Do I need travel insurance?
What it actually protects against, why the medical section is the part that matters, and the declarations that decide whether a claim is paid.
beginner30 min5 min read
Household Admin
Paperwork, renewals and the annual jobs.
258 guides in Money & Practical
Does home insurance cover working from home?
The line between clerical work and business use, what is not covered by default, and the one phone call that resolves it.
beginner20 min4 min readHow do I cancel a subscription?
Cancelling properly so it actually stops, including the ones that hide the cancel button or refuse to have one.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I challenge a council tax band?
The two-step check that decides whether you have a case, and the free process — with an honest note on the risk.
beginner1 hr4 min readHow do I challenge a service charge I think is wrong?
There is a specialist tribunal for this, it is designed to be used without a lawyer, and the sequence before you get there is what usually resolves it.
advanced2 hr3 min readHow do I chase something that has gone quiet?
Chasing effectively without escalating too early — what to include, when to send it, and where to go when chasing stops working.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I check I am being paid the minimum wage?
The rate is only half the calculation — which hours count is the other half. Travel between jobs, sleep-in shifts, trial shifts and deductions all change the answer, and each has a specific rule.
intermediate13 min6 min readHow do I extend the lease on my flat?
The statutory route and the informal route, why eighty years is the number everyone talks about, and what to establish before you start. Written without a single figure, because the valuation rules are mid-reform.
advanced16 min6 min readHow do I get a document witnessed or certified?
The difference between witnessing, certifying and notarising, who can do each, and what they actually have to write.
beginner45 min3 min readHow do I give notice on a tenancy?
Getting the notice period and the dates right, because an invalid notice usually means paying more rent.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I make a flexible working request?
A day-one statutory right for employees to ask for a change to hours, times or place of work. Two requests a year, a two-month decision deadline, and the eight business reasons an employer can rely on to refuse.
beginner12 min5 min readHow do I make a small claim in the county court?
The small claims track is designed for people without lawyers, costs are not usually recoverable, and the hardest part is enforcing a judgment rather than winning one.
advanced3 hr4 min readHow do I move house with young children?
What to tell them and when, the box that must not go on the van, and why the first night matters more than the packing.
beginner2 hr4 min readHow do I post things so they arrive in time?
Work backwards from the last posting dates, and understand what tracking and compensation actually cover.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I stop direct debits catching me out?
Listing every payment and its date, moving them to land just after payday, and building the buffer that absorbs the rest.
beginner45 min3 min readHow do I trace a pension from an old job?
Old workplace pensions are the most commonly lost asset in the UK. The tracing service is free, and a systematic sweep of your own employment history finds most of them.
beginner45 min3 min readHow does buying a home in Scotland work?
Scotland is a different system, not a variation on the English one: the seller provides a survey up front, offers go through a solicitor, and the contract forms at conclusion of missives rather than at exchange.
intermediate15 min5 min readWhat are a P45 and a P60, and what do I do with them?
One is issued when you leave a job, one every April while you are in it. Losing either is survivable, but knowing which does what saves an emergency tax code.
beginner10 min2 min readWhat does an executor actually have to do?
The job in full, the personal liability that comes with it, and the two things you can do about it if you do not want to take it on.
intermediate20 min3 min readWhat is a settlement figure and how do I get one?
What a settlement figure includes, why it is not simply the payments you have left, how long it stays valid, and what to do with the answer once you have it.
beginner12 min5 min readWhat is accidental damage cover?
What it adds beyond the standard perils, the exclusions that survive it, and the households where it earns its cost.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy is my first tax bill so much bigger than I expected?
Payments on account mean a first self assessment bill can be half as large again as the tax actually owed for the year. Understanding why makes it survivable.
intermediate12 min2 min readHow do I reject a faulty item and get a full refund?
The short-term right to reject faulty goods, what happens after that window, and the wording that stops a retailer redirecting you to the manufacturer.
beginner40 min4 min readWhat do I do if a parcel never arrived?
Who is actually responsible, the checks to make first, and how to escalate when the tracking says delivered.
beginner45 min3 min read
Going deeper: ToolFoundry
Interactive calculators — quantities, conversions, costs and sizing — rather than prose.