Majority of parking fine appeals won by consumers

The vast majority of consumers end up winning parking fine appeals, according to a recent report. The report indicates that a massive 94% of consumers win parking fine appeals, and this happens when they go through a public appeal against parking tickets. In six months just over 9500 Westminster issued fines were taken to an adjudicator, and over 8900, or 94%, were lost at appeal. Read more

Tags: resident, Additions, parking fines, majority, vast majority, period, appeal, year

Reducing your credit card debts

Over recent years the UK has become a nation that has become more and more reliant on using plastic to pay for items. There are many reasons why people turn to credit cards for their purchases. Credit cards are far more convenience and far easier than having to carry cash around or deal with cheques. Credit cards also enable us to make purchases without having to pay up front, and we can even make purchases and spread the repayments, fuelling the buy now and pay later culture that has become so popular in the UK. Read more

Tags: period, control, appeal, repayments, expensive purchase

Finding the right bank account for your needs

For many people a bank account is just a bank account – somewhere to pay their salary in each month and from which to withdraw cash or write cheques. However, these days the world of banking is more competitive than ever and many of the popular banks now offer a choice of accounts and a range of perks and conveniences. In order to ensure that you get a bank account that will not only suit your needs but will make life easier and more convenient, there are a number of things to look out for. Read more

Tags: bank account tips, bank accounts, monthly bank, facility, appeal

Bank accused of wasting court’s time

One of the leading UK banks has been accused of wasting time by a judge, and has been ordered to pay the court costs of a woman that sued the bank after trying to reclaim unfair and unlawful charges that the bank had applied to her account for going overdrawn, returned cheques, and unpaid direct debits.

Lloyds TSB will have to pay court costs of £85.41 after the Bristol County Court judge, Andrew Kearney, accused the bank of ‘acting unreasonably’.

The plaintiff, Vivien Lloyd, had tried to reclaim fees that amounted to £655, but wrote to the judge after the bank spent a year wasting time before offering to refund the fees. The judge stated that the bank had no intention of defending its charges in court, and therefore accused the bank of wasting time and ordered it to pay the court costs incurred by the plaintiff.

The plaintiff had initially written to Lloyds TSB in March 2006 to reclaim her charges, many of which had been accrued by her son, Gary.

She stated: “The terrible stress it put me through – it was driving me mad. I’m absolutely ecstatic – it was our living money, our food money.”

She added that the bank had continued to refuse the refund until earlier this year, with just one week to go before the court hearing, at which point Lloyds offered her a full refund of charges. 

A spokesperson for the bank stated:  “We are surprised by this judgement as we firmly believe we have the right to lodge a defense in any legal action brought against us. We have been unable to trace any notification from the court about this application for a further payment of £85 and so did not have an opportunity to challenge it before it was made.”

Tom Smith
4th May 2007

Tags: appeal, unfair, charges, refund, lloyds, year, court, legal, bank