How to get a Flood Risk Indicator result of the property? (United Kingdom)

Please read this post for more information:
https://www.knowhowinaction.com/2011/03/how-to-find-out-who-owns-property.html

How to find out who owns the property? (United Kingdom)

If you're buying or selling a house or are just interested in a property, please visit https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry.
To obtain property details just enter the postcode and house number/name on the above web page and click 'Search'.

If you know the full address you can submit a Detailed enquiry, if you don't you can submit a Map enquiry.

For properties you are interested in, you can download:

• a title register where you can find out who owns the property, price paid/value stated information if sold since April 2000 and any rights of way or restrictions on the land noted on the register for only £3 (view title register example)
• a title plan defining the property for only £3 (view title plan example)
• a Flood Risk Indicator result showing the probability of flood for the individual registered property, produced with data supplied by Environment Agency for only £6.50 (excluding VAT) (view Flood Risk Indicator result example)

For further details of documents referred to in the register and obtaining copies see: About this service

For further information about Flood Risk Indicator see: Flood Risk Indicator

How to get National Insurance number? (United Kingdom)

If you're looking for work, starting work or setting up as self-employed you will need a National Insurance number. If you have the right to work in the UK, you will need to telephone Jobcentre Plus on Tel 0345 600 0643 (lines are open 8.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday) to arrange to get one. They may require you to attend an 'Evidence of identity' interview - see section 'What happens when you apply for a National Insurance number'.

Although you need to have a National Insurance number to start work you don't need to have a plastic National Insurance number card.

Please visit www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/number.htm or https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/BeginnersGuideToTax/NationalInsurance/IntroductiontoNationalInsurance/DG_190057 for more information.

How to cash a cheque in joint name if you don't have a joint account?

Cheque in joint name but don't have a joint account?
- There are several ways of solving this problem which most commonly occurs when estate agency returns deposit to a married couple at the end of their tenancy:

• ask cheque issuer to cancel current cheque and issue another in one name (in case with estate agencies - they more likely to offer new cheques in names mentioned on the tenancy agreement dividing the owed amount on equal parts)
  or
• open a joint account (e.g. joint savings account that doesn't need a credit check)
  or
• try different branches of your bank/s until the cheque is accepted to be paid into your single account
  or
• previously it was possible to pay such cheque into a single named account as long as you were one of the joint named, and the other joint named authorised the transaction (usually by signing the back of the cheque and writing something like 'I allow my wife to have these funds and will not have access to them'). But with introduction crossing 'a/c payee', the above procedure is frequently refused.
  or
• go to a cheque cashing place (but these places charge a fee for cashing, i.e. 2-6% + handling charge fee).

How to plan a door-to-door journey (i.e. walk, car route, cycle, bus, coach, train)? (United Kingdom)

- Use very useful online tool - Transport Direct website - www.transportdirect.info - Britain's public transport journey planner and car route planner. Plus train times, flight details, travel news, car parks, bus routes, cycle routes and more.

How to make your own furniture polish?

There are many recipes of home-made furniture polishes, but most popular are:

1. Mix 1 part of olive oil and 1/2 part of lemon juice in a clean bowl or spray bottle.
   Use a clean, dry, lint-free cloth to rub a small amount of the polish into your furniture. Wipe dry with another cloth until wood shines.
2. Mix equal parts white vinegar and lemon juice in a clean bowl or spray bottle.
   Use a clean, dry, lint-free cloth to rub a small amount of the polish into your furniture. Wipe dry with another cloth.

Home-made furniture polishes are: relatively cheap to make, chemical-free, environmentally-friendly and have no fragrances to irritate allergies.

How to find out your Council Tax band? (England and Wales, Scotland)

You can find the Council Tax band for a property if you have the full address, including postcode, on the Council Tax Valuation website.

• Find the Council Tax band for your property (England and Wales)
• Information about Council Tax valuations in Scotland

How much Council Tax you actually pay depends on your property band and your local council - each council sets its own Council Tax rates.
Your council can tell you the rates for your area.

• Visit the Council Tax pages of your council website

How to export Skype call history?

There are occasions when you need to export and print out Skype call history (e.g. as supporting document for visa application etc.) you can do this by using small free application called SkypeCallExporter (click here to download it), currently works on Windows computers only.

Please, log in before trying to download the attachment. Just unzip it and launch it, no installation is required.
Some guidelines:    

• Before launching the program, Skype must be running, and you must be logged in (the program uses Skype's API to request the call info from the Skype).     
• When you launch the utility for the first time, Skype will pop up a warning message, and you must authorize the utility to connect to Skype.     
• As soon as the utility is running, it will automatically retrieve all call information (SkypeOut and Skype-to-Skype) from Skype. This can take a while, especially if you have a long call list. During this time, it can look as if the program is doing nothing, and rubbish will be displayed in the table in the utility's window. Please be patient and give it enough time to complete, and meaningful information should appear in the table. It can take minutes, if you have made many Skype calls.     
• After the utility has collected all call records, it will display them in a table that can be exported to a CSV file, or printed directly from the program. By the way: the call cost for SkypeOut calls does not include the connection fee, as the API does not (yet) have commands to retrieve it. Also, the call cost is calculated by simply multiplying the duration by the price per minute, so if you have a special SkypeOut plan, this calculated cost might not be correct.
• The application prints user's name in the title of the report.
• If a call failed, the failure reason is retrieved from Skype and added to the report.

Buy Skype Credit now to make cheap calls internationally

How to check which broadband providers operate in your area or if your exchange is unbundled? (United Kingdom)

To find out what broadband is available in your area use UK Broadband Availability Checker at http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker

This broadband checker provides a detailed breakdown of DSL, cable and wireless services available at your location as well as tells if your telephone exchange is unbundled - LLU (Local Loop Unbundling).

How to find out the SWIFT code of a bank?

The easiest way to find out the SWIFT code of your bank is to look at your bank statement. In most cases there will be the BIC, this is same thing as the SWIFT code.

Alternative ways to find out the SWIFT code are: to contact relevant bank or look for it on their website.

The BIC is a standard identifier for banks. It is issued by SWIFT* and should be used on all international payments. A BIC is either 8 or 11 digits long.

You would use BIC when you are or someone else (e.g. your relative, customer etc.) instructing a foreign bank to make payments to your account.

An IBAN code is always used in conjunction with a Bank Identifier Code (BIC).
IBAN is a standardised way of identifying a bank account – it stands for International Bank Account Number. Using an IBAN cuts down errors and delays.
An IBAN is also a legal requirement when you make or receive payments across country borders in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.

*SWIFT

SWIFT is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a member-owned cooperative through which the financial world conducts its business operations with speed, certainty and confidence. More than 9,000 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries trust us every day to exchange millions of standardised financial messages.

SWIFT enables its customers to automate and standardise financial transactions, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating inefficiencies from their operations. By using SWIFT customers can also create new business opportunities and revenue streams.

SWIFT is solely a carrier of messages. It does not hold funds nor does it manage accounts on behalf of customers, nor does it store financial information on an on-going basis. As a data carrier, SWIFT transports messages between two financial institutions. This activity involves the secure exchange of proprietary data while ensuring its confidentiality and integrity.

Please visit www.swift.com for more information.