06/04/2012
How do I prove my PPI case when Lloyds denies my loans exist?
I am still repaying £100 a month and believe I have been missold
I was self-employed and took business loans from Lloyds TSB with payment protection insurance (PPI). In 2006, the lease of my workshop ran out and the landlord increased the rent to a level I couldn't afford. I ceased trading.
I was under enormous stress and completely forgot that I had been paying for PPI for many years. Last May I complained to Lloyds that I had been missold but the bank said it had no record of any loans, even though I am still repaying £100 every month. AA, London
This is confusing but Lloyds has checked your loans and confirms that you have valid PPI policies. They were not missold, and you could have claimed for certain events. But your experience was not one of these.
The bank says it looks at every request for refunding PPI premiums individually and has, in your case, agreed to refund all the premiums you paid because it cannot find evidence that it sent you the insurance documents in the first place. You will also receive interest on the premiums at 8%, which is standard.
For your two business loans and business overdraft insurance policy, this amounts to £4,053. As your loan is in arrears, the bank will offset this against your debt. This is the best use of the money and you can renegotiate with the recoveries department the monthly amount you repay.
You can email Margaret Dibben at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Margaret Dibben, Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include a phone number.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jun/02/ppi-insurance-claim-missold
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06/03/2012
For NBA conspiracy theorists, kick comes from spotting the fix: Bud Shaw's Sports Spin
The playoffs and last week's NBA Draft Lottery are reminders that conspiracy theorists are alive and well. Maybe not mentally well, but well in other ways.
View full sizeIt's hard to imagine the Celtics' Kevin Garnett (5) actually doing something to earn a technical, isn't it? There's a conspiracy among conspiracy theorists to make everything sound suspicious.
A Boston radio show urged Celtics fans to wear Tim Donaghy masks for Game 3 to demonstrate their belief that the Eastern Conference finals are rigged in favor of the Miami Heat.
Donaghy is the disgraced ref who bet on games he officiated and claimed the corruption in the NBA was widespread.
Celtics fans, on high alert after five technicals were called against Boston in Game 1 and made more skeptical by a free-throw disparity in Game 2, apparently didn't have so much to worry about, after all. Boston rolled over the Heat, 101-91, Friday.
The playoffs and last week's NBA Draft Lottery are reminders that conspiracy theorists are alive and well. Maybe not mentally well, but well in other ways.
Even some NBA team officials raised eyebrows (according to Yahoo Sports) when the New Orleans Hornets -- owned and operated by the league last year before Saints owner Tom Benson stepped forward as a prospective buyer -- won the lottery.
You cannot overstate the silliness or the convenience of conspiracy theories.
They have been popular at the NBA Lottery ever since Patrick Ewing landed in New York in 1985, prompting rumors of a frozen envelope.
Nobody can quite explain what was in it for the NBA when Orlando got the top pick in the lottery in 1992 and 1993. So it's best to ignore that one. It doesn't fit the narrative.
The Cavaliers, of course, won the lottery the year after LeBron James departed for Miami. Somehow, even that gets included in the too-odd-to-be-a-coincidence discussion at this time of year.
No one knows why the league would have reprimanded owner Dan Gilbert for his message to Cavs fans basically accusing James of conspiring to get out of town and join Dwyane Wade while at the same time rewarding Gilbert by rigging the lottery in his behalf.
When Yao Ming was the prize of the 2002 draft, pending his release by Chinese officials, suspicions mounted that Yao would end up in a market -- New York, Chicago -- with a large Asian population.
Chicago had a 22.5 percent chance of landing the first pick. New York had a 4.4 chance.
Houston got Yao, despite having the fifth-best percentage chance behind Chicago and Golden State, then Memphis and Denver.
Probably because of the city's large Tex-Mex-Chinese community.
Other examples -- and there are many -- would only serve to get in the way of a good Oliver Stone screenplay.
But let's not let facts or common sense get in the way of our suspicions. Conspiracies feed right into America's growing sense of victimization. We need them.
Never get a single call back after so many forays into speed dating, guys? Can't be the fresh neck tattoo and flip flops. It's got to be Collusion of the Sisterhood.
Maybe the craziest thing about the conspiracy theorists in the NBA is most consider themselves basketball fans.
Left unexplained -- along with so much else -- is why they would watch a sport they think is as staged as pro wrestling.
Spinoffs
View full sizeI'll Have Another.• Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another was nearly slammed into during a workout at Belmont Park by a loose horse we'll call "Gillooly."
• To avoid any confusion, the sheep brought in to patrol a vacant lot on North Marginal Road in Cleveland and keep the grass at a manageable height will not -- repeat NOT -- be dressed as Browns fans.
• Yankees catcher Russell Martin claims home plate ump Laz Diaz "punished" him for arguing balls and strikes by not letting him throw new baseballs back to the pitcher during at-bats.
"He said it was a privilege I had to earn for me to throw the ball back," Martin told reporters. "That's never happened to me before." I loved Diaz as Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
• The Indians are projected to take a power hitter in the first round of this week's draft. But signability is always an issue, especially this time, since they hope to bat him cleanup the next night.
• Jose Lopez went from outrighted on May 1 to the Indians' cleanup hitter three weeks later. If he still has the job this time next month, a statue will be commissioned.
• Phil Mickelson withdrew after the first round of the Memorial citing "mental fatique," even though he said he believes in finishing the tournaments he starts. "I'm overruling that just a touch," he said. A touch? That's weaker than my slice.
• Ken "Hawk" Harrelson was reprimanded by Major League Baseball after an on-air rant against umpire Mark Wegner in the White Sox-Tampa game Wednesday. "I talked to Bud Selig yesterday," Harrelson told ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine on Friday. "We had a talk. Actually, Bud talked and I listened. If it was a prize fight, they would have stopped it in the first round."
If only Homer Harrelson could be stopped in the first inning of White Sox games.
• The reason the Cavs should stay at No. 4 and not consider trading up to No. 2: With Michael Jordan's Bobcats picking second and the Washington Wizards picking third, you would have to like your chances of getting the second-best player at No. 4.
• NBA Commissioner David Stern has voiced his concerns about flopping. Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would welcome flopping in the Pro Bowl just to see somebody get his uniform dirty.
• Documentary film maker Sean Pamphilon says Browns linebacker Scott Fujita advised him to release the now famous Gregg Williams tape but then stopped taking his phone calls.
"No way is this intended to be a cheap shot, but there is no chance [in] hell I would allow [Fujita] to teach either of my sons an ethics class," Pamphilon wrote.
Way.
• Jim Brown tells NFL Network's "Total Access" that if he's wrong about Trent Richardson being "ordinary," he will apologize.
Too easy.
For as many "mehs" as he has directed at Richardson's selection, he should have to apologize at a Browns game.
While standing arm-in-arm with team President Mike Holmgren.
He said it
"What is he talking about? Tell him to get out there and put a jersey on." -- Jets LB Bart Scott, reacting to Goodell's criticism of shoddy play at the Pro Bowl.
Here's the problem. Goodell could inadvertently trip an opposing running back and be the leading tackler in any Pro Bowl.
He Tweeted It
"KG is another one who lacks the #clutchgene always has." -- Wally Szczerbiak on former Minnesota Timberwolves teammate Kevin Garnett.
Deleting that Tweet, Szczerbiak posted one that read, "KG . . . is fourth in line behind Pierce, Allen and Rondo to take clutch shot. Warrior all game though!!"
So the first Tweet was, you know, a typo.
You said it (The Expanded Sunday Edition)
Hey Bud: Let's say while you were playing golf I snapped your picture in your backswing. Would you quit? -- Doug, Westlake
I wouldn't quit the tournament. But if you showed me the picture, I might quit golf.
Bud: Will Brad Smelley see any right guard during training camp? -- Eric Kiska, Lorain
I suspected someday "You said it" would show signs of having run its course. Thanks for the advance warning.
Bud: I know he plays one on TV, but is Mike Holmgren a real NFL team president like some say? -- Michael Sarro
Yes, just not the kind you should ask for extra playoff tickets.
Hey Bud: Golf is a sport of concentration. Thus cellphone use on the course is a constant aggravation to the players. Does The PD allow cellphone use in the office while the sports writers are developing and fine tuning their stories? -- Dr. Grinder
I can only speak for myself. Losing total focus would only help my columns.
Bud: Did The PD photo caption guys mix up the owners' sons in Thursday's front page picture of the forlorn young man in bow tie and glasses? I would swear it was Paul D. watching Ubaldo's latest outing. -- Tom Powers, Chardon
First-time "You said it" winners receive a T-shirt from the mental_floss collection.
Bud: Now that the Indians have canceled Snow Days due to small crowds, when will they make a decision on the fate of the April 2013 home schedule? -- Vince G., Cincinnati
Repeat winners receive a rain check.
Bud: Was that sullen picture of Nick Gilbert in The PD taken after the NBA Draft Lottery or when he lost his First Communion money at the Horseshoe? -- Jim, Shaker Heights
Some repeat winners get barred.
To reach Bud Shaw: bshaw@plaind.com, 216-999-5639
On Twitter: @budshaw
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/budshaw/index.ssf/2012/06/for_nba_conspiracy_theorists_k.html
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LA Kings win again at New Jersey Devils to take 2-0 Stanley Cup lead
Los Angeles Kings beat New Jersey Devils 2-1 with second overtime winner of 2012 Stanley Cup finals
The LA Kings' glorious NHL playoffs road form continued with a second overtime win in New Jersey to make them firm favourites to claim their first Stanley Cup.
Jeff Carter scored 13 minutes into overtime to give the Kings a 2-1 win and a 2-0 series lead over the New Jersey Devils. The Kings are now 10-0 on the road in the 2012 playoffs and a phenomenal 14-2 overall.
The New Jersey faithful streamed away in close to silence having again come so close and yet come away with nothing after losing Game One in overtime too. It is the first time since 1951 (Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens) that the first two Stanley Cup finals games have been settled in overtime.
The Kings are the twelfth team to win the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals on the road. The good news for the Devils is that two of the previous 11 contrived to the lose the finals. Nine, however, did win the Cup.
Drew Doughty gave the Kings an early lead with a fabulous end-to-end goal that saw him bamboozle three Devils.
.
For the next period-and-a-half the Devils found it hard to impose themselves and again struggled to get enough shots on target. But in the third period came the leveller from Ryan Carter which forced overtime.
Just being in the Stanley Cup finals is enough for some fans.
"We didn't expect to make the playoffs at all this year so we've been fortunate to have two extra months of hockey," said Donna, wearing her special playoffs jersey complete with ten years worth of pins. "Beating the Rangers was like winning the Cup, anyway. Maybe better than winning the Cup."
Randy, also from New Jersey, added that a highlight of the playoff run had been the emergence of rookie Adam Henrique and the late arrival in big time hockey of Stephen Gionta. The 28-year-old Gionta has long lived in the shadow of his older brother Brian and, despite being with the New Jersey organisation for six years, only scored his first NHL goal in April.
But these Devils fans may be fortunate to see more playoff hockey this season. The Kings have only lost two playoff games in 2012 and would dearly love to lift the Cup in LA.
LA veteran Dusty Penner said: "We've been building confidence since Game One. I think it was a big step for us when we went into Vancouver and beat them the first game. It's a snowball effect and we just keeping adding more snow after each win."
Hockey is at its most popular in Los Angeles since the glory days when Wayne Gretzky was tempted to La La Land. Gretzky had more playoff goals, assists and points than any other NHL player ever. But, despite his talent and Stanley Cup-winning pedigree in Edmonton, Gretzky never won the Cup for LA.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jun/03/la-kings-new-jersey-devils-game-2
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06/02/2012
Leicester Mercury commented Dragons' Den star Hilary Devey quitting the BBC
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Westlake baseball state championship game updates from Columbus
The Westlake High School baseball team is one victory away from being state champions. Westlake (24-6) will meet Cincinnati Moeller at Huntington Park in Columbus. This will be the school's first baseball championship game. Follow along with Tim Rogers (@TimRogersPD) of The Plain Dealer.
Westlake takes on Cincinnati Moeller Saturday afternoon for the title.Source: http://www.cleveland.com/hssports/blog/index.ssf/2012/06/westlake_state_championship_ga.html
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