14/12/2013 Your Money

highlight -- on the high street, it highlighted the danger. If the shop

goes bust before they're cashed in, there's a risk you could lose your

money. It's all at the discretion of the administrator. We'll get some

advice on that. Hello and welcome to Your Money,

your weekly guide to making the most of your cash, here every weekend on

BBC News television, available all week on the BBC iPlayer.

Christmas vouchers. They let your family and friends pick the gift

they want. But if the shop goes bust, you could lose your money.

Consumer expert Gareth Shaw tells us if they're ever worth it.

A dog for Christmas. Vet bills for life. Reporter Maryam Moshiri knows

all about that. That's her pooch right there. She finds out if pet

insurance is a good buy. And playing your cards wrong. Moving

your debt to a different credit card could catch you out. Number cruncher

David Black is here with his wealth warning.

A week and a half to Christmas. What did you get me? Don't worry. I got

you the same. Next week we'll take a big look at your rights when you're

shopping, how to get last minute bargains, can you bring stuff back

you bought at the sales? All that useful information. This week,

though, we're zeroing in on this. Is it ever a good idea to buy vouchers

or gift cards for one particular store? Gareth Shaw, money expert at

the consumer magazine Which. Welcome to Your Money. You have a blister

list of financial products to avoid. I look at it and on the left, -- on

the list, I see vouchers and gift cards. What is the problem? The

problem is that if the company goes bust, you're very low down the

pecking order to get your money back. We have seen a number of

retailers go bust over the last few years. Many people have had their

fingers burned. Jessop Saint particular, people had 500 science

and pounds worth of gift vouchers which were not honoured. There are

no rules on this, it is always at the discretion of the

administrator? Yes, if a company goes bust, you need to put in a

claim with the liquidator. Then you have to wait to see if you're going

to get anything back at all. As I said earlier, you're very low down

on the pecking order for the people that you get paid back when a

company goes into administration. What about vouchers that cover a

range of different stores? Yes, there are a few out there, and some

cover up to several thousand retailers. I know it is not

personal, but cash or a checkmate the better. This is a list of

financial nonlawyers. I see extended warranties on the list. This is not

something you approve of? Yes. A lot of people making big purchases at

Christmas, televisions, washing machines. The reality is that your

product is unlikely to break down a new -- in the first place. Extended

warranties can cost quite a bit. You have protection under the sale of

goods act to return any items that are faulty, and the manufacturer's

warranty as well. I do not think extended warranties are all the

cracked up to be. You have also highlighted some investment

products. These are things that will not get the headlines all the time,

but in terms of the financial pain that the cause, they are pretty

expensive. Yes, over 50s plans. If you have just taken a premium and

you put it away for 1015 years, the likelihood is that you will get more

money by putting it into an ISA. The other one is Tracker funds. These

are investments that Tracker stock market. Some of them are charging

way over the odds from what you could get. 1%, it doesn't sound like

much, but it charges a lot. The full list is in the magazine guide. Thank

you very much. If Santa is bringing the kids a

puppy or a kitten, Santa needs to remember this: A dog is for life,

not just for Christmas. Where there's a pet, there's a vet and a

bill. Will pet insurance cover those costs? Maryam Moshiri gives the

issue a good worming. Sylvia Brady's two dogs, Megan and

Wilson, are both insured. Last year, she successfully claimed when they

both needed operations, but she was shocked to find out that her monthly

premiums went up afterwards. Both dogs were insured from puppies

because we have had them from eight weeks old. They both needed eye

surgery, something called cherry eye. We were pleased with the

outcome. But at the end of the year, the premiums had gone up by 40%.

Because they are young dogs and we want to keep them healthy, we will

keep insuring them. The pet insurance industry is growing fast

and is worth ?700 million annually Thanks to better research and

technology pets are living longer. Great news for them and their

owners, but more medical treatment could hit your wallet hard. When you

turn to the vet, as opposed to getting a yes or no, we can do

something, we cannot do something, you have a menu of options coming

out at you. You start at ?100 for a straightforward, this is what we can

do, and by the time there is a broken leg, you are easily onto

?400. If there is a complication with maybe a metal pin, you're into

1200-?2000. Some veterinary surgeries like this one in Southwest

London, are seeing more and more owners using pet insurance to pay

for their dog or cat's medical treatment. And the vet here believes

the most important thing is to pick the right type of insurance from the

start. Good quality means lifelong cover. Any of these policies that

run year-to-year, they are hardly worth having. You will get an

incident, there will be an exclusion put on that for life. Nobody else

will touch you. If there is a message in this, if you're going to

go for pet insurance, lifelong cover is the way to go. The financial

ombudsman service says last year it received 830 new complaints, an

increase of 50% on the previous year. Only a third of those

complaints were upheld. Why do some people end up disappointed with the

cover? If your dog or cat has had a condition before, they often will

not pay out again or only up to a certain limit. They also will not

pay if your dog gets sick from a condition against which they could

have been vaccinated, or pregnancy. There are lots in the small print.

If you do decide to buy a pet this Christmas, it is important to talk

to your vet to decide which policy is right for you before you start

shopping around. They are lovely!

News for humans now. The cost of calling consumer helplines will be

capped. Some companies make us ring expensive 0845 or 0870 numbers if we

have a query or need to get something fixed. That will be

stopped in June. Under new consumer regulations, they'll only be able to

use standard or free numbers. The regulations will also give us more

time to return goods we bought online or over the phone. And

they'll force companies to make additional costs clearer.

One other change, the phone watchdog Ofcom says free calls will also be

free if you ring from your mobile. That change will happen in the next

18 months. More people are falling behind with

their rent payments and are asking for help. The Money Advice Trust, a

charity that assists people with debt problems, says its helpline got

nearly 20,000 calls from people behind with their rent in the first

nine months of this year. That's nearly 40% more than the same time

period in 2011. If you need it, you'll find the helpline number if

you search on the Internet for "national debtline".

Ryanair has cut its charges for excess baggage. Until now, you were

stung for an extra 20 quid per kilo if your bag was overweight. Now it's

charging a tenner a kilo. That's also what Easyjet charges at the

airport for excess baggage. Flybe and Jet2 charge more per kilo. BA

charges a flat fee of 40 quid per bag if it's overweight but still

lets you take on luggage free if it's within the weight limit.

Every now and again you'll get a letter inviting you to switch your

debt from one credit card to another at zero interest. Very tempting at

this time of the year, when there's a lot of spending to be done. David

Black is a credit card rate expert from Consumer Intelligence, a market

research company. Welcome. Zero interest is always tempting. What is

the catch? They are good deals if you can get them. The first catch is

that not everyone will get them. If you have a poor credit rating,

you're unlikely to be excepted. The other thing is that you may not be

offered as long as you want. Barclaycard are offering 29 months

at 0%. But some people, the offer 14 months instead. That is important,

because if it runs out, that introductory period, if it runs out

before you have paid off the debt that you owe, you're left facing the

big charges. Standard charges are very much higher. About a third of

people probably will not clear the entire balance by the end of the

period. Lots of those will want to switch to another 0% deal and it is

no guarantee that it will be available. The other thing is that

you might want to transfer 5000, but you might not be allowed to transfer

that much. There might be a limit. They are pretty strict in making

sure that you. Every iron cross every key during that introductory

period. It is not unknown for them to bring that introduction to an

end. Yes, about one fifth of people will lose the 0% eel. -- dot every I

and cross every T. If you do not make at least the minimum payment

are you go over your credit limit, you will potentially lose the 0%

eel. When it says 0%, is it actually free in every case, for every penny

that you transfer, is that correct? Assuming that you cleared within the

period, yes. Balance transfer cards tend to charge between 2.5 and 3%.

If you can get it, it is good value compared to what you have you borrow

elsewhere. -- compared to what you have to pay when you borrow

elsewhere. So there is a fee that you pay in some cases to move the

money from one card to another card? Effectively leaders is a fee

for all of them. The typical standard credit card rate is

roundabout 18%. Some charge less, some charge more. Thank you very

much. Thank you for looking into that for us. ?? new line That's all

from Your Money for this week. Advice on saving, borrowing and

spending all week long on the Your Money pages on the BBC's website.

It's bbc.co.uk/money. You can get updates by following our feed on

Twitter. We're @BBC Your Money.We're back next week. Bye for now.

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