JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Thank you for being my friend… and keep those woes coming!

Thank You For Being A Friend is the title of a song by Andrew Gold. It reminds me of my halcyon days at university back in the late 1970s when I didn’t have two pennies to rub together but was happy as a sandboy.

Today, the song’s title sums up how I feel towards those brilliant readers who have taken time to contact me this year about issues of personal finance importance. Without you, there would be no Jeff Prestridge column. Thank you for being my friend.

So, what is the big money issue that has irritated you the most this year? Failing smart meters? Woeful customer service? Rising energy bills? Shrinkflation?

Golden boy: Andrew God, who sang Thank You For Being A Friend 

No, by a country mile, it’s the rising cost of home and car insurance.

Right from day one of the year, you have bombarded me (in a nice kind of way) with correspondence highlighting eyebrow-raising increases in insurance costs at renewal.

Sometimes, these price hikes in percentage terms have been in three figures. More often than not, they have NOT been a result of a recent claim. In most cases, they defy logic – both irrational and unaffordable.

Sadly, readers continue to send me their tales of insurance woe. Among them is 77-year-old Jonathan Harker, a retired salesman from Thames Ditton in Surrey.

Jonathan has been a loyal customer of over-50s specialist Saga for more years than he can remember. He is even a shareholder in the company, a constituent of the FTSE All-Share Index.

Yet that loyalty is now fraying at the edges. A recent spat with Saga over its refusal to offer his wife Celia a renewal motor premium left Jonathan in a bad mood – Celia ended up moving cover to Axa.

Flagship HSBC store in Sheffield

New: HSBC’s new flagship store in Sheffield

Given the overdose of criticism that I give the banks when they close branches, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge HSBC’s opening of a new flagship store in Sheffield. This follows its axing of 114 branches this year.

The new site is state of the art, providing easy access for wheelchair users, a safe space for people who need one, intelligent lighting and ATMs that accept cash and cheque deposits as well as enabling access to cash. 

I will take a gander when I next see the mighty Blades play at Bramall Lane (home of Sheffield United FC).

A pity the nearby HSBC branch on Fargate, a ten-minute walk away, has closed to make way for this new supersonic banking experience.

Then, nine days ago, Saga sent him details of the renewal premium for insuring his Audi A3 from January 7 next year. It took his breath away. Saga wanted £849.70, compared to £405.68 this year.

In percentage terms, this represents an increase of 109 per cent. In layman’s terms, it’s a doubling of the premium. 

‘I do less than 4,000 miles a year,’ protests Jonathan. ‘We live in a low-crime area and the car is always parked on the driveway. In all my time with Saga, I have only made one claim and that was at least 15 years ago.’ 

Jonathan was so incensed about the hike that he complained. Saga responded by saying it was a ‘challenge’ to offer every customer the most competitive insurance. It added that the renewal premium adhered to its pricing rules.

What has been difficult for Jonathan to fathom is how expensive Saga’s renewal quote was compared to the prices that rival companies quoted him when he started shopping around – ranging from between £500 and £600.

His bafflement is understandable. New rules introduced by the City regulator last year were meant to protect loyal customers from being fleeced by their existing insurer. Yet, to date, there is little evidence to support the view that loyal customers are better off as a result.

While companies say they are abiding by the new rules by ensuring existing policyholders are now offered the same premiums as new customers, this is not stopping loyal people like Jonathan from being (potentially) exploited. Scandalously, most are elderly.

As Jonathan has realised, shopping around is the only way for motorists and homeowners to protect themselves from soaring renewal premiums. He is now taking out motor cover with his wife’s insurer Axa – and will find an alternative provider for his home insurance when his cover with Saga expires.

Do let me know if you get an eyebrow-raising renewal premium offer in the coming weeks, especially if it exceeds the 109 per cent increase that Saga wanted to impose on Jonathan. Email [email protected].

P.S. Thank you for being a friend.

And finally… 

It’s been a tough year for many readers as a result of high interest rates, persistent inflation and higher taxes.

Yet, better days seem to be around the corner. Inflation is now down to 3.9 per cent, its lowest level in two years. Energy bills could be falling by next spring although disruptions to supplies caused by conflict in the Middle East could put paid to that.

And despite a cast of hawks still presiding over financial matters at the Bank of England, interest rates are likely to start falling at some stage next year.

Even better, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (with one eye on the Election) may decide that his tax assault on our household finances has gone on far too long – and sanction welcome tax cuts. I do hope so.

With that good cheer in mind, I wish you a super festive time.

Roger, your Apple scam is rotten

Scammers never give up, even at Christmas. A few days ago, I received an email from Roger Forbes asking for a ‘little help’ when I was not busy. 

Thinking the request might be genuine (help is what I give), I responded by saying I was out of the office (which I was) but happy to assist if he sent some details.

Roger indeed did. He said he desperately needed to get an Apple gift card to a friend who had been diagnosed with breast cancer – and who had lost both parents to Covid.

‘I can’t do this now,’ said Roger [get a gift card]. ‘The stores around here are out of stock and all my effort purchasing it online [has] proved abortive.’

He then asked whether I would step into the breach by getting a gift card that he could then send to his friend. ‘I’ll surely reimburse you,’ he added. Roger finished: ‘Kindly let me know if you can handle this so I can tell you the amount and how to get it to me.’

Of course, ‘Roger’ is a scammer and one of many who are currently using similarly emotive emails to persuade recipients to part with money by purchasing an Apple gift card on their behalf.

If I had fallen for Roger’s ruse and purchased the gift card, he would have asked for the numbers written on the back. This would then have given him (not his fictitious friend) access to the money on the card.

Apple is aware of these email scams and has issued a warning about them on its website.

So, if Roger emails you, do give him the cold shoulder.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk