Independent house price index

Financial reports in the media rely on house price indexes provided by the large mortgage providers. Any fall in house values would impact on the assets of these organisations. So, with the current turmoil in markets making financial institutions very cautious, can we trust these figures. Time for an independent index?

M4 Motorway Severn Tolls

Ditto the earlier post re Dartford Crossing.

Another European east west route cluttered with unnecessary delays.

Tesco £70 parking fee & DVLA

Tesco car park signs say they will contact the DVLA to obtain driver details of vehicles parking in store car park for more than 3 hours.

Government departments giving our details away? Sounds familiar.

Here is part of my reply to a DVLA initial response:

'OK, let's take an extreme example.

An employee of Tom Dick & Mickey Mouse Clamping is working for a violent car thief, targeting top of the range cars. A new Aston Martin pulls up in Tesco's car park where he is on duty. He notes the number and authorises a DVLA search for the address of the owner. When the details arrive he passes them to the villian who procedes to steal the car from the owner at his address, at knife point. How do the DVLA prevent this from happening?

I will discuss this with Tesco after your reply is received.'

Ongoing and I will keep you posted. This is a multi-million pound business for DVLA and clampers.

John Lewis Partnership - never knowingly undersold

This slogan dates from the 1920s and looks increasingly outdated. They have already dropped it for internet sales and toughened up the guidelines for its use in stores. Time for it to go!

We will be checking to see if it misleads customers and, if so, making representations to the appropriate authorities.

Dartford Crossing

Part of a major European east-west route. Miles of queues on a regular basis.

Bridge and tunnel already paid for by the toll levied.

Time for the toll to be abolished or at the very least, suspension of toll collection if the queues create a wait time of more than 2 minutes.

Planners argue that removal of the toll would create more delays as traffic would increase. Possibly, but I think it would be like a local traffic light controlled roundabout, close to my home. It always has queues at peak times. The other morning the lights were out and - lo and behold - no queues.

Straight to the Jacques Barrot after Christmas with this one. Let's see how it fits with the European Commission 'Open roads for Europe' policy document.

0870 telephone numbers

My telephone service provider charges 10p a minute plus a connection fee for dialling 0870 numbers. This is the maximum allowed under the regulations.

0870 calls are excluded from your telephone bundle and are charged at a higher rate. Check with your telephone company to find the cost to you. Banks, credit card companies, debt collectors, utility companies, police forces and even doctors surgeries use them. They take a cut of the revenue from each call.

Use the link on this page to find alternative geographic numbers which are much cheaper.

Payphoneplus - the industry regulator for premium rate calls - has no control over these numbers. 0870 numbers are outside their remit and they referred me to Ofcom. At 10p a minute some would judge them to be at premium rate. At the very least, warning notices should be printed alongside the number.

Northern Rock

£100 billion? Is this legal?

Wheel tracking

What's this all about? Why does it cost so much? Why isn't it included in an overall quoted price?

Paint

Why is paint so expensive? Why are the prices similar?

Brown Regime

Northern Rock, various lost computer disks, the debacle in Lisbon and Joe Stalin to Mr Bean...... and not even elected as Prime Minister; Mr Brown skates on thin ice. Regime is a great word; if used enough - with his current poor demeanour - the type of word to force an early election.

Debt - Can't pay! Won't Pay!

Section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act. If any bank or credit card company is chasing you for money ask for a copy of the original agreement. Many can't provide this document and send a copy of the application form instead. This is not the valid agreement as defined by the Act. Without the proper documentation, they cannot enforce the debt in court. Seems to work well if the original company has been taken over. The older the paperwork the more difficult it is for them to keep track of. You must ask formally; they just ignore informal requests.