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In your shoes I would use your power of attorney to contact your mother’s bank and explain that she has not authorised the £329 payment, and ask for a chargeback. You should also cancel any direct debits set up to pay for the care plan and use the direct debit guarantee to claw back any payments already taken. And I would contact trading standards and make a formal complaint. … [Read more...] about A plumber charged hundreds without a quote or invoice

E and I live in a one-bedroom apartment and, for the past few months, we have rarely been more than a few metres apart. There was a time when the idea of not having my own space would have made me break out in hives, but, to reinforce codependent lesbian stereotypes, being together all the time has been brilliant. I worked from home before the pandemic and, while I can no longer break the monotony by going to a coffee shop, I now have a co-worker to make things less lonely. We turned the enclosed balcony into E’s office and, when she has been out there for a while, I start to miss her. (Sickening, I know.) Rascal, our dog, also loves having us both at home: I am not sure how we will manage when E eventually goes back to her office. Still, at least I will be able to take back control of the dishwasher. … [Read more...] about How was lockdown living with my partner? So good I missed her when she went to the balcony

We are in a situation like that in a Shakespeare history play, where messengers arrive hourly with bad news from all ends of the kingdom. The Nuffield Southampton, which combines a new city centre theatre with a longstanding campus playhouse, is closing, with 86 roles made redundant. The Theatre Royal Plymouth has made its entire artistic team redundant and the Royal Exchange Manchester may have to make 65% of its staff redundant. The story is much the same wherever you look, be it Birmingham, Norwich or Perth. Even the big, seemingly well-protected institutions are not immune: the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, was reported in the London Evening Standard to be “facing closure”. … [Read more...] about Dear Oliver Dowden, have you even begun to grasp the scale of our arts crisis?

You also get smart alerts, which are basic but may be just enough for most people not after a full smartwatch experience. But the watch certainly isn’t cheap and costs about the same as many fully featured smartwatches or running watches, which admittedly lack the ECG functions. The lack of GPS also means you are stuck carrying your phone if you want to record a route. … [Read more...] about Withings ScanWatch review: health-tracking watch with 30-day battery

“We have already taken steps to help ease the burden of universal credit debt repayments, including reducing the maximum deduction from 40% to 30% of a claimant’s standard allowance. From October 2021 we will reduce this further to 25%, and we will double the time available to repay an advance to 24 months.” … [Read more...] about Extreme poverty ‘will double by Christmas’ in UK because of Covid-19