Hello all Just looking for a bit of advice please. I own and live in a house which I bought in 2003 on a 25 year mortgage. Since that time I have been paying a tiny ground rent (it’s about £4 semi-annually) to a property management company. I have received an inheritance recently and decided I would try to find out how much it would cost to obtain the freehold on the land my house is built on and how long is left on the lease. This weekend I sent two separate enquiry emails to the property management firm. The first reply I received contained a letter saying they want £90 to provide a quote for buying the freehold. I had only just recovered from the fee they are wanting to send a couple of emails when they responded to my second letter stating that they want £210 to look for the leasehold document to send me a copy from their archives, which they will refund 50% of if they can’t locate it! So they want £210 to answer a question and £105 not to! Does anyone have any suggestions on how I ought to proceed? Many thanks.

I am hoping for a little clarification on behalf of my brother in law who runs a small company with around 12 persons who now has an issue with an employee who has assaulted another member of staff and who he understandably does not want working there anymore. Now all employees are on these zero hours contracts my first question is can you dismiss / discipline persons on these contracts? suggested he follow the company disciplinary procedure to be told there is not one so I am pretty sure that's not helpful!! none of the employees have actual physical (paper) contracts zero or otherwise and am not sure this is correct? it would seem there is no obligation for the employer to offer hours and if this is correct would this be a viable way of dealing with it (i.e. just not offering anymore hours) or would you be open to possible discrimination claims by continually telling the same person you don't need them to work? Finally I think he really needs some assistance making sure he has the correct procedures and policies required by a small company and was thinking ACAS may be the best point of contact but can anyone else suggest any organisations that can provide support to small businesses as and when needed? Thanks guys.

Brief background: 1. Money claim issued against me on 05 July 2017 (over £5k, but less than £10k). 2. Acknowledgement of service filed in with CCBC (Northampton) 3. CPR 31.14 request made to Claiman's Sols 4. CPR 15.5 - Agreed extending deadline for submitting defence to 4pm on 28 August 2017 (next Monday) 5. Agreed Consent Order for dismissing the claim and no order for costs (see attached). 6. The Claimant's Sols agreed (by email!) to submit this to CCBC and pay the £100 application fee once signed by both parties (I am litigant in person, so CPR 40.6(2)(b} does not apply) 7. The Claimant's Sols agree (by email!) to extend the deadline using CPR 2.11 for another 28 days (Note: CPR 2.11 does not apply, because it conflicts with CPR 15.5, which allows for the deadline to be extended by "up to 28 days" - no more, so the Claimant's Sols are telling me porkies!). 8. The consent order signed by both parties and given to the Claimant's Sols to submit to CCBC, together with an application notice and £100 fee. I have proof of delivery as I sent it to the Claimant's Sols via Special Delivery (I kept one original with both signatures on it, the other was given to the Claimant's Sols to submit to CCBC). Questions: 1. Is the attached a valid consent order that can be accepted by the judge if the Cliamant's Sols submit it as is? What about the missing day in the date (it says "DATED this Day in August 2017") - it doesn't have a specific date, though it is dated "August 2017"? 2. If the Claimant, having received the signed Consent Order, do not submit that consent order in time (despite what they are telling me over the phone and by email) and the deadline for submitting my defence passes (28th is a bank holiday, so, in effect, I have until this coming Friday to sort this out) what then? Can they request a default CCJ to be entered against me since I haven't submitted any defence? 3. If the Claimant's Sols tell me that they have submitted the application and the consent order, is there a way I can check this out (they may be lying to buy themselves some time so that they can enter a default CCJ against me)? 4. If they don't submit the consent order and the application, can I do it, having the 2nd signed original copy? Do I have to complete N244 and attach the remaining original of the Consent Order, plus the £100 fee (is it really £100 - I thought it is £200?)? 5. If I can submit the application, can I do this online or via email - would it be quicket than posting it (CCBC has a special email address specific for N244 applications)? If so, how do I attach the signed Consent Order - scan it? What about the payment of £100? 6. If I submit the application and the Claimant do the same what happens then? Which application is the judge going to look at - one (which one?), both or neither? 7. If I submit the application, but the judge do not look at it in time and the deadline of 28th August 2017 for submitting my defence passes what then? Is the Claimant entitled to get a default CCJ against me? 8. The Claimant gave me a lot of promises over email - do these hold any water at all - can I truly rely on them in court (I am thinking I cannot)? Thanks a lot in advance for any advice given, particularly Andy as he is always helpful here! ConsentOrder.pdf

Mrs EB got me a charge for stopping in a box junction. My question relates to the notifiaction and the wording of the law. The Act of Parliament mentions in Sch2 that the keeper is liable but in Sch 4 says the owner is liable. Now for most people that is one and the same but say for example you have bought a car on credit the finance company is the legal owner but you are patently the keeper but you havent been contacted in that capacity. So, which is it as the 2 schedules contradict each other ( it is not a case of using interchangeable terms, this is touched on in other parts of the legislation). secondly, this box junction is not of the standard design as per Sch 6 of the regs so requires DoT approval. Where can one find a list of junctions in a particular borough that have the necessary approval to see if this one is on the list. Would it be TFL in this instance or the borough? Maybe the DoT? all comments appreciated

Hello. I am currently getting income based JSA for about 1 year now. I stay with my mum, But all of a sudden my mum is saying i need to pay £27 towards to rent as the council will only pay £109. So why now do i need to pay. I have a brother who gets ESA, and my mum gets income support. What are causing the housing benefit deduction, My brother only started claiming ESA this year in march, And all of a sudden the housing benefit is cut. So could someone help me because i am getting the impression the cut is because of me but i have been getting jsa for around a year and my mum has been getting full housing benefit since untill now.

Hey there. I'm just an average commuter via TFL, & would like to ask some questions. 1) Let's say I am in possession of an annual ticket for all zones. If I lose my ticket during transit or forget my Photo-Id proof to verify the ticket belongs to me - will I be able to avoid a fine later on? Or will the probability of being fined be almost certain? 2) If I'm entering my local station, & a series of RPI's are camping the entrance, are they supposed to be checking people entering the station, or those leaving? -> I ask, for if my train is just hitting the platform, an intervention by them could lead to myself missing my morning half five train. Is that acceptable practice? I may have some more questions, but that's all for now.

Hi. I have been looking into the SRA Rules, Railway By-laws and a friend's Penalty Fare Notice. One or two things aren't covered, as far as I can tell, so I thought I'd see if anyone on here might have an opinion or some references to legislation. My friend doesn't need advice on how to deal with the PFN, this is simply a theoretical exercise to round off my understanding of the possible consequences of two scenarios: 1. A passenger without a valid ticket is stopped by a revenue collector upon attempting to leave a station. Upon questioning, the passenger provides their name and address, but refuses to comment further. What might happen? I understand that refusal to supply details of the journey taken may be detrimental to a defence, but on the other hand can any journey be proven to have taken place without the passenger's admittance? Would you be liable to on-the-spot arrest for fare evasion? 2. A PFN is appealed, but by then RPSS, on behalf of LM, wants a £20, then a £40 administration charge just for the privilege of the passenger having to await and then dispute the unfavourable Appeal Decision. If the PFN is then paid, there will be no chance of prosecution, I assume (as the only unpaid fare was the Penalty Fare), and so if RPSS want their charges paid they would have to make a civil claim for the admin fees alone. Do they actually ever do that? It could be argued that collection should have been put on hold whilst the PFN was under appeal, or until at least a few days after the Appeal Decision, as opposed to jumping in straight away with added charges at the same time the Decision was notified. The amount of the fees could be disputed, I would think, as £20 per standard form letter is obviously a lot more than the admin costs would actually amount to. The PFN was, and is, if they carry on, being fought on three points, FYI, which were lack of Warning Notices at New Street, failure to give the passenger a copy of the PFN (they could and should have posted it after the passenger walked off without taking it according to my interpretation of the Regulations, 'give' being held to its dictionary definition in the absence of a specific meaning in the legislation) and failure to advise the passenger of their right to appeal the PFN. The Revenue Collection Officer actually said that the passenger had lost their right of appeal due to not signing the PFN (which isn't a requirement, nor is giving them your DOB, BTW).

Hello, Although I have been eligible to make use of the Motability Car Scheme for a long time, I have never used it, preferring to always buy my own cars. However my current car is now getting a little long in the tooth and problems are starting to appear. Therefore I am looking to join the Motability scheme for the first time. I think I have worked out how the scheme works, however I have tried to find out the answers to a few questions from the Motability website, but cannot find the answers so am hoping the knowledgeable people here can help. Firstly, can I specify the optional extras I would like fitting to the Motability Car?. Obviously I know I would have to pay for these if it is possible to specify them, but is there room for negotiation on the price of the optional extras? (The cost of the optional extras I would like actually exceed the Advanced Deposit cost), I have a hoist to lift my wheelchair in/out of my current cars boot, could this be transferred to the Motability car, or do I have to buy a new one under the Motability Managed Adaptations scheme? Can I use the car for work? I have business cover on my own car, is it possible to have this cover on the Motability car (as I attend the odd meeting at premises other than my normal place of work)? If anyone has experience of the above questions and can answer them it would be appreciated. With thanks Ian

Well I've had my letter back from EGG who don't uphold my complaint for thefollowing reason (card taken out online in 2003 by the way) 1) Online sales at that time did not require i take out ppi as condition of obtaining card 2) Online sales at that time did not provide an advisory service. 3) Online sales at that time required you to positively confirm that you wish to purchase policy 4) Online sales provided full T&C and requested you read them before you submitting application. I have sent a SAR request off, which i know may take a little while. Am I dead in the water here. I don't remember asking for PPI or 'positively confirming' - i guess that means a tick - anything. They've said this is their full and final response. HELP! Hx

This is my first but I have followed and read others post with interest. Please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong place as there seem to be many different forums that would be suitable. I am desparate for some advice from anyone who has similar experiences. I will try and keep it as brief as I can. In 2010 we bought a small retail business. We took at a secured loan for £145K to buy the business and the business premises. Lloyds put the first charge on the business premises, but as there was a shortfall, there was a second charge on our residential home. The business did not perform as well as the previous owners suggested - but that's another story! Then the recession really hit us, a supermarket opened nearby etc etc. We therefore decided to close the business in November 2012. We have been in contact with our Lloyds business manager throughout and were told that a different department would be in touch. We were told that we could not rent out the premises or sell until we heard back from Lloyds therefore the property has stood empty. The letter from Lloyds says they will consider a repayment plan, a lump sum or will consider any plans we put forward. If we do not respond in 14 days they will seek to sell the business premises and our home. We really don't know what to do or how to handle it. Things aren't helped by the fact that the letter is dated 18 February and didn't arrive here until 25th - so when do our 14 days begin. Also we have tried contacting the person who is handling it and left messages - they don't ring back ! Naturally we are desparate to hang on to our home as we have three small children. Please don't anyone think that we do not accept our responsibility for paying back what we borrowed - we absolutely do but we just don't know what approach to take with the bank. We think we are going to ask if we can try and sell the business premises ourselves which should pay off £80-£100K of the debt - are they likely to let us do that. Also there will naturally by a short fall of around £65-45K - will they make us sell our home. We have around £90K equity in the house. Oh, and naturally they are charging us a ridiculous amount of interest each month which is crippling us. In the early stages of the business decline our business manager indicated that we may be able to go on a payment plan to cover the shortfall however, we are already on a debt management plan to pay off a few suppliers that we owed, we have no savings, my husband is working but we have very little left to live on. Does anyone think that they would consider deferring any action against our home as long as we made a token payment each month until things improve. Any help or opinions would be welcome. We are, like so many others out there, are absolutely desperate. The whole thing is having a terrible effect on our family. I have spoken to Business Debt Helpline who had some good points to make, tried CAB but can't get an appointment and can't get through on the phone. A side to this, while we had the business we incurred ridiculous bank charges due to bounced DD's/Cheques etc. I have read on here that these charges may be reclaimable. Last trading year our charges were over £4K should we persue Lloyds for getting some of these charges back or will that just create an even worse situation as we owe them so much. Sorry this is so very long, thanks to anyone who has read and thanks to anyone who responds.

I had a letter from the Jobcentreplus saying I was invited to an interview with a customer compliance officer. I think it was a regular letter that is sent out, it just said the visit has been arranged because your circumstances may have changed and we need to ensure your payments are correct. I rang to request a home interview due to my health issues and the man said yes no problem and he would find my file and get his diary then ring me back. When he did he seemed to think there had been a mistake and said dont come to the interview but he would check through my file and if he does have to interview me he would send another appointment for a few weeks time at home. I have now recieved a home interview appointment, no specific time just between 9.30am - 3.30pm. I am of course like most people having these interviews really worried and nervous. I feel a bit more nervous because I'm thinking why does he need to interview me now after first seeming to think it was a mistake. I rang them again to ask what was the reason for the interview, this time a lady answered, last time it was the actual man that was going to interview me. She checked the system and said there is nothing noted on there then asked if there have been any changes and I said no so she said and its just a review type check and nothing to worry about. I am worrying though and keep wondering why. I recently set up 3 new savings accounts all to be funded by £1 a month just to keep the new rules for halifax reward account as they now require you to have at least 2 direct debits from them to keep the reward, could it have triggered an interview? I also have 3 reward accounts using one as my main account and the others just basically to get the monthly reward, I have to fund them by 1k a month but only do that by transferring between one to the other. I'm worried if these accounts will confuse the situation. I have an ISA for my funeral expenses depressing as that sounds but its below the allowed threshold. They have asked for id and bank statements but didnt say how many months worth, how many should I supply? as I have to request these from halifax as I have online statements or would they accept printed ones for the time being? thats if you can print them directly from online. Also, will this interview be just about my ESA Support group benefit alone with Jobcentreplus as its headed from Jobcentreplus customer compliance or will it take into account my DLA HRC HRM awards as well? Sorry its so long but any knowledge from other members would be much appreciated, Thanks

I already have a post on here but hope it is ok to do another one. Just some questions 1) Does my benefit (I am on Incapacity Benefit) stop when I am summoned for my assessment in June, pending the result of that assessment? 2) People have mentioned "assessment rate"... what is this please, is this lower than IB? 3) How long does it last, all this assessment stuff until I will know the outcome? and how long does an appeal take? 4) would they take into account that my condition is degenerative and that I would be coming off benefits anyway 9 months after my assessment date, as I will be receiving my state pension? 5) For info I am doing permitted work, 10 hrs a week and would want to continue that. (Working from home, online). Background: I am on IB, have been since 2008 as I retired from work on health grounds. I am due to get my state pension in March next year. Thanks alot

Hi, nervous newbie here! I've just phoned the court and booked an appointment to declare bankruptcy in two weeks' time, forms are filled in and ready to go. Heart jumping out of my mouth now that it's all in motion. Just a couple of queries - Are you expected to turn up really early for the appointment, do they have to spend a lot of time prior going through information with you? I can only get there about 30 mins before, is that enough time? Is it the norm to have 3 copies of everything, is that enough? Do you usually see the judge (or have him agree to the bankruptcy without you being in the same room) there and then, or do you need to go back another day for this? I will most likely phone the court back to check but just wanted to know if there is a set procedure for all courts.