e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@paullewis.co.uk
DOORSTEP ENERGY SALES
If
someone comes to your door offering to save you money on your gas or electricity
bill then just say ‘no’. The energy regulator Ofgem has researched what happened
to people who did switch supplier on the basis of a doorstep call. Nearly half
of them (48% for electricity and 42% for gas) ended up paying more for their
fuel. And Ofgem warns that even one in three of those who switch without any
sales pressure may not make a saving. Earlier this year it imposed tough new
conditions on suppliers. But now it has had to do more. It is investigating four
of the biggest suppliers (nPower, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Energy,
and EDF Energy) to se if they are complying with the rules. And it has opened a
special hotline for customers who think they may have been mis-sold – or sold a
new deal using high pressure sales techniques and without being given an
estimate of what your bills will be and a comparison of the new tariff with your
existing one.
The best way to find the cheapest supplier is to go online use one of the many websites which offers to find the best tariff and switch you to it. If you do not have a computer then you can call Consumer Direct who will give you the phone numbers of companies who can help and send out information about energy prices in your region.
DIGITAL INHERITANCE
You may have decided who will get your house, your money, your pension,
or your collection of jelly moulds. But who gets the right to your Facebook
page, your twitter address, or your website? Lawyers are beginning to grapple
with these new problems. And one firm Thomas Eggar has produced standard clauses
to put in wills to ensure that individuals can transfer authority over these
items to their heirs. Otherwise they may simply disappear forever after a period
of inactivity. Remember copyright in your photographs, writing, and emails lasts
for 70 years after you die. So when you come to write your will make sure your
solicitor puts clauses in to preserve and protect them.
Passwords may also cause problems. There is no need to worry about your bank and credit card accounts – once you have gone your executors will get access to those in the normal way. But how will anyone access your computer files or your online accounts if they are locked securely behind a password that only you know? Some computers cannot even be started up without a password. On the other hand if you write your password down there is always the chance it will be stolen while you are alive. So you should put all your passwords into a letter and keep it with your will lodged in a sealed envelope with a solicitor. But do not forget to keep it up to date. And tell your heirs where this information is!
THE CHEQUE’S IN THE POST
– FOR NOW
The Government is planning to end the payment of pensions by cheque. Almost
everyone who gets a state pension has the money it paid directly into a bank or
building society account. But 90,000 pensioners who chose not to have bank
payments are still paid by a cheque which is posted to them. The Department has
recently contacted these people to encourage them to switch to bank transfers.
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that it is working on an
alternative to this expensive system of posting cheques. Exactly what the
alternative will be is not yet clear. When the change was made in 2004 the
Pensions Minister then promised that people would always have the option of a
payment that did not involve a bank account.
Meanwhile if you get a letter asking for bank details but you want to carry on getting cheques, then you should reply making that clear but not provide any bank details. The Department has a legal obligation to pay the pension and if you refuse to give bank details – or perhaps do not have a bank account – then it has to find another way to pay you – probably by something very like a cheque.
NINO ninnies
Although the Government has scrapped ID cards, our National Insurance number is
becoming ever more important as our own personal and unique identifier. When you
reach pension age the Department for Work and Pensions uses it to identify the
payments it makes into your bank account. Saga reader Tom from Wales complained
that his bank prints his NI number – and that of his wife Val – by their state
pension payment every week. So anyone who gets their hands on the bank statement
would know their full names, their address, their bank account details and their
NI numbers. He thinks that is a security risk.
I tend to agree. The DWP says that the NI number is never used as proof of someone’s identity and so the risk is small. In fact it uses a much longer identifier for pension payments half of which is the full NI ‘number’ of nine letters and digits. A spokeswoman added “how much of it appears on the customer’s statement is the responsibility of the bank.” So I asked the British Banker’s Association why banks are so careful about only using the last four digits of a credit or debit card number but all of them put the NI number on the statement in full.
Meanwhile it is as well to shred all bank statements before putting them in the recycling.
MORE INFORMATION
Energy sales
Consumer Focus: Complaints hotline or
switching advice: 08454 04 05 06
www.ofgem.gov.uk/Media/FactSheets/Documents1/energy_salespeople.pdf
Digital Legacy: www.thomaseggar.com and search for ‘digital legacy’.
e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@paullewis.co.uk