Episode 8 Watchdog

Tonight, just how safe are the hover boards

Are restaurants and bars doing enough to make sure that everybody

can enjoy the Christmas party? We go undercover.

And I confront a rogue letting agent

We're live for the next hour, fighting for your rights

Tonight we return to the dangerous hover boards story we first

have been seized by trading standards.

Later I talk to the family whose board exploded in their

Four mother suffered horrific injuries when it blew up in the

house. -- a mother. We're putting on a Panto with

West End legend Sheila Hancock as she takes the lead showing you

how to avoid them. Away over the holidays, tonight's

rogue trader is worth avoiding. And we will all talk in front of the

cameras, so you can explain how people come here on the holidays,

waste on an advertisement that your business puts out there, and ends

up... Come on... Are you getting a Boris bike? ! That is a rogue

traders first! He was a fast runner! Now, who's going to be left out in

the cold at your Christmas Party, tonight we're asking after 20 years

of disability discrimination law, just how much has actually changed

in our restaurants and bars? What if you went to a Christmas

party venue and you could not use any of the facilities.

The BBC's Disability Affairs Correspondent Nikki Fox has been to

VOICEOVER: We assess them on whether they had a large print menu,

disability access and disabled toilets.

Our first stop was Manchester, and both myself and a member of the

Watchdog team were rigged with secret cameras. The cover story was

simple, organising the Christmas party for people with a range of

disabilities. We are on our way, making ten visits today, ten

different venues, we will see what they are like for access, not just

people in wheelchairs and scooters, like me, but people with vision

impairments, hearing impairments. As soon as we started the undercover

visit, it became apparent that wheelchair access was poor, I could

not get into two restaurants because they did not have a ramp, when they

did have one, the staff were not prepared. First time I have used

this... The staff at this big chain took several attempts to fit the

ramp, installed correctly, the two section should be locked together,

just before I go over it, one staff member moves it and they separate.

The disappointment kept coming. Despite having a state-of-the-art

chairlift, the staff here could not get it working.

It went from bad to worse, we assessed the facilities for people

with other disabilities, just one restaurant was able to provide a

large print menu. There was a glimmer of hope with hearing loops,

one restaurant out of ten claims to have one, when they investigated

further, they could not find it. I showed my findings to Chris

Wright, a lawyer specialising in disability rights, he has won a

number of cases against restaurants. Whether it is a lift out of order,

whether it is staff who have not been trained how to use it, it is

all a part of the picture, it is failure to make reasonable

adjustment. -- Chris Fry. There will be breach of the equality act. We

are quite flexible about where we throw the Watchdog Christmas party,

so we travel further afield to see if options for accessible venues

were any better, helping us go undercover, Tom, a wheelchair user,

and Muhammad, and his guide dog, Solo. Disabled toilets were unusable

in some restaurant, this one in Bristol doubled up as a store room.

The clutter covering the floor. It was the disabled toilets at this

large chain in Cardiff that really shocked the undercover team carrying

out the visit. Yes, you saw that correctly, this

disabled toilet also acted as the back office of the restaurant! If

you were there and did not use the facilities, you could require them,

you could get a positive injunction to make them access of all. The

restaurant would have to pay compensation for the embarrassment

suffered by the person. Looking at the results of the

research, what was the overall picture? Across the 50 undercover

visit we carried out, one third did not have access will toilets. Even

when they did, some were totally unusable. And a dire 88% of

restaurants did not offer large print menus for people with vision

impairment, restaurants are not even bothering with the more simple

measures. The worst was for the hard of hearing, only two out of 50 had a

hearing loop in place. Pretty poor results all round for the restaurant

week tested, wood pubs and bars fare any better in catering for the

Christmas do? Time to hit the phones. We called 50 bars across the

UK in Edinburgh, Southampton, Liverpool, Exeter and Belfast. --

would. We asked them whether they had accessible toilets and hearing

loops, how did they get on? Just like the restaurant, one third did

not have access will toilets, just one had a hearing loop. What is the

everyday reality like? You are a wheelchair user, a couple of people

that we spoke to offer to carry someone in a wheelchair up and down

stairs, has that happened to you? It is normal form in our, I would not

say that I particularly enjoy it, because obviously everybody can see

you being carried out, it is not just you, it is the wheelchair. Then

you are trapped upstairs, and you have to find somebody to help you

come back downstairs. Charlie, you could do with a view hearing loops.

They have been around for years, the problem has always been, often, the

technology is broken. Often, deaf people are the last thing on the

list because deafness is indivisible, very easy for deaf

people to feel like they are forgotten. The important thing, at

the end of the day, as a blind person, visually impaired, you want

freedom of choice. Legislation can do as much as it likes but at the

end of the day, you have got to change attitudes or nothing will

change. Across the 100 bars and restaurants we tested, it was clear

that wheelchair access needed improvement. Provisions for people

with hearing and vision impairments were almost nonexistent. Just like

everyone else, disabled people want to party! To be able to get through

the front door and have a drink with their mates, to hear what everyone

else is saying, and be able to pick their own food off the menu. Bar and

restaurant owners, do your bit, after all, this is the season of

goodwill to all men and women! I'm now joined by Justin Tomlinson

the Minister for Disabled People. You have seen the film, it does seem

shocking that some people cannot even get into restaurants and bars,

no disabled toilets... You find that embarrassing? I'm really

disappointed to see that, what surprised me the most about the

video, big chains. Why would have thought, as a given, they would be

able to deal with training, making sure facilities are accessible, not

just because of the equality act but because of the combined spending

power people with this ability is, ?212 billion, often the first to

complain when businesses get things wrong. They are missing out. Often

it was a lack of training. It is something that should be avoided.

You go to the restaurant, your office, the council go, and they see

a disabled toilet full of toilet rolls, tips, you see an office as

well... Obviously not happy, the council say, don't do it, you

empower them, you educate them, they still continue, no changes. What

power do you have defined them and close them down? Through the

equality act, you can find them, you can make them out. -- what power do

you have two fine them. I was a former nightclub manager, first-ever

graduate job, fully accessible nightclub, we benefited from that

commercially. It is so frustrating, to see a disabled toilet used as an

office, unbelievable! It looks like complacency, you are in charge, it

is almost like they say, yes, thanks for the education, we will do it,

and they do not! 21st century, and people are being carried to and from

toilets! Completely unacceptable. What can you do something about?

This had been flagged up with me, I have met with the British

hospitality Association and to their credit they recognise their members

on the sing out on this combined spending power, they have agreed to

do a joint guideline... Guidelines, we need action... In conjunction,

the legal law means they should be getting a lot of what we see in the

video right, that must be addressed. I want to know which of those chains

are letting people down, so I can contact the Chief Executives

directly, I understand you have kept it broadbrush, but I want to know

and I want to chase them. And for the independent organisation, where

we would have been lesser prize but still disappointed, that is why we

are working with the British hospitality Association, spreading

best practice, improving guidance. I with you on this, 100%, they will

struggle if they are losing a huge amount of business. Talking about an

act that has been here 20 years, 20 years and people still cannot go to

the toilet, cannot print a big menu. Why can we not have this as law,

that every single restaurant, we have thought about massive change,

do not have an accessible toilet, they have got to have it otherwise

they cannot open. We are enforcing that, we see a lot of legal action

taken but it is the frustration, we should not be having to do this,

this is in their interest, as a business, marking themselves for

huge amount of Christmas parties, parties all year around. If you make

your venue not accessible, you are blocking people from coming in, that

is unacceptable, that the business, and unfair on the people who will be

missing out. I am shocked to see so many of the big chains doing that, I

want to personally chase them. It should not be happening. As a given,

then use should be accessible. White thank you very much. -- as a given,

venues should be accessible. Thank you very much.

Now, this is the last episode of this series

but we will be back next year and we still need you to keep sending us

your tip offs and stories, you can email us [email protected]

or go the website and click where it says 'send us your stories'.

You can also tell us what you think about any of tonight's reports,

by tweeting us or posting on our Facebook page.

the dangerous hoverboard that exploded in one family home.

And the Christmas Shopping rip offs you need to know about.

In the UK right now we've got ourselves a housing crisis.

Too many people and not enough available places to put them

But there are two ways to react to that.

You can either help out, or you can help yourself.

Guess which one tonight's rogues chose!

VOICEOVER: Do you ever get the feeling that somebody else in the

top of the market is getting the jump on you, the flipping, the

skipping through estate agent websites is not going to find you

somewhere to live. Because somebody has already found

the place and discovered a way to squeeze money out of it. They are

playing the system, not the free runners, they are cool! Today we are

talking about London Victoria Estates, they boast they are young

and vibrant, dealing with luxury properties in some of London's most

sought after locations, the Facebook page uses this picture of the London

skyline to advertise their business. Impressive! One slight problem... It

is not a picture of London at all, that is a picture of San Francisco!

That is London! Not a great start! It is not the early Mirage... For an

estate agency, they do not seem to be very good at selling or renting

houses, no estate agency boards, hardly any properties, and those

they do claim to have our not available... -- it is not the only

Mirage. The real giveaway is this, they use a picture to advertise a 1

bed flat in London, but it is -- it is the same picture for a ten bed

flat ten miles away. Not very honest. We know that they let flats

out, but to holiday-makers, through websites, like Expedia and we also

know that they do it very badly. These ladies booked a flat for their

friend's hen party. When they arrived to collect the keys, there

was a problem. Straightaway, sorry, we don't have this apartment, you

can't stay there. No apology or explanation, that was it. They

offered you something else? They said, we've got a gorgeous apartment

near Marble Arch. With six hens needing a bed and a party to crack

on with, they visited the new apartment. They drove us to map the

minutes down the road to an estate of the Edgware Road, it was a

horrible rundown block of flats, we didn't even get out of the car. Back

in the office they found out they weren't the only ones complaining.

There was a group of women, I think from Leeds, they had the same

address on their booking. They were supposed to be staying the same

place you were on the same night. Yeah. Tanya and Leanne cancelled

their reservation and booked a new apartment instead. We are gutted we

gone to so much trouble, planned this down to a T, we were so

frustrated and insulted that they would take that away from us. They

didn't lose any money but plenty of others have. We're getting

complaints from places all over the globe, just pick one. Zimbabwe. No,

that's wrong. Finland! There we go, Finland.

SPEAKS FINNISH. You speak very good finish. It might be easier if we do

it in English. This lady booked a three-bedroom apartment costing ?370

a night last summer, it took them five hours to get the keys and when

they did it was for an entirely different property. You had two

children with you? That was the main reason why we were panicking, like,

they said it would be a premium apartment. Four stars. And, well, it

was awful. There was moulding the ceiling. And dust everywhere. --

mould on the ceiling. We complained at their office and they just didn't

care. They said something like, we know your address, something like

that, we were like, OK! Like a threat? Yes! I'm very sorry, can I

apologise on behalf of the entire United Kingdom for the thing that

you've experienced in our capital city in London. Thank you, apology

accepted. In reality it would take days to apologise to everyone else

who has paid for a Ghribi apartment from London Victoria Estates, we

found at least 80 online complaints about them. The worst company I've

ever dealt with. Most of the plug sockets were broken.

Complete scam, waste of time and money. London Victoria Estates

charred holiday-makers to stay in top end London locations, then when

they turn up they hand them the keys to substandard flats in the wrong

end of town. Flipping heck. What I'd really like to know is what

happens when you try and book one of these places. The production device

we're about to employ is that this lot aren't getting on and need a

team bonding exercise. The reality is no one is having fun, its

research, go with it. We of them into a top flat in Hyde Park costing

?420 a night, they aren't really staying there. The booking tells us

to go straight to the flat, collect the keys, but when we arrived there

is no one there, so we call them. I've I've booked an apartment

tonight for Hyde Park mansions and we've just arrived, we're not sure

where to go. We're told to go to their offices. Here we meet an

agent. We pay in cash then he tells us he doesn't have the keys. You

need to go to this B Team has two head to a hotel

across town. -- the team. Hyde Park mansions.

Two bedrooms for eight people? It's a team bonding exercise, they aren't

trying to start a family. This fictional retreat is going very

badly. We trudge back to the head office

again. After two hours running around town, they come clean, Hyde

Park mansions isn't available. The electricity isn't working? He has an

alternative plan. Not what we've booked or paid for.

Is it big enough for the team to start that bonding? Is it sumptuous

or dumptious? Just wait until we start renting some of their fairy

tale palaces. That's when

the whole story gets really dark. Watching

your wallet this festive period? We reveal your three tips to avoid

the Christmas Shopping rip offs. And talking of Christmas shopping

most of us now want the ease of clicking on a website or an app

to do our Christmas shopping. And this year Argos is making some

very bold promises about how quickly Introducing our fastest service

ever. With new Argos FastTrack, get free same-day delivery. Or collect

in the store in as little as 60 seconds. If you can't wait, Argos's

new fast-track service promises to take the stress out of your festive

shopping, no more long queues, tiny pencils, waiting in store for your

number to be called out, sounds great. Hundreds of you have been

saying the reality isn't quite so impressive. For their fast-track

home delivery service, Argos promised that if you order before

6pm, they'll deliver the same day, but it was a different story for

Rebecca Clarke from Sutton Coldfield, she tried it out on a

Christmas present for her daughter. It got to 8pm, my husband said, are

you sure they are coming? I found a little card saying they had tried to

deliver but we went in. They hadn't knocked on the door and hadn't rung

the doorbell, there is no way we would have Mr delivery. Eventually

this was delivered two days later. It really disappointed, I wouldn't

recommend fast-track delivery to anybody if it means they spend the

best part of two days trying to resolve an issue. Luckily, the goods

eventually arrived and the presence will be there in time for Christmas

morning, but some customers relying on Argos's fast-track system have

found their gifts aren't just late, they are not arriving at all. Lisa

Rein White from Leeds ordered a gaming chair for her son, she chose

fast-track same-day delivery and was told it would arrive between seven

and 10pm that night. It didn't. The customer service wrap said he wasn't

sure what had happened, he'd get another order to us by Monday. I

stayed in all day waiting for this chair. Absolutely nothing. Lisa

eventually cancelled her order after Argos fails to deliver the chair on

two occasions. I wouldn't recommend fast-track to anybody, I've had my

fingers burnt and learned my lesson. Lisa isn't the only unhappy

customer, Sam Wilkinson from Fife ordered a duvet for same-day

delivery, but it didn't turn up that day or the next two despite her

waiting in. They eventually admitted it was out of stock. Ian from London

never received his iron despite being promised same-day delivery to.

-- as well. Argos struggling to live up to its fast-track delivery

promises, but what about its claim you can pick up a night in store in

as little as 60 seconds. You are supposed to avoid the old system of

waiting to pay and collect. You are given a pick-up time and should be

able to collect your items quickly from their dedicated fast-track

counter, but it's not quite how it worked out for customers like Chris

King from Gloucester, who ordered some fast-track Lego. How long did

it take you to get your Lego, 60 seconds? No, and hour and a half I

was in the store to get the set. An hour and a half, what happened? I

went straight through to the fast-track allocated point, the

first girl went to the system, couldn't find the order, said she'd

have to get on to get onto the fast-track department. Find out what

was going on. By this time I could see the set I had ordered behind

getting pushed to the side and after an hour and a half they were able to

let me have the set of Lego. Not impressed? Not in the least, when

you can see the set you've ordered that behind, you know it's yours,

they've said it's yours but you can't have it, it's infuriating.

Scores more of you have said you have struggled with in-store

fast-track collection, like Phil Griffiths who went to collect a

fast-track item twice and didn't just have a long wait, on both

visits it turned out the item wasn't there at all. After hearing about

your collection nightmares we decided to try out there at all.

After hearing about your collection nightmares we decided to try out

Time to send in the Watchdog mystery shoppers.

Our team took off their ski boots and put on secret cameras to visit

20 Argos stores around the country. The mission? To find out just how

close Argos would get to the impressive 60 seconds promoted in

the advert. The results? Mixed bag, more than

half did manage 60 seconds or close, as for the rest, much more varied.

In fact it took Argos an average of nearly six minutes to give us the

fast-track orders across 20 stores, almost six times slower than the

bold claim in the advert. Let's face it, hardly faster than regular

collection. This store was by far the worst, staking score taking a

staggering one hour 16 minutes to bring us our fast-track item from

even the stack omitted there was a problem. -- staff admitted.

We also tested out their delivery service and it worked for us, but

look online and you'll find hundreds of unhappy customers who agreed the

system isn't for purpose. More than 500 have complained on Argos's

Facebook page about delivery and collection since the fast-track

service launched in October. On top of this Argos has been forced to

apologise twice in the last month alone after website crashes left

shoppers in the lurch. Viewers have found getting through to the Argos

customer services phone line and be anything but speedy. In fact, we

made 20 calls to try it out. Overall we were on hold an average of 28

minutes, on four of those calls we didn't get through to anyone and

work at off after waiting more than an hour. -- we were cut off. Things

are really going to get busier, but if you just can't wait for

Christmas, you might have two if you are using Argos. Argos told us their

fast-track service has an average customer satisfaction rating of

eight out of ten. The company says this is

its busiest time of year and, despite its best efforts, it doesn't

always meet its own high standards. It's sincerely sorry to any

customers it has disappointed. It has invested in more vans

and extra drivers to handle demand. And has taken on extra people

in customer services and extended Now, a few weeks ago we warned

you about potentially dangerous hover boards and how they can

start fires in people's homes. Since then Trading Standards

have seized more than 15,000 unsafe boards, but unfortunately

some have still been bought. We now know about 3 fires that have

been started by hover boards and in the most serious case we've heard

of, someone has been badly injured. Earlier I spoke to Joann

and her son Henry, whose board I plugged in the hoverboard, in the

morning, a few hours later, well, one hour, I unplugged it, tried to

turn it on, it would not start up, it was quite warm, quite a weird

smell, I brought it down to my mother, I said, the hoverboard is

not starting up. I was crying. You had a look at it, what happened? I

got back into bed, it was on the bedroom floor, and within seconds...

It exploded, like a bomb! Fragments everywhere, flames, everything. A

real fire. If my husband had not have smothered it, I would not have

got out of the bedroom! You were badly burned, these are not minor

burns. I do not have any proper feeling in these fingers, I burned

my shoulder, fragment burn on my leg, burn on my hip as well, and my

hair was burned as well. This is not something you bought from the

Internet, you got this from a well-known retailer. Yes, we did. A

reputable person, shop, well... It was not one we just looked up and

bought online. You got it, wrapped it up, chucked it out of the window,

how do you feel now, about having had something like this, bought

something like this, for it to happen, for your wife to be so badly

burned? It is very difficult, I feel guilty, I bought it, it is my

responsibility. But, I think I did the right things... I went through

the proper retailer... Follow the instructions. You have got to be

extra cautious with all products, anything can go wrong. You need to

be very careful, follow the rules, and then, go a little bit further,

as well. I'm very glad to hear that you are on the mend, thank you very

much be joining us. It is terrible what happened to that

family, we had one in London, a father and son had to jump from a

first-floor window, one of these things caught fire! You have put out

a very serious warning, how often do make such warnings. Have been in the

brigade 21 years, this is only the second time we have done such a

notification in the last ten years, that is based on information that

came out from trading standards, nine out of ten that they are

looking at are serious risks to the public, those which they have

seized. These hoverboard, a lot of people could potentially have under

the Christmas tree in a few weeks' time. We are concerned they may be

tucked away in cupboards, under Christmas trees, people do not know

the potential danger for these items. The big concern, you do not

really know what is going wrong, we do not know why that hoverboard

belonging to the family went up in flames. We were looking at a number

of problems with the fusing, the plug, the charging circuit, the

battery... Unusual to have a new item into the market which seems to

have so many problems got wiped it is going to worry a lot of people,

what is your advice? We cannot say do not buy them, but think very

carefully, even with a reputable retailer, you do not know, if you

can hold off, please do hold off, be careful, do not put it in the

bedroom charging, do not have it on at night, and always have a working

smoke alarm, another planned. -- and another plan.

London Victoria Estates use photos on their listings that don't match

So what kind of a place do you get from them?

We've paid to stay in Hyde Park but the team have been sent

somewhere entirely different, what will it be like?

After two hours of getting the runaround, we finally around at the

flat we have paid 420 quid a night for. It is bad, and dirty, and

uncared for, cigarettes in a cup, hair in the bathroom, mouldy and

smelly, no working light bulbs, no towels, no toilet roll... The

electrical cabling is dangerous. We tried to explain, but the agent is

not having any of it. We will give you a very nice rate next time.

Yes, that is reassuring (!) ?420 for that, it has ruined the

team-building weekend. We still have tickets for Billy Elliot! Wait!

I have not! LAUGHTER Who is the mastermind behind the

mayhem? This man, this 23-year-old, Mohammed Rizal, young but an old

school rascal, linked to ten different companies that have over

?25,000 in unpaid court fines, time to see just how bad his business

model is. -- Mohammed Rasool. It is time for a sting, three teams

booking three properties, watching on, expert property lawyer, Rob.

Alice has reserved a 1 bed flat in Knightsbridge, but when they collect

the keys, they are asked to pay an extra hidden cost.

Even if you focus on it with a microscope (!) you cannot see it if

it is not there! ?50 is quite a lot... We are about to see a very

clean property indeed (!) this flat would not win any prizes

from Kim and Aggie (!) that is breach of contract, if nothing else,

the customer should be getting all of that money back. John and Callum

and their friend are off to a stamped their in Hyde Park, as you

do (!) add that! They have booked the same place that we booked

earlier, Hyde Park mentioned, meeting at the flat, once again,

nobody is there a. We are outside now... -- nobody is there. They are

asked to pay ?650 a night for the luxury apartment, but they are taken

in a completely different direction on their way there at this time. Is

this the right way? We booked Hyde Park mansions...

We know where it is, mate (!), it is not where we booked! Once again, we

have not been given what we paid for, the boys are taken back to the

first flat, we find mouse droppings, dangerous electrics, a freezer that

is mouldy on the inside. For old Hyde Park mentioned, last

week, electrical full, this week, a leak, either it is going to fall

down (!) or there is a pattern to how these guys are operating. Is is

a situation where you cannot be given the product or service you

bought, the first thing that should happen is, the supplier should give

you a full refund, or the option of a refund, if it is happening several

times, ask yourself, is there a more to it? What you have done, without

knowing it, is play the benefit of the doubt card, from the rogue

trader! And play we must, holiday heaven or holiday hell!

They are not a couple, they have paid for a double bed flat, slap

bang in the middle of Knightsbridge, this is how it appeared on the

Internet when we booked it, time to get the keys for what is not (!) a

love nest! The hidden cleaning fee, once again. We are told we cannot

stay in the place we paid for and booked.

Medicine reasons... So we are taken here, instead, filthy, damp,

stained, at no point did anybody let them know that the flat they booked

was not free before they handed over their cash, so after calls to

complain. We are not very happy with the quality of this... The carpet is

mucky... There are dead insects on the wall. How can we could not go on

where we booked? The electricity is not working

well... ? What happened to " medicine reasons"! Arthur and Millie

asked to be moved, now they are not even in an apartment, it is just a

damp room, with a toilet seat stuck together with Sellotape, not in the

nicest part of town, either, Arthur and Millie wanted a holiday, this is

a squaliday! This is in Knightsbridge, well posh, this is

the original plays their book, could have been so different, if only they

had been allowed to stay here... That was highly unlikely, because we

have spoken to the owners... They have not let out this place in the

12 years they have been living here! However, they have had a knock on

the door from several people who thought that they could stay here...

Presumably some of those coming from London Victoria Estates... STUDIO:

It is now clear that the benefit of the doubt card has expired!

This is not just a case of accidental over-booking.

What it's looking like is a clear attempt to mislead

customers into paying for properties they could never hope to provide.

Well, it turns out that it's not just the renters who are losing out.

The onus is on the owners. In ten minutes.

Now, here's a Christmas cracker for you - what's the one thing that

your car, your home and your holiday all have in common?

The answer... is insurance.

No, because insurance is no laughing matter.

But have you ever wondered why the price of your policy suddenly

becomes more expensive, even if you haven't made a claim.

Well, West End legend Sheila Hancock

And she's put on a special Watchdog panto to explain why,

when it comes to your premium, there are certain things you'll

VOICEOVER: Curtain at the ready, silence in the wings, time to shine

a spotlight on insuring your things! Insurance world has an air of

mystery, premium costs we think are based on our history...

Have we been careful? Have we made a claim? Most importantly, were we to

blame? There is more to the pricing than

might meet the eye, this watchdog panto will help explain why.

We are investigating why it is that the cost of insurance premiums can

suddenly rocket for no apparent reason. It is something that

happened to me, I have been driving for 63 years, I have never made a

claim on my car insurance. When I had to renew my premium, they wanted

to increase it from ?873, two over ?2000. -- up to over ?2000. I could

not believe it, I have never caused an accident, I have had the same

car, my circumstances have not changed. Why? It seems insurers have

access to data from a multitude of secretive sources. With details of

everything we have ever told an insurance company. By analysing

these, along with personal circumstances, they weigh up how

likely you are to make a claim. In my case, I committed the heinous

crime of being one-year old (!), and, last year, I was involved in an

accident. However, the other driver admitted that she was entirely to

blame, and so it cost my insurers nothing. I thought that I could

forget about it, but no, it drove my premium sky high. Whatever your mode

of transport, insurers often end up penalising their customers for

accidents that are not there are full. -- fault. David's 20-year-old

daughter, Amy, was sat in a parked car, when a drunk driver ploughed

into the back of her, miraculously, she was not injured. When it came to

her car insurance renewal... Admiral up the price of the premium from

?700 up to ?1700. What were the reasons they gave you? Apparently,

the fact that she was involved in an accident, even though it was no full

of hers, statistically, she is likely to have another accident at

some point in the future. She has been penalised quite heavily for

being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It seems incredibly

unfair. How do the insurers justify it? Roger is an independent insurer

's claims advocate. However they come to the conclusion that if you

are involved in an accident that has not been caused by you, you are more

likely to have an accident later? It seems a rather questionable

statistic at one time, that lurk behind the desk will have said, that

cannot be right, but nowadays, it is all about algorithms. -- the clerk.

And another algorithm is used to drive up the premium, a simple phone

call to discuss a breakage in your home... I have broken my chair...

Could end up costing. Elizabeth phoned her insurers company, when

she had a leak in her bathroom. I said, can I get back to you? The

balance was fixed without needing to claim. When Elisabeth got her next

quote for household insurance it was almost double the price. She

contacted the company to ask why. We increased your insurer and premium

because you made a claim. No. Oh yes you did. Oh no I didn't. Oh yes you

did. Oh no I didn't. But Esure said that she did, because apparently if

you report or have any conversation about an incident, big or small, it

can be added to your record as an intention to claim. And that can be

used as justification for an increase in the cost of your

premium. I shopped around for some insurance. They all said

unfortunately it would go down as a claim and affect the premium. A

simple phone call, how can that possibly be judged as a claim? It's

one of the unintended consequences of automation and technology, when

you make a phone call and say, could I have advice, it triggers an

increase in premium because you've incurred the company in some time

and cost of making that call. Lots of people in the insurance industry

are very unhappy about these unintended consequences. But what if

all you've done is become one-year-old? Because you certainly

wouldn't want to plan a holiday if you over a certain age. Like me,

pensioner Brian Raina from Manchester Leeds and active life.

Every year he visit his family in Canada. In the summer of 2013, he

played travel insurance ?451 to cover him for the year. But there

was a nasty shock waiting in the wings. Because when Brian tried to

take out the same policy the following year, Avanti wanted almost

?1200. An increase of almost 160%. I thought they'd made a mistake, upon

reaching 76, I felt there might be some slight increase for that

reason, but why should I have to pay such ridiculous, insulting

increases? Why indeed? What probably happened was that they jumped from

one age bracket to the next, the bubbly as simple as that. What

advice can you give us? How do we go about getting insured? My advice is,

simply, don't buy yourself online, go to a broker. We've got to be more

savvy. We've got to be more vigilant. Lots of people say, I want

it as quickly and cheaply as I can because one insurance policy is

exactly the same as the next. I can tell you it isn't. Now you know

their game. We hope you are more aware when you are dealing with

insurance it's best to tread with care.

Thanks Sheila - and a big thank you to the actors

of the Camberley Theatre in Surrey for helping us with that film.

Now, E-sure told us that there were lots of factors that had increased

the price of Elizabeth's policy - not just her inquiry.

Admiral said, although they sympathised with Amy,

being in a non-fault accident still suggested her car was

at higher risk, so was part of the reason for her increased premium.

Avanti acknowledged that the cost of Brian's policy jumped up because

of his age but said that they have since changed, to two year age-bands

Now here's three things to watch out for when you're doing your Christmas

shopping courtesy of you - the Watchdog viewers.

First of all, Click and Collect - the new way to shop.

Although many stores don't charge you, one of our viewers got in touch

after they were stung for ?4.99 after shopping at Sports Direct.

Please remove the ?1 mark and magazine that they add to your order

without asking. If you don't want it of course.

Lots of you have been in touch about scam sites claiming to sell

Pandora charm bracelets and have lost money or ended up with fakes.

Make sure you only use official retailers.

And finally, prices can vary even within the same company.

For example you've told us that you can end up paying a lot more

for the same item from Littlewoods compared to Very even though both

To test it out we've all bought Christmas presents for each other.

Chris knows me very welcome he's got me a self staring Star Wars mug,

thank you, Santa. But Chris, you big fool, you've left the price on, both

prices. ?19 at Littlewoods. I've got the Beyonce Heat Rush

giftset. Something I've always wanted. My

present also has the price on. ?25.60 at Littlewods and ?19.99

at Very. Lo and behold, the old Christmas

jumper, doesn't it look good? Littlewoods price ?17.25,

Very Price. And this doesn't just apply

to these lower priced items. This Curved Samsung TV

currently costs ?799 at Very. It's ?200 cheaper. I'm furious, I'm

leaving! Shop Direct who own both sites told

us they are transparent about their pricing and encourage

people to find what represents Best value for money for them.

Surely, the cheaper one. And if you've got any more tips on

what to look out for - get in touch. Let me take you by the hand and lead

you through the streets of London. We've been taken

on a right old ramble by employees of London Victoria Estates,

run by Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool. He's renting out properties that

aren't available, and then switching us to hovels once

they've got our money, and we've been lucky - some people have been

left without anywhere at all. So maybe you're thinking that it's

only holidaymakers that are affected Well I'll show you something that

will make you change your mind. London Victoria Estates and the man

who runs it have been giving us the run around town. Billy and Arthur

paid 100 and -- 400 ?99 for a stay in a London flat. It's never been

available to rent. You are going way beyond incompetence and bad luck,

you are into the realms of fraud, trying to get money through false

pretences. It's a criminal offence, no two weighs about it. They were

sent to stay in a double room with a shared kitchen. We tracked down the

home owner of the property, he told it it wasn't a shared residence but

a 5 bedroom family house. When we were there it had been split into

several separate bedrooms that London Victoria Estates rented out

on an individual basis. The homeowner had no idea this was

happening. It might sound familiar. If it sounds familiar it's possibly

because Barnet Council find Mohammed Rasool ?25,000 last year for taking

a three-bedroom flat, chopping it into a 7 bedroom flat without a

licence and letting it out. That's why it sounds familiar. Mohammed

Rasool never paid that fine. It's time for me to go and talk to him. I

bet he's quite hard to track down, we've never seen him in the offices

of London Victoria Estates, instead he works three minutes away in this

building. We are just around the corner from

the Edgware Road and Mohammed Rasool's offices. He's not there

yet, but this is about the time he usually turns up. We're hoping to

meet him and talk about his fantasy world of property that exists to

deceive customers, tourists, as. -- us. I'm waiting for Mohammed Rasool

outside the offices he has been seen working in, but also keeping an eye

on London Victoria Estates three minutes away. We hear he has

arrived. It's time for action. Here we go. Excuse me, sorry. So,

let me talk to you about the fantasy business you are running here, where

you advertise properties for short-term let and

He's doing a runner on the Edgeware Road. Never use on the phone to try

to avoid my questioning. -- now he's on the phone.

What you like to do is chopped up properties, the landlords do not go

that you are doing that, your previous property four seasons, was

fined that, ?25,000. A little bit of argy-bargy. You

don't touch me! He's running. I'm second, I am still second. How far

are you going to go? Mohammed, how far are we going? Turns out it's not

just a running race, it's duathlon. You are getting a Boris bike. Can I

just be clear, he is half my age. Mohammed Rasool on his way up the

Edgware Road. Back at the office, it looks like the staff have got word.

They are not doing a runner, more of a leisurely stroll. Like that, like

that within seconds of us saying hello. To Mohammed Ali Abbas

Rasool. London Victoria Estates closed. No one at home. It's time

for one final public service announcement. Greetings, world if

you are coming to London and this the place you end up coming to pay

for a luxury apartment at a wonderful time in our beautiful city

here, if you see that, remember what you see on our programme today.

Think twice before you hand over any money or even step through the

door, I would say. Good night. Guess what, Mohammed Ali Abba Rasool,

despite yearly breaking the 400 metre British record, chose not to

comment on night but even a Boris bike won't help him escaping the

Christmassy rogues gallery. Thanks to everybody getting in touch

to night. Rachel says her husband ordered Argos fast-track on Sunday,

still no delivery and no answer to e-mails and calls. Lots of people

getting in touch about disability dissemination, Paul says you want to

try most of the places around Blackpool, trying to find a

restaurant to get into is a challenge in a wheelchair. Yvonne

says her dad is in a wheelchair and always finds tables at restaurants

are far too low. What about similar ratings as food hygiene ratings? I

would like that kit if you are not using it, it's the last programme in

the currency was of Watchdog, but we'll be back next year. Make sure

to keep sending your stories and tip-offs.