Personal Finance (UK) My dream job was stolen away after a credit-rating agency labelled me bankruptThe Guardian - Anna TimsYou are only as good as your last contract. I've since applied for two roles and didn't even make it to interview It was a dream job. Debbie Scott beat other candidates to win a six-month rolling contract
Personal Finance (UK) Electric dreams? What you need to know about Tesla's Model 3The Guardian - Shane HickeyLaunched with the intention of being Tesla’s first mass-market electric car, the new Model 3 is smaller and simpler than the other vehicles in the Californian carmaker’s stable. And according to Tesla,
Herbs What's the best way to grow hydroponic herbs?The GuardianI’m looking for a starter kit – or I’m wondering if I could build a DIY version myself Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of
Personal Finance (UK) 'A terrible shock': council hands flat owner £146,000 billThe Guardian - Emma LunnHow would you feel if a council bill for £146,000 landed on your doormat? This monster demand – for £146,257, to be precise – was sent to Lloyd Onuoha, a 62-year-old nurse, by Southwark council in London.
Personal Finance (UK) ‘I gave up my job to become a foster carer – it’s enriched my life’The Guardian - Suzanne BearneName: Libby Thornhill Age: 60 Income: £15,000 plus an allowance of £9,074 Occupation: full-time foster carer Two weeks after my husband and I were approved to be foster carers, we received a call to say
Sri Lanka Insurance firm refuses to cover cancelled holiday to Sri LankaThe Guardian - Miles BrignallIt won’t cover the cancellation, but has said that if we continue with the trip, we won’t be insured A family whose planned summer holiday to Sri Lanka will have to be cancelled have expressed disbelief
Grandparents Childcare: thousands of grandparents miss out on a pension perkThe Guardian - Miles BrignallThousands of grandparents who look after their grandchildren continue to miss out on a perk that could increase their state pension. New figures show that while more than 10,000 have made use of a scheme
Personal Finance (UK) Let’s move to Hertford: if it’s cool enough for George Ezra…The Guardian - Tom DyckhoffWhat’s going for it? Hertford is a gentle place of small pleasures, like its greatest son George Ezra. Everyone fancies a bit of George – even if it is just singing karaoke drunk at a ’Spoons on a Friday
Personal Finance (UK) UK banks fined €1bn by EU for rigging foreign exchange marketThe Guardian - Kalyeena Makortoff and agencyFive banks including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have been fined more than €1bn (£875m) by the European Union for rigging the multitrillion-dollar foreign exchange market. The European commission
Laptops PC World’s warranty was a real lemonThe Guardian - Anna TimsWhen I bought a laptop from PC World in 2013, I was urged to take out an extended warranty billed “Whatever Happens Club – No Lemons”. This entitled me to three repairs and, if a fourth was needed, a for
Personal Finance (UK) My bank put £19 on ‘hold’ for a £4.50 hospital parking chargeThe Guardian - Anna TimsA car parking payment machine at the Royal Surrey County hospital in Guildford looks like something from a cross between Blake’s 7 and The Krypton Factor. Among its half-dozen wordy commands on the tiny
Personal Finance (UK) Payday lenders face sharp criticism as complaints rise 130%The Guardian - Kalyeena MakortoffThe finance industry’s adjudicator has criticised the “unacceptable” behaviour of some payday lenders after a 130% rise in complaints, which it said goes beyond the practices of recently collapsed industry
Poverty 'You can’t really win': 4m Britons in poverty despite having jobsThe Guardian - Josephine MouldsIf you haven’t found a job that’s suitable for hours, you feel guilt because you’re not working Gemma “I’m a bit scatty with things like this,” Gemma* admits when talking about her finances. It was not
Mental Health Mental health: seeking help can stop the spiral of debtThe Guardian - Jo ThornhillOne in three people regularly worry about money to the extent that it has a negative impact on their mental health, according to new research. As Mental Health Awareness Week kicks off on 13 May, charities
Tesco A vegetarian has a beef with Tesco’s labellingThe Guardian - Rebecca SmithersI am a 55-year-old man who has eaten no meat or meat products for six years (for welfare reasons) until recently. During this period I have regularly purchased Tesco raspberry and white chocolate meal
Mortgages We're nearing 40 – is it too late to buy our first property?The Guardian - Virginia WallisQ We are at a complete loss. We never imagined that we would be in a position to buy property as we have struggled for years to save but recently we have come into some money which we could use as a deposit.
IKEA Ikea’s returns policy is on another planetThe Guardian - Rebecca SmithersI am really confused by Ikea’s returns policy, which states I have to return a whole order of several items in order to qualify for a free return. I wanted to return a £15 rug from a £65 order. However,
Personal Finance (UK) The lost £19bn: how to trace those forgotten pension potsThe Guardian - Harvey JonesThe era of the job for life is over. Whereas once many workers could expect to spend their whole career in the same company, now they shift from one to the next as better opportunities present themselves,
Maps My satnav is out of date – should I update it, or use my phone?The GuardianI often find myself in areas where there are no maps, resulting in a confusing trip home Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection the
Personal Finance (UK) Number spoofing: £290,000 returned to readers scammed out of their savingsThe Guardian - Miles BrignallI think I’m going to sleep well tonight for the first time in two weeks Jane Brown – recovered £12,000 Guardian Money has helped persuade the banks to collectively refund a record £290,000 so far after
Personal Finance (UK) Don't believe the hype about millennials and money, data suggestsThe Guardian - Rupert JonesSeven out of 10 young adults are regularly putting money aside, with almost £174 a month being saved on average, showing UK millennials are “far more savvy” about finances than they are given credit for.
Personal Finance (UK) Let’s move to Hornsey, north London: pricey, yes, but not bad for these partsThe Guardian - Tom DyckhoffWhat’s going for it? I like a hill. I live on a hill. I get claustrophobic in the vast, mostly hill-free (or hill-lite) stretches of east or west London. I can’t see out. “Always buy on a hill,” an estate
Personal Finance (UK) L&G's £2bn retirement homes plan could 'revive UK's high streets'The Guardian - Julia KolleweLegal & General plans to build 3,000 retirement homes in city centres across the UK in the next five years in a radical move that could help counter the decline of the high street. The insurance and pensions
Personal Finance (UK) Harron Homes ignored snagging issues for 18 monthsThe Guardian - Anna TimsIn 2017 you wrote about the seven-month delay in the completion of our new house by Harron Homes and intervened when they ignored snagging issues for a further seven months. Harron responded with a promise
Personal Finance (UK) Eurostar told us a train was cancelled when it was just lateThe Guardian - Anna TimsMy family of four was travelling back from France in February. En route I checked our Eurostar connection from Lille to London and found its status had changed from “on time” to “cancelled”. Eurostar the
NatWest NatWest has frozen me out and won't let me move accountsThe Guardian - Miles BrignallCan you help me with a problem? NatWest has frozen my bank account and is now refusing to allow me to switch to a rival bank. Like other readers you have featured in the past, I got a letter saying that
Personal Finance (UK) Currys' mix-up over TV delivery cost me time and effortThe Guardian - Miles BrignallBack in December I purchased a Samsung smart TV from the Currys website. It arrived promptly and I was happy with it. However, a few days later a JVC TV was also delivered to me. It was clearly meant someone
Personal Finance (UK) I sold my home to a neighbour – do I have to pay the agent's fee?The Guardian - Virginia WallisQ A few months ago I agreed to have the photographs done and marketing literature for my home prepared by an estate agent in readiness for a move in late summer. I also signed a contract with them to and
Personal Finance (UK) Goldcar named worst car hire company in Which? surveyThe Guardian - Miles BrignallGoldcar has been named Europe’s worst car hire firm, with customers reportedly complaining that their holidays were ruined by pressure-selling, rude staff and shock charges. Consumer body Which? said Spanish
