Carpets Will a wet vacuum be enough to give our carpets a good clean?The GuardianWe can rent a RugDoctor for about £25, but we’re worried that it may be a waste of time and money Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection
Personal Finance (UK) £6,000 a year for a room? If I were a student, I’d probably go on strike tooThe Guardian - Patrick CollinsonWhen did it become acceptable to treat university students as a cash cow, milked for absurd rents that bear little relation to the underlying cost of the accommodation? Rents charged to first-year students
Personal Finance (UK) Super deluxe student accommodation for wealthy parentsThe Guardian - Patrick CollinsonRich parents are being chased by universities offering super-luxe accommodation more akin to a boutique hotel than traditional digs – with annual rents topping £20,000. The Stay Club, Colindale, London:
Disability ‘It’s been very difficult to deal with, but I never gave up’The Guardian - Suzanne BearneName: Zubee Kibria Age: 35 Income: £23,000 Occupation: Events organiser It took me just under two years to find my current job as an events and administration assistant at a disability organisation. It
Personal Finance (UK) Let’s move to Helmsley, North Yorkshire: super sweet and picture perfectThe Guardian - Tom DyckhoffWhat’s going for it? Helmsley’s so sweet I can feel the cavities forming in my teeth from 10 miles away. The town is straight off a box of fudge, all honeyed stone and pansies waving from prize-winning
Loans Monzo insists new short-term loans won't be at Wonga ratesThe Guardian - Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondentDigital bank Monzo is dipping its toes into the short-term loans market a year after Wonga’s collapse, but insists it will not target customers who usually turn to payday lenders. The challenger bank launched
Personal Finance (UK) The bank manager will see you now: is Monzo ready to grow up?The Guardian - Richard GodwinIt recently raised £113m from a Californian investment group, doubling its value to £2bn We’ll find the best deals. The big banks can only sell their own products Tom Blomfield doesn’t come across like
Personal Finance (UK) More than half of people aged 65 and over now shop online – ONSThe Guardian - Mark SweneyThe online shopping revolution has officially become mainstream among the once tech-resistant generation aged 65 and over, with more than half now saying they shop online. A report by the Office for National
Expedia Expedia plays the blame game over wrong dates for our hotel bookingThe Guardian - Anna TimsWe booked two hotel rooms in Amsterdam on the Expedia website. When the confirmation arrived it showed the wrong dates. We had double checked that we’d submitted them correctly and my partner rang within
Personal Finance (UK) Rail fares to rise by 2.8% in JanuaryThe Guardian - Gwyn Topham Transport correspondentRail fares will rise by 2.8% in January, it has been confirmed, prompting campaigners to demand a fairer formula for increases. The latest rise, set by the July retail price index figure published by Office
House Prices House prices in south of England fall for first time since 2009The Guardian - Richard PartingtonHouse prices have fallen across the south of England for the first time since the last recession in 2009, as Brexit uncertainty holds down the property market. In a sign that falling prices in London spreading
Virgin Media Trouble started when I tried to cancel my Virgin contractThe Guardian - Anna TimsLast month Virgin Media notified me that my monthly bill would increase yet again, this time by £3.50. This is a 9% rise which meant I could cancel my contract without incurring an early termination fee.
Personal Finance (UK) Danish bank launches world’s first negative interest rate mortgageThe Guardian - Patrick CollinsonA Danish bank has launched the world’s first negative interest rate mortgage – handing out loans to homeowners where the charge is minus 0.5% a year. Negative interest rates effectively mean that a bank
Personal Finance (UK) Landmark verdict over letting agency that posed as a clubThe Guardian - Anna TimsA lettings agency that posed as a membership club to dodge tenancy laws has been fined more than £40,000 in the first prosecution of its kind in the UK. Lifestyle Club Ltd pressured tenants to sign a without
Personal Finance (UK) UK wages rise at fastest rate for a decade despite Brexit risksThe Guardian - Richard Partington Economics correspondentBritish workers’ basic pay is growing at the fastest rate for more than a decade despite mounting risks to the economy as Brexit looms. In sharp contrast to the broader economic slowdown that has taken
Personal Finance (UK) My little summerhouse has upset my neighbour. Do I need planning permission for it?The Guardian - Virginia WallisQ I have recently had installed a small 2.4m x 2.1m summerhouse at the bottom of our terraced garden. The height is less than 2.5m. I wanted to use the building to enjoy our garden and as a painting studio.
Personal Finance (UK) Climate crisis: ‘We don’t fly to go on holiday now – and it doesn’t cost the earth’The Guardian - Suzanne BearneA long-haul flight produces more emissions than the average person generates in a whole year For her summer holiday this year, Anna Hughes, 36, is cycling from London to Nice, stopping in Paris, Nevers,
Personal Finance (UK) Why is it so difficult to stop your pension money making the climate crisis worse?The Guardian - Patrick CollinsonWe have a pensions infrastructure in the UK which is fundamentally unfit for purpose when it comes to climate change In the highly unlikely event that Greta Thunberg grows up and gets a job at the average
Personal Finance (UK) This week: Frozen out by money-laundering regulations … and a smart meter goes rogueThe Guardian - Miles BrignallI desperately need your help after Barclays bank closed my current account of 10 years, freezing the £56,000 held in it without explanation. This account has been credited with my wages each month for
Driving Our neighbours’ yapping dogs are driving us mad. What can we do?The Guardian - Guardian StaffWe’ve politely mentioned it, but it just goes on and on. The noise is so bad that my wife is thinking of selling our home Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help
Personal Finance (UK) Home insurance: ‘Our house was wrecked. But the AA only offered us £4,270’The Guardian - Miles BrignallThe Mansbridges' experience will raise further concerns about home insurers’ unwillingness to pay out in full How much would it cost to fix your home after flooding, with the ceiling collapsed, plaster
Extinction Rebellion ‘I’ve waited 25 years for a movement like Extinction Rebellion’The Guardian - Suzanne BearneThe turning point came when I was arrested for obstruction on Soutwark bridge and spent nine hours in a police cell Name: Larch Maxey Age: 46 Income: £0 Occupation: Full-time volunteer with Extinction
Chichester Let’s move to Chichester, West Sussex: it punches well above its weightThe Guardian - Tom DyckhoffWhat’s going for it? Chichester is so generally lovely, it’s impossible to be rude about it. For a city of its relatively small size, it’s well-rounded, nicely brought up. Every base is covered. It has
Personal Finance (UK) I had to cancel a trip after a death … but Tui made me payThe Guardian - Anna TimsI booked a package holiday to Greece for myself and my partner, via the Tui website. Tragically, my partner died two months before the trip. We had travel insurance but we were not covered for his death
Coin Collecting Royal Mint makes no 1p or 2p coins for first time in decadesThe Guardian - PA MediaThe Royal Mint produced no 1p or 2p coins last year. For the first time since 1972, no 1p coins were struck for circulation in 2018-19 – and for the first time since 1984, no 2p coins were produced. The
Personal Finance (UK) Winter electricity and gas bills fall as Ofgem lowers price capThe Guardian - Jasper Jolly and Jillian AmbroseEnergy bills for millions of British households will fall by £75 this winter after Ofgem reduced its price cap on standard tariffs to reflect lower costs for suppliers. Under the lowered cap, the average
Personal Finance (UK) I’m not a customer but Scottish Power has sent bailiffs and billsThe Guardian - Anna TimsI have never been a customer of Scottish Power, but when I moved last year I started getting welcome letters from the company. It took days on the phone to persuade it I was with British Gas. Over the
John Lewis Why did John Lewis delay my £6,500 curtain order?The Guardian - Rebecca SmithersWe ordered curtains and tracks from John Lewis (£6,550 including fitting) in April last year after moving into a new house, but the saga dragged into the autumn. We ordered at the Oxford Street store picked
Mortgages I want to buy a home – can I get a mortgage now I'm freelance?The Guardian - Virginia WallisQ My wife and I are planning to buy our first home some time towards the end of next year. At the beginning of this year (January 2019) I went freelance and while I expect to make more than my previous
