AIBU to thank David Cameron and the other one for buying me a cooker

[CreamolaFoamless]

My cooker oven exploded about 3 weeks ago.

and thanks to the great british system .......which everyone berates at times

I have been given £280 to buy a new cooker.

(I have paid my taxes) but seriously £280 for a new cooker , the month before christmas , thank you

I would never have known this was possible unless a really clued up person advised me about it

Creamola Don't give it back to them. Don't offer to give it back. If you have the money available to you in Feb, put it somewhere safe in case you ever need it again and the option is no long available. They won't have a facility to just pop it back. I doubt they'd accept it anyway.

DO NOT GIVE IT BACK TO THEM!!

I'm not saying things wouldn't have been/are grim, but i just dont think its an acceptable use of tax payers money,

and its probably not David Cameron's government thats done that either, when he finds out about it, it'll probably stop. Tory wankers.

well providing a family who are in need with a cooker sounds like an acceptable use of tax payers money to me

Yeah but it's not a bloody competition about who' s got the least is it. Just because you can't help everybody doesn't mean you help nobody. This attitude just smacks of envy and greed. Most working people have access to overdrafts, extortionate bank loans, payday loans etc but people on benefits are pariahs as far as financial institutions are concerned. Just because people are working poor doesn't mean that they should take their bitterness out on people who are probably in a worse situation getting a bit of a helping hand now and then. If the gov't stopped paying benefits tomorrow don't think you'd see any more money yourself because they would still have other priorities.

gosh i got some money for a cooker a few years ago and i had to pay it bk

I've used Kays before.

Yet again, somebody tries to help somebody with a bit of information that may be useful and all the naysayers pop out of the woodwork.

Zukiecat - I think you mentioned that you'd like to learn to meal plan and draw up a week's shopping list. Have you tried visiting the MoneySavingExpert website, and going to the MoneySaving Old Style forums? They have lots of ideas and advice for people who'd like to learn that kind of thing. Some of the people there do take money saving to extremes almost as a bit of a hobby, but it's a useful place to know about.

i could be wrong - and idfferent authorities forms might vary - i used to fill them in for my service users all the time and we had to cite how much money for each item.

surprised in a good way you got so much!

My friend who lives in her own home which she has a mortgage on, recently got her council to pay for a new boiler, replastering, new double-glazing, roof repairs etc. About £4000 worth of work. She is insistent that it's not means-tested and it's not a loan, but she had to sign something to say if she sold the house within a certain number of years that she would pay the council back. I was but I witnessed the forms and she's had the work done, so it must be true.

Daisy HOW??!! We have got so many things wrong with our house/ windows, boiler to name just two. Is her house ex- council? I can't believe it's not means tested. I really can't imagine getting any 'free' money at all for these things despite not having the spare cash to do it ourselves.

Creamola, rather than giving the money back where it could be swallowed up in the system, could you pay it forward instead? There must be charities that help with families in dire need that would welcome a donation.

She told me that she just phoned up the council and asked if there was any help available and they sent her forms to apply. I think her house probably is ex-council, but I don't know whether that has anything to do with it. I will ask her if there's a name for the fund. I would caution that I suspect she is a bit of a bullshitter, because she's told me a few things which don't quite add up and I also know that she's fiddling her college bursary so it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out she'd told a few porkies to get it.

I have a letter here about Universal Home Insulation Scheme.

It says they offer free draught proofing, loft and cavity or internal solid wall insulation if you need it.
They also offer advice on reducing fuel bills and access to the Scottish Governments Energy Assistance package.

It states that it's funded by the Scottish Government and Scottish and Southern Energy and costs nothing if you own your home or rent from a private landlord.

My home is owned by a private landlord but is homeless accommodation and I have it through the Council.

Could it be something like this?

I also have another leaflet that I picked up in the council office last week.
It's for Home Heat Helpline and is a free number so may be worth anyone giving a call to see if there's anything you are entitled to.
It's 0800 33 66 99.

Daisy if she is at college, possibly college hardship fund but I doubt they would stretch to double glazing!!
Which reminds me, a housemate of mine collected £400+ several times a year whilst we were at university (from their hardship fund). She was hopeless with money and was very extravagant - expensive nights out, expensive toiletries, makeup, clothes.
She pleaded poverty more than once when she had exhausted her overdraft and the bank said no more. Very annoying.

dont know if this would benefit anyone on this thread, but I've got my mum application in for the Warm Home Discount, theres a thread on the elderly parents section here about it, it may apply to people on certain benefits too, its £120 towards your electricity bill paid to your electric account next march 2012, you must get pension credit to get it but as I said you might get it on certain benefits, might be worth phoning whoever you get your leccy from and asking them

I phoned about that a few weeks back and there's a recorded message saying not to ask about it, or words to that effect
That's Scottish power.
I'm going to call the free number in my last post tomorrow and see if I qualify.
Shame it's not till March though, just when the heating bills go down!

Oh, I just found it and applied on line.
I qualify as I get the severely disabled premium of ESA.

brilliant netto, hope this helps more folk

it doesnt seem to be well advertised, as you folk need to look hard for whats due to them, money never comes easy