EVERY Saturday, The Consumer Crew are here to solve your problems.
Mel Hunter will take on readers’ consumer issues, Jane Hamilton Cable will give you the best advice for buying your dream home, Maddy Tooke rounds up the best coupons to save you money and Judge Rinder will tackle your legal woes.
Judge Rinder
7
Q) EARLIER this year I found a lady to look after my four dogs while I was on holiday. It worked out well, so when I booked another holiday I again asked her to help.
She asked for an advance of £400 – half the total bill – but a month later she asked if I could pay the balance of £400, as she was having some trouble with the taxman. I thought I could trust her, so I paid up.
Three days before we were due to go on holiday, she rang saying she couldn’t have the dogs because the council had taken away her licence. We had to find someone else to take the dogs. We did so, but it cost us another £800.
Obviously I expected the lady to refund me but she ignored a letter requesting payment and has blocked me on Facebook. I have since phoned the council and learned she never had a licence in the first place. What can I do to get my money back?
Tina, Herts
7
A) It should be a minor relief you discovered, before leaving your beloved dogs with this woman for a second time, that she would have been breaking the law by boarding dogs without an Animals Activities Licence
A licence to commercially board pets has been a legal requirement in England since October 2018. Without one, this person could not have been insured in the event something happened to your dogs.
Your claim for a refund against her is very straightforward.
You could write her a letter threatening to take her to the small claims court demanding the £800 back (you would not be entitled to the additional £800 you paid to the licensed dog boarder), then issue proceedings in your local county court if she fails to hand over the money.
I have no doubt you would win your case.
However, by the sounds of it this woman has serious financial problems. So even if you obtain a judgment against her, you might struggle to get the £800 back.
Enforcing a judgment can be time-consuming, costly and rather stressful. It is up to you whether this money is worth the hassle.
Q) LAST year I willingly let someone I thought was a friend access my online betting account, giving them my password and bank card details.
They used a lot more money than we had agreed and now they are refusing to pay me back.
Apart from it being morally wrong, is it illegal? Can I make my former friend refund me?
Sean, Blackpool
A) Your friend is morally and legally in the wrong. The difficulty you will have in this situation is proving it.
A basic rule for life is that you should never give anybody access to online passwords for anything . . . ever.
If you could prove this person had permission only to use an agreed sum to gamble with, you could argue that he has breached a contract you had with him or that he has unlawfully enriched himself (a posh way of describing theft).
Get something in writing between you and your friend acknowledging the debt he owes you and making clear that he has to pay you back.
This would put you in a better position to sue him for breach of contract if he fails to reimburse you.
GRAND SLAM
Q) MY daughter had a baby 14 years ago. She was unmarried so I looked after them both until about four years ago, when my daughter met a new man.
Since then, we’ve seen our granddaughter less and less. This boyfriend has now stopped us seeing her at all. It’s been six months since we had any contact with my grandaughter.
It’s a terrible strain, as we raised her for ten years.
JOYCE, Manchester
A) This awful situation is far too common. As it stands, grandparents have no automatic legal right to contact with grandchildren. All is not lost, however. In the event your daughter refuses you access, you could go to court and apply for a child arrangement order. Given your history with your granddaughter, you would almost certainly get one.
But avoid court action if you can. It would be emotionally and financially punishing. Write to your daughter and her boyfriend making clear how this is affecting you.
If they refuse, invite them to family mediation. It often helps. If that fails, see a family law specialist, who will help you get the court order you deserve.
Mel Hunter, Reader’s champion
7
Q) WHEN my widowed mum moved to a warden-controlled flat after suffering a stroke, TalkTalk wouldn’t let her keep the phone number she had for 49 years. So I switched her to BT.
Mum settled her account but TalkTalk kept billing her, saying she owes them £102.40. I decided to phone them then stop the direct debit, but BT wouldn’t accept my call, as it is not my name on the account.
Mum and I called TalkTalk together and were told the account was still open. They promised to call me the next day, agreeing Mum would not have to be on the call.
But when they did call, they wouldn’t talk to me. They call every few days but won’t deal with me.
Clare Lewin, Buckhurst Hill, Essex
A) You went round in circles simply trying to close an account that should have been shut at least three months earlier.
Once I made it clear to TalkTalk that it could speak to you about your mum’s affairs, it sorted things out quickly, refunding your mum the £44 taken in error, closing her account at long last and giving her £80 as compensation for the stress.
It should never have been allowed to go this far, causing you months of difficulty. You told me a huge weight had been lifted from your shoulders.
A TalkTalk spokesperson said: “TalkTalk apologises for the issues experienced by Mrs Stevens. In recognition of this, we have gifted the customer a goodwill gesture of £80 and we have also waived all costs on her account.”
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Q) I BOOKED a flight to Prague through lastminute.com, which got cancelled. LastMinute told me I should wait to see if an alternative could be found. Finally, it admitted defeat but said a refund would take up to eight weeks – and cost me 30 euros in admin fees.
Left with no choice, I asked for the refund but I’ve not received anything. This conduct is shameful.
ALASTAIR CUMMING, St Leonards-on-Sea, E Sussex
A) In lastminute.com’s terms and conditions, it states clearly that if a flight is cancelled, customers will receive a refund in full. However, the company doesn’t make clear it charges 30 euros.
The only way to get your money back without having to pay a fee would be to accept a lastminute.com voucher but this would have been useless to you, as no alternative flights were available.
This policy seems very unfair. If someone books a holiday in good faith and it is later cancelled through no fault of their own, having to wait months for a refund and pay 30 euros to boot is wrong.
Lastminute.com agreed to refund you and waive the fee. Your case demonstrates why customers are generally better off booking directly with an airline rather than using a third-party site which may impose their own financial penalties.
Lastminute.com said: “Unfortunately, in cases when the airline stopped operating a route, we cannot offer an alternative as it should be offered by the airline. In these cases, we can offer a refund or a voucher.”
“The refund is never immediate, as there is a procedure to follow.”
Jane Hamilton, property expert
7
REDEVELOPED your home without planning permission? Research by Churchill Home Insurance reveals 40,000 retrospective planning applications have been filed in the past three years, with one in eight refused, meaning homeowners then face having to knock down what they have built.
If you failed to get permission for work on your home, what should you do? Here are our top tips.
- Not having planning permission is serious. It can potentially reduce your home’s value and if the local authority finds out, it can take enforcement action. This may force you to knock down changes, or the authority may even carry out the work itself at your expense, which can be tens of thousands.
- It doesn’t just apply to your work projects. Planning permission needs to be in place for work done at the property by previous owners, too. Check with your local authority – it usually has online records of past permissions granted.
- Check to see if work done falls under “permitted development” – things you can do without planning permission, such as conservatories, small extensions and porches – or whether you need full planning consent. A surveyor can advise.
- Does the work meet the four or ten-year rule? In most cases, legislation means councils can’t take enforcement action after four years for smaller works and ten years for most other breaches of planning control. However there are exceptions, so consult a specialist planning solicitor.
- If you need permissions and are within the four or ten-year rule, you will need retrospective local authority planning consent. Councils will only issue it if the works fulfil all the criteria for consent. If the authority refuses retrospective consent, it can also take enforcement action against you. Work on your application with a specialist planning expert to ensure your works fit local requirements.
- If you are buying a home without planning permission, get specialist advice. Some mortgage firms may not lend on such homes and the onus will be on you as the new owner to sort out the problem.
Buy of the week
7
NO need to fork out on a gym membership this January. A slick one-bed loft-style pad in this Manchester building has access to an on-site gym. It’s on sale for £230,000 at
onthemarket.com/details/ 7938369/
BLACKPOOL
BLACKPOOL has been named the UK’s repossession hotspot, with 83 cases per 100,000 households.
The northern seaside town was followed by Slough at 60 and Thurrock in Essex on 57.
By contrast, the Scilly Isles had no mortgage possession claims in July to September, the last period that figures are available for.
Robby du Toit, of sellhousefast.uk, which analysed the official statistics, says: “You can speak to your lender about your arrears at any point, even if they’ve started legal action.
“Communication – at all levels – is essential to avoid panic.”
Deal of the week
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BRASSY is classy for 2020. The copper hue has overtaken silver and chrome as the must-have look. This Nash pendant light was £50 but is down to £25 at matalan.co.uk.
SAVE: £25
