If anyone can give me any advice or their experiences of anything similar I would be very grateful. Two months ago my car went to the garage for 2 new front tyres, last weekend we were driving to Wales from Yorkshire. We had travelled 60-70 miles (mostly motorway) with no problems, after about 10 minutes of leaving the motor and driving on country lanes, we approached a tight corner, fortunately slowly 30-35 mph and the car didn't corner the front drivers wheel came off and shot off into a field and we swerved across the road for about 100m and came to a stop at the opposite kerb, with considerable damage to the drivers front and side, plus goodness knows what damage to the underneath of the car. Fortunately nobody or anything else was injured or damaged. On contacting the insurance company at the scene, they practically said "nothing to do with us it's a mechanical breakdown". As the car needed to be moved as it was causing a potentially dangerous obstruction, I contacted RAC and they came to recover the car but stated "you will have to pay for the recovery because it's an accident not a breakdown" Since returning home we have managed to persuade the insurance company to take the car to one of their garages to be assessed, after having a quick talk with the assessor today it looks like the wheel nuts were over-tightened and the extent of the damage means my car is going to be written-off and the insurance company are saying it's nothing to do with them as it's a mechanical breakdown out problem to deal with the garage concerned. Any advice and help would be much appreciated Regards

I recently had a car accident that was the others party fault - somebody drove into my back whilst I was stationery. Other parties insurance accepted full liability. My insurance passed me on to a claims management agency who have provided me with a hire car and got the damage of my car assessed. Turns out my car is a category D write off. I have been told I will get a settlement cheque from the others party insurance and then have to hand the hire car back. I have also been assured the car will stay in my possession and I can get it repaired or salvaged should I wish to do so. I can't find confirmation anywhere that the car definitely stays in my possession, but instead read a lot online about having to buy the car back - does this only apply when you claim on your own insurance? And as far as I can see a Cat D does not require MOT retesting and would therefore be legal to drive. Would my own insurance still be valid (third party only) as I didn't claim on it, or am I likely to run into problem? I just want to make sure I am not missing something as my plan is to accept the settlement and get the repairs done cheap 9it's an old car and I plan to replace it anyway in 2 years). Thanks for any advise!!!

I purchased an Advent Modena Laptop from the PCWORLD website on 09/08/2010. Roughly 6 weeks later I had to send it for repair due to a webcam malfunction and various parts were changed, At this point I decided to buy a WHATEVER HAPPENS policy. The laptop has since been away numerous times, and each repair has caused other problems as the recovery partition has not been reinstalled and the copy of windows has not been validated and one time I was even sent the wrong charger. Each time I have had to spend time and money on the phone trying to rectify each fault. I decided to have a look on the 'Knowhow' website to have a look at the T&C's & benefits of my policy. I was quite surprised that they have a benefit called which states a ‘No Lemons Guarantee which states if your computer goes wrong after 3 repairs you can request a replacement’ I then read on to read the small print which states ‘If you have originally purchased a product labelled as ‘previously owned’ or ‘non-pristine’ our 7 day and 21 day promises do not apply and you will receive vouchers to the value of the original price paid’ After reading that I was then wondering why I was rejected a replacement when I was on the phone to an advisor after my laptop had broken for the fourth time. I asked if a replacement of the product was possible and the advisor said that it wasn’t and all that they could do is get it collected to be repaired again. I received a call in response to my last letter dated 3rd August, 2011. I was informed by the advisor Marie, Customer Action Team, that if there was a problem when I received my laptop back from repair, I would be offered a replacement or give me my money back. I was satisfied with this and felt that my problem was being fairly dealt with. I feel I am being treated unfairly as when I asked to have my call transferred to Marie this was refused. On Friday 12th August I received my laptop back from repair for the 7th time. I was handed the laptop & charger from your delivery driver and was asked to I signed the paperwork. It became apparent that the charger was the incorrect one for my laptop, it was a TOSHIBA charger and my laptop is an ADVENT laptop. I spoke to the delivery person who told me to contact the call centre once again. I thought that they might have changed the charger but the plug was incompatible. The lid of the laptop which had been replacement had deep scratches and would not go when rubbed with a cloth. I then rang the number that 'Marie' gave me if any problems occurred on return. When I finally got to a human voice I asked to be put through to MARIE in the CUSTOMER ACTION TEAM. It seemed like the advisor ignored me so I repeated it and the advisor on the phone told me that this wasn’t possible. She then transferred me to Technical Support. When I was transferred, I was told that my laptop would need to be sent for replacement again! The useless advisor told me this would enable them to replace the top lid and locate my charger. Further into the call, I was told that the laptop would be sent away for one week which is quite ridiculous for just replacing the charger & changing the lid as this would take twenty minutes as I have done it myself on another laptop. I was very dissatisfied with this service, as a student I have got coursework to complete over the summer break and I have no laptop to use. My was sent away on 14th October 2011 for repair due to a hard drive failure which is surprising as it was only returned less than a month ago to the last repair. Just after 38 days of it fully working, it developed the Hard drive fault again, once again I phoned up 'knowhow' to sport out a repair and the guy on the phone said because it is the same problem that has occurred as last time within a two month period I am going to ask for it to be wrote off. On hearing this I was very pleased because I was going somewhere, and he told me to take it into my nearest PCworld/ Currys to sort it getting repaired as it couldn’t get collected from home. Took it in and repeated the conversation I had, and the girl behind the counter said it should be back within a few days. Once I got home I decided to check the ref number I was given and it said that it would be completed on Monday 28th Nov....but last night when I checked it, the date had changed to the 5th December. I was quite ****ed off on seeing this so once again I phone them up and the guy said on the phone. The product has been repaired and is awaiting delivery back to the store. At this point I interrupted him and said that I was booked in for a write off not a repair and the guy then said that a write off wasn’t mentioned and it was just in a for a standard repair. What do I do now, it was booked in for a write-off but they haven’t done that they have repaired it. I am a student and need my laptop in my studies and can no longer rely on this laptop as personally I think that it not fit for purpose. No product should have to be returned so many times in one year for repair. I just don’t know what to do about my laptop anymore it is beyond a joke, I have thought about seeking advice from Trading Standards about to suitability of this product but I am not sure if I have a strong enough case and if any good will come out of this. I know that they have broken a few laws (since I am doing business studies) but they are not arsed about them. I just need a reliable laptop that I can use for my studies. I have thought about selling it and buying elsewhere but I won’t get all of the money back from the price what I paid for it.

Despite my saying flat no several times, A &L added 4500 in PPI to my loan and I pais this plus interest on it for three years. When I got in trouble last year, I discovered it and claimed it. I can't believe I signed that agremeent without noticing it, but there's a measure of the stresses of life. Being self employed, the insurance was worhles, that's why I never asked for it. A & L never wrote accepting their liability, but they were offering to reduce the loan. A lawyer I spoke to on the phone said "don't sign it". At the time I couldn't afford a paid lawyer. In any case it all just went quiet for a few months but now Santander have picked it up and passed it to a debt collector. I then said sorry but it's in dispute. Now I finally have been sent my requested copy (photocopy) of the agreement and it seems OK. It was dated 18th April 2007. Too late for some of the rules apparently. It was signed by them before sending out as was the MO at A&L back then apparently. I have no record of ever receiving a copy back afterwards and I never saw any terms of the insurance. My question is: If the contract was OK, why would they want tme to sign a new one and if it is not, can anyone work out what might be wrong and if I could get it written off altogether. It all seemed funny at the time when the banks imploded and I lost my work , but the real bummer is that becasue of the default, I have now been refused my previous type of roles at banks, who suddenly demand a perfect credit rating, but I should still keep paying them. If anyone is aware of A&L/Santander contracts maybe they could advise. By the way I am not sure that the refund of PI is still on the table. E