Best ways
to buy and how
to complain: what I’
ve learned
as a
consumer champion
Best ways to buy and how to complain: what I’ve learned as a consumer champion
Miles Brignall
As I leave my desk after 20 years of tackling readers’ problems, here are my
top tips for trouble-free finances
Sat 21 Sep 2024 10.00 BST
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A fter 20 years of writing for the Guardian – at first on Jobs & Money and
more recently as one of the Consumer Champions – this is my last week before I
cycle off into the sunset. Over that period I have seen, and reported on, the
2008 financial crash, the boom in bank fraud – and, more recently, the crazy
time in people’s finances that was Covid.
This is what I have taken from the experience – and how it has informed the
way I manage my own finances.
Use two-step verification
When I started this job, online banking was relatively new; First Direct’s
telephone banking was still the thing. The rise of online accounts for
everything from banking to gas and electricity means we are now much more
exposed to having our details hacked, or accessed by scammers.
The No1 piece of advice I give to anyone who will listen is to sign up for
two-step verification on every account you can.
Once set up, it requires you to input a code every time you sign on using a
previously unused device. The basic systems use text messages. Better still,
sign up with one the more sophisticated versions such as Microsoft or Google• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на Go » Google (компания)
Authenticator or Authy .
Having it set up on your email• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта is an absolute must. A hacked email• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта account is
a gateway into someone’s financial life. Fraudsters can reset your passwords,
and all your financial dealings are usually on display.
Talking to readers I am always shocked at how many people – some who have been
treasurers of charities – still haven’t cottoned on. Not to have it set up is,
frankly, asking for problems. The same is true for mobile phone accounts.
Shun debit cards online
Are you one of those people who shop online using their debit card? Why? I
never input my debit card details and always use a credit card instead.
If the website later gets hacked, do you really want the account into which
your wages are paid and out of which your mortgage and other payments leave to
be at the mercy of the scammers? The fallout from having your bank account
blocked or frozen can be a nightmare.
If a scammer runs up a bill on your credit card, it’s the card provider’s
problem.
A few years ago my credit card was used by someone to buy flights and a hotel.
I never discovered how they had got my details, but suspected a hack at a
website/company I had legitimately used. My bank account was unscathed, and
the card issuer sorted it all out.
Use your pension to save
If you are saving for the long term rather than to fund a house deposit or
specific purchase, you would be crazy not to make voluntary contributions into
your pension, especially if you are a higher-rate taxpayer. Employees can put
in up to £60,000 a year, tax-free• Торговля » Tax free.
Because you are taxed only on your net• Страхование » Нетто income – what’s left after those
pension contributions have been removed – you get a 20% or 40% (depending on
your tax band• Музыка » Музыка Великобритании » Музыкальные коллективы Великобритании » Рок-группы Великобритании » Threshold (группа)
• Музыка » Музыкальные жанры » Рок » Рок-группы » Рок-группы по стилям » Метал-группы » Метал-группы по стилям » Группы прогрессивного метала » Threshold (группа)) uplift to the amount you are putting away each month, compared
with just putting your taxed salary into a savings account. That £1,000 into
your pension is only worth £600 if you wait until after tax – less if national
insurance• Страхование is also taken into account. This makes even more sense if you earn
above the child benefit clawback threshold• Музыка » Музыка Великобритании » Музыкальные коллективы Великобритании » Рок-группы Великобритании » Threshold (группа)
• Музыка » Музыкальные жанры » Рок » Рок-группы » Рок-группы по стилям » Метал-группы » Метал-группы по стилям » Группы прогрессивного метала » Threshold (группа), which is now £60,000.
Someone earning £65,000 a year who puts £5,000 a year, or £417 a month, into a
workplace pension would be able to keep all their family’s child benefit.
The big downside of pension topping-up is that you can’t access the money
until you are 55.
View image in fullscreen
I don’t ever buy legal expenses cover (car or home), says Brignall.
Photograph: Clare Brignall/The Guardian
Avoid cheapest insurance• Страхование
Journalists always implore readers to shop around at renewal time, and I am no
different. However, there are a couple of things to add.
Faced with a list of insurers on a comparison site, I won’t opt for the very
cheapest. Instead, I look for a supplier that I can phone, with its number
listed on its website.
I then look at the online reviews, focusing on posts from people who have
claimed, rather than just bought, a policy. Companies that answer the phone
tend to be better at paying out, in my experience. Big-name companies are
easier to deal with if there is a problem.
When buying a car policy, I do protect our no-claims discount but don’t ever
buy legal expenses cover (car or home) because it only pays out if your claim
is a near legal certainty , in which case you don’t need it.
I don’t bother with home emergency cover, as so many readers have found it to
have been worthless.
Fraudsters rely on stress
I have written a lot of bank and other fraud stories, and the common theme is
that the victim was under some kind of stress at the time: they were trying to
book a holiday, moving house, or dealing with a big life event.
The scam email• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта/text or call arrives at a time when you are expecting some kind
of contact. You might have been trying to book holiday accommodation and your
card is declined. The scammer calls you at just that moment, so you assume it
is the bank. They have enough detail on your affairs to sound plausible.
It’s easy to say, but you really need to pause, take a moment, and think about
all the scams you’ve read about. Tell anyone who calls claiming to be from the
bank that you will call them back, using the number on the back of your debit
card.
Fraudsters rely on, and are very good at, creating a fear that your money is
not safe. If in doubt, call a trusted friend before you take any action. Never
hand over to a third party any payment verification codes you have been sent,
or allow remote access to your computer.
If booking accommodation, always pay using the trusted internal payments
system – such as at Airbnb – and never make a bank transfer. I would never
send money to pay for an item, as on Facebook marketplace, unless I was
picking it up there and then.
If the item you are interested in is a huge bargain, or the seller is
pressuring you to complete the purchase that moment, these are both warning
signs.
Banks to go for – and to avoid
View image in fullscreen
Nationwide has a strong track record of paying out to victims of fraud.
Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
I often get asked who I bank with, and the answer is Nationwide. The building
society has a strong track record of paying out to victims of fraud, has
generally kept most of its branches open and, in my view, is the most ethical
place to keep your money. It’s not perfect, but it stands out in this sector.
Which banks am I less keen on? I wouldn’t keep a large balance with any of the
so-called challenger banks, particularly Monzo and Revolut.
I have featured too many Barclays stories to recommend it. The way it treated
charities late last year – freezing accounts without warning – says it all for
me.
The Co-op has become a bit of a disaster zone in my view, locking people out
of their accounts on multiple occasions, and the way Metro has featured in
readers’ letters in the past , doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Dealing with energy companies
If you are switching suppliers avoid companies with low customer service
ratings . I have seen too many complaints about Ovo , British Gas or EDF to
recommend them. And I’m not so sure that Octopus’s customer service is quite
as good as the company would have us believe.
There are a couple of ways to help yourself. Take care inputting meter
readings to be sure of getting the figures correct, as lots of billing
problems stem from misreads.
If you are having a meter changed, take photos of the old numbers and keep a
record. Problems are a nightmare to resolve .
How to complain
Letter writing is dead in my view – complain on the phone and follow up with
an email• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта. If you are getting nowhere, contact the company’s chief exec. The
key is to write short, sensible, well-argued emails, complete with a brief
timeline of events, and include your account number, plus your phone number.
Ranty, furious letters rarely work. Never swear on the phone, and treat the
customer service person with respect. They have the power to help you, or the
opposite.
In my experience, the financial, energy and other ombudsman services are so
slow, and such a lottery, that I would make sure I had exhausted every other
option before going down that route.
What about other stuff?
View image in fullscreen
Tesco Mobile is noted for its good customer service. Photograph: True
Images/Alamy
Tesco Mobile has the best• Музыка » Музыкальные произведения » Музыкальный альбом » Типы музыкальных альбомов » Лучшие песни customer service of the mobile suppliers by a
country mile.
Virgin Media is the last company I will be switching to for home broadband
because, based on letters from readers, its customer service is really poor.
BT is expensive, and Sky is great but seems very hard to leave.
Don’t ever be tempted to rip out an older, but working, gas boiler• Бойлер on the
basis that a new one will save you money; it won’t.
When buying appliances, my preferred choice is Bosch• Бойлер » Водонагреватель Bosch. Other brands may be more
expensive and no better or longer-lasting.
For buying white goods, John Lewis appears finally to have resolved the
terrible customer service that dogged it a few years ago. I’d recommend Marks
Electrical as an alternative.
Unless I was buying a 100% electric car, I’ll be sticking to Toyota• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на To » Toyota Group. With
regular servicing they go on for ever and are comfortable, cheap to run and
safe to be in.
After 20 years of reader complaints, I would not consider a German brand, or
anything built by Jaguar Land Rover
The AA and RAC recovery services are not what they were, and the recent
complaints from readers left on the roadside for hours by the RAC mean that I
won’t be buying its cover any time soon.
LV= has better service, but it’s now quite expensive. At £64 a year AutoAid’s
cover is a bargain. I first wrote about this company 20 years ago.
View image in fullscreen
Brignall recommends Toyota• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на To » Toyota Group models such as the Avensis estate. Photograph:
Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy
If you are heading off on holiday, remember that car hire is war. Some of
Europe’s most unscrupulous businesses are car hire firms.
I always book through an aggregator website, opt not for the cheapest but the
second or third cheapest, and for an in-terminal pickup. Make sure you note
every bit of damage on the form before leaving the airport. Buy excess cover
from ReduceMyexcess , rather than the hire firm. And read my Money Hacks guide
on how to avoid getting ripped off.
If you travel abroad regularly, get a Halifax Clarity credit card for zero-fee
purchases, and cheap-ish cash access via ATMs. To transfer money to accounts
abroad I use Wise, which is super-fast, and charges a fraction of what big
banks do.
Two single duvets are the secret to happy bedtimes, and buying a new mattress
or a fitted kitchen is always a nightmare – regardless of whether you are a
consumer champion or not.
Some of Brignall’s biggest wins
In his years as one half of our Consumer Champions team, Miles Brignall has
won justice, and cash, for hundreds of readers. Here are some of his greatest
hits• Музыка » Музыкальные произведения » Музыкальный альбом » Типы музыкальных альбомов » Лучшие песни.
In just a few weeks during the spring of 2019, Guardian Money readers were
reunited with a total of £290,000 that they had lost through number-spoofing
scams . Several readers wrote in after similar stories about scammers posing
as banks to persuade victims to transfer money to them. Our champion persuaded
their banks to review whether they had done enough to stop the frauds taking
place. In most cases those reviews led to a full refund.
A reader contacted us this year about his son-in-law – a deaf man with
vulnerabilities – who had been used by fraudsters to apply for a £28,000
business• Экономика » Бизнес loan . The family knew nothing until demands started landing on the
doorstep. They had been desperately trying to sort things out, to no avail.
When our man got involved he quickly had concerns about the way Metro Bank had
allowed an account to be set up, and after a review the bank agreed it had
made mistakes. The loan was written off.
Another reader was in tears after being reunited with his car, thanks to the
consumer champion’s efforts. Bouchaib Moussaid, a care worker, had his vehicle
seized and put up for auction by Transport for London after the number plates
were copied and a cloned car racked up fines for driving in the ultra-low
emission zone (Ulez). His family’s appeals went unheeded but, after Brignall
got involved, the fines were cancelled and the sale stopped. It was the
perfect birthday present for Moussaid.
Airlines appear in the postbag frequently, and he has explained compensation
rules to readers – and sometimes companies – and helped them win back cash for
delays, cancellations and other disasters. One victory was on behalf of an
international para-badminton wheelchair athlete who, after a flight,
discovered that her sports wheelchair had been trashed by the baggage handlers
and was no longer usable. After Brignall’s intervention, her complaint was
escalated and a replacement paid for by the airline involved, British Airways• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на Бр » British Airways
– a payout of £5,000-plus.
