Latest news with #refund
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
The little-known Centrelink benefit that could save you hundreds in minutes
A hardworking single mum has shared how she saved $800 from a little-known Centrelink benefit by making one phone call. Mother-of-three Alyce Verade, 37, couldn't believe her luck when she learned she was eligible for a refund on her car registration and licence fee. The Blue Mountains mum told her thousands of followers on TikTok she was expecting a refund worth more than $800 a year. 'I'm going to get a cheque in the mail for over $800 just by making a simple phone call,' she said. 'If you are a single parent in NSW, call Service NSW and try and get your money back.' The refund consisted of $692 for her car registration fee and a partial refund exceeding $200 for her driver's licence. Ms Verade said the process was painless and took no more than ten minutes. It was a helpful lifeline for the single mum who told Yahoo Finance she works three casual retail jobs while also working as a teacher's aide. 'That $800 is going to go towards the kids, that's where all the money always goes. So groceries, bills and school clothes is where the funds will go,' she said. Recipients of a range of Centrelink payments, including the Age Pension, Carer Payment and Disability Support Pension are entitled to a Pensioner Concession Card. Those eligible do not need to apply as Centrelink will automatically send it. It is also available to recipients of the JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance who are single and caring for a dependent child and looking for work. Benefits of the card vary between states but in many cases extend to cheaper healthcare, discounted electricity and gas bills and lower water and property rates. In Ms Verade's case, she has held the card since December 2023 as a recipient of the Parenting Payment single. Now, she wants to spread the word that there's help out there for countless Aussies in her position. 'One of my friends, I contacted as soon as I found out,' she told Yahoo Finance. 'She's getting $500 back.'
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Hundreds of thousands of Australians wrongly given parking fines: How to get your money back
A Melbourne council has overcharged nearly 250,000 rate payers for breaching parking time limits. The major parking fine bungle saw Merri-bek Council overcharge more than $12million to an estimated 248,000 motorists between 2013 and when the oversight was uncovered this month. Merri-bek Council, formerly Moreland Council, covers regions including Brunswick, Coburg, Pascoe Vale and parts of Fitzroy North. The motorists were overcharged, on average, $50 more per fine and now the council needs to find $12million to repay the fined drivers. Merri-bek Council's longest serving councillor Oscar Yildiz blamed an administrative error made in 2013 for the blunder. 'As a councillor, I want to acknowledge that council made a serious mistake,' he said. 'As soon as this came to light, we acted quickly, took responsibility, and established a 12-month refund scheme for those affected. Yes, it will impact our budget, but doing the right thing matters more.' Starting in early July, an opt-in refund scheme will be available for a year, giving people the chance to recover the overcharged portion. CEO of Merri-bek City Council Cathy Henderson apologised to those affected. 'Today's announcement reflects Merri-bek City Council's commitment to integrity, transparency and fairness. Now that we have found the mistake, we are fixing it,' she said. 'This is a regrettable historical administrative error, and we apologise for the impact of the overcharge. 'Parking is a limited resource and to ensure fair access for everyone, parking restrictions and controls are necessary. All revenue raised from parking fines is reinvested back into our community to provide services and facilities to the Merri-bek community. ' The 11 fines eligible for refunds 1. Parked for period longer than indicated 2. Parked fail to pay & obey instructions on sign 3. Stopped contrary to a No Parking sign 4. Stopped on a bicycle parking area 5. Stopped on a motor bike parking area 6. Parked contrary to requirement of parking area 7. Parked not at an angle of 45 degrees 8. Parked not at an angle of 90 degrees 9. Parked not completely within a parking bay 10. Parked long vehicle exceed minimum number of bays 11. Parked wide vehicle exceed minimum number of bays
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Mother accidentally charged £4,586 for a two-hour car park stay in Slough after paying without noticing the price
A mother was accidentally charged £4,586 when she parked at a multi-storey car park for two hours when she paid without noticing the price. Yaditi Kava, 39, had gone on a shopping trip with her two young daughters at the Queensmere Observatory Shopping Centre, in Slough, on May 16. After staying for dinner, and her girls 'getting tired', Ms Kava paid as she exited the car park as the pay machines were closed. She quickly made the contactless payment and admitted she was 'in a rush and thought the '4,5' on the display meant £4.50. But to her horror, she immediately received a text message from her bank to inform her £4,586 had been taken from her account. Savills, which manages the centre, blamed the error on a faulty machine and said it was an 'isolated incident'. Bosses had vowed to return the mother's money with three days, but it would take three weeks for the cash to show up in her bank. Ms Kava had saved up the money to pay for legal fees for her divorce and said the stress almost caused her to cancel plans for her daughter's birthday. She told the BBC: 'It was surreal - I just couldn't fathom that they had taken that money.' A spokesperson for Savills told the broadcaster before the refund was issued: 'Savills can confirm that it is aware of an isolated incident concerning an anomaly with a parking charge in the car park. 'We have been in regular contact with the customer to rectify the issue as a matter of priority and can confirm a full refund is being processed. 'This was a very unusual occurrence, and we are investigating the car park system to prevent this from happening in the future.' Disgruntled shoppers have previously complained about the dilapidated state of the car park, saying it stinks of urine. Gordon Moffatt last year told the Maidenhead Advertiser he had issues when exiting the car park when the machine failed to accept his bank card. 'It shocked me the sense of the dilapidation [in] Slough,' he said. 'The town is falling into disrepair and Queensmere is a mirror of the town it serves.' The shopping centre announced earlier this month it was permanently closing the car park as it 'no longer meets the expectations of today's shoppers or aligns with modern parking standards'. The shopping centre announced earlier this month it was permanently closing the car park as it 'no longer meets the expectations of today's shoppers' 'As such, the decision has been made to close the car park to ensure the highest level of service for our visitors,' a statement read on the shopping centre's website. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, bought the centre in 2016 for £130million. It recently sold the centre to developer Berkeley Homes with the deal expected to be rubber stamped in the summer. The shopping centre is expected to be demolished with outline planning permission for 1,600 homes on the 9.2-acre site.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Waverley Borough Council outlines planning fees review
People hit with huge bills from a local council for work done to their homes will be "refunded" if the correct processes were not followed, official papers Borough Council (WBC) has published details on how residents who believe they have been mischarged community infrastructure levies (CIL) can apply for a homeowners have said they have been asked to pay unexpected fees worth thousands of pounds for making home improvements, including extensions, without the ability to appeal.A report for WBC said grounds for appealing decisions were limited, and that liability notices cannot be withdrawn unless there has been an administrative or legal error. CIL are fees issued by local authorities on any new developments and are used to pay for infrastructure, such as schools and roads."Where a CIL liability notice has been incorrectly served by the council, it will be withdrawn where the law permits, and any charge that has been paid…will be refunded," the documents report added that legal advice to WBC was that the "regulations do not provide general discretion…to withdraw liability notices in order to relieve householders of the consequences of their misunderstandings or omissions, which have resulted in them not complying with the steps they need to follow…to benefit from an exemption".WBC said it was proposing measures relating to the way CIL is collected and allocated. 'Put this right' Councillor Liz Townsend, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Economic Development, said: "We recognise that some homeowners feel they have been treated unfairly under these national rules. "I would like to thank them for sharing their experiences and in response to this, we are proposing to introduce a formal process so that these cases can be reviewed. "This discretionary review will give homeowners the opportunity to have their case reassessed if they believe CIL was applied incorrectly. "If the council has made an error, we will work to put this right, because we are committed to making CIL work for all of our residents."The report will be discussed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at WBC on Friday 23 June and then the Executive will make decisions on the options at a meeting on Tuesday 1 July.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Woman charged £4,586 for parking in Slough multi-storey
A mum was left "in shock" after being accidentally charged £4,586 for a two-hour session at a multi-storey car Kava, 39, said she had typed in her pin number at the exit barrier at Queensmere Observatory Shopping Centre in Slough, without noticing the said it took three weeks and intervention from the BBC Three Counties JVS Show before her money was which manages the shopping centre, said it was "an isolated incident" and it was investigating the system to prevent future problems. Ms Kava had taken her two young girls shopping after work on Friday, 16 May, and decided to "grab some dinner before going home".On returning, the area with parking payment machines was closed, so she decided to pay at the exit."I tapped my contactless card, then a message displayed saying I needed to enter my PIN," she said."I was in a rush, the girls were getting tired, and I did not see the number on the small card machine."The big display showed '4,5', so I thought it was £4.50."The barrier lifted, and she immediately received a text notification from her bank."To my shock, I saw that they had deducted not £4.50 but £4,586 from my account," she recalled."It was surreal - I just couldn't fathom that they had taken that money." Ms Kava said she had to wait until Monday to speak to the manager, who told her "it was a faulty machine".She continued: "He made a receipt on 19 May and assured me I would see that money in my account within 2-3 working days."But three weeks later, the money had still not appeared."I'm going through a divorce at the moment and had saved that money to pay legal fees," she said."I was going to call off my daughter's birthday party, it was a lot of stress."Feeling like she was "spiralling and going nowhere," Ms Kava reported the case to the consumer rights programme the JVS show, presented by Jonathan Vernon-Smith."It was a godsend - One call from Jonathan, and the next day the money was in my bank," she said, adding that the full refund arrived on Saturday ,7 before the money was returned, Savills told the BBC: "Savills can confirm that it is aware of an isolated incident concerning an anomaly with a parking charge in the car park."We have been in regular contact with the customer to rectify the issue as a matter of priority and can confirm a full refund is being processed."This was a very unusual occurrence, and we are investigating the car park system to prevent this from happening in the future." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
