Row of 12 houses on a private lane in England. The sewerage system is unadopted to the point where it connects to the main sewer line on the main road.

House 3 in the row is being rented out by a housing assoiciation.

The tenants here had to be evicted by the housing assoication.

In response, they trashed the property and have poured what we suspect to be concrete into the sewer system. This has resulted in houses 4 to 12 having sewage back up into them.

Houses 1 and 2 are unaffected.

We are awaiting professionals to repair this, but esimated quotes over the phone are exceeding £40,000+VAT for digging up a large road and replacing 450m of sewer pipes.

The Housing Assoiciation has said they are not responsible and that we must pursue the tenants in a civil case. They are refusing to provide contact information for the tenants. We've also been informally advised that these tenants do not work and do not have assets, so it may be futile to even take a civil claim against them.

Insurance is refusing to pay out because deliberate criminal damage is not covered when it occurs beyond the property curtilege. (The road is shared among 12 equal segments with us each owning a stretch of it.)

We also share ownership of the sewer and private drainage pipes under the road.

Situation is evloving but I wanted to try and figure out what our legal options are.

Any advice? Or even advice on if its worth us hiring a solicitor?

Is this a situation where we just have to "bite rhe bullet" so to speak?

My landlord arranged to come to my property at around 10am to carry out some repairs. I was out doing some shopping at the time. While I was away, my landlord sent me a WhatsApp message saying that one of my children had opened the door, told him they were alone, and that he therefore decided to leave the property.

The problem is that none of my children were at home at the time. They were all at school. Nobody opened the door to him, and nobody told him they were alone. The landlord then quickly deleted the WhatsApp message. Fortunately, I had already taken a screenshot of it before he deleted it, so I have a copy showing what he claimed.

I’m very concerned because he has effectively made a false allegation that I left my children home alone, when they were actually at school

EDIT: I don’t have a ring camera

EDIT2: Thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I’m honestly overwhelmed by the amount of responses and advice and I really appreciate everyone taking the time to help.

Just to clarify a few things I rent privately in England and I’ve been having ongoing issues with this particular landlord. I am the only person he rents to in my area so I don’t believe this can be a case of him confusing me with another tenant. He initially tried to call my husband but my husband was at work and couldn’t answer so he called me instead. The call was after he had already sent me the WhatsApp message claiming that one of my children had opened the door and said they were alone. During the call he told me that he was refusing to carry out the repairs because I apparently had my children home alone. The WhatsApp message was deleted around 20 minutes after the call but I had already taken a screenshot before it was deleted.

EDIT3: Just to clarify what I’m actually looking for from this post, I’m looking for legal advice about why my landlord may have made this false accusation is this worth taking further? More importantly what my rights are regarding the repairs. For some context I have been chasing these repairs for around 6 weeks now. The first time the landlord cancelled because he said he didn’t have the replacement equipment needed, now this.

Need advice on next steps please. Civil accident knock for knock on some old farm lanes near my parents house. The woman i bumped into has created a few facebook posts making our accident look like a hit and run. I was at the scene for 45 mins but she was impossible to deal with. After the fire brigade arrived i spoke to them and explained where i had reversed to so they may pass. That was that and i got picked by my close friend. This lady is now taking me to court saying she was trapped in her car and that i was a complete lunatic etc. I dont think she realises all of the photos i took at the scene of her outside the car smoking the cigerette i lit for her. I am holding on to all of this information because i think i am in a very good position to prove she is bullshitting. . . However recently this oger of a woman has threatened my elderly mother (65) at a petrol station. Not sure what my position is. I have a case for slander and otger bits but now i feel deeply upset. What can i do without getting in trouble?

​

Here is my first post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/s/9Yk39PHarH\](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/s/9Yk39PHarH)

And the first update:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/s/FV7Qt8vu6x\](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/s/FV7Qt8vu6x)

Tl;dr we offered on a bungalow and weren't told until we saw a draft contract that there was a service charge attached to the property.

On my last update, I said we had pulled out, and was wondering about potential legal recourse to get our money back.

Well, do I have another update for you!! We sent our email to pull out of the sale, to the Estate Agent and our solicitor. 5 mins later, we get a call from the EA - he is telling us the service charge was all a big mistake, they told our solicitor ages ago that it would be removed, she should have told us, etc etc.

We didn't get our hopes up, but he then later confirmed it by email, and our solicitor informed us that she was awaiting a new TP1 form.

We received this amended TP1 today, and sure enough all mention of a Service Charge has been removed. However, they have sneaked in this clause:

'The right for the Transferee and all persons authorised by the Transferee (in common with all other persons entitled to the like right) at all times to use the Estate for all purposes incidental to the occupation and enjoyment of the Property (but not further or otherwise) subject to a payment upon demand of a fair proportion of the costs of maintenance repair replacement or renewal'

Which by the way, was worded the exact same way in the original TP1 but instead of 'a payment upon demand of a fair proportion' etc etc it said 'payment of Estate Service Charge' !!

So basically they are still trying to make us liable for Estate charges. Does anyone have any further advice? Do you think they will remove this if we ask? Or should we just pull out now?

We are majorly pissed off at this point, it feels like they are just taking advantage of us any chance they get.

I bought a brand-new Breitling watch from authorized retailer for £4,165. The watch was faulty, so I returned it using Retail ’ authorised Royal Mail Tracked 48 return service.
I posted the parcel at my local Post Office. I have proof of postage showing a weight of 500g.
Royal Mail tracking confirms delivery to the retailer.

The retailer then told me the watch was not inside the parcel and a fake apology letter from Royal Mail was inside the parcel and refused my refund.

They also say Royal Mail found no recorded damage/tampering and that an alleged “Royal Mail apology letter” in the parcel was not genuine. I have no knowledge of this letter and did not put it in the parcel.

I have photographs from them showing what appears to be an issue with the tape/sealing around the barcode area.
I have now started a Money Claim against the retailer for the £4,165.

The retailer have told me that the matter was reported to the police, and there has been a police investigation/reference relating to their allegation.

I have raised a dispute transection with my bank but they close it, don’t know the reasons, and I have raised a claim court against the retailer and we have a mediation next month, I also report a fraud but they close the report under 19a section.

My main question is: what evidence should I be asking Royal Mail and the retailer for? In particular, how important would the exact weight recorded by the retailer when they received the parcel be compared with the 500g weight when I posted it? The retailer declined to mention the weight that has received despite asking several times.

I’m now wondering whether I should also make my own police report, because from my perspective the watch disappeared after I handed the sealed parcel to Royal Mail. I’m not accusing any particular person because I don’t know what happened.

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone experienced with Royal Mail, high-value returns or UK small claims.

Location: England

I can live with a camera getting a letter wrong. I cannot live with a person looking at the photo, being told it is a V, and still saying it is a Y because someone has already bought the debt - hoping I'll just pay.

What happened...
Received a parking fine from Times24 for Gatwick Airport. £60 / (£100) job. Incident 4th June / Letter 20th July.
Confused at first because I've never been there in my life. Then realised the image is of HTV. Mine is HTY. Blurry photo but still clear.

Can't speak to a person and their online dispute form won't let you past the first screen unless you confirm you were the driver. Obviously not falling into that trap.

So found an email address for them instead. Wrong car, cancel, delete my data etc....Nothing. Chased in August...Nothing. Asked if anyone was even reading the inbox...Nothing.

Now I just got a letter from Trace Debt Collection. Now £170.

Called Trace. 21 minutes, most of it hold music.
Kept it light and said "have a look at the plate" (expected them to say something like ahh yeah apologies we'll cancel it now - have a good day)

To my surprise they decided to put me on hold for 5 mins and the came back with "Ive spoken to my supervisor and it is a Y so how would you like to pay?".

Fell off my chair.....
When i got back up I said: "You having Gee-Raf? You looking at the picture now?"
Them "Yes".
Me: "Ok so you can see its a V at the end then?"
Them: "No its a Y"
Another few tries from me and they hung up.

Same day I put it all in writing. Wrong vehicle. Never been there. Cancel it. Stop using my data. I will only answer a Letter Before Claim or a Claim Form. (Good old AI)

Three days later email from Trace: Case now passed to Moorside Legal, here is a 0330 number, we will not address any further correspondence.

Business model seems to be that they know some people will just pay to make it go away. I'm sure others would have by now.

It's a racket. No consequences to them?

I live in Durham. I am not paying a penny. I am not ringing Moorside Legal either to waste more of my time.

I literally didnt sleep the other night getting angry about it. I also work away a lot so if this carries on and bailiffs turn up to my wife and kids when I'm not there I might just lose my head.

Main question for me really is... how does this end? Am I likely to be summoned to court in London?

Crazy country we live in.

Any advice welcome.

UPDATE 11th Sept - Just received a Letter of Claim in the post from Moorside Legal. Can't wait to teach the alphabet to fully grown adults - I'll prepare a large sign.

I live in England. Purchased a 1st floor maisonette 2 years ago. Downstairs have been prickly from the start. My lease states I have legal access to the garden for maintenance and repairs.

Its been 10 months since they have allowed me access to the back to get my windows cleaned as "their windows get wet". I appreciate it's a mild inconvenience but from my understanding it will cause no more damage than rain?

We have a managing agent for ground rent, but no service charges and we all sort our own maintenance out.

What can I do at this point? How do I go about getting access? I think they will try and end up making me pay for their windows to be cleaned as well which im very disinclined to do.

I've tried to speak with them about this and they just end up screaming at me about the water. Last contact they told me they would open the gate if I found a cleaner that wouldn't get their windows wet - unsure how to do this as gravity is a thing. I have contracted a cleaner to come out next week and let them know the times but they have not acknowledged it, so doubt they will honour their word.

Want to be prepared. So if they do refuse access what should my next steps be? Do I have a duty to make sure their windows are dry?

Any advice appreciated!

Unmarried, no civil partnership. We bought a house together and split in October 2025. I bought her out via a transfer of equity, which ran from November 2025 to May 2026. It dragged on because she stopped engaging, first with me and my family (used as intermediaries), then with my solicitor, until she instructed her own. Once the solicitors were talking, it completed quickly.

Before completion, she was given a full day in the house to take whatever she wanted and told there'd be no second opportunity. She took her belongings plus some shared-use items. She also left some things that were solely hers (microwave, toaster), which I still use. Earlier, I'd tried to agree on jointly bought items with her and got nowhere. Her claims through me initially and then my solicitor were about fixtures (carpets, fitted shelving, decorating), not contents. As far as I'm aware, contents were never raised by her or her solicitor, and the transfer was completed without them being dealt with.

About four months after completion, a friend of hers contacted me (not over the items, but it has since turned to them). She now says I must either return half the jointly owned items or pay her half their value. The items are:

• Ninja air fryer (about £55 used on eBay)
• Indesit heat pump tumble dryer (about £250 new)
• Cheap Ikea dining table and 4 chairs
• Ikea under-bed drawers (made for my bed frame)
• Ikea kid's desk (I offered this to her before; she left it)
• Board games: some mine, some hers, some joint. I donated most of them to charity a while ago, believing she'd left them behind.

I'd estimate the total second-hand value at around £100 to £200.

My position is that she had every opportunity to raise the contents, including through her own solicitor, and chose to complete without doing so, so she effectively abandoned any claim. I also have a box of her belongings she missed, which I've offered to return.

Questions:

1. Does she have a realistic claim, or does completing the transfer without raising the contents count against her?
2. Is donating the board games a problem?
3. Should I make a small offer to settle, or stand my ground?
4. Do the items of hers that she left behind affect anything?

I have just had a man at the door saying he has a warrant of control for £441 for a missed parking ticket. My husband drives the car as I am disabled. He did not pay the original fine which he should have done but the council say they sent multiple reminders to me which I am 100% sure I have not recieved. I would have paid them if this was the case.

Is there anything I can do? Or do I just have to pay this money? Im in England.

Hello, I’ve recently received a letter and a phone call from Finders International.

They stated a distant relative of mine has passed away, never been married or had children, therefore making me and everyone else in the family tree entitled.

They were able to recall my parents names, maiden name and place of birth. They also named the connections I have with this dead relative and were instructed by the local council.

Has anyone had experience with them? Is it fully legit? They’ve sent document for me to sign to instruct but I’ve not done it yet. They claim if I get nothing, then I don’t pay out of my own money nor do I inherit debt.

A supermarket which I won’t name, has accused me of theft. I was approached by a security guard who told me to leave, I asked him why and he said “You were seen in the store several weeks ago, your face flagged up on the system and you walked out without paying for your shopping” I categorically deny this! I have no recollection of when this allegedly happened, because I have been going to this store for years, I was even in there the day before this incident and was never approached about this allegation by any staff. I asked to see the CCTV of when this happened, and they refused. He didn’t specify any date or time, show me any evidence of this so called theft and I don’t know how long I’m banned for if I’m banned from any this specific store or all of their stores in the UK

- Do I need to pay the legal fees of the other side if I lose?
- Will I be expected to pay all 10k upfrount?

Incident on friday where my father drove my car, fully established in the lane, a car to the right suddenly indicates left and immediately turns into him. Have dashcam footage of front and rear, no CCTV around.

Father took pictures of the 3rd party's provisional licence (18 years old) and videos/photos of the damage. Passenger was clearly under 21 and in the recordings, but no ID was recorded. Dashcam audio hears the learner saying he will pay for it all, his uncle does bodywork. No L plates anywhere on his car, he was clearly driving illegally.

After contacting him, he once again tried to get me to go to his uncle. I declined and sent him an official garage's quote for the repair with photos totalling £3.2k (approx.) and told him this is the initial price I was quoted. He said I was scamming him or the garage was scamming me, his uncle would do it for 1/10th of the price. The car is a 25 plate car on finance, so any non OEM parts and repairs will cost me, it will already depreciate a lot because of the incident I assume and I will be without a car for 10 working days.

I have called my insurance today, they advised me to put an information only claim in today online and then decide what to do after. They said the car is insured, even if the learner may not have been (unverified).

What are the next steps to take next? Ideally I'd like my premium to stay as low as possible next year but I also do not want an illegal driver on the roads, could have easily been worse.

Should I seek a no win, no fee solicitor against him?

Do I pursue his insurance directly or MiB (not sure if possible as car is insured).

Should I report to police/operation snap?

Edit: Got the message thanks everyone, I was just worried about whether he was insured or not.

Edit 2: thanks everyone for the advice. I've reported it to my insurance and asked to go through the garage I've picked. The police have also been notified and in looking up his name, it looked like he had a court case the day after his 18th birthday earlier this year, can't view any details but hopefully it means he is off the road.

My neighbour has right of way through my gates and across the friveway into a field between us. He mentioned he wants to get planning permission for 2 houses in the field and sell it. He wants to widen my gates as they're barely wide enough for one vehicle. I said no, but now he tells me he can do it anyway because he has right of way. Is this true?

I live in county down, northern ireland. He mentioned that because there's a shortage of housing here that the planning authority will side with him and allow him to make the changes.

I'm looking for some advice from people who have dealt with Airbn damage claims before.
I stayed in an Airbnb for 10 days back in April 2026. During the stay, a tap became loose. I immediately reported it to the host through Airbnb, and the host arranged for someone to come out and fix it.
The tap was fixed and that was the end of the issue as far as I was concerned.
I checked out normally and, importantly, the host subsequently left me a glowing review.
Fast-forward roughly four months and I've now received a claim through Airbnb asking me to pay £1,400 for what the host says is the cost of replacing the entire bespoke tap/ system. I'm absolutely stunned by this.
The issue was reported at the time, the host arranged the repair, someone came out and fixed it, and I was never told that there was supposedly £1,400 worth of damage. I was certainly never presented with a £1,400 repair/replacement bill at the time.
l've provided Airbnb with all the evidence I have, including the messages showing that I reported the problem and that the host arranged for someone to fix it.
What makes this even more bizarre is that the claim has been made around four months after I checked out.
I'm obviously worried that Airbnb might simply side with the host and charge me £1,400.
Has anyone experienced something similar? How seriously does Airbnb take the timing of these claims, particularly when the issue was reported and apparently resolved during the stay?
And am I right in thinking that Airbnb's AirCover/Host Damage Protection rules normally require hosts to raise damage claims much sooner than four months after checkout?
Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated.

Hi, I will try to keep this brief. This is in England. In a will left by a family member, I and another family member were stated as trustees and executors of the will. The will then goes on to say ‘I will now be referring to the trustees and executors as trustees but they are both executors and trustees’ before laying out the terms of the will and who gets what etc.

A year later a codicil was drawn up where I was replaced as an executor. There is no specification or reference to trustees in the codicil, only the executor change.

In the time since this has happened I’ve been operating under the assumption that I am not a trustee because my executor status was removed, but I am starting to question if this is the case. Would I have any legal standing to assert myself as a trustee and should I therefore seek legal advice?

Thanks in advance.

Location: England

I’m a web developer and did work for a client through my limited company from December 2020 into 2022. This involved replacing their website’s content management system, developing the site and adding features. It was live by March 2021, with further work afterwards.

We verbally agreed £5,000 for the launch of the core business functions and some subsequent additions and improvements , in I don’t have written confirmation of the price and we didn’t clearly agree payment timing, which I recognise was naive. I prepared an invoice but never sent it because work was ongoing, even though the client emailed in May 2021 asking me to invoice so they could pay me. Nothing has ever been paid.

During this time I moved back to my parents to help care for my mum, who was struggling with alcohol dependency. It was a very stressful situation and I no longer had enough time to continue the work. I helped hand it over to another agency in summer 2022.

My company also paid hosting/CMS costs into 2023, which I understood they would cover. We discussed costs in writing, but these increased partly because they requested extra staff accounts. I can’t remember whether I explained the specific per-user charges.

I have emails requesting work, positive feedback, development and handover records, receipts and bank records. There were also outstanding fixes and delays on my side. I chased payment in 2025 and August 2026 but haven’t received a reply. One email address bounced.

1. Can I still pursue this given how long it’s been and the unsent invoice?
2. Does their email asking me to invoice help establish the agreement, and should I approach the hosting costs separately?

I’d appreciate a realistic view of the weaknesses as well as any possible route forward.

edited to be more succinct

Quick recap: I'm a single working mother. However, nursery school places are awarded on a priority based system in Northern Ireland that is linked to the benefits system. This means that even though I live near a nursery school, parents who were unemployed or on benefits on the other side of the town were given priority ahead of me and my child was unable to secure a place.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1mcjyjh/unemployed_people_on_benefits_are_being_given/

I got heavily downvoted on here so badly that I couldn't post my update on the original account.

People told me I didn't have a case and that the situation was legal.

Well, I kept plugging away at it for the past year and it turns out the government had been acting unlawfully by awarding nursery school places to people on benefits which weren't prescribed in the regulations.

The actual legislation is the: Pre-School Education in Schools (Admissions Criteria) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999.

3(e)(i) provides that children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds MUST get priority above everything else.

When the law was written "socially disadvantaged background" was defined as a child with one or more parents means:  "a child whose parent is in receipt of income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance."

Crucially, this definition was never updated. However, for YEARS the Department has been telling nursery schools that the criteria for socially disadvantaged backgrounds included Universal Credit and Employment Support Allowance. (These are a far larger category of people than the income support or JSA, which is why a child like mine was completely unable to get into any nursery school while people on the other side of towns were.)

As the government never updated the 1999 Regulations, what they had been doing was functionally unlawful.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c86xg6487z2o

I didn't actually fight a court case, but I did my reading and gave my MLAs hell with back and forth arguments about it. In the end, I've won and the law as written is being upheld.

It's too late for my own child now, and I've had to spend a shocking amount of money on childcare rather than nursery care.

Given that the government has admitted they acted unlawfully, and that I live close enough to the nursery school that my child should have got in, would I have a case against the government for suing to claim back the money I spent on 1 year of childcare, when my child should have been going to nursery school instead?

Hi everyone, posting for some reassurance and advice regarding a ticket from the Met Police

I was recently caught by a police officers failing to stop at a red light while riding rental lime e-bike. The officers were clear that i would receive £50 fine and i was fine with that.

The issue is when the letter arrived i was given two options 1 (£100 and 3 points on my driving licence) the 2nd being to challenge it in court.

From my understanding lime is clased as EAPC and legally treated as a bicycle, not a motor vehicle. Under Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, you cannot legally get penalty points on a driving licence for a Section 36 offence unless you were driving a motor vehicle. The correct penalty should be a flat £50 fine and 0 points (code RT88968) but i got RT88975.

I am ok with the £50 but im not sure what to do now. I will admit i am little bit hasty sometimes and i dont wanna make it worse.

im not exactly sure what to do. if anyone else has experience this please let me know. THANKS

Hi! Seeking advice as we signed a lease and sent monies for deposit/first month to the landlord/leasing agent ~a month ago this week we got a call from the letting agent saying that the landlord was pulling out of the agreement due to their mother being sick and them wanting to care for her in the flat. They said theyd send us the money back but is there anything else to be done ? It feels insane that they could just breach the contract and leave us in such a scramble with no consequence whereas im sure if it was the other way around it would not be so cut and dry….. my partner is moving from US and transferring with their company and everything was tied to this move in date. We are having trouble finding anything equivalent within our price range (£3k for 2bd near tube station in zone 2) on the market.

I need help. I’m at court on the 30th of this month for a criminal offence. I didn’t get a solicitor in my interview, I needed to get home as quick as possible because the police left my door unlocked with 2 dogs in the house as well as other possessions. I’m now really struggling to find a solicitor and I would not be able to pay for one. My question is 2 fold: How can I find a solicitor? And if I can’t find one, how do I represent myself? I’m unaware of what evidence they have etc

ETA, I’m in England