They will give you enough to replace your laptop with one of equivalent spec.

dx could be right, but the BIOS is often set to boot from LAN IF no bootable hard drive has been found. This could easily be a second failed hard drive or Windows is corrupt if the BIOS settings are correct.

For Sky, yes. But not for another company.

Makes it illegal to call though, so you can report them.

Yes, as I understand it if you haven't worked the time you don't get paid.

AIUI they are right. Christmas Day and Boxing Day (as New Year's Day) are usually bank holidays but only if they fall in the week. If they do not, they are moved to the next available working day. So, if Christmas Day falls on a Saturday (and 26th on a Sunday), then the Bank Holidays are on 27th and 28th (in lieu of - for most people - the weekends being days off anyway). [Pedantic note, as Boxing Day is always the first working day after Christmas Day, traditionally this will be the 27th, but direct.gov will usually say the first one is in lieu of Christmas day in this case, not that it makes any difference]. This year as 25th is a Sunday then the 26th will be Boxing Day on the Monday as usual, and a lieu day to make up for a weekend Christmas Day on the Tuesday (using traditional definitions, not how direct.gov may well say it). The official holidays (no matter how they are allocated) will be Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th. It's all here - the days are correct, despite their spurious traditional definition of Boxing Day. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Timeoffandholidays/DG_073741

Tps...

A hard drive making a clicking noise is not normal, it is usually a sign of failure, there is always some operational noise granted, but not persistent discernible clicking. To me it is no surprise that drive failed. You bought it in April, presuming 2011, so that is within your six months from purchase, and under the Sale of Goods Act, the item is considered to be inherently faulty unless the retailer can prove otherwise...

Unlikely as he has had it since March so has had four months out of the laptop. Realistically you would be looking at them repairing the laptop.

If it's not council or police, ignore it...

Anything on the record is probably notifiable in an Enhanced check. This will potentially even include things which you have been accused of but not charged, for example if there was not enough evidence. This may seem slightly unfair but don't forget that the system was tightened up enough after the Soham murders, as Ian Huntley had been named as someone who was potentially abusing children but was never charged or convicted of anything as there was not a sufficiently strong case to do so - until he murdered two schoolgirls (who ironically were not pupils at the school he worked at but at the school his girlfriend was a TA at), so anyone in a position working with kids has these claims on file and will show on a disclosure. However, don't forget a clean CRB disclosure is no more a green light than having recordable incidents on a check is a red light. If there are no recordable incidents on file that does not mean you are suitable to work with kids or whatever - it simply means that you have not been convicted or accused of anything yet, but that is all which can be used. Likewise being cautioned by police for eating an apple from Tesco without paying when you were 13 years old (and an otherwise unblemished record) would not reasonably preclude someone from being appointed to a position working with kids if they were in their 50s. It simply is a disclosure of what is on the file (from a certain level) to allow the potential employer or organisation to make a decision on your suitability for the position.

they are only valid for the institution applying for the check.

Yes, but all the recharge cables I have had on shavers have still come with shaver plugs not UK plugs.

Are you sure it's a europlug and not a shaver plug? They're also two pin and pretty common, but the clearance between the two pins is different. You can get an adapter to convert between the shaver plug and a normal UK mains socket very cheaply. In fact I have never seen a shaver come with a normal UK plug...

He doesn't need to "fight" anything as what they are sending is speculative invoices which are not enforceable. It is the same as me sending you a letter demanding £137.50.