I would be most grateful if anyone can help us with this. My wife and I flew from Malaga to East Midlands airport on flight LS606 on 11 December. The flight was 4 hours late arriving into Malaga and we ended up being 3 hours 15 minutes late into East Midlands. Whilst there was some minor snow on 10 December that tenmpoarirly closed the airport, flights fully resumed in the afternoon on 10th. Our aircraft first flew out from East Midlands, due to leave at 11am but actually left at 3:15pm, thus was late arriving in Malaga. The excuse the airling want to fob me off with is 'adverse weather'. But I was flying from Malaga where the weather was fine and into East Midlands where there were no problems landing or taxiing. On investigation, it seems as through there were mechanical problems and delays with teh de-icing euqipment and thus is a ground operations delay and not a weather delay that effected the outbounf aicraft. In any event, as siad we were not flying from East Midlands but into. So, my question is this. Would faulty/ill prepared de-icing equipemt used for the outbound flight to Malaga be justification for the airline citing adverse weather for our inbound flight, albeit the same aircraft. They could have used another aircraft, or chartered one but obviously that would cost them. I am not in the slightest happy to be told that I cannot claim under EC204 regs for the 3hours+ delay because they want to wave the banner of 'adverse weather' when as said, there was no adverse weather that actually effected OUR flight, but the one before. Any help or guidance would be very welcome.

If anyone could give some advice on this I would be great. Following loss of my partner in August I had a nervous breakdown had to go into hospital for a week. My parents had to take care of my children and its been a pretty devastating and traumatic year, given the nature that he passed away. We are back on track now and rebuilding our lives I was out of work for a few weeks and inevitably have fallen behind on a few things. One being council tax, I missed 2 payments totally £84.44. I'm sure I spoke to them on the phone at the time and told them what had happened and that I was struggling i have received a 'south East Surrey Petty Sessional Division Summons for non-payment of council tax' - the summons requires me to attended a local magistrates on 12 December at 9.30AM and includes court costs of £50.00. Any advice would be extremely well accepeted!

Rent pressure zones READ MORE HERE: https://beta.gov.scot/policies/private-renting/rent-pressure-zones/ Please note this only affects 'Private Residential Tenancies' in Scotland Only Rent Pressure Zone Checker: https://www.mygov.scot/rent-pressure-zone-checker/

Hi All I've had a Claim form from Northampton court today for a parking ticket from December 2011 BW Legal for EXECEL PARKING SERVICES LTD i have sent a letter previously stating that i wasn't driving at the time i'm the registered keeper but not the driver. also all the records as to who was driving have been lost due to fire damage what do i submit as a defence and i want to counter claim expenses for having to take a day off work as im self employed

Hi, newbie here, thanks in advance for any advice. My daughter started a full time btec level 3 course prior to her 19th birthday.She is currently entitled to child tax credit, child benefit and I get child support via csa. I am trying to work out when her benefits will stop as she although turning 20 in december, will have not finished her course till the following summer as year two of course will have started just september prior to her 20th birthday. Can anyone advise me, when date wise her child benefit, child tax credit and support from csa will stop so I can plan ahead, thanks as I have found it very confusing to understand. I myself are disabled on support group esa and pip.

CAG Newsletter - October 2010 01 -October 2010 Newsletter.pdf CAG Newsletter - November 2010 02 - November 2010 Newsletter.pdf CAG Newsletter - December 2010 03 - December 2010 Newsletter.pdf

Hi folks, Mid-December last year, I bought a used car from a local dealer to replace our family car which was dying a death after many years of faithful service. The car looked to be in good condition (for a 10 year old car), full service history, 89k on the clock, just what we were looking for. I paid £1500 for the car plus £150 for a new cam belt and water pump as there was no evidence of this in the service history. they gave me £100 for our old car in part exchange. The car came with three months warranty. On 12th March (one day after the warranty expired), we broke down on the way to our son's birthday party in another town. The car reported "Low oil pressure" and proceeded to dump oil all over the car park of the venue. RAC was called out and they found a pipe that connects into the oil filter(?) was disconnected from its spigot and was basically just spraying oil all over the engine bay. he re-connected the pipe, washed out the engine bay, filled me back up with oil, I thanked him and we went our separate ways. On the way home from the party, we broke down again, this time no alarms or messages on the dash but we had a lot of white smoke coming from the back of the car. RAC was called again, they found that all that new oil the previous guy had put in was now gone, and this time they towed me to the garage I have used for years where it sat for the weekend and I phoned them to tell them what the issue was and ask them to take a look. I had a call back from them the following day and they've said that the engine is building up too much pressure and blowing out whichever pipe is easiest, causing the engine to dump the oil. they said the cause of this is something to do with the piston rings and I was probably looking at having to replace the engine. Best case scenario, I'm looking at approx £1500, pretty much what I paid for the car three months prior. I called the dealer to try and open a dialog to get this sorted. I was told to call back the following day and talk to the owner. I asked for his name three times, they wouldn't give it to me. I also asked for a specific time to call and they wouldn't give me that either. After speaking to someone the following day and getting nowhere, I wrote them a letter detailing what the garage had found, the estimate of repair and as the car was just outside of its warranty (and because of the previous conversation I'd had with them) some text regarding the Consumer Rights Act (taken from the gov website). I've received a response from the dealer basically saying it's not on them because a "full inspection" was made by us on the day of purchase (I know nothing about cars, which is why I tend to prefer buying from dealers :/ ), to their knowledge the car was in good condition, and the 3 month warranty had expired. They've also gone on to say the issues we mentioned are not covered by their warranty anyway, and as the vehicle was manufactured a long time ago, they "cannot guarantee something may happen" to it. They state that they performed a "standard vehicle inspection" and it has a "full valid MOT". I'm not sure what my next step should be at this point. Do I send them another letter arguing their points and suggesting a full diagnosis at their expense? Or do I go to small claims court at this stage? Any help (including wording for the next letter) greatly appreciated! If anyone can offer any advice on what's probably going to happen and my best course of action for if they refuse to do anything, I'd really appreciate it. Many thanks in advance.

I haven't got an appointment for a medical yet. But I am scared that I won't be rearded whatever you get when you pass. I think it's ATOS. Anyway, in December my a doctor diagnosed me with anxiety but I also have another problem which is not mentioned on my sicknotes,. It's trapped wind which is embarrising and I am seeing the doctor on Monday for both my anxiety and the trapped wind. My brother has been on ESA for about 9 months because of his Herchsprung's deasease. It's bowl related and he has stomach pains which will make him violently sick, he was born with this. ATOS has now taken him off ESA and I am scared that they';; do this to me as I am nervous around new people and shy. Plus with my trapped wind or whatever it is, is painful and lasts hours. I have had medication but nothing worked. Is it possible to pass with a mental problem then with a physical? I'm just wondering.

Some driving examiners are planning to take strike action at various times from Tuesday 1 December until Friday 4 December 2015. Some driving examiners who are members of the Public and Commercial Service (PCS) union are planning to take strike action. PCS has planned action at various times from Tuesday 1 December until Friday 4 December 2015. DVSA is doing all it can to make sure that tests go ahead as planned. Not all examiners are union members, and many test centres are expected to be operating as normal. You can read further information on GOV.UK

Are you ready for Wallace and Gromit's Big Bake? Wallace and Gromit need you to roll out your rolling pins, whip out your whisks and preheat your ovens to help them raise some dough for kids in hospitals and hospices from 7-13 December. The BIG Bake proudly supported by Homepride Flour, aims to get people of all ages baking to raise money for sick children in hospitals and hospices across the UK. Whether you bake cupcakes or cheesecakes, pies or pastries, brownies or bloomers, or your own unique showstopper, rise to the occasion and get registered to support this cracking fundraising event. Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity will send you a FREE BIG Bake fundraising pack with all you need to take part, including posters, stickers and our very special bunting. The BIG Bake is an event for everyone; you can take part at work, at school, at home with friends and family or even within your local community! Don’t forget to enter their Cracking Baker competition to be in with a chance to win some fantastic prizes! Visit the BIG Bake website to find out more and to register for your FREE fundraising pack!!!

Dear All, I was wondering whether anyone might have a copy of Abbey's Standard Mortgage Conditions booklet edition 2006 (printed December). Thank you

Women are being urged to check their car insurance ahead of a new rule coming into force next month which will ban firms from taking gender into account. It means female drivers will see their premiums go up by as much as 25% after 21 December. Some insurers say it might even be cheaper to cancel a policy and sign a new deal before the changes come in. More ... It was obvious they would up the womens policy and not lower the mens. This is twice now the government has forced extra profit on insurance companies and forced us to pay more. First was the con of the 'continuous insurance' and now the 'no gender concessions'. Are MPs shareholders in insurance companies, it would seem that way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19952457

ECJ Gender directive. Background. Draft Directive on Equal Treatment On 2 July 2008, under its ‘Renewed Social Agenda’, the European Commission adopted a non discrimination package including a proposal for a new directive on equal treatment. This proposal prohibits discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief outside the employment sphere, in the areas of social protection, including social security and health care; education; and access to and supply of goods and services which are commercially available to the public, including housing and transport. The new directive would come on top of four other directives; one on discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin, both within and outside the labour market; one on discrimination in the labour market; one on equal treatment between men and women as regards access to employment; and one on equal treatment between men and women as regards access to and supply of goods and services. On the 2nd April 2009 the proposed directive was adopted by the European Parliament. The Government Equalities Office ran a 12 week public consultation from 5 May to 28 July in 2009 on the Commission’s Proposal. It has since published a summary of the responses. Negotiations on the Directive are continuing in Europe. Gender Directive Article 5(2) of the Gender Directive allows Member States to permit differences relating to gender in respect of insurance premiums and benefits if gender is a determining risk factor and that can be substantiated by relevant, accurate, and regularly updated actuarial and statistical data. st On 1 March 2011,in its final ruling on the Test Achats case regarding the opt out in Article 5(2) of the Gender Directive2004 the European Court of Justice(ECJ)declared Article 5(2) to be void with effect from 21 December 2012. As of this date, all Member States must consider the provision to be invalid. The ruling applies from December 2012,however its impact on insurance contracts concluded prior to this date and on those that remain in force beyond it is not yet clear. Test Achats, the Belgian Consumer Association, originally brought their case, before the Belgian Constitutional Court in 2009. They argued that the opt out provision in Article 5(2) was contrary to the principle of gender equality as enshrined in primary Community law, and in particular to article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union**. The Belgian Constitutional Court referred the case to the ECJ. The Advocate General gave her opinion to the ECJ on 30 September 2010 that the derogation should be annulled. IMPLICATIONS; Car Insurance,Over a long period,Insurers calculated premiums based on whether a driver was male or female.although statics showed that there was little difference in the amount of accidents occurred between women and men,there is evidence to show that costs to address incidents by women for the Insurers were significantly less. Young and new drivers are expected to be hit the hardest and already face high premiums. Traditionally,drivers with no history gave women an upper hand as they were rated as a lower risk than male drivers. A report from one leading Insurance company in July 2012,has revealed that insurance for a new male driver averaged £1060 more than that of a female in the 17-25 age group. The new ruling means that this mode of decision making will be unlawful. It is expected that young womens policies will rise,whilst young mens will fall slightly,and could see a 10% benefit. Young women meanwhile could face increases of up to 25%. As the December deadline approaches,It is a good idea for those women likely to be affected to sort out policies ASAP. Another way of softening the blow is for drivers to consider telematics (Black Box technology) which give scope for young drivers to prove their abilities as safe drivers,and enjoy discounts as a result. LIFE INSURANCE The ruling is likely to impact on life and health insurance too,since women have longer life expectancy than men. Whilst there is not much information available at the moment,it is accepted that womens premiums are expected to rise,although not by the 25% expected in the case of young womens car insurance premiums.Index linked or guaranteed policies are unlikely to be affected. Variable premiums however,could see an increase or decrease. Some experts are suggesting that those with variable policies should think about switching to a fixed one,but consider that prices could go either way. As always The CAG suggests that you seek independent expert advise before making any decisions. HEALTH INSURANCE Little changes are forecast,since women and men already pay similar rates,although women could see a small drop in payments for Income Protection Policies,which pay out for sickness,with men seeing a slight rise in policy payments. Looking around for a better policy before December is an option for those who think they may benefit.

EDF Energy (December 2010) Investigation into compliance with the Gas and Electricity (Consumer Complaints Handling Standards) Regulations 2008 (the “CHSR”) Ofgem is still investigating whether EDF Energy has breached these regulations. The investigation has now been extended to consider whether EDF Energy’s customer contact centre is complying with the requirements of the CHSR and other related obligations. Regulation 7 of the CHSR requires that suppliers (a) receive, handle and process consumer complaints in an efficient and timely manner and (b) allocate and maintain such level of resources as may reasonably be required to enable it to do so.