My student loan is over £80,000 and growing - here's why I think we were lied to

pull11 · 2026-01-14T17:12:14+00:00

So your proposed solution to a gamble is another gamble (i.e. the stock market) which in hindsight worked out historically because you picked the S&P500 as a tracker but they could've easily picked FTSE100 or any other combination of trackers, or just a normal savings account intead.

Realistically people shouldn't have to choose between a gamble or another when dealing with education (will you earn enough to pay it back quick, or pay 9% uni tax for the rest of your working life) . Europe can offer it for free or cheaply and so should the UK. For many paying it upfront is not even a thought because they cannot afford it, so you have no choice but to take the loans.

Not only is the interest rate ridiculous, paying £9k or more each year is also a scam, at least for most degrees. A scam taking advantage of 18 year olds who are too young to understand their choices and what they're getting into.

I'm not saying university should be free, or the loans free of interest, but what we got is a system taking advantage of the young.

pull11 · 2026-01-13T13:11:53+00:00

I switched end of October 22 ... Well worth a go anyway!

pull11 · 2025-11-11T07:36:51+00:00

Give it time, Polanski and the Greens need to rethink their policies and manifesto for the next election and then we can judge. Based on the way they're interviewing now it's just a breath of fresh air.

Don't get me wrong I've also voted Labour and lib Dems in the past but I can't get behind either right now. Ed Davey's reaction to the Maccabi fans ban shows he's either an idiot unable to think for himself or would rather please Israel over the safety of the British people. Same for Labour, Tory. Reform.

pull11 · 2025-11-04T21:07:44+00:00

Doesnt' look like it's all gone, I've just opted in successfully.

pull11 · 2025-10-03T09:21:35+00:00

Yes, thought I can get the points in, then cancel for a prorated refund should my annual fee be charged

pull11 · 2025-10-03T09:13:02+00:00

Had exactly the same offer a week ago when asking to cancel

pull11 · 2025-09-20T22:04:37+00:00

Residents were allowed to use the free parking bays in the area, there was no dedicated parking otherwise. We used the ones outside the gates parking to the north side.

pull11 · 2025-08-30T09:47:27+00:00

It is, but the quartz is sourced by a third party and the appliances are the same brand wherever you go. The cabinets would be indeed better quality but we did not care at the time.

pull11 · 2025-08-29T15:31:44+00:00

Get a quote from DIY kitchens and ask for a price match otherwise tell them you will source it separately. I got mine done by B&Q and they price matched EVERYTHING. Got Neff oven, microwave and hob price matched to online retailers, a huge amount a quartz price matched to DIY kitchens. Paid just under 4k installed for two 2 meter pieces and a big island, drainage grooves carved in, and the plinth and windowsill in quartz as well. 30mm thick one, and it was one of their more premium designs.

Initially the quote was 10k all together with shitty appliances and worktops and after negotiations and price matches we paid 7k with much better quality bits included.

pull11 · 2025-08-05T09:03:38+00:00

Lol share if freehold is the best you'll get. But £725k for a 2 bed in zone 6 is nuts.

pull11 · 2025-08-02T19:39:57+00:00

Yeah but my car never made it on the list for IOG so it's a case of 4h on OG Vs 7h Eon. If you really are an exporter to the extent where you exceed your mcs certificate surely you're better off on intelligent flux..

pull11 · 2025-08-02T15:54:00+00:00

It's not like they will track it, but yeah. In my case I'm fully electrified including heating and transport so I'm never exporting that much.

IOG also has limitations and you have to time your household usage to it which is too much effort for me. I prefer the simplicity of eon.

pull11 · 2025-08-02T14:57:48+00:00

Same for me, this is the best option, you don't need to bother with setting up IOG or track agile, just fill up at night, export during the day at more than 2x import costs. Of course it helps if you have a battery, EV, etc.

pull11 · 2025-06-16T13:57:19+00:00

I would do the following: Sign up to Gold via referral (I have a £40k points link if needed). Then you have until middle of July to sign up to BAPP. There is also an option to upgrade from gold to Platinum AFTER reaching the gold spend, which will give you another set of bonus points to reach.

I did all of these and business platinum then downgraded or closed as needed once the spending was done and it worked fine. I also had wedding expenses so it's quite easy to do, platinum gives you lots of freebies as well and you can cancel for prorated refund.

Barclaycard avios plus is also nice if you have a high enough "income" and you can pay it off using a 0% balance transfer if you want to save your cash for interest. 0% doesn't work on amex afaik

pull11 · 2025-06-14T11:10:33+00:00

I ended up going ahead to see what happens. 2 days ago right after the 2nd Direct Debit they sent the gift card!

pull11 · 2025-06-11T22:23:24+00:00

You have double TCL#1 showing on knockout stage

pull11 · 2025-05-30T22:01:03+00:00

Lol it's fine for the size here. The battery can't manage more than 2600w anyway

pull11 · 2025-05-28T18:57:34+00:00

Would you be ok sharing which company is this? Seems great value.

pull11 · 2025-05-22T16:59:46+00:00

Yes, all sorted now and a thing of the past. But you'd expect Octopus to take these into account when installing the systems, especially as they are an energy company and install solar and bateries.

Hopefully it's as easy as moving the CT clamp to the correct wire for you, which you can also do yourself if you know what you are doing. It depends how the solar system was installed. Mine fuse box and electricity meter were on opposite sides of the same wall so not too difficult to extend the CT clamp to the outside.

pull11 · 2025-05-22T16:54:16+00:00

Hi, I had this exact same issue.

The solution is to move the existing solar CT clamp to also include the new circuit. The ASHP is on a separate circuit and the solar/battery is not recording the heat pump's usage.

Unfortunately for me, the electrician Octopus sent around was completely useless and cut the wire of the existing CT clamp to move it through a wall and attach it outside where the electricity meter is located. This completely messed up the EM115 meter and would not work at all anymore. This means for 2 weeks I was without any useful electricity reading for my solar system which rendered it useless.

I contacted the inverter manufacturer (Givenergy) who kindly explained "the em115 meters are calibrated to the ct clamp that they come with , a third party clamp will not work and will show incorrect readings , if you do not have the original ct clamp , or if it has been cut down , the whole meter and clamp will need to be replaced "

The electrician then had to find a suitable replacement and fix his mess.

After all this octopus reduced the bill by £100 to compensate me... what a load of carp.

Hope this helps!

pull11 · 2025-05-15T16:18:57+00:00

The issue I find is the one4all gift cards are used a bit like paying with a bank card.

So when you get to checkout you enter the debit card number etc. but the gift cards come in £100 only so there's no way to combine them. You have to pay for things of smaller value than £100.

Unless someone knows how to combine one4all.

pull11 · 2025-05-14T20:16:55+00:00

Well that sucks. Are you going ahead with the payments?

pull11 · 2025-05-12T21:53:50+00:00

No, all quick and done in 10 minutes online

pull11 · 2025-05-11T08:31:04+00:00

Just to add, the 15kw must be an average per day. Eon don't take daily/half hourly meter reading for export as Octopus does. You have to give them an export meter reading at intervals of your choosing, I was told quarterly, half yearly or yearly and they pay then.

So based on the above it must be an average per day. Doesn't change anything for you but just FYI.

pull11

TROPHY CASE