My mum had previously had carers visiting her at home and the council was paying for that.

Sorry, I didn't see your reply. They're fully funding until a financial assessment has been completed. My issue is less to do with which care home, but more to do with the fact that my mum had told me she didn't want to be in a care home and therefore as LPA, I was against it but was told the local authority had final say and the only way to reverse the decision would be through court of protection.

Hello all, I have power of attorney over my mum for both finance and welfare. However, the local authority forced me to put her in a care home and that despite having power of attorney I didn't have final say. The current social worker has stated that nowhere in my mum's file does it state that she was in imminent danger if she returned home from hospital rather than to the care home. I am not sure the best source to seek advice regarding this issue but does anyone know what my rights are as her agent. I didn't want her to go into a home, because mum made it clear it was not her wish and had done on multiple occasions when she was still of sound mind. I only acquiesced because I was working about 60 hours a week at the time and the social worker came to my home and said the only way mum would come back is if I applied through the court of protection and that I had better make the decision quickly as mum has been placed in a really nice home. Did the LA have the right to make final decision? Thanks in advance.

Hello, Apologies if this isn't in the right place. I'm lasting power for my mum. She was placed in a care home last year despite the fact that I was against it and she had also said on record before she lost her capacity that she wanted to stay in her own home. Anyway, the local authority had been paying until I got together her documents and they're now doing her financial assessment, so I've provided them with her bank statements as requested. They're now questioning her spending history, as she had been in a care home, but because I'm looking after her home and buying her things that the care home don't provide, so I'm using her money. They've gone through each transaction and is asking why the money was spent despite the fact that mum is clearly below the threshold. I don't feel like I've done anything wrong, but I'm really concerned because I've had bad history with the local authority before. For example, with the council tax when my mum was living here and she was exempt, they tried putting the bill in my name instead and then taking me to court and it wasn't until it went all the way up to the top that they admitted fault. They just seem like they're trying to get every penny of the residents and I'm quite worried where this may lead, as they've notified the social worker who is coming to see me next week. Does anyone know what might happen and how I can get them off my back? I've looked after mum for years and it's been stressful enough, I really don't need this. Thanks in advance!

He said he's received a bill from EE who have gone into administration and are probably taking a while to final bill former customers. I don't understand why you take issue with me saying to find out liability period as it's not been stated at all. I said if he doesn't get the info in time to set up pp to stop it affecting him, as he hadn't said it wasn't in his name. I didn't say that was the first thing to do.

Surely if someone passes away they can become liable for the supply at the property.

How is it irrelevant? I didn't know the debt wasn't in his name until he replied. He advised his mother had passed away, which could mean liability has been passed to him. I gave advice regarding a bill he said he received.

I never said pay the DCA because OP could well contact the administrator/EE to set up a payment plan. Obviously, he said the debt isn't in his name, but just saying if it were, not making payment arrangements could impact their credit as that would be an outstanding debt on his credit file.

Right, but delaying payment could impact your credit rating and if you default then that won't be remedied until you start paying it and even then it could take several years to wipe. If the debt isn't in OPs name then no probs but I would rather start paying to hold the collections process until he gets all the info.

Hello, Sorry to hear about your mum and the circumstances. Have they produced an actual statement where they have advised you when the billing period started and ended and also the rates that were used during that time? If they haven't, advise them you will require this before any payments are made. If they have already, I would suggest, comparing the dates to the paper work you have and seeing if it coincides. They say you have 21 days. If you don't have a correct bill or you are disputing anything on the final bill they have sent and this not resolved within the 21 day time frame, I would call one of the numbers, advise them you are waiting for further information/action on their part and ask to set up a payment arrangement in the interim to prevent the account from escalating any further. Advise them, you have other priority bills and you're not in a position to clear the balance but you are willing to do the minimum, such as £1 starting in January 2020. You are willing to do this on the proviso that they will halt any further action as long as you honour your payment plan and remind them you are still awaiting accurate documentation or further evidence from them in regards to your liability. I'm not experienced in giving advice in this forum, but I hope this is helpful and hopefully others would agree that this would be sensible first steps to take.

If you're on a pre payment meter you can call up if you can't top up. There's something that should be offered called discretionary credit. Obviously, this can be limited i.e. they can only help you x number of times. They will ask when you can top up next and if you haven't topped up between the last time they helped you and the next time you call they may not help.

I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but for those who struggle with debt on their utilities or have had troubles with their energy bills, be weary because if you have a smart meter and your account escalates, your meter mode can be changed remotely. Instead of having to obtain a warrant of entry or a warrant to physically change your meter, they would no longer have to do that. Also, if you're used to having estimated bills, be careful you might get caught out because there's usually a billing suspension for 6- 8 weeks after installation.

Thank you. I was hoping you would reply. I wouldn't ask for more compensation normally but this local council has messed up so much. I felt forced to move out of my mum's and I was her full time carer. I think this has caused her to decline even quicker because of the lack of facilities that the council were able to put in place afterwards. I wouldn't have moved out if I felt someone was listening but various attempts at email and phone showed me that no one was ever going to listen and it was never going to be resolved until I move out. I just think the process has been unfair on me and my mum and I'm angry and frustrated.

The latest one? Yes, my mum isn't the sole owner. The property is jointly owned with my ex step dad but he doesn't live there.

I had been living there since December 2015. I moved in to take care of her as she has Alzheimer's. She had refused care from the council initially and then when she did want someone it took the council a yr to find an agency. I moved out earlier this yr because frankly I got a bit worried about it all.

Hello everyone, Sorry it's taken this long to update you. I have been back and forth with the local council. They had sent me numerous bills and every time, I responded via email to say, "I don't live there, I am not liable due to the legislation in place." By chance I was speaking on the local radio about caring issues with my mother and I got to put my question to the local council leader and then his assistant's details were passed onto me and I contacted him last week as a last resort and explained I couldn't get anyone to listen to what I had to say. I've since had the following reply by post: "I am writing in response to the concerns you have raised on 18th November 2019 in my role as Senior Revenues Officer for Council Tax. I am sorry that you have had cause to raise your concerns in this instance and I will respond below. 20th November 2018- Severe Mental Impairment form received in respect of your mother 10th December 2018- Severe Mental Impairment form issued to doctor for completion and letter issued to you for benefit evidence along with Residential Carers application for completion. 17th December 2018- Benefit evidence received 21st December 2018- completed Severe Mental Impairment for received from doctor 3rd January 2019- Council tax records updated in respect of SMI discount for your mother. Council tax account for your mother closed and new account set up in your name with discount applied for your mother. 4th January 2019- Council tax bills issued to reflect the changes. 6th February 2019- Local Council Tax Reduction (LCTR) application received by our Benefits department in your name. Following a review of your Council tax account, I can advise that based on information held at the time, when the completed Severe Mental Impairment forms were received in January 2019, our records were updated to show you as the liable party for Council tax with your mother disregarded for Council tax purposes due to severe mental Impairment. Bills were issued accordingly. I note that we received an email from you in April that advised that your mother solely owned the property but unfortunately our records were not updated to reflect this information and would apologise for this oversight. However, I can confirm our records have now been updated to show your mother as solely liable for Council at the property with a discount in place for severe mental impairment as you were also resident at the property until the end of May 2019. An exemption is in place from June 2019 onwards after you left the property. Our records show that you were in receipt of Local Council Tax Reduction from our benefits department whilst the Council tax account was in your name. The changes that have been carried out to the accounts have resulted in a charge of £528.76 on your mothers account up to the end of May 2019 as LCTR had been awarded to you and not your mother. However, there is a credit of £445.89 from your previous account in your name following payments made to the account in February and July 2019. I can confirm that if you are happy for this credit to be used to reduce the charge on your mother's account, due to the distress and inconvenience that has been caused in this matter, as a gesture of goodwill we can look to clear the remaining charge on the account. if you would like this to be carried out, please advise us accordingly." They then continue to apologise, talk about retraining and what I should do by 20th December if I'm not happy with his response. I just want to make sure I've understood what he's saying correctly- so they've admitted the bill should have never been in my name? The bill should have been in my mum's name and she was billed for the period I was living there because I was a resident in her home and this is why she owes £528.76? I know at some point we were sent letters for court summons and the bill was in my name. Would this have affected my credit rating? Lastly, is it unreasonable to expect more compensation because of how lengthy and stressful this has been? I moved out of my mother's home because of this, because no one would listen to me when I told them I wasn't the owner. I was literally banging my head against the brick wall. I emailed them and they only replied to some of them and all the wanted to do is chase me down at my partner's address. He said I emailed in April about my mother being the owner, but in reality, I had explained to people numerous times on the phone, from the start and I was an unpaid carer which is also down to the oversight of the local council. I wouldn't have been able to afford the council tax bill. they sent police round to my house without telling me over the phone, when I wasn't there and frightened my mum. For all this they're offering me around £80 goodwill. Thanks in advance for any info/advice.

I asked the owner of the driving school for the policy after what the instructor told me because I didn't think it sounded right given that learner drivers have instructors there for a reason. The instructor should be in control of the vehicle but yes the instructor told me and none of what I said was a lie. No I don't know the student but the instructor was adamant the student should have paid. Primarily, I wanted to know if I could potentially in a similar position. Maybe you don't feel I was within my right to leave a review but as far as I know this is what reviews are there for. Put it this way, if there was nothing wrong with making a student pay for damages why would the owner lie about it in his response or not want people to know. I didn't want to be held responsible for damage during a lesson, especially because I didn't think I would be.

I left a review on google. I don't know how to link a specific review and I thought I had linked the review section. Like I said, I haven't reviewed him anywhere else. I only have irate text messages from him regarding these reviews. He said he's getting them removed. Not sure if he can.

It's the only place I have complained or written a review on. I have text messages from him but that's about it.

It's on Google: https://www.google.com/search?q=drive+2+us&oq=drive&aqs=chrome.1.69i60j69i59j69i57j35i39j69i60.1963j0j7&client=ms-android-huawei-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#lkt=LocalPoiReviews&trex=m_t:lcl_akp,rc_f:,rc_ludocids:6897259646563151152,rc_q:Drive2us.com,ru_q:Drive2us.com https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-huawei-rev1&sxsrf=ACYBGNQR6W_F3rla3CiaToz759DIT_306Q%3A1574711629605&ei=TTHcXZbJJMicgQbptoj4DQ&q=drive+2+us+bristol&oq=drive+2+us+&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-serp.1.2.35i39j35i112i39j0l4j0i22i30.38488.38488..41811...0.1..0.149.149.0j1......0....1.........0i71.o9ZMLK25cpc#lkt=LocalPoiReviews&trex=m_t:lcl_akp,rc_f:,rc_ludocids:16959654802426767355,rc_q:Drive2us.com%20Driving%20School,ru_q:Drive2us.com%20Driving%20School My name is Yun Hsui

I've posted the reviews and responses above, so you can decide if it's based on fact.

I will name and shame but I need to know the legal standing in terms of leaving a review. He's been texting me all day with insulting personal comments. Calling me a stroppy teenager. I work, I care, I haven't verbally attacked him. Not sure why he thinks I'm a stroppy teenager. He had almost a month to respond with the information I asked for. I don't understand how companies can behave like this.

Hello everyone, I left a review for a driving school and they're threatening me with legal action based on the fact that it's defamatory. I contacted the school owner regarding this and they said eventually they responded. They said they'd email me the policy. They haven't. I said I was leaving a review in regards to my experience i.e. I think my instructor is unethical, I didn't feel comfortable and they were slow to respond to queries. Happy to provide a link or copy the review and response in here. He's since said I've withheld payment but was only made aware I owed them money a few hours ago. He's left a response full of lies saying I was deliberately withholding money. I have what he's said to me in text. Can he really sue me? Can I take this to the media to local newspapers to warn others?

Hi Stu, Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have been given excellent advice so far, but South Glos so far have been very unresponsive- I still haven't heard back from the email I sent. I do have POA for my mother; does that make a difference in terms of naming me as the person accountable for the bill? As far as I can remember- given that this is a good 9 months ago now. I filled in an SMI form and a change of circumstances form. I filled in a form as they requested to put the council tax in my name and then one to apply for a discount on top of that. Thank you for the advice- I will put together a letter and send it off and contact my local carers' support centre and see what they recommend. So far, people are a bit baffled as to why this has happened. They're not sure if it's to do with my POA. It's been so stressful and after all this time I've actually gone and got a job, so I'm no longer on carer's allowance, so not sure where that leaves me. I haven't told them I'm starting my role on Monday, because I don't want to over complicate the issue. I would rather that they get the named person on the bill right before they do anything else. Obviously, we'll be living in virtual reality before this happens! Last time I spoke to them, I said the issue made me feel like I wanted to hang myself and they called the police on me, fearing for my safety. I explained to the person about the legislation and that all I wanted was a response and for someone to look seriously at my case. Please could someone let me know if having POA means that the bill needs to be in my name? At the moment, only I am named on the bill.

Before we become the Republic of South Glos and apparently have our own set of laws and even maybe moving to speaking our own language, where can I find someone like you in my area to speak to them, because it seems like they won't take any notice of me.