Browse content similar to 24/05/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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more than half a million quid, which might not have a big impact on many | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
people, but it could have an impact on the rest of the housing market. | :00:00. | :00:11. | |
Hello and welcome to Your Money, your weekly guide to making the most | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
of your cash here every weekend on BBC News television and available | :00:17. | :00:19. | |
all week on the BBC iPlayer. Limiting home loans. Lloyds puts a | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
cap on the size of its bigger mortgages. Will the others follow | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
suit? We'll ask one mortgage expert. We pay more for your gas and | :00:27. | :00:29. | |
electricity if we pay by cash or cheque. One MP says it's time to | :00:30. | :00:35. | |
curb the extra charges. Consumer champion Ann Robinson tells us to | :00:36. | :00:38. | |
switch to direct debit for a cheaper deal. | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
And making your holiday cheaper by working for it. We'll show you how | :00:42. | :00:43. | |
it's done. The mortgage lenders are already | :00:44. | :00:51. | |
asking tougher questions to make sure new borrowers can afford to pay | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
their loan back. Now one big lender is capping its biggest mortgages. If | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
you need a new home loan of more than half`a`million quid, Lloyds | :01:02. | :01:03. | |
will only lend you what you earn over four years. The amount you can | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
borrow is capped at four times your annual salary. Jane King is mortgage | :01:08. | :01:11. | |
adviser at Ash`Ridge Private Finance If you're with Vodafone and | :01:12. | :01:18. | |
this only applies to all its customers for loans of more than | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
half a million quid so that is quite a small number of people. It will | :01:25. | :01:32. | |
only affect about 8% of Lloyds customers who want to borrow more | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
than half ?1 million. For the last majority of lenders, four times | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
Valerie is the norm across the board. `` four times salary. | :01:42. | :01:47. | |
So this isn't a signal that we have been slack in the past? | :01:48. | :01:54. | |
I think if you look at it, the people who want to borrow that type | :01:55. | :01:58. | |
of money are going to be high earners so I would say from a risk | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
basis, it has not really been thought through properly. | :02:03. | :02:04. | |
This is something that you and I will remember if you wanted a | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
mortgage, they would only give you two and a half times your salary. Is | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
there an informal cap that is in place for all mortgage borrowers or | :02:16. | :02:21. | |
do they look at different ways of affordability? | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
There is a general cap by which they won't go over but they do take into | :02:27. | :02:29. | |
account commitments and other things. Although there is an | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
affordability element, even if you have no commitments, there is a | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
maximum income they will use. When they talk about salary, do they | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
mean the base salary, over time, bonuses? | :02:46. | :02:52. | |
Normally it is income tax can be evident so 100% of salary, 50% of | :02:53. | :03:02. | |
bonus, commission. Unless it is declared to the revenue, they won't | :03:03. | :03:04. | |
take it. If you're with Vodafone and you've | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
got a deal that says how many minutes and texts you can have every | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
month and then you use more than that allowance, you're going to have | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
to pay more for it. Vodafone is increasing its charges. A standard | :03:15. | :03:17. | |
UK call outside the allowance in your contract will cost 45p a | :03:18. | :03:18. | |
minute. increasing its charges. A standard | :03:19. | :03:21. | |
UK call outside the That's an increase of 5p per minute. But the | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
cost of a European call will fall by just under 6p per minute to 18.7p. | :03:27. | :03:33. | |
It will cost five pounds to call some directory enquiry services. | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
Five quid! That's for calls to 118 500, 118 404, 118 247, and 118 212. | :03:39. | :03:45. | |
Here's an important thing to remember ` under new rules, if your | :03:46. | :03:48. | |
bill goes up by more than 10% you have the right to tear up your | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
contract early and go to another phone company without charge. | :03:53. | :03:54. | |
Vodafone says anyone wishing to do so must write to them before prices | :03:55. | :03:56. | |
are raised on 28 June. Just looking at the Vodafone website | :03:57. | :04:05. | |
earlier ` there's a specific section on cancelling your account. You get | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
to it by going to the main page, typing "cancel account" into the | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
search box and clicking on the obvious option offered. But that | :04:15. | :04:21. | |
page only offers you a live web chat or a phone number. If you want to | :04:22. | :04:28. | |
write to the company, on its tech forums Vodafone says you can use the | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
form on its "contact us" page. Make sure you put the words "cancel | :04:33. | :04:35. | |
contract" into the message box. Just to be clear we're not advising | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
you to do cancel or telling you to cancel, just giving you the | :04:40. | :04:41. | |
information about how to do it if that what you've decided to do | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
already. It's your decision. If you do NOT use direct debit to | :04:46. | :04:48. | |
pay your gas or electricity bill you probably pay more for your fuel. 12 | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
million people pay an average of ?80 more a year each simply because they | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
pay the bill by cash or cheque. One MP has told our reporter Brian | :04:59. | :05:01. | |
Milligan that enough is enough and the extra charge should be capped at | :05:02. | :05:03. | |
?24. If you pay each energy bill as and | :05:04. | :05:14. | |
when it arrives, you are subject to a surcharge of around ?80 a year. | :05:15. | :05:21. | |
Unlike customers who pay by direct debit. You won't find mention of | :05:22. | :05:25. | |
this on the bill itself and as a result, many customers are not aware | :05:26. | :05:28. | |
they have to pay it. I didn't know that. | :05:29. | :05:31. | |
Will you change your mind? Possibly. | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
I would rather feed my house than the shareholders. | :05:37. | :05:43. | |
Would you like to save money? Yes, but I would rather it was in my | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
bank account. Do you know it costs you ?80 a year | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
not to pay by direct debit? No. ?80? | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
Some companies charge even more if you don't pay by direct debit. Among | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
the big six, npower charges ?94 yet several smaller companies charge | :06:05. | :06:11. | |
nothing at all. One MP wants the surcharge capped at ?24 to protect | :06:12. | :06:13. | |
consumers. This is not a discount, it is a | :06:14. | :06:20. | |
premium on the country who prefer not to pay by direct debit and it is | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
an extortionate amount of money and unnecessary. | :06:26. | :06:32. | |
Energy companies defend the charges by saying it is a more expensive way | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
for them to collect the money they are owed because some people don't | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
pay their bills on time and ?80 is the average cost of chasing bad | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
debt. Indeed, this week the regulator Ofgem rules such charges | :06:47. | :06:53. | |
are perfectly fair and admitted to becoming something of a seriously | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
hot topic. A lot of questions are being asked about the fairness of | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
these additional charges so one of the things we want to do is convene | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
a round table with MPs, the government and suppliers and | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
consumer bodies to really wrestle this issue to the ground. | :07:12. | :07:19. | |
One idea is those who pay by direct debit should share the cost of debt | :07:20. | :07:21. | |
collection but that would mean higher bills for 14 million people. | :07:22. | :07:29. | |
Ann Robinson long time consumer champion currently works for the | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
price comparison website U`switch. We have long known the people who | :07:35. | :07:38. | |
pay by cash or cheque paid more because the company said that it | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
costs more to administer the payments but ?80 a year is a lot of | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
extra administration. It is a lot of money and I'm happy | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
to hear there will be a round table so people can be assured and we can | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
get to the bottom of this but the real point is it costs more if you | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
pay when you get your bill. It is not just about chasing debt, there | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
are a lot of other customer service issues about people clarifying their | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
bill. Let's get to the bottom of it and finding out what the position | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
should be. As Brian said, there is a big | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
variation. One company was ?94 and one company with no charge at all. | :08:20. | :08:26. | |
Between the big six, there is a company that charges ?71 and as you | :08:27. | :08:29. | |
said, another company is charging ?94. I really do think that | :08:30. | :08:36. | |
everybody should seriously consider direct debit. We know, for example, | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
over half of us to pay by direct debit and the surprising fact is | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
that some of the people who struggle the most to pay their bills, half of | :08:46. | :08:52. | |
them pay by direct debit. I think it is right that what you pay reflects | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
what it costs to run your account and not subsidise because you can | :08:57. | :09:03. | |
find that people are in desperate situations and subsidising other | :09:04. | :09:05. | |
people so it is right we picked up the cost before. | :09:06. | :09:08. | |
But you understand the concern with the direct debit, it is the energy | :09:09. | :09:14. | |
company that says how much comes out of your account. You have to trust | :09:15. | :09:17. | |
them to ask for the right amount and you have to trust them the bank is | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
going to do it right. First of all, the energy company has | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
to review that direct debit and if there is going to be any change, | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
they have to talk you through it and explain why. The second great thing | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
is there are no rules `` there are new rules whereby if the company is | :09:37. | :09:43. | |
hanging onto Your Money, you can get a repayment. There is another point | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
I would like to make. Too often people on direct debit sit back and | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
take no notice. Don't do that. Stay in control. If you're mutual hasn't | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
been read by the company, make sure you are checking your meter. Do it | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
twice a year or so you can make sure your direct debit is accurately | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
reflecting the energy you use. Stay in control. | :10:11. | :10:13. | |
There are putting your feet up. Stay in control. `` no putting your | :10:14. | :10:20. | |
feet up. So you have to ask for Your Money | :10:21. | :10:23. | |
back? Most of the companies have actually | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
agreed to an annual review so they will look at it once a year, review | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
it and if you are in credit, pay it back. If you ask for your cashback, | :10:33. | :10:40. | |
take it to the energy ombudsman. You are entitled to do that. | :10:41. | :10:42. | |
It's a Bank Holiday Weekend. Here comes the rain. If you're looking | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
for a holiday with a difference, how about a working holiday? Even the | :10:47. | :10:48. | |
kids can join in. Ramzan Karmali laboured long and hard over this | :10:49. | :10:50. | |
one. You might think of the working | :10:51. | :10:59. | |
holiday as something from yesteryear, like this. Or perhaps | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
gap year trips to far`flung faces. But working vacations here in the UK | :11:06. | :11:10. | |
are growing in popularity supply are more and more people willing to roll | :11:11. | :11:13. | |
up their sleeves and pitch in rather than relaxing on a sandy beach? | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
We've done all sorts of things, helping with beach clearance... | :11:19. | :11:23. | |
Melanie has been on around half a dozen working holidays. She has been | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
able to take advantage of sailing lessons and cave tours and for her, | :11:27. | :11:32. | |
this side of the vacation is one of the many and if it is. | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
I am a museum curator so I am used to working inside with object so it | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
is quite different to be able to get outdoors and just be outside and | :11:44. | :11:46. | |
trying all these different conservation activities. Working | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
with other like`minded individuals and meeting new people as well. | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
There are a number of organisations that offer a wide variety of | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
getaways. Possibly one of the key attractions to a working holiday is | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
the cost. A more leisurely break at a National trust cottage will start | :12:05. | :12:10. | |
at around ?220 but a working holiday could set you back ?135 for the | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
week. If you are thinking of a king one of these, there are things to | :12:17. | :12:18. | |
look out for. A working holiday or volunteer | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
holiday is still something you have to work for so you have the cost of | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
the holiday itself, insurance, travel and also some extras because | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
they are quite basic, on the whole. The accommodation is likely to be | :12:33. | :12:35. | |
basic so if you like your creature comforts, you will probably have to | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
take them with you. There is quite a choice when it | :12:40. | :12:42. | |
comes to these holidays, from farming to construction and even | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
working on an archaeological dig. Some of these holidays can cater for | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
the whole family. These breaks can be both rewarding and challenging. | :12:53. | :12:59. | |
For the organisations you will be working for, it is essential. | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
Some of it is physical. The sort of thing we do in the countryside is a | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
lot of habitat management though we are out in all weathers, carrying | :13:10. | :13:17. | |
tasks with hand tools. They have a real important influence. | :13:18. | :13:24. | |
If you are looking for new experiences, willing to get your | :13:25. | :13:28. | |
hands dirty and up for learning new skills, this could be the holiday | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
for you. That's all from Your Money for this | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
week. Keep up to date all week long with energy bills, savings, pensions | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
and mortgages on the BBC's website. You can get updates by following our | :13:43. | :13:45. | |
feed on Twitter. We're @BBCYourMoney. Thanks for watching. | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
More next week. Hope I've got your company then. | :13:51. | :14:07. | |
This is BBC News. We've received a statement from the Prime Minister, | :14:08. | :14:13. | |
David Cameron, following the discovery of the upturned hull of | :14:14. | :14:18. | |
the yacht, the Cheeki Rafiki and the loss, | :14:19. | :14:19. |