Scotland. I have parked on Marchburn Dr, Paisley PA3 2SJ before with no issues for over a week. I parked here for 14 days while away on holiday. There was no signage saying I couldn't park there and there are always lots of cars parked along the road. I've been given separate private parking fines for every day I was there so 14x £100 fines. Previous experience, other people parked there and no warning signs made me think there were no concerns.

The fines from CPM Car Park Management say: Reason: "No parking at any time."

£1,400 of private parking fines is ridiculous for parking on a road without any obvious signage. It was the first family overseas holiday we've been able to afford in 10 years and this is a nightmare.

Edit: I live in England. The letter says "Parking Charge Notice"

Please can anyone help?

I've complained to the bus company in question. Driver is too scared to confront the men.

What happens is we all queue up waiting to get on. There's a bus out every 30 minutes. However, a bunch of men from a nearby IT company barge out and rush the bus to force their way on completelt skipping the queue.

This happened again today and is the 3rd time that I've not been able to get on the bus because these men have filled it up.

I've complained to the IT company. No resoonse from them.

I've complained to rhe bus company. They said they were looking into it, then came back with some waffle about driver safety. They also put up a notice on the bus stop about queueing ettiquette.

Happened again today. I tried to block them with my arm to secure the queue and they shoved it aside to get on, completely ignoring us.

The only other person who made it on the bus was an elderly woman with a cane whom another gentleman in the queue gave up his opportunity to get on so she could get home.

We're having a chat rught now while we wait for the next bus. Are we legally allowrd to form a human chain to block them getting on until the queue has got on first?

And if they try to force their way through our linked arms, what can we do to resist this? Can we shove back? These men already shove us to get on the bus in the first place.

I’ve just received my Care Act assessment from Adult Social Care and I’m really concerned about the accuracy of it.

I am a wheelchair user and have been unable to walk since I was 14 (i'm 28 now). My wheelchair is my primary mobility aid. I have a Zimmer frame which I have explained is only occasionally used for support during a standing (right leg only) transfer. My left leg does not work/function and does not even go fully straight. I am not able to work not use it to walk, and I often use slide transfers instead, sliding from my wheelchair to my a bed etc. Adult social care are aware of this, and have my medical evidence.

Despite this, the assessment describes me as using a “walking frame”, which gives the impression that I am ambulant. I have never told Adult Social Care that I can walk or that I even own a walking frame/walker for mobility (i don't own a walker). Not sure what to do ? England, UK

I was in a terrible car accident months ago where my friend was driving and I was the passenger. I ended up in a coma for 2 days and then 3 weeks in hospital. I have many internal injuries and injuries including a fractured neck and skull and an injury to my eye where I’ve had 3 surgeries on it. Whilst in hospital my mum opened up a claim. The only thing is I’m starting to feel extremely guilty for my friend. She also sustained injuries but not as severe. I can see how remorseful she is. I feel her pain and know she didn’t mean to put us in danger. Can someone please explain the process of my claim on her insurance? Will she get in a lot of trouble with them? She’s already dealing with the police as she’s being charged with dangerous driving. I couldn’t stop the police from charging her because I guess I was so badly hurt. I’m very lucky to be alive but I do feel very sad for her.

Based in England.

In 2024 I was suffering a mental health crisis. At this time a family member helped me find and book a private psychiatry appointment local to her (due to my limited capabilities at the time). She did not pay for this appointment, her only involvement was the initial enquiry, booking and taking me there. She was not involved any further.

I had my consultation / evaluation which included details of abuse I’d suffered within the family and my families behaviours. Also, of course, incredibly personal and private information of mine.

Last month another member of the family informed me that they had all sat, read and discussed my psychiatry report, 2 years ago. I said this could not be possible, as I was the only one in correspondence with the clinic.
I had sent and received emails since my appointment and also requested they forward my report and prescription to my NHS GP. That is the extent of the permissions I gave.

I saw my mother yesterday and she has verified with the family member who took me to the appointment that yes, an email containing my entire file was sent and shared with this family member by the clinic.

This report got in the worst hands possible, now everyone has read it and I am absolutely enraged and mortified.
I would never ever consent to this. Even when not in my healthy mind.

I really have no clue what to do here. I haven’t reached out to the clinic yet and my mother has asked the person to forward me the email which I’m waiting to receive.

Any advice please.

Edit - guys, I'm actually blown away from the amount of responses and advice you've given here. It's unbelievably reassuring and incredibly useful to read. I honestly can't thank you enough. I think only 1 response has suggested I should cancel the hearing out of everyone that's replied, so I think it's obvious what I need to do, although I probably already knew that anyway...

So I (40m) hadn't seen my 2-year-old son for nearly 17 weeks until just under 2 weeks ago. His mother (37f) had made it very clear I'd need a court order to see him, had refused mediation (she sent me a 'See you in court' message when she received the invite) and was saying some very hurtful things about me via her social media platforms. She'd also taken him out of the country without obtaining my permission and was openly talking about doing so.

I obviously had no choice but to file for a court hearing, which is on the 17th of this month. I'm not able to afford a solicitor, so I've been planning for the daunting task of representing myself, and getting as much advice and information as possible.

The Thursday before last I received a message from her, asking if I'd like to meet them in a park. I was skeptical of why but I wasn't going to miss a chance to see him, and he was beyond delighted to see me. Since then I've seen him a few more times and she's been very friendly towards me mostly, sending photos of him and video calling me to speak to him. She's made it clear that she doesn't want it to go to court and keeps saying it'll 'get nasty' if it does, that her solicitor will ruin me, I won't get what I want and that it's not in our boy's best interest. She keeps saying I need to trust her that she won't stop me seeing him again, but I've told her I can't risk that without something legally binding in place. In total I've not been allowed to see him for 6 months of his life, including his last birthday and Christmas so there is no way I'm allowing that situation to be possible.If I stop proceedings now, she'll have all the power again and could change her mind whenever she chooses to, but I know that if I go ahead with it, it could be a long time before I see him again. Part of me thinks she's bluffing, and is scared about the potential outcome for herself. She keeps questioning what I'm going for in terms of access in court, and then getting very defensive when I don't tell her. Our conversation about it yesterday got quite heated at times and I just feel like I'm being pressured, or blackmailed, into doing what she wants.

I'm guessing this happens quite often, so what would be my best action in these circumstances?

I ordered a keychain from abroad on 2nd july. On 9th of July northumbria police turned up at work questioning me about ordering explosives online and accessing the dark web (I hadn't accessed the dark web). They also asked me about self harm/thoughts of suicide. All of this was done next to the public entrance to my workplace which is in the main atrium. As a member of IT support staff in my local authority I am known throughout the building and was in my uniform. They informed me they'd searched my home and to expect a letter from the home office about the parcel before leaving.

I rang home as my mother was in, and she told me the police had been round and searched the house. She also told me they'd left no paperwork, had no warrant and she'd told them she'd prefer them to contact me before searching the house and gave the officers my phone number. They'd searched the house anyway telling her that wouldn't be possible. I went to the police station outside my work and asked for the search record. I was told I had to go to a different station to get this. When I walked out the station I received a call from one of the officers who interviewed me and told me I had nothing to worry about. I disputed this stating that they had come into work and questioned me about explosives, searched my house and that they had stated that explosives had been ordered to my house in my name. I went to the station I was advised to go to and it was closed to the public. I managed to catch a pair of officers on their way in and asked about the paperwork. One of them took my phone number and said he'd look into it. He rang later in the day to say he was unable to find the search record, although he did mention they had a new system that he wasn't used to yet and the issue may have been him rather than it not existing.

I went back to the original police station and some officers came down and told me to follow the complaints process. I've done this, as has my mother. I also submitted a SAR to get the information around this and the search record. I also submitted a signed and dated letter requesting the documentation from the search to the station that they assured me would be delivered to the responsible officer. I have the signed/dated receipt from 14/7 to prove this from the front desk officer.

As I'd had to leave during work hours to go the station, I was completely open with my manager about what had happened. I continued to go to the police station to ask what was happening. I had a meeting with my manager and her manager on the 15th July and it was agreed I could take the rest of the week off for stress. They asked if I knew what could have caused the police to question me about this and as the keychain was the only thing I had ordered from abroad I mentioned this and gave them a screenshot of the receipt. The next day I was phoned and asked to attend a meeting on the 17th were I was suspended with pay. HR walked me out of the shared office and building.

The keychain was then delivered on the 2nd august. Within a few hours 2 officers, 1 uniformed and 1 ununiformed knocked at my door. The ununiformed officer introduced himself as CID, and said there had been a miscommunication. Border force had flagged my item as sodium nitrite as either the same seller, someone seller adjacent or in the same warehouse was sending suicide kits to the UK. The police had then misread this as sodium nitrate. He then mentioned they'd been tracking the item and asked to see it. After he'd seen the keyring he gave me his details to pass onto my employer. The next week I was called into another meeting at work and my suspension lifted. My managers manager informed me that the police had made a catalogue of errors. I took a week and a half leave due to stress.

They attempted to deal with my mother's complaint via a local resolution, she was informed that the search had been recorded as a consent search and that the officers BWV was not activated until after the conversation about consent took place. 

I have since received an email stating that my complaint will take upwards of 8 more weeks to assess. I also received an email 1 day before the deadline for the SAR stating they would extend it by 2 months due to difficulties accessing the data. I still have no paperwork from the search and so challenged this as unlawful. I received an email the next day from the information team stating that they are withholding my SAR under S45 (4)(a) of the Data Protection Act 2018 (allows a controller to restrict, wholly or partly, subject 

access rights to avoid obstructing an official or legal inquiry, investigation or procedure) and explicitly referenced the complaint as the reason. I also received an email from the DPO stating that they are witholding all the data I have requested under section 44(4) of the DPA, again explicitly mentioning the complaint. I have complained to the ICO about this.

I've used the online form for Irwin Mitchell but got an email back stating that they can't take my case any further due to a small team dealing with a high volume of complex matters. I'm not sure if I explained the situation well as the information box wasn't very big.

The only solid black and white information I am in possession of is my letters from my employer showing my suspension and it's lifting, and an email from the HR investigator stating that the police have told them the incident number and confirmed I am not part of a criminal investigation.

I have attempted to challenge the SAR being withheld but have had no answer. I've challenged the delay on my complaint but have been told it's due to a high volume of complaints (although they did enquire what I wanted to add, as I'd submitted it before my work suspension).

I have also not been contacted by the home office about my parcel.

What can I do to get my data so that I know exactly what has happened that lead to this situation and can confirm beyond any doubt that I am in the clear and no longer under investigation?

I also want to determine if I can take the police to court for the harm caused to me by this, but feel I can't as I have no evidence due to the withdrawn sar request.

If needed I'm happy to post some images of the emails/docs I have after removing personal information.

This is the email that was sent (see below) & the conversation that was had (it is performance related and them finding out I’m looking for another job but they have put it down as this instead) and I need lots of time to look for another job as the job market is so bad atm 😣

I am writing following our meeting on 01/09/2026 to confirm that the decision has been taken to terminate your employment.

The reason for this is due to a downturn in work for your role the company no longer requires a team manager.

As you have less than 2 year's service, the company is under no legal obligation to follow a full redundancy process and has taken the commercial decision to utilise the PILON clause in your contract.

You are entitled to 4 weeks' notice, which you will be required to work but given reasonable time off to search for alternate employment.

Your final date of employment is therefore 29/9/26.
You will also be paid for any holiday entitlement that you have accrued but not yet taken.

Your final pay and P45 will be sent to you in due course.

What are my rights? I am detained in the ward due to suspected Schizophrenia and they've told me if I try to leave I'll be sectioned. I am informal patient, I have no idea why I cannot leave but they think my behaviour in my last psychosis was 'dangerous' how can I get help?

I'm seeking advice from a third party about a notice I have been served by my letting agent. I was planning to forward the third party the communications from my letting agent, but the letting agency emails have a disclosure statement at the bottom, which starts as follows:

The content of this email is confidential and intended for the recipient specified in the message only. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of this message with any third party, without written consent from the sender...

Is there any way the letting agency could try and enforce this when they find out I have forwarded their email? I am looking to get advice on the email attachment, and I was also sent a physical copy of the attachment without any such disclaimer on it. The letting agency, myself and the third party are all based in England.

I started a new job last week, signed the contract a month ago which states my administrative base is home and milage would be paid for journeys to and from company locations. This is worth around 161 pounds per week. On the fifth day of the job HR called me to a meeting and explained that the contract was an error ane milage would not be paid. I explained that if I'd have known this I wouldn't have accepted the role as it leaves me with less income than the job I left.

Where do I stand with this?

Location is England.

Thanks,

Private car sale – now taken to Small Claims Court. Do I actually have a case to answer?
I’m looking for some advice/opinions from anyone familiar with private car sales, misrepresentation and the Small Claims Court. I’m genuinely trying to understand the buyer’s legal argument because I’m struggling to see what makes them believe they have a strong case.
I bought a car in February 2026 and sold it privately in April 2026 for £1,400.
During the time I owned the car, I had no problems whatsoever. There was no excessive oil consumption, smoke, warning lights, knocking/banging or running issues. I also did not knowingly misrepresent the car in the Facebook Marketplace advert.
The car had an MOT in February 2026. The only advisory was that the offside front tyre was worn close to the legal limit, and I replaced that tyre before selling the car. There were no engine-related advisories.
The buyer came to view the car, inspected it and test drove it themselves before purchasing. They also negotiated approximately £150 off the asking price. It was a completely private sale.
There had also been an issue with outstanding finance when I originally purchased the car. This was subsequently resolved by the finance company, and I fully disclosed this to the buyer before the sale. I didn't hide the issue from them and they still chose to proceed with the purchase.
After the sale, I heard nothing from the buyer regarding any problem with the car. The first contact I received was a Letter Before Action in June 2026, claiming approximately £1,700, including the purchase price and around £300 for diagnostic/related costs.
The buyer had apparently obtained a garage report stating that the engine had low compression, oil consumption/oil-fouled spark plugs and suspected worn piston rings. The garage's opinion was that the fault was "most likely" pre-existing.
They also relied on the Consumer Rights Act 2015, despite this being a private sale.
I denied liability, explaining that:
it was a private sale;

the buyer inspected and test drove the vehicle;

I experienced none of the symptoms they later reported;

I had no knowledge of any engine defect;

the recent MOT had no engine-related advisories;

the tyre advisory had been dealt with before the sale; and

I had been completely open with the buyer about the previous finance issue.

I have now been taken to the Small Claims Court.
What I am struggling to understand is what exactly the buyer believes establishes liability on my part?
I understand that a mechanical fault can potentially have existed before the sale, and I understand that the fact the car developed a serious fault relatively soon afterwards may understandably make the buyer suspicious. However, I genuinely had no knowledge of any engine problem, the car drove normally while I owned it, and the buyer inspected and test drove it before deciding to purchase it.
Am I missing something legally?
Does a garage stating that a fault was "most likely" pre-existing provide enough evidence for the buyer to establish that I misrepresented the vehicle, particularly when there is no evidence that I knew about the fault?
I would really appreciate honest and objective opinions, particularly from anyone with experience of private vehicle sales, misrepresentation or Small Claims Court proceedings.
I'm not looking for people to simply agree with me. If the buyer does have a viable legal argument, I'd genuinely like to understand what it is and what I should be concerned about.

A power line has broken somewhere and my neighbours lost power.

The power company people are going to want to dig up my front garden to repair it. This requires moving/digging up some new/small trees and other plants.

Do I have any legal rights to stop them? Or make them dig in at the pavement to thread new cables through perhaps?

I don't want to just agree to this only to find out I didn't -have- to let the.

Thanks!

My sister and her bf stayed on someones land in exchange for tidying it , maintenance and repairs, the had access to water ( although not really ) as they had to get it from a rented out cottage which they wasn't allowed to do as it was rented out continuously, they removed untold amounts of rubbish from her garden about 7 tips worth, repaired fences, cut grass ect.. they also bought sheds to put on the land to stop tolls ect for the land.

Then she messaged them saying they had to leave because they parked the van next to the rented out cottage ( where she said the could ) because they didn't want to mess the field up with all the rain we have had.

She had some people stay at the cottage that had kids that were using the field and my sisters bf gave them a Frisbee to play with ( this is relevant further down )

She said she wanted everything removed from her land so my sister put up the sheds and some tools she bought on facebook marketplace as she was leaving because she didn't want to leave anything on the land.

when the people turned up for the sheds the woman refused them to collect them saying my sister lied and they wasn't my sisters.

The woman has made a facebook post with 1000s of views saying my sister and her bf are nonces following kids around the field, vandalising the field and fences among other horrid remarks all of which are complete lies. The post included my sisters name ,fackbook, Instagram, and photos of my sister and bf and her reg number of her van!

Now my sister is getting 100s of death threats through various social media, she has phoned the police but they have said they cant do anything,

My sister has screenshots of all messages between her and the land owner and photos of how the land was left which shows she is lying.

what are her options?

Edit: in England

In England. Apologies if this is the wrong subreddit. So from the top...

Three months ago, my neighbour reversed into the back side of my car - they instantly claimed responsibility and we arranged that it would be claimed on their insurance. My car was drivable, but had a big dent in the rear offside. It took a few weeks for my AA car insurance to arrange for the car to be taken in for repair at a local garage, but when it was taken, I received a courtesy car the same day. All good so far.

I've been waiting six weeks for repairs to happen - the garage have admitted they don't have enough staff to deal with it and have sent it to another of their garages to be assessed and repaired.

I heard from the garage this morning that the car was likely to be fixed by early next week. However, I'm going on holiday via Manchester airport early on Friday morning and won't be back until the week after. I need a car to get my disabled wife (and her wheelchair), along with her mother (who suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's), to and from the airport.

I contacted AA car insurance via WhatsApp to say that I wouldn't be in the country next week and instead would it be possible to swap the hire car to my fixed car when I returned. They didn't like this, and said that the hire car needed to be collected before I went away. The reason for this - from their 'Financial Recoveries' team - is that "I cannot have a hire car while I am away". That’s because it adds to the cost they will claim from the other party’s car insurance company.

I highlighted this was unacceptable (especially given I've got AA 'premium' car insurance as I thought it would help when there were issues that meant my wife could be helped). Additionally, I’ve been available to take my car back at any point but the garage hasn’t had enough staff. But AA car insurance has contacted the hire car company to come out on Thursday to collect.

I then contacted the garage to see if the repair could be brought forward a few days, to potentially get it back on Thursday and save the day. They can't do this, but more than that, they've found extra damage to the suspension, so my car's return is now likely to be weeks away.

I reflected this back to AA car insurance but they remain adamant that as I'm going on holiday I can't have the hire car. I can have it back when I return from holiday.

So I'm going to have the farcical situation of my hire car going away on Thursday, just a few hours before I need to take my disabled wife + wheelchair, and her mother (again, with dementia and Alzheimer's) to the airport. And then once I've got them back home in a couple of weeks, I'll get the hire car back again.

This seems ludicrous and AA car insurance is lacking common sense. I’ve asked to speak with a manager but the best I can get is a team leader by email.

Is there anything I can do to make them see sense?

Hi,

I'm seeking advice as I'm at my wits end we purchased a kitchen from B&Q in April.

The designer at B&Q advised to hire somebody to do the fitting (who is a B&Q fitter) he went as far as to contact the fitter while we were in store to check availability, if he could provide all of the work sent a copy of a draft plan to the fitter and gave him our details.

The B&Q kitchen designer put our kitchen on the fitters trade account portraying it as a 10% discount. He didn't tell us this would essentially mean we were buying the kitchen in the fitters name.

When we paid B&Q for the kitchen the designer promised me that he would sort everything and would send the finalised plan to the fitter. I contacted the fitter who assured me he had received the plan.

The fitter was using the copy of the draft plan which has guessed measurements, incorrect unit sizes, wrong colour scheme, wrong flooring etc.

The fitter didn't tell us he'd be sending one of his contractors who was a nice lad but inexperienced and has completely messed up the job to the point we had to stop work back in June. The initially responded by email apologising for the quality of the work we had received. But when he came to my property changed his story and refused to acknowledge anything was wrong.

I've subsequently had another kitchen fitter around who has gone through everything and written a report and in his opinion the level of work is so bad the entire kitchen needs to be ripped out and replaced.

I got in contact with the fitter and with B&Q over this. B&Q escalated this as a complaint. On August 12th they acknowledged that I was due compensation, and requested I send all of reports and refit work and they would be in contact to discuss the compensation offer.

I sent everything off as requested and waited for response and today I received a response saying that in their opinion now I'm due nothing from them as it was ordered on the fitters trade account and the contract to supply the kitchen was with the fitters business and they have met their obligations.

I know I've been naive but I feel I was misled into agreeing to use the trade account and now B&Q are trying to use it as a loophole to wash their hands of everything.

This is really distressing as we've had the outlay for the kitchen and we've paid a deposit to the fitter.

I've contacted citizens advice who had advised me that B&Q have most likely breached the consumer rights act with regard to reasonable care (with providing the outdated plan) and even though B&Q arguing the contract for supply isn't with me they're still in breach as their negligence has caused me losses.

Can anyone give me any advice on what I may be entitled to?

I'm happy to provide more info.

Any help would be massively appreciated we currently have half a kitchen and I don't see a way forward at the moment ☹️

I attended a hearing last week and I want to make a formal complaint about the judge and his ruling. He was intimidating, rushed the hearing, refused to consider admissible evidence and has refused my right to appeal.

The issue was that my shower was fitted to low for me to use and lower than industry guidelines, plus other shoddy work. The defendant eventually agreed - in writing - to pay me the full amount to fix it as long as I signed a settlement agreement (SA). I wasn't happy with the SA - my gut, the CAB and AI all warned me about it. I drafted a new (very reasonable) version which the defendant refused to sign. Hence going to Court.

In the court:
- I was told the judge had another hearing at 12pm. I was told at 12.20 that he was reading my documents. We went in at 12.35. The judge said things were very tight as it was time to break for lunch soon so we all had to be very concise. I felt really rushed and under a lot of pressure - he wasn't the 'assisting and guiding' presence the court admin team had told me to expect.
- My case was on a lack of 'reasonable care and skill', and though the judge agreed that it was best practise for the defendant to have discussed the height with me in advance, he brushed over the fact that it wasn't discussed. The defendant also ghosted me when I couldn't be fobbed off with his poor 'solutions', but we never even got that far.
- We got halfway through the two-year timeline when he started summing up with no warning. I said there was more to the story, and brought up the SA. The judge said everything from that agreement onwards was inadmissible as it contained the phrase 'without prejudice' - which it didn't. I pointed that out but he refused to listen and told me that it did say that at the bottom. I re-read it fast while he was talking and it didn't. I pointed that out but he made it very clear that he wasn't going to accept what I said, continued summing up and only awarded me money on other shoddy work - less than 40% and none for the shower.
- I stayed behind at the end and said that I had reread the SA and it definitely didn't say without prejudice. He again said that it did and case closed - he was very short with me. I then asked if I could appeal and he reopened the file and said that he was going to make sure that I couldn't. I asked why and he slowly wrote and read out loud 'any appeal is refused as I have reviewed all the evidence'. He was didn't, he was WRONG, and so much of the story (including lies and threats from the defendant) went unheard. I was calm and respectful throughout.

My questions:
- is it usual that the judge only reviews the documents a few minutes before the hearing?
- he was clearly under time pressure - is that fair for my hearing?
- I feel his reasons for dismissing my case are insufficient. For example he said the height of the shower should have been included in the quote for me to have a case. Really? Is that detail ever in a quote?
- His reasons are also very wrong - what can I do about half of my evidence incorrectly being deemed inadmissible, when I now cannot appeal?
- how can I make a formal complaint about this judge, and what are the timescales? Would it actually make any difference to the outcome and how much more work would it take from me? I've already spent two years pursuing this. I understand that I have to wait for the written judgement to arrive to contact the CAB or a solicitor, but then I'm worried I'll have barely any time.

I thought the small claims track was supposed to be accessible to everyday people.

So, I sent in an iPhone 13 to this phone company that trade it in for money. I was offered £85 and took it. I then annoyingly got sent an email saying it would take 14-30 working days. I requested that they could somewhat fast track it because it would mean I could potentially wait for 5 weeks just to be paid.

They have now sent me an email saying there is a backlog and I won’t get paid until the 3rd of February 2027… Surely this isn’t okay?

Would anyone be able to recommend steps I should take in order to get the money any time soon?

Hi everyone,

I’m in a really stressful situation in England and could use some advice on how to handle an unresponsive letting agency. We want to keep this flat, but we are running out of time.

The timeline:

Early August: Paid a holding deposit (~£160) and passed all referencing. The landlord officially accepted our application right at the beginning of August. Our proposed target move-in date from our initial application was this Saturday (Sept 5th).

Aug 25th: After weeks of silence and chasing them for updates, the agency finally replied. They stated the previous tenant had moved out, but their inspection found maintenance issues. They said they are waiting on quotes/landlord approval and therefore "cannot confirm the move-in will take place on Sept 5th".

Aug 26th & Sept 1st: I immediately emailed asking for any sort of estimated timeframe for the works so we could plan our lives. Total radio silence. I’ve also tried calling their main office constantly today, but no one is picking up.

The crisis:

We strictly have to hand the keys back for our current place at 10 AM this Saturday. Because of financial constraints, we cannot afford open-ended temporary accommodation or hotels while we wait. Instead, we are being forced to relocate to a completely different city to stay with family.
Because of their delays, we are now having to cover extra, unexpected costs for a storage space and a moving van to move our belongings twice. Furthermore, because the agency won't give us even a rough estimate of how long these repairs will take, we are completely paralyzed. We cannot apply for annual leave from work because we don't know what dates to book, and commuting/working from another city with zero timeline is putting our jobs at genuine risk. The main issue is that without a timeframe, we simply cannot plan anything.

My questions:

1. How do I escalate this? They aren't replying to emails and aren't picking up the phone. Are there specific magic words (like threatening to report them to their redress scheme/The Property Ombudsman) that will force a corporate agency to finally respond?

2. What can I reasonably push for? Can I ask them to let us move in while non-essential works are completed, or give us a strict deadline for the quotes?

3. How should I word my next email? I want to apply maximum pressure to get an immediate update on the timeline, without them spitefully cancelling our application.

Any advice on how to navigate this and get them to pick up the phone would be massively appreciated. We are so stressed out!

Thanks.

Hi,

I'll keep this brief. We were involved in a property chain of four houses in England. We were scheduled to complete the sale last Friday, August 28th, having exchanged contracts one week earlier.

Our house was sold in the morning, and we were waiting for an update from the solicitor about purchasing our new house. The solicitors received an email on Friday from the lender indicating that the funds would be sent shortly. At 3.30pm the solicitor explained that it was getting late and to make provisions for accommodation as he was still waiting for the money from lender.

The lender was given 7 working days notice and they usually require 5 days notice.

During this delay, my wife and two children remained in our cars with two removal vans packed with all of our belongings. We had to quickly arrange storage for our possessions and also find accommodation for three to four days over the bank holiday weekend through Airbnb.

Meanwhile the solicitor said that the sellers would be putting in a claim against us, they had to remove all items from the property as they were moving into a fully furnished property and they have a disabled son therefore the property was inhabitable and had to organise accommodation.

We spoke to the lenders management team and they advised it was a technical glitch and would reimburse us for any costs. We also have an email from them to support this.

My main concerns are the potential claims against us by the people further up the chain. Would we be liable for this even though it was the lenders errors? To what extent can they claim against us? Can we pass the costs onto the lender?

We technically don't own a house and the wife has been emotionally distraught during the whole process.

Advice would be appreciated as it's been a tough bank holiday weekend.

So we got new next door neighbours and the for sale sign had been laid on the ground waiting for the estate agent to pick it up. They'd left it for at least 2 weeks by this point and during a storm one night it got picked up by the wind and thrown into my car, scratching the paintwork and cracking a rear light.

I got in contact with the estate agents who put me through to the people who make the signs. The owner of that company came out to my house to inspect the damage and confirmed that he would pay for the repairs. This took a couple of months due to the bodyshop being booked up. Since it's been repaired I've emailed him twice and he hasn't replied.

How should I move forward?

Posting on behalf of a friend who works for a large company in England.

He’s worked for the company for a year but in the role for 13 years (tupeed over through 5 companies previously)

Disciplinary process raised against him earlier this year, which though it was minor he fought as it was fabricated and the disciplinary was unfounded.

Now in the process of being made redundant alongside one other employee, in 30 day consultation period at the moment.

Had just had his second of 3 consultation meetings following a weeks annual leave to discover whilst he was off a position was advertised, closed and interviewed for by the other person at risk of redundancy.

When he raised this as a concern during his consultation meeting they said they thought his mates would have told him… they also went on to say they didn’t think he would be able to due to childcare as the job role is days and he currently works nights.

Am I right in thinking they should still have actively offered him at least the opportunity to apply for the role? Seems very backhanded and tbh he doesn’t want to work for a company like that but feels like what they have done is both illegal and borderline discriminatory.

Any advice on what he should do next is welcome

🙏

A few years ago we approached a company about a substantial detached outbuilding on our property in the North of England. They design these buildings and also supply the structural building package.

We chose one of their existing designs and signed an agreement allowing it to be released and used for planning purposes, including by the other professionals producing things like site/elevation drawings, drainage and landscaping. The agreement states that they retain copyright and that, if the design is built, we must purchase the structural package from them.

After signing, we paid them to make some relatively minor revisions for our site. We subsequently went through planning and permission was granted last year.

We weren't financially ready to build then, but are now. The problem is that their structural package has increased significantly in price since we started, well beyond inflation. We'd therefore like to consider different suppliers, materials or construction methods.

We've never signed an order for the actual building, so we're free to walk away and aren't obliged to buy anything further from them. However, if we walk away, we don't own the design we've now got planning permission for.

So we're trying to understand what we can actually do if we leave them but still want to build substantially the same building.

It's a fairly conventional building, nothing particularly architecturally distinctive, and our site is constrained enough that its position, dimensions, height, orientation and general form are largely dictated by what will fit and what we could get through planning.

The planning drawings are also publicly available on the council's planning portal.

My questions are:

• Could we point another manufacturer/architect at the public planning permission and ask them to independently design and engineer a building with the same external form and dimensions, perhaps changing the internal layout and using completely different materials/structural methods? They wouldn't receive any of the original company's technical or manufacturing drawings.
• How far does copyright over a relatively conventional building design actually extend? Is it the drawings themselves, the physical design/shape of the building, or both?
• If another company independently engineered essentially the same building, what claim could the original company realistically bring against us, and what would they need to show had actually been copied? Would the site/planning constraints, different internal layout, materials and structural design provide any meaningful defence?
• If we instead had another architect design something from scratch, how different would it actually need to be? There are only so many sensible designs for this particular site.
• Is there a legal difference between handing another manufacturer their drawings and saying "copy this", versus pointing them to the public planning permission and asking them to independently design and engineer something which achieves the approved building?

We've also considered offering the original company a reasonable amount for a one-off licence/release allowing us to construct this one building, without asking for any of their technical or manufacturing drawings. If they refused, does that have any relevance, or are they simply entitled to do so?

We accept that we signed the agreement and should have understood the copyright restriction better. We're just trying to understand whether walking away means effectively abandoning the building we've already spent several years getting planning permission for, or whether there's a legitimate route to having somebody else independently design and build it.