:00:00. > :00:00.Now on programmer, Declan Curry is here with this week's Your Money --
:00:00. > :00:16.now on BBC News. Hello and welcome to Your Money,
:00:17. > :00:23.your weekly guide to making the most of your cash and available all week
:00:24. > :00:27.on the BBC iPlayer. The banks paying back billions for insurance we
:00:28. > :00:30.didn't need or could not use, the financial ombudsman is here to tell
:00:31. > :00:33.us how to get our money back and how to avoid the companies that want a
:00:34. > :00:40.bite of that cash. Websites offering services who can get you services
:00:41. > :00:42.free elsewhere, the Advertising Standards Authority is
:00:43. > :00:46.investigating. And how to stop mental health problems turning into
:00:47. > :00:53.money problems as well, the charity MIND is here with its best advice.
:00:54. > :00:59.One reason the economy has perked up, the sheer volume of money the
:01:00. > :01:02.banks are paying back to customers who were tricked into buying
:01:03. > :01:09.worthless insurance. Lloyds put another ?2 billion aside this week
:01:10. > :01:13.and that by's total bill is now approaching ?10 billion and the bill
:01:14. > :01:18.for all the banks is fast approaching ?20 billion. Robert
:01:19. > :01:24.Paxton says that is equal to 1% of the nation's entire annual economic
:01:25. > :01:28.production. The insurance itself, PPI is legal and for some people it
:01:29. > :01:32.is very useful but the problem was the banks sold it to many people who
:01:33. > :01:36.either did not need it or could not claim it when they wanted to. They
:01:37. > :01:43.are now getting the money back. How do you know if you are entitled to a
:01:44. > :01:48.refund? And how do you get the money if you can? Caroline Wayman joins
:01:49. > :01:52.as, first of all, do you have to contact the bank will be back get in
:01:53. > :01:55.touch with you? If you are unsure, get in touch with the bank of
:01:56. > :01:58.whoever sold it to you. It may be that you hear something that
:01:59. > :02:01.directly from the bag in which case you can respond but if you are in
:02:02. > :02:06.doubt, get in touch with the person who sold it to you. Is that as
:02:07. > :02:10.simple as having to find the name of that person or can you just turn up
:02:11. > :02:15.at your local branch and say, "I know I was sold this, I thing I
:02:16. > :02:19.should be getting money back" question mark you can do to a local
:02:20. > :02:22.branch but try to find any documents you have, root around in the loft
:02:23. > :02:25.and see if there are old documents that help you make sure you have
:02:26. > :02:29.copyright business but then give them a call, that is usually the
:02:30. > :02:33.easiest thing. If you are not sure, you can contact the ombudsman.
:02:34. > :02:37.Thinking of people who might not have all the documentation, they may
:02:38. > :02:43.have shredded it or thrown it away, that does not stop you pursuing a
:02:44. > :02:51.claim? Absolutely not. If you have not got those documents, tell them
:02:52. > :02:54.what you know and what you remember and they should be able to help you
:02:55. > :02:58.find out whether you were sold it and if you were, whether it was
:02:59. > :03:01.something you should have been sold. Whether you get in touch with the
:03:02. > :03:06.back of the other way round, do you have to approve that this insurance
:03:07. > :03:10.should not have been sold to you? Is the burden of proof on your
:03:11. > :03:13.shoulders? You don't have to demonstrate anything in particular,
:03:14. > :03:16.it is not a court case, you do not need to put together an argument
:03:17. > :03:21.about why it was mis-sold, you only need to say that you don't think you
:03:22. > :03:27.needed it or wanted it and you want them to look into it and tell you
:03:28. > :03:31.whether they can put it right. You have gone to the bank, the bank has
:03:32. > :03:34.come to you, you have put in the complaint and it is being looked
:03:35. > :03:40.at, the bank comes back and says they don't agree with you and don't
:03:41. > :03:44.think you I'm entitled -- you are entitled. If that happens, you can
:03:45. > :03:47.come to the ombudsman if you are not satisfied so it is usually worth
:03:48. > :03:50.letting the bank have the opportunity to finish the
:03:51. > :03:53.investigation but they say that they do not think you are owed anything,
:03:54. > :03:56.you can come to the ombudsman for free, we are impartial, we will take
:03:57. > :04:01.a look and we will let you know whether they have to put things
:04:02. > :04:04.right. You need to give the bank time to assess your claim but what
:04:05. > :04:11.if you think they are dragging their feet? Can you jump the queue by
:04:12. > :04:14.going to the ombudsman? The bank has got eight weeks to resolve the case
:04:15. > :04:16.so it is usually worth giving them that amount of time because
:04:17. > :04:21.sometimes they need to find their old records as well but if you get
:04:22. > :04:24.to the point where eight weeks have gone by and you have not had an
:04:25. > :04:30.answer and you are not happy, you can come to the ombudsman then. Lots
:04:31. > :04:33.of viewers and experienced the telephone ringing and at the other
:04:34. > :04:37.end of the line, it is a company saying that they think you are
:04:38. > :04:41.entitled to get the money back and they will get the money for you.
:04:42. > :04:46.Should you take the spoon of these companies and do business with them?
:04:47. > :04:49.You need carefully to think about whether you need the help. You do
:04:50. > :04:52.not need to go to a claims management company, you can come
:04:53. > :04:55.directly to the ombudsman, it is simple and free, not difficult at
:04:56. > :04:59.all and we can help people if they are not sure what to do. If you want
:05:00. > :05:04.to use a claims management company, that is fine but think carefully
:05:05. > :05:09.before you do because they will take up to 30% of compensation that you
:05:10. > :05:15.are due. That is the crucial point. They will take up to a third of the
:05:16. > :05:18.money? Yes. And the banks will process it for free and the
:05:19. > :05:21.ombudsman are doing it for free. So you would hand over money you would
:05:22. > :05:25.get any way to a company doing something that you can do for
:05:26. > :05:32.nothing. Why on earth would you use these companies at all? Yellow we
:05:33. > :05:38.would urge people to think carefully about that and say it is simple and
:05:39. > :05:42.easy to do. Come to the ombudsman and we will do it for free. If you
:05:43. > :05:47.think you have been sold this insurance and you're going to get in
:05:48. > :05:56.touch with your bank, is they limited there a time limit -- is
:05:57. > :05:59.there a time limit? You have got three years from when you knew or
:06:00. > :06:02.should have known there was a problem and that means you have to
:06:03. > :06:07.know about something specific to you so if you did something like making
:06:08. > :06:10.a claim, perhaps at that point you should have known and you would
:06:11. > :06:13.usually have three years from them but for many people, they have not
:06:14. > :06:17.had anything like that that they would know. If you are in any doubt,
:06:18. > :06:21.come to the ombudsman and we can tell you whether you are in time. So
:06:22. > :06:25.the clock does not start until you think that you should get some of
:06:26. > :06:29.this money back or the clock doesn't start until the bank gets in touch?
:06:30. > :06:33.That's right so you have to know there is a problem. Thank you very
:06:34. > :06:39.much, Caroline Wayman for that information about PPI.
:06:40. > :06:44.Three whole somebody's News, have you noticed your gas Bill come down
:06:45. > :06:48.in price? No, me neither. The price the energy companies pay has fallen
:06:49. > :06:53.by 16% since December. Independent analysts say that is enough to save
:06:54. > :06:57.?30 from the yearly gas bill for the MPs accuse the energy companies of
:06:58. > :07:02.ripping off consumers who do not pay their bills by direct debit, people
:07:03. > :07:06.who pay by cash or cheque typically pay ?114 per year more stop energy
:07:07. > :07:13.company so that is because it costs more to process their payments.
:07:14. > :07:18.House prices are still rising but the steam seems to have gone, the
:07:19. > :07:21.Halifax as prices rose by 7.3% between January last year and
:07:22. > :07:26.January this year. In December, the annual difference was slightly
:07:27. > :07:32.higher at 7.5%. In November, higher still at 7.7%.
:07:33. > :07:36.Renewing your passport and getting a new driving licence, filling out
:07:37. > :07:39.your tax return, some websites offer to help you with that but they may
:07:40. > :07:42.charge you for it. You could get the service for free elsewhere.
:07:43. > :07:47.Something big advertising watchdog is looking into.
:07:48. > :07:54.Part-time nurse Vanessa thought she was taking the easy option when she
:07:55. > :07:58.decided to file her tax returns using what she believed to be an
:07:59. > :08:02.official website. She was charged ?400 to file her return by tax
:08:03. > :08:05.return gateway .com and only later did she revealed she could have
:08:06. > :08:11.filed for free through the official government website. They serve small
:08:12. > :08:16.print on the bottom of the screen that they are not the HMRC and there
:08:17. > :08:20.is a link to go through to the HMRC but if you're somebody who is in a
:08:21. > :08:24.flap trying to get it done with children and life going on around
:08:25. > :08:28.you, you tend not to read small print. Vanessa has since got her
:08:29. > :08:30.money back and the website she used has been upgraded. In a statement,
:08:31. > :08:53.tax return gateway have said: So when should you be taking extra
:08:54. > :08:57.care when looking online? The problem arises when you want to get
:08:58. > :09:02.your passport renewed, for example, and you may enter that into a search
:09:03. > :09:06.engine. If you press return, you will get a number of sponsored
:09:07. > :09:11.websites, who pay to have their website at the top of your search
:09:12. > :09:14.list. If you enter into one of these companies like what example this
:09:15. > :09:19.one, you will see a pretty standard looking website that may or may not
:09:20. > :09:23.seem to be an official one. If you scroll down, it makes it clear
:09:24. > :09:26.indeed that this will be a fee-paying website who will charge
:09:27. > :09:29.you for a service that you could get for free elsewhere.
:09:30. > :09:33.But not all websites are as clear as they should be. The Advertising
:09:34. > :09:36.Standards Authority says it has received around 700 complaints in
:09:37. > :09:42.the last 12 months alone. Complaints we are receiving are about people
:09:43. > :09:45.being lit Billy Morgan misled the nature of service offered, if the
:09:46. > :09:52.other they be official when they are not -- about people being misled.
:09:53. > :09:56.People that they are left out of pocket for a service they would not
:09:57. > :10:01.have entered into had they known it was not official. How can you avoid
:10:02. > :10:04.making a mistake and getting something that you should have got
:10:05. > :10:12.for frequent Jamaat you should go onto the Government website and it
:10:13. > :10:16.is www .gov .uk. An search within the website for drivers licenses,
:10:17. > :10:19.passport or whatever because that is the official government website and
:10:20. > :10:25.you know then that you're dealing with the right organisation. None of
:10:26. > :10:28.the websites are doing anything illegal and search engines are
:10:29. > :10:34.working closely to make sure that adverts are not misleading.
:10:35. > :10:38.It is reckoned that 25% of people will have mental health problems in
:10:39. > :10:42.any one year and where there is a problem, there is usually a money
:10:43. > :10:48.problem as well. Beth Murphy is from MIND hooch offer help to people with
:10:49. > :10:52.mental health problems and employers and families. Welcome to Your Money.
:10:53. > :10:58.The main problem for money is because you become anxious and
:10:59. > :11:03.depressed, you lose your income, you become depressed and then you are in
:11:04. > :11:07.a money pickle. The same way as with physical problems, it often means
:11:08. > :11:10.people cannot work and need time off work and they don't have money
:11:11. > :11:13.coming in and with things like anxiety and depression, they can
:11:14. > :11:16.make it even harder for you to do something about that said you are
:11:17. > :11:22.building up a credit card bill perhaps. You are scared to open
:11:23. > :11:26.envelopes, things can escalate. And it becomes a spiral? Eleanor Gass,
:11:27. > :11:32.you have not got money in the house, you are not going out of the house
:11:33. > :11:38.and it builds up -- yes, you have not got money in the house. You need
:11:39. > :11:40.to recognise things early on. Element if you have lost your job
:11:41. > :11:45.and you are not working, perhaps your benefits have been cut,
:11:46. > :11:51.recognise that it is an issue early on.
:11:52. > :11:59.Where can you get support from? Professional advice? It depends on
:12:00. > :12:03.the issue. If you are in debt, it is important to seek help for that.
:12:04. > :12:07.Things like the national debt line where you can go and speak to them
:12:08. > :12:10.and consolidate your debts and find a way of paying them off more
:12:11. > :12:13.evenly. If it is your mental health which is a problem, anxiety or
:12:14. > :12:20.depression, bipolar, if things things are getting worse, it may be
:12:21. > :12:30.an idea to get additional support. If you have a runner to -- a
:12:31. > :12:34.relative, it is -- is it appropriate for an employer to step in and try
:12:35. > :12:38.and help with the spiral? It is always appropriate to speak to
:12:39. > :12:42.people. You should not assume you know what is going on for someone.
:12:43. > :12:49.Don't make assumptions about if they are depressed and have got money
:12:50. > :12:53.worries, talk to them about it. The reaction is almost always positive
:12:54. > :12:57.for people speaking about things. We are quite scared about things and
:12:58. > :13:02.there are so many stigma issues. Having a conversation can help.
:13:03. > :13:07.There can be a frustration on the part of a derivative of friends that
:13:08. > :13:11.you want to step in and fix it and make your friend better but that is
:13:12. > :13:17.not often in your power. You're just there to provide comfort and support
:13:18. > :13:21.rather than a solution? That is right. You cannot fix another person
:13:22. > :13:24.in that way but can give them support and make them feel that they
:13:25. > :13:27.are not the only person going through this and make them know they
:13:28. > :13:32.are loved and cared about and give them something like the space to
:13:33. > :13:42.talk about these things. And they are really positive.
:13:43. > :13:48.That is all for this week. There is news and information about saving,
:13:49. > :13:55.borrowing, spending on pensions on our pages on the BBC website. You
:13:56. > :14:00.can get updates by following our feed on Twitter. Thank you for
:14:01. > :14:19.watching. More again next week. Hope to see you then.
:14:20. > :14:20.This is BBC News.. The headlines: Britain braces