Lean economic times tend to make financial institutions unwilling to pay settlements in [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which provides consumers with free, independent assistance in resolving disputes with financial services, reports an 18% rise in consumer complaints.  The underlying cause of the increase stems from a couple of factors, according to a spokesman from FOS.

Lean economic times tend to make financial institutions unwilling to pay settlements in a dispute, and this refusal just makes for more complaints from consumers.  The FOS can demand reimbursement from lenders for loss of funds or poor service, and while finance companies are less likely to be open-handed, consumers are more likely to have a grievance; thus the increased business for FOS.

While in general a little over half of the complaints are arbitrated in favour of the consumer, some companies seem to lose just about every case.  Ocean Finance is a well-known company that was found liable in every complaint brought to FOS in the last fiscal period.  In the case of Welcome Financial Services, 92% of complaints were found in favour of the consumer.  Both companies declined to comment.

MBNA was found liable in 85% of registered complaints; Loans.co.uk, a subsidiary, is no longer trading.  MBNA’s spokesman said, basically, that their level of complaints is no worse than their competitors’ and that the percentage of complaints is very small compared to number of customers.

In the big bank category, Barclays had the worst showing at about 65% of complaints resolved for the consumer, but according to a spokesman they are working with FOS to identify the causes and reduce the number of dissatisfied customers.

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According to industry regulator Ofgem, this is an increase of about 40% over just three months, and the highest profit level ever since 2004 when records [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Energy companies are being accused of turning a profit from the cold winter due to the fact that on average each customer is earning the company about £105 in profit.

According to industry regulator Ofgem, this is an increase of about 40% over just three months, and the highest profit level ever since 2004 when records first started to be kept.

Experts also think that this is the most money that energy companies have been able to make since they were deregulated in the 1990s by the Conservative government.

In fact, due to the high increase, almost ten pence out of every pound that customers pay is pure profit for utility companies.

The figures ironically were released with British Gas expecting to show a new set of profits within the next few days.  Due to the fact that the weather reached such cold temperatures in December the annual profits for British Gas may be able to beat the 2007 record of £571m.

Ofgem’s main concern is that companies are now making very high profits while customers are scrabbling to try to pay their bills even with the slight fall in prices over the last year.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, called on suppliers to reduce all bills as soon as they can, with chief executive of Consumer Focus the government watchdog, Mike O’Conner backing him up, stating that while householders are worried about energy bills from this winter, they are going to wonder how their costs have risen while overall the wholesale costs have decreased.

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The label stated that the wine was handpicked and had the dark flavours and aromas of ripe [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> 12 local Carcassonne executives of E&J Gallo, a US wine company, were fined yesterday in a Carcassonne court after they were found to be fraudulently labelling inferior wine as handpicked pinot noir and selling it to the US company.

The label stated that the wine was handpicked and had the dark flavours and aromas of ripe plum and black cherry.  They were caught by the Languedoc-Roussillon fraud squad in Southern France.

Included in those convicted of a fraud of £6m were vineyard managers, Ducasse the wine merchant, its conglomerate Sieur d’Arques, and a broker.  The wine was made with cheap merlot and syrah grapes and then represented as pinot noir resulting in the sale of 18m bottles to Gallo under the brand of Red Bicyclette.

One of the largest fines handed out was to the local director of Ducasse, Claude Courset, who was the mastermind of the fraud and was assigned a £45,000 fine and a six month suspended sentence.  Other prison sentences were assigned and suspended and fines ranged from £3,000 to £180,000.

In addition, the Sieur d’Arques trading company received a fine of £180,000 for giving the fake pinot noir to Gallo and all the executives except for two have admitted their guilt.  Despite the high fines, they are still less than want the prosecutor, Francis Battut, had requested as he sought out a custodial term against Courset.

The company formed their defence around the fact that there is a large grey area surrounding wine definitions. As much as 25% of the dodgy pinot found its way to UK supermarket shelves

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Ecover have extended their laundry range to include two highly effective and truly ecological concentrated laundry liquids: Ecover Concentrated Bio and Ecover Concentrated Non Bio.

Offering exceptional washing results, even at low temperatures; more washes per bottle; 54% less packaging per wash and 68% less transport miles, Ecover’s powerful new concentrates [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]>

Ecover Concentrated Bio Laundry Liquid

Ecover have extended their laundry range to include two highly effective and truly ecological concentrated laundry liquids: Ecover Concentrated Bio and Ecover Concentrated Non Bio.

Offering exceptional washing results, even at low temperatures; more washes per bottle; 54% less packaging per wash and 68% less transport miles, Ecover’s powerful new concentrates mean you can tackle your dirty laundry with an even cleaner conscience this Spring.

Performing in the same league as other well-known brands, the powerful new formulas are guaranteed to leave your clothes sparkling clean, making them a must for your laundry room.

The formulas for these long-awaited products were put under the microscope by the Ecover scientists and after months of development Ecover has produced what they believe to be the most efficient and ecological concentrate on the market.

Everyone knows the environmental benefits conventional concentrated laundry products provide e.g. reduced packaging, reduced CO2 emissions in transport and less water used during the production process. But, the biggest impact cleaning products have on the environment is what happens after they are used. So Ecover have worked hard to create concentrated Laundry Liquids which have much less impact after you’ve used them. Additional environmental benefits of Ecover’s new concentrates include:

• No optical brighteners
• Minimum aquatic toxicity
• Fast and complete biodegradability
• No phosphates

What’s more, as Ecover use sustainable plant-based and mineral ingredients, you don’t have to worry about leaving behind residues of nasty (and unnecessary) chemicals on your clothes – or your skin – when you do your laundry either.

Ecover Concentrated Bio Laundry Liquid – RRP £5.69 (500ml) – This is the first time Ecover has produced a bio laundry liquid and it’s their best laundry liquid formula to date. The popular fragrance ‘Under the Sun’ was a natural choice to help evoke the sense of summer whatever the season.

Ecover Concentrated Non Bio Laundry Liquid – RRP £5.69 (500ml) – With the fresh scent of lavender, Ecover’s Concentrated Non Bio Laundry Liquid offers exceptional washing power and performs comparably to Persil Small and Mighty across a wide range of stains.

Ecover’s new concentrated laundry liquids are currently available in Waitrose and online from Ocado. For a full list of stockists visit our ‘Where to Buy’ page on www.ecover.com

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Figures from OFT suggest that there are three million people involved in online scams every year within the UK, which costs the population around £3.5b per year.  Most common [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> The government has started up a cyber enforcement team and allocated more funds to the Trading Standards in an effort to reduce the amount of online scams.

Figures from OFT suggest that there are three million people involved in online scams every year within the UK, which costs the population around £3.5b per year.  Most common are online scams that arrive as emails.

Over the course of the next three years the government plans to invest £4.3m in an attempt to reduce online fraud.  The funding will be used to appoint specialist trading standards enforcers in every region of Wales, Scotland, and England as well as train new enforcers.

Scam websites and online ticket scams offer goods to interested consumers but receive nothing in return, which the new OFT teams will be focused on.  They also will target serious cyber scams and continue to pass cases that have resolutions onto the police, investigative agencies, and the Organized Crime Agency.

Kevin Brennan, the consumer minister, stated that their investment will help the Trading Standards and the OFT activate their specialist teams by offering the technology and training required to take on these criminals.

In response to the growing number of cyber scams, the Government established the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and the National Fraud Reporting Centre, both of which are run through the City of London Police.  Also established is a unit within the MET called the Police Central eCrime Unit whose task is to take on large internet frauds.

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Consumer group Which? has now joined the experts in demanding an investigation into the supposed flaw to protect millions of consumers from facing fraud and identity [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Cambridge University experts believe that the chip and pin system is broken after they were able to get it to accept transactions without the use of a pin number.

Consumer group Which? has now joined the experts in demanding an investigation into the supposed flaw to protect millions of consumers from facing fraud and identity theft.

Senior researcher at Which? Money, Cathy Neal, stated that they want banks to study these flaws because there are enough examples in which a bank claims that a pin number was used to complete a purchase but the customer has claimed that they did not use it.

Neal continued to say that banks say that if the chip and pin system is used then a customer must have used their pin, but according to the Cambridge experts this is not always the case.  She stated that this shows that the system may not be flawed completely, but at some level it is not foolproof.

In a recent survey completed by Which? about 13% of people have had money taken from a credit card and another 14% stated that money has been taken straight from their bank account.

Out of those people, about half did not get reimbursed from the bank although they were insistent that the withdrawal was disputed.

Computer expert Professor Ross Anderson claimed that there is a way to get around security systems that use chip and pin in order to use a card, which makes the system no longer trustworthy on the whole.

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The new Flexi Cash ISA requires a minimum deposit of £100 to be made, either paid in one lump sum [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> M&S Money has announced the launch if its new flexi cash ISA option, offering a variable rate of 2.65% AER/tax-free (Annual Equivalent Rate) which includes the bonus rate of 1.25% for 18 months from initial deposit.

The new Flexi Cash ISA requires a minimum deposit of £100 to be made, either paid in one lump sum or £25 by monthly direct debit, up to the Cash ISA allowance of £3,600 or £5,100 per tax year. Transfers from other ISA providers are also allowed under the Flexi Cash ISA.

Flexi Cash ISA is one of the options customers can use within the M&S Cash ISA account to divide their taxfree savings allowance between variable and fixed rates. From April 2010, the new limit for Cash ISA savings will be £5,100 per tax year for everyone aged 16 and over. This new limit will already exist for those aged 50 and over from early April 2010.

As an example, with the M&S Cash ISA, a customer would be able to save £2,550 in the variable Flexi Cash ISA option, and the remaining £2,550 in one of the fixed rate savings options available.

Colin Kersley, Chief Executive of M&S Money, commented: “Our research shows that more people than last year are looking for a savings provider they can trust. At M&S Money we have been providing a safe home for customers’ savings for many years, and the company itself is 25 years old this year.

“We are also part of HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations, and are continuing to develop our savings range. Cash savings are protected under the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the first £50,000 of our customers’ savings are 100% guaranteed.”

M&S Money (the trading name of Marks & Spencer Financial Services) was founded in 1985 as the financial services division of Marks and Spencer Group plc, making 2010 the company’s 25th anniversary.  In November 2004, Marks & Spencer sold M&S Money to HSBC. HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London.

Website: money.marksandspencer.com

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Two designs were [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, unveiled new safer pint glasses at the Design Council today that were the chosen pick of a competition sponsored by the Home Office entitled ‘Design Out Crime.’  The use of the new safe glasses could help reduce the 87,000 injuries that occur each year in pubs and bars.

Two designs were chosen for use out of the entries: the Glass Plus which has a see through thin coating that holds the glass together if it is smashed, and the Twin Wall which has two extremely thin layers of glass that resemble a windshield that can automatically bind the glasses together if it is broken.

Outside of the injuries that occur because of violent incidents with the pint glass, the NHS spends about £2.7b a year treating those with injuries.

Johnson stated that glass can cause large and horrible injuries that leave a devastating mark on the victims and their families, which hopefully the new designs can help prevent.

He also stated that sometimes there are ways to tackle crime outside of police involvement and that design and innovation can play a large role in the process.

Director of 3D and Innovation at Design Bridge, David Helps, stated that the best part of the glasses is they closely resemble the regular pint glasses but are still much safer for use at the bar.

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Research from the consumer group showed that although many people took part in the exercise, the Post Office did not fully communicate with them causing most to misunderstand how the [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Many consumers felt that the post office closure programme was ineffective and flawed according to a new report from Consumer Focus that will be released today.

Research from the consumer group showed that although many people took part in the exercise, the Post Office did not fully communicate with them causing most to misunderstand how the cutbacks would affect their communities.

According to Consumer Focus, many lessons can be learned from the failures of the Post Office Closure programme with an emphasis on other local services such as community transport and libraries.

The Post Office Closure programme was led by the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills and was originally announced to the public in May of 2007.

At this time it was announced that 2,500 branches would be closed and 500 outreach services would be set up again.  Public consultations were held after an 11 week period during which changes could be advocated against the proposals.

Although there were only about 200,000 formal responses by the public to the Post Office Ltd and watchdog group Postwatch, according to the research by Consumer Focus there were about 2.7m consumers who showed their outrage via public meetings, signed petitions, and letters to elected officials.

Yet, about one in ten of these people were able to contribute to the actual decision making process, which shows that the Post Office Ltd. missed plenty of opportunities to properly ascertain how the cutbacks would affect the communities they were planned for.

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