The number of people who have failed to claim premium bond prizes has broken the one million barrier. More than £47million is waiting for winners unaware they’ve won a cash prize. Three bondholders have scooped £100,000, four have won £50,000, there are three lots of £25,000 to be claimed and 19 of £10,000. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3299629/The-number-people-failed-claim-premium-bonds-passed-one-million-including-25-prize-1957.html#ixzz3rNkdwLEq http://www.nsandi.com/do-i-have-any-unclaimed-prizes

Millions of people, including motorists, home owners and pet owners face seeing their insurance costs increase. The standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax - the tax paid each time an insurance policy is purchased in the UK - will increase from 6 per cent to 9.5 per cent from November 1 The ABI said the change will affect 7.3 million car policies, 4.7 million household policies, three million pet policies and three million private medical insurance policies. Any of the affected insurance policies with a start date after October 31 will have IPT charged at the new rate. The ABI warned that the change is likely to add: nearly £13 to the average comprehensive motor insurance policy; more than £10 to the average combined building and contents cover; more than £10 to average pet insurance; more than £40 to average private medical insurance. Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-3288548/Millions-face-insurance-costs-rise-IPT-hike-effective-Nov-1.html#ixzz3pggBomZQ

I have been on ESA for around 3 years, and have in the last few weeks moved to JSA. I received a letter today stating that my JSA claim has been approved and I will be getting £105 a week - £73 JSA and £32 Disability Premium. Is this in addition to DLA? As I also get £86 every 4 weeks, Lower care rate DLA? If its in addition it will be a very nice unexpected present, and will help offset the Council Tax as if I understand the letter that has come from the local council RE Housing Benefit I am no longer entitled to council tax benefit

From November the government will increase Insurance premium tax from 6% to 9.5%, meaning that people will notice a significant increase, when the Insurers have added any increase to the premium as well. I would think that Insurance will at some point incur 20% tax, the same as current VAT. Politically governments don't like increasing income tax rates, but they tinker with indirect taxes.

Hi There! I am yet again being harassed by a company call Premium Collections based in Altringham, Cheshire. They are threatening to issue Bankruptcy proceedings against me for a Credit card debt I have in Switzerland ..(which is now over 3 years old) As far as my research allows, its seems that this not an option they can take as British Courts would not rule over a Swiss Credit Card account and there are all no cross country agreements in place between the UK and Switzerland to even allow for that Does anyone have any thoughts or experience to either prove or disprove this?

Hello This week I switched my home insurance to Home Protect, arranging to pay it monthly. Today, I heard from a company called Premium Credit, telling me that Home Protect had set up the credit arrangement for the insurance through them. I was then asked to register on their website and also to electronically sign a copy of the CCA1974 agreement. It also stated that if I hadn't signed by 27th April, then they would add £10 to my account! So my question is, can they actually legally do this? I thought the terms of the CCA1974 states you should sign ONLY if you wished to be bound by it. Effectively, they are fining me if I don't. Clearly, they just want to be able to guarantee any potential court action they might take would be successful by having a "signed" CCA1974 form but this just sound wrong to me. Any advice would be much appreciated. I see this particular company has been posted about before for exorbitant charges for failed direct debits which doesn't surprise me!

Here's a warning to anyone thinking of taking out a policy with this company..... I trawled the Internet in 2011 and found the 'best pet insurance' to be VetsMediCover with plenty of positive feedback. The company advertised pet insurance policies on the basis of 'One Pet, One Price' and for dogs, was not breed or age related other than the dog had to be under 8 years old at the started of the policy. There was one price for small dogs and another for large dogs and this was the reason why I chsoe the company to insure my dog. I took out a 'lifelong' policy for my dog at £252 or £21 a month in 2011. I made one small claim during the year and renewed the policy ay £384 or £32 a month in 2012. My dog developed heart failure earlier this year and now requires medication for the rest of his life, his prognosis is six months. VedsMediCover has paid for the medication to date with no problems. Just before renewal next month.... I received an apologetic letter from the company stating that my dog was now classed as a 'select' breed (whatever that is) and the premium would rise to £720 on renewal. I received a second letter the following day stating that my premium would now be doubled again from £720 to £1440 or £120 a month. In addition, as my dog was over 7 years old, I will have to pay 20% of any future vet treatment in additon to the £95 excess. The have complained to the company, and received the offer of a small reduction to £1332 or £111 a month. I believe the company is trying to deter me from renewing my policy to avoid paying for the ongoing medication that my dog needs. The new premium is actually more expensive than the cost of the ongoing drugs he has received over the last few months. It seems bizarre that the first renewal figure of £720 has been *exactly* doubled to £1440 and the company can offer no explanation for the arbitrary doubling (think of a number, then double it, perhaps). The point I am making is that I was sold a 'lifelong' policy in 2011 and was told at that time that the basic terms and conditions of such a policy could not be changed in future years. A new underwriter (Qudos from Denmark) has taken over as the insurer and has retrospectively introduced 'select' breeds and an age limit where formerly (at the time of taking out thte policy) there was none. I believe this is not withing the law (i.e. to sell a life product, then significantly change the basic terms and conditions). This is going to be refered to the Financial Ombudsman. A 400% increase in premium renewal on a 'lifelong' pet insurance policy is unreasonable, unfair, unrealistic and great for bad publicity. My advice to anyone thinking of buying pet insurance is to AVOID VetsMedicover at all costs as an insurer, as they most likely will change the terms and conditions AFTER you buy it.

Hi I was mis-sold a Santander premium account in 2011. I was told i 'had' to swap my existing current account over to the premium account with a monthly fee of £20. I was told about the various insurances etc but i already had mobile phone and breakdown insurance at the time. I have written and complained to Santander who as expected have written back to me and said they won't uphold my complaint because their 'evidence' shows that i valued the account based on the following reasons: I never changed the account to an everyday account, they did. - I wasnt aware i could do this as i was told initially i had to take out the premium account and that was my only choice. That i 'chose' to upgrade- False, i was told i had to Santander have always had no monthly fee accounts available, information available on their website so therefore i should have checked! I was sent information on the account and could have said i didn't want it They can see from my account that i have travelled, that i have a mobile phone and a car so would have benefited from the insurance- I have these insurances elsewhere I have access to online banking so could see i was being charged a fee- I knew i was yes, that isn't the point. I was never told i could have an everyday account. They are clearly in the wrong otherwise why would they have swapped people over to an everyday account with no fee without even consulting us!? Basically they're trying to fob me off and make out there were other options available to me which was not explained when they sold me the account. I was told i had to take the account out. They arent prepared to take the complaint further and have advised that if i wish to take the matter further, i need to complain to the ombudsman. Anyone had any success reclaiming these charges yet? Thanks

I have recently been investigating a consolidated loan that was taken out in 2005 and have today received a copy of the credit agreement from GE. The document is headed igroup and GE have confirmed that this is there company and that Loans.co.uk brokered this loan. I am now in the process of starting my PPI complaint as it was a single premium of £4320 on top of a loan of £35k. The interest was 16.25%. At no time were we given any advice or options i.e. monthly PPI. I have only just established that the PPI only covered 5 years of the loan which was taken out over a 15 year period. Therefore it appears that the PPI was inappropriate. I do feel that we were completely mis-sold and forced into this option to secure the loan. GE have told us to make the complaint to Loans.co.uk as they were the broker. Am I correct in thinking that due to this being a single premium PPI there is a case?

h i am hoping someone can help me as im goin round in circles with the dwp. I am in receipt of the care part of PIP, live alone and on esa assessment rate. I failed the work capability test and am now waiting for my appeal to be heard. I have applied for the severe disability premium but have been refused as they say i cant have it while appealing my esa. Im sure this is wrong. Can anyone point me to legislation that says i am entitled to this while appealing ? i would be so grateful

My wife and I have two Life Insurance policies with AVIVA (taken out in 2002) and I've just realised that they both have Premium Protection attached. I don't remember why we were sold the protection at the time as we were both in secure employment. Could we have been mis-sold this aspect of the policy and could we therefore reclaim the amount of the premium that paid for it?

Hi Just trying to get some info for a family member, if anyone might be able to help. My uncle has been on Incapacity benefit for a couple of years due to an accident caused at work. He has been assessed for ESA and has been placed into the support group. He has been in receipt of Industrial injuries benefit during this time. Well, a couple of weeks after being placed into the support group, he was sent an application form to apply for Severe disability premium. He is confused by this as he is currently in receipt of the following. DLA Care - Middle Rate DLA Mobility - Higher Rate ESA - Support Group Rate - Contributions based Industrial Injuries Benefit - Around £49 per week Is it worth him applying for the Severe disability premium as he assumes he wouldn't be entitled due to the other benefits he is currently receiving. He is now living on his own, and his mother helps him out, but no one received carers allowance for him. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

I had a small Halifax Bank Xtraloan in the mid 90's over a period of 24 months. I still have the original agreement, where they have typed in a 'X' in the Premium Protection Insurance box and not ticked by myself. I also have confirmation of monthly payments statement from them. My questions are, can I still submit a mis-selling complaint considering how old it is and if so what calculator spreadsheet would I use ? If compound, what end date would I enter - last paid premium date or current ? Thank-you

When I took out a mortgage with SPML (& previously with other lenders) there was a large figure of about £1000 for an insurance premium added to the loan. I didn't understand what it was at all & asked for an explanation. I was told a) that it was compulsory (wrong ?) & b) that it was insurance not for me but the the lender so that if I failed to pay the mortgage this insurance policy was in place to re-imburse the lender if I couldn't pay. I now realise this must have been single premium PPI & therefore should be reclaimed plus all the interest . Can someone tell me if this the case - that this is a PPI which I can claim for being miss-sold. Thanks for any help on this

Dear xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, The 2 accounts (***** & *****) have been under investigation of Premium Charge evasion due to the inconsistent nature of betting activity conducted across the accounts. Specifically, it is clear that the activity conducted across the accounts is the distribution of a single betting strategy. In respect of the Premium Charge we provide an allowance against the first £1,000 of charges that would otherwise be incurred by any customer and also exempt customers who have not bet in more than 250 markets. Additionally, higher rates of Premium Charge may apply when a customer’s lifetime net profits exceed £250,000. It is plainly unrealistic to expect to distribute activity across more than one account to benefit from an allowance per account and/or continual exemptions by ensuring less than 250 markets are bet on via each account; or to ensure that the lifetime net profit remains below the threshold above which higher rates may apply. To that extent, from this week onwards, all accounts listed will be linked for the purposes of calculating the Premium Charge. To week 759 (23:59 Sunday 20th July 2014) the distribution of activity across the accounts has resulted in the underpayment of Premium Charges to the sum of $1,098.01, this amount has been debited from the ‘*****’ account and this account has been suspended. Please be aware that this attempt to evade the Premium Charge is in breach of Betfair’s Terms and Conditions. Your account will now remain suspended until the afternoon of Wednesday 30/7/14. I trust this makes the position perfectly clear. Your activity on Betfair is conditional upon your acceptance of our Terms and Conditions, and I must repeat that operating accounts in multiple names in order to conceal the true identity of your activity will not be tolerated by us. Yours sincerely, Betfair Pricing The accounts belong to me and my brother, we live in different countries. So Betfair are trying to say that if you and someone else have similar betting strategy then you're one person and they have to charge you? Any Advice? xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi there, was hoping to get some advice on a problem I've had with Orange. I was checking my bank account yesterday and noticed Orange had taken out a whopping £202 for my last months bill. Now I knew I'd use a bit of excess data but nowhere near that much. Upon checking my bill I found I'd been charged for calls to a premium rate number that were never connected. I'm in the process of emigrating to New Zealand (I actually fly next Tuesday) this has all been very short notice due to personal reasons I won't go into. On the 9th April I was at my fiancee's parents house putting together the evidence for my visa application and had a query I needed to raise with NZ Immigration. No big deal I thought I'll phone them, it's a Premium number but it's only a quick question, and I have to make the last post for the day to send my application. When I dialed the number I got a recording saying something along the lines of calls to this number are blocked from my phone press whatever to speak to a customer service rep. So of course I did that, they said they'd unblocked it and to turn my phone off and on again and I'd be able to make the call, easy. So I do that, get the same message, hang up. Try again a couple of minutes later, same thing, few minutes later same again. Try resetting my phone again, same message. So I phone again and choose the option to speak to someone, they tell me I shouldn't have been told it would be done there and then because it can take up to an hour. Not happy but it's still in time so I try again a few times over the next hour. Comes to an hour and 10 minutes after the original call and it's still not working, so I choose the option to speak to someone. This person then tells me they don't know why I was told this as it can take up to 24 hours! Obviously I'm not happy at all about that and ask to speak to a manager to discuss why I've been told 3 different things and the problems this is causing me, I have to wait quite a while and we go through a few things and in the end she says there's still a good chance it will work in time, and she'll phone me back. I wait and make two final attempts just before 5pm and of course still not working. About an hour later the manager phones back and I make my displeasure known that if I'd been told originally it was going to take that long I'd have had the time to drive home to make the call (her parents are emigrating as well and had already had all their accounts closed and disconnected as they were leaving the next day). In the end I had to pay to have a same day courier deliver my application on the Monday but I decided to let it slide as I'd be free of Orange soon anyway. it turns out though that after all of that I was charged for every single one of those phone calls at a premium rate despite none of them making it past Orange's blocked message. The half hour I spent on the phone to the manager cost me just shy of £60. After incorporating VAT I was charged £120 for calls that never went past Orange themselves. Obviously being quite angry but figuring it was a fairly simple problem, I phoned Orange yesterday and explained all this. The woman on the phone didn't seem to believe me when I said none of the calls had connected, I mean, making a load of 5 second phone calls to a premium rate number, followed up by a 30 minute call, followed up two more 5 second calls is obviously what I wanted to do....... She explained she couldn't refund my money and that it had to be investigated by an "offline" team who would phone me back. Great I thought, what time will they call? Sometime in the next two weeks........ Given that they'd billed me just shy of 3 times what they should I explained I didn't think it was reasonable for them to sit on that money for 2 weeks and was basically told sorry but we can't do anything. I contacted Barclays straight after and they reversed the direct debit within an hour, so at least I've got my money now, but has anyone had experience of something similar with Orange? It seems insane that they'd consider it acceptable to try and sit on that money for 2 weeks whilst they "investigate" what is a very obvious case. So I'm now left with a £202 outstanding balance on my Orange account that I'm going to have to deal with from outside the country, which is going to be a complete nightmare. Sorry if this is long winded it's just a very stressful thing to have thrown at you a week before you move to the other side of the world!

I have a small issue with the above companies. I took out good priced car insurance through Octagon insurance, who then set up monthly payments through Premium Credit. This week one payment was missed, the one and only, in the time I have been with them. I contacted Octagon to be told the payment was requested again (which is fine) but a £20 charge has also been applied . .. which means I may not be able to afford the amount being taken, plus that charge. I can't speak to Premium Credit today (as it's a Saturday) but will Monday (and I suspect the payment will be taken Monday). My question is, can they apply such a charge on the first (and currently only) failed payment? Is this lawful? Can I request this back, or can I make a formal complaint to any body that oversees credit providers? Many thanks.

So, I took out a pet policy in January and agreed a monthly premium with Debenhams. They get BDML to administer the policy. Premium paid in January February and March by direct debit. No problems. Now Premium Credit have taken a £10 fee - because I haven't returned the credit agreement. Cant remember seeing it but what a big rip off - if I haven't sent paperwork back then why take my money? Stupid is as stupid does? They say they wont repay the £10 until I send the paperwork back but the eight double sided pages I have from Debenhams/BDML don't even mention it.

Hi, Hopefully someone here can help or give me some advice regarding ppi and this single premium ppi. since 1999 my partner has had several loans with lloydstsb including credit cards. The first loan she took out in 1999 (struggling to find details except for policy number), the next in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005. Each of the these policies had ppi on them, paid for as 'premium advanced as part of loan', I believe also known as single premium ppi. Each loan from 2001 was a consolidation of debts (2001-£2500, 2003-£5500, 2004-£8000, 2005-£16000), and thus none of these loans ever reached its full term, though if I understand correctly, with premium advance as part of loan, she would have paid for the whole ppi cost upfront on the loan, which was then added on each loan thereafter as well as the interest they charge. I'm told that these single premiums are part of mis selling?! The final loan in 2005 was paid off early in whole, would this therefore have included all the ppi too? If so surely this should be refunded also. Digging through old paperwork we have found three of the personal loan agreements Which we have been trying to get our heads around. Two of the agreements show cash loan to you, optional loan protection insurance loan, loan for repayment of existing debts owed by you and total loan ( e.g. 2004 consolidation loan, cash loan to you £2000, optional loan protection insurance loan £1800, loan for repaying of existing debts owed by you £6500, total loan £10000. Under those headings the monthly premium £42, £37, £135, total £215. The loan protection monthly payment is almost as much as the cash loan of 2k) Only one of them actually states the interest on the loan protection loan giving the total price of the loan protection, the others dont. (Seperate to the fact that she was advised to have ppi from what she can remember when she took out the policies in the branch, it was recommended even though she had an income protection plan already running from 1997 which was also purchased through lloydstsb which she is still paying to date?!, why would someone take out ppi when u already have some cover in place should illness or accident become an issue) Sorry this maybe slightly long (and hopefully am in the right area in the forum), but just wanted to try and explain as well as I could. Am I right that this is indeed miselling? When speaking to Lloyd's over the phone they requested a questionnaire be completed and returned to them. We have a lot of the details but not all of them. What concerns me is wording the complaint in the right way, I'm told its crucial, can anyone offer any advice or who would be best to speak ref this. Any help or already worded paragraphs would be greatly appreciated Many thanks

It's been announced that from June 2014, companies will no longer be allowed to use expensive 084 and 087 numbers when customers call them. Instead, consumers will only pay the same rate they would to call a standard landline number. Other changes announced are also good news for consumers. The DSR are being 'upgraded' to allow 14 days instead of 7 for you to inspect and return goods. And to top it all off, online stores will no longer be allowed to pre-tick boxes for additional products such as insurance or 'add-on' goods. On the flipside, there are changes to refunds under the DSR. Retailers now no longer have to provide a refund until they receive the goods back. The exception to this though is if the consumer provides proof of postage, at which point the retailer must process the refund regardless of them receiving the goods back or not. A slightly 'dangerous' addition is also that retailers can deduct from a refund if they deem that a returned product has been used. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25355758 Overall, a good benefit to consumers, but there are some things to watch out for when returning goods under the DSRs

I currently receive income related employment support allowance and have been in the support group, (latest ESA50 submitted mid June '13 still awaiting decision so don't know if that has/is changing) and also mid rate care and low rate mobility of disability living allowance. My son is planning on moving out within the next few months and then I will be living alone. Am I right in thinking there is a premium added to ESA for people living alone if they receive DLA? Please can you tell me what this is and how much it is and who gets it? I am trying to find out whether this will cover the shortfall in rent that I will have due to the under occupancy charge reduction in housing benefit, it will be one less thing to worry about knowing it can be paid. Many thanks.

Since falling foul of the debt collection industry several years ago I have managed to exist without a bank account - difficult but I have managed it. I have a small quantity of premium bonds gathering dust (a few hundred pounds) and rather than let this money stagnate I would like to cash them in. My question is does the warrant issued have to be paid through a bank account or can I go into any bank with my passport and cash in the warrant for readies? I do not want to use any of the rip off facility services that offer to cash such a payment for a fee.

i have been awarded low mobility and middle care dla,i received a letter to claim severe disability premium,my daughter lives with me and is at college,i don't claim for carers allowance,someone told me I will not get sdp because my daughter lives with me,is this true,she is 21

Hi I am new to this forum but I need to ask a question and hope one of you can help! I am in receipt of Income Support as I care for my daughter who does not live in my property. I used to receive Severe Disablement Premium until I allowed my friend to come and live with me! My question is that I do not have a partner therefore why has my entitlement to severed disability premium stopped, I understand them stopping it if I have a partner but as to sharing my home with a friend should not mean that I should lose this premium. My friend does not receive carers allowance for looking after me! Is there any way I can claim my entitlement back? Thank you

Hi, A bit of advice needed please (for my mother, not me) My mother came to me last week, after receiving a bill of £103 from o2 for her contract phone, when i looked into the bill, online, i noticed that there was premium text messages from Lotto by Text, at a cost of £3.50 each, this month there was £22.50 worth of text messages, I contacted O2 and they found text messages going back to November of 2012, at a cost of 127.50 + Vat @20% Total Cost £153.00 I contacted Lotto by text and asked for further information, they have told me that on 26/11/2013 a text activation was sent back to them from the registered number, thus agreeing to the terms and conditions, and a contract was started. My argument is that the first message she received, she believes was in relation to a free text message about the lotto number each week. She has never replied to a message for them, nor has she been entered into any lotteries, or had any winnings or such from them. They did agree that they would stop the service immediately, and would be in contact with a letter, and an offer of goodwill in relation to the amount of charges, and the length of time they have been received. This morning, she received a cheque for £20.00. Personally i believe this to be an insult compared to the £153 they have earned from the service, out of which, my mother has not gained anything whatsoever, do i have anything that i could go back to them with to get a larger refund from them? Thanks