Nick's Notes

[PR19_Kit]

Or Autotrader maybe?

[NARSES2]

Well done, Nick.  Pour yourself a beer and put your feet up (at least tonight).

Or a couple at least  Well done mate

[zenrat]

...We found several garden chemicals that are now probably banned under the Geneva Protocol...

Mate of mine, who's father was a market gardener, still has a 4 gal drum of nicotine which I believe they used to use as an insecticide.
We have pondered if it would be of value on the vape black market.

[Weaver]

Belated condolences Nick (sorry, I don't normally read the blogs).

I've been through this twice in the last five years (and I was the executor too), so believe me I'm not blowing smoke when I say I know how you feel. The second one has taken two years to finish: I've literally made the last payments this week.

Big banks normally have special bereavement departments, so make sure you and/or your uncle tell them exactly what you're dealing with. They're generally very good: you get a special phone number, and maybe access to special web services too, and there's always a knowledgable human being on the other end of the phone who you can explain complex situations to. With some bansk, you can upload scans of important docs directly to their website, and they then share them with other banks, most (but not all) of which are on a system that's effectively a finance industry version of Tell Us Once.

If you use a house clearance service, get quotes from several and make sure they value everything they take in detail. Their attitude varies widely. Some take the view that they're doing you a favour and charge you a surprisingly high fee to do the job (they know you just want it over with quickly so they think they've got the upper hand). Others are more reasonable: they offset the resale value of some of what they take against the charge to you. On the downsidethough, they may be more selective about what they take because of that. Get several quotes and study the detail of what each is actually offering.

[McColm]

Hi Nick,
Belated condolences I wasn't sure what to say.

[Nick]

Hi Nick,
You can try Facebook Market Page to sell the car on or ebay,

Or Autotrader maybe?

I am looking into those but first I'm looking at getting some of the scratches fixed to boost the value.
Autotrader have an option to sell to the trade via auction but I can't do that until I've had the car 6 months.
My sister also wants me to sell her 2005 Fiat Panda to pay for her dogs surgery bills 

Leaving all the financial stuff to my uncle who worked for a bank before he retired.

House clearance: We are handling all the small stuff ourselves and getting a skip for most of the bigger stuff. All that will be left in there by November will be the beds, dining table and chairs, armchairs and a pair of bookcases.
This is to give buyers a sense of the room sizes - as advised by the estate agents who are providing quotes for the probate valuation.
None of it is worth keeping or selling on.

Thanks for all your help and advice. Much appreciated. 

[Rick Lowe]

Could you do a deal with your Sister for the Ford?

[Nick]

It's been longer than I realised since I last posted here 

In the last month we (I, mainly) have cleared the house of nearly everything. I made 9 trips to the council tip, 3 trips to the charity shops, one to the industrial paper shredders - an entire car load of old bank statements and insurance forms.
I went to my old Scout group with boxes of old plates for their Crockery Smash stall. Seeing that John was a Queens Scout (aka Eagle Scout) I think he might have approved.

Today there is a skip waiting at the house for me, my sister and her family to go there and remove all the larger unwanted stuff which is mostly decrepit furniture and random bits of wood. It's hammer time! 
I had the old cooker and washing machine removed as they were dangerous 
I sold the car to a local garage last week for £3500. It's now on sale for £7000    At least there's no comeback on me if anything goes wrong with it like the infamous Ford wet timing belt...

The funeral was yesterday in Chelmsford - nice things were said, tears were shed. The wake was at the Pontlands Park which is a very nice country hotel.
We had Afternoon Tea with an array of sandwiches, sausage rolls, scotch eggs and a delicious selection of cakes - jam and cream scones, chocolate brownies, strawberry cake. Even with 30 people there we still had some to bring home for lunch today.

[Rheged]

You are doing well, Nick, and deserve  great praise from all quarters for your efforts.   The crockery disposal was particularly inspired............as a Queen's Scout myself  (no, it wasn't when Boadicea was queen) I think John would most definitely have approved.    We are still all here if you need to grumble/shout about any ongoing difficulties.   Best of luck with the house sale!

[zenrat]

Well done mate.
 

[NARSES2]

Doing a good job Nick   

[kitbasher]

Yes, well done Nick.

[Rick Lowe]

Agree. 

[Nick]

Thanks for your support.

The skip is full. All the big stuff is gone. The rest I can deal with in the next month. Mostly stuff to go to charity and his family.

Place needs a good deep clean but we may hire a firm for that.

While going through his old travel insurance Mum found £100 in old £20 notes! It was his emergency cash for a holiday in 2009. Took that to the bank to cover my petrol bill 
We also found £2 in Premium Bonds, Green Shield stamps, and Saver Stamps 

There are some First Day Covers of postage stamps from 1977 to 1986. Anybody know about these?

[NARSES2]

There are some First Day Covers of postage stamps from 1977 to 1986. Anybody know about these?

This might help Nick ?

https://www.stampsforsale.co.uk/catalogue/first-day-covers