Episode 7 Rip Off Britain

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

contacted us in your thousands.

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

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

They should be looking after their customers and they don't.

Loyalty to the customers is a very low priority.

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

investigate the extra charges you say are unfair.

Big companies, big corporations are more into the money and the numbers

than they are about people.

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.

It genuinely feels like I'm getting ripped off.

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

..we're here to find out why you're out-of-pocket

and what you can do about it.

Your stories, your money.

This is Rip Off Britain.

Hello and welcome to Rip Off Britain,

the programme that's here to make it much easier to work out which

companies, if indeed any,

you can trust when they make out that they're on your side.

Because I think we all know that it can seem that all too often their

admirable claims and honourable intentions are not always reflected

in the way they actually treat us, their customers.

Of course, for any savvy consumer, there's always been a very fine line

between paying a little bit more for a great service that you think you

can rely on and being taken for an absolute mug.

And it's very hard not to feel totally aggrieved when you discover

that the company you've been loyal to for years and years

seem to be putting all their effort into offering new customers

a much better deal. I have to say, it makes me so cross.

You're so right. Well, today we're going to be focusing on situations

where businesses and organisations we trust end up making us question

why on earth we handed them our money in the first place?

And it's not just companies which refuse to reward loyalty,

but also charities whose hard-nosed fundraising tactics can put you

right off the idea of giving.

Coming up, the charity accused of charging this man five times as much

for his home insurance as he could pay elsewhere.

Well, I couldn't believe it.

I didn't realise I was paying over the odds.

And does loyalty ever pay?

How sticking with the same old names could leave you hundreds of pounds

out of pocket.

You've trusted these companies, you know, for all these years and

you've stayed with them and you just feel let down

that they're not actually giving you anything in return.

Now, Britain is one of the most charitable countries in

the developed world, with not far off three quarters of all of us

reckoned to donate money each year to good causes.

But in order to keep that cash coming in, modern-day charities

have to operate more like businesses than ever before

and this has led to many of them selling all sorts of products,

like insurance or energy, to raise extra money for their coffers.

And you'll remember not long ago that one high-profile charity came

in for a fair bit of stick when it was revealed that one of

the services it was offering wasn't such a great deal

for everyone signing up.

Well, it seems that that example may not have been especially unusual.

So, as you'll see, when charity begins at home,

don't assume it'll be your home that benefits.

Since Fred Grundy lost his wife eight years ago,

his daughter, Lynn, hasn't just been a huge comfort to him,

she's been a great help, as well.

Hello. Hello, duck.

One of the jobs his wife, Alice, used to look after was their bills,

so that's something Lynn now takes care of instead.

That's a major thing to deal with

when you've never dealt with it before.

It wasn't just the loss of my mum,

it was the support that my dad didn't realise that Mum did.

We didn't discuss anything at all.

She did everything.

Everything was running smooth, so I left it at that, you know?

Thanks to help from Lynn, Fred's bills still do run smoothly

but before Alice died, she'd signed him up to home insurance

with Age UK.

It's just the job, that.

And Fred had simply let this policy renew every year

for almost a decade.

I'm not aware when Mum changed to Age UK,

but at the time that she did, she would've felt she was getting

the best deal, you know.

I just think that the name of the company sells itself

for senior citizens.

But in November 2015, when Lynn saw Fred's renewal quote,

she didn't think it was the best price her dad could be getting.

I thought this time, I would check for Dad.

The price seemed to be quite a lot,

so I decided to do a comparison site and I was just astounded.

Age UK's quote was almost ?500,

but Lynn found a similar policy with another insurer for ?87.

Well, I couldn't believe it.

I didn't realise I was paying over the odds, put it that way.

I was convinced that Age UK would've been, for an elderly person,

the best policy that they could have, and looking back at old bills,

he's been paying a lot of money for a lot of years.

What surprised Fred and Lynn the most was that they believed,

rightly or wrongly, by dealing with a name they trusted and,

what's more, one that specifically focused on older people,

that they would've been getting a competitive deal.

So Lynn called Age UK and they immediately slashed the quote

by a whopping two thirds to just ?176.99.

But, smarting from the realisation that he'd most likely been paying

more than he needed to for some time,

Fred cancelled the policy and switched to a new provider.

A manager phoned me back the following day.

He was very apologetic, but he pointed out that we are always

advised on every renewal to request a new quote.

But with my dad having great trouble hearing,

he can't make the phone calls and you don't have any internet access,

do you, Dad? Oh!

I can't use my mobile properly, never mind internet!

Now it's an unfortunate fact of life that, whatever your age,

insurers often hike up your premiums when it's time to renew,

but Lynn was very surprised that an organisation all about looking after

the elderly wasn't taking into account that some older folk may not

feel confident about doing price comparisons online.

Instead, her dad, who's 86, had assumed that Age UK would give

him a good deal and act in his best interests, even if it wasn't

the cheapest around.

I think the name is giving a false impression.

I'm so disappointed that they haven't looked after my dad,

who's been a loyal customer with them for all these years.

Now you may recall that in February 2016 Age UK hit the headlines

because of what it charged

for another service aimed at older people.

The charity Age UK has been accused of promoting unfavourable

gas and electricity deals in return for cash.

Customers of the charity's fixed two-year gas and electricity deal

were dismayed to find that they could've got their energy cheaper

by going straight to the provider E.ON.

Energy deals offered by Age UK with the supplier, E.ON,

may have been much more expensive than other offers from the firm.

And at the same time as charging its customers more than they'd have paid

on E.ON's cheapest tariff, Age UK was receiving a hefty sum

from the energy company in return for all the pensioners it signed up.

The energy regulator Ofgem is looking at their partnership after

it was claimed that Age UK

was paid ?6 million a year for the arrangement.

Age UK said that, unlike the cheapest tariff,

it's E.ON deal offered the security of a two-year fixed term,

but it still faced calls to refund customers and, soon after,

the charity withdrew the deal entirely.

Now, although Age UK is a charity,

it's also a business and I'm afraid its survival relies on making money.

Whilst its aim, as they put it,

is to help everyone make the most of later life,

that doesn't come cheap and although donations do go some way towards

this, a substantial part of Age UK's revenue comes from selling other

products like the home insurance that Fred bought, or a wide range

of other items particularly aimed at the older market.

And that's not unusual.

In fact, it's been said that 55p out of every pound coming into most

charities these days will have been

earned through providing services or trading.

But we wanted to know if Fred's experience was a one-off.

So to find out, we've enlisted some volunteers from

the Bexhill Senior Citizens Club in Sussex.

Good morning, everybody.

Morning. Hi! Rip Off Britain has arrived.

Is that all right? Yes.

We're going to compare the prices of several of Age UK's products

with the help of four of the club's regulars.

That's Colin, Jim, Joe and Tony.

They're going to call Age UK for quotes for home,

car and travel insurance.

So, I'd love to give you the details and see if you can give me a quote

for the travel insurance.

All four are currently insured by other companies,

so they're hoping that Age UK can give them a better deal.

And to see how competitive these quotes are,

they'll hand them over to personal finance expert Sarah Pennells

to see if she can find a better price with anyone else.

I think that I probably will be able to make some savings for the people

that we're meeting today, because I'd be surprised if Age UK's

policies are going to be the most competitive,

even for an older market.

First up, it's home insurance, and Sarah quickly finds better deals

than the quotes our volunteers got from Age UK.

Tony was given a price of ?330,

but Sarah could get a similar policy for just 127.

But it was Colin's home insurance that had the best saving.

Age UK quoted him ?538, but Sarah found comparable cover with another

company for a whopping 75% less.

That's ?133.59.

That is a big difference. One really needs to do the homework

and make sure that is really a competitive...

Yes, sometimes you think, "Well, that's just what it is."

Next up, it's car insurance and here, Age UK had its best result,

for Colin, at least. Sarah couldn't find a policy cheaper than the price

it quoted him. The best deal she could see on the day

was ?15 more expensive.

But it was a different story for Tony.

Age UK quoted him ?172.87,

which Sarah was able to cut by more than 25% to just ?126,

simply by looking elsewhere.

I'm lost for words.

I can't believe that, for the same sort of specifications,

they come up with such widely different figures.

But the biggest saving of the day came when we compared Age UK's

travel insurance.

It quoted Jim ?919 for an annual policy,

but Sarah found a similar cover for just 412,

a saving of more than ?500.

Astonishing, isn't it?

Throughout the day, Sarah compared the cost of nine policies

but, in all but one case, she was able to get cover at a cheaper price

than with Age UK, sometimes significantly so.

In terms of this entire exercise, what's your conclusion, Sarah?

You can make some very good savings.

As ever, it's really important you check what you're covered for,

not just in terms of what the policy covers you for but, actually, what

other customers are saying about them because there could be some

really good deals out there.

Age UK sells its products through its commercial arm,

Age UK Enterprises, and the profit it makes goes to the charity.

Part of the service is to make policies simple to arrange over the

phone and the cover often includes extras specific to elderly people

such as protection for a carer's possessions.

But Sarah doesn't think these extras justify the higher premiums.

For a charity like Age UK,

if it's going to have a business operation that offers the kind of

products that it's aiming at older people,

I think it has an extra responsibility to make sure those

products are fair and competitively priced.

Of course, quotes on any comparison site can change by the day,

and there are some services where Age UK does appear to offer

competitive rates.

For example, research suggests that its funeral plans were amongst

the best value on the market.

But for the everyday products that we compared in Bexhill,

that simply wasn't the case, which left our volunteers feeling

disappointed with a name that they might have assumed would give

the older customer a better deal.

What's your assessment now, Colin?

I think one would feel quite angry to have to pay so much more

than what other people are quoting.

Are you surprised, Jim?

I think disappointed is the word.

Your expectation would be that they would give you a fair crack and it's

far from a fair crack.

But when we put all of this to Age UK, the charity told us that

such a small comparison is not representative of its pricing,

especially considering the wide range of customers

it's trying to cater for.

It insists it offers great insurance protection at the most competitive

price it can, without ever compromising on the things that

make the difference to older people.

With that in mind, it stressed that the upfront price isn't the only

factor to consider, highlighting other aspects of its

cover that are equally important, including its customer service

and low excess payments, so as not to deter people from making a claim.

And no extra charges for amending or cancelling a policy,

should circumstances change.

It went on to say that its prices are the same face-to-face,

over the phone or online, as it would be unfair for someone

to lose out financially

simply because they can't or choose not to use a computer.

As for Fred's case,

Age UK said it's extremely sorry that he and daughter, Lynn, feel

disappointed, and it's been in touch with them directly.

But it urged all customers renewing cover to get in touch to see if

their policy is still the best or most appropriate one,

or indeed nominate a friend or relative to do that on their behalf,

and it added that where it can offer savings,

it will always try to do so.

Even so, Fred and Lynn still feel let down by an organisation whose

purpose is to look after those who have reached later life.

I just think that there's people out there that haven't got support to

deal with this, so you're trusting the company you're dealing with

that they will look after you.

Now, I'm sure that like many of you,

there are some companies that I've used for years and for whom I'm

a really loyal and long-standing customer,

but, you know, loyalty needs to work both ways and there is nothing worse

than discovering that the business you've stuck with through thick

and thin is offering a much better deal to new customers

and taking your custom very much for granted.

Well, I think we certainly know from all of the e-mails and letters that

we get on this, how very strongly you feel about this subject.

So we've set out to investigate just how often loyalty really does pay,

and whether or not playing the field

really can put more cash in your pocket.

An awful lot of us do still

stick with the same company year after year.

Would you say you are a loyal customer?

I've been with my bank for 25 years and I think they've earned my

loyalty because they provide a great service.

And in return, we hope that loyalty will be repaid by getting

the best deals and offers.

What makes you stay loyal?

Because it's hassle changing, for one, especially with energy bills.

I just can't see the point just for a few quid.

Do you think loyalty pays, then?

I think it should pay, I'm of that school that says it should be, but

so often it doesn't because I think they get their values mixed up.

No, I don't think there's any place for loyalty, really.

Really? No.

And that's an opinion Christie Richards from Barnsley has

now come around to. She used to be a loyal customer until she discovered

just how much that loyalty was costing her.

She'd had the same breakdown cover with the RAC since 1999 but her 2015

renewal quote came as a bit of a shock.

This year when the quote came through at ?180,

it's kind of closer to ?200, and you think,

"Oh, ?200 for both of us," because it's a joint policy.

I just seemed to, in my mind, think that I'd paid ?130 or something

similar, ?140, previously.

So, I thought, "How come it has jumped up so much?"

Because I've not made a claim.

So, Christie looked online to see if the quote was out of kilter with

other breakdown firms and, sure enough,

she found companies offering similar policies a lot cheaper.

But even worse, she saw that the RAC itself was tempting new customers

with a much better deal.

When you've been with them since 1999, it just seems ludicrous to me

that they wouldn't want to value your custom.

Surely a loyal customer is better for their business

than one that keeps chopping and changing each year.

So, Christie picked up the phone to cancel her renewal and, hey presto,

that little push was all it took to get the quote down.

The RAC immediately slashed it by ?50 and, though Christie was happy

to take them up on that, she feels that the lower price is what should

have been offered initially.

My point was they should be doing that in the first place and not

waiting for people to actually take the time to ring them up.

Christie's thoughts then turned to her parents.

They too were loyal RAC customers

and when she checked what they were paying,

it was far more than the deal that she'd just made.

I learnt that they're paying ?271 a year for virtually the same policy

of what I paid ?129 for, so I was rather outraged for them.

Ann and Ken had taken out their RAC cover in 2007

and, as so many of us do,

had let it automatically renew every year since.

Their policy did include a few more features than Christie's

but, even so, Christie didn't think the whole package should have cost

more than double her new quote.

But this time Christie's attempts to reduce the cost came

to nothing because her parents were already in the middle of their

contract and had paid their annual fees in full.

It's not the best price, it's not a fair price, it's not the price for

a loyal customer who has been with them nine years.

The RAC, however, would disagree, telling us that in a competitive

market, it's commonplace for companies to

offer discounts to new members.

What's more, it pointed out that the vast majority of its members

will themselves have benefited from a discount when they joined.

It insisted its renewal prices are fair and significantly lower than

those of competitors.

But all of this got Christie and her parent curious as to whether or not

their loyalty to other companies might also be costing them

and the first one they wanted to check was a big name

they'd been with for decades.

We've had BT since we first had a telephone installed, 45 years ago.

And over the years, it had never occurred to the couple to see if

they could get a better deal.

Ring, ring, hello.

I've never looked at any comparison sites or anything like that.

I don't know, I just don't feel comfortable doing it.

I always worry that I'll either choose somebody that's not as good

or not as reliable and BT is a big name,

so I thought we were being...

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

But Ann and Ken have now finally agreed to give the devil they don't

know a bit of a chance because, with Christie's help, they've now

switched to a different phone provider and, in the process,

cut their monthly bill from ?50 to just ?17.50.

BT told us it's always happy

to discuss new deals with existing customers

and that three million customers have indeed done exactly that.

But with their loyalty to both BT and the RAC resulting in them paying

more than if they'd been new customers, Ann and Ken are keen to

find out if they can reduce what they're paying for

the rest of their bills, so they're on the phone...

My name is Mrs Ann Richards.

..searching for better deals.

I'm just phoning up to see whether you can tell me whether I'm actually

on the best tariff for the electricity.

I just wanted to check if I'm on the best tariff.

If you could send me details of that in the post,

that would be really helpful.

I think you just feel let down.

You've trusted these companies for all these years

and you've stayed with them.

Do you think, as a loyal customer to a big company or organisation,

they should look after you?

I think so, yeah. Or I believed they did.

And you feel let down they're not giving you anything in return.

Now the chances are that when you get your next quote or bill,

in some cases, you too will be able to bring the price down by giving

them a quick call, but rewarding as any saving can be for any amount

at any time, it does still stick in the throat to think that,

as a loyal customer, you're not always going to be getting as good

a deal as someone who's a new customer.

And from all the ads you'll see on television,

you can't help forming the impression that it's those new

customers who really are the priority for some big names,

with offers of better prices or other incentives.

Banks, for example,

will sometimes offer cash if you open up a new current account.

In some cases, over ?100.

Then there's 0% interest deals on your credit cards,

half-price introductory offers, money-off deals and much, much more.

But the fact that many of those deals probably won't be available to

existing customers is something that visitors to our Facebook page have

made very clear they're not at all happy about.

So, if loyalty doesn't always pay then the obvious question is

why more of us don't do something about it.

And the truth is that, although we might not like to admit it,

many of us are still a bit uncomfortable about switching from

a company that we've been with for quite a long time.

A whopping 60% of us, for example, have never changed energy supplier.

We also typically let our insurance auto-renew and allow direct debits

to roll on and on.

We might like to think of that as loyalty,

but there are some who'd say it's laziness.

Dr Tom Webb is a social psychologist at the University of Sheffield.

Companies offer you a very, very good deal to get you in

and then they use the fact that you're unlikely to switch,

you haven't got the time or the effort

or you're not aware of better deals, to keep you.

So, they do want you as a customer but they want you paying the higher

rate and not phoning them up trying

to get better deals or switching around.

And all that extra money adds up.

In fact, the Competition And Markets Authority

has found that customers in the UK pay ?1.7 billion more

than they need to every year on energy bills alone.

We know, as psychologists, that people are habitual.

We tend to do the things we've always done and we find it difficult

to do new things. Well, companies know this.

They know you probably won't change so they keep offering you the same

deal or, even worse, they keep putting up their prices in the hope

that you'll never actually pick up the phone and say,

"I shouldn't be paying this much."

They're not offering their loyal customers or customers who appear to

be loyal these good deals and that's a shame.

The question is should we be switching to competitive new

providers every time there's an inkling

that our bills are creeping up?

Well, the team here in the office has been crunching the numbers to

see really if there are ever any situations when loyalty does pay.

And the good news is, yes, there are.

They've discovered when it comes to your mobile phone,

loyalty can be rewarded with a number of providers

who offer the same deals for all customers, new or old.

And there are some banks, such as Lloyds and Nationwide, that promise

to give existing customers better rates on loans and mortgages.

But there are other areas where, frankly, it really would be

better off playing the field and none more so than insurance.

Now, it's estimated that switching your home insurance

is likely to put at least an extra ?72 in your pocket

and switching car insurance on a like-for-like cover could save you

as much as ?200 a year.

And another area where you've been telling us that loyalty

really doesn't pay is when it comes

to your phone, broadband and TV suppliers.

Several of you have written to us angry that, again, new customers

are being offered a better deal.

Of course, if you ring up and threaten to leave,

odds are you'll be offered an instant reduction and if you're not,

take your business elsewhere.

As Dr Tom Webb says, never assume that loyalty will ever get you

the best deal but being proactive really could bag you some cash.

This is your chance to save some money.

Visualise how much you can save.

Get on that price comparison website,

see what better deals are out there and make the change.

That's advise Christie, Ann and Ken have taken very much to heart.

As far as they're concerned, there is no more loyalty.

In my experience I don't think that loyalty is rewarded any more as

a customer. So each year, I think we need to change.

Still to come on Rip Off Britain,

with some charities going too far to get more of your cash,

how are they going to change their ways?

If everybody's just concerned with getting the money and squeezing it

out of people, and indeed bullying them to get the money out of them,

it makes for a very unpleasant society.

The Rip Off Britain pop-up shop is back.

We officially declare this pop-up shop open.

It was our chance to record as many of your stories,

opinions and complaints as possible.

I've got a name of somebody here who will resolve this today.

Dropping in for some banking advice from financial guru Sarah Pennell

and Martin James was Steve Williams.

So, Steve, do you want to tell Sarah and Martin why you're here?

Like an estimated 11 million people in the UK, Steve has what's called

a packaged current account, meaning he pays a fee each month

that gets him extra services and benefits.

I pay ?24 a month to run this account.

What sort of benefits are those?

Well, they say there's some holiday insurance,

mobile phone cover insurance, a few things like that.

But I've never used them products myself.

How long ago were you sold this bank account?

It's more than ten years ago.

Steve estimates that over those years he's paid out almost ?3,000

for benefits he's never used and, as far as he's concerned,

were no real use to him in the first place.

Have they ever written to you and said,

"We don't think this account may be right for you?"

Not in words like that.

They have written to me to say what the products are,

but not actually saying, "Is this a product for you and your family?"

And on closer inspection,

Steve's account doesn't appear to suit his needs.

For example, it includes services he's already getting elsewhere and

because he's self-employed,

some of its apparent benefits won't apply to him.

So while, for many people,

these accounts can prove very good value for money,

Sarah and Martin are both well used to hearing from unhappy

customers like Steve.

The banks, not surprisingly, are very, very keen on these accounts

and about five to ten years ago

they started selling them quite aggressively.

I know, Martin, at the Financial Ombudsman Service,

you've seen quite a spike in the number of complaints.

We certainly have. We've seen something like 40,000

in the last year, which is a huge number of complaints.

Steve originally signed up to his package account as part of a deal

to get a discounted mortgage rate from the same bank.

But when that rate ended, he didn't cancel the account,

so he wants to know if he can reclaim

any of the ?3,000 he's paid.

Unless the bank did write to you and say quite clearly that,

"The benefits have changed,

"here's a list of them and are you getting value from it?"

then it sounds to me like you may well have a claim.

You're entitled to a refund on your fees if you meet certain criteria,

such as the package not being fully explained to you, or being told you

had to sign up to get another product such as a loan.

So to find out if Steve qualifies, Martin has offered to investigate.

We'll send a letter to the business and ask them to have a look at your

case and see if they'll reconsider and maybe come up with a solution

that works for both of you.

Happy with that? Yes. Certainly. Thank you very much.

And since visiting our pop-up shop, Steve's bank has agreed to open

an investigation into his case.

You can find out more information about claiming back packaged

bank account fees on our website.

But it wasn't just in our shop

where some of you had a beef with your bank.

Over in our gripe corner you were feeling pretty steamed up too.

What really annoys me is bank charges.

I've just had one with my business banking for no reason at all.

They're closing down all the branches.

They have no relationship with the manager.

I have to pay to have my money stored. How is that logical?

When they're good, they're very, very good.

When they're bad, they're absolutely atrocious.

Now, as we saw earlier in the programme, many charities are

increasingly operating as businesses to maximise their

income as much as possible.

It's all in a good cause, of course,

but as many of us will have discovered,

one small donation can lead to

what feels like a relentless stream of letters,

phone calls and e-mails asking for more, which leaves even the best of

us feeling somewhat less than charitable.

So, it's no wonder that these tactics have come in for some

serious criticism.

The UK ranks sixth in the world for charitable giving.

I give to three regularly.

Probably half a dozen.

Last year, between us, we donated an estimated ?9.6 billion to charity.

But that was ?1 billion less than in 2014.

While it's clear we still like to support a good cause,

it seems many of us are fed up with being badgered or even bullied by

organisations trying to get us to donate more.

I don't like being pressurised into doing it because they make you feel

guilty all the time.

I was contacted by...

Well, I wouldn't like to put a number on it. 15, 20?

It makes me feel very resentful, it makes me feel bad about

the charity and turns me off and sometimes I've severed the

relationship with that charity.

Once you say no, I think they should leave you alone.

That's a sentiment shared by Peter Burrows from Castle Bromwich.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.

He pays a fixed amount to two charities every month and gives

spur-of-the-moment donations to others.

Hello.

I started giving to charity almost as soon as I had a salary,

which is 50 years ago.

But he'd far rather the money he donates was spent purely on

charitable work and not on trying to get him to give more.

With at least two charities that I contribute to,

I can remember receiving further letters from them,

perhaps two or three times a year.

And I find that a bit frustrating because they're using my money to

contact me to get... try to get more.

But when those charities are particularly close to his heart,

he finds it hard to ignore their requests for further cash.

I have had two bouts of cancer, which makes me particularly

sympathetic towards cancer charities.

I don't like to say, "No," in fact.

If I actually contributed to every one that came,

I would have financial problems.

But what really irritates Peter is that it's not just the charities

he's donated to in the past that are contacting him.

He also gets pleas for cash from ones he's never given money to

and that makes him wonder

how exactly they got his details in the first place.

It does seem that we are getting a number of contacts from charities

that are connected with the ones that I already contribute to.

It's pretty obvious that your name is passed on and you then get

a letter, or you get a further call from the charity.

Peter doesn't object to charities trying to raise funds.

After all, it's the most important element in making sure they can

carry out all the good works that they do.

But he does worry about how his personal information

is being passed around.

I don't like being contacted by people that I've not contributed

to before. I don't like being contacted with people who I think

have been sold my address.

Peter believes that his contact details and those of thousands of

other donors are sold, shared and traded

by charities and third parties.

Concerns about this were brought into sharp focus in 2015,

after the death of 92-year-old poppy seller

and lifelong charity supporter Olive Cook.

Earlier this month, her body was found in the Avon Gorge.

Family and friends say the 92-year-old had a number of worries

in the months before she died, but she also complained to her local

newspaper about the pressure she felt from charities sending her

letters asking for money.

After her death, Olive Cook's contact details were found to be on

the databases of 99 different charities.

It triggered an investigation into the conduct of some charities by

the Fundraising Standards Board, who estimated that Mrs Cook had

potentially been sent thousands of mail-outs every year.

What's more, 70 of the 99 charities which held her data said they got it

from a third party organisation, or another charity.

And 24 of them admitted to sharing her contact details,

not always with explicit consent.

All this raised questions about how charities manage our data

but, to one of Britain's leading charity workers,

the revelations came as disappointment rather than surprise.

Dame Hillary Bloom is head of the Charities Advisory Trust which heads

many local initiatives, like this knitting group in Hampstead.

Over the years, she's seen some of Britain's best-known charities

dramatically alter their approach.

Well, I've been working in the charities sector for 50 years and

it's changed enormously.

That's very good.

What's happened is that the fundraising departments

have been separated from the main charities.

In the main charity, they'll have their ethics and their principles,

but they sort of get the fundraisers and they say,

"OK, you're out there, just go and get some money for us,

"if you would, and we don't really want to know how you do it and we're

"going to measure your effectiveness in terms of how much money you get."

And that's why the personal details of current and prospective donors

have become such hot property.

If everybody is just concerned with getting the money and squeezing it

out of people and indeed bullying to get the money out of them,

it makes for a very unpleasant society.

The revelations that followed Olive Cook's death put the whole

charity sector under intense scrutiny and subsequent reports

concluded that self-regulation of the industry simply wasn't working.

These people signed up to agree to standards but then those standards

weren't set high enough and also they were ignored.

An entirely new regulator will start governing all charities by

the end of 2016 but until then, The Institute Of Fundraising is

responsible for tightening the codes of practice for the whole sector.

It's already introduced new rules for what charities can and can't do

with our personal data.

So, Peter has come to the institute to see if his suspicions about

whether his details have been passed around are correct.

Do charities pass the names around?

Historically, they have done.

The charities are subject to data protection legislation,

like any other organisation in this country.

What came to light last year

is that charities were sharing supporters' data.

When you say sharing, does this involve selling?

Every fund raiser in this country

has to comply with our code of practice,

so we set a standard higher than the law for our charitable members,

so they can no longer sell a supporter's data.

They can only share a supporter's data with their expressed consent.

Since November 2015, charities have no longer been allowed to sell your

personal details on.

But even under the new rules,

they are still able to buy existing contact lists from third parties.

So, we asked the 25 wealthiest charities in the country if they

shared personal details and all of the 16 charities that replied

confirmed they don't. But 11 of them, almost half,

said they do still buy lists of names of people they might

then tap up for donations

and the institute believes that has its benefits.

And that's a good thing for philanthropy.

So, you might support a homelessness charity in the city of Birmingham,

where you come from.

Actually, they might work very closely with the national

homelessness charity and they would be perfectly willing to say,

"Would you be happy for us to share your data?" so they can ask you

whether you want to support them.

They can't sell somebody's data.

There has to be an opt-out on every single piece of communication which

gives the donor control of that.

The rules around that opt-out box,

preventing your details from being shared,

have also now been tightened.

It's always been compulsory but some charities only used to offer

that opportunity when you first signed up.

Under the new rules, however, donors must be given the chance

to opt out every time they're contacted.

Are charities still able to get round this by making the opt-in or

opt-out a tiny, weeny box that an older person may not notice?

No, they're not because last year we also changed the rules

so that there's a minimum text size that we have set.

So you've thought of everything?

Well, I hope so. The code of fundraising practice is an evolving

document because we have to move with the times,

we have to move with the digital times.

We've reacted to the bad practice that we saw last year.

We think now the code is

a very strong basis for charities to fund-raise.

It's hoped these changes will restore confidence that charities

will treat your personal details with respect.

But if none of that leaves you reassured,

2017 should see the launch of the new Fundraising Preference Service,

which will work rather like the Telephone Preference Service.

You'll be able to opt out of fundraising calls or mailings

altogether and charities that contact you when they shouldn't

will risk prosecution.

Hearing how the charity sector is being reformed has left Peter

feeling much happier.

It will not prevent me from giving to charity in the future.

At least the intention is there that changes to the way in which you

are contacted for charitable donations are being put right.

But Dame Hilary Blume doesn't believe the changes go far enough.

She's not convinced they'll alter the way some charities operate or

fully restore the industry's reputation.

Charity isn't about money.

Charity is about helping people and the methods you use and the way you

behave, whether it's how you get the money and how you give it out,

are very important in creating a better society.

If you've got a story you'd like us to investigate

then you can get in touch with us via our Facebook page,

BBC Rip Off Britain,

our website, bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain

or e-mail.

You know, recently, I was renewing my home and contents insurance and

when I got the renewal bill it was astronomic.

I rang up and I just said, "Look, pretend I'm a new customer and

"requote this cos I'm not happy."

You know, it went down by a third just by questioning it.

So, I mean it just goes to show you really can get a good deal

if you just fight that bit.

We're good at that. We are good at that.

What I don't understand is why they just can't offer you that good

price, that new price in the first place and it does feel completely

wrong to me that you just had to question them

in order to get that better deal.

Because, of course, wouldn't it just be great if all companies gave

loyal customers the discount originally instead of just

chasing new business all the time?

That's all we've got time for today.

Thank you so much for joining us. Until the next time,

from all of us, goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.