The research revealed that 39% of consumers have resorted to haggling to get a better mobile phone deal, and 86% of them were successful - saving over £100 a year or getting extras like a new phone or free minutes.
Which? also found that a quarter of people had tried to leave a landline, mobile, broadband or pay TV contract early in the last five years. Only 70% were successful and 42% of mobile phone customers who left had to pay a penalty charge.
Which? has therefore called on the Government to get tough with the industry, without waiting for possible new EU regulations to be pushed through. The European proposals in the pipeline include:
“The Government must get tough with telecoms providers and help put millions of consumers, who are struggling with the cost of living, in control of their mobile bills,” said Which? executive director Richard Lloyd.
“We found that mobile providers are offering much better deals to customers who are savvy enough to haggle, which begs the question why they can’t offer more transparent, competitive deals to everyone all the time. It needs to be much easier and free for people to switch and leave their contract,” he added.
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The Government launched the consultation in 2012, arguing that a charging system would encourage more families to agree their child maintenance arrangements themselves, rather than relying on a state scheme to make the arrangements on their behalf.
It has now published a summary of the main points made by respondents to the consultation, and its own response to these. It has confirmed that it will make a number of changes, based on the feedback received through the consultation.
These changes include reducing the proposed parent with care collection fee from 7% to 4%, and extending the list of organisations that domestic violence can be reported to in order to qualify for the application fee waiver. It has also updated its definition of domestic violence to keep it in line with the current Home Office definition (which includes financial abuse).
Single parent charity Gingerbread has been highly critical of the Government’s proposed changes to the child maintenance system, and particularly the introduction of a charging system.
Speaking in response to the outcome of the consultation, Gingerbread chief executive Fiona Weir said: “Child maintenance makes a huge difference to children’s lives, especially when many families are struggling to pay for the basics at the moment. The risk is that the charges, combined with the closure of all CSA cases, will result in tens of thousands of families giving up on maintenance altogether and their children going without vital support.”
The Government’s proposals are due to be voted on in Parliament later this year.
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The research looked at 2,519 complaints about second hand cars, which were made to the Citizens Advice consumer service in the first two weeks of September 2013. This found that 83% were about faults, of which:
Essential repairs included smoke emerging from the engine, corroded break pipes and a snapped clutch.
Other common problems experienced by used car buyers include substandard services, misleading advertising and incorrect information about the car before they bought it.
“People are spending, on average, over £5,000 on a second hand car with many drivers saving for months on end or taking out expensive finance packages in order to afford it,” said Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy.
“The second hand car industry needs to put the brakes on malfunctioning motors by making sure the cars they sell are in good working order,” she added. “That way people aren’t wasting their time or money trying to fix issues that should never have been there in the first place.”
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The registry will contain information on individuals with an interest in more than 25% of a company’s shares or voting rights, or who otherwise control the way it is run.
The announcement comes after a recent Department for Business (BIS) consultation, in which it published details of its intention to create a registry and invited responses on whether it should be made publicly accessible.
Following this call for evidence, the Government has now decided the register will be made publicly accessible.
“A stronger economy depends on investors, employees and the wider public having trust and confidence in companies and those that are running them,” said Business Secretary Vince Cable.
“We believe a public register, listing those who really own companies makes Britain a better place to invest and do business. People have a right to know who controls UK companies and greater openness will help tackle tax evasion, money laundering and other crimes,” he added.
BIS will give further details on the information to be held by the company and Companies House, and how it should be updated, in its formal response to the consultation. This is expected to be published early next year.
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The results of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) survey showed that:
The FCA is proposing to limit the number of times a high-cost short-term credit loan can be rolled over to two and introduce a limit of two unsuccessful attempts on the use of CPAs to pay off a loan.
Commenting on the findings, Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy, described them as further evidence that payday lenders are not treating customers fairly.
“Citizens Advice’s own survey finds the industry has failed to improve since the charter was introduced last year. All too often lenders aren’t carrying out proper checks to ensure people are able to pay back the loans and are draining bank accounts without warning, leaving people with little or no money to get by,” she said.
“Firm rules for payday lenders from the FCA, and strong enforcement of them, are vital to ensure a responsible short-term loans market that works for consumers,” she added.
Contact our specialist solicitors based in Birmingham today for expert debt advice or advice on consumer protection law. Phone us on 0121 455 8347 or fill in our online enquiry form.
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The action took the form of a "sweep" - an EU-wide screening of websites to identify breaches of consumer law and to subsequently ensure its enforcement. This took place in summer 2012, targeting 330 websites that together account for a large share of the market.
Detailed investigation by national authorities found a total of 172 websites to be non-compliant with EU consumer law, says the Commission. They contacted the companies concerned in order to make these websites compliant. To date 116 websites have been corrected. Forty-nine websites are subject to further proceedings; in five cases the infringements were minor and not pursued by the Member States, while two websites no longer exist.
The websites were checked to determine whether information on the key characteristics of the products was easily accessible and not in the "small print"; whether the websites provided email addresses to which questions and complaints might be submitted; and whether the websites contained fair terms and conditions.
The sweep revealed that the most common problems were:
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The issue has been raised by the British Association for Adoption & Fostering and the Descendants of Deceased Adopted Persons Group. They would like the descendants of deceased adopted people to have the same rights as other relatives to access an intermediary service – such as a local authority or adoption agency - in order to obtain the original birth information they need.
As the law stands a relative of an adopted person is defined as any person who (but for the adoption) would be related to him by blood or marriage – and this excludes descendants.
The amendment has been tabled by Baroness Sally Hamwee and seeks to revise the Adoption and Children Act 2002, which currently deals with the matter.
“We all have a need to know about our own backgrounds,” said Baroness Hamwee. “My amendment – which has been recommended by a Lords Select Committee – would extend the rights of a relatively small group of people currently excluded from seeking assistance in finding information about a direct ascendant. It would take only a small change to law (which by all accounts some people thought had actually been made in 2002) to enable them to find out about something fundamental to their understanding of their own identities.”
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