Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Do not help when you need it most

...My husband became self-employed about 8 years ago and with the onset of him going it alone, this meant that we would loose the H.S.A. cover his employer gave him. A fellow IT contractor put my hubby in touch with this gentleman who arranges cover for fellow IT self-employed bods. Amongst all the other policies we took out to safeguard our future and that of my children, was one for private health care. We were told to go for LEGAL AND GENERAL ASSURANCE SOCIETY for their health care plan. This policy appeared to be family friendly and as long as you are not over 74 years of age, then they will give you cover. Legal and general have been around for more years than I care to remember so we thought yeah ok, we can trust them. We checked the website out, which is www.legal-and-general.co.uk and the company seemed quite genuine... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Can only allow more people to be exploited

...Should prostitution be legalised? This is of course another emotional issue and the question as to whether prostitution be legalised has been going on for some time, especially with the current tragedy in Ipswich. Before I outline my position and thoughts on this I should highlight that I am a Christian and stand with the principles of the Bible and its moral and Christian teachings. As such I would say that Prostitution is wrong and should not be made legal as it goes against the teaching of the Bible which highlights that you should not pay for sex. However, putting that aside, lets look at the various issues that are arising here. The first issue to highlight is that prostitution in the UK is not illegal. In fact it has always been legal in the UK, it is the issue of soliciting in the street which is illegal (as is kerb... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Direction, Witherspoon, funny
Disadvantages: Basically still a one-joke movie (albeit a good one!)

...Legally Blonde is an essentially one-joke movie (a dizzy blonde making good in an environment where traditionally only smart people succeed), but it's written and directed with enough verve to make it work, not to mention the endearing performance of star Reese Witherspoon [Cruel Intentions, Sweet Home Alabama, Vanity Fair] as Elle Woods. Elle is a very blonde girl who lives up to every stereotype in existence, and at the start of the movie is expecting to be proposed to by boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis [Pearl Harbour, Blue Crush, Heights). When she is dumped because, having got into Harvard Law School, he needs someone "serious", she decides to get into Harvard herself to win him back (despite the fact that academia is… to put it kindly… not her strong suit…) While there she meets Warner's frosty fiancé (he moves quickly) Vivian... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Company well known to me
Disadvantages: I have yet to make a claim

.... Tesco GBP 163.80. Probably the friendliest sales staff I encountered. Abbey National GBP 225.42 I felt that the sales staff was quite cheesed off. This was the most expensive quote. Churchill GBP 191.10. I only contacted Churchill because I liked the Churchill dog on the TV adverts. I enquired about buying the dog. It costs GBP 12.80 or GBP 10 if you are a Churchill policyholder. Norwich Union Direct GBP 119.68. The annual renewal was very competitive. Why are they changing their name to Aviva? Legal & General GBP 128.26 for GBP 25,000 cover GBP 103.69 for GBP 15,000 cover I plumped for Legal & General for GBP 15,000 cover. LEGAL AND GENERAL I first came across Legal & General when they sponsored the ITV weather a few years ago. Then I was into Sian Lloyd, the gorgeous weather girl... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: fast quotes - helpful staff - easy to read paperwork
Disadvantages: hidden costs and loadings to premiums - time to process - poor knowledge of medical underwriting

...pressure but nothing to worry about. Cover: £200,000 Fixed - 25 year term - fixed premiums A list of quotes came back and Legal and General were the cheapest and I was happy that they were a company I had heard of before, even if it was via a Dave Gorman programme! They quoted £7.79 per month and I was a happy bunny. I duly printed off the application forms and quote and proceeded to answer 5 pages of questions relating to my family medical history to how much I drink and smoke not forgetting to include any pre-existing medical conditions. The forms were completed and posted in early November 2005 as I wanted the cover to start on 1st December 2005. 2 weeks passed and nothing was forthcoming from Legal & General so I called them. They had no record of my application but the staff were helpful and the phones were answered quickly... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap premiums - for my level of cover
Disadvantages: None

...recommend www.moneysupermarket for this), it soon became clear that I wouldn’t be able to get anything much cheaper than a monthly premium of £6.00. I was only looking for £34,000 worth of cover, enough to pay a mortgage off, but even if I reduced the amount of cover to less than that, it made no difference – I couldn’t get any lower minimum payments. Makes sense, I suppose – it’s hardly going to worth an insurer’s while to collect something like £3.00 a month from anyone. Legal and General quickly stood out as not only one of the cheapest monthly premiums, but it also stood out as the most famous name in my shortlist. I’m not saying “famous = reputable”, necessarily, but it did help me to make my decision. The application process was incredibly easy, and all of it was carried out online. I had to sign a form which arrived in the post... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: You might find it useful
Disadvantages: It's not exactly funny is it

...I asked for this category because I thought it might be helpful and interesting if we shared our knowledge on the grey area of software licensing. I've enetered my limited knowledge as the first opinion hoping it might spurn others with more knowledge to add to this category, and correct my mistakes. This advice is not going to attempt to cover the intricacies of all license types, but concentrate on particular areas which I think members of Ciao may find useful, if not interesting. Don’t worry, this won’t be a long winded legally worded document, this will be in plain English which uses metaphor if appropriate. It is not a moral rant piracy either, everyone is there own judge, I am certainly not a jury. If you have read my ops before I hope you have found them humorous, this one however is very dry, no jokes, but I hope you still... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: O.K. if you use it as a means of saving
Disadvantages: If you thought it would pay of your mortgage, chances are it will not.

...After the recent publicity there has been regarding Endowment Policies linked to Mortgages, I decided to look further into the matter, although us holders of this type of policy were told not to panic. I kept thinking that I did not want to still have a mortgage during my retirement years and the information I had been fed was not conclusive. I know we can not forsee the future, but the majority of people with an Endowement Policy expected to have their Mortgage cleared at the end of the term. I had received a couple of letters from my Insurance company which is Legal and General Assurance, informing me there may be a shortfall at the end of the policy term. It gave you average growth rates of 4, 6 and 8%. On their figures, the worst scenario I could expect would be an £18,600 shortfall at a 4% growth rate,(not pennies you must... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: The Clothes, Reese's performance
Disadvantages: Not as funny as the first film

...Elle Woods(Reese Witherspoon) is back and as the posters loudly proclaim she’s bolder and, if it’s at all possible, blonder. Platinum princess Elle has an almost perfect life. As a Harvard alumna she’s secured an associate position in a top law firm, where she expects promotion any day now, and her dream wedding to fiancee Emmet, a Harvard law professor, is looming on the horizon. It seems following her now very much ex boyfriend to law school in the first of the Legally Blonde films was the best move Elle could have ever made. The soriety sister’s wedding plans are cruising along nicely as she spends her days pondering pink seating plans and cultivating the all important guest list. There’s just one problem. She still hasn’t managed to track one potential guest down and, as of course we all know... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Not many for a working girl
Disadvantages: The taxman will get the cash

...I have been a working girl for 6years, yes shock horror! I work as an escort and in a massage parlour. I get over £100 an hour for escorts and £50 for a service in a parlour, which lasts anywhere from 5 mins to 1/2hr. What many people don't realise is that protitution isn't illegal! It is illegal for a person to run and own a parlour or establishment that profits but for a woman to be paid for sex is entirely legal. The only pros for making it "Legal" is that some nasty people who exploit and abuse women wouldn't be able to so easily, however there are alot of alright people running brothels and agencies. My boss is a working girl herself who does exactly the same as me and treats us all the same, we don't get forced to do anyone we don't want to and she doesn't take all of our money, she gives us a lovely place to work that is clean... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful