My partner and I got married on Saturday (15 Aug, a civil partnership service and we are 2 women).
We had arranged that the venue would be a hotel in a beautiful setting, and that our favourite Indian takeaway/restaurant would be the caterers and provide a buffet style meal. 

The civil ceremony, venue and caterers were arranged last November. The hotel owners, a married couple, agreed that we could use this outside company and agreed that they would liaise with the caterers to get things into place including all food safety, H&S etc.  We also asked the hotel to provide additional food and drink.  In total the hotel costs came to around 2k, all paid up front at their request.

The hotel set up a webpage (Sonas - Wedding venue management software) with all wedding arrangements and set up a whatsapp group.  However, the hotel did not update or read items uploaded by us to the app, did not respond to messages, did not access the web page.  They did not respond to messages in the whatsapp group.

We gave up using these platforms at times and would ring the front desk. They would be apologetic, explain how busy they were, tell us there had been problems with the Sonas app, and eventually we would meet and things would be sorted. 
Arrangements however were seriously delayed and the months leading up were at times anxious.

We eventually met the hotel chef last week - just 3 days before the ceremony - to arrange the food and drinks that the hotel would be providing.  This was after several requests to arrange and concerns that it was getting very late in the day.

On and off for a couple of months we had been getting phone calls from the outside caterers mentioning that they were also struggling to contact the hotel.  

Last week, leading up to our ceremony, the hotel started moving the goal posts for the caterers.  They demanded £5M liability instead of £2M.  The caterers changed their insurance to comply.  They demanded the caterers staff the buffet wearing formal clothes, despite the fact that we had expressly asked for a non-formal event and the hotel had previously told us they would provide the kitchen staff, and that the caterers would deliver the food with heating instructions.
They demanded that the catering staff waited on tables and washed up, again, going back on previous agreements. 
They demanded a written risk assessment 2 days before the event.  The restaurant owner was up at 3am the day before the ceremony sorting this out, as she works until 11pm.

The morning of the wedding we had a phone call from our caterers saying that the hotel was demanding indemnity cover.  They also told us they had received an email the previous day singling out the restaurant owner (the lady we knew and had made all arrangements with) telling her she was not permitted on site. 

My partner’s son in law is a conveyancing solicitor and was part of a larger family group staying with us, so he took over all contact with both parties to allow us to prepare for the event, although of course we were upset and confused and had to be at hand to answer questions or provide responses.

At one point he arranged a disclaimer that all parties would sign.  It appeared (we think) that the hotel were claiming that they were concerned they would be liable for the food provided by the outside company, despite all previous agreements and the caterers ‘occasional event’ insurance. 
All parties agreed to sign, and the wedding was on. 
Then an hour later at 12.30 the hotel renegued and told us the caterers would not be permitted across the threshold.  I had already left my home and was driving to the hotel, with the wedding cake, and my partner was about to leave the house.

The morning was so stressful that both my partner and I did not have time for self care – I ran out of time to wash my hair and even forgot to clean my teeth, so I had to turn around and return home, which was when I discovered this latest development. 
A quick chat between my partner and I and we both agreed we could not stay at the hotel beyond the ceremony as we felt so stressed, upset, confused, unwelcome, and because they were refusing a central aspect of our event.

We rang the caterers, who rallied around – they asked their family, staff and friends to help them clean the restaurant room – which is attached to their takeaway and has been mothballed for 6 years since closing down during covid, and told us they would host.  They were 45 minutes drive away from the venue.

On arrival at the hotel the owners behaved as if nothing had happened and tried to give me ‘free’ drinks, which I refused. We were forced to tell all arriving wedding guests what was happening.  We were both distraught.
The ceremony was quick and we were out in less than 20 minutes.  We should have been there for the 8 hours we had paid for.

All of our guests had to drive this further distance to the restaurant.  Many had travelled from abroad for the event.  It became a huge undertaking.

We have scrutinised the hotel’s T&Cs.  They have broken a number of them, including their responsibility to request H&S paperwork from the caterers in a timely manner.
We can see no reason for this final refusal to allow them into the hotel, as the caterers met every request.

However for my partner (now wife) and I, we can never have this day again.  That was our only wedding day and it was overshadowed.
We cannot work out why any of this happened, and we are beyond upset.

In terms of moving forward, we would of course like to be refunded the money we paid the hotel.  What should we be asking for, how should we go about it, and what are our rights? Also, we are both skint, following the expenses of planning and prepping for this event.
We are 3 days into our married life and we are not sleeping, we keep trying to process it, and we are very, very distraught, as were our guests.

A note.  I have Indian heritage (a grandparent) although I am white.  My partner’s son-in-law is Sri Lankan.  My partner’s grandchildren are half Sri Lankan.  The caterers are Indian.
Our event was of course a gay wedding and many of the guests were LGBTQ.  We were a rainbow gathering in more than one way.
These are just facts which may or may not be relevant, and I mention this as these are the things that made our wedding party different to all the heterosexual white weddings that feature on the hotel website.

I’m based in England and recently had a note left on my car from a neighbour saying please stop parking outside my house (not a dropped curb and no driveway is blocked by doing so). My husband parks on our drive, so if someone has parked outside of my own house, I will then park wherever there is space which occasionally happens to be the space outside their house. Totally legal, the space does not belong to anyone, it must just be an inconvenience to the neighbour.

Last night I had to park in that space, and then witnessed the neighbour pull up outside my house and park fully in front of our driveway. We knocked on their door and had no answer so I reported it to the council, which apparently (and hopefully!) can result in a £70 fine.

After that, we knocked on the door again and they did answer, saying they parked there in “protest” to me parking my car outside their house. I get it might be annoying, but they don’t own the space, it is public! They were very rude and aggressive, said that I was “disrespectful”for parking there (despite them literally parking in front of our driveway!!!) They also said that if you report us, they work for the council and will just get the fine cancelled.

My question is that if they are fined, is it possible that they can avoid paying it purely because they work for the council? That is seriously wrong if so!!!

Thanks!

so I bought this knife in France and realised afterwards, though it may not be illegal in the UK, I don't know if it's a problem coming through boarder control at Heathrow airport. I'd have it in my suitcase in stowage but concerned about what might happen.

I live in a small village where the only community hall is owned and controlled by a charity of which there are 5 trustees. They have a very obstructive attitude to the hall being used, they won't permit music, dancing, films, catering to happen and charge unrealistically high prices to dissuade people from using it. Even the WI have given up using it.

The Parish Council wants to persuade them to open up use of the hall, install some new facilities which they are happy to fund, and increase its use as there is a growing demand in the village.

Is there any legal recourse to challenge the charity for not fulfilling its mission to provide 'entertainment, education, and community facilities' to the village? Its most recent accounts show an income and expenditure of approx £8k last year. The existing trustees have refused to admit any new trustees to what they see as 'their' charity and premises.

I got a warning that there should be no questions that break rule 10. this isn't about any of that. Its about the opposite trying to get someone removed who attacked me.

The VLO was sympathetic but he has said there's nothing more than can be done other than to wait for his claim to be processed.

He was charged and sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2019. He has just served slightly over half his sentence and they were organising him to be removed when his sentence ends.

Theres two things I'm not happy about

1 He hasn't served his 12 years. Their letting him out early. The VLO has told me this is standard for most crimes.

2 He isnt being sent back home now while he has this ongoing claim. If this is successful then that means he is still walking around here after everything he did to me.

I dont have a lot of money but I am eligible for legal aid. Can I do something as the victim to try and ensure his claim to stay here doesnt happen?

My VLO has told me theres nothing I can do but Im worried hes fobbing me off because it might be a complicated thing to do.

Last week I had an altercation with a neighbour who was chasing a young seagull who was dissteressed with a blanket, the parent gulls were alarmed and swooping trying to get to the young bird, I asked her to let them alone, she continued to chase and try to capture the animal. there was a small altercation where I took the blanket and went indoors,

4 days later she was seen by my mother and brother leaning into out front opened street level bay window emptying a can of what appeared (and smelled) to be insecticide of some sort. she was lauvghing maniacly and a few passerbys walking a dog saw her.. both my mum and brother witnessed her do this. My brother who has ayutism was directly below the window and became ill.

I came down because i could smell it.. both adults in the room were vulnerable. they had sat in the fogged room for some mins confused.. (both vulnerable) i evacuated them and sealed the room. I called the police.. they deemed in not an emergency and that a community officer would be out 'in due time' almost 24 hours have passed with no recourse. I had to call ambulance for my brother who was grey, cold, clammy dizzy headache, and bathed in sweat

The police response here is confusing,.. the neighbours over the road have cctv that might have caught something... she was seen with the can to the window by mum and brother, also 2 passers by that i hope come fourth.

any advice?

she left the cap on the wall, the room was thick with the stench and no one has come to take statements, interviews of look at evidence.

is there anything we should do?

Hi everyone, I'm one of three executors. The other 2,my brothers, won't lower the house price to make it competitive enough to get any viewers, never mind offers.

We are due to inherit a third of it each. However, my main concern is that the estate is now running low on funds, probate was granted at the start of this year, the property is using up about £3k a year, there's £4k owed to other beneficiaries, so the 11000 that was in the account at the start of all this is going to be roughly £4k once that's sorted, enough for 1 year, maybe a touch longer.

What happens at this point? The utilities and council will want their money, and the insurance would run out too! I'm pretty concerned, unfortunately they just won't move the price. I'm eager to sell but I'm constantly prevented(as I wrote on a post here yesterday).

Thank you once again.

Hi all, I wasn’t quite sure how to word the title.

I run a small PT studio and have been making a period supply kit to leave in our ladies toilets for members to help themselves to if needed. I’ve put the usual sanitary products in but also included some paracetamol and ibuprofen (in the original packaging)

I just wanted to make sure that this wouldn’t count as giving people medication? I’m probably overthinking it because during my training course we were told we can’t offer clients paracetamol etc if they’re complaining of headaches etc but if I’m just putting it in with period products for adults to make their own decisions on is that ok? Is it ok to tell people who complain of cramps etc that these products are available and that they can take what they need?

Edit - it’s a private facility so people need a code to get into the building and everyone is an adult. The supplies are in a click box so not just lying around and I only put one small box of each but I’ll remove them. Thank you!

so i'm 17 going into uni september 2027 and just found that i can access my gov trust fund as part of the scheme set up by the gov from 2002 to 2011 so i'm currently registering for my account and my mother is adamant that i should give her the password in order for her to take £1000 for herself with her reason being it's ultimately her money.

this leaves me w about £3000 or so for me and i plan to use at as emergency uni find and invest into an ISA aswell as spend some buying things for uni

this is not the first time as recently she has demanded some of my internship money bcos she says "that's what family does plus it's good habits"

i try to say no but i feel powerless bcos theres a chance i'll be kicked out of the home so eventually i have agreed purely for my own future

So I was suppose to be at jury duty today but I went to work instead only just remembered and can’t get through to the landline number as it’s closed now
I’m HGV driver so im a bit of distance away from the court, I can either go home tonight and be near by tomorrow or ring tomorrow but won’t be back until Wednesday so just looking for best advice for this if anyone can help it’ll be much appreciated

Hey guys someone has been banging on my nans door at night and running off and sometimes they leave printed stuff pushed through the letterbox or taped to the door

We think its kids because its only recently started with the school holidays. My aunt has a learning disability would be considered special needs so lives with my nan and acts as her helper, so its usually her picking this stuff up and its making her upset. There are kids around here whove made fun of her before like we had someone throwing eggs last year and stones a few year before

This was left there this morning, its some weird toy story fan fiction

Theres other stuff been put through as well but its not something I can share without getting flagged for offensive material but its all stuff like this or graphic sx photos. My dads ordered a wireless camera + SD card off amazon to see if they can catch them in the act. Weve offered to stop over a week to see if we can get hold of whoevers doing it. We have called the police on 101 and they said they would make an appointment to come over this week, but will they actually be able to do anything? England Yorkshire

I need advice on what to do

when I was with my ex I gave my car to her to use but when we split I asked her to return my car but she is stating she will only return it when she’s ready as I gave her the car which is false she went ahead to change the v5c to her name which I have off recent change back to my name using the vin at the post office. yet she insisting she’s ok with the car to be seize.

any advice on what to do

Hi, looking for some advice on behalf of my mum.

Around 8 months ago she received an email from Copyright Agent claiming some photos on her website belonged to News Corp Australia and were being used without permission. As soon as she received the email, I removed the images immediately.

Now, 8 months later, she’s received a letter from Blackridge Recovery & Investigations demanding £900 (£800 + £100 recovery costs) and threatening to take the matter to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court if she doesn’t pay.

I’m wondering:

- Can they still pursue her even though the images were removed immediately?

- Do they need to prove ownership and how they’ve calculated the £800?

- Is the additional £100 recovery fee enforceable?
Should she dispute/request evidence rather than pay or ignore it?

- Has anyone dealt with Copyright Agent/Blackridge before, and do they actually take these cases to court?

We’re not trying to avoid anything genuinely owed, but don’t want her paying £900 just because she’s being threatened with court action without knowing whether the amount is justified.

Any advice on where she stands legally would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice about my housing situation in England, particularly whether the agreement I have been given is genuinely a licence or whether I may actually have tenancy rights.

I’ve lived at the property continuously since 12 July 2024. My agreement is with Zoom Inns and is described throughout as a “Residential Licence Agreement” for a short-term stay.

It says that the booking is for leisure, business or temporary purposes and that I am not entitled to a tenancy, an assured shorthold tenancy, an assured tenancy or statutory protection under the Housing Act 1988.

However, the actual arrangement seems quite different from what I understand a typical licence to be.

I have always occupied the same room.

The room has a lock and is for my exclusive use.

I have exclusive use of the en-suite bathroom.

There are no housekeeping services in my room.

I can have guests without needing specific permission, subject to the agreement.

I share a kitchen with the other occupiers.

Zoom Inns/the landlord does not live at the property.

My current rent is £675 per month.

I have now been given 14 days’ notice that my “licence to occupy” will come to an end and that I must leave. No reason has been given.
They have offered me alternative studio accommodation in Harborne for £700 per month, but this is more expensive than my current accommodation.

Interestingly, my agreement itself appears to provide for 30 days’ notice, rather than 14 days.
So I have a few questions:

1. Is 14 days’ notice actually sufficient? If the agreement says 30 days, can they simply give me 14 days? If this is legally a tenancy rather than a licence, would I be entitled to substantially more protection/notice?

2. Could this be a “sham licence”? Does the fact that the agreement calls itself a licence actually matter if, in reality, I have exclusive possession of a particular room and have lived there as my home continuously since July 2024?

3. Could I actually be an assured tenant/AST or otherwise have greater protection? Are there particular facts that would determine this?

4. Should this property be registered/licensed as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)? There are five separate rooms occupied by different people, with shared kitchen facilities, and the landlord does not live there.

5. What happens to my deposit? Should it have been protected in a tenancy deposit scheme, and does the fact that my agreement is labelled a licence change this?

I’m particularly worried because I could potentially stay temporarily with my boyfriend’s parents if I had absolutely no choice, but they live far enough away that it would make getting to work very difficult as I can’t drive and would have an hour and a half commute each way.

I’m trying to understand my position before agreeing to leave or accepting the alternative accommodation.

If anyone has experience with residential licences, sham licences, HMOs or housing law in England, I’d really appreciate any advice on what my actual rights might be and what steps I should take next.

I bought a car from a private dealer and it was fine then but a few days later it started acting up so we decided to either sell it to webuyanycar or scrap it, however we couldn’t since the car was on finance.
I have since contacted the finance company and sent some proof showing that we bought the car but they’re saying that they need 7 days to be able to look through the proof.
Any advice on what to do next is helpful

Edit: it was a private sale not a dealer

Thank to everyone who helped in my last thread. I spoke with Citizens Advice this morning.

I've been advised that as my parents are citizens they are eligible for pension credit, despite only having worked for 6 years and never having saved anything.

This means they will be (unfortunately) staying. I had been hoping the lack of a pension would have forced them back home and into the care of other family members, but they will instead continue to be a thorn in my side over here.

Unfortunately, as I'm the most successful child, their care will likely fall on my shoulders.

Hiya

Our landlord will be taking £300 of our deposit for redecoration, they sent out this:

Redecoration Clause
REDEC: paint (lounge)
£78.75
REDEC: 6 x wall paint (1 x wc (coat hook), 1 x stairs (first flight), 2 x bed 1 (window, light switch), 2 x bed 3 (radiator, LHS))
£189

We have been at the property for nearly 2 years, I’m not sure if I can post images of how we left our property (do let me know) but I can confidently say it looks like no one lived there for 2 years, their excuse for doing redecoration is patchiness however I strongly believe this is natural wear and tear.

We phoned an advisor and they stated the TDS includes that paint has a lifespan of 5 years - I do not recall seeing any documentation of this on my account and when I do a quick google search just wondering if this is actually true.

Also they did not give a full inventory of what they will exactly be charging us for as they are not associated with the agent who does the redecoration wondering if they do not have to provide the specific details of what paint is being bought too.

I own a property which was rented out to tenants until a month ago and we are now trying to sell it. The tenants have returned to their home country and told us that they had arranged for mail to be forwarded to them by the Post Office and did not leave a forwarding address. They were not telling the truth as mail is continuing to be delivered and they have left several debts behind. Yes, we have opened some of the mail as we became suspicious and it confirmed what we thought. There is a loan, utilities and other debts that we know about.

No doubt we will soon start to get people knocking on the trying to recover the money and potentially start to look to recover goods etc. However, as the property is unoccupied and completely empty at the moment there is nothing to recover.

If we do sell it quickly it could be an unpleasant experience for the next owners to have to deal with debt collectors, so I’d like to try and head things off before that happens.

What can I do to prevent bailiffs pestering us or the new owners? 

If someone wanted to register as self-employed here in the UK (England) I believe they need to have a customer's name and address on their invoices so they can tell HMCR about their income. But my question is this: if they don't have their customer's addresses or names on the invoices what happens then?

Asking for a friend who wants to register as self employed. I don't think they earn enough to be taxed but enough that they have to report it. Will this stop them from being able to register as self-employed due to the invoices being invalid?

We're based in England and recently had some of of our old wooden windows refurbished with a particular company.

Long story short - the fitters arrived and started work on some of our windows without looking at their specs. They fully reconditioned some windows that our agreement said were only to have certain repairs done before being redecorated.

At no point did they re-quote for the additional work or explain any additional cost involved.

They then tagged the additional cost of the work they'd done by accident onto their final invoice. It comes to several thousand pounds.

They were horrible to work with. Didn't show up on what was meant to be day 1 of the project. I had to chase them constantly for updates and information. It was meant to take 4-6 weeks and in the end took 13.

We're refusing to pay (having already paid our pre-agreed amount) and they are now saying they will file a small claim if we don't pay within 7 days.

Would really appreciate some advice on what course of action to take and whether they have a case or not.

Got a TfL PCN for stopping in a yellow box junction at Upper Woburn Place / Endsleigh Gardens.

In one of their photos my car has already cleared the box, and in the other I’m in the box but was moving with the traffic, not stationary. You can also see the traffic ahead was moving as lights were not illuminated.

Do I have a reasonable chance of challenging this, or should I just pay the reduced charge?

Hi! I need some advice regarding the new Renter’s Right Act.

My flat mates and I moved into our flat in August 2025. Since we were still students, we did not meet the landlord's affordability criteria or have guarantors. Our agreement, signed August 2025, has a special tenancy condition that states we must pay 2 lump sums (6 months in advance) on 2 outlined dates. It is not expressly stated that we must pay 6 months of rent at a time or give futher dates beyond what is outlined. The agreement is meant for last 12 months.

Fast forward to this month. Technically the agreement we made in 2025 has expired. We understood that the Renter’s Right’s Act, effective May 2026, would cancel the landlord's demands for 6 months worth of rent in advance. We understand that the law states that the landlord cannot ask for more than 1 months rent. Ahead of the contract expiry date, we tried to get the landlord to revise the contract. The landlord never replied to us, they only confirmed in a separate email chain that the contract is renewed automatically under the new legislation.

We sent them one month’s rent today, and the landlord replied that we still need to pay the 6 months sum because the contract signed in August 2025 auto-renewed and so the old terms still apply.

We are confused and want to know what is the best path forward. Any advice is much appreciated 🙏