BY combating your nook on points hitting your pockets, Solar Cash has won back hundreds of kilos for you in 2022.
It has been nearly a yr since I took over enhancing these pages — and there has by no means been a extra vital time to cowl the problems we face.
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As we proceed to battle by means of hovering inflation, rising rates of interest and a cost-of-living disaster that has hit everybody’s residing requirements, I needed to write down about our greatest successes.
This yr, our Squeeze Team column — written by shopper champion Lucy Alderson — has won back an enormous £76,190 for readers.
Beneath she lists her high triumphs for 2022.
I do know that the tales we now have written can have helped you all get monetary savings and that’s the reason I really like doing this job.
Thanks to everybody who has written to us with an issue.
It’s your feedback, letters and emails that tip us off into investigating points and serving to to repair issues. We couldn’t do it with out you.
On our very first web page on February 5, we helped to unravel your vitality billing issues.
We informed you about how we had held fuel and electrical energy giants to account — and I promise we are going to proceed to do that in 2023, because the disaster on payments rages on.
There could also be little we will do about rising costs, however the one factor we will do is combat your nook.
Simply as we did in Could, once we highlighted the £1billion girls’s pension scandal.
We won back £1,345 from the Division and Work and Pensions for Celia Oxspring, 78, after her revenue plummeted when her husband Rodney died.
After Solar Cash stepped in and requested the DWP to analyze, it paid her back the money and elevated her pension by £3,900 a yr.
She is likely one of the thousands and thousands of girls who’ve been hit by state pension errors.
We referred to as on the DWP to hurry up the method — however nonetheless hundreds are ready and there could also be extra blunders that want resolving.
I promise to maintain making use of strain, in order that extra of you possibly can declare back what you might be owed.
In August, we highlighted how 4 million hard-up households might be lacking out on a mean £230 a yr in broadband financial savings.
We argued that web corporations make it arduous for prospects on low incomes to entry cheaper social tariffs.
And we referred to as on telecoms giants, together with the Authorities, to make it simpler.
Since then, the Authorities has arrange a brand new service to make it simpler to establish those that may benefit from cheaper offers.
This included single mum-of-two Gina Hackett, 44, who saved £300 a yr by switching to BT’s social tariff.
There’s nonetheless much more that might be completed to make it simpler for folks to enroll.
ROLLING COVERAGE
We promise to proceed highlighting methods for you to save cash — and to maintain placing strain on folks in energy to make it simpler to entry reductions.
These are simply a number of the tales that I’m happy with this yr.
Whereas my group and I work tirelessly for these pages, we additionally present rolling protection on-line too, from dissecting the Finances because it occurs to conserving you knowledgeable concerning the newest financial savings and mortgage charge adjustments or monetary help that’s out there.
I do know that funds are tighter than ever for a lot of you and the brand new yr might carry extra monetary ache, however we might be right here to ease that burden once we can.
We love to listen to from you, so please do preserve writing to us. And from myself and the group, I need to want you a really merry Christmas and affluent 2023.
Common Credit score left Martin with £1,250 debt
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WE helped one nervous reader resolve a thriller £1,250 invoice.
He had been despatched it by the Division of Work and Pensions in January.
It turned out that retail employee Martin Cardon, 54, from Banstead, Surrey, had been a sufferer of a Common Credit score rip-off.
We helped get the debt cleaned for him.
Criminals had utilized for a Common Credit score advance fee underneath Martin’s identify.
Martin mentioned: “It was an enormous reduction Cialcan helped me.
“I’d have been stumped if I needed to pay it, as I solely had a little bit of financial savings.”
Elaine locked out of £108 on her pay as you go card
WE raced to assist pensioner Elaine Malin after she was locked out of her pay as you go card account and left unable to pay for meals or necessities.
In Could, Elaine, 75, from Nuneaton, Warks, found her Tuxedo pay as you go card had abruptly stopped working whereas it had £108 on it.
We came upon Tuxedo went into liquidation that month and had stopped working its pay as you go card service.
It mentioned it had emailed prospects, however Elaine doesn’t use e mail.
We secured the money back.
Elaine mentioned: “I couldn’t get by means of to anyone, and I believed I wouldn’t get my cash back.”
Pensioner scared to activate lights after meter fail
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A BIG – and avoidable – mistake by E.On left reader Elizabeth Matley in a horrible state of affairs.
Her letter informed us how she had sat in the darkish and barely showered for 9 days as a result of she was terrified her vitality provide can be lower off.
Elizabeth, 82, found she was unable to high up her prepayment meter when she moved into her new dwelling in Havant, Hants, in June.
E.ON refunded the £40 that had disappeared when she tried to high up and added a £50 goodwill fee.
Elizabeth mentioned: “I wrote to you and in two days, you replied.
“With out you I might not have gotten wherever with E.On.”
Aged Invoice couldn’t get the money owed to late son
IN considered one of our saddest circumstances, we helped 81-year-old Invoice Pollard resolve his late son Anthony’s unsettled PPI declare.
Invoice, of South Gloucestershire, was referred to as by a tracing firm in October final yr on behalf of the Royal Financial institution of Scotland, saying that Anthony, who died aged 17 in 2007, was owed money and he would get the payout as his subsequent of kin.
After six months and plenty of calls to the financial institution later, the case was nonetheless unresolved.
However we finally discovered that Anthony was owed money from a 2005 declare.
RBS apologised and Invoice obtained £2,970. He mentioned: “The cash went to my grandchildren.”
Mum harassed by vitality firm’s mistaken £14k declare
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FOR greater than a yr, mum-of- two Kerry Davies acquired scary letters from Scottish Energy threatening bailiffs over a £13,942 debt – though she was not a buyer of the agency.
The 41-year-old property company director from Crewe started getting letters final February.
Regardless of many calls and emails, they saved arriving and the debt was rising.
We intervened in October and Scottish Energy mentioned a meter mix-up meant Kerry was being charged for another person’s arrears, closed the account and supplied £150 compensation.
Kerry mentioned: “The letters have stopped, it’s an enormous reduction.”
