I am a small independent skincare maker. I purchased the service of MyHermes to collect and deliver 4 parcels of wholesale skincare goods to a stockist, and 3 were lost. * 2 parcels had their last scan at the Hermes depot Jun 1st '18, and haven't been seen since. * 1 parcel made it to the destination OK. * 1 parcel was said to have been delivered but was never received, and at some point I was told the delivery scan happened on the other side of town to where the parcel was supposed to go. MyHermes say they've conducted multiple sweeps of the warehouse and can't find them, and have offered me £50 only as a 'good will gesture', which is insulting. I have taken the case through the small claims procedure and it’s been moved from different courts/online to court / different judges etc, and finally now there is a hearing date. I was hoping to settle this without a hearing as I don’t have a lawyer. Hermes claim as the contents is liquids they don’t cover them in their terms. I labelled the boxes as ‘Skincare’ and they took them anyway. And it’s beside the point what the contents were since the boxes were lost/stolen. I'm claiming for the wholesale price of these goods. The case is for around £4,600 including the court costs. I have to pay another £355 hearing fee now, on top of the few hundred I’ve already paid to make the small claims case. Do I continue? Can I go to a hearing without a lawyer and be successful? Do I have any chance? I’m just so sick of all this. I have only a few days (until the 8th March) to pay the hearing fee so I need to decide ASAP whether this is worth it. I would so so appreciate some help or support from someone who knows much more about this than me!

I need some advice. My partner had an operation a week ago on his foot which went well however when they put a back slab (plaster) on his calf to support his foot, they did not put it on properly and he ended up having a deep chemical burn from the plaster. After the operation, he continually told the nurses that he felt that his calf was burning but was told, it is part of the surgery. The nurses did not bother to check his calf. As a result of this, he now needs a skin graft due to chemical burns from the plaster and the burns being so deep. I tried to contact the hospital who did the surgery which is private but the surgery was paid for by the NHS, however they do not has a Patient Advice and Liaison Service and the only way to complain is to email youropinionmatters or another email which is used for feedback mainly. We were advised by the two hospitals that he now had to attend for treatment, to take the matter further as the hospital that did the surgery were negligent. Recently the Consultant that carried out the operation called and stated that he had received notification of what had happened to him and was not aware of the burning. He asked when the burning started and my partner stated straight after surgery and he informed nurses continually. The Consultant said that no-one brought it to his attention and even when he asked if my partner was ok for discharge, the nurses said yes. My partner has a pre-scheduled appointment with him coming up and he said he would like to discuss what happened with him. I am guessing that he does not wish us to go through the medical negligence route that we were advised to take but as we have never been through this before I would like advice on next steps. Help anyone please.

I have had a problem with the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, in brief I had pains in my chest and couldn't breathe and pain in my left arm and went to the A&E on Tuesday the 8th may in the evening I was left for 6 hours and was told nothing was wrong to go home and take paracetamol, myself and my wife argued that I was in pain and couldn't breathe, I had a chest X-ray and a blood test and was still told nothing wrong so I went home, I had the same pain on Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th but didn't bother going back to A&E, on Friday 11th in the morning I was at work and had worse pain in my chest and couldn't breathe, and arm was numb, we didn't want to go back to the A&E I went to the walk in centre at Rouen Rd, Norwich, they did an ecg and blood tests and told me something was wrong and wrote a letter with the results of the ecg to take to the A&E at Norfolk and Norwich hospital urgently, I went to A&E again and gave the letter in at reception I was seen straight away and after another ecg and more blood tests was still told nothing was wrong, again my wife argued and asked had they seen the letter from the walk in centre the junior Dr said he had not, when he looked at the letter and my ecg Results from the Walk in Centre his attitude was completely different he thanked us for arguing our case and telling him about the letter and I was rushed straight on the ward and operated on the next day, I had had a heart attack my arteries were blocked and severely damaged the main artery at the front of my heart, I had to have two balloon stents put in my chest my left arm is still numb and giving me lots of pain, my wife had to argue and fight to get me seen, I am obviously very angry about this. I had previous heart problems and told them in A&E on Tuesday the 8th May that in 2013 I had a heart attack and had to go in hospital and have two jump starts to get my heart back in rhythm, I was put on statins Avorvastatin, and blood pressure tablets (Perindopril, Bisoprolol, Amlopodine , for life, and have to be seen every three months no one took any notice, I said to the doctor that I am self employed I don't need a sick note or a claim I just want to feel better, He said sarcastically there's nothing wrong I know it's not what you want to hear but go home and take paracetamol

Does anyone know anything about medical negligence? My family is at the beginning of a possible negligence case. My brother was taken by ambulance to hospital because he was taken very ill with a violent headache and vomiting. He was kept in the A&E department overnight and diagnosed with migraine. No CT scan was given. Only blood test and pain killers. Even though it was obvious he was very ill, we were called to take him home. I argued with the staff he wasn't fit to go. However I was told he has been cleared to leave. So he has to leave. He was unable to walk to the car park. He couldn't even manage to negotiate from the chair to a wheelchair. He was in a very confused state. He was violently sick throughout the journey and collapsed as soon as he got out of the cab. I called his GP who told me to call another ambulance. This time he was taken to a different hospital. A CT scan found he had suffered a stroke. Result is he has lost almost all of his eyesight. And has been left with weakness down his left side. I made a complaint to the hospital and have just received the completed investigation report. It clearly states mistakes were made and guidelines were not followed. I am awaiting direction from a solicitor as to what can be done. Has anyone any experience with things like this? How hard was it? I have been told it is selfish to think of making a negligence claim against the NHS because of the state it's in. However my brother's life has been left in shreds. This is not something he is going to be able to recover from and put behind him. Sadly for him, this is now his life. We hear often how time matters where strokes are concerned. And many vital hours were lost while he was sitting in A&E untreated. Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi, Last year in May I badly hurt my ankle. It was massively swollen and bruised (I can upload a picture if required). I had damaged my right ligaments in the past and had gone to the hospital and been told just to rest it for a few days. With this in mind, I did not go to hospital for 4 days assuming it was just ligament damage. However, after 4 days the pain was much greater than previous + was much more swollen and bruised. I decided I would go to hospital. Note, I was able to limp on it, but not put much weight at all on it. I went to Accident and Emergency and because it had been 4 days, I was subjected to 'Triage' and a Nurse gave me a lookover. I told her I believed I had fractured it as well as ligament damage. She claimed because I could put some weight on it, it was very unlikely to be a fracture and decided that I did not need an X-Ray. She advised me to go home and rest it. Over the next few months my ankle was in agony daily, I struggled to put proper weight on it for about 4 months and could not do any sport for 7 months. Even after this, I could not properly participate in sports and stopped after a few weeks. I still had pain in the ankle (even when lying still and sleeping, it would be sore after walking for 5 minutes etc) After 11 months of pain, I decided to go private to get the issue fixed. I was given a procedure to repair the ligaments and during this procedure, there was 5mm of bone snapped off in my ankle (the fracture I had suspected). Now, if I had been given the X-Ray when I went to A&E this fracture would have been spotted and I could have received the correct treatment at the time and would not have had to have a year of agony and being unable to enjoy sports. Does anyone think that I have a case? This is my ankle at the time I went to hospital I'm not sure the photo has worked, I do not have enough posts to post a link to it either. Hopefully this has attached now Ankle.pdf

Firstly, I need to say that I live in Scotland, in case this makes any difference to the law involved. I own a flat in a tenement building that I rent out. Common charges are dealt with by a factor who then bills the owners. My bills are sent to my home address for my attention, so it is clear that the factors are aware that I don't live in the premises & have my home address. Some time ago, the factors got in touch with all owners to advise that major work was required on the building & each owner would have to pay around £3900 in advance to have this done. I paid my share as requested. Several months after this, they advised that the work was going ahead, and scaffolding was erected. The contractor then contacted me to advise that they required access to my flat, and the work would entail the complete removal of the bay window at the front, which would then be rebuilt. My tenant, who had one month still to run on her lease, understandably moved out. Three months later, I received a bill from the factor & sent them an email advising that as I was not now receiving rent for this flat & had paid nearly £4000 up front for this work, I was not in a position to pay the bill. I then received a council tax demand. I informed the council that owing to the work being carried out, the flat was uninhabitable, and they asked for proof. I emailed the factor asking for this & they ignored my email, resulting in the council sending debt collectors to my door. Eventually I sent a letter to both detailing the situation with copies of my correspondence etc. the factor finally sent a letter, not to myself but to my mother-in-law's address (she also has a property in this building but hers was not affected by the work), confirming that the work had been completed in September 2016. The council tax bill was duly amended, however there remains a bill to be paid from Sept 2016 to March 2017, and also the factor is now asking for payment of their bill. A total of around £1100 for both. My question is, as the factor knew I was not living in the premises, do I have a case for negligence? I asked several times for information on how the work was progressing & when it would be finished (I have emails as proof) and was only advised eventually in January 2017 that it had been completed in September (although, actually it was not complete even when they advised that it was as although the exterior work had been done, there were no windowsills in my flat and plastering work had still to be done, which I got done myself). Do I have a case to take them to the small claims court for the council tax & their own factoring charges for this period?

Any help would be appreciated. I am trying to establish whether my solicitor has acted negligent by not following the pre-action protocol in respect of a Disrepair claim which has now been settled, after 6 years of my local council denying liability under the OLA 1957. I had an accident during the period where liability was being disputed but my solicitor is claiming that he did not have the funds to pursue a PI claim but never advised me on this, and on checking the pre action protocol under Disrepair claim there is reference that would suggest that in any event, a claim for PI arising from a Disrepair claim could and probably should have been made by a qualified legal representative as the Disrepair procedure makes reference to a PI claim if an injury has occurred because of the disrepair, in this case a out-house flooded everytime it rained.

For over 5 years Myself and my Son have attempted to bring a case together for Medical Negligence against an Hospital in Sheffield from the time frame of 1996 -2010 where my son suffered terribly and was in critical conditions on 3 occasions. We appointed a solicitor back in 2011 to deal with this matter, In 2016 this firm of Solicitors went in to Administration, and we were passed on to another firm to carry on our case. It is a very complex case we as there are many issues dating from 1996-2010 with 3 Hospital stays. We have recently received a letter from this new firm of Solicitors stating that they are closing this case due to lack of evidence etc. It is evident that there is falsifications in my Son’s Medical records and apparent lost information. I have contacted my solicitor pointing these issues out, and explaining that we have solid proof that the information from my Son’s Medical records are false. We are waiting for a reply from them at present. We are unsure of what route to take with all of this, and we would greatly appreciate and advice or support anyone could offer.

hi all, i need some help with solicitors fees. i took my civil claim for a used car i purchased to a solicitor as i was not getting anywhere with the car dealer i purchased from. long story short, the solicitor had my file for 3 years, ran the case into the ground, i paid £17k in costs, the solicitor then came off file when i refused to pay any further money. now the solicitors firm want another £8000. in the end the solicitor did absolutely nothing for me, i didn't win the case nor did i lose it. the dealer in the end repaired the car and gave it back to me, for the privilege i paid a solicitor £17k. what i don't understand is, if my case had no prospect of winning why did they pursue it down the fast track route, instead of offering me legal advice, i was always asked, what i want to do, it was extremely reactive in nature. there would have been a better chance to pursue the defendant for costs in relation to make the car road worthy, the repair would have cost between £2000-£3000 maximum and we could have pursued it smalls claims. they are threatening court action if i don't pay and i really need to know what i can do?? i have been bled dry and dont have any more money to pay another solicitor. really hope someone can help me

Hi, I'm a First Direct Customer and have had a mortgage with them for over 15 years. I am so impressed with their customer service, that I bought their buildings insurance. I've had the policy for donkey's years. In May 2015 I had a leak which came in from the next door neighbour. The ingress of water stayed well below the joists and never damaged any flooring or contents. I repeat, water never ever at any point damaged any of the building or my personal belongings! Asprea, which is a claims management company which is owned by Aviva, assigned a surveyor to manage the claim. However, back at Asprea they were going through a restructure, and the surveyor who was assigned was made redundant. He was never replaced. As such, the builders assigned to do the work had nobody there to control them. The repair contractor brought in by Asprea, a company called Alltrades, went on the do the following to my home and personal property, without my permission and knowledge. 1. Remove all the floorboards from the Dining Room, Hallway and Front Living Room. 2. Remove my entire kitchen (cupboards, tiled flooring, contents), which sits on a concrete base, and as such is completely impervious to water. The kitchen was thrown into a skip. 3. Remove all the wallpaper from the dining room, hallway stairs and landing, and front room. You're probably wondering at this point why I've not mentioned anything about the contents of the kitchen, front room and dining room. Well, they were all wrecklessly dumped and damaged into the upstairs 3 bedrooms. The builders, aren't members of any recognised professional organisation in the building trade - such as the federation of master builders, the national federation of builders, or trustmark. I have pictures of everything which I sent to the company, and I have also created a YouTube video showing the chaos left by Asprea and their contractors. The company, Aviva or Asprea has never said sorry, nor has it responded in writing to written complaints, and has just told the Financial Ombudsman that it intends to stop paying for my alternative accommodation at the end of June. I have been out of my house for 11 months, and have moved 15 times!!! 15 times!!! I was forced to live in the following accommodation: 9 days -Stayed in Bedsit 83 days -Lived in a converted garage 6 days -Stayed in Hotel Rooms 20 days -Stayed with Friends 187 days -Not a "like-for-like" property, ongoing Electrical wiring and plumbing problems. Poorly maintained Aviva and Asprea cut all contact with me in December 2015, 6 months ago, without notice or reason. The company has lied to the Ombudsman about what is damaged in the house, and so I have a surveyor coming on Wednesday 18th May 2016, to do a detailed report of what is damaged. What is actually damaged is considerably more than what Asprea claim. Aviva have said that I shouldn't get 1 penny in compensation! one penny! The report will cost me well over £800 to have written. I have just spoken to my household insurer and they tell me that I have legal cover of up to £100,000 to take Aviva to court. I have lots of clear photographs and documents that show everything Asprea have done. The legal advice that I have just received said that it is a cut and dried case of negligence, because of the volume and quality of evidence I have. My case has just moved from Adjudication stage to the full ombudsman. If Aviva (well Asprea) try to evict me onto the street, I'll have no choice but to invoke the legal cover through my household insurance to prevent this! I cannot be turned out into the street. They have broken my home and damaged all of my contents! This is plain just wrong! My video on YouTube is called "My banking and insurance Horror Story - Battle with First Direct Bank and Aviva Insurance". I would urge you to look at it and give me your opinions. Please bear with the length of the video. As you know, long and complex stories are really difficult to edit down. The video does however cut to the chase reasonably quickly to the photographs of the damage. I had no idea that Aviva operated in such a poor and wreckless way, and it's customer service is none existing. I would welcome people to share their experiences of the company, including Asprea. Kind Regards and thanks for listening!, David

Dear all, I was involved in a car insurance claim and had been told to discontinue my claim by the solicitor. From the letter solicitor sent me, I found few points of my solicitor's statement are wrong. For example, (1) they claimed I did not go to GP but I went, I took the Gp record and sent to solicitor,(2) the specialist who examined me recommended physiotherapy for me but the solicitor did not follow and did not refer me to physiotherapy, and the other party picked on this (3) car repair invoice is £700 but they put £850, although I had 2 quotations I went for the cheaper one which include parts (expensive quotation includes no part). The Solicitor by mistake claims for the higher quote not the cheaper as I sent the invoice to him.The other party is now picking on it. the solicitor do not admit they had made mistake. They just said the other party picking on why one quote has part and one no part. my argument is that I dont know why one use parts and one did not require, my decision was I had to repair as cheap as possible. All these false statement effects my claim and now the other side claiming this is fraud. The solicitor had told me I have less than 50% chance of winning and it's better to drop the case. They required me to give them a quick decision. The court hearing date is soon and I am not in a good position. I want to complaint about them before the hearing day. Can I complaint negligent on the solicitors? What is the best way forward for me?

Hi All, Everyone I tell my story to is telling me to seek legal advice and look to make a claim for what has happened to me. In November last year I damaged my knee and immediately went to the local community hospital who referred me to A and E at the bigger hospital. The doctor greeted me and went over my X-RAY which showed no signs of bone breakages or clear damage. He then did a few other tests asking myself to move in different places and after the normal ligament tests he then said to me 'he hopes its not meniscus damage and then proceeded to get another member off staff, my guess for a second opinion. He was introduced as a 'specialist' and was very rude and abrupt. He then put me in significant pain, by far the worst feeling I have ever experienced. He then raised his voice numerous times at me commanding me to RELAX my leg which was PHYSICALLY and mentally impossible, he never even said he was about to put me in pain. I had to push him off away due to the pain he caused myself. He then walked off and muttered a 'diagnosis' of bruised and that it will heal within a week or so. Baring in mind I could NOT straighten my leg, it had locked. I then rang my GP on Monday as a emergency appointment who did some tests (similar to the original doctor) and then came to the conclusion that I have done some serious damage to my knee, he then referred me to a specialist (a real one) on emergency admission who performed tests that again put me in 0 pain. He came to the conclusion that I HAVE meniscus damage and a 'urgent' MRI was required. Within 2 weeks I have had a operation to repair the damage which was initially missed.... My issues are :- 1. The amount of pain I was put in (no other doctor did the same) and I have never felt ANYTHING like it (broken bones and obviously done severe damage to my knee) 2. The diagnosis - If the original doctor stuck with his thought of meniscus damage I would of potentially had a MRI that evening. 3. The anxiety and stress caused from the doctor, I have had nightmares about him (sounds stupid but its true) Do you think I should take this further? I keep being urged to do so, even by a medical professional. But feel I will just get it thrown back in my face. Thank's for any advice.

Hi all Can anyone recommend a good solicitor who specialises in vet negligence claims? Thanks Foxy

Royal Mail has failed to forward post from a PO Box (a service we paid for). This is despite being made aware of a problem several months ago. I want to know what recourse we have against them, if any. Firstly, this is a business-business transaction. We have a small company and have a PO Box mailing address which we pay for. This was setup in September 2014. We paid an additional fee to have all mail sent to this PO Box forwarded on to a physical address. In November 2014 we became aware of an issue whereby our clients (other businesses) would attempt to return signed contracts for work to our PO Box address. These never arrived with us despite repeated attempts. We made an enquiry with Royal Mail; there was apparently an issue with the PO Box and this was supposedly resolved in December 2014. We got a couple of letters through shortly after, with the forwarding address handwritten on the envelope. We haven't received any mail from our PO Box address since. We recently had an email from one of our suppliers to say their invoice had been returned to them by Royal Mail with a sticker on it saying "Addressee gone away". Until then we had no solid proof the mail wasn't just going missing in the post. We contacted royal mail again. They have since sent a letter informing us that they had failed to pass on instructions to the delivery office that all mail should be forwarded on. Any mail we have been sent has just been sitting at the delivery office, where presumably after a certain amount of time it is returned or disposed of. No-one even thought to try contacting us. Royal mail merely issued an apology, trusting that's enough to settle the issue. After phoning this morning, I was told they would "put a note on the account" and "someone will be in touch". These mistakes have damaged our company's reputation with our suppliers and probably our clients too. As one of our primary contact methods, we may have missed out on business from prospective clients too (we spent quite a lot of money on a postal marketing campaign). The problem I can forsee is that in the terms and conditions, Royal Mail limit their liability with the following paragraph: Thoughts on this gladly welcomed.

I need some advice for what steps i should take in pursuing my insurance company for high risk of loss of life due to negligence. I will be vague on the dates/times/full details due to this potentially being a high profile case. a few months back i had an accident and damaged my car. No other parties were involved just myself. The insurance company did the usual protocol and recovered the vehicle and sent it off to garage 1. Garage 1 quoted the repairs and carried them out, on collection of my car i noticed the steering was not correct and there was a loud knocking noise from the engine bay. I was told the car was fine by the garage and that it was just my suspension hitting the bottom of my car and as for the steering it was just due to camber in the road. I was not satisfied with this and believed there to be more to it i contacted my insurers and complained and they contacted garage 1 and they responded that the car was fine. i insisted an independent assessor comes to look at my car and he agreed that there was serious issues with my steering and a knocking sound was indeed present and not caused by the suspension. Garage 1 then had no choice but to take the car back and rectify the issues. Garage 1 wasn't able to find the fix for the issues they paid for it to be taken to a main Dealership for my model of car, let's call it Garage 2. Garage 2 were instructed to correct the steering issues and investigate this knocking sound, when i collected my car back from Garage 1 the steering was fine and no longer caused any issues. But the knocking sound was still present. I drove it for maybe 2 weeks before this knocking sound turned into a shunting sound like something was moving around. I contacted my insurance company and notified them that this issue still persists and is intact getting worse. They instructed that i could take it back to Garage 1 and get them to investigate but i had lost faith in them and insisted it goes back to Garage 2 (the main dealer) My insurance company said this was fine so i took it back to Garage 2 and they had a quick inspection and said there is something wrong with the car but without being booked in for a full inspection and paid for they can't investigate further. I asked at this point if it was safe to drive and he said he couldn't say for sure if it was. i went back to my insurers and told them of this information and their response was it is a weekend and we can't do anything until monday, i reminded them of the fact that i've been told the car may not be safe to drive and they again insisted there's nothing they can do. monday came and went and still no contact from my insurance company, i then called again the following week and insisted it's getting worse and worse by the day. They said i could take the car to Garage 2 and pay for the inspection fee myself and if they feel this issue arose from the original accident they would refund me, but only if they accepted the price quoted for the repairs by the garage. I couldn't afford to pay this expense and risk losing out on the inspection fee and my insurance company just seemed disinterested to help me. Another week passed with no follow up call and i once again contacted them and let them know this issue is now worsening and i need to get it fixed. They just repeated what they said before and i got frustrated and ended the phone call abruptly. Now to the serious part. I was travelling along a dual carriageway at approx 65mph and all of a sudden something shifted and a loud bang/pop/crack occurred and my steering was thrown to the right in full lock almost instantaneous, i then hit the central reservation and flew through the air and bounced along for about 30metres or so down the carriageway. I am not seriously injured, just bumped and bruised from the impact, no one else was involved. The car is an absolute wreck and i've had 20+ friends/family question how the hell i am still alive from looking at the wreck. where do i stand in terms of pursuing my insurance company for negligence? the risk of loss of life was so great and it's thanks to my cars safety features i am here typing this. I believe this to be a mechanical failure due to negligent repairs, i have proof of all the calls, repairs carried out and problems that i've notified them of. any help/advice would be appreciated. I can supply more details if needed as there may be gaps in my story. thanks

In 2010, my local Council issued an ASBO against me because I had a dispute with a neighbour. My barrister tried but in vain to raise in Court that the Council had failed to follow its own procedures when the asbo was applied for. When Council's apply for an asbo they need to meet certain criteria which they failed to do so. Before an asbo is issued, you are supposed to receive a verbal warning, then a written warning, then you are asked to sign behaviour contracts; I was never sent no warnings etc etc. Does this make the asbo legal? The asbo has since expired without me breaching it; need I say more!! However the said neighbour prior to the asbo being issued, had been arrested for death threat which she denied of course, and before then I had also suffered threats of violence, and harassment. I was repeatedly refused the right to make statements, and so was my partner. I have also raised concern that some of the evidence used to obtain the asbo was not 100%; the complainant had lied on at least 4 statements, had lied during their section4a interview. The police dont want to know. I cost me £7000 to defend this joke of an asbo and I therefore want to seek if I can sue for damages. Does anyone know of any good solicitor who can do this on a no win no fee basis. Thanks!!

Hi can anyone help me? I transferred my British Telecom line rental account several years ago when I moved home. The account was transferred to my brother's name after he became the sole occupant of my old house. The transfer was effected over the phone with BT, and it seemed to go smoothly. A few months ago I learnt that BT had sent a bill to my old address, in my name, I emailed them via their website and told them that the bill was erroneous because I ceased to be a BT customer years before. This email went without reply. I then phoned their customer service help line and explained the situation to them. I told them that I wasn't really bothered about the fact that they had billed me, because this was an error which could easily be sorted out. What really concerned me, I explained, was that if the problem wasn't resolved in good time, my credit rating could be affected, owing to any perceived late payment of their erroneous bill. After checking their records, customer services acknowledged BT's mistake and assured me that the problem would be taken care of. They also told me not to worry about my credit rating, because BT had not yet refered my case to a debt collection agency; standard practice on their part after bills are continually ignored by their customers. However, some time later, I received another bill, a final reminder, I contacted BT again. Once more, I went to great lengths to make them understand that my credit rating was very important to me and that I was extremely anxious that it might be affected. I was then given the same answer as before: I was told that the matter would be sorted out and that my credit history would still be unaffected because they had not yet referred me to a debt collection agency. This whole scenario was repeated when I received a final reminder from BT. This time, though, when I called their customer services helpline and was told that they would rectify the problem, I explained that I wasn't prepared to take their word for anything, and insisted that they email me, telling me exactly what steps they had taken to resolve the problem. I gave them several days to reply but, true to form, their email never arrived. Shortly afterwards, I returned home from work to find a letter from a debt collection agency, acting on behalf of BT, and demanding money for my unpaid phone bill! I contacted BT again, this time via their website's Live Chat facility, and asked them what assurances they could give me that my credit history had not been affected. They told me they couldn't give me any assurances and suggested that I contact a company called Equifax and ask them. I'm still in the process of registering with this company, so I'm yet to find out if BT's negligence has impacted my credit rating. If it transpires that it has, then I think I'm in trouble because I've been advised that this is irreversible, even if BT were to formally admit their mistake, and that my credit rating will remain tarnished for several years. If it so happens that my credit rating has been affected, does anyone know if I am able to seek any redress from BT? Could I, for example, sue them in a small claims court? I am livid about this, absolutely livid, not just because my credit score might be seriously undermined, but because this outcome was so avoidable. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you Redquasar

Hi. The following is an account of pain frustration & as yet unresolved problems with legs. Last October 2013 I started to get inflammation in both my legs, this became cellulitis (noticeable sores and swelling) for which I was prescribed antibiotics. At this time, close to the end of 2013, I knew there was a more serious problem here than just the outer signs. There was a horrible taste of bile in my mouth, like poison and there was some major infection going on down there somewhere. The legs still bad as we broke into the new year:- (picture from Jan2014 - both legs in similar disarray) [ATTACH=CONFIG]52196[/ATTACH] Being an MS patient my ms nurse was quite concerned at this point and I got an appointment for a vascular scan at the local hospital (walsall manor). I went to the appointment and was scanned at beginning of February, I still hadn't heard back from them a couple of months later so I asked my GP who said he had the result but I needed to wait for them to contact me. By this time (march - june) the legs are still seriously going through shape changes and extreme swellings and soreness for which I have had no admittance to a hospital and just waiting and waiting and waiting. I had tried to get admitted during the times I was getting ballistic cramps in the legs (oh yes, those were no fun at all!) but they sent me home with another antibiotic course of meds. The hospital still never got back to me. A very kind lady from new-cross hospital who was seeing me for a neuro appointment, heard my plight and was horrified at my legs and my situation. She chased up my GP, wrote to him and so I went to see him yet again and the results from the scan had said that the veins seemed overall ok just some slight deviations from the norm. I still have not heard from the manor hospital regarding actually getting me in to determine what is actually wrong with the legs. I have an MS nurse, she very kindly prescribed me some Baclofen to help fend off the cramps and they are for now doing just that though it's touch and go some days. Below are some recent pics from June so you can see for yourself what it is that has been causing me this frustration for which I have been in much pain and distress for almost a year now without any definitive diagnosis being given. [ATTACH=CONFIG]52197[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]52199[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]52201[/ATTACH] On the medical side, I am awaiting a 'skin specialist' appointment, the appointment is as yet not confirmed so I will have to wait yet again to hear from them when this is going to be. I recently looked into water retention as the problem, which I found myself online and I have just started taking some herbal based water tablets which I purchased myself. I have started to feel some ease in the legs but it's early days as yet regarding these water tablets but I'm hoping they will help a lot ease the swellings. It seems also, that one of the tablets I am prescribed for high blood pressure, Amlodopine, may have caused this reaction and retention (my GP has never mentioned or is even aware that I know about this, as I only just found out myself online that it can cause this water retention problem albeit very rare to do so. Meanwhile I continue to periodically take photos, continue to wait and wait while nothing seems to get accomplished for something which I feel I should have been admitted for a long time ago (and I do NOT like being in Hospitals, so for me to say that, well, draw your own conclusions). This has been going on almost a year (approx 9-10months) a time in which sadly, the NHS seems to have just dismissed me and passed me over from dept to dept. I feel something should have been done a lot sooner, I am still worried I may lose my legs entirely if this is not sorted soon. If anyone has any help with this or has had similar experience... I don't want to pursue a legal thing particularly, it's just I want the suffering and unease in my legs to go away. Even before all this, my legs were affected by my MS but they just would go numb or ache when walking to far but this, THIS is much much worse.

Dear Caggers, Last year went for a simple operation on my salivary gland at St George's hospital, London which was meant to be a one night stay job. I ended up being in the hospital for nearly 3 weeks two weeks of which in an induced coma. The reason being that whilst operating inside my mouth some damage was cause to the underside of my tongue which swelled up and necessitated my return to operating theatre for a second time to repair my tongue. Then i needed to have a third operation to have a tracheostomy (neck) done to allow them to ventilate me through it. The experience was horrendous in terms of the psychological effect. I still suffer from this and feel it has marked me forever. I suffer from depression now. i was pumped full of all kinds of strong pain killers. yet no one mentioned anything to me in hospital abut the psychological effects or what had happenned. its only when i saw the surgeon in outpatient some weeks later, he explained that it was possible that they had hurt my tongue with a tool that they normally use to cauterise small veins or stop bleeding with. i have spent 3 months sick from work recovering from this and still have numbness in my tongue as well as being marked psychologically with depression. many thanks for reading. Any advice would be much appreciated

Can anybody clarify whether any of the following incidents would be seen as medical negligence and can any claims be made if they are? Had an annual check up in a specialist centre, reported to the doctor that some palpitations had occurred. He noted only one occurrence but there was one long one and several shorter occurrences which he was told about. Information was only partially recorded Had a 24 hour monitor but didn't receive results so thought everything was OK. Regular annual check 12 months later and was taken straight into hospital as an emergency but there was no record on the notes of any monitor or any results. The results had been lost and only added to the notes after a second urgent hospital admission for the same thing which was over 12 months after the test had been done. Discharged after the first in patient experience and sent a follow up appointment but was sent to see the wrong consultant who had nothing to do with the problem so a complaint was made through PALS. They were difficult to contact at times. They promised a final response within the timeframe but it was received 2 months later and was just full of apologies and promises that procedures would change. Surgery is necessary but this could have been done over 12 months ago if the notes had been properly written up and no idea whether this delay has caused any more damage. Do patients who have long term problems and who need procedures have any right to any sort of claim for the stress and distress caused by bungling doctors and admin staff? Any information would be appreciated

ive been advised by my doctor to make a claim for clinical negligence, on 21st april I suffered a massive heart attack . my wife phoned 999 , when I had been complaining of chest pains for approx. 20 mins . I don't like hospitals so for the 20 mins I kept sayin no ,till the point I could no longer speak . she spent 15 mins on the phone to the 999 operator explaining my pains ,struggling to breath going blue , twice I stopped breathing for approx. 30 seconds. my children witnessed it all plus another family member and a life long friend. when the paramedic turned up , he told me to stop pi55ing around and to get up off the floor as I was having a panic attack and that's why I couldn't breath . I couldn't speak but managed to shout out for him to get the hell out of my house and get someone in who could do their job as I knew there was something seriously wrong . the paramedic was at my home around 20 mins and the only thing he did was attach some clip to my finger and state there was nothing wrong with my air intake as my lungs were 98% saturated. the ambulance finally arrived , then the paramedic relayed to them it was either panic or anxiety so they then sat outside my home address for nearly 1 hour , no tests were done at all ,the only things said were calm your breathing its just panic . they eventually took me into hospital , accompanied by my sister in law . we were left in a cubical for approx 1hr. a nurse then came in and asked about my symptoms . I told her pain down my face , numb left arm ,shoulder pain and the feeling of been crushed by an elephant . she immediately did an ecg . disappeared rather quickly and returned asking me what I thought was wrong with me . I stated I thought I had suffered a heart attack .she replied " no you are still having one you need surgery now " she then sprayed the gt spray under my tongue to relieve my symptoms twice on 2 occasions , then injected me with morphine , after this point a lot is blurry . I was transferred to Sheffield ccu were they did an emergency angioplasty . and inserted a stent into my artery as it was blocked by a blood clot. all in all it took over 3.5 hours for this to happen all because in my view an untrained ,not bothered paramedic decided it was a panic attack and did not listen to anyone in the household what my symptoms were . I am now on 6 more different drugs , 5 for life which I believe could have been reduced if the time limit had been considerably reduced . my children were traumatised by the whole situation , I am baby sat 24 hours a day (have also been recently diagnosed epileptic (but have absence seizures as well) I have lost all faith in the paramedic service and the incompetence of the man who first saw me , could mean someone elses life could be in danger . my wife did make a formally complaint by phone , twice they have rung her back the 2nd time they stated that as it is so severe they are not proceeding by the normal protocol. I have rung national accident helpline and given details but is it worth pursuing . The main reason I want to take action is I don't want this paramedic misdiagnosing someone else and it ending up in an even worse situation.

On the 2nd of April I became homeless due to eviction by virtue of section 21. In November 2013 my ex partner started to have problems with her boyfriend and with the help of the social services I became guardian of our 2 years daughter. Less than a month later on the 8 of December my ex partner was victim of attempted murder and suffered horrific injuries caused by her boyfriend. My daughter started to live with me permanently. On the next day the council stopped paying me my housing benefit as result of me applying for Income support which I didn't get because I wasn't receiving Child benefit for my daughter. I had to stop any work as my 2 years old daughter required all the attention. For 3 months I insisted with the council to pay me benefit based on nil income after 3 months and with a possession order against me that the judge reluctantly awarded to the landlord ,they finally decided to pay me. By this time the warrant of possession was already granted to the landlord . Now I'm homeless ,my daughter had to go live with the mother ,who has another 9 months old baby. And I requested assistance from the council to help me with accommodation. In the mean time after my eviction my father died on the 7th of April . Today I requested the Council Housing Option for help and here is the reply I got. "If you are a single person, we would not have an automatic duty to assist you. There is a single surgery on a Tuesday afternoon at 2pm, that offers advice to single homeless applicants. It is held at the Civic Centre London Road Morden. Hope this information helps Sharon Maclaren Senior Options Adviser Where do I go from here ? Please can somebody help me.

I have a sorry saga to tell about a relationship between some leaseholders & “Countrywide property management” It will be interesting to hear if any members here have also been victims of these people. There have been many issues in the 20+ years we’ve had to endure their “services” but I will start with the most profound that is coming to its culmination. We had an elderly gentleman with us who owned his basement flat in our converted Victorian building. He had not lived here long till he started to complain of water ingress into his dwelling from above & below. He took up these problems (along with some other minor issues) with the management agent, “Countrywide.” As I was involved in the building industry he asked me to take a look. There appeared to be rising damp in a few places, but the most notable problem was water ingress from above in his hallway around a soil stack casing. The ceiling & plasterboard casing were soaked through & the floor was damp. He had no success in getting “Countrywide” to embrace this problem & was becoming desperate. I advised that there was no point in repairing the ceiling & replacing the floor covering until the water leak was repaired. This went on for several years until he refused to pay the “maintenance” charges until “Countrywide” remedied the issues his dwelling had, which they never did. He was taken to county court & was evicted from the flat. Not sure how the system works, but the flat ended up in the hands of the freeholder. Building work commenced & eventually the flat was put on the market & sold. The new lessee moved in, & soon afterwards he noticed water ingress as had been noted by the previous lessee. Eventually, after much correspondence “Countrywide” sent their contractors to survey the problems in the dwelling in September 2013. At this time it was also pointed out that there was a guttering leak that was forming a pool of water by the window at the back of the dwelling causing a serious damp problem inside. Also pointed out, at the front window there was a leak through the ceiling which was clearly coming from the sill above. The flat is not fit to live in. The new lessees are squeezed into one room with their belongings as everything is suffering with the damp. “Countrywide” have had several requests for clarity as to the findings of the surveys, but sadly as of 12/1/2014 the information has not been forthcoming to the new lessee or other lessees including myself, & the redial guttering/sill problems mentioned have not yet been rectified. All the lessees are now expected to pay for the damp proofing works. I will post more of Countrywides inadequacies later; their accounting systems failure is another story altogether.

Hello Friends, I have had a recent bad experience with council. I had some overdue council tax, which I cleared upon being brought to attention, back in November. However by then the council had passed on my name to a debt collection agency. I explicitly asked them to inform the debt-collection agency that I have cleared the payment and there is no outstanding any more. Due to council's negligence, my name was not moved and the debt collection agency continued to send their threatening letters. It was so scary for me and my wife to read the letter. I had to call the council again and they admitted that they had made a mistake and then they finally removed my name. Now my question is whether I can claim compensation as redressal for all the harassment and stress that I had to go through due to councils act. I really don't want the council to just get away with an apology. Please advise me on this. Thanks

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