I have been appointed to be my mother's DWP appointee. My mother who is 94 recently went into a care home and is blind, so cannot handle any forms etc. I thought that being a DWP appointee was just handling her financial affairs and DWP administration. However, reading what it entails it appears that my mother's benefits will be paid into my account, is this correct? I also read that I must not access my mother's account, which I have been doing for a number of years because she appointed me to be a third party name on the account because of her problems. I am also currently going through a power of attorney application for my mother, which will make it very difficult if I am not allowed to access her personal bank account. Perhaps this information is incorrect? because when I was interviewed by the DWP to be appointee none of this was mentioned.

My mum was recently admitted to a care home she is 94 and has early dementia. Previously she was receiving her state pension and pension credit (guaranteed element). She has been requested by the DWP to have a financial assessment due to the change of circumstances i.e going to a care home, previously she was renting privately. What was unknown that her savings have risen just over the £10,000 that the DWP needs to be informed about regarding Pension Credit. I have spoken to the DWP because I have now been assigned to handle her benefits etc.. Because her savings have gone over the 10K what is likely to happen? Will she be taken off Pension Credit Guaranteed and put on Pension Credit Savings? We have been talking about getting a pre-paid funeral plan which will bring her savings back down to below the £10K figure, would this be a wise thing to do?

The pre-pay meter was there when she moved in around three years ago, although with a different energy supplier. She did receive a letter last year that she had been underpaying, although EDF corrected the problem. The final bill is based on an estimated reading, which is wrong. It seems like all bills are estimated. Unfortunately I now cannot gain access to the pre-paid meter to see if I can find the up to date actual reading..

If that is the case why don't they update the pre-pay meter to take into account for any price hike? Because it's a pre-pay meter there is no meter to show the number of units used (I think) surely this is open to abuse..

My elderly mother recently had to go into a care home. She was previously private renting and the accommodation had a pre-pay electricity meter the type with a key type stick. Thought it would be a simple matter of closing the account down because it was pre-paid, and there would be no cost on the final bill. The final electricity bill arrived a few days ago and it's for around £300! I cannot contact EDF until after the holiday, any one else had a final electricity bill for a pre-paid meter?

We did try to arrange mediation with all tenants present through mediation, unfortunately the trouble tenant declined to attend the mediation. With winter only a few months ago, the problem is likely to happen again. I still think that the matter should be addressed through the tenancy regulations, a stern warning may be all that is required. The housing association unfortunately is not interested in resolving the problem through the tenancy regulation agreement. Is there a legal obligation for the HA to carry out the enforcement of the tenancy regulations, with respect to the tenants interests? I believe that previously the Office of Fair Trading handled these type of complaints, unfortunately this office is now closed..

My elderly mum is 94 years of age who receives pension credit and attendance allowance (high rate) due to arthritis and is also severely visually impaired (registered). She was assessed by the housing association to go into a care home. The person who carried out the assessment informed us that there is a benefit for being visually impaired. We were not aware of this, is there such a benefit? We thought that the high rate Attendance Allowance covered this?

I have been there around 1 year and noticed the problem from day 1 of the move. The matter was reported to the HA on the winter of 2013, because the accommodation was freezing. The other tenants have been there for a few years and have made numerous complaints to the HA, but have never made a formal complaint because they were fobbed off by the HA. The nuisance tenant has been there for about 2 years and has been reported in the past for being aggressive towards other tenants, when confronted over anything.

The block is for the age 55+ group, the three affected tenants are disabled and have mobility problems. I have tried to close the windows during bad weather but they are opened again, it's like a cat and mouse game! The nuisance tenant is in his 70's and we all believe that the tenant has some mental issues due to his odd behaviour, luckily he is not at his flat at weekends, but sometimes he does return for 5 minutes on weekends, opens the corridor windows and then clears off for a few days. Which is one of the reasons why we think his actions are just to be a nuisance to the other tenants. The windows are opened during high winds like the storms a few months ago 70 mph winds, minus zero weather temps. The tenant does not reside in the corridor, if he likes to be freezing he should sit in his own flat with all of the windows open! The complex was built in the early 80's pvc windows, two large windows one end of the corridor and two small windows on the opposite end of the corridor, fitted with handle locks and also a security latch. I do realise that if the matter was reported to the ombudsman there would be little chance of any enforcement being made, I am sure the HA are aware of this because they always cover themselves. Which is why I believe any successful outcome would rely on the tenancy regulations being broken. The regulations state: Section 2 - Paragraph 4 - Behaviour towards others. 4.2 Otherwise interfere with the peace and comfort of other occupiers at your Home or visitors or neighbours 4.4 Do anything or omit to do anything likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to any person living in your Home, your neighbours.. So the question is does the tenant have any legal right that the HA enforces the tenancy regulations? When you take over a property and sign for the tenancy surely you should be under the control of the tenancy regulations (contract)? Point noted about keeping a log sheet for these incidents and I will certainly take this option up and pass out log sheets to all of the other tenants.

Stuu007. There was no evidence submitted, only a complaint letter from all of the tenants stating the same problem. The problem tenant is not denying that he is opening the windows and believes that he is within is rights to open the windows at his leisure during any weather conditions. The matter was dealt directly with the housing officer and then it went to formal complaint and the final decision was that no action would be taken and the next stage would be the ombudsman services. The complaint procedure was carried out within accordance of the HA guidelines. There is no problem in reporting the HA actions to the Ombudsman Services, but would the complaint be successful if the tenants that are affected have no say in the control of the Tenancy Regulations.

I live in a social housing block of flats, four tenancies in one block. There is a problem tenant in one of the tenancies, he is deliberately being a nuisance to the other tenants and all of the tenants think that his actions are just to annoy the other tenants. The tenant keeps opening the communal corridor windows open in all weather conditions, the hallway is freezing and represents a wind tunnel. This makes all of the flats cold and dusty and very often the heating has to be used when it would be unnecessary with the windows closed. There is also a security issue of the windows being left open 24/7. The matter was reported to the housing association, who interviewed the tenant and he promised to keep the windows closed during bad weather, unfortunately it was just a pack of lies and the problem continues. The housing association is stating that there is nothing else that they can do and if the tenants are unhappy to report the problem to the ombudsman. The tenancy regulations specifically state that any tenant must not be a nuisance to other tenants and must not cause any discomfort to other tenants, this is exactly what is happening! If the matter was reported to the ombudsman would there be a chance of any enforcement to be taken against the housing association for not applying their tenancy regulations? Are the tenancy regulations also a part of the contract to protect the tenants and that the housing association has a legal right to adhere to the regulations to protect the tenants?

Thanks. I contacted the retailer and they have now agreed to refund the postage when I produce the receipt of postage.

I purchased a new DVD drive 14 days ago from a computer company online. Just got around to fitting the drive and it turns out to be faulty. The company have issued a RMA number and address for returning the item, but am I responsible for the postage return cost. Is this correct? I thought the return of faulty goods and postal charges was the responsibility of the retailer?

I also got my new contract last week, but for some reason it was just the gas contract. No mention of the electric contract or it's tariffs? Supervillain, did you receive information on both contracts?

Maxxpower I am glad that you managed to get in on the NPower capped deal as well. I personally don't blame Ed Milliband for the energy price increases, they have been occurring every year for the last few years and more or less at the same rate. In fact I applaud Mr Milliband for bringing these scandalous energy price increases to the attention of the British public, something had to be done. But this is my own personal opinion and I dont want to get into any kind of political argument, just glad that we both managed to get in on the offer..

Thanks for the replies. I have just received an email from NPower, explaining that my new contract will not be affected by the recent price increase. So hopefully the switch will be a good saving.

I signed for a new contract with Npower last week for a fixed capped contract until April 2015. Typical the announcement was made today for a rise in NPower prices on Dec1st. I have never done a switch of energy companies before, so I am a bit lost of how a switch works? When I signed last week I was informed that there are various stages of the transfer: 10 Oct-24 Oct = Confirmation of your Contract Details. 24 Oct- 7 Nov = Your Energy Supply Date 7 Nov- 21 Nov = Provide Meter Readings 21 Nov- 5 Dec = Your account is set up If the finalisation of the transfer over is on 5th Dec, does this mean that I will find that I will paying the new price increase tariff on the remainder of my new contract?

I recently purchased a dehumidifier from an ebay seller. Item was listed to be brand new and seemed to be a bargain. I sent a message to the seller just to confirm that the item was brand new i.e box unopened, I also asked does the humidifier come with the manufacturers warranty. I was informed that yes the item is brand new and comes with the manufacturers 12 month warranty. What I didn't realise was the the seller is private, checking the product registration it is requesting what company was the dehumidifier purchased from and the date? Because this was a private ebay sale. I dont believe that I will be able to register the product for any warranty problems. Any advice please?

yes she was on incapacity benefit and then went on to the support group esa but like so many others she was taken off the support group for no reason and is now is under a review. But she does not have anything like the 35 years to qualify.

I am trying to work out the new Pension Bills for married couples to be introduced in 2016. The new pension is now to be based on the individuals and not couples. In my case I have worked over 35 years (the qualifying number of years for a pension), but my wife hasn't due to health problems. So I presume that I will receive the new pension rate of £144, but what would happen in the event of my death? would she be left without any type of pension? If she had been working for 35+ years would we have been entitled to the full pension twice i.e. £144x2 because pensions will be based on individuals?

Thanks for the information. Any idea if the National Insurance contributions are still paid for carers?

I am currently receiving a carers allowance because my wife is disabled and is receiving middle care DLA. I believe that DLA is to be stopped in the near future and replaced with PIP, when this happens any idea what is going to happen to the carers allowance?

Perhaps that's what they want!

I also notice that the Housing Benefit is also subject to the 1% inflation cap. On average social housing rent increases around 5% per year, so I now presume that the tenant will now be responsible to cover the 4% deficit?

I have found out why she is not entitled to sick pay. It's the change in Lower Earnings Limit From April 2012 the limit was changed to £107, she's earning slightly below this figure and therefore now does not pay National Insurance Contributions or Income Tax, and is now not entitled to sick pay.