NED News Adviceline: Winter 2016

I have a problem with rising damp in my flat, but I’m worried that if I complain my landlord will evict me. What should I do?

Until recently, landlords could evict tenants without a reason. However, a new law passed last year means it’s now illegal to evict tenants for reporting a problem with the property.

Start by checking your contract for when your tenancy began. If it was on or after 1 October 2015, you are protected from eviction provided you report the problem using the right procedure.

First, write your landlord an email or letter explaining the problem. If they don’t respond within 14 days or respond with an eviction notice, contact the council who will inspect the property.

If the Council confirms with the landlord that there is a health and safety problem, any ‘no fault’ eviction notice is invalid and you won’t need to leave the property. The council will also advise the landlord on next steps, which could include being legally required to fix the problem.

If your tenancy began before October 2015 it’s not illegal for your landlord to evict you but it’s still unusual to do so.

Again, you should start by raising the problem in writing. If your landlord doesn’t offer to repair the damp, or serves you with an eviction notice, contact your local Citizens Advice straight away who will advise you on your next step.

I’ve just come back from a package holiday where our hotel was miles away from where we booked. We couldn’t contact anyone to change hotels, and had to pay to travel back and forwards to the destination we’d booked. Can I claim compensation?

It’s reasonable to ask for compensation when you haven’t got the holiday you paid for.

Your accommodation should be as agreed. If not, it’s usually considered a breach of contract.

You can’t claim the total cost of the holiday, but you can ask to be reimbursed for the extra travel costs, plus a fair sum for the change to your holiday.

Start by writing an email or letter to the tour operator’s customer services department. Give your booking reference number, explain your grievance and specify the amount of compensation you’d like.

As evidence for your claim, include the details of when you tried to contact your tour operator while you were away, and copies of any taxi or car hire receipts.

The firm may come back with an initial offer that is lower than what you are asking for, so be prepared to negotiate.

If you’re not offered any compensation, check your tour operator’s website to see if they belong to a UK trade body, like ABTA. If they do, you can lodge a new complaint through the trade body’s website. The tour operator is obliged to respond to the complaint.

Should you still not receive a satisfactory response, contact the Citizens Advice consumer service or visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk for guidance on your next steps.

I’ve applied for a job at an accountancy firm, but they’ve emailed to say that I would need to take a three month training course which costs £4,000 first. I’m keen on the job, but should I pay for the training?

Some employers do ask you to pay for training, but will normally take the cost from your wages rather than asking you to pay in advance.

Asking for up-front payments is one of the classic signs of a scam, so it’s important you do some research on the firm before parting with any cash.

Start by checking if they have a website. If there isn’t a website, they are unlikely to be legitimate. Pay close attention to their email address too – look to see if they are using a personal email account such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than one that’s branded.

Next, check how they describe their company – if they are an Ltd or Plc they should be listed on the companies house website. If you can’t find them there, they probably aren’t real.

You can also look the firm up on the internet to see what people are writing about it. People who suspect a scam or have been scammed, will often post on forums or social media. Genuine companies will usually have client reviews outside of just their own website.

If you spot something that doesn’t sit right and you want a second opinion, contact the Citizens Advice consumer service. If you think it might be a scam report it to Action Fraud.

NED News Adviceline: Summer 2016

I’m 55 and looking into my plans for retirement. I want to cash-in part of my defined contribution pension pot worth £60,000 but I’m confused about tax. How much can I take out of my pension pot tax-free and how much tax will I pay on the rest?

Pensions are taxable income, however special rules mean you can usually take up to 25% of your pension pot tax-free.

You can take your 25% tax-free lump sum out of your pension in one go. For your pension pot of £60,000, if you take a 25% tax-free lump sum you’ll get £15,000 tax-free. For the other £45,000, you’ll need to buy an annuity or drawdown product, which is subject to tax.

If you don’t want to take your 25% tax-free lump sum in one go, another option is to take multiple cash lump sums (UFPLS), rather than buying an annuity or a drawdown product. If you do this, you will get 25% tax-free of each lump sum. For example, if you were to take £1,000 per month out of your pension, £250 would be tax-free. The remaining £750 is taxable.

How much tax you pay on the rest of your pension will depend on how much you “earn” in any one tax year. This includes your state pension and some earnings from investments, such as property or savings. If your total income is less than your personal allowance of £11,000, you won’t pay any tax. If it is above £11,000 you’ll be taxed at 20, 40 or 45% as usual.

To find out more about your pension options, visit www.pensionwise.gov.uk

My father recently had a stroke and I have cut down my working hours to care for him. He receives sick pay, but we are struggling financially. Is there any help available for us?

Financial support is available for people when they become ill, as well as for their carers. What is available will depend on your circumstances.

Your father may be eligible for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) to help with his daily living and mobility costs. His eligibility will be assessed on how his condition affects him, and what support he needs.

To apply for PIP, your father can call the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and then complete the form he is sent. He can request a form by post, but it is usually better to start the claim over the phone, as PIP payments are backdated from the day you made your claim.

There may also be help available for you as his carer. Carer’s Allowance is a financial assistance for people who have less time to work because they are caring for someone. If you earn £110 a week or less from your job after tax, and care for your father for 35 hours a week, you may be eligible.

You can make an application on the gov.uk website. To claim Carer’s Allowance, your father needs to be in receipt of the component of PIP which covers living costs (as opposed to mobility costs).

If you need help or information on applying for any of these benefits, contact your local Citizens Advice or go online at www.citizensadvice.org.uk.

I’m a self-employed woman and I’m thinking about starting a family. Am I able to take paid maternity leave?

Maternity entitlements are different for self-employed women but financial support is still available.

Self-employed women who have a baby may be entitled to a total of 39 weeks Maternity Allowance. The maximum weekly rate you can receive is £139.58 but it does depend what your individual circumstances are

In order to get the full amount you need to have worked (either employed or self-employed) for at least 26 out of the 66 weeks prior to your baby’s arrival. You should also have paid National Insurance contributions for at least 13 of those weeks and are required to have earned an average of £30 per week over 13 of the 66 weeks.

However, if you don’t meet all of these criteria it’s possible that you’ll still be able to receive some support.

You can put in a claim once your pregnancy reaches 26 weeks by filling in a MA1 claim form online or popping it in the post. The earliest you can receive the first payment is 11 weeks before your baby is due, or you can elect to start it as late as the day after the birth.

Employees often have ‘keeping in touch’ days and the same stands for self-employed workers. You can work for up to 10 days whilst receiving Maternity Allowance, but go over this threshold and you risk losing your allowance altogether.

If your household income isn’t enough to cover your costs you might also be entitled to further financial aid such as the Sure Start Maternity Grant or income-related social security benefits.

NED News Adviceline: Spring 2016

The Derbyshire Scam Watch is a project to raise awareness amongst older residents of the potentially harmful effects of massmarketing, internet, doorstep and telephone scams, and to provide one to one advice and support where potential scam/fraud victims are identified.

It is a partnership project led by North East Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau, working with Trading Standards, Derbyshire County Council and Age UK Derby and Derbyshire to deliver targeted home visits to scam victims, preventative outreach and promotion of prevention message. Local residents will be more aware of the potential harm from scams as a result of the publicity generated during the project.

Research has highlighted the following detriment to UK citizens from scams:

• £5 billion – the estimated amount lost each year by UK consumers to mass-marketed scams via phone and post.
• Nearly half of people in the UK (48 per cent) have been targeted by a scam
• Every year more than three million people in the UK fall victim to scams losing hundreds, sometimes thousands, even hundreds of thousands of pounds.
• Just five per cent of scams are reported.
• Losses to vishing (phone) scams more than trebled in 2014 from £7m to nearly £24 million, according to Financial Fraud Action UK; 58 per cent of people reported receiving suspicious calls.
• £495 million – the total cost of pension scams known to the Pensions Regulator
• £670 million – the total annual cost to victims of the top ten online scams.

Scams can defraud people of thousands of pounds but most importantly rob them of their self-esteem, confidence and trust. Victims of one scam are very likely to become repeat victims as fraudsters sell-on information about vulnerable people.

More information, articles and useful data can be found at www.derbyshirescamwatch.org.uk