INSURANCE company Direct Line this week issued the results of a survey into what consumers believe to be unreasonable charges.

The top three ‘hates’ were charging for parking, fees for using some ATMs and surcharges for credit or debit card transactions.

I have mixed thoughts on the subject of parking.

Without charges or restrictions on how long a vehicle can stay, there is no doubt people will abuse the system.

On the other hand, I object to paying to park somewhere that used to be free.

I am also angered by why the DVLA is permitted to supply vehicle ownership details to private parking firms. To my mind, only the police and other official bodies should have access to this information. Some years ago, a former colleague and his wife attended a wedding reception in Glasgow. The hotel car park was right next to one linked to a supermarket.

The fellow did not realise he had inadvertently used the supermarket one until a parking charge demand from a private firm popped through his letterbox.

He could not understand how the firm had learned where he lived and almost burst umpteen blood vessels when I said the information would have been given out by the DVLA. Service charges automatically added to the bill also featured in the top 10 most disliked demands. I have never been able to get my head round service charges. You expect to pay more to eat a dish in a restaurant than to buy the equivalent from an establishment’s carry-out department.

This is reasonable because you can sit at a table.

However, why should you pay an additional charge to have the food delivered to your table? Why is the price of a meal not all-inclusive?

It’s the same with hotel room service.

You can be charged up to £5 for a small bottle of lemonade — available at a corner shop for a fifth of the price — and then there is an additional cost for it being delivered to your room. My advice is to smuggle in your own refreshments and save a small fortune.