Winter can be cold and dark. Are you having difficulty affording to heat your home this winter? At Citizens Advice we often see clients who do. Sometimes people can’t pay their gas and electricity bills and they get into arrears. If these arrears are not paid, the energy supplier may pass the debt on to […]
HAPPY NEW YEAR! New Year is traditionally a time to take stock of our lives and consider whether we need to make any changes. The festive season can be a happy time, or it can be stressful and tensions in relationships can come to a head, making us wonder if we should make a break. […]
Halloween has come and gone for another year, which means that Christmas is just around the corner. Traditionally this means many of us will spend more than we can afford and eat and drink more than is good for us. The stresses we impose upon ourselves at this time of year (including worrying about increased […]
Our offices have some paid staff, but most are volunteers. They come from all walks of life. They use their talents, experience and training (which is constantly updated) to help their community with free, confidential, independent and impartial advice. Here is a flavour of what a volunteer adviser might experience on a typical day: The […]
Have you planned a holiday for next year yet? How might your plans be affected by the possibility that Britain leaves the EU five months or so from now, without a deal? The UK Government has published information on what the implications might be of a ‘no deal’ outcome (in which it emphasizes over and […]
For many of those coming to our local Citizens Advice offices, the trigger for their problem is often the same. They have changed address and have not yet informed all the organisations which need to know this or put in place arrangements for mail to be forwarded to their new address. The outcome may […]
It is hardly surprising that most of us have such a low opinion of our politicians, given the way they present themselves in the media. Thankfully, the business of governing the country is carried out away from the glare of publicity, mainly in Parliamentary Committees. Petty political differences are normally set aside by MPs sitting […]
Traditionally, marriage is about the union of two people who love each other and are prepared to make a formal, life-long commitment to their relationship. In theory, life still means life – and yet so many people find that whatever it was that attracted them to a partner has changed enough to make them want […]
Do you have a mobile phone? If so, do you know how much you paid for your handset or are you still paying for it? Basically, there are two ways you can buy a mobile phone handset. You can either, i) buy one separately and then pay for your calls/texts/data via a SIM-only tariff, or […]
Imagine you were playing a game, where someone said a word or phrase and you had to say the first word or phrase that came into your head. If the other person said “consumer detriment”, would you say a) what? or, b) the true economic impact of poor consumer service or, c) something else?. Every […]