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Live in Carer Council Tax Discount
Hi, after seeing Martins story on GMB, I contacted Runneymede Council as I do in excess of 35 hours care for my mother who I live with. My mother receives the Attendance Allowance lower rate. The council said they will send out the form to apply. I aksed how long will they be back dating it, the adviser said threee months.…
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Advice
We have recently had a critical illness payment. However, payment doesn't cover the full mortgage. Owe around £90,000 on the mortgage. 9 years 11 months. Will still owe £30,000 after paying credit cards. In a fixed deal till Feb 2027. I'm not sure what the best way forward is due to Early Repayment Charges.
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B&Q Kitchen
Hi everyone, just searching for some advice or ideas on how to get this sorted. I think the next step will be to contact Creation, the finance company but not entirely sure. Brief timeline below… Jan 2025 – Mum had kitchen designed at B&Q. Order around £18.7k, install on finance via Creation. • Original install date was 29…
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Haggling business Insurance
Does anyone know if direct line will reduce business insurance renewal quotes if you call them? Increase this year is ridiculous. When I called them about car insurance last year they reduced it without question. I stupidly contacted them via whatsapp this time around which is obviously an even easier way for them to tell…
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SDLT when you have two homes
If I currently own two homes: A - Main B - Second and I sell A in, e.g. Aug 2026, temporarily move to my second home full time, then buy a new main home any time between Aug-26 and Aug-29, will I just pay the normal rate of stamp duty as I'm replacing my main home, NOT the higher rate because I have 2 homes. This is my…
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Salary Sacrifice vs Personal Pension
I am planning to retire in 6-7 years and I’m currently enrolled in a salary sacrifice DC scheme (employer paying 10% and myself 8%). With the restrictions due to be implemented in April 2029, is it worth making hay whilst the sunshines now and increase my contribution. Or would I be better off starting a personal pension…
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Inheritance
Hi all. Just looking for some guidance. My sons, 16 & 19 have been left a small inheritance that they can have when they're 21. Is a fixed rate saver the best option? Or an ISA? Feeling overwhelmed with the options! TIA
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Won CCJ refund for faulty car – do I legally have to give the car back?
Hi all, I’m hoping someone can clarify the legal position for me, as I’m getting conflicting or unclear guidance. I bought a used car through a private trader which turned out to be faulty. I requested a refund under the Consumer Rights Act and offered to return the car, but the seller refused to engage or collect it. I…
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Statute Barred
Link Financial wrote to me in 2023 asking for an income and expenditure declaration which I completed. There was no admission or acknowledgement for a debt which at that time still had 2 years to go before being statute barred. There has been no payment for nearly 8 years and no other correspondence. They are now…
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Missed Payment mark with Tesco Bank AFTER settling account in full
Hi all, On 14th November I initiated a full balance transfer of £3,543.83 from my Tesco card onto my new Barclaycard. As far as I was concerned, the Tesco card account had been settled in full and the balance was at zero so I also cancelled my direct debit. On 21st December my wife and I went to Germany for Christmas. Upon…
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Car Insurance Renewal
My car insurance comes up for renewal on my birthday every year which is only a couple of days of days after I originally passed my test. I tend to organise my renewal in advance, however this means that I cannot say that I have done as many years of driving as I will have done on the renewal date. Additionally, it means…
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Can I close Regular Savings Account
I've got a Zopa regular savings account earning 7.1% and a Zopa current account. I don't actually use the current account but it was a requirement for getting the regular saver. I'm trying to simplify my life a bit and wondered if I can close the accounts down even though I only opened them 5 months ago? Or can you only…
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House we are Buying has been priced £5,000 lower by the lender
Thank you all in advance for your responses. We are first time buyers and have just had the valuation back from our mortgage lender. They value the property at £5,000 less than the agreed sale price. We haven't exchanged contracts so we are in a position to re-negotiate price but I'm unsure if this is the best thing to do.…
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One in five councils in Eng/Wal getting it wrong on Council Tax Carers Discount
An investigation by MoneySavingExpert.com into 'the councils that couldn't Care less' has found that, in a spot check, at least 69 councils in England and Wales have information about the live-in Carer Council Tax discount on their websites that incorrectly indicates far fewer people are eligible than really are. This is…
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County Court Claim Form from Smart parking Limited
This discussion was created from comments split from: 'Template' defence suggestion - NB: ultimately, your choice of defence wording is your own.
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Do you use Google Sheets budget template? Running in to bother.
I use it but with a few tweaks (as in add on various categories plus I have sections for variable / income / fixed / savings). I have a template which I then just make a copy of for the months of the year. I've checked this template & it doesn't look like it's that as it's default is £0. I've just now looked at it &…
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ES A to State Pension/Pension Credit
Good Morning and Best Wishes for 2026! I have a couple of concerns about my change to State Pension and Pension Credit this coming February. I currently receive ESA in support group and PIP enhanced mobility and standard care. I live alone. I will receive full SP from 25th February ( my first payment) and the on-line…
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O/S Daily Monday January 12 2026
Good morning all.
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Finalisation of inheritance tax.
I've recently had to sort out my late mother's estate and this included paying the IHT that was due. The sum required was calculated by an agent who specialises in this and the amount estimated to be owed along with all of the associated forms has been submitted to HMRC a few couple of months ago. Does anyone know how long…
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Funding a Nationwide RS - timings
Hi I have done a quick search of the forum and did not find the answer to the following so hoping you can help.My mum and I were on the Nationwide website yesterday (11/01) and the RS paying 6.5% caught her eye.So we opened the RS account and transferred £200 from her current account. So in my mind the 1st month is funded.…
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Hi I hope i put this is the right area
Hey Unfortunately the washing machine has now decided to come up with a f05 error just as I was hoping to get some clothes clean and fresh for a donation collection coming in a few days Anyway am with domestic and general for insurance can we call them up for this as mum and me are disabled (me temporarily have a frozen…
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Cancelled Family Court Hearing
About two months ago, the Oxford Family Court cancelled my daughter's Two DayaFinal Childrens' Matters Hearing 48 hours beforehand because of a shortage of judges. My daughter still lost between £7,900 in legal fees because her barrister had already booked two days to be in court. I understand all my daughter is able to do…
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Weekly Flylady Thread 12 January 2026
What is FLYLADY? Well, it's our version of the US flylady idea - but we work on the principle that housework is not fun, it's boring, can be time-consuming, is often thankless but, unfortunately, necessary. It's here on Old Style to provide the support we all need and to make the whole task easier and quicker. We also…
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Handling Property in Scotland with English Probate
Mother died in England and was resident there for many years so I, as Executor have sorted out the IHT and have Probate. In her estate she had a house in Scotland. Does anyone know if Probate is sufficient to handle it's transfer/sale, or do I need to convert it to a Scottish equivalent so my authority it is recognised in…
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Taxi to airport
Her Maj and I are flying off to sunny climes in the spring 2026 to celebrate our retirement. Flights and hotel booked, but for the UK transfer I'm thinking of booking a taxi to get us to airport. I did consider meet and greet among other options, but I didn't want the faff and taxi works out a bit cheaper - plus we travel…
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Possession claim
I have a tenant living in the property since 2015. I served Sec 21 on 1 Nov 2025 as I need to sell the house. Tenant didn't leave by 1 Jan 2026. I am preparing to take them to court by way of possession claim. Completed NB5 form and printed all docs Don't know how and where to submit the form and docs, how to pay. Got…
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Best savings accounts for pots
I currently have a Zopa account because I have around 10 different pots for different things and it helps me to keep track of my savings. Their interest rate has massively dropped lately when compared to the Chase savings for new current account customers but I can't seem to set up pots with a Chase savings account. Is…
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Overcharged for electricity due to time clock/ E7 meter problems.
Hello All I moved into my all electric 2 bed apartment in October 2025. My meter has readings, a day rate and night rate, as I believe there were Economy 7 storage heaters in the past. There are now standard electric radiators installed. I have been providing the day rate reading monthly to the supplier (British Gas),…
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Clarification over POFA and tactics
My daughter received a notice to keeper PCN for Nene park Sixfields in Northampton. It was issued by Civil Enforcement. Firstly the ‘offence’ is spurious as it states the driver exceeded the free parking period (1hr) Which she didn’t according to the photo evidence on the ntk. (34mins) In addition to that in the box ‘Terms…
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Redundancy insurance
I'm looking at redundancy insurance i don't really recognise any of the companies in the comparison result, is there any advice on what to look for
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Universal Credit budgeting advance
I went on to universal credit early last year and whilst waiting on my first payment I was asked if I wanted to get a loan to keep me going until my first universal credit payment then I could. I now only have £20 left to pay, and was wondering if I could pay that early then apply for a budgeting advance straight away? I…
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Car insurance increase after accident
Hi, We had an accident at the end of Nov and our car was written off. When we changed vehicle we paid over £300 for the remaining6 month of the policy. I understand that there was going to be an increase whilst the liability was being established, even thoughwe were confident it was not our fault. Now that it has been…
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tiny salary but lump sum for a house deposit means SLC want half son's salary's worth this year
My son is struggling on an entry level teacher's salary. He has a small amount deducted each month for student undergraduate and postgraduate loans as just over the thresholds. As a trust beneficiary he received £70,000 from a trust in the tax year 2024-5 for a house deposit, which he then used to buy a tiny 1-bed place…
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Looking for a new laptop
I am planning to do a CELTA course online (basically re-training to teach English as a foreign language). I then hope to teach online. I need a new laptop for this, but am a bit of a technophobe. A friend recommended the ASUS Vivobook 16 (£379) as a good all-rounder, with the HP-15 as a second choice. Does anyone have any…
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Someone claiming I damaged their car
Last night I was visiting a friend in a nearby housing estate. I could only find a parking space that was marked private, and decided to park there. When leaving my friend's, I discovered the owner of the private space had parked their car right behind mine, boxing me in. I figured out there was just enough room to do a…
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Claiming back Airport Duty Tax from Turkish Airlines
My son booked a flight with Turkish Airlines from London to Kathmandu (via a stop off in Istanbul). He had to cancel the flight due to an accident a couple of weeks before the trip. Part of the cost is obviously Airport Duty Tax. Our insurance covered the actual flight but not the Airport Duty Tax. A call to Turkish…
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Anybody know the 'grace period' for returning late at APH, Slip End Luton Airport?
As far as I can make out, it's simply 'up to midnight'... which is pretty useless for flights scheduled to land, say. 10pm.
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Mortgage - Best way forward
Hi All, I am looking for some advice, I know the there are multiple different answers. :) Our current mortgage term is due to end in Feb 2027, a mortgage of approx. £270K at that time. I'm in the very fortunate position of having a reasonable savings post £100K. I would like to pay off my mortgage as soon as possible, so I…
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IHT - Potentially Exempt Transfers
My understanding of the “7-year rule" is that all gifts made by the deceased in the 7 years prior to death must be declared to HMRC The total of all gifts (excluding specific exemptions) are then subject to IHT albeit taper relief may apply. It has been suggested to me - albeit I cannot find this stated anywhere - that the…
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Rebalancing My SIPP Portfolio
In the process of drawing-down a lump of tax free cash to spend on a number of specifics in February 2026. Although my SIPP is already balanced 60/40 in favour of equities, I have large sums (eg £300,000) in particular Vanguard funds.Although the specific funds are hugely diversified, my whole portfolio is with one…