:00:00. > :00:00.Doctor Who celebrates its 50th anniversary today. A special episode
:00:00. > :00:12.will be broadcast tonight in more than 90 countries.
:00:13. > :00:23.Time for this week's Your Money. If you have ever tried to buy a
:00:24. > :00:26.broadband package and you have been bamboozled by the wording in the
:00:27. > :00:31.advertising, we will have the answers for you. Do you know the
:00:32. > :00:38.difference between a megabyte and a megabit? They are spelt differently?
:00:39. > :00:47.We will have the answer on this week's programme.
:00:48. > :00:55.This is your weekly guide to making the most of your cash, hear every
:00:56. > :00:59.weekend on BBC News. Available all on the BBC iPlayer.
:01:00. > :01:02.Not everyone will be enjoying the festive period in their own house
:01:03. > :01:07.this year as some people face the prospect of losing their home.
:01:08. > :01:13.Shelter is bracing itself a deluge of calls in the run`up to Christmas.
:01:14. > :01:17.If you want peace of mind when buying big electrical items this
:01:18. > :01:21.Christmas you might be tempted to buy an extended warranty, but is it
:01:22. > :01:26.worth it? Ever been bamboozled by broadband
:01:27. > :01:30.advertising? You are not alone, and in some cases it could mean you are
:01:31. > :01:36.paying more. We will be cutting through the jargon.
:01:37. > :01:39.While most of the UK will be enjoying Christmas at home with
:01:40. > :01:44.family and friends, many families will face the threat of homelessness
:01:45. > :01:50.as the rising cost of living bites. Shelter is bracing itself for a rise
:01:51. > :01:59.in demand after a surge in demand last Christmas. I'm joined by
:02:00. > :02:03.Antonia from the charity Shelter. Why is the many people calling you
:02:04. > :02:10.at this time of year? At this time of the year, people's problems come
:02:11. > :02:14.into focus. We know that the most important thing is that whatever you
:02:15. > :02:19.do, if you can, keep up with your rent or mortgage payments. If you're
:02:20. > :02:24.getting into trouble, make sure you get help and advice early. After
:02:25. > :02:30.Christmas is when people begin to get into trouble with their rent or
:02:31. > :02:39.their mortgage. Will the banks listen to someone if they cannot pay
:02:40. > :02:42.their mortgage? What we have found is that banks are willing to talk to
:02:43. > :02:46.people as long as they tell them early that they are getting into
:02:47. > :02:52.trouble. If you're struggling to make your mortgage payments, please
:02:53. > :02:57.get in touch with Shelter. Look at our website, there is a really good
:02:58. > :03:02.guide on what to do if you were worried about making your mortgage
:03:03. > :03:08.payment. Also you can call our helpline. It is open every single
:03:09. > :03:14.day and we can really make sure that you can stay in your home. We are
:03:15. > :03:17.not just talking about people with mortgages, we are talking about
:03:18. > :03:25.people who are renting as well? Absolutely. One in four renters are
:03:26. > :03:30.struggling to pay their rent in this country. Rent is at the highest
:03:31. > :03:36.level ever. There is help and advice available, please do call our
:03:37. > :03:40.helpline. Make sure you make your rent your priority payment every
:03:41. > :03:45.single month, try not to go for short`term measures like payday
:03:46. > :03:50.loans. There is a simple message, people always think, I can pay the
:03:51. > :03:55.mortgage, I will put it to the side. But they do not prioritise
:03:56. > :04:00.properly. If people are getting into trouble they need to ask for help,
:04:01. > :04:06.there is no shame in it. People should know there is help available
:04:07. > :04:11.from the government and charity. When should the alarm bells start
:04:12. > :04:16.ringing? When should you think, actually I need to do something
:04:17. > :04:20.about this right now? If you are beginning to think this month may be
:04:21. > :04:25.the month you cannot make your rent on your mortgage, that is when your
:04:26. > :04:29.alarm bells should start ringing. It is important to make sure your rent
:04:30. > :04:34.and mortgage are your first and most important payment. If you think you
:04:35. > :04:42.are going to struggle, get some help, get some advice. No one needs
:04:43. > :04:45.to lose their home this Christmas. If you are worried about losing your
:04:46. > :04:56.home, you can ring the Shelter helpline. Here is the number:
:04:57. > :05:03.you can find a lot of advice on that website as well.
:05:04. > :05:07.It is merely the season to be jolly and spend on Christmas presents. How
:05:08. > :05:13.much are you willing to fork out for that extra peace of mind? Every year
:05:14. > :05:17.we spend about ?1 million on extended warranties which retailers
:05:18. > :05:21.promise will protect our purchases over a longer period than
:05:22. > :05:28.manufacturers guarantees. But do we really need them? It is the
:05:29. > :05:34.beginning of the Christmas shopping season and shoppers are buying gifts
:05:35. > :05:38.for loved ones. But with that new item, many people are paying extra
:05:39. > :05:42.to protect their purchase. We looked at three of the best`known
:05:43. > :05:48.electrical retailers in the country. If you are planning to buy a
:05:49. > :05:53.television from Currys PC World, a standard five`year extended warranty
:05:54. > :06:00.will cost you ?89. The same warranty from Tesco will set you back ?64.99.
:06:01. > :06:04.John Lewis offer a free five`year warranty on all of these
:06:05. > :06:08.televisions. Which? Has done research on extended warranties
:06:09. > :06:13.which casts doubt on whether they are needed in the first place. They
:06:14. > :06:18.are sold heavily by staff at retailers. You come to the desk,
:06:19. > :06:23.your body new TV, and someone is selling you peace of mind for around
:06:24. > :06:29.?100. That is tempting, especially if you have spent a lot of money on
:06:30. > :06:32.TV. The truth is you do not need to buy an extended warranty. In
:06:33. > :06:37.reality, your product is very unlikely to break down the first
:06:38. > :06:41.place. When the manufacturers' guarantee on your cattle or
:06:42. > :06:46.toaster, the extended warranty will kick in. It can cover you for things
:06:47. > :06:53.like damaged but not where on terror, fire or theft. Of course,
:06:54. > :07:01.this all depends on the contract. `` but not wear and tear. They are not
:07:02. > :07:07.good value for money. You get 12 month warranty anyway. I have bought
:07:08. > :07:14.one and I am delighted with it because it is for my cooker. If they
:07:15. > :07:21.were not so expensive maybe I would. I try to avoid them, they are profit
:07:22. > :07:25.opportunity for the retailers. Some experts believe warranties can be
:07:26. > :07:29.worth it in the right circumstances. If you're buying an expensive
:07:30. > :07:34.electrical item, then look at something like an extended warranty,
:07:35. > :07:38.just to cover you for those additional costs after the
:07:39. > :07:43.manufacturers' 12 month guarantee is over. If you are buying that item on
:07:44. > :07:46.a credit card, you also will be covered. An additional thing to look
:07:47. > :07:52.at is your home insurance which will cover you for extended damage.
:07:53. > :07:53.Before paying for peace of mind this Christmas it is worth considering
:07:54. > :08:05.the benefits and the cost. Fed up with unsolicited calls and
:08:06. > :08:10.text from claims management companies? The law is about to get
:08:11. > :08:15.tougher with them. Stricter rules to crack down on these firms were
:08:16. > :08:20.announced by the government this week. The claims management
:08:21. > :08:23.regulation unit at the Ministry of Justice will be taking on more in
:08:24. > :08:30.force on staff to deal with these problem companies. 5375 new homes
:08:31. > :08:36.were bought in the last six months using the governments Help to Buy
:08:37. > :08:40.scheme. 92% of them were sold to first`time buyers. The scheme was
:08:41. > :08:45.launched in April to help people buy new`build homes with a shared equity
:08:46. > :08:48.loan. It has been extended to all types of homes. Under the second
:08:49. > :08:54.phase up to 50% of the value of the home can be guaranteed by Treasury.
:08:55. > :09:00.Yorkshire building society is to offer new mortgages to people with
:09:01. > :09:03.just a 5% deposit. The dealer is being seen as a sign that
:09:04. > :09:10.competition amongst lenders is increasing. The UK mortgage market
:09:11. > :09:16.is continuing to revive. Gross mortgage lending rose to its higher
:09:17. > :09:22.level for five years reaching ?17.6 billion in October, a 9% rise
:09:23. > :09:24.compared to September. Drivers are paying the lowest
:09:25. > :09:31.average price for petrol in more than two and a half years. The
:09:32. > :09:39.average price of unleaded has fallen from just over 130 2p per litre to
:09:40. > :09:46.130.4 p this month. Prices have fallen 8p since September. You
:09:47. > :09:52.should get an extra ten miles compared to two months ago.
:09:53. > :10:02.Do you know you're a megabyte from your megabit? You're not alone if
:10:03. > :10:07.you do not. One in five of us cannot decipher the words or abbreviations
:10:08. > :10:11.used in broadband advertising. 46% of those surveyed say they do not
:10:12. > :10:16.understand the majority of words used to describe their own broadband
:10:17. > :10:22.packages. And millions of customers could be paying up to ?100 extra in
:10:23. > :10:29.unnecessary charges because of this. With me now is the lender, chief
:10:30. > :10:33.executive of a company dedicated to giving accessibility to women and
:10:34. > :10:43.technology. What is the difference between a megabit and a megabyte? 8
:10:44. > :10:48.megabits in `` equals one megabyte, but most people don't know, and most
:10:49. > :10:54.people have no desire to know the difference. I think it is up to the
:10:55. > :10:58.broadband companies to make it simple and make it easy for us to
:10:59. > :11:04.understand. In terms of the advertising, are the times when you
:11:05. > :11:10.have seen things on adverts and you think, somebody does not need a lot
:11:11. > :11:17.of the things on offer? Often it is misleading, cause `` because you are
:11:18. > :11:20.comparing apples and pears. We need to understand what level of service
:11:21. > :11:27.you are getting. We are obsessed with performance, but a lot of it is
:11:28. > :11:30.unknown. We want to focus on the service, so when something goes
:11:31. > :11:37.wrong, do people know what level of service they are going to get? I
:11:38. > :11:44.chose broadband because without Internet it is a disaster. I chose a
:11:45. > :11:47.provider that actually guaranteed that they would service it by the
:11:48. > :11:52.end of the next day if something went wrong. So let us focus on the
:11:53. > :11:58.after service. You have to be quite technically
:11:59. > :12:01.savvy to understand what a lot of these adverts are saying, do you
:12:02. > :12:07.think the companies are conning us, or do you think it is an innocent
:12:08. > :12:11.stake the way that they sell broadcast `` broadband packages to
:12:12. > :12:17.ask? The problem here is that the people creating these products are
:12:18. > :12:23.engineers, and most people using broad and our mums, kids, families,
:12:24. > :12:27.and ultimately they just want the thing to work and work well. So
:12:28. > :12:35.there is a lack of empathy from the broadband companies. We talk about
:12:36. > :12:40.download speed, why should the normal consumer care how fast the
:12:41. > :12:46.broad and is? What they want to know is how much contact `` content they
:12:47. > :13:00.can consume. What I care about is how much hours of BBC iPlayer and so
:13:01. > :13:06.on. Companies are using meaningless jargon that nobody understands. In
:13:07. > :13:10.your job you are quite technically savvy. Do a lot of people say to
:13:11. > :13:16.you, I do not have a clue what I am paying for? Yes, and people do not
:13:17. > :13:22.want to look stupid and ask all of this, but they do not want to spend
:13:23. > :13:27.hours reading a manual. It is important that the companies stop
:13:28. > :13:33.bamboozling us. Keep it simple, think about the after sales as well.
:13:34. > :13:39.There are a lot of deals out there, ranging in price as well. You might
:13:40. > :13:47.get a broad package for ?3 a month, 230, ?40 a month. Why is there such
:13:48. > :13:53.a different `` difference in price? You are comparing different things.
:13:54. > :13:56.Get recommendations, because it is likely if your neighbour is not
:13:57. > :14:02.getting a good signal from a certain provider, you are not going to
:14:03. > :14:06.either. The key thing is, for companies to realise that this is an
:14:07. > :14:10.issue, and broadband companies must start to keep it simple and avoid
:14:11. > :14:16.the children `` jargon. Thank you for joining us.
:14:17. > :14:22.That is all for this week. Advice on saving, borrowing and spending on
:14:23. > :14:29.the money pages on the BBC website all week long.
:14:30. > :14:30.You can follow our feed on Twitter. We are back next week.
:14:31. > :14:52.I for now. `` goodbye for now. This is BBC News. Let us look at the
:14:53. > :15:00.headlines. Foreign ministers from the world Paris `` are gathering in
:15:01. > :15:04.Geneva amid reports that a deal over Iran nuclear capability could be
:15:05. > :15:06.close. The Attorney`General says
:15:07. > :15:12.politicians need to wake up to the problem of corruption in some
:15:13. > :15:16.menorah to groups in Britain. Latvia declared three days of
:15:17. > :15:18.mourning for the 52 people killed when the roof of a supermarket
:15:19. > :15:19.collapsed in the capital