Browse content similar to 08/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Now on programmer, Declan Curry is here with this week's Your Money -- | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
now on BBC News. Hello and welcome to Your Money, | :00:00. | :00:16. | |
your weekly guide to making the most of your cash and available all week | :00:17. | :00:23. | |
on the BBC iPlayer. The banks paying back billions for insurance we | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
didn't need or could not use, the financial ombudsman is here to tell | :00:28. | :00:30. | |
us how to get our money back and how to avoid the companies that want a | :00:31. | :00:33. | |
bite of that cash. Websites offering services who can get you services | :00:34. | :00:40. | |
free elsewhere, the Advertising Standards Authority is | :00:41. | :00:42. | |
investigating. And how to stop mental health problems turning into | :00:43. | :00:46. | |
money problems as well, the charity MIND is here with its best advice. | :00:47. | :00:53. | |
One reason the economy has perked up, the sheer volume of money the | :00:54. | :00:59. | |
banks are paying back to customers who were tricked into buying | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
worthless insurance. Lloyds put another ?2 billion aside this week | :01:03. | :01:09. | |
and that by's total bill is now approaching ?10 billion and the bill | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
for all the banks is fast approaching ?20 billion. Robert | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
Paxton says that is equal to 1% of the nation's entire annual economic | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
production. The insurance itself, PPI is legal and for some people it | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
is very useful but the problem was the banks sold it to many people who | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
either did not need it or could not claim it when they wanted to. They | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
are now getting the money back. How do you know if you are entitled to a | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
refund? And how do you get the money if you can? Caroline Wayman joins | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
as, first of all, do you have to contact the bank will be back get in | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
touch with you? If you are unsure, get in touch with the bank of | :01:53. | :01:55. | |
whoever sold it to you. It may be that you hear something that | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
directly from the bag in which case you can respond but if you are in | :01:59. | :02:01. | |
doubt, get in touch with the person who sold it to you. Is that as | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
simple as having to find the name of that person or can you just turn up | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
at your local branch and say, "I know I was sold this, I thing I | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
should be getting money back" question mark you can do to a local | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
branch but try to find any documents you have, root around in the loft | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
and see if there are old documents that help you make sure you have | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
copyright business but then give them a call, that is usually the | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
easiest thing. If you are not sure, you can contact the ombudsman. | :02:30. | :02:33. | |
Thinking of people who might not have all the documentation, they may | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
have shredded it or thrown it away, that does not stop you pursuing a | :02:38. | :02:43. | |
claim? Absolutely not. If you have not got those documents, tell them | :02:44. | :02:51. | |
what you know and what you remember and they should be able to help you | :02:52. | :02:54. | |
find out whether you were sold it and if you were, whether it was | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
something you should have been sold. Whether you get in touch with the | :02:59. | :03:01. | |
back of the other way round, do you have to approve that this insurance | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
should not have been sold to you? Is the burden of proof on your | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
shoulders? You don't have to demonstrate anything in particular, | :03:11. | :03:13. | |
it is not a court case, you do not need to put together an argument | :03:14. | :03:16. | |
about why it was mis-sold, you only need to say that you don't think you | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
needed it or wanted it and you want them to look into it and tell you | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
whether they can put it right. You have gone to the bank, the bank has | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
come to you, you have put in the complaint and it is being looked | :03:32. | :03:34. | |
at, the bank comes back and says they don't agree with you and don't | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
think you I'm entitled -- you are entitled. If that happens, you can | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
come to the ombudsman if you are not satisfied so it is usually worth | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
letting the bank have the opportunity to finish the | :03:48. | :03:50. | |
investigation but they say that they do not think you are owed anything, | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
you can come to the ombudsman for free, we are impartial, we will take | :03:54. | :03:56. | |
a look and we will let you know whether they have to put things | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
right. You need to give the bank time to assess your claim but what | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
if you think they are dragging their feet? Can you jump the queue by | :04:05. | :04:11. | |
going to the ombudsman? The bank has got eight weeks to resolve the case | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
so it is usually worth giving them that amount of time because | :04:15. | :04:16. | |
sometimes they need to find their old records as well but if you get | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
to the point where eight weeks have gone by and you have not had an | :04:22. | :04:24. | |
answer and you are not happy, you can come to the ombudsman then. Lots | :04:25. | :04:30. | |
of viewers and experienced the telephone ringing and at the other | :04:31. | :04:33. | |
end of the line, it is a company saying that they think you are | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
entitled to get the money back and they will get the money for you. | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
Should you take the spoon of these companies and do business with them? | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
You need carefully to think about whether you need the help. You do | :04:47. | :04:49. | |
not need to go to a claims management company, you can come | :04:50. | :04:52. | |
directly to the ombudsman, it is simple and free, not difficult at | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
all and we can help people if they are not sure what to do. If you want | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
to use a claims management company, that is fine but think carefully | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
before you do because they will take up to 30% of compensation that you | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
are due. That is the crucial point. They will take up to a third of the | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
money? Yes. And the banks will process it for free and the | :05:16. | :05:18. | |
ombudsman are doing it for free. So you would hand over money you would | :05:19. | :05:21. | |
get any way to a company doing something that you can do for | :05:22. | :05:25. | |
nothing. Why on earth would you use these companies at all? Yellow we | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
would urge people to think carefully about that and say it is simple and | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
easy to do. Come to the ombudsman and we will do it for free. If you | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
think you have been sold this insurance and you're going to get in | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
touch with your bank, is they limited there a time limit -- is | :05:48. | :05:56. | |
there a time limit? You have got three years from when you knew or | :05:57. | :05:59. | |
should have known there was a problem and that means you have to | :06:00. | :06:02. | |
know about something specific to you so if you did something like making | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
a claim, perhaps at that point you should have known and you would | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
usually have three years from them but for many people, they have not | :06:11. | :06:13. | |
had anything like that that they would know. If you are in any doubt, | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
come to the ombudsman and we can tell you whether you are in time. So | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
the clock does not start until you think that you should get some of | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
this money back or the clock doesn't start until the bank gets in touch? | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
That's right so you have to know there is a problem. Thank you very | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
much, Caroline Wayman for that information about PPI. | :06:34. | :06:39. | |
Three whole somebody's News, have you noticed your gas Bill come down | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
in price? No, me neither. The price the energy companies pay has fallen | :06:45. | :06:48. | |
by 16% since December. Independent analysts say that is enough to save | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
?30 from the yearly gas bill for the MPs accuse the energy companies of | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
ripping off consumers who do not pay their bills by direct debit, people | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
who pay by cash or cheque typically pay ?114 per year more stop energy | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
company so that is because it costs more to process their payments. | :07:07. | :07:13. | |
House prices are still rising but the steam seems to have gone, the | :07:14. | :07:18. | |
Halifax as prices rose by 7.3% between January last year and | :07:19. | :07:21. | |
January this year. In December, the annual difference was slightly | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
higher at 7.5%. In November, higher still at 7.7%. | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
Renewing your passport and getting a new driving licence, filling out | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
your tax return, some websites offer to help you with that but they may | :07:37. | :07:39. | |
charge you for it. You could get the service for free elsewhere. | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
Something big advertising watchdog is looking into. | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
Part-time nurse Vanessa thought she was taking the easy option when she | :07:48. | :07:54. | |
decided to file her tax returns using what she believed to be an | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
official website. She was charged ?400 to file her return by tax | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
return gateway .com and only later did she revealed she could have | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
filed for free through the official government website. They serve small | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
print on the bottom of the screen that they are not the HMRC and there | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
is a link to go through to the HMRC but if you're somebody who is in a | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
flap trying to get it done with children and life going on around | :08:21. | :08:24. | |
you, you tend not to read small print. Vanessa has since got her | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
money back and the website she used has been upgraded. In a statement, | :08:29. | :08:30. | |
tax return gateway have said: So when should you be taking extra | :08:31. | :08:53. | |
care when looking online? The problem arises when you want to get | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
your passport renewed, for example, and you may enter that into a search | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
engine. If you press return, you will get a number of sponsored | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
websites, who pay to have their website at the top of your search | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
list. If you enter into one of these companies like what example this | :09:12. | :09:14. | |
one, you will see a pretty standard looking website that may or may not | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
seem to be an official one. If you scroll down, it makes it clear | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
indeed that this will be a fee-paying website who will charge | :09:24. | :09:26. | |
you for a service that you could get for free elsewhere. | :09:27. | :09:29. | |
But not all websites are as clear as they should be. The Advertising | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
Standards Authority says it has received around 700 complaints in | :09:34. | :09:36. | |
the last 12 months alone. Complaints we are receiving are about people | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
being lit Billy Morgan misled the nature of service offered, if the | :09:43. | :09:45. | |
other they be official when they are not -- about people being misled. | :09:46. | :09:52. | |
People that they are left out of pocket for a service they would not | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
have entered into had they known it was not official. How can you avoid | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
making a mistake and getting something that you should have got | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
for frequent Jamaat you should go onto the Government website and it | :10:05. | :10:12. | |
is www .gov .uk. An search within the website for drivers licenses, | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
passport or whatever because that is the official government website and | :10:17. | :10:19. | |
you know then that you're dealing with the right organisation. None of | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
the websites are doing anything illegal and search engines are | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
working closely to make sure that adverts are not misleading. | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
It is reckoned that 25% of people will have mental health problems in | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
any one year and where there is a problem, there is usually a money | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
problem as well. Beth Murphy is from MIND hooch offer help to people with | :10:43. | :10:48. | |
mental health problems and employers and families. Welcome to Your Money. | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
The main problem for money is because you become anxious and | :10:53. | :10:58. | |
depressed, you lose your income, you become depressed and then you are in | :10:59. | :11:03. | |
a money pickle. The same way as with physical problems, it often means | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
people cannot work and need time off work and they don't have money | :11:08. | :11:10. | |
coming in and with things like anxiety and depression, they can | :11:11. | :11:13. | |
make it even harder for you to do something about that said you are | :11:14. | :11:16. | |
building up a credit card bill perhaps. You are scared to open | :11:17. | :11:22. | |
envelopes, things can escalate. And it becomes a spiral? Eleanor Gass, | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
you have not got money in the house, you are not going out of the house | :11:27. | :11:32. | |
and it builds up -- yes, you have not got money in the house. You need | :11:33. | :11:38. | |
to recognise things early on. Element if you have lost your job | :11:39. | :11:40. | |
and you are not working, perhaps your benefits have been cut, | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
recognise that it is an issue early on. | :11:46. | :11:51. | |
Where can you get support from? Professional advice? It depends on | :11:52. | :11:59. | |
the issue. If you are in debt, it is important to seek help for that. | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
Things like the national debt line where you can go and speak to them | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
and consolidate your debts and find a way of paying them off more | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
evenly. If it is your mental health which is a problem, anxiety or | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
depression, bipolar, if things things are getting worse, it may be | :12:14. | :12:20. | |
an idea to get additional support. If you have a runner to -- a | :12:21. | :12:30. | |
relative, it is -- is it appropriate for an employer to step in and try | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
and help with the spiral? It is always appropriate to speak to | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
people. You should not assume you know what is going on for someone. | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
Don't make assumptions about if they are depressed and have got money | :12:43. | :12:49. | |
worries, talk to them about it. The reaction is almost always positive | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
for people speaking about things. We are quite scared about things and | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
there are so many stigma issues. Having a conversation can help. | :12:58. | :13:02. | |
There can be a frustration on the part of a derivative of friends that | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
you want to step in and fix it and make your friend better but that is | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
not often in your power. You're just there to provide comfort and support | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
rather than a solution? That is right. You cannot fix another person | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
in that way but can give them support and make them feel that they | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
are not the only person going through this and make them know they | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
are loved and cared about and give them something like the space to | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
talk about these things. And they are really positive. | :13:33. | :13:42. | |
That is all for this week. There is news and information about saving, | :13:43. | :13:48. | |
borrowing, spending on pensions on our pages on the BBC website. You | :13:49. | :13:55. | |
can get updates by following our feed on Twitter. Thank you for | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
watching. More again next week. Hope to see you then. | :14:01. | :14:19. | |
This is BBC News.. The headlines: Britain braces | :14:20. | :14:20. |