BY fighting your corner on issues hitting your wallet, Sun Money has won back thousands of pounds for you in 2022.
It has been almost a year since I took over editing these pages — and there has never been a more important time to cover the issues we are facing.
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As we continue to battle through soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a cost-of-living crisis that has hit everyone’s living standards, I wanted to write about our biggest successes.
This year, our Squeeze Team column — written by consumer champion Lucy Alderson — has won back a massive £76,190 for readers.
Below she lists her top triumphs for 2022.
I know that the stories we have written will have helped you all save money and that is why I love doing this job.
Thank you to everyone who has written to us with a problem.
It is your comments, letters and emails that tip us off into investigating issues and helping to fix problems. We couldn’t do it without you.
On our very first page on February 5, we helped to solve your energy billing problems.
We told you about how we had held gas and electricity giants to account — and I promise we will continue to do this in 2023, as the crisis on bills rages on.
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There may be little we can do about rising prices, but the one thing we can do is fight your corner.
Just as we did in May, when we highlighted the £1billion women’s pension scandal.
We won back £1,345 from the Department and Work and Pensions for Celia Oxspring, 78, after her income plummeted when her husband Rodney died.
After Sun Money stepped in and asked the DWP to investigate, it paid her back the cash and increased her pension by £3,900 a year.
She is one of the millions of women who have been hit by state pension errors.
We called on the DWP to speed up the process — but still thousands are waiting and there may be more blunders that need resolving.
I promise to keep applying pressure, so that more of you can claim back what you are owed.
In August, we highlighted how four million hard-up households could be missing out on an average £230 a year in broadband savings.
We argued that internet firms make it hard for customers on low incomes to access cheaper social tariffs.
And we called on telecoms giants, along with the Government, to make it easier.
Since then, the Government has set up a new service to make it easier to identify those who could benefit from cheaper deals.
This included single mum-of-two Gina Hackett, 44, who saved £300 a year by switching to BT’s social tariff.
There is still a lot more that could be done to make it easier for people to sign up.
ROLLING COVERAGE
We promise to continue highlighting ways for you to save money — and to keep putting pressure on people in power to make it easier to access discounts.
These are just some of the stories that I am proud of this year.
While my team and I work tirelessly for these pages, we also provide rolling coverage online too, from dissecting the Budget as it happens to keeping you informed about the latest savings and mortgage rate changes or financial support that is available.
I know that finances are tighter than ever for many of you and the new year may bring more financial pain, but we will be here to ease that burden when we can.
We love to hear from you, so please do keep writing to us. And from myself and the team, I want to wish you a very merry Christmas and prosperous 2023.
Universal Credit left Martin with £1,250 debt
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WE helped one worried reader get to the bottom of a mystery £1,250 bill.
He had been sent it by the Department of Work and Pensions in January.
It turned out that retail worker Martin Cardon, 54, from Banstead, Surrey, had been a victim of a Universal Credit scam.
We helped get the debt wiped clean for him.
Criminals had applied for a Universal Credit advance payment under Martin’s name.
Martin said: “It was a huge relief The Sun helped me.
“I’d have been stumped if I had to pay it, as I only had a bit of savings.”
Elaine locked out of £108 on her prepaid card
WE raced to help pensioner Elaine Malin after she was locked out of her prepaid card account and left unable to pay for food or essentials.
In May, Elaine, 75, from Nuneaton, Warks, discovered her Tuxedo prepaid card had suddenly stopped working while it had £108 on it.
We found out Tuxedo went into liquidation that month and had stopped running its prepaid card service.
It said it had emailed customers, but Elaine doesn’t use email.
We secured the cash back.
Elaine said: “I couldn’t get through to anybody, and I thought I wouldn’t get my money back.”
Pensioner scared to turn on lights after meter fail
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A BIG – and avoidable – mistake by E.On left reader Elizabeth Matley in a terrible situation.
Her letter told us how she had sat in the dark and barely showered for nine days because she was terrified her energy supply would be cut off.
Elizabeth, 82, discovered she was unable to top up her prepayment meter when she moved into her new home in Havant, Hants, in June.
E.ON refunded the £40 that had disappeared when she tried to top up and added a £50 goodwill payment.
Elizabeth said: “I wrote to you and in two days, you replied.
“Without you I would not have got anywhere with E.On.”
Elderly Bill could not get the cash owed to late son
IN one of our saddest cases, we helped 81-year-old Bill Pollard resolve his late son Anthony’s unsettled PPI claim.
Bill, of South Gloucestershire, was called by a tracing company in October last year on behalf of the Royal Bank of Scotland, saying that Anthony, who died aged 17 in 2007, was owed cash and he would get the payout as his next of kin.
After six months and many calls to the bank later, the case was still unresolved.
But we eventually found that Anthony was owed cash from a 2005 claim.
RBS apologised and Bill received £2,970. He said: “The money went to my grandchildren.”
Mum harassed by energy company’s wrong £14k claim
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FOR more than a year, mum-of- two Kerry Davies got scary letters from Scottish Power threatening bailiffs over a £13,942 debt – even though she was not a customer of the firm.
The 41-year-old estate agency director from Crewe began getting letters last February.
Despite many calls and emails, they kept arriving and the debt was rising.
We intervened in October and Scottish Power said a meter mix-up meant Kerry was being charged for someone else’s arrears, closed the account and offered £150 compensation.
Kerry said: “The letters have stopped, it’s a massive relief.”
