r/LegalAdviceUK

We've called the RSPCA, and they recommended that we call 101 to have a welfare check while we wait for them to get back to us. We're planning on calling the council and environmental health department, but we'd like to cover all grounds so if we're missing anything I'd appreciate advice.

I made a post not too long ago as her pigeon feeding antics caused a total blockage of the sewer line due to bird seed - causing my partner's garden (landlord of the ground floor) to be flooded with sewage. We ended up with an £800 bill and so far the water company hasn't agreed to reimburse it, and the landlord upstairs is ignoring us.

Well, it's developed into something worse.

One of the tenants upstairs (it's a shared property up there owned by someone else) caught her holding a plucked, dead pigeon at 4am in the communal kitchen. Apparently she tried to hide it and left the room.

They've been complaining to us recently about how she leaves feeding tubes in the kitchen, the pigeons are a nuisance, possibly making them sick etc, although we thought she was rehabilitating them. Until now.

One of them said that they suspect she's keeping them in boxes, as she can hear them flapping like their wings are obstructed and can't move. We've seen the pigeon lady leave the house with a net on a regular basis, she literally told us that she likes to go into town and catch them by TK Maxx. I am dead serious.

The other tenants agreed to gather evidence, as they feel uncomfortable using the kitchen and have gotten sick before - possibly from the pigeons. They also said they were going to call the RSPCA to add to our case.

She has a flock of hundreds of pigeons and throws bird seed on our kitchen roof extension. This has blocked the gutters, feeds rats/mice, caused a sewage back up in the garden, and also due to this the garden is covered in bird mess. So it's completely unusable and a health hazard. I haven't opened the back door since the plumber left over a month ago.

We've been complaining to her landlord for two years but he's not interested, the other tenants have also made complaints about her. He doesn't seem to be doing anything to stop it.

I know this sounds ridiculous, it's a very unique problem so I may delete this later but I'll screenshot any advice and comments. Thank you!

I (F40, England) had a short relationship (under a year) with someone who never lived permanently at my address. At the time, I stupidly let him use my address for his driving licence/V5 while he was between places, and it seems to have become his "last known" address. We split around a year ago and I have no contact with him or any idea where he is. He has changed his phone number and is not responding on socials. I know one close friend of his, but he does not want to get involved in any way.

Since then, he seemingly been using my address for everything. I receive around 10 letters a week in his name. I return them all marked "not known at this address" but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

It's escalated beyond letters, and bailiffs have attended twice recently (two separate teams / debts). The first time (long story short, I was in a very bad place due to a recent tragic event in a family), I paid ~£600 they claimed he owed them just to make them go away. Also, I just didn't know what to do, it was a complete surprise - I let them in, offered coffee etc., just then realised it was a mistake and they apparently had a warrant to confiscate goods at my address and were not willing to go away. The second time, I didn't open the door and they claimed he listed me as his wife on a loan application (we never lived together, let alone married) and threatened attachment of earnings for "marital debt" and said they found me on LinkedIn and were able to name my job and employer correctly. They also spoke to all neighbours stating I owe money to them, as they were trying to identify "my" car to clamp (I don't drive and don't have a car).

DVLA apparently won't change the address without him requesting it. I'm now getting post from child maintenance too (I'm not opening it, just know it from the return address on the envelope). Also receiving letters from councils (likely fines), debt collectors, etc. Recently started getting mail for some company at my address (e.g. "ExFromHell Ltd"), but I can't find any such company on Companies House.

For context, I own my home, have no debt, good career and income / have reasonable assets and my credit is clean. So far:

• I return all post "not known".
• One debt collection agency wrote back to "resident" and asked for proof he doesn't live here and I sent council tax and utility bills in my sole name going back 10 years (waiting to hear back). Everyone else just keeps sending letters regardless.

What are the sensible next steps here from the legal perspective? It is all quite stressful, and I have two young children at home who obviously are impacted by bailiffs visits - they are not exactly nice and polite people.

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I rent my spare room and had just one guy moved in. He moved in on Saturday morning and I reminded him I had sent him my bank details a few days earlier but I had not received the deposit or the rent for the first month. He said he'd sorted out. I had a few errants to do before going to work (I'm a nurse) so I left him to settle. In hindsight, I realised that was my first mistake. In the middle of my shift, I received an email from him stating his previous landlord had not returned his deposit yet and that since he has changed jobs, his previous job had made a mistake and had not paid him for the weeks worked last month.

He told me his previous landlord had said he'd received the money on Monday, today, and that he'll pay me then. I agreed to wait until then, my second mistake but told him he'll need to leave on Monday if he didn't pay. I have not received my money so I am going to ask him to leave.

My question is, since he has not paid any rent or deposit, will he still be considered a lodger? We signed a contract, but he is already in breach of it. If he refuses to move, can I call the police for help? Thanks

My husband bought me a ring from the jewellery quarter (Birmingham) back in December. It is supposed to be 18k yellow gold with an emerald cut lab diamond. It cost £1400.

I noticed a couple of months later that the diamond seemed to be poor quality (windowing) so I contacted the shop  on the 27th March to ask about a diamond certificate which is missing from my receipt packet. They have told me they're chasing it up, they'll get back to me later etc and I don't hear from them until I contact them again. I have contacted them over WhatsApp only.

Then yesterday I noticed that it is less yellow than my 14k bracelet. When I took it off to look properly, I noticed that it has no hallmark. As far as I'm aware, it is illegal to sell jewellery without a hallmark.

This is a reputable shop in the heart of the jewellery quarter but it seems I've been scammed. I don't know what to do next. I'm worried if I confront them, they will claim the ring I have is not the one I bought from them.

Holiday booking drama. Need advice

I booked a package holiday for my Mum and her friend, I paid for half and the friends daughter paid their half. Long story short they had a falling out and the friend no longer wants to go (they had yet to sort out a passport so likely wouldn't be able to go anyway). My Mum is still going as my other family will be there (separate booking)

I've checked Jet2s t&cs and as far as I can see there is no way to get their money back and there is no one to change the name to. I am now being harassed for the booking reference which I'm reluctant to provide because that's all they need to manage the booking and I wouldn't rule out it being cancelled out of spite at this point.

I've sent her the flight voucher, hotel voucher, insurance docs & her boarding passes but they are still demanding the booking reference even though I've provided everything related to her. Do I have to provide this to her daughter?

Just for info, I am the booking contact and the payment was with my card. My Mum is lead passenger.

I've just had a bit of an unpleasant interaction with a neighbour and my thoughts are spiralling. It might not quite fit this sub Reddit exactly, but some advice and reassurance will be really appreciated.

I live in England and I put up bird feeders in my back garden in December. I have a trail camera so I can monitor what wildlife visits the garden. I'm aware of rats moving through the garden, maybe a couple of visits each night that get picked up on the camera. The rats almost always come out at night, though they have put in a rare appearance during the day. They mostly use the fence as a sort of highway, but occasionally climb on the feeder pole to have a nose around. I bring in the feeders every evening so food isn't left out to discourage the rats.

My neighbour apparently saw a rat at around 6pm in their garden and marched round to my house to kick up a fuss, saying my feeders are the reason the rats started appearing. Her kids are now apparently scared to play out in the garden (like, what?). I explained that I was aware of the occasional rat, they mostly come out during the night, that I bring the feeders in every night so no food is left out, doing everything I can to not encourage their visits short of poisoning them which I do not want to do. She said she might have to put poison out in her garden and I told her that was her choice.

The conversation went round in circles, and I said as much, directly asking what she wants me to about it as I am not stopping putting the feeders out. She didn't really give an answer and left.

I feel like she's the sort of person that's going to complain to the council or environmental health or something. Am I going to get in shit because I wanted to try and create a little point of interest for wildlife in my back yard?

So I'm 18 and I'm in the UK, i've been looking for work on websites allot and came across a marketing company, they never really said what they did till we was actually in on the induction days, there was about 5-6 other people there and i found it weird as my first irl interview for work, they was hyping us up allot and for some reason we're "self employed" by them. and they said we could be making hundreds of thousands in about 6-12 months if we did good enough on sales, the job consists of doing fund raising door to door for breast cancer now, and we get payed a small commission on our sign ups, in a while it makes the business £52 a year and i think it all goes to charity, apperantly we work under "britevox ltd" and it's a company i'd never heard of, there's allot of these offices around the UK and all with 20 ish employees, i just need help knowing if it's a pyramid scheme or not, i can answer questions if you would like, we get paid £73-90 a day and work from 10:30am until 9pm Its in England

company name: titan worlwide ltd

If somebody gives me a present (a TV 3 years ago as a housewarming gift) is he allowed to take it back later?

No doubt he can prove he paid for the TV from his credit card statements, I don't dispute he paid for it. I can't prove he gave it as a gift. Obviously he's being petty/vindictive, it is only a TV and I can soon buy a new one, but keen to know where I stand.

We are students in England.

I stumbled on an article mentioning our landlord had been arrested for some rather serious crimes and is currently on bail facing trial later this month.

Our tenancy officially ends in a little less than 4 months but (pre arrest) we had been offered to end the tenancy early assumably so the landlord could do work on the house. This was an offer we were planning on taking up till we discovered this information.

The house is part of an agency that is ran by his family but we pay rent straight to him. We have already contacted them.

Most advice online seems to give info on tenants being arrested rather than landlords.

What should our next steps be in this situation.

I work in a fairly large store that runs deliveries in the back, which is where I work. The shop floor and most of the building is heated, but the warehouse room I work in is not and in the winter months it can get so cold that we go into the industrial fridge to warm up, and ice forms on the outside of the freezer door. We wear thick gloves, hats and coats inside.

As far as I’m aware, there is a legal expectation for employers to maintain a comfortable working temperature unless you are an outdoor worker.

I would consider myself an indoor worker given I’m inside a building, but does the fact we have backdoors into the yard that we open frequently mean we’re not?

Basically I want to know if it’s likely I have a valid legal complaint so that I can make a fuss about this before winter rolls around again.

In Scotland.

I bought an iPhone 17e from a store 14 days ago and have experienced Bluetooth issues from the first day. I contacted the store twice for advice, as the phone will not connect to my watch, lights, or other devices.

When I visited the shop, staff were able to connect the phone to their speaker and concluded there was no fault. However, I demonstrated that it would not work with my AirTag, specifically the Bluetooth-dependent function, but they said this was not sufficient proof.

They’ve told me they will *only issue a refund if an engineer can replicate the fault.* They also stated that under the Consumer Rights Act, they have the right to test the device to verify the issue, and if the engineer cannot find or fix a fault, I will not be entitled to a refund.

After some back and forth, they offered to take the phone back as a gesture of goodwill, provided I return it with the box and accessories, but only with a 95% refund.

Does this sound correct?

I work for a large UK charity on a home-based contract. My role is field-based, travelling daily to various locations across a defined geographic area in Northern Ireland.

My employer has recently informed staff informally via a line manager that we must now deduct a round trip between our home and a fixed point within our geographic area (approximately 50 miles) from all mileage claims. No formal written policy has been issued.

∙	My contract states my place of work is home based

∙	Any change to place of work requires mutual agreement — this has not happened

∙	HMRC guidance (section 3.34, Employment Income Manual) explicitly states geographic area workers are entitled to full tax relief on travel within their area — no notional commute deduction is mentioned

∙	My employer’s own expenses policy only refers to deducting travel to a contracted place of work — which in my case is home

∙	Head of HR has confirmed the expenses policy has not changed

∙	A senior manager was reported to have said staff “should have a commute and nobody should be able to claim from home”

∙	We have been told to submit claims under the new rules now and reclaim the difference later if the policy changes

I was wondering

∙	Is this enforceable without a formal contract change?

∙	Can it be applied retrospectively to previously submitted claims?

∙	Does this constitute an unlawful deduction from wages?

Already in contact with our Staff Association. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

(England)

Hi all, looking for some guidance on a situation involving my sibling in student accommodation.

One of their flatmates recently had what appeared to be a psychotic episode, reportedly linked to illegal drug use. During this, the flatmate began aggressively banging on doors and making threats towards others in the flat. Including threat to harm etc

The police were called the first time, attended, and issued a warning before leaving. However, the behaviour escalated afterwards, and the police were called again. This time, the individual was arrested.

The police have since contacted my sibling (and I believe the other flatmates) asking whether they would like to “pursue” the matter. I was under the impression that decisions about prosecution are made by the Crown Prosecution Service, so I’m a bit confused about what exactly is being asked here.

Is this essentially about whether the victims are willing to provide statements/support a case? And what would be the best course of action in a situation like this?

Any advice would be appreciated thank you.

A friend of mine lets call him Oscar had a motorcycle accident in England that wasn’t their fault just over a year ago, he sustained a few things including minor brain injury and a neurological disability and loss of his trade in mechanics. He has been told that his claim is capped at 50k is this correct for a claim like this? If there’s loss of trade career that will affect his life?

What is the reason for a cap to be presented to the court? He is very confused about this.

I'm in England, my current name is FirstName DoubleBarrelled-LastName, I'm married and want to make one of my maiden surnames my middle name and then take my husbands surname. Is enrolled deedpoll the best way to do this?

I'm currently heavily pregnant and want me, dad and baby to have the same surname. I know I could just send off our marriage certificate and change my name that way but my maiden surname has a lot of significant meaning to me and my heritage so I don't want to lose that and would love it to be on my formal documents.

Thanks

I work in a salon in England (London) below high rise flats and we have been dealing with a leak for months. There was one bad instance- they seem to have fixed it and all was good for months but now it has started up again over the last few weeks.

The neighbour business had their ceiling fall down last week and that seemed to have made the management company work more proactively to help us and they seemed to have stopped the leak for good. But on Good Friday, the leak started up again- worse than before. We place buckets down and try to mitigate the damages but it’s impossible due to an aggressiveness of the leak. We have been told that nothing can be done until end of bank holiday which is on Tuesday.

I’ve attached a link to a video of the situation right now. Everything had been cleaned up overnight and we had dried everything up so the accumulation of water you see in the video was in the space of 20 minutes.

What should we do to escalate this and surely this is classified as an emergency?

based in England

Hi all,

I'm in a slight pickle and it's gotten me stressed so if anyone could shed light on what might happen I would appreciate it.

I set up an ltd a couple of years back, but for a range of reasons I never started trading. I wanted to keep it on the back burner in case this changed and I was able to start trading.

I kept an eye on letters that came through the post so that I'd keep on top of everything, but unfortunately I didn't submit my accounts and they ended up being a month overdue.

at this point, I was stressed and instructed my accountant to strike off the company. He did so, I got the notice etc. A week later I got my penalty notice for £150. I asked him if this needed paying and he said I shouldn't need to as the company is currently being liquidated (not sure if you can call it that when there weren't any assets??), and I just want to know if anyone has experience of what happens in this case?

Will it be held against me in any capacity? Background checks, can I be made liable to pay as director? Will the penalty die with the company?

The wording in the letter says "the company must pay £150"

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi all,

I’m hoping someone here has experience with Universal Credit’s Managed Payment to Landlord (APA) process, because I’m now four months into what feels like a complete system failure.

My tenant receives the housing element of UC but has not passed on a single payment for ten months. They meet the Tier 1 criteria for an APA (serious arrears), and I’ve submitted multiple requests — all rejected or ignored — while arrears keep growing.

I’ve kept a full call log (20 calls so far), and the situation has become absurd. A few highlights:

Three APA applications rejected, with no explanation given. After 2 months I found out the first 2 were rejected as I had moved address so it was incorrect in the tenants portal.

Fourth APA submitted in February — UC later admitted they deleted it.

Case manager (Daniel) has never called me back, despite at least a dozen promises.

Two call handlers hung up on me.

Contradictory explanations:

“We can’t tell you why it was rejected.”

“Tenant ignored the APA request so it auto‑rejected.”

“Your address didn’t match the tenant’s profile.”

Complaint raised 13 January — still no formal response.

Multiple follow‑up complaints raised because the first one was ignored.

As UC has not addressed the complaint I cannot get the ‘final response’ needed to escalate to the Independent Case Examiner.

Every call ends with ‘we’ll put a note on the account’ for the case manager to call you back and nothing happens.

Meanwhile, the tenant has now received three more months of housing payments since my first APA request — none of which have been passed on.

Latest update:

After months of being stonewalled, I finally emailed the office of Neil Couling, and only then did someone from UC suddenly call me.

They admitted the case manager had deleted my last APA request, and told me to submit yet another one — and then they’ll “set it up”.

No apology. No explanation. No update on the complaint. Just “submit another request”.

My questions:

Has anyone successfully escalated a UC complaint when UC refuses to issue the “final response.”

I’ve read all about financial redress due to maladministration on the DWP/UC website, has anyone actually had experience of financial redress / legal recourse when UC’s failure to follow its own processes directly causes financial loss?

And is it normal for private landlords to be treated completely differently to social landlords in APA cases?

At this point I’m stuck in a loop:

UC won’t act, won’t escalate, won’t respond, and won’t let me escalate externally.

Any advice, similar experiences, or escalation routes would be massively appreciated.