The Scottish have been battling to get free prescriptions since 2007, well before the credit crunch but now as many of us down south have to tighten our belts the Scottish Parliament have agreed to allow all patients North of the border free prescriptions. Currently for the rest of us in the UK, excluding Northern Ireland and Wales, people under the age of 18, over 60, have long term conditions, are unemployed or claim benefits are entitled to free prescriptions. Everyone else who does not fall into any of the above categories have to pay £7.20 for each item.
When Labour were in power they promised to offer patients of long term conditions free prescriptions even if it was for a short period of time but when the Coalition took over they scrapped it with. Currently the charge for NHS prescriptions in Scotland is £3 compared to £7.20 for the English.
Free services is Scotland
There are many differences to living in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK, in some ways you are better off there, here is what you can benefit from if you live far up North:
When Wales abolished the charge for prescriptions many people flocked there to claim free medicine known as ‘prescription tourism’. When the change goes through with Scotland English patients will try their luck there too. You need to be registered with a Scottish GP to qualify but if you live close enough to the border then there’s nothing to stop you.
Many people who live outside of Scotland and Wales are outraged that they Scottish have different rules for themselves when they are still part of the United Kingdom, again it’s a postcode lottery and those who have illnesses that require medication on a regular basis and masses of it are the ones that are suffering. It’s also unfair that the unemployed can claim free prescriptions, reduced transport costs and free dental treatment when most of them are fit and able to work.
Currently there is nothing we can do but if you need prescriptions on a regular basis you will save a lot if you purchase a pre-payment certificate. They are valid for three or twelve months and during this time you can have unlimited prescriptions. Currently a 3 month PPC costs £28.25 and a 6 month PPC costs £104.00.
For decades those who are self employed and get work cash in hand have been hard to keep track of and make sure that they are paying tax as well as declaring all money that they earn. Now HMRC have had enough and are offering all self employed tradesmen a tax amnesty before the crackdown begins on those who do not declare their earnings.
As we know builders, plumbers, electricians and gas fitters are they most notorious offenders who fail to declare most of their earnings, they still pay tax but only on the small amount that they declare it on. All people who are self employed have to submit their paperwork yearly so that HMRC can calculate how much tax they need to pay, the more you earn the more tax. Those who work for companies do not need to do this as they will pay tax and NI contributions on a monthly basis and not as a lump sum once a year.
It’s important that all people who work pay tax and contribute NI as this is what will pay towards your state pension when you are older. If you do not have sufficient NI contributions then you will not receive the full state pension but in some cases a letter will be sent so you can cover the gap that you didn’t pay so that you don’t miss out. Tax on earnings also play a huge part in the country’s economy it’s what goes towards child benefit and other help you are able to get from the government.
Tax amnesty
The tax amnesty is up until May 31st after this time HMRC will start investigating those that still refuse to declare earnings and are working cash in hand. Those who are caught will be investigated and asked to pay back all money earnt, fines of 35% or more on the money owed will also have to be paid. If however a tradesman admits to underpaying tax then fines of 10-20 % will apply.
The national chairman of small businesses has said that this will cripple small businesses and that HMRC should have a system in place to help self employed people with better record keeping skills and provide more education on tax obligations.
So if you are self employed and have been under paying tax for the last few years or more, your luck may be about to run out.
A landmark case was brought to the Supreme Court just recently when a council tenant had rent arrears of £3,500 but under the new European human rights ruling couldn’t be evicted. A single mother from Hounslow with four children in her care and raking in an impressive £15,000 in benefits was granted permission to stay in her council house because evicting her and her family would be a breach of her human rights because she would be made homeless.
Legal experts have said that they find this has become a new trend for council tenants, by saying it would breach their human rights the courts are powerless to pass any hard sentence. Neighbours from hell and those that fall behind in their rent are regularly looking for loopholes that mean they do not get evicted so easily.
Hounslow council have had to accept defeat but the tenant has agreed to pay back her £3,500 rent arrears at a rate of £5 a week or contribute more if she can. Seems like a joke really and all the other council tenants out there who find out about this will no doubt try to do the same. It’s shocking that the council and courts have no power over this matter so scroungers can continue to try their luck.
I don’t see why a homeowner with mortgage arrears couldn’t do the same thing; I somehow don’t see how they could get away with it? Others have also seen this ruling as a joke that could pave the way for even more benefit fraud that could make the economy worse. As this case was dragged through the courts in 2007 the money it has cost taxpayers to date is a whopping £200,000! Surely they could have resolved the case without the need to involve so many costly lawyers and no doubt the woman in question got legal aid and did not have to pay a penny for legal advice.
The Government really need to do something about this as they promise to crack down on benefits, if council tenant is genuinely struggling then they should be offered help but if they can afford to pay but choose not to their benefits should be reduced until the full amount is paid for in full with interest!
During these tough times we are all on the lookout to save money and also make some money whichever way we can. A top London restaurant has now come up with an unorthodox dessert containing breast milk called ‘Baby Gaga’. At £14 a dish it is served in a Martini glass served by a waitress dressed up as ‘Baby Gaga’ and surprisingly it is going down a storm.
Aimed for mothers who are looking to make money they are paid £15 for every 10 ounces of breast milk that they donate. The company screens all women who donate to make sure that they are free from infections and diseases; they then donate milk using breast pumps on site in a sterile room.
Although some find this to be unsavoury demand for this dessert is increasing every day, so much so that the restaurant has had to advertise for more women to come forward and donate some breast milk.
The women who have come forward to donate their breast milk think that breast feeding should be encouraged and this is a novelty way of advertising the idea.
As we know the average wedding costs around £20,000 and increases a little each year, most people require insurance for the actual wedding day that includes the ceremony and after wedding reception party that may also include a sit down meal and drinks. If you come from an Asian background the cost of the wedding can double and be more around £50,000.
Why are Asian weddings so expensive?
Asian weddings tend to cost more because of the vast decorations to the hall, the wedding attire and the volume of guests expected to attend. Asian families are usually very close so everyone from the immediate family to the distant family are invited to celebrate this joyous occasion. Non Asian weddings usually have less than 150 guests but Asian weddings can easily reach 800 guests. On top of food to feed everyone Asian weddings are more traditional and usually last a few days depending on the religion. Some Asian weddings last up to 6 days, including celebrations, ceremonies, mehndi party, the actual wedding, reception and giving away of the bride.
As with all weddings it’s a good idea to take out Asian wedding insurance cover as you can be left seriously out of pocket if anything were to go wrong. Most standard wedding insurance cover will insure you against a vast range of mishaps including:
For Asian weddings it is very important to get a tailored quote as the bride’s outfit may be worth thousands in itself, some policies only cover a set amount for each individual item, such as cake, cars, photographer etc.
Don’t be tempted to buy cheaper standard wedding insurance cover as you will find that it won’t cover all of the wedding especially if it is a traditional Asian one. Some insurers will also insure up to 6 wedding events so that you can have peace of mind that the entire wedding is covered and not just the wedding day itself. For as little as £60 you could be covered for up to £15,000 cancellation cover, a real bargain if anything was to go wrong.
Don’t leave buying wedding insurance until the last minute, Asian wedding insurance can be bought up to 2 years before the wedding is due to take place. This is because Asian weddings take a lot of planning and cannot be organised in such a short period of time. You can also save money by purchasing ahead.
We all know that charities are constantly appealing to everyone to donate money and items that can raise money so that they can continue to support the poor in the UK and abroad. In recent years cash donations have reduced but donations such as clothes have increased. As many people shop at low budget retailers such as George (Asda), Primark and other supermarket clothing brands they are more likely to give away their ‘throwaway fashion’ clothing in the hope of staying up to date with all the latest fashion trends.
This has been a very good way of raising money for charities up until now, teenage criminals have now found clothes banks as a new target to fund their lifestyle and ‘steal from the poor’. Although many areas have a regular appeal for clothes through charities supplying a big bag for people to fill up and leave on the doorstep there is a higher risk of stealing by donating this way. This is why clothes banks were set up as a secure way for people to donate clothes by pushing it through a big letterbox in a container that is secured by a padlock and emptied regularly.
Younger criminals have now found that if they have a friend that is slim enough they can fit through the small opening and steal the clothes by pushing it out the slot. Of course they are not making huge sums of money as most of the clothes are sold on eBay, car boot sales and even the market stalls but charities are losing millions by this every year.
There are thousands of clothes banks all over the UK with most of the items being re-sold in charity shops or given away to the homeless both here and sent to Third World countries. A small percentage is also recycled and turned into other wearable items. Those who are targeting clothes banks are also risking their life as there have been a few deaths by people falling in and suffocating; others have also gotten stuck as the opening is very small and hard to get out of without any help from the inside.
Thieves who are targeting clothes are also very brazen as one group were caught during daylight hours in a council owned car park that had cameras to capture all. Once a gang find a good clothes bank they are most likely to keep returning again and again. The best thing to do is to bag up the clothes you want to donate and personally hand it over to a charity shop, don’t leave it outside but go in and donate it properly. At least then you know you have handed it in personally to a shop assistant who will then sort it and put them out for re-selling.
Once again half term is upon us and families who have been struggling the past year have once again had to sacrifice going on holiday due to holiday companies putting up their rates during half term. Going on holiday should not be reserved for the rich; everyone should be able to afford going abroad for a short break to experience different cultures and traditions. We all work and pay taxes so having time off where you can truly do nothing god send.
We face this problem year after year but this year has seen holidays soar by up to 269% in some places. Spain has always been a favourite for families because it’s cheap, sunny, cheerful and flying times are minimal. A family of four can go to Spain for as little as £1000 but during half term the same holidays has been found to cost over £6000.
It is a myth when people assume that the majority of people who go on holiday are the rich or benefit scroungers, there are many hard working families that plan their holidays in advance and save beforehand just to be able to afford one holiday a year abroad. Most take advantage of early booking offers and no deposit holidays, they then have to pay off the balance up to 8 weeks before they travel.
Why should people avoid going away during half term when prices are higher? It’s not fair that travelling a week or even a few days earlier means the holiday is cheaper. Some families have even resorted to taking children out of school to save money on half term breaks. You do risk a fine if you don’t have a valid reason to take a child out of school but in some cases fines are only £50-£100 and the savings outweigh the consequences.
Sadly there is no such thing as a cheap holiday getaway during the half term season anymore as the UK also puts up their prices for holidaying within the country. Going to Cornwall, Blackpool, Wales, Scotland and the coast were all very popular but nowadays families opt for caravan holidays instead to save on accommodation costs.
Childless couples are happy that prices are going up because they say children ruin holidays for those that don’t have any but if you do not have children you can fly whenever you want, you aren’t restricted because of school term. There are also many hotels that offer accommodation only to adults so if you require a family friendly hotel you’ll need to find just that.
The bottom line is if people are prepared to pay these silly prices during half term then holiday companies will continue to quote them just that, refuse point blank and book early, there are many deals that can be made where you save tons. Booking as early as a year in advance can see savings of up to 800%.
As you cannot predict if you will get cancer sometime in the future not many people seek out health insurance but even then health insurance does not currently cover out of pocket expenses such as parking. In most places around the country concessions are available so those who are sick and need to attend on a regular basis can purchase a week or month parking ticket at a reduced cost. There are not many places where you can get free parking because of regular treatments for example cancer sufferers.
Asking sick patients such as those battling cancer to pay for parking is also branded as ‘tax on the sick’ you cannot prevent cancer as it is one of those illnesses that simply do not have a cure so people who get cancer did not ask for it nor can they do much to make themselves better without the help of doctors. As insurance companies continue to compete for customers a radical new policy will allow the policyholder to receive as much as £300 a year to put towards parking should they fall ill and require regular hospital visits.
It is estimated that the average cancer sufferer requires 50 visits to a hospital to receive treatment at an average annual cost of £325, those that are ill for a long time will need to take a break for a while whilst they recover whilst others will have to quit working altogether. Cancer patients and their family do not have the means to meet this annual fee for parking as cancer patients will usually require someone to take them to and from the hospital for treatment that means in some cases they need to survive on one wage.
Its madness that insurance companies can see the financial troubles faced by families who need cancer treatment when NHS trusts cannot. We understand that parking cannot always be free but it seems unfair that those that must come in regularly to receive life saving treatment are made to pay at least £6 in parking fees every time they visit.
Another blow to ‘tax on the sick’ is that parking fees vary a lot over the UK, Wales and Scotland do not make their patients pay as much on parking fees with some hospitals abolishing parking fees altogether. The new coalition government is adamant that no new plans will be brought in to reduce or abolish parking fees for the sick. Macmillan Cancer Support says they will continue to campaign for the abolishment of parking fees for the sick.
A few years ago as part of Labours campaign new fathers were allowed up to two weeks paid paternity leave to spend time with their newborn child, mothers are currently entitled up to one year depending on the organisation but a minimum of 6 months is what most new mothers take when they go on maternity leave.
Nick Clegg announced earlier this year that he hopes to increase paternity leave for fathers to up to 10 months! In the new reform to paternity leave parents will be able to share the parental responsibility and share leave between the two of them. It may even be possible to split time off into small breaks such as a few weeks off at a time.
Although it is illegal to not hire a women of child bearing age because of the chance that she might fall pregnant experts believe that if the new plans for men go through employers will shun taking on men who have not yet had children or who fall into that category.
In April new changes will be brought in allowing parents to share up to six months paid leave following the birth of a child. If the new proposal goes through it will not be introduced until at least 2015 so those who were looking forward to this unusual proposal will have to wait or put off starting a family.
Many employers have branded this proposal absurd as it would cause major disruption and chaos across the country. Some mothers also disagree as they find the thought of dealing with a newborn and also a partner at the same time to be overwhelming. Also in the first few weeks of a child being born there isn’t much for a man to do other than burping, changing nappies and putting baby to sleep. Unless a mother chooses not to breastfeed everything is usually done by the mother.
Some men also find that it is not their place to stay home and raise their kids they would much rather be working and earning money to secure the future of their families. Men who are most likely to agree to these proposals are those that have good jobs and could afford to take a pay cut for a few months, most families will not be able to financially survive on just one pay cheque as most women do not go back to work until after a year or in 30% of cases not at all.
Currently there is a boom in IVF where those seeking egg donors have to travel abroad in search of a donation. In the UK the current rate for egg donors is just £250, as the process to retrieve the eggs are so gruelling and require time off work and discipline not many women step forward to donate their eggs to couples who are not able to conceive naturally.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority are unveiling new plans that will allow donors to receive thousands of pounds in compensation for their time and inconvenience caused. This move would mean that IVF couples will no longer need to travel great distances in order to achieve the dream of having their own family.
The HFEA are calling for a review to be made with many welcoming this plan as a breakthrough in IVF in the UK. In America women are paid up to £5,000 for donating their eggs to infertile couples, other countries such as India, Croatia, Spain and Bulgaria are also known for their abundance in donated eggs as many young women do it as a solution to money problems.
There are some organisations that argue however that many women will use this as a way to make money without knowing the full risks and complications that can arise when ‘harvesting’ eggs. Powerful and dangerous drugs are inject to stimulate egg release, women can be prone to gaining weight and retaining fluid as well as being left scarred if the eggs are retrieved incorrectly.
A few years ago a young woman decided to donate her eggs to a couple who sought help through the local newspaper, as she had already had a child she decided to go through the gruelling process of harvesting her eggs. When the eggs were retrieved it left scarring in her fallopian tube, this meant she was unable to conceive naturally without help. After much investigation it was found that the harvested eggs were not taken out correctly leaving the poor woman unable to bear children naturally.
Many believe that those who are conceived using donor eggs may not know their real families and may end up with a ‘brother or sister’ as their partner unaware that they share the same mother. Cases like this are rare but have happened across the world. Another problem that this is likely to create is that those who do not earn that much will be forced out of the IVF market and will be forced to buy eggs illegally.