:00:03. > :00:06.I'm Lucy Owen. And I'm Rhodri Owen. You're watching X-Ray. Bringing you
:00:06. > :00:16.all the stories that matter. They bought brand new bungalows for
:00:16. > :00:19.�185,000, but now the homes and their value are on the slide.
:00:19. > :00:24.Cathrine Lewis thought her car was in the garage, until she heard from
:00:24. > :00:34.the police. And finding out the cost of college
:00:34. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :00:51.life: how teenage students are Hello. Well, by now we've all had
:00:51. > :00:54.two weeks to get used to paying for our carrier bags. Later in the
:00:54. > :00:56.programme, we'll be finding out how shoppers here in Newport think it's
:00:56. > :00:59.going. And reporting back on your views from across Wales. First,
:00:59. > :01:09.though, Rachel investigates why homes at a new development in West
:01:09. > :01:10.
:01:10. > :01:13.homes at a new development in West Wales appear to be falling apart.
:01:13. > :01:21.Aberporth lies at the southern end of lovely Cardigan Bay, a haven for
:01:21. > :01:24.those who dream of a life by the seaside. This housing estate was
:01:24. > :01:29.built in 2007 by a builder called Ian Jones, from Rheidol
:01:30. > :01:34.Developments in Aberystwyth. They're just a couple of minutes
:01:34. > :01:37.walk from the beautiful sea front. But for the people who bought
:01:37. > :01:41.properties on Clos y Fferm, their new homes soon turned out to be
:01:41. > :01:51.less perfect than they'd hoped. Rob and Dods Arnold moved in to Number
:01:51. > :01:53.
:01:53. > :01:56.4 Clos y Fferm in 2007. It cost �185,000. Why did you decide to
:01:56. > :01:59.move here? Well, it's a nice environment, it's close to the sea,
:01:59. > :02:05.the beach is five minutes away, very natural, unspoilt. So what
:02:05. > :02:09.changed, then? Well, shortly after we moved in, we found some cracks.
:02:09. > :02:13.We asked the builder to come and have a look at them, and he said
:02:13. > :02:17.he'd send his workman, who came with mastic, filled the cracks up.
:02:17. > :02:19.But unfortunately, that wasn't enough. The cracks were getting
:02:19. > :02:26.bigger, and more and more were appearing around the bungalow,
:02:26. > :02:30.garage and garden. So when did you notice this? We noticed this about
:02:30. > :02:33.18 months ago. The roof tiles are sort of spreading, as you can see.
:02:33. > :02:39.They're parting company with the rest of the roof and it's getting
:02:39. > :02:43.worse. This part of the garden is actually sloping away as well.
:02:43. > :02:47.There's a ravine at the back, and I think the garden is sort of
:02:47. > :02:53.slipping into the ravine. This is where we first discovered the
:02:54. > :03:00.cracks, this one up here. Oh, my goodness! You can see the size of
:03:00. > :03:04.that, it's way over an inch across. That metalwork is bent. Wow! That's
:03:04. > :03:07.pretty. And it's got worse. It has got worse, and you can see the door
:03:07. > :03:14.frame is moving away from the door there. And the same on the floor
:03:14. > :03:16.line, the wall is moving away from the floor of the garage. Alarmed by
:03:16. > :03:19.the deterioration, Rob asked neighbour at Number 5 if she was
:03:19. > :03:22.having similar problems. We opened up our garage and we seen intensive
:03:22. > :03:30.cracks, then the actual airing cupboard was starting to crack, and
:03:30. > :03:33.then we see the bathroom in here, the tiles actually fell off. It's
:03:33. > :03:40.been tiled four times since, but that crack there is actually on the
:03:40. > :03:42.outer wall as well. Ah, ok. Rob, Dods and Jenny had heard that a few
:03:42. > :03:46.doors down, their neighbours were having even bigger problems with
:03:46. > :03:51.very large cracks appearing in their properties. Those properties
:03:51. > :03:55.now sit empty on the estate. So how long's it been like this?
:03:55. > :03:58.It's been boarded up for around 18 months or even two years. The lady
:03:58. > :04:03.who lived here was only here around six months before all the problems
:04:03. > :04:09.set in. And do you worry this is going to happen to your house?
:04:09. > :04:14.indeed. As you can see this is another property that's been badly
:04:14. > :04:18.affected, there's major cracking across the drive way. It looks like
:04:18. > :04:25.there's been a tremor or something? Yeah, it looks like an earthquake
:04:25. > :04:28.or something. Yeah, it does. for both sets of home-owners, the
:04:28. > :04:30.financial consequences have been devastating. It's now being valued
:04:30. > :04:34.at around 10 or 20,000. This represents between us almost 60
:04:34. > :04:37.years of hard work and then to be told it's virtually worthless, this
:04:37. > :04:43.was our retirement fund and now it's been wiped off the face of the
:04:43. > :04:47.earth almost. We're stuck with a property we can't sell, we can't
:04:47. > :04:52.rent, and we can't do nothing with. And we've got no money. And how
:04:52. > :04:55.does that make you feel? Very depressed. Not all the houses in
:04:55. > :04:58.the cul-de-sac have developed these problems. But it's not just
:04:58. > :05:05.physical cracks in people's houses that are causing problems for the
:05:05. > :05:09.residents of here. Rachael Shelly lives at Number 13 with her husband
:05:09. > :05:11.and their son Isaac. Her property isn't damaged, but she's worried.
:05:11. > :05:18.Because some on her neighbours, whose homes are also undamaged,
:05:19. > :05:21.have seen the value of their properties drop by at least �30,000.
:05:21. > :05:25.We're extremely concerned about it, we couldn't sell, we couldn't do
:05:25. > :05:28.anything about it. So you feel you couldn't sell? Well, from what we
:05:28. > :05:32.hear, we wouldn't be able to because the houses aren't being
:05:32. > :05:35.valued at what the mortgage is. Obviously, we haven't got any
:05:35. > :05:38.damage at the moment, but you're constantly looking for it, you're
:05:38. > :05:45.watching minor settling cracks to see if they're going to be any
:05:45. > :05:48.bigger or worse, and you know, it concerns us all, I think. So why
:05:48. > :05:51.did these problems occur in the first place? We asked chartered
:05:51. > :05:57.surveyor Kevin Thomas to take a look at the damaged houses and give
:05:57. > :06:00.us his expert opinion. What do you think has happened here? I think
:06:00. > :06:03.there's a combination of issues. One, the most important, I think,
:06:03. > :06:08.is that there's ground movement, ongoing ground movement. It's
:06:08. > :06:11.probably the worst ground movement I've seen in a long time. And it's
:06:11. > :06:15.causing structural problems to the superstructure of these properties.
:06:15. > :06:19.You don't have to be a surveyor or engineer to see it. We're talking
:06:19. > :06:23.about cracks of 30-60 mm wide, which are very, very serious.
:06:23. > :06:28.does the future hold really, for these houses? In one or two cases,
:06:28. > :06:31.the most severe, I think it's demolition and rebuild. Rob, Dods
:06:31. > :06:34.and Jenny have had endless problems working out who to turn to. They've
:06:34. > :06:37.written countless letters to the builder Ian Jones, to Zurich, who
:06:37. > :06:39.issued a ten-year house guarantee on their properties, and they've
:06:39. > :06:49.tried to claim on their buildings insurance. So who is ultimately
:06:49. > :06:51.responsible for sorting this mess out? Generally they'd have to take
:06:51. > :06:53.this through their building insurers, and if they're not
:06:53. > :06:56.getting any joy through those, employ their own professional
:06:56. > :07:02.advisors, by way of surveyors, engineers, to take this forward
:07:02. > :07:06.through them, and progress their claim. The Arnolds' building
:07:06. > :07:09.insurers Zurich have installed monitoring devices in their homes.
:07:09. > :07:13.These measurements have been going on for nearly 18 months, and have
:07:13. > :07:16.you had any results from it? haven't really had any results, and
:07:16. > :07:20.we haven't had any indications of what actions they're going to take
:07:20. > :07:23.as a result of the movement. it's just sitting there? It's just
:07:23. > :07:26.sitting there and we're just sitting there waiting for something
:07:26. > :07:29.to happen. Zurich have now told us they're going to continue to
:07:29. > :07:32.monitor the property over the winter in case there is more
:07:32. > :07:38.movement. After completing their investigation they'll then consider
:07:38. > :07:41.what the best course of action is and implement it. When the problems
:07:41. > :07:45.first occurred, Jenny made a claim to her insurers, Barclays, which
:07:46. > :07:51.was declined. Jenny no longer insurers her home with Barclays,
:07:51. > :07:55.but we've asked them look again at the original claim. Barclays have
:07:55. > :07:58.sent out loss adjusters and are reinvestigating her case. They also
:07:58. > :08:08.say they're now liaising with Zurich to ensure the best outcome
:08:08. > :08:11.for their customers. So what have your insurers been like? How have
:08:11. > :08:14.they dealt with the situation? just don't seem to be responding to
:08:14. > :08:16.us whatsoever, they should be looking after us, not putting up
:08:16. > :08:19.barriers all the time. They're supposed to be supporting us,
:08:19. > :08:22.they're supposed to be our safety net. We shouldn't have to be
:08:22. > :08:27.attacking them to achieve a resolution. We feel completely let
:08:27. > :08:31.down, and it's just like we don't exist.
:08:31. > :08:34.A bad situation there. We'll keep you posted on any developments from
:08:34. > :08:37.those insurers. We also asked the builder Ian Jones of Rheidol
:08:37. > :08:40.Developments what he had to say. He's told us that he's spent
:08:40. > :08:43.hundreds of thousands of pounds trying to find a solution and is
:08:43. > :08:46.determined to put things right. He's also told us that he's taking
:08:46. > :08:52.legal action against a company who he says failed to diagnose the
:08:52. > :08:55.landslip early on in the process. Ian Jones says he deeply regrets
:08:56. > :08:59.what has happened and will fix the problems whether or not he wins the
:08:59. > :09:02.court case. New drainage and monitoring systems have been
:09:02. > :09:06.installed, and he says he needs to be sure the land has stopped
:09:06. > :09:10.sliding before any repair work starts. So hopefully, between the
:09:10. > :09:13.insurers and the builder, the problems will be sorted out. We'll
:09:13. > :09:23.be watching. Remember, if there's anything you'd like us to
:09:23. > :09:26.
:09:26. > :09:29.investigate, get in touch now. Our Now, last year, payday loan
:09:29. > :09:31.companies lent their customers over �1 billion pounds. Lucy's been
:09:31. > :09:34.finding out how students here in Newport and across Wales are
:09:34. > :09:36.falling for the hype surrounding this type of loan.
:09:36. > :09:40.Making friends, getting to grips with college life and taking those
:09:40. > :09:50.first independent steps is a lot to deal with when students first head
:09:50. > :09:50.
:09:50. > :09:55.off to university. Then there is the extra challenge of managing a
:09:55. > :09:59.budget, often for the first time. And payday loan companies seem to
:09:59. > :10:02.be capitalising on this. Students are being bombared with text
:10:02. > :10:04.messages, ads on Facebook and TV, mobile phone apps and websites all
:10:04. > :10:14.offering high-interest short-term loans. Quick access to money, just
:10:14. > :10:15.
:10:15. > :10:18.a few clicks away. I get text messages, emails. They're pretty
:10:18. > :10:22.much on every channel you watch, there are at least one or two
:10:22. > :10:25.adverts about them. It's just everywhere, isn't it? Because I
:10:25. > :10:29.opened a bank account for my student loan to go into, then I got
:10:29. > :10:32.a couple of texts after that. President of Coleg Gwent's Student
:10:32. > :10:39.Union Craig Thorne thought taking out a payday loan was the solution
:10:39. > :10:43.to his cash problems. So what made you decide to go for a payday loan?
:10:43. > :10:47.It was just a quick-fix option. I was struggling to find money for
:10:47. > :10:50.Christmas, so I decided to take out a loan and repay it when I had more
:10:50. > :10:53.money just to use it for Christmas presents, really. It was literally
:10:53. > :10:56.just the easiest option for me. After borrowing a small amount last
:10:56. > :11:00.year and missing early repayments, Craig became overwhelmed by the
:11:00. > :11:03.debt. I thought I was going to be able to pay it, and if I could
:11:03. > :11:08.repay it for whatever reason, I wasn't expecting the interest to be
:11:08. > :11:12.so hefty. So I honestly don't know how I'm going to be able to afford
:11:12. > :11:18.to pay it off. Sorcha Kennedy works with people in debt in Newport.
:11:18. > :11:21.She's concerned that payday loans are so easy to obtain. As a money
:11:21. > :11:25.advisor, I'd say it's the biggest thing we're seeing over the past
:11:25. > :11:28.couple of years. Most debt clients that come in for advice have got a
:11:28. > :11:31.payday loan that they're struggling to repay. Are these loans really so
:11:31. > :11:34.bad? It's very rare that you see someone that's able to use them for
:11:34. > :11:37.what they're designed for, in that very basically filling a gap
:11:37. > :11:41.between a payday. The majority of clients are using them can't pay
:11:41. > :11:47.them back. Just by the very nature of them, the interest doubles and
:11:47. > :11:50.the default charges go on, which can result in bank charges as well.
:11:50. > :11:53.And universities across the country say they're concerned. From Bangor
:11:53. > :12:02.to Swansea to UWIC in Cardiff, there's been a sharp rise in
:12:02. > :12:06.students taking out payday loans over the last few years. He thought
:12:06. > :12:10.of having their auction, giving you a lifeline, you think it is amazing.
:12:10. > :12:15.You think he was saved, but then you have to deal with all the
:12:15. > :12:19.things after. If you are desperate, you are going to start to forget
:12:19. > :12:27.about the repercussions. It is very tempting, being a student. I have
:12:27. > :12:31.already run out of money. A few friends have joked about it, but I
:12:31. > :12:33.think other people have quickly told them it is not a good idea.
:12:33. > :12:36.Anne Reid is Money Doctor for Aberystwyth University. She says
:12:36. > :12:39.she's now hearing from all kinds of students who've encounted problems
:12:39. > :12:42.with loan companies. You have students from the poorer background
:12:42. > :12:44.who have the low household income perhaps, who haven't been able to
:12:44. > :12:47.budget properly, and you have the students from the higher income
:12:47. > :12:57.families who have again overspent and are too embarrassed to tell
:12:57. > :12:58.
:12:58. > :13:01.their parents they are in financial trouble. The figures that people
:13:01. > :13:08.have been borrowing will be anything from �75, and from memory
:13:08. > :13:14.I think the maximum was �1,000. And of course, paying back is then a
:13:14. > :13:20.major issue. Such a major issue for some, they've needed help from the
:13:20. > :13:22.Welsh Government's student hardship fund to repay fast increasing loans.
:13:23. > :13:28.I've seen in my job as student finance advisor about 30 students
:13:28. > :13:31.over the last two years. That's not to say that there aren't many more
:13:31. > :13:37.out there, there may well be those who perhaps are embarrassed to ask
:13:37. > :13:40.for help. But we've been able to help, I would say, half of them by
:13:40. > :13:44.helping from the contingency fund, which is the hardship fund provided
:13:44. > :13:47.by the Welsh Government. Advisors like Sorcha are particularly
:13:47. > :13:52.concerned by the way payday loan companies offer top-up loans when
:13:52. > :13:56.students are already struggling with repayments. That's the biggest
:13:56. > :14:00.problem. It's people then having to take out one loan to repay another
:14:00. > :14:04.one, and again, that's when the cycle of debt then begins. Sorcha's
:14:04. > :14:07.advice for people like Craig is not to ignore the debt. Students
:14:07. > :14:12.stuggling with payday loans should seek advice, from staff at their
:14:12. > :14:22.college or specialists like Citizens Advice. And they should
:14:22. > :14:28.
:14:28. > :14:31.get in touch with the lender to Now for the past fortnight we've
:14:32. > :14:39.been getting used to paying 5p for a carrier bag, so how's that going
:14:39. > :14:45.here in Newport? People are not using so many backs, which is the
:14:45. > :14:50.idea. The money we get, we put in the charity boxes. It is filling up
:14:50. > :14:56.so that is a good thing as well. How are you coping? I have never
:14:56. > :15:01.paid it and have no intent -- no intention of paying it. I don't
:15:01. > :15:08.remember to take bags with me. I usually end up paying them.
:15:08. > :15:12.money going his chat -- is going to charity so it's fine. And you've
:15:12. > :15:14.been getting in touch to let us know how it's going in the rest of
:15:14. > :15:17.Wales. Julia Watts from Welshpool feels really despondent about how
:15:17. > :15:19.few shops are planning on giving the proceeds to environmental
:15:19. > :15:22.causes. And she's annoyed that staff in three of the big
:15:22. > :15:24.supermarket chains she visited didn't actually know where the
:15:24. > :15:26.money was going. Selina from Haverfordwest thinks
:15:26. > :15:30.it's unfair that Tesco's have stopped giving green Clubcard
:15:30. > :15:35.points to customers in Wales. She'd like to know if charities will be
:15:35. > :15:38.benefiting from the points instead. And Jim Cherrett from Bridgend
:15:38. > :15:42.discovered that if you want a burger and chips at McDonalds
:15:42. > :15:45.that'll be 5p for a bag. But if it's only fries in the bag then
:15:45. > :15:48.it's free. And someone actually stole one of
:15:48. > :15:54.Sue Jones's bags out of her trolley in Brecon when her back was turned!
:15:54. > :15:57.Nasty. Next. When you hand your car over
:15:57. > :16:07.to a garage, you expect them to take good care of it. That's not
:16:07. > :16:08.
:16:08. > :16:14.what happened when the Lewis family Catherine Lewis's Mini was her
:16:14. > :16:17.pride and joy when she bought it new nearly 18 months ago. The
:16:17. > :16:25.family had been through a tough time and Catherine and her husband
:16:25. > :16:30.Bill hoped the car might lift their spirits. When I had the car, it
:16:30. > :16:34.just sort of made me feel a bit better, lifted me up. I loved the
:16:34. > :16:36.car. All was fine until they noticed a tapping noise when they
:16:36. > :16:46.started the car first thing in the morning.
:16:46. > :16:54.Catherine, that tick-tick noise, is that what you're talking about?
:16:54. > :16:59.that's right. Does it happen all the time?
:16:59. > :17:03.First off it starts and then after a couple of miles it's gone. So it
:17:03. > :17:06.was time to take the car back to the garage where they bought it for
:17:06. > :17:12.some tests. The Lewises booked the mini into Sytners Garage in Newport
:17:12. > :17:16.in March. It seemed like a quick fix. Sytner had the vehicle and
:17:16. > :17:20.they deduced it was due to lack of oil. I questioned that because it
:17:20. > :17:24.was a new car, but they said Minis burn oil. So did changing the oil
:17:24. > :17:32.sort it out for good? Well, no, in May, the noise, whether it was the
:17:32. > :17:38.same noise, but was very similar, had returned. I checked the oil and
:17:38. > :17:41.that was fine. So they brought the car back to the garage again in May
:17:41. > :17:47.- this time it was here for two weeks while they investigated the
:17:47. > :17:53.noise. It was clearly proving tricky to pin down.
:17:53. > :17:56.So tricky that it led the garage to make an unusual request. I had a
:17:56. > :17:59.phone call from them requesting my permission for one of their staff
:17:59. > :18:09.to take the car home overnight, so the technician could drive it in
:18:09. > :18:09.
:18:09. > :18:12.the morning. The garage recorded the call, during which they told
:18:12. > :18:19.Bill that letting a mechanic take the car home to Pontypool would
:18:19. > :18:22.speed up their search for the problem. At first he refused.
:18:22. > :18:27.God, you can't take that car to Pontypool. It's got a bloody big
:18:27. > :18:31.flag of St George on the top. you want me to leave it, I can do.
:18:31. > :18:35.Not in a million years. Leave it there. But they did manage to
:18:35. > :18:38.To allow them to drive it for shorter distances. "Am I OK to use
:18:38. > :18:43.it in the day for my drivers to use it for getting around?
:18:43. > :18:48.moderation. But despite all that road testing, when the Lewises
:18:48. > :18:53.finally got their car back, the garage told them there was no fault.
:18:53. > :18:57.The noise was just a characteristic of the car. But that wasn't the end
:18:57. > :19:01.of the story. Three days later and more bad news:
:19:01. > :19:06.a speeding notice arrived in the post addressed to Mrs Lewis. But it
:19:06. > :19:09.was dated at exactly the time her car was with the garage. My first
:19:09. > :19:13.thought was that they had the wrong car. The next thought was that my
:19:13. > :19:19.son had been driving the car, but when I showed it to Bill, he said
:19:19. > :19:22.it was when it was with the garage. The speeding offence happened here
:19:22. > :19:27.near Ystrad Mynach - that's around 15 miles from the Sytner Garage in
:19:28. > :19:35.Newport. The car was caught on camera doing 55 miles per hour on a
:19:35. > :19:38.road where the limit is 40. speeding fine provides evidence of
:19:38. > :19:44.their lack of regard for the car and their total contempt for my
:19:44. > :19:49.instructions. So how common is this? We asked an expert: Tim
:19:49. > :19:54.Shallcross from the Institute of Advanced Motorists. There are
:19:54. > :19:57.garages who use customers cars as runabouts, and that's totally wrong.
:19:57. > :20:01.This is a valuable possession that the customer has entrusted to the
:20:01. > :20:06.garage. They use it for picking up other customers' cars, for
:20:06. > :20:10.collecting parts, for dropping people at home. All kinds of things
:20:10. > :20:13.that we hear about, and I must emphasise that a lot of garages are
:20:13. > :20:18.responsible and do look after their customer's cars. So what can be
:20:18. > :20:21.done to stop this? The first thing we can all do is make a note of our
:20:21. > :20:25.mileage when the car goes into the garage. If it seems excessive, more
:20:25. > :20:35.than five or six miles, challenge the garage, and make a note of it,
:20:35. > :20:38.
:20:38. > :20:42.so if a speeding ticket does come through, you've got a note of it.
:20:42. > :20:45.Sytners have now admitted that one of their staff was at the wheel
:20:45. > :20:49.when the car was caught speeding. They say they've paid the fine and
:20:49. > :20:51.the points have gone on their driver's licence.
:20:51. > :20:54.The company also say they've reviewed their internal controls on
:20:54. > :20:58.the use of customer's vehicles, and are offering to pay the Lewises
:20:58. > :21:01.more than �500 as a gesture of goodwill. They say that throughout
:21:01. > :21:06.their dealings with the Lewises they've tried to provide a high
:21:06. > :21:09.level of customer service. So what about that elusive noise?
:21:09. > :21:12.Well, Mini themselves have carried out some more tests on the car -
:21:12. > :21:15.the good news, they now say they know exactly what's making the
:21:15. > :21:17.tapping sound, and it's completely normal and part of the vehicle's
:21:17. > :21:23.design. But for the Lewises the whole experience has left them
:21:23. > :21:27.frustrated and angry. I loved it when I first had it. With every car
:21:27. > :21:37.I've ever had I become attached to it, but now it's nothing. It's just
:21:37. > :21:40.
:21:40. > :21:43.Oh dear. Now if you remember last week we told you about Rhys and
:21:43. > :21:49.Nicole from Brithdir whose car insurance went up by �170 after
:21:49. > :21:54.they moved to the very next street. Well, Nia Dowd thinks she can beat
:21:54. > :22:04.that one. Her policy went up by a whopping �400 when she moved from
:22:04. > :22:04.
:22:04. > :22:07.Caerleon to Caldicot last month. you think you can compete with
:22:07. > :22:17.those - let us know your postcode lottery problems. Next, Lucy's On
:22:17. > :22:20.
:22:20. > :22:23.Lucie Bush from Llanelli thought that cancelling her mobile phone
:22:23. > :22:32.insurance would help save her money, but two years later she realised
:22:32. > :22:35.she was still paying for it. I'm on the case. I thought my mobile phone
:22:35. > :22:43.policy had been cancelled but two years later it's still being taken
:22:43. > :22:48.out. Right, time to head to In 2007 Lucie took out a mobile
:22:48. > :22:51.phone contract and insurance policy with the Carphone Warehouse. Her
:22:51. > :22:56.phone is essential as she needs to be able to keep in regular contact
:22:56. > :23:00.with her daughter Tamzin, who's visually impaired. I like to keep
:23:00. > :23:04.in touch with Tamzin and I know she likes to know that I'm on the other
:23:04. > :23:07.end of the phone. So having good mobile phone insurance is
:23:07. > :23:12.important? Yes, yes. If anything should happen to my mobile phone
:23:12. > :23:15.and I was without it for a length of time I think I'd start to panic.
:23:15. > :23:19.Being out of the house a lot, visiting my grandmother etc, I'm
:23:19. > :23:23.not on the landline so I'd panic if she couldn't get hold of me and I
:23:23. > :23:29.know she would as well, so that insurance did mean a lot.
:23:29. > :23:32.In May 2009 Lucie moved her mobile phone contract to O2. But two years
:23:32. > :23:37.later she discovered she was still paying money to the Carphone
:23:37. > :23:40.Warehouse. So I was looking online and saw the direct debit from
:23:40. > :23:47.Carphone Warehouse and thought that was a bit odd because I had
:23:47. > :23:50.definitely in my mind cancelled this insurance a long time ago.
:23:50. > :23:59.fact, Lucie's insurance had never been cancelled which meant she had
:23:59. > :24:02.paid a total of �274.50 for a policy she no longer needed. So I
:24:02. > :24:08.phoned them. Told them what I discovered online and they said
:24:08. > :24:11.that they would cancel it straight away. So did Carphone Warehouse
:24:11. > :24:15.offer to refund you any of the money they'd been taking out of
:24:15. > :24:18.your account? They did offer to pay me August's direct debit, quarterly
:24:18. > :24:28.payment of �27.45 for that month but I didn't really understand why
:24:28. > :24:31.just that month. Yes, I can see from our records here that they've
:24:31. > :24:35.refunded you �27.45 but they've taken a lot more from you. How do
:24:35. > :24:42.you feel about that? Angry. I've been a good customer and always
:24:42. > :24:45.paid my bills and was with them for a few years. And in this day and
:24:45. > :24:49.age, there's no need for any unnecessary cost going out of the
:24:49. > :24:52.account. So, Lucie, what would you like me to try and do? I'd like you
:24:52. > :24:55.to contact Carphone Warehouse and see if you can get my money back
:24:55. > :24:58.for me, please. I'll try my best. I'm on the case.
:24:59. > :25:02.Now there are things to look out for when you switch your mobile
:25:02. > :25:04.phone contract. It's important to remember to read the small print on
:25:04. > :25:09.the insurance contract. Switching to a new company doesn't
:25:09. > :25:13.necessarily mean that your existing polices will be cancelled. It's a
:25:13. > :25:16.good idea to check what payments are going out of your account.
:25:16. > :25:22.Lucie was confused but she could have spoken to her bank to clarify
:25:22. > :25:24.exactly who and what she was paying. Lucie was right to contact the
:25:24. > :25:34.Carphone Warehouse when she realised she was still being
:25:34. > :25:37.
:25:37. > :25:39.charged. So let's see what Carphone Carphone Warehouse has got back to
:25:39. > :25:42.me. After investigating Mrs Bush's claim they say they were never
:25:42. > :25:47.informed that she had changed her contract directly with O2 and
:25:47. > :25:50.that's why they continued to accept direct debit payments. However,
:25:50. > :25:53.Carphone Warehouse say they do value Mrs Bush's custom and are
:25:53. > :26:03.happy to refund her the value of the quarterly payments made to them
:26:03. > :26:05.
:26:06. > :26:09.since Mrs Bush took out a new contract with O2 in May 2009.
:26:09. > :26:12.Carphone Warehouse have agreed to give me a refund and with a baby on
:26:12. > :26:17.the way it's going to come in really handy for the nursery.
:26:17. > :26:20.that's another case closed! And just time for an update -
:26:21. > :26:25.Rachel's been to see a man we first met 18 months ago - now he's
:26:26. > :26:33.finally managed to get a refund. We first heard about the problems
:26:33. > :26:38.suffered by Simon Haslett when X- Simon had signed up for cavity wall
:26:38. > :26:41.insulation with The Mark Group in 2007. He thought it would save him
:26:41. > :26:46.money on his energy bills, but it wasn't long before alarm bells
:26:46. > :26:52.started ringing. My wife noticed a problem in the front hallway, in
:26:52. > :26:56.the floor. Basically there was a hole in it, she put her finger
:26:56. > :27:04.through the floor. We found dry rot behind the skirting boards, under
:27:04. > :27:07.the stairs, under the floor boards and into the front room. Simon
:27:07. > :27:12.complained to The Mark Group, but they refused to accept that their
:27:13. > :27:16.insulation had caused the damage. They sent out a surveyor and he had
:27:16. > :27:19.a look around and made a report out that said the house was at fault
:27:19. > :27:29.before they put the cavity wall insulation in and it wasn't because
:27:29. > :27:30.
:27:31. > :27:36.of the cavity wall insulation So Simon contacted X-Ray and we
:27:36. > :27:39.sent our surveyor Tim Davies to inspect his house. He concluded The
:27:39. > :27:42.Mark Group were partly responsible for the damage, and the company
:27:42. > :27:45.eventually agreed to look at the situation again .For a long time
:27:45. > :27:55.there were no developments and Simon battled on, paying for a new
:27:55. > :27:55.
:27:56. > :27:58.floor out of his own pocket. But after a year the Mark Group's
:27:58. > :28:08.insurers eventually got in touch, accepting they could be liable and
:28:08. > :28:11.
:28:11. > :28:16.offered him �5,000. I was relieved. I didn't think I would get anything.
:28:17. > :28:20.It's been two years. It's been a long time.
:28:20. > :28:23.Good to know that persistence can pay off. Yup, and that's all we've
:28:23. > :28:27.got time for tonight. Remember we'd love to hear your views about that