theft of new Mercs and BMWs is an every day occurrence. The police now quite literally decide not to give a toss. They do not even show up to view CCTV imagery. Father in law had his stolen, sister-in-law's father-in-law also had his attempted to be stolen twice in 2 weeks and today I learned the owner of a small lettings business had his stolen and stripped down whilst the thieves attempted to find a tracker (causing £12,000 worth of damage). The police have now stated they don't have the time or resources to come down, perform forensics or investigate. For this last one, a crime reference number was given on the phone and the victim was asked not to bother coming in and just deal with the insurance company.. It's a f***ing pandemic and the s**tty security behind £50k vehicles has got to be one of the biggest scandals today. Yet, idiots refuse to accept the reality and continue to buy this garbage. I drive a 10 year old car but am paying a premium for living in a "high risk area". Last year, my insurance was £950, this year £1,200 despite no changes on my part. 1.5 miles down the road I can get insurance for £800. Out of all the thefts over the last year, I seriously doubt 10 year old cars were targeted. I seriously doubt Ford Focus' and Vauxhall Corsas' were on the thieves' list. Yet we all suffer... My question is WHY? Why do I have to suffer for the expensive choices about 1% of the local population make? Why not increase the insurance premiums for those who decide to buy £50k cars with mediocre levels of security? The answer is of course that no one would then buy those vehicles, and the insurance companies wouldn't have any premium customers and the motor trade itself would suffer because the ****ty cars they sell would not be insurable. So what can someone like me do about this short of moving out of the area? Where can we start in order to have this car insurance company practice of spreading the burden on to the entire local population looked at? Any ideas? Thanks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/01/end-rip-off-rail-fares-ticket-pricing-system-gets-overhaul/

It's a 'only wish it happened to me' moment, when Amazon (well marketplace trader) put the wrong price on an item in my favor. What is the position in insisting that I get the items I bought? I think much depends on 'the contract'. ie is it an offer and your acceptance -or- is it a contract? So far I have found in the "The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013" Under part 5 section 42 paragraph (3) states: Unless there is an agreed time or period, the contract is to be treated as including a term that the trader must deliver the goods— (a) without undue delay, and (b) in any event, not more than 30 days after the day on which the contract is entered into. So some hope? However, I note in my case, that Amazon have in their T&Cs regarding 3. PRICING AND AVAILABILITY "Despite our best efforts, a small number of the items in our catalogue may be mispriced. We will verify pricing when processing your order and before we take payment. If we have made a mistake and a product's correct price is higher than the price on the website, we may either contact you before dispatch to request whether you want to buy the product at the correct price or cancel your order." Anyone any idea how to test the validity of this clause?

12 Jaffa cakes for one pound or 24 for £2.39. Huh ??

Hi I am new to this forum and hope someone can help me. I have been paying off five credit cards over the last four/five years at 24%+ interest (reducing by around £1 per month) and only recently have I found out about the APAC's agreement of 2009 with the banks and what options they should make clear to their customers when imposing new interest rates. I do not have the original re-pricing letters, but i am almost certain they did not offer me the option of closing my account and keeping the 'old' interest rate and paying off the debt by continuing my monthly payments until the debt was cleared. I have written to the banks in question (barclays- Egg; mint, tesco, halifax and HSBC) and asked them for a copy of the original letters. So far only one has replied - Halifax. They insist they do not keep copies of the original copies, and have sent me a copy of their 'system' generated rate change letter. I do not know yet if this is their current one, or one from 2009 etc but it does show the option that I could close etc. I wonder if anyone has copies (obviously with any personal data removed) of the rate re-pricing letters from these banks dating back to 2009? (or older ). Thank you in anticipation Gazza

Five furniture and carpet retailers have changed their pricing practices following an OFT investigation. A Share & Sons Limited (trading as 'SCS'), Carpetright Plc, Dreams Limited, Furniture Village Limited and Homestyle Operations Limited's trading brands 'Harveys' and 'Bensons for Beds' have each confirmed their commitment to using genuine reference prices and, without any admission of liability, have made changes to their reference pricing practices. The OFT has therefore closed its investigation. Reference prices are used by retailers across their sector to advertise a bargain to shoppers, for example by comparing a lower current price against a higher past price such as 'Sale, Was £800, Now Half Price £400'. The OFT believes that consumers should be able to trust that such price comparisons are fair and meaningful and that the advertised savings (or 'price advantage') are genuine. Improper use of reference prices can mislead consumers, for example in circumstances where the 'discounted' price is in fact the normal retail price of a product. http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2014/19-14#.Uyxn-KyQYrs

The energy regulator has branded a proposal by EDF to introduce single unit pricing for gas and electricity as "not as simple as it sounds". Instead, Ofgem is to simplify the energy market in the forthcoming Energy Bill by requiring companies to limit the number of tariffs on offer to four for each of gas and electricity. EDF Energy calls for 'petrol station forecourt' pricing One of the UK's biggest energy suppliers has called for single-unit pricing for gas and electricity to help consumers compare tariffs as easily as they currently shop around for petrol. EDF Energy said it would introduce the system if all other suppliers did too. The energy regulator Ofgem said the proposed scheme would not be as easy to implement as it might appear. This was because of the number of payment options and special "dual fuel" packages that currently existed. A plan by Ofgem to simplify the energy market will be included in the forthcoming Energy Bill. It will require companies to limit the number of tariffs on offer to four for each of gas and electricity. But EDF said that plan was still too complicated. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22916656

Anyone any experience of challenging an increase in interest rates on their Coop credit card? I received a letter notifying me of a 1% increase effective 60 days from the letter as a result of a review of my account. This is the first time in the 30+ years I have held the card I have received such notification and I have never received notification that the interest rate was to be reduced as the result of such a review! I suspect that the review process is a one-way street and would like to challenge it, probably directly through the County Court as an unfair practice under COBS. I will first contact Jon Bowen (Head of Customer Services, ex head of Sales) for an explanation of the EXACT review process and elements they considered as a part of the review but do not expect a timely or useful response. In the letter they provide a broken link to the UK Cards Association fact sheet on re-pricing (I eventually found the doc myself) but that does not throw any useful light on the topic other than the issuing bank has the right to review and alter the interest rate to reflect risk and they can decide what elements to review. If I do not know EXACTLY what elements have led to this increase how can I possibly change my spending/payment behavior to not only ensure there are no further increases but to reduce the current level? By not making this data available to me they are denying me the opportunity to reduce my CC interest rates and using opacity to gouge another 1% out of me! PS I am a member of the Cooperative movement but that obviously makes no difference; we are all treated equally (sometimes badly) , members or not....