Hi Cagger's I know I've been very dumb I know it, anyway I bought something from Bright house last year and I was told if I did not have contents insurance I would have to take out the OSC. In fact I was dumb again the same year and bought something else and was told exactly the same thing. It is my intention to pay these items off and no longer use bright house. but I have since learnt that you can cancell the OSC at any time and I have already drafted a letter using a template from this site. However, I am reading conflicting information about getting a refund for the OSC I have already paid. Is it possible to have this refunded and applied to my account to reduce the amount I owe? I was clearly missold these items as I now understand the line about having contents insurance is bull****. Thanks people

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39351793

i have just been given power of attorney over my father , his grandson is 45 and been living with my father rent free bill free all his life, my father has been in a home for over a year and the grandson has been using my fathers bank card, there is a police investigation due to over 10 thousand pound being stolen from my fathers account the outcome of this investigation is near , but my question is , i have asked the grandson for the spare set of keys for the house as i need access to the house paper work ect but he has refused to hand the keys over to me , i want to do this the correct way , what can i do ?

Hi all, I'm a British ex-pat in Malta. A guy (also British) who owned a flat in the block I live in tragically died recently. It was used as a holiday home/rental so he rarely stayed there. We need to contact his family (or other new owners) about maintenance and other issues but have no contact details apart from the now deceased owner. How do we go about finding who is responsible for executing the will in the UK and identifying the new owner of the flat?

READ MORE HERE: http://ee.co.uk/help/mobile-and-home-connections/broadband-gallery-mobile-broadband/email/email-closure

The Local Government Ombudsman's office has just released the following decision. Re: London Borough of Haringey. The complaint 1. The complainant, who I shall call Ms A, complains the Council allowed her to make payment towards an outstanding Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) although it had passed the matter to its enforcement agents (bailiffs), incurring additional costs. What I found 4 The Council issued Ms A a PCN for a parking contravention on 29 September 2015. Ms A did not pay or make formal representations against the PCN so the Council pursued the debt against her. It issued a warrant of execution and passed the debt to its bailiffs to enforce on 16 June 2016. 5. Ms A made a payment of £97 for the PCN using the Council’s online system on 23 June 2016. However by this point the Council had already passed the case to its bailiffs, incurring further costs. Ms A says she paid the fine so bailiff action should cease. However, the Council says she is still liable for the bailiff fees. Ms A says the Council should not have allowed her to make a payment online when the case was with its bailiffs. The Council confirmed it passed the debt onto the enforcement agency on 13 June because it had not received payment and sent a Notice of Enforcement on 16 June. 6. Ms A complained to the Council that she had not received the statutory notices the Council says it sent. The Council confirmed it sent the notices to the registered keepers address. These included the Notice to Owner, the Charge Certificate and the Order of Recovery. Each notice summarised the amount due at each stage. The Council said Royal Mail did not return the letters as undelivered so considered them served. The Council included copies of the notices it sent to Ms A in its response to her complaint. 7. A motorist may make part-payment towards a PCN debt and there was no reason for the Council to refuse Ms A’s payment made on 23 June 2016. Ms A sought to challenge the Council’s action but was unsuccessful, and the Council is therefore entitled to pursue the debt against her, including by passing the case to its bailiffs. Ms A made payment only after the case had been referred to bailiffs and the Ombudsman cannot therefore say she is not liable for the bailiff’s fees. The Council’s acceptance of Ms A’s payment has also not caused Ms A an injustice as it has been put towards the cost of the PCN and bailiff’s fees incurred to pursue it. http://www.lgo.org.uk/decisions/transport-and-highways/parking-and-other-penalties/16-008-073

READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-of-students-will-benefit-from-new-cadet-units-backed-by-50-million-government-plan

My parent died 5 years ago and a sibling acted as Executor. I have never seen the Will (despite requests) and the Probate Office has no record which indicates it did not go to Probate even though there was property and effects involved which have since been distributed. I thought I was also named as an Executor (along with a third sibling) but, of course, since I haven't seen the Will I have no way of knowing for sure. I have contacted the solicitors who, as far as I know, dealt with the Will and they say they were not asked to do the Probate and do not know if any subsequent Wills were made but if I wanted a copy of the Will they do hold I would need a copy of the Death Certificate and the permission of the other Executors, the latter being the problem due to lack of cooperation. This being the case, plus the apparent lack of Probate - meaning the Will is therefore not in the public domain - is there any other way I can obtain a copy? I would like to be certain the assets were disposed of in accordance with the wishes of the deceased as I have reason to believe there may be some discrepancy. I have discovered the deceased made several Wills before death (while in the care of the Executor sibling), two in the same month, and the property has not gone to the person the deceased and their spouse (who died first) always wished it to (which was not me, by the way). How can one be certain it is indeed the very last Will & Testament that's been acted upon by an Executor - or that it's been carried out properly? If Probate has not been granted, can anyone who has a Will of a deceased person obtain Probate - in other words, is it the first person to get there, so to speak? Can someone dispose of property and/or effects without Probate? Are beneficiaries entitled to see the Will?

Hi I have received a claim form with a stamp and the county court address on there. It says on the back of the letter - Do not ignore this claim form - if you do nothing judgement may be entered against you without further notice. This will make it difficult for you to get credit. Included in the pack are Admission Form N9A Defence and Counterclaim Forrm N9B Acknowledgement of service The top two are options are self explanatory i believe it does state the following under the 'acknowledgement of service' option: If you file an acknowledgement of service but do not file a defence within 2 days of service of the claim form, or particulars of claim if served separately, judgement may be entered against you. If you do not file an application within 14 days of the date of filing this acknowledgement of service, it will be assumed that you accept the court's jurisdiction and judgement may be entered against you. I can recall this relates to when they claim I had stopped in a no stopping zone at one stop shopping centre in Perry Barr Birmingham. I was totally unaware of this till i recieved the letter and it was asking for £100! On recollection i had parked next to where all the taxis park, so my mother could run to the cash point. I was in my car at all times and my engine was on - she was back in my car in two minutes and i was out o there. There was no obstruction caused and i even doubt i crossed the line where the cross hatches begin - probably only to turn around and get out of there! Naturally i have been ignoring their demands and have not sent them anything, but upon receiving this now i am concerned as to what it is? Am i being taken to court? will i get a CCJ? and do i need to respond? what is my best course of action? Hoping somebody can advise me please. Many many thanks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/01/end-rip-off-rail-fares-ticket-pricing-system-gets-overhaul/

This was my girlfriend who did this without me knowing. She signed up to some well being 6 month course where they offered it for $10,000 and she said she could not afford it so they let her have it for $7500 and she signed some digital contract that states if it does not work you don't get your money back. Well it turned out to be a few videos on well being, food and exercise etc and 2 x 1hr group calls, a total rip off and it has done nothing for her at all and she feels utterly stupid for signing up and wants out. She is paying £250 a month and has 3 months left of the course but around 2 years to pay it off, she is v angry and feels duped. My question is if she walked away now, would they chase her for the money through any court action or other? Thanks

Hi I have a mortgage with BOS I have been in arrears since 2011 and didn't pay at all for a year or so stated payments again in April till July then missed aug and sept then set up new arrangement and paid two In October and one in November the direct debit will be missed on 30th as I don't have enough but it will be in my bank on 5th jan will they retry or is it best to call and explain? My arrears are 9800 Thanks

Lettings agents in England will be banned from charging fees to tenants "as soon as possible" under plans announced in the Autumn Statement. Tenants can be charged fees for a range of administration, including reference, credit and immigration checks. Chancellor Philip Hammond said shifting the cost to landlords will save 4.3 million households hundreds of pounds. The move could spur competition as landlords, unlike tenants, can shop around for the cheapest agent. In Scotland, lettings agency fees to tenants have already been banned. In England and Wales since last year, lettings and managing agents have been legally obliged to clearly publicise their fees. Fees vary widely, with costs in some big cities much higher than elsewhere. Tenants face charges when agents draw up tenancy agreements along with the possibility of a non-refundable holding deposit paid before signing up to the deal. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38065249

I recently ordered a bag from the store online and posted it back to them. I had ordered something similar a while ago from the same store online. Both items black backpacks and the same rubbish to be honest, but I think I may have sent the wrong one back. They have received my return from what my tracking number tells me, but they've not processed it yet. I was wondering what could happen or if they'll get me in trouble for this.

Hi there, Just a quick question which I hope someone may know the answer to. I have a few debts with debt collection agencies which I am paying monthly to. 2 of the debts are with one agency but only one of these shows on my credit file as the other 'dropped off'. My partner settled the account showing on the credit file in full using the agencies online payment facility. The question is will this account/debt show as paid in full on my credit file or will I have to settle both accounts with this agency first? kind regards Robert

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them

Hello, I am going to copy the letter that I have spent all day preparing, to send back to HMRC after I received a tax credit letter stating that they need to check my tax credit claim. I know that I have been stupid. I shouldn't have posted the claim form at the end of Sept when i had already signed up to uni and had already decided to just work for the playgroup. I kept meaning to ring them and tell them I no longer wanted to claim it but just kept letting myself get distracted by other matters. I then got a phone call about a week ago and was told that they wanted to check some information about my work. I agreed and stupidly just said yes when she asked if i was still acting in cleaning, gardening and clerical work. I have only been doing clerical work this year and only for one customer after receiving the letter and panicking that i am going to go to prison i went online and found this place and although it has reassured me that i probably wont go to prison i am still past myself with worry that they will carry out a full investigation and i will lose my job. I cannot have a criminal conviction with my work. I have not at any point earned enough money to pay tax or NI on my income. Please would someone take the time to read my letter and tell me whether you think i will be prosecuted please, thank you in advance, any advice will be gratefully received. Dear Sir or Madam, Stupidity and ignorance are no excuse for the mistakes I have made but in an attempt to be as transparent as possible I am setting out some information that will help you understand how I have come to be in the position that I am in with regards to tax credits. I previously worked as a teaching assistant in the early year’s sector in primary schools in *******. I worked in the sector for 14 years. When new leadership came into the school and my contract hours were cut I decided to leave and to attempt to be self employed. (April/2014) I started off doing craft fairs and selling hand- made items through fairs and word of mouth. However there was very little money in the type of field I had tried to enter and it was obvious that I wasn’t going to make any real money in the process. The profits were too low compared to the outlay. I began a cleaning job to increase my income and started looking for other work I was contacted by ****** playgroup in the September of 2014 and asked to work as a consultant in order to help them to improve when they received a ‘requires improvement’ judgement from Ofsted. I sincerely believed that the work I was doing, as most of it was done from home and other parts were going in to deliver training, constituted self employment. The income received from this work was declared in my self assessment declaration that was processed by my tax accountant. The workload increased over the next year to the point where I was working almost solely for them but still growing vegetables and making occasional commission pieces for people. By now I wasn’t cleaning the holiday cottage on a regular basis but had some work cleaning cottages on a as needs basis. Again all of my income was declared. I moved from my previous home that was a smallholding in Sept of 2015. From there, on an honesty box principle, I used to sell vegetables and eggs from my chickens. When I moved the new garden wasn’t ready to do that from but I have been working on it in the hope of having it ready for next year to continue to do the same. However, having now looked into the matter I understand that this sort of attempt to make money is not really considered to be attempting to make a profit on a self employment basis. Therefore, I shall not be doing this again. I was asked to be a permanent member of staff from Sept 2016 by the playgroup I had been working with, with 12 hours of that being in the setting and doing 8 hours a week admin at home. I thought I would remain partly self employed and part employed. ********* playgroup operates for 15 hours a week and is staffed by part time staff and volunteers. They were PAYE exempt as no-one earned over £112 per week due to the low operating hours and low wage at the time of £7 an hour. This was increased to £8.20 an hour when the new minimum hourly rate came in in April 2016. After receiving your letter I have done what I should have done ages ago and found out some more information about what constitutes self employment and have realised that in fact I would be regarded as an employee and not self employed due to receiving holiday pay etc since April. Also that the sale of produce from my garden does not really amount to attempting to make a profit. I should have sought advice earlier but just carried on assuming that as long as I declared my income that would be alright. When I was asked to become a permanent member of staff I fully intended to make up my hours from the 20 at the playgroup to 30 through acquiring 10 extra hours in the form of cleaning work or more clerical work, but casual work is very hard to come by in my area at present. Also in the meantime I decided to go to university in order to improve my qualifications in the hope that in the future I might gain a full time better paid job. The course is full time and I soon realised that I wasn’t going to be able to meet the commitment required of the course and the 20 hours a week at the playgroup and take on extra work. I realise that I should have contacted you immediately and withdrawn my claim for working tax credits and I have no excuse for it except to admit that I allowed other things to seem more pressing. It is only since considering my position that I have realised that my status as a self employed person is incorrect and I can only sincerely apologise for my error. I of course wish to cease the application for the working tax credits as I accept that with my current working hours I am not entitled to them and apologise further for not contacting you sooner. I am in the process of engaging a new tax accountant and hopefully will be able to get my tax status sorted out with HMRC. Because of my new understanding of my employment status we will be setting up a PAYE scheme at the playgroup with this accountant to sort out what needs to be done about my payments since April and to avoid any further confusion. To clarify my working hours for this tax year I have set out my income from the playgroup in a table below. I hope that this clarifies matters regarding my income so far this year and my probable income for 2016/2017, although should I be prosecuted over this matter my employment will cease as I am expected to have a clean DBS as I work in the children’s workforce. Please let me know what else I can do to get this matter sorted out. In the meantime I hope I have included everything I can to answer the information that was requested in the letter dated OCT.16 from HMRC. I know that I shouldn’t have sent in the claim for tax credits as I was becoming increasingly aware that I would have to focus on the work at playgroup and doing my degree and nothing else as I was going to struggle to fit anything else in. I have been stupid and not sought proper advice about matters that were important and should have been prioritised. I am begging you to consider the fact that the working tax credits and child tax credits received in regards to my daughter until the end of August 2016 were received in good faith as I was working an average of approximately 18 hours a week, however if this money is considered to be an overpayment, then I will of course pay it back. And also that I have asked for the new claim to be withdrawn and have not received any money in regards to this claim. Started trading as a sole trader 19/04/2014 2014/2015 profit account £2043 Doing craft shows, commissions and cleaning holiday cottages. 2015/2016 profit account £4707 commissions and cleaning holiday cottages, also selling a small amount of produce from my garden and working as a consultant for ****** Playgroup. From April 2016 working for ******** approx 18 hours a week Playgroup operates for 15 hours a week term time only (39 weeks a year). Term time 20 hours @ £8.20 per hour pw £6396 39 wks 780 hours Holiday pay 20 hours @ £8.20 per hour pw £ 820 5 wks 100 hours Admin pay 5 hours @ £8.20 per hour pw £ 246 6 wks 30 Outside term time 2 weeks unpaid. £7462 910 hours per year. For a full year a total of 910 hour. 910/52 weeks = 17.5hours per week. £7462 pa/12 = £621.83 As you will be able to see from my bank statements this is the amount that has been paid in monthly. Total wages were worked out and paid monthly to make cash flow for playgroup easier. I have enclosed my bank statements and the slips I receive from playgroup to show I have been paid. I have included a set of copies of the bank statements with notes next to the debits and credits listed to show what the amounts are for although most of them are referenced in such a way that they are self explanatory. I have considered myself to be covered by the insurance that the playgroup has and have included a copy of their policy although I haven’t sent the original as this does not belong to me, if you require the original please let me know and I will ask for permission to send it to you. I don’t have a mortgage and I don’t have business vehicle insurance as I don’t use the vehicle for anything other than commuting. The work I do as far as I am aware does not require any licensing or regulations. I have included my most recent profit and loss accounts. I don’t have a business plan and am afraid I have to admit I never had, I just hoped I would make enough money to get by on until something better came along. I hope I have covered everything; once again I apologise and hope that this matter can be sorted out

I am in receipt of PIP and ESA, I have been diagnosed with Depression, Psychosis and PTSD. I live a very solitary life, with no friends or support from my family, I have a care worker from Mind who visits me for two hour once a week, aside from this I am completely withdrawn and live without any kind of contact with other people. I decided this was not a healthy way to go through life, after living this way for 4 years I decided perhaps further education could be a good option, to get to meet people and engage more in reality. In September this year I was offered a place on a part time post graduate degree at my local university, I was also awarded a £10.000 loan from student finance to cover the course tuition fees and extra expenses incurred by my studying (transport, study materials etc.), the loan is to be paid in six instalments over the two years of the course. I am now 3 weeks in to the course and I finding it very tough. I only have two hours of lessons per week the pressure is proving to much and it is now looking like I will leave the course next week, the loan will be cancelled as soon as I complete the course withdrawal form, however I have received the first payment. which was £1650. I am worried that I may lose my entitlement to ESA and PIP if I do not declare the time that I have studied for and also the amount of money I have borrowed and I am preparing a change of circumstances form to send to Jobcentre plus, could anyone please give me some advice as to how best to approach this situation.; Questions If: The total amount I have borrowed is £1650 (This must be paid back to student finance) The total amount of time I have studied is 6 hours over three weeks. I have a signed course withdrawal form, stating that I have left the course. I can provide proof of attendance showing that the course was only two hours a week. That I was only enrolled on the course for three weeks. I would like to know. . Was this amount of study time within the allowed boundaries set by ESA/ PIP Is this loan classed as Income or Capital by ESA/PIP Will I lose my entitlement to ESA and or PIP? If not, will my benefits be reduced? Many thanks Coda.

Hi, on the 13th August I was referred to Ingeus by my JSA Advisor and told to expect a call off them. On the 15th August I had a severe epileptic seizure caused by stress and was given a sicknote for 12 weeks by my doctor. He thinks, due to me being severely depressed and prone to more seizures, that I should be on ESA. I closed my claim for JSA on the 17th and opened my claim for ESA on the same day. Later that day I had a letter from Ingeus telling me to attend on the 27th. There were no mentions of sanctions or anything like that, but it caused me to become very agitated. I called the number on the letter (their general enquiry number I think) and the man, without asking for any details, told me I still had to attend. Is this correct? My JSA claim is now closed and my ESA claim is being processed. I've never met nor spoken to Ingeus before, so do I still need to go? I'm very ill at the moment and this might make me worse I fear. Obviously in 13 weeks if they put me in WRAG, that's a different situation but right now I am very ill. Any info on this would be very very appreciated!

Hi, Please give me your opinions on this: Purchased from main dealer an 18 month old car in September 2014 with 7500 miles on the clock and balance of 3 year manufacturers warranty. Noticed by end of 2015 (approx 28000 mile total) that gearbox 'crunches' when changed from 3rd to 4th gear quickly (yes this is a standard manual gearbox). Went to dealer in March 2016 to complain about gearbox (and other warranty faults), they drove car and agreed with me about gearbox. Manufacturer agreed to replace gearbox and new gearbox arrived at end of April. I couldn't leave car with the dealer at this time as I was on standby to work abroad for a number of weeks. Finally got gearbox replaced at beginning of June. New gearbox is much worse, not only does it crunch in 4th but it also whines (like an old mini) in 2nd. Car returned at begging of July to look at again, dealer agrees it is not correct but "doesn't know what manufacturer will say as it's out of warranty". Told them "don't care fault occurred in warranty period an has not been resolved - actually made worse". Manufacturer eventually agrees to send an engineer from the factory to look at my car who came last week. Manufacturer has agreed that the new gearbox is faulty but they will only supply a replacement 'box if I don't complain about it crunching in 4th as this is a "characteristic of the car". This is not entirely true as I have driven one of the loan cars with same gearbox and it does not crunch however the other loan car did, however there is a lot on the internet about failing gearboxes, crunching, stiff changes etc etc. The gearbox obviously has an inherent design flaw. The car was purchased with a personal loan with the car as security (dealer finance) although at the time I was told it was HP. I am thinking of pushing back on the dealer and loan company - under sale of good act, repair or replace vehicle - inherently faulty. Comments or opinions please? Thanks

A few weeks ago I had a moment of madness and thought I could get away with shoplifting a £6 nail polish from Boots. I didn't even make it out of the store before a man in casual clothing calmly told me to follow him to the back room. From there I returned the product (in a sellable condition) and gave him my name and address. No picture, bank details, phone number etc was taken. Police were not involved either. I was told that I was banned from that particular store for a year and that I should be expecting a letter from RLP soon. I left the store and that was that. I received my first letter a week ago and from reading around this particular topic, I know not to be stupid enough to give RLP any money. However, I am curious to know when RLP eventually give up and stop sending letters. As I'm currently at uni (I'm 19) the letters are being sent to my mum's house and I won't be travelling back home soon for a few months anyway. Any help is appreicated!

Hello everyone, We bought an xbox for the children in December 2014 which we're having problems with - it keeps switching off randomly. I would imagine the warranty was 12 months, so it's expired. This 'turning off' issue seems commonplace - is there any chance I'll be able to do anything under the Sale of Goods Act with Argos? I've tried with Microsoft, but after 40 minutes online chat we're barely beyond 'hi'... I'm still trying now! Any ideas?

Hi Everyone, thanks for reading. I have 2 defaults amounting to about £15k. I went through the entire process of seeing if they were enforceable and it seems they are. So i just moved on, this was about 2 years ago. I was just waiting until they drop off after 6 years. But i heard somewhere that these guys can come back after 5 years and start threatening you with court action. I couldn't care less, but i don't want the CCJ and going through another 6 years of rubbish credit. Has anyone had experience of this and am i better off giving them a tiny settlement and just being done with it? Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

In mid July i sent a parcel via Parcel2Go. Have used them before and had no probs. This time i was sending a child's fancy dress costume back to a company as we had bought it but it hadn't fit, so it was a simple return. The item cost £30 (which we would be getting a refund for once returned). The courier fees were £4.02 (i did not chose to pay for the extra compensation cover - as i refuse to pay compensation to cover myself against the company not doing what i am paying them for). It was using My Hermes (via Parcels2Go). A week later we were contacted by Parcels2Go to say that the packaging was damaged, what should they do. I asked them to continue with delivery as hopefully the item wouldn't be damaged. We let the company we were returning the item to know that the packaging has been damaged and to inspect the item before signing for it, and to reject it if the item was no good. A few weeks later we had still not heard more. I asked on Parcel2Go live chat and again reiterated that i want the delivery to be attempted. Nothing further happened for a few days (i was following the tracking info online). I contacted them again via live chat and they confirmed that the item had been lost and to initiate a claim. I raised the claim for £34.04. Only £4.04 has been refunded. They are rejecting my claim for the cost of the lost item (£30) as i did not take out their extra insurance. I have spoken to them via live chat today to complain. I was told that they were not liable for the lost item as i did not take out their additional insurance. I asked to escalate and spoke to someone else via live chat who reiterated the same thing. I asked for their full complaints procedure and was given an email address which they say is the last step in the complaints procedure and they will issue a final decision (and they have reiterated a few times that they will 'just say the same thing that i have been already told'). Although it is only £30, i am willing to stand up for my rights and demand compensation for them losing my property. They have referred to Ts&Cs 6.7 "If we are liable to you for any reason, we shall (subject always to clause 7) only be liable to refund to you the cost paid for the Service(s), unless you have purchased compensation cover for your Consignment from us. " Can i have anyone's thoughts on their liability to compensate me for lost goods in this situation?

Hi everyone I found out this year that my father (who I'd never had contact with) had died over 2 years ago, and had left me £25,000 in his last will and testament (I have a copy of the will from public record). However, the executor is my brother (who I've also never met) who inherited the majority of the estate, and after some difficulty in getting a response out of him, he has responded saying that I was removed from the will as a beneficiary. The copy of the will that is on public record does have codicils on it, but they do not relate to the money I've been left. My brother has now stopped contact, and I'm unsure of what the next step is! The document is a high court document from the district probate registry at Oxford, but there is no contact details for anyone other than the executor (my brother). Any advice please on how to proceed?