:00:00. > :00:09.highlight -- on the high street, it highlighted the danger. If the shop
:00:10. > :00:12.goes bust before they're cashed in, there's a risk you could lose your
:00:13. > :00:14.money. It's all at the discretion of the administrator. We'll get some
:00:15. > :00:17.advice on that. Hello and welcome to Your Money,
:00:18. > :00:20.your weekly guide to making the most of your cash, here every weekend on
:00:21. > :00:28.BBC News television, available all week on the BBC iPlayer.
:00:29. > :00:31.Christmas vouchers. They let your family and friends pick the gift
:00:32. > :00:34.they want. But if the shop goes bust, you could lose your money.
:00:35. > :00:37.Consumer expert Gareth Shaw tells us if they're ever worth it.
:00:38. > :00:40.A dog for Christmas. Vet bills for life. Reporter Maryam Moshiri knows
:00:41. > :00:46.all about that. That's her pooch right there. She finds out if pet
:00:47. > :00:50.insurance is a good buy. And playing your cards wrong. Moving
:00:51. > :00:54.your debt to a different credit card could catch you out. Number cruncher
:00:55. > :00:56.David Black is here with his wealth warning.
:00:57. > :01:03.A week and a half to Christmas. What did you get me? Don't worry. I got
:01:04. > :01:06.you the same. Next week we'll take a big look at your rights when you're
:01:07. > :01:09.shopping, how to get last minute bargains, can you bring stuff back
:01:10. > :01:12.you bought at the sales? All that useful information. This week,
:01:13. > :01:16.though, we're zeroing in on this. Is it ever a good idea to buy vouchers
:01:17. > :01:22.or gift cards for one particular store? Gareth Shaw, money expert at
:01:23. > :01:27.the consumer magazine Which. Welcome to Your Money. You have a blister
:01:28. > :01:35.list of financial products to avoid. I look at it and on the left, -- on
:01:36. > :01:41.the list, I see vouchers and gift cards. What is the problem? The
:01:42. > :01:43.problem is that if the company goes bust, you're very low down the
:01:44. > :01:48.pecking order to get your money back. We have seen a number of
:01:49. > :01:54.retailers go bust over the last few years. Many people have had their
:01:55. > :01:58.fingers burned. Jessop Saint particular, people had 500 science
:01:59. > :02:03.and pounds worth of gift vouchers which were not honoured. There are
:02:04. > :02:07.no rules on this, it is always at the discretion of the
:02:08. > :02:11.administrator? Yes, if a company goes bust, you need to put in a
:02:12. > :02:17.claim with the liquidator. Then you have to wait to see if you're going
:02:18. > :02:20.to get anything back at all. As I said earlier, you're very low down
:02:21. > :02:25.on the pecking order for the people that you get paid back when a
:02:26. > :02:29.company goes into administration. What about vouchers that cover a
:02:30. > :02:34.range of different stores? Yes, there are a few out there, and some
:02:35. > :02:41.cover up to several thousand retailers. I know it is not
:02:42. > :02:51.personal, but cash or a checkmate the better. This is a list of
:02:52. > :02:58.financial nonlawyers. I see extended warranties on the list. This is not
:02:59. > :03:01.something you approve of? Yes. A lot of people making big purchases at
:03:02. > :03:07.Christmas, televisions, washing machines. The reality is that your
:03:08. > :03:14.product is unlikely to break down a new -- in the first place. Extended
:03:15. > :03:19.warranties can cost quite a bit. You have protection under the sale of
:03:20. > :03:24.goods act to return any items that are faulty, and the manufacturer's
:03:25. > :03:28.warranty as well. I do not think extended warranties are all the
:03:29. > :03:31.cracked up to be. You have also highlighted some investment
:03:32. > :03:39.products. These are things that will not get the headlines all the time,
:03:40. > :03:47.but in terms of the financial pain that the cause, they are pretty
:03:48. > :03:52.expensive. Yes, over 50s plans. If you have just taken a premium and
:03:53. > :03:59.you put it away for 1015 years, the likelihood is that you will get more
:04:00. > :04:03.money by putting it into an ISA. The other one is Tracker funds. These
:04:04. > :04:09.are investments that Tracker stock market. Some of them are charging
:04:10. > :04:18.way over the odds from what you could get. 1%, it doesn't sound like
:04:19. > :04:23.much, but it charges a lot. The full list is in the magazine guide. Thank
:04:24. > :04:26.you very much. If Santa is bringing the kids a
:04:27. > :04:29.puppy or a kitten, Santa needs to remember this: A dog is for life,
:04:30. > :04:33.not just for Christmas. Where there's a pet, there's a vet and a
:04:34. > :04:37.bill. Will pet insurance cover those costs? Maryam Moshiri gives the
:04:38. > :04:44.issue a good worming. Sylvia Brady's two dogs, Megan and
:04:45. > :04:47.Wilson, are both insured. Last year, she successfully claimed when they
:04:48. > :04:53.both needed operations, but she was shocked to find out that her monthly
:04:54. > :04:55.premiums went up afterwards. Both dogs were insured from puppies
:04:56. > :04:58.because we have had them from eight weeks old. They both needed eye
:04:59. > :05:05.surgery, something called cherry eye. We were pleased with the
:05:06. > :05:11.outcome. But at the end of the year, the premiums had gone up by 40%.
:05:12. > :05:15.Because they are young dogs and we want to keep them healthy, we will
:05:16. > :05:18.keep insuring them. The pet insurance industry is growing fast
:05:19. > :05:28.and is worth ?700 million annually Thanks to better research and
:05:29. > :05:30.technology pets are living longer. Great news for them and their
:05:31. > :05:34.owners, but more medical treatment could hit your wallet hard. When you
:05:35. > :05:37.turn to the vet, as opposed to getting a yes or no, we can do
:05:38. > :05:41.something, we cannot do something, you have a menu of options coming
:05:42. > :05:45.out at you. You start at ?100 for a straightforward, this is what we can
:05:46. > :05:47.do, and by the time there is a broken leg, you are easily onto
:05:48. > :05:54.?400. If there is a complication with maybe a metal pin, you're into
:05:55. > :05:57.1200-?2000. Some veterinary surgeries like this one in Southwest
:05:58. > :06:00.London, are seeing more and more owners using pet insurance to pay
:06:01. > :06:03.for their dog or cat's medical treatment. And the vet here believes
:06:04. > :06:06.the most important thing is to pick the right type of insurance from the
:06:07. > :06:13.start. Good quality means lifelong cover. Any of these policies that
:06:14. > :06:18.run year-to-year, they are hardly worth having. You will get an
:06:19. > :06:26.incident, there will be an exclusion put on that for life. Nobody else
:06:27. > :06:29.will touch you. If there is a message in this, if you're going to
:06:30. > :06:36.go for pet insurance, lifelong cover is the way to go. The financial
:06:37. > :06:39.ombudsman service says last year it received 830 new complaints, an
:06:40. > :06:42.increase of 50% on the previous year. Only a third of those
:06:43. > :06:48.complaints were upheld. Why do some people end up disappointed with the
:06:49. > :06:52.cover? If your dog or cat has had a condition before, they often will
:06:53. > :06:57.not pay out again or only up to a certain limit. They also will not
:06:58. > :07:00.pay if your dog gets sick from a condition against which they could
:07:01. > :07:07.have been vaccinated, or pregnancy. There are lots in the small print.
:07:08. > :07:10.If you do decide to buy a pet this Christmas, it is important to talk
:07:11. > :07:15.to your vet to decide which policy is right for you before you start
:07:16. > :07:17.shopping around. They are lovely!
:07:18. > :07:21.News for humans now. The cost of calling consumer helplines will be
:07:22. > :07:25.capped. Some companies make us ring expensive 0845 or 0870 numbers if we
:07:26. > :07:30.have a query or need to get something fixed. That will be
:07:31. > :07:37.stopped in June. Under new consumer regulations, they'll only be able to
:07:38. > :07:40.use standard or free numbers. The regulations will also give us more
:07:41. > :07:43.time to return goods we bought online or over the phone. And
:07:44. > :07:47.they'll force companies to make additional costs clearer.
:07:48. > :07:52.One other change, the phone watchdog Ofcom says free calls will also be
:07:53. > :07:55.free if you ring from your mobile. That change will happen in the next
:07:56. > :07:58.18 months. More people are falling behind with
:07:59. > :08:03.their rent payments and are asking for help. The Money Advice Trust, a
:08:04. > :08:06.charity that assists people with debt problems, says its helpline got
:08:07. > :08:10.nearly 20,000 calls from people behind with their rent in the first
:08:11. > :08:19.nine months of this year. That's nearly 40% more than the same time
:08:20. > :08:22.period in 2011. If you need it, you'll find the helpline number if
:08:23. > :08:24.you search on the Internet for "national debtline".
:08:25. > :08:27.Ryanair has cut its charges for excess baggage. Until now, you were
:08:28. > :08:33.stung for an extra 20 quid per kilo if your bag was overweight. Now it's
:08:34. > :08:36.charging a tenner a kilo. That's also what Easyjet charges at the
:08:37. > :08:41.airport for excess baggage. Flybe and Jet2 charge more per kilo. BA
:08:42. > :08:44.charges a flat fee of 40 quid per bag if it's overweight but still
:08:45. > :08:52.lets you take on luggage free if it's within the weight limit.
:08:53. > :08:55.Every now and again you'll get a letter inviting you to switch your
:08:56. > :08:59.debt from one credit card to another at zero interest. Very tempting at
:09:00. > :09:02.this time of the year, when there's a lot of spending to be done. David
:09:03. > :09:08.Black is a credit card rate expert from Consumer Intelligence, a market
:09:09. > :09:13.research company. Welcome. Zero interest is always tempting. What is
:09:14. > :09:18.the catch? They are good deals if you can get them. The first catch is
:09:19. > :09:22.that not everyone will get them. If you have a poor credit rating,
:09:23. > :09:27.you're unlikely to be excepted. The other thing is that you may not be
:09:28. > :09:33.offered as long as you want. Barclaycard are offering 29 months
:09:34. > :09:39.at 0%. But some people, the offer 14 months instead. That is important,
:09:40. > :09:43.because if it runs out, that introductory period, if it runs out
:09:44. > :09:47.before you have paid off the debt that you owe, you're left facing the
:09:48. > :09:53.big charges. Standard charges are very much higher. About a third of
:09:54. > :09:58.people probably will not clear the entire balance by the end of the
:09:59. > :10:01.period. Lots of those will want to switch to another 0% deal and it is
:10:02. > :10:07.no guarantee that it will be available. The other thing is that
:10:08. > :10:13.you might want to transfer 5000, but you might not be allowed to transfer
:10:14. > :10:17.that much. There might be a limit. They are pretty strict in making
:10:18. > :10:23.sure that you. Every iron cross every key during that introductory
:10:24. > :10:28.period. It is not unknown for them to bring that introduction to an
:10:29. > :10:38.end. Yes, about one fifth of people will lose the 0% eel. -- dot every I
:10:39. > :10:42.and cross every T. If you do not make at least the minimum payment
:10:43. > :10:49.are you go over your credit limit, you will potentially lose the 0%
:10:50. > :10:55.eel. When it says 0%, is it actually free in every case, for every penny
:10:56. > :11:01.that you transfer, is that correct? Assuming that you cleared within the
:11:02. > :11:06.period, yes. Balance transfer cards tend to charge between 2.5 and 3%.
:11:07. > :11:13.If you can get it, it is good value compared to what you have you borrow
:11:14. > :11:18.elsewhere. -- compared to what you have to pay when you borrow
:11:19. > :11:21.elsewhere. So there is a fee that you pay in some cases to move the
:11:22. > :11:28.money from one card to another card? Effectively leaders is a fee
:11:29. > :11:33.for all of them. The typical standard credit card rate is
:11:34. > :11:37.roundabout 18%. Some charge less, some charge more. Thank you very
:11:38. > :11:41.much. Thank you for looking into that for us. ?? new line That's all
:11:42. > :11:44.from Your Money for this week. Advice on saving, borrowing and
:11:45. > :11:46.spending all week long on the Your Money pages on the BBC's website.
:11:47. > :11:49.It's bbc.co.uk/money. You can get updates by following our feed on
:11:50. > :12:13.Twitter. We're @BBC Your Money.We're back next week. Bye for now.
:12:14. > :12:26.This is BBC News. The headlines: A plane carrying the macro one --
:12:27. > :12:31.coffin of Nelson Mandela has taken off bound for his final resting
:12:32. > :12:33.place, his childhood home. Dissident republican splinter for a
:12:34. > :12:36.bomb which exploded in Belfast yesterday evening.
:12:37. > :12:37.The 15-year-old girl