Episode 13 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us what's left you feeling ripped off

and you contacted us in your thousands.

You told us about the companies you think you get it wrong

and the customer service that simply is not up to scratch.

If you're paying for good service, you expect a good service

and a good product, whatever it may be.

At the end of the day, we expect value for money.

You've asked us to track down the scammers who stole your money

and investigate the extra charges you say are unfair.

Wool has been pulled over our eyes. I don't think we get a fair price.

I think they should always put the customer first.

And when you've lost out but nobody else is to blame,

you've come to us to stop others falling into the same trap.

-And no-one could sort that out for you over ten years?

-No-one has.

So, whether it's a blatant rip-off or a genuine mistake,

we're here to find out why you are out of pocket

and what you can do about it.

Your stories, your money. This is Rip Off Britain.

Hello and welcome once again to Rip Off Britain.

And if you've ever needed help in sorting out your cash

then you've definitely come to the right place

because today we'll be looking at some of the things that can go wrong

when you're trying to secure your money for the future,

whether it is for yourself or, indeed, your family.

Now, I know it's not exactly a cheerful business,

planning for the worst, but mapping out your finances for whatever

might crop up, whether it's bad or good,

can only avoid hassle later on.

However, you do need to know what you are doing because,

as we are going to see, there are plenty of people around

who may give you what turns out to be very much the wrong advice

on what to do with your money.

And the consequences of that happening can be disastrous.

But, don't worry, because although there are some stories today

that may fill you with utter horror,

I know they certainly did me,

and make you think very carefully about your own decisions,

there is one story that really does prove that, even when things may

look at their very bleakest, it is always worth persevering with

a complaint and not giving up

because this is a tale that ends with

what could be the biggest pay-out we have ever heard of.

Coming up, it's Rip Off Britain to the rescue

after this man's illness left him unable to work

but without the financial support he thought that he'd put in place.

I feel incredibly angry

but helpless at the same time.

And what would you do if your bank

remains utterly convinced that you are dead?

I said to him, "I'm on the phone to you now. How can I be deceased?"

Well, I guess that most of us know there's been something of a

revolution in the world of pensions recently with the biggest shake-up

that we've seen for decades on how they exactly work.

The changes have been broadly welcomed by most financial experts

because they do give a lot more flexibility

on how you support yourself through retirement,

and they maybe even give you an opportunity

to cash in your pension early.

But it's not all good news for anyone planning ahead for the future.

Greater access to our pensions has also opened the doors to

plenty of outfits who may try and entice you into taking advantage

of what could be described as free pension reviews,

a one-off investment opportunity or even a legal loophole.

So, watch out because, as happened in these next cases,

the money that you have spent your entire working life saving for

could vanish overnight

and there will be very little you can do to get it back.

In 2011, Gary Tuff was really struggling financially.

Having lost his job as a manager at a software business,

he'd racked up debts of over £30,000 on credit cards and loans,

and the repayments and interest were getting increasingly unmanageable.

Over a period of time, financial pressures had grown

to a point where it had become clearly evident that something

needed to be done to release the pressure.

Gary needed a way out of his problems fast.

You get to a point where you say, "Enough is enough."

So I need to make a fairly significant decision now

and that's what I did.

Desperate for a solution,

Gary contacted a company of independent financial advisers.

They told him about a scheme that seemed to be the answer

to his problems, by freeing up money from his pension.

On the surface, with the amount of monies that it could release,

it sounded like a very appropriate way to go forward.

Gary was told that, by signing up to a type of what is often called

a pension liberation scheme,

he'd immediately be able to make use of his entire £167,000 pension pot.

Half of it would be invested on his behalf,

but the scheme, run by a company called Ark Business Consulting,

apparently allowed Gary to get his hands on the rest.

£83,000 in a lump sum within just seven days.

It's almost like someone waving a lottery ticket

in front of your face, saying,

"This is the winning ticket and your money worries are over."

So...that's life-changing.

Because, at 47, Gary was too young to cash in his pension pot,

you normally need to be 55 to do that, the lump sum would be a loan.

And it seemed that by giving him the money as a loan,

Arc had found a way for people to make use of their pension sooner.

It sounded plausible to Gary.

But with so much at stake, he wasn't yet completely persuaded.

I needed convincing that, first of all, this was a legal investment.

And it was explained to me that this was brand-new,

that this was literally weeks old, that there was nothing out there.

It was a loophole being exploited quickly.

Further reassurance came when the financial adviser said

that not only was the Arc scheme

properly registered with HMRC,

but 15 of their other clients had also signed up -

one of whom was their company director -

and Gary was finally swayed.

All that was left for him to do was sign a contract allowing Arc

to withdraw all of his £167,000 pension.

I was quite convinced that this sounded like it was going to work.

It apparently was an acceptable way to liberate your pension.

But the seven days in which Gary was told

he would effectively receive half of his pension pot came and went.

I went on to the internet, searched for the name of the company,

the investment vehicle, Arc, and I could see that other people

had commented in a blog that they had concerns, as well.

That something had gone, as they said, "smelly".

It almost stops you being able to breathe because you think,

"Oh, my goodness. What's about to happen here?"

And it seemed the money he'd invested could be lost, as well.

When Gary spoke to his financial advisers, the news wasn't good.

The Arc scheme wasn't the loophole that it first appeared.

In fact, The Pensions Regulator had decided that the scheme was

operating unlawfully.

That meant no lump sum as it was classed as an unauthorised payment.

It is as if someone has just taken that lottery ticket

and ripped it up in front of your face.

With his financial advisers declaring

that this was nothing to do with them,

Gary turned to The Pensions Regulator

in the hope that they would be able to help,

but what they had to add was even more devastating.

The loan Ark had taken from his pension pot

was taxable at a rate of 55%,

so not only was Gary facing the prospect of having

lost his £167,000, but he also faced the very real

possibility that he owed the taxman nearly £46,000.

To say that that was the most challenging time of my life

is not to put too fine a point on it.

Gary's story is depressingly familiar to Sean Browse,

who investigates pension schemes on behalf of The Pensions Regulator.

He's currently looking into around 60 similar cases.

Many other people are encouraged to join these types of schemes.

Yes, they may be given access to a cash sum, but the price

they pay for that is being exposed to significant tax penalties.

They run the risk of their pension funds being

invested in highly-risky investments.

Some of the schemes that Sean and his team

are investigating were entirely bogus,

including the one that Jane Hammonds was talked into signing up to.

In 2013, she invested her £129,000 pension pot

into a scheme that was known as Iron Stream,

but it turned out to be totally fictitious.

I get up and do shift work for a minimum wage, and these guys

are probably sitting on yachts somewhere drinking champagne.

Jane has come to meet Sean to see

if there's any hope of tracking down her cash.

What are the chances of me ever seeing any of it again?

I have to say that the chances are probably quite slim.

The warning signs are there.

OK. That's actually just made me feel sick.

-I'm not surprised.

-Um... Yeah.

We will do all that we can to find this money.

And if we can't find it, we will do all we can

-to go after the people that have spent your money.

-Mm.

It's estimated that up to £1 billion has been lost

to pension-liberation schemes like these,

with most of the cash disappearing into thin air.

The government has issued stark warnings

about such opportunities, saying that most schemes are bogus

and that once money is transferred into a scam, it's too late.

Which means that Gary's fears that he's lost his money

are, sadly, likely to be correct.

But what about Gary's money?

We asked Ark Business Consulting, who ran the scheme in which

Gary put his £167,000, where exactly has his money gone?

It told us that's its scheme was taken over by The Pensions Regulator

before Gary's funds were received from his pension provider,

so they have no idea what has happened to his cash,

and it insisted that everything it did was transparent.

So we went back to Sean Browse's team,

who were appointed as trustees of the Ark scheme by The Pensions Regulator.

They told us that, at the time the scheme was stopped,

the transfer of Gary's funds was still in progress.

So, given the recoveries that they've made to date,

they're optimistic that he will get some of his money back,

though it might still come with a hefty tax bill.

And with HM Revenue & Customs reiterating its advice

to be wary of any such pension schemes,

personal finance expert Sarah Pennells has advice to keep in mind

if what seems like an opportunity does come along.

There's a magic age of 55 and, if you're younger than that,

then you can't, under the rules,

take money out without either being seriously ill

and only having months or a year or so to live,

or having to pay a large tax charge.

And for those people who are aged 55 or over,

there are some companies who are trying to persuade you

to put your money into either high-risk,

high-charge or unregulated investments.

If a company promises returns that are way above anything

that anybody else is offering you, that's often a bad sign.

If they're a financial advisor, always check the regulator,

the Financial Conduct Authority's Register,

because that will tell you whether they are genuinely registered

and therefore regulated.

The recent pensions reforms have created new opportunities of

which some companies and scammers have been quick to take advantage,

so the best advice is to steer well clear of any business

that links pension reforms to one-off investments, loans or upfront cash.

Some of them will cold call with recorded messages. Don't respond.

Meanwhile, Gary is still struggling

to come to terms with what's happened.

Every day, actually, I ask myself, "How could this have happened?"

All of a sudden, you could face the rest of your life without

any financial comfort whatsoever,

so it's a very, very difficult process to manage in your head.

Now, if you ever become so ill that you're unable to work,

you're still going to need a way of paying your bills,

that's why so many of us take out

some kind of income-protection insurance

to safeguard ourselves if the worst happens and our regular income stops.

Ian Tallach did that several years ago.

He hoped it was just a precaution

and that he'd never need to make a claim on the policy,

but then he did have to make a claim and his cover didn't pay out.

Ian was convinced he'd been treated unfairly, so he came to us.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

If you couldn't work due to a serious illness, how would you manage?

Could you survive on savings or on sick pay?

250,000 people per year have to stop work due to ill health.

More people insure their pets than their income.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Only around 10% of us have taken out income-protection insurance.

The cover that, if the worst should happen, is designed to step in

and pay a proportion of your earnings so you can still live comfortably.

In Balnain near Loch Ness,

former paediatric doctor Ian Tallach is one of those who did take out

an income-protection policy when his wife was expecting their first child.

We thought it was about time that we got responsible

and started doing something for our future

because it wasn't just our future,

it was the future of our children, as well.

But in June 2011, a year after taking out the policy,

Ian started to experience a weakness in his right leg.

I became increasingly aware that my right leg was leaden and,

er...I was unable to move it.

I began to think that there was something here that would

probably need investigated in a hospital setting.

Shortly afterwards, when it was investigated,

Ian was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis or MS.

MS is a disease of the central nervous system

and affects around 100,000 people in the UK.

No-one knows the exact cause but, over time,

it can lead to significant disability.

In the months following his diagnosis, Ian began to experience

difficulties in walking, plus pins and needles in his right arm,

chronic fatigue and short-term memory problems.

And he and his family soon had grave concerns

about the progression of the disease.

What I've been told is that additional support of some

kind or another will be required,

whether it's just a walking aid, or perhaps a wheelchair,

but the future is very, very uncertain.

By June of 2014, Ian's condition had deteriorated

so much that he had no choice but to quit his job.

Unable to work, he was initially relieved that he'd taken out

that income-protection insurance.

For almost four years,

he'd been paying a monthly premium of £66.34 to Friends Life,

which he'd hoped would give him a monthly income until he turned 60.

But Ian was in for a real shock when he contacted Friends Life

to make what he'd assumed would be a routine claim.

The company came back to him in February 2015

with the devastating news that it would not be accepting his claim

and, therefore, would not be paying out the cover he expected.

I was extremely distressed.

It's true to say that my wife

and I were both in despair for a length of time.

I can't even begin to describe how we felt.

A mixture of sadness, despair, anger, helplessness.

This has made things extremely difficult for our family.

So, what was the reason for not paying out?

The company said it was because

Ian had failed to tell them about some brief episodes

of blurred vision he'd experienced back in 2004

as part of the medical questions routinely asked

by most insurers for this type of policy.

Friends Life had asked Ian about his eyesight,

which included a reference to blurred vision.

Now, blurred vision can be one of the many early symptoms of MS,

but as these episodes had been fleeting

and long before any other problems became apparent,

Ian hadn't considered them to be significant.

The main reason why I wasn't concerned was that these episodes,

each of them, spontaneously resolved after about five seconds.

Given that they never impaired my actual forwards vision

or my ability to function in any way, they didn't worry me.

And when, six years later,

he'd been taking out his policy with Friends Life and telling the company

his medical history over the phone,

Ian hadn't given these brief episodes a second's thought,

so he hadn't mentioned them.

It was only 13 months later, when the diagnosis of MS was being made,

that these episodes were brought to mind.

It didn't help Ian's case that his consultant's report

when diagnosing his MS mistakenly said he'd previously

experienced blurred vision for several months,

rather than the few seconds that Ian claimed.

But in any case, Friends Life now told him

that had it known about any episodes of blurred vision, however brief,

he wouldn't have been eligible for the policy in the first place.

The key question is whether or not the symptom experienced in 2004

for which reason this policy has been discredited

was material or in any way relevant to MS

and the answer is unequivocally no, it's not.

It has no predictive value at all when it resolves after five seconds.

I feel incredibly angry, but helpless at the same time.

Friends Life reneging on this policy

means that we do not have financial stability for our children.

The company did say it would refund

the premiums he'd paid over the years.

But, in despair and worried about his family's future,

it was at this point that Ian contacted us.

Now, when we got in touch with Friends Life about their decision

not to pay out, it was a dramatic change in the company's position.

The company told us it would now start to pay Ian's claim after all

and would like to apologise to Ian

for any distress caused to him and his family.

It said that, following a second review of his claim, the insurer

"felt that, on balance, it was reasonable"

for Ian to have answered the questions the way he did

when he took out the policy.

Although it reiterated that, had they had all the information

from the outset, the cover available to him might have been limited.

Friends Life stressed that it always follows a

"robust claims assessment procedure",

and is, "committed to paying as many claims as possible".

In 2014, paying out more than £265 million

in protection claims to over 7,000 people.

For Ian and his family, given the circumstances,

it's the best news they could hope for.

And while his experience is a reminder of just how careful

you need to be when buying any sort of health cover,

particularly one you may depend on in the future,

when we spoke to Ian again over the internet,

his utter relief about the company's change of heart was obvious.

The relief was indescribable whenever it dawned on me

that Friends Life were going to pay out in full.

It was only possible to...

to continue fighting because of your involvement

and the Financial Ombudsman Service,

and the encouragement of the wider family.

It's really just made a colossal, indescribable amount of difference,

so thank you.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain -

after a talk with one of my sons,

when is the right time to discuss a future

that no-one really wants to think about?

I guess this is a really odd conversation.

It's a tricky one because it's almost - who mentions it first?

For two days only, we came to the heart of the East Midlands.

Welcome to Nottingham.

It's because you write to us and email us with your consumer problems

in your hundreds that we open up our popup shop.

And, you know, it's not just a great opportunity for us to be able

to meet all of you face to face,

but it means we can also give you on-the-spot advice.

Sadly, for Chloe White, it was a little too late.

She came to see Trading Standards expert Sylvia Rook for advice

after bagging what, at first, seemed to be a bargain pair of trainers.

I went online to purchase some and they seemed to be not right.

-So, how much do these trainers normally sell for?

-£120.

-Oh, right.

-And how much were these?

-£60.

Did it make you a little bit suspicious that they were cheap?

It did, but I thought there was a sale.

I'm not an expert in counterfeits,

but there are issues with the way in which it's finished and things.

I think your concerns are absolutely right.

I think these are not genuine trainers.

If they were over £100 and you paid by credit card,

you'd have extra rights,

but because we are £60, it's a matter of contacting the bank,

but also contact the retailer and try and get your money back.

So the first thing you need to do is send an email and say you've

received the trainers, you're not happy, you want your money back.

If they'd been sold from a seller in the UK, or in the EU,

you always have 14 days from when you received the goods

that you can cancel your contract and send them back.

Your problem is, if they're outside the EU,

you don't necessarily have the same laws.

And Sylvia shared some of her top tips to help prevent Chloe

and the rest of us from being ripped off when we're shopping online.

Do a lot of research, particularly if it's a company you've not heard of.

Put the name into a search engine, see if there's any adverse reviews.

If it's got a .co.uk address, don't just assume it's in the UK

because anybody can buy that sort of address.

There's a website called WHOIS

and you can actually put the name of the website in,

and it will tell you where the trader is based.

-So good luck.

-Thank you.

I do hope that you'll manage to get your money back on it.

While some of our experts were helping you in our shop,

others were out and about in the rest of the shopping centre

and its market, where James Daley was dishing out pointers

on how to keep down the cost of your home insurance.

One of the things people are asked when they're buying a home

insurance policy is, are you at home in the day?

They end up saying, "Well, I think I'll say I am at home

"because surely that'll make my home insurance cheaper."

Actually, it doesn't. It can be the opposite

because the chance of you being burgled is actually less than

the chance of you causing a lot of damage by being at home.

And technology specialist Jeremy Boone was explaining

how responding to the messages you're sent on social media

can help you make the most from big name brands.

-If it's a brand you like, I'd recommend messaging them.

-Why?

You can get quite a lot of good opportunities through it.

-Like what?

-We've had free merchandise, offers for discounts,

especially clothing retailers.

There are millions of different retailers you could shop from.

They chose to speak to you, so they want you to message them back.

If you tell your friends, they'll message you even more. Trust me.

Meanwhile, at what we call our Gripe Area,

there was a constant flow of people coming to tell us

about the things that get them hot under the collar.

-ALL:

-Oooo!

I was hiring a car, booking it for a special event.

I booked online, but at the last minute, I decided to cancel it.

And what I didn't know was that,

when I cancelled it, they kept the fee.

And so I have basically lost my money

without actually booking the car, and I think that's terrible.

I'm annoyed with the constant phone calls about PPI claims.

They have all our information,

even claiming that we've had a loan with the bank, which we never have.

Energy bills are so high.

It is a rip-off. It's just unfair.

Now, here is an extraordinary situation

and, to be honest, it's one we have never come across before.

Just imagine how you'd feel if, in spite of being fit and healthy,

you discover that according to your bank,

they decided that for the past year, you've been dead.

A bit far-fetched?

Well, I can promise you that the man who found himself in that position

finds that it continues to have an extraordinarily

terrible effect on his life,

so we set out to discover how it is possible that someone who is

very clearly very much alive

can suddenly be considered to be deceased.

And why such an obvious error cannot simply be put right.

It was after a night out with his girlfriend Georgina

that 25-year-old legal assistant Ashley Flynn had the first clue

that something wasn't quite right with his bank account.

I went up to Lloyds Bank and put my card in, and the card came back out.

And it said, "You're unable to draw any money out."

I came back to you and said, "Can I borrow £40-£50 for my night out?"

-And you was, like, "Really?"

-How embarrassing.

With all my friends, as well.

So the first thing Ashley did on Monday was to contact his bank

and ask why his card had been rejected,

but he couldn't believe the explanation he was given.

When I rang the bank, the lady on the phone said,

"Oh, you've been deceased". And I was, like, "Deceased?"

She said, "Yes. I've declared you deceased".

I said, like, "I'm on the phone to you now, how can I be deceased?"

I can't believe you found it funny.

I did find it funny at first and I was telling my friends at work,

and my manager said to me, "I think you need to go up to the bank".

It needed sorting, there and then.

You don't just get declared deceased for no reason.

But, for some reason, Lloyds Bank considered Ashley was dead.

But, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary,

it seemed this wasn't easily put right.

When Ashley contacted the bank's fraud team,

they told him to go back to his local branch with ID

to prove that he was actually alive.

But when he did that, he was again told to contact the fraud team.

It seemed clear to Ashley that his bank had no idea what to do

if a man that they thought was dead suddenly showed up

wanting access to his account.

Nobody could believe it.

It was at the end of January and I'd just been paid, as well,

so my whole wage was in there and it froze all my phone bills

and all my direct debits.

Unable to touch his cash, Ashley was in limbo.

And his bank seemed at a total loss as to how to resolve the situation.

One of the supervisors at the Lloyds in Scotland said

I need to prove that I'm actually declared deceased.

And I was, like, "Well, it's on your statements. It's on your documents".

And he's, like, "It's not.

"I'm looking at my system now and your account's fully up and active."

It's been two weeks now and I'm still classed as deceased.

My money from my company is still just floating around

and I don't actually have access to it,

so I'm borrowing money off everyone.

I think that's when we thought it wasn't a joke

-and we started to panic.

-That was scary.

We're just two normal people

and how are we supposed to go up and prove ourselves

and fight against the bank?

With no way of accessing his own money,

Ashley asked his boss to pay his salary into Georgina's account.

My friends used to say, "You're getting pocket money off your girlfriend!"

I was, like, "Well, no. I'm declared dead".

And they're all laughing, saying, "Of course you are!"

I couldn't even treat you without asking you for the bank card.

Oh, no. You'd have to ask your mum.

On the advice of a friend,

Ashley took his case to the Financial Ombudsman.

But because the case was still active with Lloyds Bank,

who were requesting further proof, that proved a dead-end.

So to try and sort things out a different way, Ashley and Georgina

went to a different bank to open a joint bank account.

It said, "Oh, no, look, you're dead on the system."

The bank manager was shocked and she said,

"You need to ring the bereavement team".

And the bereavement team said, "Well, is he not dead?"

They were, like, "No. He's got his driving licence,

"his passport and some documents in front of us

"with his address on and he's not dead."

Ashley was horrified to find that he was considered deceased

at more than just his own bank.

One possible way of checking his personal status was to sign up

to a credit-checking service so that he could see

if all his creditors considered him to be dead.

That way, he'd get the evidence

needed for the Financial Ombudsman to consider his case.

That's when we got the first breakthrough.

The document came through and it said I was deceased.

And I was, like, "Finally, we've got a leg to stand on."

A little bit of evidence to go with us.

Ashley went back to the Financial Ombudsman

and, at that point, Lloyds accepted full responsibility.

The bank was told to remove the information blocking

Ashley's credit rating,

refund the interest and the charges to his account

and convert the overdraft into an interest-free loan.

The compensation in total would be £750,

but Ashley felt that it didn't go anywhere near making up

for all the problems the situation had caused.

Because whilst all this had been going on,

Ashley and Georgina had been trying to get a mortgage.

But, with Ashley deemed deceased,

Georgina's father had to come out of retirement

and put his name down on the deeds.

But, because of his age,

they'd had no choice but to commit to an 18-year mortgage,

meaning they'd have to pay £300 a month more

than if it had been Ashley named on the mortgage.

Why wouldn't they just admit they made a mistake and rectify it?

Why have they had to spiral it out into such a big thing?

How has it managed to take so long?

If a manager just logged onto the system

when we went into the bank and looked at the two forms

of identification and just said, "Sorry, this is an error,"

I wouldn't have even looked at it going any further.

I would've just been, like, "That's fine."

And the nightmare didn't even end

when the bank accepted that Ashley was very much alive.

That felt like a massive relief, but then,

when they sent the first documents through saying

that you've got 12 months of overdraft charges

because you've not paid your overdraft,

-and then there was, like, £900 worth of...

-Charges.

..charges come through.

Ashley was not happy.

He can't see why he should be left with any of the problems

that came about during the time that the bank thought he was dead.

Over the past two years, one in three borrowers

who've checked their credit reports say they have discovered a mistake.

So we've asked the British Banking Association

for some advice if you find an error.

What's really important is that when a mistake is made, it's cleared up.

If you've got to eight weeks and the issue still hasn't been resolved,

the bank is seeing things differently from you,

ask for a deadlock letter. Once you've got that letter,

you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

That is a really useful, free, impartial service

that will take up your complaint and look at it afresh.

When we contacted Lloyds Bank,

it told us that it was "very sorry"

for the difficulties Ashley has experienced because of its mistake.

The bank said it's worked with Ashley

and the Financial Ombudsman Service to "put things right"

and will follow the instructions of the Ombudsman's findings.

It added that it does feel the level of compensation offered

is appropriate.

But, as Ashley doesn't feel that he can trust his life with his bank,

he isn't so sure he wants to trust his money with it either,

so he's going to stick to getting pocket money from Georgina.

We'd just like Lloyds to rectify their error

and put us in the position we were in before.

Not one person has contacted me from Lloyds

to give me a reasonable explanation

for why they actually declared me as being deceased on the account.

I can't wait for this to be dead and buried.

Something many of us do our best NOT to think about is

what might happen as we get older

and we lose the ability to make the right decisions at the right time,

and maybe no longer have the capacity

to manage our money or affairs ourselves.

So a lot of us - and I have to admit, myself included -

avoid having the crucial conversations with family or friends

that actually would help us plan ahead

for exactly those types of situation.

But with so many of you writing to us at Rip Off Britain

about the problems that can arise as a result,

it actually got me thinking a little bit more about my own family and future,

and led to my son Michael and I discussing those difficult

but absolutely crucial questions that, quite frankly,

I shouldn't have put off.

Family time,

moments to be treasured and never to be taken for granted.

But, you know, as we get older,

how many of us have the foresight to plan ahead

for who will be in control of the important decisions

should we become unable to think or care for ourselves?

If you don't plan for the future,

apparently things can get very complicated and very expensive.

So I'm meeting up with one of my sons, Michael,

to discuss a plan for our family future

that, quite frankly, neither of us truly want to talk about.

I guess this is a really odd conversation to have

and, if I'm being truthful, if I wasn't doing Rip Off Britain,

I probably wouldn't be having the conversation.

And, equally, it wouldn't be something that I would raise with you.

It's a... It's a tricky one because it's almost who mentions it first.

It's funny, really, because as I have never really thought of this before,

although I'm very practical in all my other financial things,

very practical, and I think very much in charge of it.

The sort of conversation I'm about to have with Michael

isn't going to be that easy.

But if you don't have it,

and leave things to your family to sort out much later, it could end up

being a costly and drawn-out process for everybody concerned.

As it was, indeed, for Jill Hutchison from Bath

after her dad James was diagnosed with Alzheimer's back in 2013.

My dad has three children

and during his working life was very successful.

He loved playing golf.

He just had a lovely life, really.

We first started to notice that he was becoming forgetful

and he very quickly seemed to not be able to do day-to-day tasks,

so he would be forgetful about where he was

and how to get back from where he was.

And he was also quite forgetful

about where he'd left his money,

what he was doing with his money...

And given that he'd always been very careful with that,

that became a bit concerning.

But by the time of his diagnosis,

it was too late for Jill to take charge of her dad's finances

and, indeed, his care needs.

James was no longer deemed legally able to give his consent,

which forced the family into months of toing and froing,

gathering evidence from his medical team

and visiting James's lawyer in Edinburgh,

in order to convince them that the family

should have the right to act in James's interests.

After my dad was diagnosed,

we confronted quite a lot of legal difficulties

because he was no longer seen to be of sound mind.

We didn't really know where to go from there

and felt that we'd hit a brick wall.

Of course, all of that could have been avoided

had James signed a legal document that in England and Wales

is called a Lasting Power of Attorney or LPA.

It means that you're able to nominate someone you trust

to handle your affairs IF you become unable to do it yourself.

Well, it seems pretty clear to me

that registering a Lasting Power of Attorney

is a truly sensible thing to do

in terms of planning for your family's future.

But then you hit the big question - when are you supposed to do it?

When is the right time?

And how do you go about it?

There's a common misconception that

Lasting Power of Attorney should be made

when someone starts to lose mental capacity or, indeed, has lost it

and that's completely wrong.

Because, of course, if you've lost mental capacity,

you can't make a Lasting Power of Attorney.

'I've brought Michael along to sit down with solicitor Gary

'and find out what all of this really means for our futures.'

The correct time to be making Lasting Power of Attorney

is when you've got capacity,

when you feel comfortable about making a choice about your future.

But who then decides when you don't have capacity?

The law says everyone has capacity until it can be proved otherwise.

Now, I can see the logic of all of that,

but I must admit, as yet, deep down,

I don't like the idea of handing over this level of power

if there's a chance that anybody could act against my wishes.

Making a Lasting Power of Attorney

is not signing everything over at that point in time.

It's being sensible and just planning for that day in the future.

As Jill found out,

failing to nominate a Lasting Power of Attorney early on

can prove time-consuming and frustrating

when decisions need to be made.

In the end, her situation was resolved

thanks to the intervention of her dad's consultant,

who helped the family get the Lasting Power of Attorney

that they needed.

The consultant wrote a letter to the lawyer to say

that, as far as he was concerned, my dad was capable of giving

that Power of Attorney to us

and that was what my dad wanted.

And, in the end, the lawyer agreed.

You can set up a Lasting Power of Attorney yourself

for the £110 that it costs to obtain the document

or, if you prefer, leaving it to the experts,

you can pay a solicitor to set one up for you.

It's probably around £500, £600 to go and see a solicitor,

to sit down, have a conversation like this

and talk about all the options.

The other option is to do it yourself.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

are supervised by the Office of the Public Guardian.

You can go on to the OPG website - it's on the gov.uk website -

and you can bring up the Lasting Power of Attorney forms

and you can literally fill them in online.

If you don't like doing things online, you can ring up the OPG

and they will send you a pack in the post.

Now, if you do decide to do it yourself,

you must, must remember to register your forms with

the Office of the Public Guardian to make it all legal

and I'm quite sure my Michael has taken all of this on board.

Well, I didn't really know what Power of Attorney meant.

I thought I did and I thought it was just about people

who were older and potentially with a medical condition like dementia,

so it's something that I'm definitely going to consider.

I have to be really honest and say that I have learned a lot

through that chat between Gary and Michael, of course.

But what was really interesting...

I was only really thinking of somebody in my age bracket and beyond,

but what I learned is the fact that it is just as important

for somebody like Michael, who's young,

to think about that Power of Attorney.

And it's certainly given me food for thought.

I've done my will, I'm looking at inheritance tax,

and Power of Attorney is next on the list.

Here at Rip Off Britain, we're always ready to investigate

more of your stories.

Confused over your bills

or feel you're paying well over the odds?

It's far too small

and it's done on purpose, so that you can't actually read it.

People will look at it and say, "I can't be bothered reading that."

Unsure what to do when you discover you've lost out

and that great deal has ended up costing you money?

People are buying into this - I did -

and are they going to be as awkward with them as they were with me?

You might have a cautionary tale of your own

and want to share the mistakes you made with us

so that other people don't do the same thing.

Just fobbed off completely...and very disappointed.

You can write to us at...

Or you can send us an e-mail to...

The Rip Off team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.

Well, as we've just seen,

battling on even when it looks as if you're getting nowhere

really can reap rewards, sometimes in a way that's truly life-changing.

It just goes to show how important it is to explore

every avenue available when it comes to fighting for your rights.

But of course, as our stories have shown, it can be a very long

and drawn-out process with a lot of soul-searching along the way.

And indeed, there are some situations where, sadly,

it may turn out that, for whatever reason,

you didn't make the right decisions.

But, when that is the case, telling us can

at least mean that we make sure that others don't end up

getting caught out in the same way.

So, as ever, if you've got something that you think that we

and indeed the entire Rip-Off Britain team should be investigating,

then please, do get in touch with us,

because we do really love to hear from you.

And, whenever possible, we do want to help.

But I'm afraid that it's on that note that we have to leave you for today,

because, once again, we've run out of time.

But, we will be back with lots more of your stories very soon.

So, until that happens, thanks for joining us today.

-And from everyone on the Rip-Off team, bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Goodbye.