Episode 8 X-Ray

I'm Lucy Owen. And I'm Rhodri Owen. You're watching X-Ray. Bringing you

all the stories that matter. They bought brand new bungalows for

�185,000, but now the homes and their value are on the slide.

Cathrine Lewis thought her car was in the garage, until she heard from

the police. And finding out the cost of college

life: how teenage students are Hello. Well, by now we've all had

two weeks to get used to paying for our carrier bags. Later in the

programme, we'll be finding out how shoppers here in Newport think it's

going. And reporting back on your views from across Wales. First,

though, Rachel investigates why homes at a new development in West

homes at a new development in West Wales appear to be falling apart.

Aberporth lies at the southern end of lovely Cardigan Bay, a haven for

those who dream of a life by the seaside. This housing estate was

built in 2007 by a builder called Ian Jones, from Rheidol

Developments in Aberystwyth. They're just a couple of minutes

walk from the beautiful sea front. But for the people who bought

properties on Clos y Fferm, their new homes soon turned out to be

less perfect than they'd hoped. Rob and Dods Arnold moved in to Number

4 Clos y Fferm in 2007. It cost �185,000. Why did you decide to

move here? Well, it's a nice environment, it's close to the sea,

the beach is five minutes away, very natural, unspoilt. So what

changed, then? Well, shortly after we moved in, we found some cracks.

We asked the builder to come and have a look at them, and he said

he'd send his workman, who came with mastic, filled the cracks up.

But unfortunately, that wasn't enough. The cracks were getting

bigger, and more and more were appearing around the bungalow,

garage and garden. So when did you notice this? We noticed this about

18 months ago. The roof tiles are sort of spreading, as you can see.

They're parting company with the rest of the roof and it's getting

worse. This part of the garden is actually sloping away as well.

There's a ravine at the back, and I think the garden is sort of

slipping into the ravine. This is where we first discovered the

cracks, this one up here. Oh, my goodness! You can see the size of

that, it's way over an inch across. That metalwork is bent. Wow! That's

pretty. And it's got worse. It has got worse, and you can see the door

frame is moving away from the door there. And the same on the floor

line, the wall is moving away from the floor of the garage. Alarmed by

the deterioration, Rob asked neighbour at Number 5 if she was

having similar problems. We opened up our garage and we seen intensive

cracks, then the actual airing cupboard was starting to crack, and

then we see the bathroom in here, the tiles actually fell off. It's

been tiled four times since, but that crack there is actually on the

outer wall as well. Ah, ok. Rob, Dods and Jenny had heard that a few

doors down, their neighbours were having even bigger problems with

very large cracks appearing in their properties. Those properties

now sit empty on the estate. So how long's it been like this?

It's been boarded up for around 18 months or even two years. The lady

who lived here was only here around six months before all the problems

set in. And do you worry this is going to happen to your house?

indeed. As you can see this is another property that's been badly

affected, there's major cracking across the drive way. It looks like

there's been a tremor or something? Yeah, it looks like an earthquake

or something. Yeah, it does. for both sets of home-owners, the

financial consequences have been devastating. It's now being valued

at around 10 or 20,000. This represents between us almost 60

years of hard work and then to be told it's virtually worthless, this

was our retirement fund and now it's been wiped off the face of the

earth almost. We're stuck with a property we can't sell, we can't

rent, and we can't do nothing with. And we've got no money. And how

does that make you feel? Very depressed. Not all the houses in

the cul-de-sac have developed these problems. But it's not just

physical cracks in people's houses that are causing problems for the

residents of here. Rachael Shelly lives at Number 13 with her husband

and their son Isaac. Her property isn't damaged, but she's worried.

Because some on her neighbours, whose homes are also undamaged,

have seen the value of their properties drop by at least �30,000.

We're extremely concerned about it, we couldn't sell, we couldn't do

anything about it. So you feel you couldn't sell? Well, from what we

hear, we wouldn't be able to because the houses aren't being

valued at what the mortgage is. Obviously, we haven't got any

damage at the moment, but you're constantly looking for it, you're

watching minor settling cracks to see if they're going to be any

bigger or worse, and you know, it concerns us all, I think. So why

did these problems occur in the first place? We asked chartered

surveyor Kevin Thomas to take a look at the damaged houses and give

us his expert opinion. What do you think has happened here? I think

there's a combination of issues. One, the most important, I think,

is that there's ground movement, ongoing ground movement. It's

probably the worst ground movement I've seen in a long time. And it's

causing structural problems to the superstructure of these properties.

You don't have to be a surveyor or engineer to see it. We're talking

about cracks of 30-60 mm wide, which are very, very serious.

does the future hold really, for these houses? In one or two cases,

the most severe, I think it's demolition and rebuild. Rob, Dods

and Jenny have had endless problems working out who to turn to. They've

written countless letters to the builder Ian Jones, to Zurich, who

issued a ten-year house guarantee on their properties, and they've

tried to claim on their buildings insurance. So who is ultimately

responsible for sorting this mess out? Generally they'd have to take

this through their building insurers, and if they're not

getting any joy through those, employ their own professional

advisors, by way of surveyors, engineers, to take this forward

through them, and progress their claim. The Arnolds' building

insurers Zurich have installed monitoring devices in their homes.

These measurements have been going on for nearly 18 months, and have

you had any results from it? haven't really had any results, and

we haven't had any indications of what actions they're going to take

as a result of the movement. it's just sitting there? It's just

sitting there and we're just sitting there waiting for something

to happen. Zurich have now told us they're going to continue to

monitor the property over the winter in case there is more

movement. After completing their investigation they'll then consider

what the best course of action is and implement it. When the problems

first occurred, Jenny made a claim to her insurers, Barclays, which

was declined. Jenny no longer insurers her home with Barclays,

but we've asked them look again at the original claim. Barclays have

sent out loss adjusters and are reinvestigating her case. They also

say they're now liaising with Zurich to ensure the best outcome

for their customers. So what have your insurers been like? How have

they dealt with the situation? just don't seem to be responding to

us whatsoever, they should be looking after us, not putting up

barriers all the time. They're supposed to be supporting us,

they're supposed to be our safety net. We shouldn't have to be

attacking them to achieve a resolution. We feel completely let

down, and it's just like we don't exist.

A bad situation there. We'll keep you posted on any developments from

those insurers. We also asked the builder Ian Jones of Rheidol

Developments what he had to say. He's told us that he's spent

hundreds of thousands of pounds trying to find a solution and is

determined to put things right. He's also told us that he's taking

legal action against a company who he says failed to diagnose the

landslip early on in the process. Ian Jones says he deeply regrets

what has happened and will fix the problems whether or not he wins the

court case. New drainage and monitoring systems have been

installed, and he says he needs to be sure the land has stopped

sliding before any repair work starts. So hopefully, between the

insurers and the builder, the problems will be sorted out. We'll

be watching. Remember, if there's anything you'd like us to

investigate, get in touch now. Our Now, last year, payday loan

companies lent their customers over �1 billion pounds. Lucy's been

finding out how students here in Newport and across Wales are

falling for the hype surrounding this type of loan.

Making friends, getting to grips with college life and taking those

first independent steps is a lot to deal with when students first head

off to university. Then there is the extra challenge of managing a

budget, often for the first time. And payday loan companies seem to

be capitalising on this. Students are being bombared with text

messages, ads on Facebook and TV, mobile phone apps and websites all

offering high-interest short-term loans. Quick access to money, just

a few clicks away. I get text messages, emails. They're pretty

much on every channel you watch, there are at least one or two

adverts about them. It's just everywhere, isn't it? Because I

opened a bank account for my student loan to go into, then I got

a couple of texts after that. President of Coleg Gwent's Student

Union Craig Thorne thought taking out a payday loan was the solution

to his cash problems. So what made you decide to go for a payday loan?

It was just a quick-fix option. I was struggling to find money for

Christmas, so I decided to take out a loan and repay it when I had more

money just to use it for Christmas presents, really. It was literally

just the easiest option for me. After borrowing a small amount last

year and missing early repayments, Craig became overwhelmed by the

debt. I thought I was going to be able to pay it, and if I could

repay it for whatever reason, I wasn't expecting the interest to be

so hefty. So I honestly don't know how I'm going to be able to afford

to pay it off. Sorcha Kennedy works with people in debt in Newport.

She's concerned that payday loans are so easy to obtain. As a money

advisor, I'd say it's the biggest thing we're seeing over the past

couple of years. Most debt clients that come in for advice have got a

payday loan that they're struggling to repay. Are these loans really so

bad? It's very rare that you see someone that's able to use them for

what they're designed for, in that very basically filling a gap

between a payday. The majority of clients are using them can't pay

them back. Just by the very nature of them, the interest doubles and

the default charges go on, which can result in bank charges as well.

And universities across the country say they're concerned. From Bangor

to Swansea to UWIC in Cardiff, there's been a sharp rise in

students taking out payday loans over the last few years. He thought

of having their auction, giving you a lifeline, you think it is amazing.

You think he was saved, but then you have to deal with all the

things after. If you are desperate, you are going to start to forget

about the repercussions. It is very tempting, being a student. I have

already run out of money. A few friends have joked about it, but I

think other people have quickly told them it is not a good idea.

Anne Reid is Money Doctor for Aberystwyth University. She says

she's now hearing from all kinds of students who've encounted problems

with loan companies. You have students from the poorer background

who have the low household income perhaps, who haven't been able to

budget properly, and you have the students from the higher income

families who have again overspent and are too embarrassed to tell

their parents they are in financial trouble. The figures that people

have been borrowing will be anything from �75, and from memory

I think the maximum was �1,000. And of course, paying back is then a

major issue. Such a major issue for some, they've needed help from the

Welsh Government's student hardship fund to repay fast increasing loans.

I've seen in my job as student finance advisor about 30 students

over the last two years. That's not to say that there aren't many more

out there, there may well be those who perhaps are embarrassed to ask

for help. But we've been able to help, I would say, half of them by

helping from the contingency fund, which is the hardship fund provided

by the Welsh Government. Advisors like Sorcha are particularly

concerned by the way payday loan companies offer top-up loans when

students are already struggling with repayments. That's the biggest

problem. It's people then having to take out one loan to repay another

one, and again, that's when the cycle of debt then begins. Sorcha's

advice for people like Craig is not to ignore the debt. Students

stuggling with payday loans should seek advice, from staff at their

college or specialists like Citizens Advice. And they should

get in touch with the lender to Now for the past fortnight we've

been getting used to paying 5p for a carrier bag, so how's that going

here in Newport? People are not using so many backs, which is the

idea. The money we get, we put in the charity boxes. It is filling up

so that is a good thing as well. How are you coping? I have never

paid it and have no intent -- no intention of paying it. I don't

remember to take bags with me. I usually end up paying them.

money going his chat -- is going to charity so it's fine. And you've

been getting in touch to let us know how it's going in the rest of

Wales. Julia Watts from Welshpool feels really despondent about how

few shops are planning on giving the proceeds to environmental

causes. And she's annoyed that staff in three of the big

supermarket chains she visited didn't actually know where the

money was going. Selina from Haverfordwest thinks

it's unfair that Tesco's have stopped giving green Clubcard

points to customers in Wales. She'd like to know if charities will be

benefiting from the points instead. And Jim Cherrett from Bridgend

discovered that if you want a burger and chips at McDonalds

that'll be 5p for a bag. But if it's only fries in the bag then

it's free. And someone actually stole one of

Sue Jones's bags out of her trolley in Brecon when her back was turned!

Nasty. Next. When you hand your car over

to a garage, you expect them to take good care of it. That's not

what happened when the Lewis family Catherine Lewis's Mini was her

pride and joy when she bought it new nearly 18 months ago. The

family had been through a tough time and Catherine and her husband

Bill hoped the car might lift their spirits. When I had the car, it

just sort of made me feel a bit better, lifted me up. I loved the

car. All was fine until they noticed a tapping noise when they

started the car first thing in the morning.

Catherine, that tick-tick noise, is that what you're talking about?

that's right. Does it happen all the time?

First off it starts and then after a couple of miles it's gone. So it

was time to take the car back to the garage where they bought it for

some tests. The Lewises booked the mini into Sytners Garage in Newport

in March. It seemed like a quick fix. Sytner had the vehicle and

they deduced it was due to lack of oil. I questioned that because it

was a new car, but they said Minis burn oil. So did changing the oil

sort it out for good? Well, no, in May, the noise, whether it was the

same noise, but was very similar, had returned. I checked the oil and

that was fine. So they brought the car back to the garage again in May

- this time it was here for two weeks while they investigated the

noise. It was clearly proving tricky to pin down.

So tricky that it led the garage to make an unusual request. I had a

phone call from them requesting my permission for one of their staff

to take the car home overnight, so the technician could drive it in

the morning. The garage recorded the call, during which they told

Bill that letting a mechanic take the car home to Pontypool would

speed up their search for the problem. At first he refused.

God, you can't take that car to Pontypool. It's got a bloody big

flag of St George on the top. you want me to leave it, I can do.

Not in a million years. Leave it there. But they did manage to

To allow them to drive it for shorter distances. "Am I OK to use

it in the day for my drivers to use it for getting around?

moderation. But despite all that road testing, when the Lewises

finally got their car back, the garage told them there was no fault.

The noise was just a characteristic of the car. But that wasn't the end

of the story. Three days later and more bad news:

a speeding notice arrived in the post addressed to Mrs Lewis. But it

was dated at exactly the time her car was with the garage. My first

thought was that they had the wrong car. The next thought was that my

son had been driving the car, but when I showed it to Bill, he said

it was when it was with the garage. The speeding offence happened here

near Ystrad Mynach - that's around 15 miles from the Sytner Garage in

Newport. The car was caught on camera doing 55 miles per hour on a

road where the limit is 40. speeding fine provides evidence of

their lack of regard for the car and their total contempt for my

instructions. So how common is this? We asked an expert: Tim

Shallcross from the Institute of Advanced Motorists. There are

garages who use customers cars as runabouts, and that's totally wrong.

This is a valuable possession that the customer has entrusted to the

garage. They use it for picking up other customers' cars, for

collecting parts, for dropping people at home. All kinds of things

that we hear about, and I must emphasise that a lot of garages are

responsible and do look after their customer's cars. So what can be

done to stop this? The first thing we can all do is make a note of our

mileage when the car goes into the garage. If it seems excessive, more

than five or six miles, challenge the garage, and make a note of it,

so if a speeding ticket does come through, you've got a note of it.

Sytners have now admitted that one of their staff was at the wheel

when the car was caught speeding. They say they've paid the fine and

the points have gone on their driver's licence.

The company also say they've reviewed their internal controls on

the use of customer's vehicles, and are offering to pay the Lewises

more than �500 as a gesture of goodwill. They say that throughout

their dealings with the Lewises they've tried to provide a high

level of customer service. So what about that elusive noise?

Well, Mini themselves have carried out some more tests on the car -

the good news, they now say they know exactly what's making the

tapping sound, and it's completely normal and part of the vehicle's

design. But for the Lewises the whole experience has left them

frustrated and angry. I loved it when I first had it. With every car

I've ever had I become attached to it, but now it's nothing. It's just

Oh dear. Now if you remember last week we told you about Rhys and

Nicole from Brithdir whose car insurance went up by �170 after

they moved to the very next street. Well, Nia Dowd thinks she can beat

that one. Her policy went up by a whopping �400 when she moved from

Caerleon to Caldicot last month. you think you can compete with

those - let us know your postcode lottery problems. Next, Lucy's On

Lucie Bush from Llanelli thought that cancelling her mobile phone

insurance would help save her money, but two years later she realised

she was still paying for it. I'm on the case. I thought my mobile phone

policy had been cancelled but two years later it's still being taken

out. Right, time to head to In 2007 Lucie took out a mobile

phone contract and insurance policy with the Carphone Warehouse. Her

phone is essential as she needs to be able to keep in regular contact

with her daughter Tamzin, who's visually impaired. I like to keep

in touch with Tamzin and I know she likes to know that I'm on the other

end of the phone. So having good mobile phone insurance is

important? Yes, yes. If anything should happen to my mobile phone

and I was without it for a length of time I think I'd start to panic.

Being out of the house a lot, visiting my grandmother etc, I'm

not on the landline so I'd panic if she couldn't get hold of me and I

know she would as well, so that insurance did mean a lot.

In May 2009 Lucie moved her mobile phone contract to O2. But two years

later she discovered she was still paying money to the Carphone

Warehouse. So I was looking online and saw the direct debit from

Carphone Warehouse and thought that was a bit odd because I had

definitely in my mind cancelled this insurance a long time ago.

fact, Lucie's insurance had never been cancelled which meant she had

paid a total of �274.50 for a policy she no longer needed. So I

phoned them. Told them what I discovered online and they said

that they would cancel it straight away. So did Carphone Warehouse

offer to refund you any of the money they'd been taking out of

your account? They did offer to pay me August's direct debit, quarterly

payment of �27.45 for that month but I didn't really understand why

just that month. Yes, I can see from our records here that they've

refunded you �27.45 but they've taken a lot more from you. How do

you feel about that? Angry. I've been a good customer and always

paid my bills and was with them for a few years. And in this day and

age, there's no need for any unnecessary cost going out of the

account. So, Lucie, what would you like me to try and do? I'd like you

to contact Carphone Warehouse and see if you can get my money back

for me, please. I'll try my best. I'm on the case.

Now there are things to look out for when you switch your mobile

phone contract. It's important to remember to read the small print on

the insurance contract. Switching to a new company doesn't

necessarily mean that your existing polices will be cancelled. It's a

good idea to check what payments are going out of your account.

Lucie was confused but she could have spoken to her bank to clarify

exactly who and what she was paying. Lucie was right to contact the

Carphone Warehouse when she realised she was still being

charged. So let's see what Carphone Carphone Warehouse has got back to

me. After investigating Mrs Bush's claim they say they were never

informed that she had changed her contract directly with O2 and

that's why they continued to accept direct debit payments. However,

Carphone Warehouse say they do value Mrs Bush's custom and are

happy to refund her the value of the quarterly payments made to them

since Mrs Bush took out a new contract with O2 in May 2009.

Carphone Warehouse have agreed to give me a refund and with a baby on

the way it's going to come in really handy for the nursery.

that's another case closed! And just time for an update -

Rachel's been to see a man we first met 18 months ago - now he's

finally managed to get a refund. We first heard about the problems

suffered by Simon Haslett when X- Simon had signed up for cavity wall

insulation with The Mark Group in 2007. He thought it would save him

money on his energy bills, but it wasn't long before alarm bells

started ringing. My wife noticed a problem in the front hallway, in

the floor. Basically there was a hole in it, she put her finger

through the floor. We found dry rot behind the skirting boards, under

the stairs, under the floor boards and into the front room. Simon

complained to The Mark Group, but they refused to accept that their

insulation had caused the damage. They sent out a surveyor and he had

a look around and made a report out that said the house was at fault

before they put the cavity wall insulation in and it wasn't because

of the cavity wall insulation So Simon contacted X-Ray and we

sent our surveyor Tim Davies to inspect his house. He concluded The

Mark Group were partly responsible for the damage, and the company

eventually agreed to look at the situation again .For a long time

there were no developments and Simon battled on, paying for a new

floor out of his own pocket. But after a year the Mark Group's

insurers eventually got in touch, accepting they could be liable and

offered him �5,000. I was relieved. I didn't think I would get anything.

It's been two years. It's been a long time.

Good to know that persistence can pay off. Yup, and that's all we've

got time for tonight. Remember we'd love to hear your views about that