0:00:02 > 0:00:04We asked you to tell us what's left you feeling ripped off,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07and you contacted us in your thousands.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10You've told us about the companies you think get it wrong and
0:00:10 > 0:00:13the customer service that simply is not up to scratch.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16They should be looking after their customers and they don't.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20Loyalty to the customers is a very low priority.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23You've asked us to track down the scammers who stole your money
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and investigate the extra charges you say are unfair.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Big companies, big corporations, are more into the money
0:00:29 > 0:00:31and the numbers than they are about the people.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34And when you've lost out but no-one else is to blame,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37you've come to us to stop others falling into the same trap.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40It genuinely feels like I'm getting ripped off.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44So whether it's a blatant rip-off or a genuine mistake...
0:00:44 > 0:00:47We're here to find out why you're out of pocket and what you
0:00:47 > 0:00:49can do about it.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Your stories, your money - this is Rip-Off Britain.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain, the programme that's
0:00:58 > 0:01:02here to help you get the most from every penny you spend.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04We want to make sure you don't end up out of pocket because of
0:01:04 > 0:01:08things like unexpected bills, excessive charges or, indeed,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10someone else's mistake.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Now, we all know how important it is to look after our money but if,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17for whatever reason, the rug is suddenly pulled out from underneath
0:01:17 > 0:01:20you, it can really hit your bank balance where it hurts, badly.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24And in some cases, the damage it does to your credit rating
0:01:24 > 0:01:27can have a disastrous long-term effect on your finances.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Now, in several of the situations we're going to be hearing about,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34those problems can be fixed but there are some unforeseen
0:01:34 > 0:01:35events that can't be changed,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38and that's certainly the case for a group of women that I had
0:01:38 > 0:01:41the pleasure of meeting earlier this year in one of our pop-up shops.
0:01:41 > 0:01:42Like millions of others,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45they have found that their whole financial future
0:01:45 > 0:01:48has been thrown into chaos and it seems that there's
0:01:48 > 0:01:52absolutely nothing that they can do about it.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Also coming up, the mobile phone giant whose billing mistakes
0:01:56 > 0:01:59have cost thousands of customers months of misery.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01I was absolutely furious.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04I thought, "There's no way that I'm paying the bill.
0:02:04 > 0:02:05"They're taking the mick!"
0:02:05 > 0:02:08And how millions of us may unwittingly be giving
0:02:08 > 0:02:11companies a front door key to our bank accounts,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14allowing them to dip in just whenever they like.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18I think it's really unfair that he was able to keep my card details
0:02:18 > 0:02:20to just be able to take £50 from my account.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22It's just totally unfair.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Now, we hear a lot about companies that get things wrong.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30After all, we wouldn't be here if they didn't.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33But there are few mistakes more annoying and potentially
0:02:33 > 0:02:35damaging than billing mistakes,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38especially if they mean that you end up paying more than you
0:02:38 > 0:02:42should or because you're accused of owing money when you don't.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44But the billing mistakes that are made by one of the UK's
0:02:44 > 0:02:48biggest names are in a league of their own and, potentially,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51they have far-reaching consequences.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53And to make matters worse, the system that's being blamed
0:02:53 > 0:02:57for these mistakes was actually brought in to make things better.
0:02:59 > 0:03:00On this series,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04we often turn to digital guru David McClelland for advice.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06It's not out of warranty. It's still in warranty.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10- He's been helping us out for four years.- That's a lot.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13But even David's tech savvy wasn't enough to keep him out of
0:03:13 > 0:03:16trouble when he recently changed his mobile phone deal.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Clearly, there's something that has gone very, very wrong
0:03:20 > 0:03:21in this transaction.
0:03:21 > 0:03:22For the past four years,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26David has been one of 20 million Vodafone customers.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29It's the country's third biggest mobile phone provider and,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33since autumn 2015, by far the most complained about.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36In the first three months of the year, industry regulator
0:03:36 > 0:03:42Ofcom received 29 complaints for every 100,000 Vodafone customers.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46That's almost four times as many as any other mobile phone company.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49And David was one of those complainants.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52He'd been a relatively happy Vodafone customer until
0:03:52 > 0:03:56he upgraded his contract just a few months ago.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59I saw a new deal that I wanted to sign up to that gave
0:03:59 > 0:04:03me unlimited calls, unlimited texts and 20 gigabytes of data per month.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09So I snapped it up and I got a Sim after two or three days for
0:04:09 > 0:04:11this new deal.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Unfortunately, that Sim didn't work but his regular monthly costs
0:04:15 > 0:04:18kicked in straightaway as if all was going swimmingly.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20Of course, David complained but,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24after hours spent in online chats with customer services and
0:04:24 > 0:04:28trying out various replacement Sim cards that still didn't work, David
0:04:28 > 0:04:32was getting fed up of being billed for a service he couldn't use.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36It took about six weeks for me to be in a position whereby I could
0:04:36 > 0:04:41start making phone calls and start using the data on this new contract.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44However, that wasn't the end of my problems because I was now
0:04:44 > 0:04:46being charged twice as much.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48First of all, I'd been charged all of this time when I didn't
0:04:48 > 0:04:50have the use of my phone and then, secondly,
0:04:50 > 0:04:55I was being charged twice as much as the original price that I bought at.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00The £20 a month David had signed up for had now doubled to £40
0:05:00 > 0:05:03a month and he was just as frustrated at the cost to his
0:05:03 > 0:05:07time in trying to get Vodafone to sort everything out.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10If I were to add up all of the time I've spent,
0:05:10 > 0:05:11either on the phone,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14on hold or going round in circles between different customer
0:05:14 > 0:05:19service reps or on the online chat, if I added all of that up,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22I think I'd be in excess of 24 hours.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26That's how long I've spent chasing up my query from the beginning
0:05:26 > 0:05:27to the end.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30And it's incredibly frustrating because you're having to
0:05:30 > 0:05:33tell your story again and again.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36But David was just one of many Vodafone customers
0:05:36 > 0:05:38experiencing problems around the same time.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42In autumn 2015, the company made some big changes to its
0:05:42 > 0:05:46customer services and billing system and, somewhere along the line,
0:05:46 > 0:05:47something went wrong.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Thousands of customers complained about being put on the wrong tariff,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54direct debits being set up incorrectly
0:05:54 > 0:05:56and other mistakes with their bills.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00In autumn 2015, the number of complaints
0:06:00 > 0:06:03from its customers escalated.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07Vodafone says that it spent £2 billion consolidating
0:06:07 > 0:06:12a number of different databases into a single state-of-the-art system.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14It's kind of ironic, really, isn't it,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18that Vodafone's invested a lot of money to create something to improve
0:06:18 > 0:06:23customer experience but exactly the opposite's gone and happened?
0:06:23 > 0:06:24Vodafone said, at the time,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27that it had underestimated the disruption that the new system
0:06:27 > 0:06:31would cause and that it was working hard to sort the problems out.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35And whether it succeeded or it was sheer persistence on his part
0:06:35 > 0:06:39that solved David's problem, after seven weeks of complaining,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Vodafone did correct his bills.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47Finally, my situation got resolved and I don't know how I did it.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50And I don't know whether there's a counter - the number of times
0:06:50 > 0:06:53you phone up, the number of times you're on the online chat -
0:06:53 > 0:06:55and I just went past the 20-hour mark or something and it
0:06:55 > 0:06:59flagged it up to a manager and she took ownership of the issue in
0:06:59 > 0:07:02a way that nobody else had done up until that point.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05David has stuck with Vodafone for the time being but the whole
0:07:05 > 0:07:08episode has left a bad taste in his mouth.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11I can only speak about my own experiences
0:07:11 > 0:07:14and they were very, very poor indeed and I would find it difficult,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16based upon those experiences,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19to recommend Vodafone to anyone else at the moment.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23And in his day job as a tech expert, he's come across
0:07:23 > 0:07:26dozens of fellow Vodafone customers who might feel the same.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29There do appear to have been some systematic failures within
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Vodafone's internal systems,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36such that we don't know the true scale of the problem here.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38A lot of people, more people than ever before,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40have flown the flag and said, "We've got a problem.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42"We're being charged too much.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44"We're getting black marks against our credit record,"
0:07:44 > 0:07:46all sorts of horrible things.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49And certainly, since its new systems were introduced,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52we've had more e-mails from Vodafone customers than about any
0:07:52 > 0:07:56other mobile phone provider, with every single one of them about
0:07:56 > 0:07:58a billing problem.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Among those to contact us was Christine Hanks from
0:08:01 > 0:08:02Pontefract in Yorkshire.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09Her Vodafone troubles started during a holiday in the West Country.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13I had service fine on the Friday, I had internet, I was texting
0:08:13 > 0:08:17people to say I'd arrived OK, and then I got up Saturday morning
0:08:17 > 0:08:24and I couldn't phone out, but then I wasn't receiving any calls either.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27But I thought, "Well, I'm away," so it wasn't really a problem.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Thinking she was simply in an area with poor reception,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Christine thought little more about it until she got home and her
0:08:34 > 0:08:36phone wasn't working there either.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39So she took it into a Vodafone shop and, after about a fortnight
0:08:39 > 0:08:43of toing and froing, they got things working properly again.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Eventually got my service back.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49It was all back online and I was back up and running,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51the phone was fine.
0:08:51 > 0:08:59They offered me a £40 credit for non-use of my phone.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02But, as happened with David, once Christine's service problems
0:09:02 > 0:09:05were sorted, her billing problems began.
0:09:05 > 0:09:11I expected the next bill to be £40 less going out of my account
0:09:11 > 0:09:15in the July. That didn't happen so I phoned them up.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17They said, "We're really sorry about this,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20"it will get knocked off your next bill."
0:09:20 > 0:09:24But it was the same story in August, September and then in October.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Vodafone didn't put the promised credit on her bill and,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31by then, Christine's patience had run out.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34I decided to leave Vodafone. I'd had enough.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39The customer service was absolutely dire. I wasn't getting anywhere.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41You know, it had taken them two weeks to sort the server
0:09:41 > 0:09:47problem out. Surely, a debit problem could have been sorted out in a day?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50So Christine cancelled her contract but,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53as you might have guessed, it wasn't going to be that easy.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57When the final settlement bill came, I still hadn't got
0:09:57 > 0:10:01the £40 credit that they'd promised me back in June.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Um...I was furious, really. I was absolutely furious.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09I thought, "There's no way that I'm paying the bill.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11"They're taking the mick!"
0:10:11 > 0:10:16Vodafone were asking for nearly £300 to cancel the contract but Christine
0:10:16 > 0:10:20refused to pay up until they gave her the promised £40 credit.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Then in December,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26a representative of the company called up to make an offer.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31£130 and that was it - that would close the account and everything.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35I said, "Yes, that's great." So I offered to pay there and then.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38He said, "No, wait while you get the paperwork."
0:10:38 > 0:10:40He wanted it in black-and-white
0:10:40 > 0:10:43and I thought, "Yes, that's a good idea, really,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46"I'll wait until I get the final bill, £130."
0:10:46 > 0:10:49And to this day, I've never received a final bill.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Six months and numerous e-mails, phone calls and letters later,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56the situation remains unresolved and,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59because the disputed bill hasn't been paid,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Christine is now being pursued by a debt collection agency.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06It's just ridiculous that it's still not sorted out.
0:11:06 > 0:11:12I'm now receiving debt letters and, obviously, they'll be going up.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Now, although David, Christine and the other viewers we've heard
0:11:15 > 0:11:20from did all notice that Vodafone was billing them incorrectly,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22some of the sums involved were relatively small
0:11:22 > 0:11:25so they could quite easily have gone unnoticed by someone who
0:11:25 > 0:11:30doesn't check their bill each month, which is why, in June 2016,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34the website MoneySavingExpert.com advised all 20 million
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Vodafone customers to check their bills in detail and look for
0:11:38 > 0:11:41potential mistakes caused by what it called
0:11:41 > 0:11:44systematic failures at Vodafone.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46But when we contacted Vodafone, it said that,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48since the start of 2016,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52it's implemented numerous specific improvements to its systems,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56boosting training, and made significant investments in
0:11:56 > 0:11:59additional UK call centre resources.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03As a result, the company says it's receiving around 20,000 fewer
0:12:03 > 0:12:07customer calls per day and has seen a 90% drop in customers
0:12:07 > 0:12:10asking for their bills to be recalculated.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14And while it says the early benefits of its significant efforts
0:12:14 > 0:12:18also include a fall in the number of complaints to both Ofcom and
0:12:18 > 0:12:22the telecoms ombudsman, it's pledged to continue to work hard and
0:12:22 > 0:12:27invest significantly to further improve its customers' experience.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Vodafone has apologised to any customer who's had an issue
0:12:30 > 0:12:33with its customer service, including David, whose problems it
0:12:33 > 0:12:38accepts should have been sorted sooner, and Christine.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42It's now removed all the outstanding charges on her account and
0:12:42 > 0:12:46offered her a goodwill payment of £150 in recognition
0:12:46 > 0:12:48of the issues that she faced.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51But while the company's confident that its problems are in the past,
0:12:51 > 0:12:56David has this advice for any customer who thinks their own issue
0:12:56 > 0:12:58has not been satisfactorily resolved.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02If you don't get suitable feedback from them,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06then lodge an official complaint on the Vodafone website.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08And at that point, if all else fails,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11then go to the Communications Services Ombudsman.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16They are an independent body who will look at all of the facts
0:13:16 > 0:13:17in the case.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Over the last few months,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23they've found in roughly 60% of the cases that the customer had
0:13:23 > 0:13:25a valid complaint and Vodafone was in the wrong.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Now, here's a topic we know really gets your goat because you
0:13:34 > 0:13:37send us dozens of e-mails about it every month.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Here's how it goes - you sign up for a free trial of something,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44say, gym membership or movie streaming services or
0:13:44 > 0:13:48magazine subscriptions or whatever, then a few weeks later,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52you discover you're now paying for that service and that's because,
0:13:52 > 0:13:53whether you realise it or not,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56you've agreed to an automatic renewal of whatever it was
0:13:56 > 0:14:00you signed up to, meaning companies can charge you without having
0:14:00 > 0:14:02to ask your permission every time.
0:14:02 > 0:14:03Now, in theory,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07that's really convenient but the banks get hundreds of
0:14:07 > 0:14:09complaints about this every day because,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12if you have unwittingly given a company permission to take
0:14:12 > 0:14:14money from your account,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17there's usually very little you can do to get it back.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Now, you wouldn't normally give anyone permission to dip into your
0:14:22 > 0:14:26bank account whenever they decided they're entitled to, would you?
0:14:26 > 0:14:30But millions of us do that every day by agreeing to make payments
0:14:30 > 0:14:33with what's called a continuous payment authority.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Around half of us have done so but that doesn't mean we have
0:14:37 > 0:14:39a clue how it works.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45I haven't knowingly signed up for a continuous payment authority
0:14:45 > 0:14:48and I really wouldn't know what it meant.
0:14:48 > 0:14:54I've taken one out but I actually didn't know about them taking
0:14:54 > 0:14:57money out, and I'm not very happy about that at all.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02I would be concerned that perhaps companies could abuse that and get
0:15:02 > 0:15:05people to sign up for things without them realising
0:15:05 > 0:15:07what they're signing up for.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11And that's a major concern for Trading Standards who
0:15:11 > 0:15:17recently warned that one of the biggest threats to consumers today is the so-called subscription traps,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21where you sign up for a free or special offer only to be trapped
0:15:21 > 0:15:24into making monthly payments which then prove difficult to stop.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31We've reported on the worst kind of continuous payment authority or CPA before.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36But most of these recurring payments are used by respectable,
0:15:36 > 0:15:37everyday businesses.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43Netflix, Amazon Prime and magazine subscription services are
0:15:43 > 0:15:44among those who use them.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47So they don't have to fiddle about with standing orders
0:15:47 > 0:15:51or direct debits and customers don't have to remember to pay.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53But here at Rip Off Britain,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56we still get a lot of e-mails about CPAs,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59usually from people who weren't aware they'd even signed up for one.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03And at this RBS NatWest call centre,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07staff are on the receiving end of the same complaint.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Around us, the team here are taking calls from customers.
0:16:10 > 0:16:16One average, 1,500 customers per day are contacting us around
0:16:16 > 0:16:18a continuing payment authority.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19What's really interesting is,
0:16:19 > 0:16:25that we find that 85% of customers who have signed up to a free trial
0:16:25 > 0:16:29are not aware that they've signed up to a continuing payment authority.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34And typically, we're their first port of call when they contact us to say, "What's happened here?"
0:16:34 > 0:16:37What that then means for us is we have to actively educate all of
0:16:37 > 0:16:42those customers and we also need to let them know that they had given the authority.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46But we then need to help them understand how to better protect themselves going forward.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51But when companies do explain in plain terms how these payments work,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54it can make regular transactions quick and simple.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58We see reputable companies use continuous payment authorities
0:16:58 > 0:17:00in a really responsible manner.
0:17:00 > 0:17:01They'll notify the customer
0:17:01 > 0:17:04a few days before they are about to take out another payment.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08And that's fine if you agree with what's been charged.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11But as Alice Ridgley from High Wycombe discovered,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15there can be a very big downside when you've given a company access to your account.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Alice is a busy mum so anything that makes life easier is a bonus.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24I've got two boys, they're five and six.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27One of them needs a wheelchair for when we're going round the supermarket.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30I think any mum finds shopping stressful with little ones.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35In April 2015, Alice decided to ease the pressure by signing up
0:17:35 > 0:17:39to a home delivery fruit and vegetable service, Kelly's Vegies.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43She'd get a box of fresh produce delivered to her door every month.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47And after a free trial, a continuous payment authority gave the
0:17:47 > 0:17:51business permission to take £30 from her account each time.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56There's a lot of choice out there
0:17:56 > 0:17:59for fruit and veg boxes but this was local and to offer you
0:17:59 > 0:18:03a free child box, to me, sounded like an absolute winner.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06The quality of the fruit and vegetables, I never had any complaints about.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08My children loved the fruit and vegetable box arriving.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12They loved not knowing what was going to be in there and the surprise.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Though she hadn't realised the free trial would roll on to into
0:18:15 > 0:18:21continuing subscription, Alice was at first happy to continue receiving the boxes.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24But after seven months, she decided to cancel the service because
0:18:24 > 0:18:27she always ended up with too much left over.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31She assumed that would mean the end of her contract with Kelly's Vegies,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34and to the company taking money out of her back account.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39But a week after receiving her last crate of fruit and veg,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41Alice got an e-mail from Kelly Wheeler,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44the owner of the business informing her that due to an apparent
0:18:44 > 0:18:47missed collection on one of the company's crates,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50her account had been charged £20.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Now you might wonder how it is that money you haven't explicitly
0:18:55 > 0:18:59authorised can simply be taken out of your account.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Well, continuous payments may at first seem rather like a direct debit
0:19:03 > 0:19:05but, in fact, they are very different.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Most crucially because, more often than not,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11what you've actually agreed to is for the company you're dealing with
0:19:11 > 0:19:15to take money from your card whenever it decides that's appropriate.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17I knew Kelly's Vegies
0:19:17 > 0:19:19had my card details and I knew they'd be able to charge
0:19:19 > 0:19:22me for the fruit and vegetables but I didn't think about the
0:19:22 > 0:19:26implications of the company having my card details
0:19:26 > 0:19:29to then impose any other charges...
0:19:30 > 0:19:33..to my card as and when they wished.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37When Alice contacted the company's owner, he quoted their terms
0:19:37 > 0:19:42and conditions which made clear his right to levy extra charges
0:19:42 > 0:19:45in situations such as failing to put out a box for collection.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49But not having realised that before
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and annoyed that her money had been taken without any warning,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Alice left a review of her experience online
0:19:55 > 0:19:57so others would be in
0:19:57 > 0:20:02no doubt as to the implications of the company's terms and conditions.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I don't believe my review was nasty in any way.
0:20:05 > 0:20:06I was honest about the produce.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08I said the produce was actually good.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13I just thought that other people should be aware of the terms and conditions.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16But that's when things got really messy.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Because to Alice's horror,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22money was taken out of her account for that too.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27Within 24 hours, I got an e-mail from Kelly to say that he had
0:20:27 > 0:20:32taken £50 from my bank account for leaving a bad review online.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34And that if I was to remove the review,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36he would give me my £50 back.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39He then went on to say every day that I left the bad review up
0:20:39 > 0:20:43online, he would take another £50 from my card and would charge
0:20:43 > 0:20:46me £50 every day while it was there.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49On rechecking the terms and conditions online,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Alice saw a clause had been added stating that customers could
0:20:53 > 0:20:56be charged for posting negative reviews.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58And while you should be able to cancel
0:20:58 > 0:21:00a continuous payment authority
0:21:00 > 0:21:03by simply asking the company or your bank to stop it,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07in this case, Alice felt the only way to be sure no more money
0:21:07 > 0:21:11could be taken from her account was to cancel her bank card altogether.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18But even doing that wasn't quite the end of Alice's troubles.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23The owner of Kelly's Vegies took her to court to try and get the money,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26although on the date of the hearing he didn't show up,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29meaning Alice automatically won the case.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33This isn't the first time the way Kelly's Vegies handles its
0:21:33 > 0:21:36continuous payments has called caused controversy.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41In 2015, the company fell foul of the Advertising Standards Authority
0:21:41 > 0:21:42which found that, at the time,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46the ads for its free trial box didn't make clear that
0:21:46 > 0:21:50signing up could be the beginning of an ongoing subscription.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52And for Mike Andrews from Trading Standards,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56it's vital that such information is obvious right away.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01The information around any ongoing commitment to pay and the
0:22:01 > 0:22:05full cost of the service has got to be presented to the consumer
0:22:05 > 0:22:06at the outset.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09So simply burying it in a long set of terms and conditions
0:22:09 > 0:22:11that the consumer may have ticked a box to say they've read those
0:22:11 > 0:22:14terms and conditions isn't good enough from our point of view.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17And that is clearly misleading and harmful to consumers.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21When we contacted Kelly's Vegies about Alice's case,
0:22:21 > 0:22:25it reiterated that the £20 charge made to her card for
0:22:25 > 0:22:29the collection of the crate was made according to its terms and
0:22:29 > 0:22:32conditions which Alice had signed up to.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35As for the charge it made for the review she posted online,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39the company maintains it was inaccurate and that malicious
0:22:39 > 0:22:43reviews can cause financial damage to small businesses.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46But it acknowledged that its new clause on this was created in
0:22:46 > 0:22:49a panic and shouldn't have been added and nor should Alice
0:22:49 > 0:22:52have ever been charged.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Kelly's Vegies said it understands the money is due to
0:22:55 > 0:23:00be repaid via Alice's card provider under the chargeback scheme.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03The company went on to say that following the ASA's ruling,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06it's amended its leaflets and has added its terms and
0:23:06 > 0:23:08conditions to the front page of its website.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12And it said that its service is not a subscription trap as
0:23:12 > 0:23:15accounts can be cancelled with immediate effect.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20But confusion around recurring payments and, in particular,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24how they can be stopped led in 2013 to the Financial Conduct Authority
0:23:24 > 0:23:27stepping in to remind banks of their obligation to
0:23:27 > 0:23:30cancel them if a customer requests it.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32And though that has made things clearer,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36according to Trading Standards, continuous payment authorities
0:23:36 > 0:23:40still generate a quite staggering number of complaints.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42The latest figures that we have are somewhere in the region
0:23:42 > 0:23:45of about two million consumers a year have some form of
0:23:45 > 0:23:48difficulty with a subscription service they have signed in to
0:23:48 > 0:23:50that they then want to try and get themselves out of.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55But there are plans to put more protection in place for consumers.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58What we're trying to work towards is a situation where the
0:23:58 > 0:24:02consumer can get some sort of recompense for the monies
0:24:02 > 0:24:05that they have already paid out and lost because the law isn't
0:24:05 > 0:24:08necessarily very clear on that particular point.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13In the meantime, if you're at all unsure about whether a free trial you're tempted by
0:24:13 > 0:24:17might lead to future charges, Mike has some very simple advice.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21If you were signing up to any sort of online service or
0:24:21 > 0:24:26free trial where it asks for the long card number off the front of
0:24:26 > 0:24:28your bank or credit card,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31that should immediately start raising suspicions
0:24:31 > 0:24:36unless it's made quite clear from the outset that there is a future obligation to pay
0:24:36 > 0:24:39but if there isn't, then we would urge consumers to look carefully at any terms and conditions or any
0:24:39 > 0:24:42other information that might be present on the website
0:24:42 > 0:24:45that demonstrates that there will be some sort of future payment.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47James, can you see the duck over there?
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Oh, yeah.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52As for Alice, she'd never appreciated exactly what
0:24:52 > 0:24:54a continuous payment authority can mean.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57I think the fact that they've got your card details and can
0:24:57 > 0:25:01charge you whenever they like for whatever they like,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03I just think it's a terrible practice.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I don't think people should have your cards and be able to
0:25:06 > 0:25:09amend their terms and conditions to suit the situation at the time
0:25:09 > 0:25:10and then charge you.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13It just doesn't seem right at all.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Still to come on Rip Off Britain, the change in pension rules
0:25:24 > 0:25:28that's left these women and millions more in uproar.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30All dreams for my retirement are shattered.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32What are all those women going to do?
0:25:32 > 0:25:35You know, what are we going to do if we're not getting our pensions?
0:25:40 > 0:25:42The Trafford Centre, Manchester,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47our venue for the latest Rip Off Britain pop-up shop.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50And as ever, our experts were determined to tackle as many
0:25:50 > 0:25:53of your consumer nightmares as they possibly could.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55- That's great advice.- Do you think it'll help?- Yeah, I do.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00As well as our busy shop, we had a busy gripe corner -
0:26:00 > 0:26:04your spot to drop in and tell us what really gets on your nerves.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06And the topic taking pole position...
0:26:06 > 0:26:11- Car insurance.- Car insurance. - Car insurance.- Car insurance for young drivers is so expensive.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Car insurance going up every year when I haven't even made a claim.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18I think it's absolutely scandalous what they charge young people nowadays.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20It's come up at double the price it was last year.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23My insurance quote just keeps going up and will it ever stop?
0:26:25 > 0:26:29We were sharing tips and advice right across the shopping centre.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And technology expert David McClelland was keen to test out
0:26:32 > 0:26:36a new way that it's hoped we can keep our personal details safe
0:26:36 > 0:26:40without having to remember all those pesky passwords.
0:26:40 > 0:26:41Some banks, building societies,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45other service providers are looking at new ways of securing us
0:26:45 > 0:26:48using bits of our body, biometrics, if you like, our voice,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50our thumbprints, our faces, selfie security -
0:26:50 > 0:26:53these are all technologies that will be with us very shortly indeed.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57To demonstrate how new ideas like this will work,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01David has brought along a mobile phone with a prototype banking app
0:27:01 > 0:27:03that uses the customer's voice instead of
0:27:03 > 0:27:05a password or other personal details.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10It's already up and running with one UK bank and in 2016,
0:27:10 > 0:27:16it's being rolled out to an estimated 19 million HSBC and TalkTalk customers.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17So, before you know it,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20this could well be the way that you'll be logging into your bank.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24So the first thing you need to do is to register your voice.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29What you're going to have to do is to say, "My voice is my password," three times.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31And from you saying it those three times,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34it will have all the information it needs to uniquely identify you.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36OK. My voice is my password.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39My voice is my password.
0:27:39 > 0:27:40And then a final time.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42My voice is my password.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45There we go. It says your pass phrase is now active.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49And to check if it really works, David tries to log into the
0:27:49 > 0:27:52new account with his voice using the same words.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54- OK, I'll do my best Northern Irish accent.- OK.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57- NORTHERN IRISH ACCENT: - My voice is my password.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58Oh, no. I can't log in.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01So do you think that people like Rory Bremner, do you think he,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05because he's very good at mimicking, do you think he could break that?
0:28:05 > 0:28:07No. They've tested this with identical twins
0:28:07 > 0:28:10who you would think have the same sort of vocal characteristics.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13They don't. They have different voices, different learned
0:28:13 > 0:28:15behaviours, different physical behaviours.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18So this stuff is so secure, it can even tell identical twins apart.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Oh, it's pretty clever, then.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23But to see what shoppers would think, we tested it out on
0:28:23 > 0:28:27one who, like many of us, struggles to remember her passwords.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31How secure do you feel with your passwords and with your online presences?
0:28:31 > 0:28:34It does make me a bit nervous and if you know me well enough,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36you know where I keep my passwords so you would be able to find them.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40So I suppose things like finger and voice recognition, I mean, I don't know much about them but...
0:28:40 > 0:28:44- Do you want to have a go? - My voice is my password.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Your pass phrase is active.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50- So then all I have to say is the same phrase again?- Yeah, you've got it.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52My voice is my password.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55- Welcome back.- Wow. - It's pretty secure.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58- Do you like it?- Absolutely.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59I mean, I signed up for cinema,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02things like that which I don't use regularly and every time I
0:29:02 > 0:29:06have to re-email for them to resend me passwords every time whereas
0:29:06 > 0:29:08that would be amazing.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12Back in the main part of our pop-up shop,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15personal finance journalist Sarah Pennells was meeting
0:29:15 > 0:29:18a number of women who all share the same problem.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22And it's one we know from our inbox is worrying many of you.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Wendy and her friends are part of an estimated 2.6 million women
0:29:27 > 0:29:29who only got a few years' notice
0:29:29 > 0:29:32that their pension age is going to rise,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35leaving them with a six-year gap between when they thought they were
0:29:35 > 0:29:39going to retire at 60 and the new age of 66 which is when they will
0:29:39 > 0:29:42now be eligible for their money.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46I did not have time to financially prepare for my retirement.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50So that has left me now in financial hardship along with thousands
0:29:50 > 0:29:52of other women throughout the country.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55Lynn worked in local government,
0:29:55 > 0:29:56Barbara was a teacher,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Sue's job was in further education,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01and Wendy worked for social services.
0:30:01 > 0:30:02I've been in work all my life.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06All that time I thought I could retire at 60,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08only to get to 58 years old
0:30:08 > 0:30:11and find out the goalposts had been moved.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14So all my dreams for my retirement are shattered.
0:30:14 > 0:30:19Between them, these women have paid 170 years of national insurance.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21But now with their main careers at an end,
0:30:21 > 0:30:25they say they're struggling to get a job that plugs the gap before
0:30:25 > 0:30:28they can draw the state pension at 66.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31So now I'm looking for a job and I can get interviews
0:30:31 > 0:30:34cos I got a lot of qualifications and experience but I can't
0:30:34 > 0:30:35actually land the job.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39And I'm going to be running out of Jobseeker's Allowance in a bit
0:30:39 > 0:30:42and because I've got a bit of savings but not much,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44I'm not going to be able to get any benefits.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Sarah, you've listened to what the ladies have said and clearly you are not alone.
0:30:47 > 0:30:53There is an entire generation out there of women who find themselves in exactly the same position.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55What can they do, if anything?
0:30:55 > 0:30:59The state pension age rise is by far and away the biggest issue
0:30:59 > 0:31:03that I get e-mails and comments and contact about.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06The real difficulty is there isn't an easy resolution of saying,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09"Do this and you'll get your state pension."
0:31:09 > 0:31:14We're hoping that the government will relook at it because they have done a very rapid age hike.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19Very rapid because anyone born before 1st April 1953
0:31:19 > 0:31:21is getting a pension.
0:31:21 > 0:31:27Anyone born after 1st April 1953 is having to wait three or four years more.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29The women are part of a campaign group
0:31:29 > 0:31:31lobbying Government on the issue.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33And Sarah thinks that this sort of pressure
0:31:33 > 0:31:36may make politicians look at this again.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39I am more hopeful about this than I have been for some time
0:31:39 > 0:31:44because we've had, I think, five debates in Parliament about
0:31:44 > 0:31:46the rises in state pension age.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49And, I think, it would be hard for the government to now do nothing
0:31:49 > 0:31:52which is what they've done up until now
0:31:52 > 0:31:56because there is so much pressure on this issue.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Across our two days at the Trafford Centre,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01it's a story we've heard again and again.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03I can't tell you, Angela, how angry I am about this.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05What are all those women going to do?
0:32:05 > 0:32:08You know, what are we going to do if we're not getting our pensions?
0:32:08 > 0:32:12But when we spoke to the Department for Work and Pensions about this,
0:32:12 > 0:32:19it told us that the plan to equalise men and women's state pension age was announced over 20 years ago.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23And that, even though the speed of doing that was changed in 2011,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26in response to a sharp rise in life expectancy,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30women today can still expect to receive a higher state pension
0:32:30 > 0:32:33over their lifetime than any women before them.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38And it added that there are no plans to make any further concessions.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40But despite that, it seems clear that this is
0:32:40 > 0:32:44a generation of women determined to keep fighting.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46The government is saying that they've had an enquiry and,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50the thing is, they haven't got a magic pot of money.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52Well, do you know? Neither have we.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57Now, if I was to say to you, "What's your number?"
0:32:57 > 0:33:00You might just think that I was talking about your phone number,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02your national insurance number or some other piece of
0:33:02 > 0:33:06information that I'll bet you can very easily put your hands on.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10But, you know, there's another number just as important to all our lives
0:33:10 > 0:33:12that we don't always give the attention it needs or, indeed,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16even know how to get it and that's our credit score.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21It's a number that can make all the difference to not just simple
0:33:21 > 0:33:26finance agreements but the most crucial life-changing ones as well.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30And, yet, many of us still don't really understand how credit ratings work
0:33:30 > 0:33:35or just how easily our scores can be affected by even the slightest mistake.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38Now, we hear a lot from people who have had problems with this.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42But as we discovered when Angela and personal finance expert Sarah Pennells
0:33:42 > 0:33:46did a bit of digging at our pop-up shop, we very often don't bother
0:33:46 > 0:33:51checking our credit rating until something has already gone wrong.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53Can I stop you for two minutes? Do you mind?
0:33:53 > 0:33:56- Do you know what a credit rating is? - Credit rating.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59More than a half of us have never checked our credit file,
0:33:59 > 0:34:02yet it is the key to unlocking finance from lenders.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Do you know what your credit rating is? Have you ever seen it?
0:34:05 > 0:34:07- I've never actually looked into it, no.- Never check it.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11- Why not?- Well, not for fear of what I might find. But I just think I'm good bet to be fair.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13There are actually a couple of reasons why it is
0:34:13 > 0:34:16a good idea to check your credit report.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18First is identity fraud and identity theft.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22It's a good way of finding out if somebody else has taken your details.
0:34:22 > 0:34:27Also, sometimes, you know, you might have a store card or a credit card that you don't use any more.
0:34:27 > 0:34:32And if you check your credit report, it's a really good reminder of actually what credit you've got.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35You had to cut a store account recently and I said,
0:34:35 > 0:34:41"Right, close it down," because it's just as, like, open lending that's still there.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44And these days, what lenders take into account,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48it's not just how much you borrow today, but how much you could borrow.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Yeah, that's it, yeah.
0:34:50 > 0:34:55So if you've got cards you don't use, but you could in theory go and spend £1,000.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58That might mean they think, "Well, we won't lend you this money
0:34:58 > 0:35:01"because they could go on a spending spree tomorrow."
0:35:01 > 0:35:05That's just one of dozens of factors that influence your credit score.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07And therefore control whether you're able
0:35:07 > 0:35:09to take out any kind of credit agreement,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13from loans and mortgages, right down to a new telephone contract.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16But if you're not the person responsible for whatever it
0:35:16 > 0:35:19was that brought your total down, it can feel really unfair.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Will Maddox from Canterbury has discovered just that.
0:35:24 > 0:35:30He was rejected for a new mobile phone contract because of an issue with his credit rating.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33Until that point, Will had no idea that he even had a credit score,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36let alone that applying for something
0:35:36 > 0:35:40as simple as a £12.99 a month phone could lead to problems.
0:35:40 > 0:35:45I went to the phone shop, they took a load of details which they put into a computer.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46The young man was very helpful.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50But having put all the details in, I could see that he was frowning.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55He then said, "I've obviously done something wrong. I'll try again."
0:35:55 > 0:35:56And this is what he did.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00He put the details in again and then he said, "I'm sorry, it's been rejected
0:36:00 > 0:36:02"because of your low credit score."
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Neither of them knew it but it was the assistant's initial
0:36:05 > 0:36:08mistake that ended up causing the problem because doing
0:36:08 > 0:36:12a credit check twice and so quickly in succession had an incident
0:36:12 > 0:36:15and negative impact on the Will's credit rating.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19At the time, though, all the assistant could do was
0:36:19 > 0:36:22flag up that there had been some kind of credit rating issue
0:36:22 > 0:36:25leaving Will rather baffled as to what was going on.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29His bank was able to reassure him that, in fact, he wasn't on
0:36:29 > 0:36:32a credit blacklist and that his rating was solid.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34And it was only when staff there suggested
0:36:34 > 0:36:38he speak to one of the credit rating agencies that Will was able
0:36:38 > 0:36:42to start piecing together exactly what had happened and discover how
0:36:42 > 0:36:45the phone shop's checks did have an impact.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49It appears that when I got the credit rating,
0:36:49 > 0:36:56I found that it had gone down by 14 points due, they said, to
0:36:56 > 0:37:01two recent apparent acquisitions on credit on that date
0:37:01 > 0:37:03which were at the phone shop.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05Now, although Will's credit rating is still considered
0:37:05 > 0:37:08excellent, the incident has made him concerned that
0:37:08 > 0:37:11a similar error might affect it again.
0:37:11 > 0:37:17I've been assured by the credit companies that I haven't a problem.
0:37:17 > 0:37:23But having done that, it still... there's still this niggle, "Have they missed something?"
0:37:23 > 0:37:27I do need to know, is the problem mine or theirs?
0:37:27 > 0:37:31So Will is going to Equifax along with Experian and Noddle,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34one of the UK's three main credit rating agencies, to better
0:37:34 > 0:37:37understand how the system works.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41These agencies hold records about every single piece of credit
0:37:41 > 0:37:43we've taken out in the past,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46and, crucially, how good we are at paying it back.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49Lenders then use that information to judge whether we are
0:37:49 > 0:37:51a good bet for credit in the future.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54I'm meeting him there to find out what we all need to do to
0:37:54 > 0:37:57make sure that we are on top of our own scores.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Lisa Hardstaff is showing us how it all works.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04- So what are the ratings? What do you actually say?- We have five ratings.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07I think it's actually the bands people should look at rather than
0:38:07 > 0:38:09numbers cos each credit reference agency
0:38:09 > 0:38:12has a different score because we have a different algorithm.
0:38:12 > 0:38:18But we have five - very poor, poor, fair, good and excellent.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21And it's those bands that you need to sort of try and work your way
0:38:21 > 0:38:24up through or maintain them if you're in that level.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28Regularly missing bill payments and defaulting on loans
0:38:28 > 0:38:32will reduce your score and could put you in a different band altogether.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35But as Will now knows, your score may even be affected simply by
0:38:35 > 0:38:38a company running a check.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41So each time, then, when somebody applies for
0:38:41 > 0:38:43a credit, is that making your score go down?
0:38:43 > 0:38:49What actually happens is, when you make an application for credit, that's recorded on your file.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52If you make multiple applications in a short period of time,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55then the lenders will see that you've been doing this and they
0:38:55 > 0:39:00could consider it as either you need credit desperately or
0:39:00 > 0:39:03you're unable to cope with the current credit that you have now.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06And that could be a factor in their making
0:39:06 > 0:39:08a decision about whether to give you more credit as well.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12It's perhaps to be expected that being seen to apply for too much
0:39:12 > 0:39:15credit can have an impact on your rating.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19But it turns out, rather to Will's and I must say, my own surprise,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23that not applying for enough can do exactly the same thing.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27I think one of the things that we often find is, as people get older
0:39:27 > 0:39:29and they've cleared off mortgages,
0:39:29 > 0:39:33they think they are a good credit risk and, in fact, when you
0:39:33 > 0:39:37apply for credit, the lenders look at the previous, say, six years' history.
0:39:38 > 0:39:45And if you don't have any credit, then you are at risk of being rejected.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47What do you mean by that, if you don't have any credit?
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Cos if you've paid all your bills and you think you're in a good position,
0:39:50 > 0:39:51just explain that a bit further.
0:39:51 > 0:39:56What that means is, they're looking for a pattern of paying off credit
0:39:56 > 0:40:00over a period of time and good behaviour so you pay it off on time and everything else.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05As you say, it seems to me that if you pay everything on time
0:40:05 > 0:40:08then you're being penalised, aren't you?
0:40:08 > 0:40:10What you've got to remember is that the lenders are looking for
0:40:10 > 0:40:15a pattern, a history of how you manage credit and, therefore, this
0:40:15 > 0:40:18is where they might then decide to decline you because there is
0:40:18 > 0:40:21no history showing that when you've had credit in the recent past
0:40:21 > 0:40:24that you have paid on time and cleared it off on time.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28But now that Will is aware of how even a simple mistake by somebody
0:40:28 > 0:40:31else can reduce your score and, therefore, your creditworthiness,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35he wants to know how to keep his rating as healthy as possible.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39Missing a payment is the single most damaging thing that could affect it.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43But if such a key detail is on your record by mistake,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46it could have a devastating effect in the future.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49In the year up to April 2016,
0:40:49 > 0:40:54the Financial Ombudsman Service saw an extraordinary 86% increase
0:40:54 > 0:40:59in complaints about credit report errors that weren't the consumer's fault.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02But that still had an impact on the amount that they were allowed to borrow.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Fortunately, though, it is possible to remove incorrect details
0:41:06 > 0:41:08that are stored on your file.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11So how difficult is it to correct your score?
0:41:11 > 0:41:13If it is wrong information, then you can put
0:41:13 > 0:41:17a challenge in and you go to the credit reference agency of
0:41:17 > 0:41:21your choice, you go in, you raise a complaint against it and they
0:41:21 > 0:41:26will liaise with the company to make sure that the information is correct.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30It's really not difficult to check whether your own credit records are correct.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33You can find out exactly how to do it on our website -
0:41:33 > 0:41:36the address of which is coming up in just a moment.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39But with some of the advice he's taken from today's meeting,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43Will has since seen his credit score actually increase and from now on,
0:41:43 > 0:41:45he's determined to keep it in check.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53If you've got a story you'd like us to investigate,
0:41:53 > 0:41:55there are plenty of ways you can get in touch.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58You can join the conversation on our Facebook page -
0:41:58 > 0:41:59BBC Rip Off Britain.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Alternatively, log on to our website
0:42:02 > 0:42:05bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain
0:42:05 > 0:42:07or if you'd like to send us an e-mail, our address is...
0:42:10 > 0:42:14..and of course you can send a letter to our postal address.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Well, we know that the way we borrow money
0:42:27 > 0:42:31has changed dramatically in recent years and for many of us,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34credit is now absolutely central to our daily lives.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36So it's really rather surprising that more of us don't pay
0:42:36 > 0:42:40closer attention to those credit ratings. As we've just seen,
0:42:40 > 0:42:41they rarely can make all the difference.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44And, at this point, it's slap wrist time because I have to
0:42:44 > 0:42:47confess upfront, until I made that film, I hadn't truly
0:42:47 > 0:42:50appreciated just how important it is to stay on top of all of that.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54As we've seen, mistakes with your credit records can and do
0:42:54 > 0:42:57happen and they can very quickly snowball into
0:42:57 > 0:43:00a problem that takes an awful lot of hassle to put right.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03So it really is worth checking that the records held on you
0:43:03 > 0:43:04are at least correct.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Well, there's a reminder of exactly how to do that on our website.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09The address of which you know by now. It's...
0:43:12 > 0:43:16And while you're there, why not keep sending us stories and topics that
0:43:16 > 0:43:19you'd like us to investigate because we've got plenty more programmes
0:43:19 > 0:43:20coming up over the next few months.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23But where this particular programme is concerned, I'm afraid we
0:43:23 > 0:43:26have run out time for the day so as ever, thanks so much for joining us.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29- And until the next time from all of us...- ALL: Bye-bye.