tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40726341478122106682024-03-14T02:23:56.211-07:00Paul Lewis MoneyThis blog supplements the paullewismoney twitter with longer comments, explanations and guides.Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comBlogger179125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-6172940350256576732023-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:002023-10-23T06:40:40.153-07:00FIND GOOD FINANCIAL ADVICE<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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How do I find a good financial adviser? It's a question I am often asked. And there is no easy answer. Especially if you do not have a lot of money. </h3>
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My first question is do you need financial advice? Unless you have a big lump-sum (tens of thousands of pounds or more) or a lot of surplus income to invest (hundreds of pounds a month) you probably don't need financial advice and probably will not want to pay the fees good advisers charge. See <b>free financial advice</b> below for other services that can help you. </div>
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But if you do want regulated financial advice then here is my guide. Many people first want or need advice when they think about exercising their new pension freedoms. Some with a fund worth than £30,000 or more which comes with a guarantee have to take regulated financial advice before they can transfer their money out either to another pension or, ultimately, to cash.</div>
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I have three filters to sort the best advisers from the others. </div>
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<b>Filter One - Independent</b></div>
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Only ever use an Independent Financial Adviser. This term is now regulated and policed under EU rules called MIFID II which began on 3 January 2018. Now that the transition period is over and the UK has left the ambit of the EU these rules have become part of UK law and the Financial Conduct Authority polices them.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />Under these rules there are two main sorts of financial advisers.<br />
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The sort you want is called 'independent'. That can mean one of two things.<br />
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1. They give advice on all financial matters and looks across the whole of the market and give that advice on any financial topic where they might recommend a product.<br />
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2. They give advice on a specific type of product - such as annuities or pensions - and not on other types of product. But they must still look across the whole of the market relating to that product. This may be called 'focused independent' or may just be called 'independent'.<br />
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Any adviser who is not independent does not look at the whole of the market and may be tied to one or more firms and can only recommend products from those firms. In the UK these advisers are called 'restricted' though hardly any of them used that term. Never ever use an adviser who is restricted by products. If you ask 'do you offer independent financial advice' and the answer is anything but a clear 'yes' then reject them. Many work for a bank or insurance company and of course only recommend you buy their products. That is just sales masquerading as advice. <br />
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A lot of advisers will be rejected by Filter One. The only way through it is to become independent.<br />
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<b>Filter Two</b> - <b>Planners</b></div>
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Only ever use an IFA who is a chartered or certified financial planner. The very best qualified financial advisers are chartered (or certified) financial planners. This brings you down to the best qualified 6000 or so of the 33,000 regulated financial advisers. They are beyond what is called QCF Level 6. So they have put a lot of effort into being the good guys and the chances of a bad guy (or gal) remaining in there is small. Some firms are chartered which means that at least some of their advisers are chartered themselves and the rest are probably working towards it.<br />
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Lots
of good advisers will be rejected by Filter Two. Sorry. Get the qualifications. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Filter Three</b> - <b>Payment</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">My general position is only use a financial planner who you can pay in pounds. Do not choose one who wants to charge you a percentage of your money. You earned, made,
or inherited it. Charging a percentage is like taxing your wealth. Even HMRC is not entitled to do that. </div>
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Percentage
fees are a hangover from the days of commission when advisers lived on a percentage of your money they were paid year after year. If you cannot afford the fee
in pounds then you probably do not need or cannot afford financial advice. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">However, in some very limited circumstances a small percentage charge - say 0.5% or so - can be better value than paying in pounds. But always make sure that:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>you know each year how much has been taken from you so you can see if it is value for money.</li><li>you review the service you get every year and if it is poor, find another adviser.</li></ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Ideally you should also pay
upfront from your non-invested resources rather than out of your invested money. One drawback of that approach is that a fee taken
out of your pension fund comes from money which has already had income tax relief. So ultimately that fee costs you less than if you paid it out of your taxed income. It is all part of the massive taxpayer subsidies
for the financial services industry (relief from VAT for finance and insurance costs £11 billion a year). That was originally an EU law but is very unlikely to change once we have finally left the EU in 2021. If you must, then pay in tax-subsidised pounds from your pension fund. But ideally - and with all other investments - pay in pounds out of your non-invested resources. That way you see the money you are paying and can ask yourself – is it worth it? And unless it is good value and you know what it is and what you get for it never pay a wealth tax to the adviser from your fund. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<b>Contingent fees</b><br />
One iniquitous method of charging grew up around pension transfers. If you have a good company pension that promises you a pension related to your salary - called Final Salary or sometimes Career Average schemes (they are branded Defined Benefit or DB schemes by the industry) you may be tempted to transfer it to a pension pot scheme - a money purchase or Defined Contribution (DC) scheme.<br />
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Transferring out of a DB scheme into a DC scheme can seem very tempting because you will get a massive amount of money to move away from the guaranteed DB pension. And then if you choose to do so you can cash some or all of that pension in. It is almost always a bad idea. In the past some financial advisers who would deal with this for you (you have to get advice if your pension is worth a transfer value of £30,000 or more) charged on a 'contingent' basis. That meant you only paid them if you took their advice and transfered your fund. Such fees created a conflict of interest between you and the adviser who was only paid if you transfered. The FCA finally saw sense and banned contingent fees from 1 October 2020. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The difficulties of advising people about pension transfers and the cost of insurance mean that relatively few advisers will handle this business. Esepcially if you do not have a very valuable pension. <br />
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<b>Next steps</b><br />
These three filters will take you a long way towards finding good, safe, but often expensive, financial advice. There may be adequate or even good, safe, and perhaps cheaper advisers which have been filtered out. They can get themselves through my three filters by becoming independent, getting financial planning qualifications, and changing the way they charge.<br />
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I must also add that there are a small number of well qualified independent financial advisers who have given dreadful advice (especially about pension transfers), have gone out of business, or have even turned out to be crooks. So these three filters are not a guarantee but they are a good start.</div>
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<b>Website research</b></div>
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You can apply your three filters using online directories of financial advisers.<br />
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1. <a href="http://www.adviserbook.co.uk/" target="_blank">Adviser Book</a> is the newest directory. Unlike the others no-one pays to be included. It has the complete list of more than 12,000 FCA regulated adviser firms on it but it does not yet list individual advisers separately. It clearly states who is verified as independent thouhg most of them are still unverified. You can filter by qualifications and specialisms. You can also filter by independent and how fees are charged. <br />
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2. <a href="http://unbiased.co.uk/" target="_blank">Unbiased</a> was the first real attempt at a comprehensive database. It says it lists more than 18,000 financial advisers who are mainly independent but some are restricted. Advisers get a basic listing free but they must pay a subscription to be directly contactable through the website. You will see a list of the 'top 20' near your postcode which unbiased says is based on how near they are to you.<br />
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You can use the site to apply my filters. You can also make other choices such as specialisms or qualifications. You can even pick a male or a female adviser.<br />
<br />3. <a href="http://www.vouchedfor.co.uk/" target="_blank">Vouched For</a> uses its algorithms to provide a list of advisers for you. They are ordered to take account of how
local they are to you, reviews by customers, and ratings. Advisers cannot pay for a better position in the list. The site checks qualifications by asking the senior manager who is responbile for them and checks that periodically. It demands images of certificate for qualifcations.<br />
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You can filter by
speciality, by independent or not, and by qualification. And each entry shows clearly if the adviser is independent or restricted - always reject the latter of course. It will also show the minimum amount of money you need for them to take you on as a client. </div>
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Vouched For lists about 8000 financial advisers who choose to pay the fees to be included and of those 3000 are full vouched for - you can only click through to the adviser website for those. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<b>Other listings</b> are available but they are much less useful. The <a href="http://www.thepfs.org/yourmoney/find-an-adviser" target="_blank">Personal Finance Society</a> lists all the advisers who have its qualifications and are Chartered Financial Planners, or are on the way to becoming Chartered, or work for a firm which is Chartered. That is a useful check. But it does not indicate if they are independent.</div>
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<b>Next steps</b></div>
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After using these sites and checking for independence, qualifications, and how they charge, you should then pick two or three you fancy.<br />
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I would only use an IFA who has a website where you can find out more. Ignore the slick sales patter which usually reads as though it is generated by a PR machine. You'll find similar meaningless platitudes on most of them.</div>
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Most adviser websites do not tell you how much they charge - I would tend to pick only those that do. Certainly make that your first question when you meet them. If the answer is anythnig but clea that is a warning flag. Also ask what it will be in pounds (if they haven't told you) and then ask what you get for that fee.<br />
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Most advisers will give you one free session. Go prepared with details and information about yourself. Try two or three and see which you prefer. Do not be embarrassed to say 'no' to them.<br />
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If you pick an adviser but later regret it you can leave by just writing them a letter telling them that they are no longer your adviser. Ask them to return any documents and destroy all your data. If you feel you have been badly advised or locked into investments you did not want, then complain and pursue the complaint to the <a href="http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm" target="_blank">Financial Ombudsman Service</a>.<br />
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<b>Free financial advice</b> </div>
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If you want financial advice outside the regulated professionals, then try the free, Government approved <a href="https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en" target="_blank">Money Helper</a> site. That is the new name for what used to be called the Money Advice Serivce. Its website is very good on a whole range of money issues, some of which many financial advisers will know little or nothing about. Or you may want to consider joining Which? and subscribing to its <a href="http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/what-we-offer/which-money-helpline/#?intcmp=GNH.Services.Which-Money-Helpline" target="_blank">Which? Money Helpline</a>. That will cost you £10.75 a month.<br />
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If you have pension questions then you can still contact the <a href="http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/" target="_blank">Pensions Advisory Service</a> which has a helpful helpline on 0300 123 1047. The service is now part of <a href="https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en" target="_blank">Money Helper</a>. It is free and approved by the Government.</div>
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Specific advice about the pension freedoms which began in April 2015 can be found at Pension Wise. If you are over 50 you can call 0300 330 1001 to book an appointment for one-to-one telephone advice, or a face-to-face interview at a nearby Citizen's Advice office. Again, Pension Wise is now part of <a href="https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en" target="_blank">Money Helper</a>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Footnote</b></div>
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Only the term 'independent financial advice' is regulated. Anyone can call themselves a 'financial adviser', an 'investment manager', or a 'property specialist'. And they do. All those terms are meaningless. Some call themselves International Financial Advisers which they abbreviate to IFA trying to give the impression that they are Independent Financial Advisers. They are not and are probably not even regulated. All these people are allowed to operate unregulated as long as they only sell unregulated investments in things like whisky, property, or art. Your money is completely at risk. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">If an adviser does not use the word 'independent' or does not say simply say 'yes' when you ask if they are independent, then they are not. Avoid them. Always ask for a Financial Conduct Authority number and check it out on the <a href="https://register.fca.org.uk/s/" target="_blank">Financial Services Register</a>. Not all individual regulated advisers are on it. But all regulated firms are so ask the adviser about their firm. Then use the contact details on the FSA Register to check with that firm is the person who claims to work for them does so. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Sadly - and madly - the register does not say if the adviser is independent or restricted. Sadly - and madly - again, changes to the Register mean that it is not as comprehensive as it was. But never trust someone who is not on it. And be cautious even about those who are.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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If you are ever cold called or receive a text or email from an adviser you have not found and researched just say 'no'. No-one ever lost money by doing that. Many have lost money by not doing that.</div>
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Paul Lewis</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">23 October 2023</div>
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Vs. 2.7</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">25134 </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">21332</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">18798</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">17906</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">17725</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div>
Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comLondon, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1895294 -0.77595179999998221 51.8251724 0.52043520000001775tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-30431828994293614632023-10-05T02:30:00.004-07:002023-10-05T07:01:10.920-07:00TARGET 203 - BOOST YOUR NEW STATE PENSION<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
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<b>UPDATED for the 2023/24 tax year. All rates are those paid from 10 April 2023.</b></div>
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<b><b>More than a million people who
reach state pension age in the years from 6 April 2016 will not get the full amount of the new ‘flat-rate’ state pension - currently £203.85 from 10 April 2023.</b></b></div>
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<b>But many of them could boost their
pension towards or up to the full flat rate amount. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>This guide is for men born 6
April 1953 or later and women born 6 October 1953 or later who paid into a good pension
at work or, in some cases, into a personal pension.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>It is complicated - don't blame me I didn't invent the rules! But please persist, as it could make you better off for the whole of your retirement. </b></div>
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<i>There are other groups who may not get the full new state pension because they have paid less than 35 years of National Insurance contributions. They may be able to boost their state pension by paying extra contributions now. This piece does not cover that issue. Try the links at the end.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b>NEW STATE PENSION<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The new state pension was supposed to be simple. A flat-rate amount for
everyone who had at least 35 years of National Insurance contributions. This
year 2023/24 that amount is £203.85 week (£10,600.20 a year) and is taxable. However, there are around one
and a half million people who will reach pension age in the years before 2027 who will
get less than that even if they have 35 years or more National Insurance
contributions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That is because an amount is deducted from the new state pension for every year
they paid into a good pension at work. I call it a contracted out deduction because they were ‘contracted out’ of part of the state pension called SERPS or
State Second Pension (S2P). They paid lower National Insurance contributions
and instead of that additional state pension they get a pension from their job
which was supposed to replace it. The Government prefers to call it 'Contracted Out Pension Equivalent' or COPE. It is that COPE amount that is deducted from your new state pension.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This group includes most people who worked in the public sector, such
as <o:p></o:p><br /><ul><li>nurses, doctors, and others in the NHS</li>
<li>teachers in schools and universities</li>
<li>police officers and fire brigade staff</li>
<li>civil servants</li>
<li>local government workers</li>
<li>armed forces</li>
<li>Post Office workers</li>
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It also includes many people who worked for one of the privatised
industries such as British Airways, British Rail, British Steel, and Royal Mail.<br />
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Another large group affected are people who worked for a private sector employer who paid
into a good scheme at work that promised them a pension related to their salary.
They used to be called ‘final salary’ schemes and nowadays are called Defined
Benefit or DB schemes. In the past many large firms ran such schemes. There are
still more than 5000 of them and if you paid into one at any time from 1978 your
new state pension will be reduced.</div>
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Also included are some people who paid into a personal pension and who
were persuaded to contract out of part of the state scheme – at the time it was
normally called ‘contracting out of SERPS’. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For all these people their new state pension will be reduced for the
years they paid into a contracted out pension scheme. That deduction applies
even if they have paid the 35 years which is needed to get a full pension – the
deduction is made after the full pension is worked out. It can also apply even
if they were contracted out for a short period and paid in 35 years or more when
they were not contracted out. These deductions can be very large but normally can
never leave you with less than £156.20 a week of the old or 'basic' state pension.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Please do not ask me why that is fair! It may not be fair, but it is the
law. The good news is that you can reduce that deduction and, depending on your
age and the amount deducted, you may be able to boost your pension up to the full flat-rate £203.85.<br />
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<b>THE DEDUCTION</b></div>
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If your new state pension has an amount deducted from it because you
spent some time paying into a good pension scheme at work then you can reduce
that deduction or even wipe it out. It will help even if you already have 35 years of National Insurance contributions
or more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If your new state pension is reduced because you paid into a good
pension scheme at work then every year of National Insurance contributions you pay from
2016/17 to the year before the tax year in which you reach state pension age - now 66 for everyone - will mean that deduction is less. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you work and earn more than £123 a week you will get contributions
credited or paid to your account (you start actually paying for them when you
earn above £242; under that they are credited). If you get child benefit
for a child who is less than 12 years old then you will also get a credit for each week.
If you get universal credit, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance, or working
tax credit then you will get a credit for each week you get that benefit. You can
also get credits if you are a carer in some circumstances. Check here for more <a href="https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility" target="_blank">details of who can get credits</a>. Some are given automatically, others have to be claimed.<br />
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Men can get
credits for years between women’s state pension age and 65. They get a credit for the tax year in which they reach women's state pension age (unless they also reach 65 in that tax year) and any subsequent tax year before the tax year they reach 65. So these man credits are only available to men born before 6 October 1953. See footnote.<br />
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If you are self-employed then in 2023/24 you must pay what are called Class 2 National
Insurance contributions if your profits are £12,570 or more. They are called
Class 2 and are £3.45 a week (£179.40 a year). If your profits are between £6725 and £12,750 you will be given a credit. If your profits are up to £6724 you can <a href="https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions" target="_blank">pay these contributions voluntarily</a> - but only for years in which the were genuinely self-employed. In previous years there were no credits paid and the threshold for paying was just below £6725 a year. </div>
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If you will not pay National Insurance contributions at work or as
self-employed or get credits for them then you can pay voluntary contributions,
called ‘Class 3’. They will cost you £17.45 a week (£907.40 for a year). For
each extra year of contributions your pension will be boosted by £5.82 a week
(£302.86 a year) so the payback is rapid – three years for non-taxpayers; less than four if you pay basic rate tax; five for higher rate taxpayers,
and less than five and a half for top rate 45% taxpayers. Contributions for earlier years are less: 2022/23 - £824.20; 2021/22 - £800.80; making them even better value for money. If you pay in this year 2023/24 you can only pay the lower rates for two previous tax years. Contributions for 2020/21 and earlier will be at today's rate of £907.40. <i>[For reference earlier rates were 2020/21 - £795.60, 2019/20 - £780.00; 2018/19 - £772, 2017/18 - £740, and 2016/17 - £733.20 but you can no longer pay at these rates.]</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The new state pension was increased to £203.85 a week from 10 April 2023 rising according to the triple lock of earnings, prices, or 2.5%. Prices rose the most so the pension rose by inflation measured by the CPI (the previous September) which was 10.1% </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you have paid some contributions at work or as self-employed during
the tax year but you are short of a full year you can pay individual weeks
through Class 3 (or Class 2) to make your record up to a full year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You can only pay Class 3 contributions for the years before the tax
year in which you reach state pension age. That limits the number of years you
can pay to boost your pension. The table show which years you can pay Class 3 contributions to set against the contracted out deduction and the maximum boost that should give to your pension. Your pension cannot be boosted to more than £203.85 a week and it will not ever be reduced to less than £156.20 so the maximum boost is £47.65. Paying the ninth year may not be worth it for £1 a week boost.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
BOOSTING A NEW STATE PENSION THAT IS SUBJECT TO A CONTRACTED OUT PENSION EQUIVALENT (COPE) DEDUCTION</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">Reach State Pension Age in<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" valign="bottom" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">Men born<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">Women born<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">Years you can pay<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">Maximum pension boost (2023/24 rates)<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" valign="top" width="95">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">2016/17 or
2017/18<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.05pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">6 April 1951<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">5 April 1953<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">6 April 1953<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">5 Oct 1953<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">0<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£0.00<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2018/19<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.05pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">6 April 1953<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">5 Jan 1954<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">6 Oct 1953<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">5 Jan 1954<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">1<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£5.82<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95"></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.05pt;" width="92"></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92"></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92"></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.1pt;" width="92"></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71"></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95"></td>
<td colspan="4" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 276.35pt;" width="368">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">Men and women born<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71"></td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2019/20<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">from 6 January 1954<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">to 5 July 1954<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£11.65<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2020/21<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">from 6 July 1954<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">to 5 April 1955<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">3<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£17.47<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2021/22<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">from 6 April 1955<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">to 5 April 1956<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£23.30<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2022/23<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">from 6 April 1956<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">to 5 April 1957<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">5<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£29.12<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2023/24<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">from 6 April 1957<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">to 5 April 1958<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">6<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£34.95<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.1pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2024/25<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.1pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">from 6 April 1958<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.1pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">to 5 April 1959<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.1pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">7<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.1pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£40.77<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2025/26<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">from 6 April 1959<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">to 5 April 1960<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">8<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£46.59<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.2pt;" width="95">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">2026/27<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.15pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">From 6 April 1960<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 138.2pt;" width="184">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">To 5 April 1961<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="71">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">9<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 49.9pt;" width="67">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">£47.65 (max)<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>NEXT STEPS</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">You can pay voluntary Class 3
contributions in the tax year they are due or up to six tax years after that. So you can still pay for the 2017/18 tax year until the end of this tax year, 2023/24. So you should act quite soon if you want to payfor that tax year. You
cannot pay them in advance so make a note to pay future years in April. However, the price will almost certainly rise as time passes so it will usually be
cheaper to pay them as soon as you can.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you will reach state pension age in 2023/24 you may want to act soon
to see if you can boost your pension by paying National Insurance contributions
for the six years 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23. That could give you an extra £34.95 a week on your pension.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">You can phone the DWP’s Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175 and ask
for help or advice about paying extra contributions. Have your National Insurance number with you. Ask what your ‘starting amount’ is and ask if there is a
deduction for being contracted out. If your starting amount is less than £203.85 and
there is a contracted out deduction then you may be able to boost it using the
information in this guide. 'Starting amount' is explained in the notes below. If you have a deduction for a pension which you cannot trace use the Government's free <a href="https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details" target="_blank">Pension Tracing Service</a>.<br />
<br />In the past, many people have contacted the DWP and been told they cannot boost
their pension because they already have 35 years or more of contributions. That is incorrect. Some
officials seem to be confusing this scheme with one to fill gaps in your
contribution record. Others have been told that they need more than 35 years to get a full pension. That can be true in the circumstances in this blogpost, but it is a confusing way to put it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You may get more sense from the free and excellent <a href="https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/state-pension/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions-and-the-state-pension" target="_blank">Money Helper</a> website or call on 0800 011 3797. Beware of similar sounding commercial organisations.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You can check your starting amount at this <a href="https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension" target="_blank">Government website</a>. You will have to go through security procedures which can be a pain. Make sure
it includes your 2015/16 contributions. This website may let you see how
you can boost your pension by paying extra National Insurance contributions. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>NOTES<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1. All the rates in this guide are correct in 2023/24. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2. If your income is low then you may get extra money from pension
credit or help with your council tax or rent (rent or rates in Northern
Ireland). If you buy Class 3 contributions to boost your pension those benefits
will be reduced but it will almost always still be worthwhile.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
3. Your ‘starting amount’ is the calculation of how much state pension
you have built up at 6 April 2016 under the old and the new rules. Your
starting amount is the one that is bigger. It will take account of National
Insurance contributions paid up to 2015/16 and will also make a deduction for
years you have been ‘contracted out’ of part of the state pension system called
SERPS. If it shows you have fewer than 35 years of National Insurance
contributions then sadly iy id now too late to pay more to boost that number towards 35. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
4. SERPS, the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme, was an earnings-related
supplement to the basic state pension. People paid into it as part of their National
Insurance contributions from April 1978 to April 2016. From April 2002 it was changed
and renamed State Second Pension (S2P). It was SERPS and S2P – officially called
‘additional pension’ – which people ‘contracted out’ of if they paid into a
good pension at work or in some cases into a personal pension which they chose
to ‘contract out’. They paid lower National Insurance contributions. <span style="font-family: times;">The
pension they paid into was supposed to replace the SERPS or S2P but it does not
always do so in full. If it shows that you have fewer than 35 years of National Insurance Contributions then you may be able to pay to fill gaps right back to 2006/07 to boost that number towards 35. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
5. Tax years run from 6 April one year to 5 April the next. So 2023/24 runs from 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
6. If you have an old company or personal pension you cannot trace, use the Government's free <a href="https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details" target="_blank">Pension Tracing Service</a>.<br />
<br />
7. Contacted Out Pension Equivalent is the amount deducted from your new state pension to take account of the time you were contracted out of SERPS/S2P. In theory the amount deducted should be paid to you by the pension scheme you paid into as part of being contracted out. But that will not always happen especially if you were contracted out into a personal pension. This <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-fact-sheets/contracting-out-and-why-we-may-have-included-a-contracted-out-pension-equivalent-cope-amount-when-you-used-the-online-service" target="_blank">government guide to contracting out</a> sort of explains it.<br />
<br />
8. Man credits. These man credits - called auto-credits - are only awarded for whole tax years, not individual weeks. Men born 6 April 1952 to 5 April 1953 can get a year of contributions credited for 2016/17. They may also get earlier years credit but they do not help with reducing their contracted out deduction. Men born 6 April 1953 to 5 October 1953 can get a year credited for 2017/18.<br />
<br />Men born 6 October 1953 or later cannot get them.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>BOOST YOUR PENSION GUIDES FOR
OTHER GROUPS</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Men born 6 April 1951 or later
and women born 6 April 1953 or later.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Filling gaps in your National Insurance record –
<a href="http://paullewismoney.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/fill-that-gap-reach-pension-age-from-6.html" target="_blank">new state pension</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Men born before 6 April 1951 and
women born before 6 April 1953 <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>It is now too late for you to fill any gaps in your National Insurance record –
<a href="http://paullewismoney.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/fill-that-gap-reach-pension-age-before.html" target="_blank">old state pension</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There is also a comprehensive guide to what you can do to top up your state pension available as a download from the mutual insurance company <a href="https://goo.gl/lNVIW3" target="_blank">Royal London</a> written by former Pensions Minister Steve Webb. It is a little out of date now but is well worth a couple of hours study.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Version: 6.0</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">5 October 2023<br />
Previously: Target 155, Target 164, Target 169, Target 175, Target 179, Target 185</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">109168</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">101389</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">99272<br />89944</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
70359</div>
Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-36752174789867271812023-10-03T01:39:00.000-07:002023-10-03T05:37:33.202-07:00DON'T TAKE AWAY WINTER FUEL PAYMENT <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">UPDATED 3 OCTOBER 2023</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;">Another autumn, another round of people saying means-test the winter fuel payment. Somne even saying do that and use the money saved to save the triple lock.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">Let me declare an interest. I am old enough to get the £200 tax-free Winter Fuel Payment (the extra £300 is a cost of living payment last year and this and not technically part of the WFP). And </span><span style="background-color: white;">I might add I do not in the slightest need that money. If it disappeared tomorrow it would not leave me freezing in the winter and wondering whether to choose turning up the heating or buying a few groceries. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">So I get it; I do not need it; and the amount is small enough in my personal financial affairs that whether I get it or not is neither here nor there. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">That leaves me uniquely able to say unequivocally that it would be complicated, counterproductive, and wrong to stop Winter Fuel Payment for those over state pension age of 66. Here’s why.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">First, complicated. Who would you take it away from? Everyone who admitted they didn’t need it? Everyone called Paul? Everyone who paid higher rate tax? That would be possible but it would create a cliff edge at an income of £50,270 – earn an extra £1 or your pension rises £1 a year and you would lose £200. And it would not save much. The Government estimated some years ago that ending it for households with an income above £35,000 would save just £270 million out of the total cost of more than £2 billion. The administrative cost could be £25 million a year or more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">You would save more by following what one tweeter suggested to me. Go down the income scale and only give these benefits to those poor enough to pay no income tax. Then the cliff edge would move down to £12,570. That would save more but would certainly take it away from many who did need winter fuel payment to keep warm in winter living on less than £241 a week.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Another problem is that these are individual entitlements so the non-taxpaying spouse or civil partner of a higher rate taxpayer would continue to get it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">The same problem would be found if the payment was taxed as income. Where two pensioners share a household the £200 is split in two - £100 each. So each partner would have to be taxed separately on it. And where one partner earned, say, £1,000,000 a year and paid 45% tax on the payment, their partner may have no taxable income and pay nothing. So a household where many think the payment is not needed would still keep £155 of it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">There would also be problems where the payment just tipped someone over from being a non-taxpayer to paying tax. How would the right amount be collected if, for example, winter fuel payment pushed an individual £50 above their tax threshold and they owed £10 tax? Solving those problems would be expensive and a back of the envelope calculation suggests the tax take might be less than £200 million a year. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">The next step might be </span><span style="background-color: white;">link it to pension credit. But the level of pension credit is less for younger pensioners than it is for older ones. So that would be another divide. And of course an estimated 850,000 pensioners who could get pension credit do not claim it and would not get the Winter Fuel Payment either. Though as they are already living below the pensioner poverty line they certinly need it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now, I know your next argument. It is one I have made myself. Surely, you are thinking, surely all that Oxbridge brain power in the civil service can come up with SOME scheme to rid me of these turbulent pensioners? Well, they might. They did come up with a scheme to tax child benefit at up to 100% where a parent has an income over £50,000. That sort of works except a lot of those who should pay the tax did not know about it and are now being pursued for arrears. The others have the bother of filling out a self-assessment form or not claiming child benefit at all which could cause them problems later in life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">So that is the ‘complicated’ bit. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Now ‘counterproductive’. The thing about these universal benefits – ones that you get on grounds of age or condition – is that they go to everyone in those categories. Those who need them do not have to declare their poverty to get them. If they do have to take that step then many simply do not claim. A total of £19bn is unclaimed in varous means-tested benefits by people of all ages (Policy In Practice 2023). As I said an estimated 850,000 pensioners do not claim £1.75 billion in pension credit. Add in housing benefit and council tax support and the figure is a lot higher. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">Paying everyone Winter Fuel Payment is the price we pay as a society so that my neighbour Marjorie, too proud to claim means-tested benefits though she needed them, at least got her winter fuel payment in her last years. If you means-test winter fuel payment then poverty among pensioners would grow as many who needed it failed to claim what they could get. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">And finally ‘wrong’. In a way this is an extension of counterproductive. Some countries call the government departments that run social security or health the Ministry of Solidarity. Because state benefits represent solidarity. Between the sick and the well. Between the jobless and those in work. And, of course, between young and old. There are times and circumstances in life when the state should step in and transfer money from one group to another. Just as the childless pay for schools. The law abiding pay for the police force and the courts. And those without solar panels on their roof pay for those who get cheaper power from them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">In summary, taking winter fuel payment away from richer older people or from older people deemed not to be poor would save relatively little, cost a lot in administration, increase poverty among the old, and undermine solidarity between the generations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i>This is a revised version of a blog first published in 2012 and 2015 when there was also a debate about whether to means-test free bus passes.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white;">3 October 2023</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">version 2.0</span></div>
<style id="__gChrome.findInPageStyle" type="text/css">.find_in_page{background-color:#ffff00 !important;padding:0px;margin:0px;overflow:visible !important;}.findysel{background-color:#ff9632 !important;padding:0px;margin:0px;overflow:visible !important;}</style>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-65668218132435523502023-03-26T08:30:00.000-07:002024-03-13T09:27:39.343-07:00FILL THAT GAP - if you reach pension age from 6 April 2016 - DEADLINE EXTENDED<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>UPDATED 13 March 2024</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>These rules apply to men born 6 April 1951 or later and women born 6 April 1953 or later. if you are older than that it is too late to fill gaps in your National Insurance record - see <a href="http://paullewismoney.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/fill-that-gap-reach-pension-age-before.html" target="_blank">different rules for older people</a>. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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You need 35 years of National Insurance contributions to get a full state pension. If you have fewer than 35 years National Insurance contributions you will get a reduced pension. So if you have 21 years you will get 21/35ths or 60% of a full pension. If you have less than ten years you will get no pension.</div>
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It may be possible to pay some extra contributions now to fill some or all of that gap. They are called voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Contributions at work</b></div>
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You will have paid National Insurance contributions by being in work and paying full Class 1 contributions. You may not even have noticed as they are just deducted from you pay. If you earned very little then no National Insurance contributions would have been paid. If you earned too little to pay them you would have been credited with them. </div>
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Reduced rate contributions paid by some married women do not count. If you have gaps caused by paying those contributions you cannot fill them. It was a very unfair system but nothing can be done about it now.</div>
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If you were self-employed and paid Class 2 contributions they count towards your pension equally with Class 1.</div>
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<b>Credits</b></div>
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Some people who did not pay contributions were credited with them. The rules about credited contributions are very complicated. But broadly speaking you may be able to get credits for years you </div>
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<ul>
<li>Got child benefit for a child under 16 (that changed to under 12 from 2010)</li>
<li>Were unemployed and looking for a job. Usually you would be on Jobseeker's Allowance - but you may get credits even if you were not </li>
<li>Were on employment and support allowance, or were eligible for it, or got statutory sick pay</li>
<li>Received working tax credit </li>
<li>Cared for someone who was sick or disabled</li>
<li>Got maternity or paternity benefits </li>
<li>Were male and did not work in the few years approaching the age of 65.</li>
</ul>
Some credits are given automatically; others have to be claimed. The gov.uk website publishes a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility" target="_blank">full list of credits</a> and which have to be claimed. There are also details of how to check your record. It is all ridiculously complicated but can be very worthwhile!<br />
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If you find you still have gaps in your National Insurance record and you have less than 35 years contributions you may be able to fill them now. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>Eighteen years back</b></div>
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You can pay contributions back to 2006/07. Each tax year from 2006/07 will cost you £824.20. You must buy the extra contributions by 5 April 2025. After that you will only be able to buy them back to 2019/20 and they may cost more. You cannot buy contributions for the tax year in which you reach state pension age or any later year. <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Should you pay?</b></div>
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It is complicated to decide if it is worth paying to fill gaps. If you have fewer than 30 years contributions under the old system before 2016/17 it is probably only worth filling old gaps to bring that up to 30. However, in some circumstances it may be worth filling old gaps to bring it up to 35. If you can do so it is always worth filling gaps up to 35 by paying contributions from 2016/17. And it may be worth ensuring you pay contributions under the new system even if you have 35 years contributions and you have spent some time paying into a good company or public sector pension scheme. That is explained in <a href="http://bit.ly/2y9KObu" target="_blank">another blogpost</a>.<br />
<br />In exchange for one year's contributions you will get extra pension at 2024/25 rates of £6.32 a week (£328.64 a year) from the date you pay. So the payback time for the cost of the contributions is less than three years though longer if you pay basic rate tax longer still if you pay higher rate tax. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">It is worth checking with the Pension Service before you pay. Call it on 0800 731 0469<br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>How to pay</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">You can <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class-3-national-insurance" target="_blank">pay online</a> on the gov.uk website but check carefully first if it is worthwhile to do so as you cannot get them back.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>More Information</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/why-pay-voluntary-contributions" target="_blank">Paying Class 3 voluntary national insurance contributions</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-contributions-extending-the-voluntary-national-insurance-contributions-deadline/extending-the-voluntary-national-insurance-contributions-deadline" target="_blank">Extending the deadline for paying back contributions</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div>12March 2024<br />
vs. 3.00</div>
Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-5740353454752221782022-09-22T01:00:00.010-07:002022-10-17T09:48:40.536-07:00UNIVERSAL CREDIT - 76% TAX RATE IN 2022/23<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-7419493413712751008" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 520px;">
<span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Some householders who get the means-tested benefit Universal Credit will keep just 24p of every pound extra they earn – an effective tax rate of 76% - this tax year and next. In some parts of England it could be more - losing up to 78.6p in every pound that is earned, leaving them with barely 21p for every extra pound they earn. Those losses could undermine the work incentives which the new system is designed to create. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">For graduates on incomes high enough to make repayments on their student loan but low enough to get Universal Credit, the deductions would be more, leaving them with less than 27p in the pound. Worst case would be earn £1 keep less than 19p.</span><br />
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<b style="font-size: 13.2px;">Universal credit</b></div>
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Universal Credit has been rolled out from October 2013 to replace six means-tested benefits and tax credits. Now after Covid and the lockdowns it is claimed by around five million people. It is the benefit given to almost all new claims for help with income or rent. It is paid to people on low incomes who cannot work, are looking for work, or work on low or modest pay and have children.</div>
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It is supposed to let people keep more of what they earn and thus boost incentives both to return to work and to earn more once in work. For every £1 extra earned the credit is reduced by 55p from 24 November 2021 allowing the claimant to keep 45p. B<span style="font-size: 13.2px;">efore that it was 63p and had been 65p.</span><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">This so called ‘withdrawal rate’ of 55p in the pound is said to be much lower than rates under the previous and allowing people to keep 45p of what they earn is seen as an incentive to work. </span><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">However, that figure of 55p withdrawal rate is only accurate for people who earn less than £242 a week and are not householders.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">There is one complexity to be aware of. People with a child or children and people who re judged to have 'limited capability for work' get what is called a 'work allowance'. This is not extra money but is simply an amount they are allowed to earn before the taper kicks in. It is set at £344 a month if universal credit includes help with housing costs and £573 a month if it does not. So those people can earn up to those amounts and the taper will not apply to those earnings. It does apply though to every pound earned over those amounts. And for everyone else the 55% taper applies to the first pound. </span></div>
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<b>Taxpayers<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Universal Credit is worked out after tax and National Insurance have been deducted. In 2022/23 anyone earning more than £242 a week pays National Insurance and income tax. From 6 November employee's National Insurance rates are being reduced to 12% from the 13.25% which applied from 6 April 2022 to 5 November 2022. That extra 1.25%pts does not sgnificantly affect the calculation for those seven months. National Insurance takes 12p in the pound and income tax which begins at the same level takes another 20p in the pound before their Universal Credit is worked out. That leaves £68. The universal Credit taper then reduces their benefit by 55% of that net amount. The total loss from NI, income tax, and reduction in Universal Credit is just over 69p from each £1 they earn. So they keep less than 31p. <span style="font-size: 13.2px;">But that is only part of the picture.</span></div>
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<b>Householders<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Universal Credit, despite its name, does not replace all means-tested benefits. It does not replace the means-tested reduction in council tax which used to be called Council Tax Benefit but since 1 April 2013 has been replaced by a similar scheme which is now called Council Tax Reduction and is operated by local councils. Like all means-tested benefits Council Tax Reduction is withdrawn as income rises. The standard taper is 20p for each £1 rise in net income (after the tax, NI, and Universal Credit withdrawal). In other words for each extra pound of net income help with council tax is reduced by 20p. The result is that for each £1 earned a total of nearly 76p disappears in tax, NI, reduced Universal Credit, and reduced Council Tax Support. The calculation is at the foot of this blogpost.</div>
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<b>Localism<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In some areas of England and Wales the reduction for every £1 of income earned may be even higher as local councils struggle to <span>save money by raising the taper from 20% to as high as 30%. </span><span>In areas which raise the Council Tax Reduction taper to 25% householders on Universal Credit who pay tax will find that 77p of each pound earned disappears in deductions. In areas with a 30% taper they will lose nearly 79p and keep barely 21p for each extra pound earned after deductions for income tax, National Insurance, Universal Credit taper, and reduced Council Tax Reduction. </span></div>
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<b>Students</b></div>
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Students with a Plan 1 or Plan 2 student loan make repayments of 9% of on every pound they earn above a threshold (currently £388 a week for Plan 1 and £524 a week for Plan 2). That is in effect an extra 9% tax and those whose income is low enough to be entitled to Universal Credit lose typically 73p in the extra pound keeping just 27p. If they pay council tax then they keep less than 21p and in areas where the council tax withdrawal rate is 30% they keep just 19p of every extra £1 they earn.</div>
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<b>It is a tax</b></div>
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Some people object to the deductions made from a means-tested benefit being called a 'tax'. They say that the taper rate reduction in a subsidy from taxpayers is not a tax. Tax, they say, means a levy on your own money not a reduction in the money the state gives you. </div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px;">But it is a tax. And officially so. In his Spring Budget, 8 March 2017, Chancellor Phillip Hammond confirmed that the tapered loss of this benefit was a tax. He confirmed the reduction in the taper rate by saying "the Universal Credit taper rate will be reduced in April from 65% to 63%, cutting tax for 3 million families on low incomes." These words were echoed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his Autumn Budget on 27 October 2021 </span><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">"This is a tax on working people -- and I'm cutting it from 63 to 55 per cent...Let us be in no doubt: this is a tax on work. And a high rate of tax at that."</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-7419493413712751008" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 520px;"><b style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></b></div>So it is a tax. And a high one. <br /></span>
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<b>Conclusion<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Losing 76% or more of each extra pound you earn is hardly an incentive to work or to work harder. It is almost twice the 42% tax and NI deductions for higher rate taxpayers with incomes over £50,270, three times the minimum wage.</div>
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<b style="font-size: 13.2px;">CALCULATION OF TOTAL DEDUCTIONS FOR A TAXPAYER HOUSEHOLDER</b></div>
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<b>FOR EACH £1 OF EXTRA INCOME WITH 20% COUNCIL TAX TAPER SHOWING EFFECT OF 55% UC TAPER FROM APRIL 2022<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 240px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 84pt;" width="112"></col><col span="2" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td class="xl70" height="20" style="height: 15pt; width: 84pt;" width="112"><div style="margin: 0px;">
EARNS EXTRA</div>
</td><td class="xl70" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td><td align="right" class="xl71" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"><div style="margin: 0px;">
£1.00</div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
Tax</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl65"><div style="margin: 0px;">
20%</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl66"><div style="margin: 0px;">
-£0.20</div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
NI</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl65"><div style="margin: 0px;">
12%</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl67"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<u>-£0.12</u></div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td class="xl70" height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
Net after tax</div>
</td><td class="xl70"></td><td align="right" class="xl71"><div style="margin: 0px;">
£0.68</div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
UC reduction</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl65"><div style="margin: 0px;">
55%</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl66"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<u>-£0.37</u></div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td class="xl70" height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
Net after UC</div>
</td><td class="xl65"></td><td align="right" class="xl66"><div style="margin: 0px;">
£0.31</div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
CT Reduction</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl65"><div style="margin: 0px;">
20%</div>
</td><td align="right" class="xl67"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<u>-£0.06</u></div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td class="xl69" height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<u>NET GAIN</u></div>
</td><td></td><td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-top-style: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<u>£0.24</u></div>
</td></tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><td class="xl70" height="20" style="height: 15pt;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
Effective tax</div>
</td><td class="xl70"></td><td align="right" class="xl72"><div style="margin: 0px;">76%</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<b>This blogpost replaces the one originally published 19 September 2012.</b></div>
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<br /></div>17 October 2022<br />
Version 3.3</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0cm;">16584</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0cm;">16204</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0cm;">15913</div>
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Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-53802728883496427242022-05-02T04:40:00.002-07:002022-05-03T08:20:55.601-07:00DELAYS TO FUEL REBATES<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Many local councils in England have failed to pay the £150 council tax discount to help with fuel bills by the original deadline of the end of April. The money is due to go to households in Council Tax bands A, B, C, and D.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Chancellor Rishi Sunak told <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-02-03/debates/C5CCE4F1-1C96-47FA-B57E-B2701F67A099/EconomicUpdate" target="_blank">Parliament</a> six times on 3 February that £150 would be paid 'in April'. He announced it by saying </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We are going to give people a £150 council tax rebate to help with the cost of energy in April, and this discount will not need to be repaid (<i>Hansard </i>col.472).</span></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Answering questions from MPs he repeated five more times that the money would be paid 'in April', explaining to one MP </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By using the council tax system, we can get money to people faster - £150 in April (<i>Hansard </i>col.479).</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Later at a Downing Street briefing and in an interview on <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61270840" target="_blank">BBC Newscast</a> he repeated that it would be given 'in April' . The Treasury confirmed that date in <a href="https://twitter.com/hmtreasury/status/1489206308939120642" target="_blank">a tweet</a> </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In April, 80% of UK households will get a £150 council tax rebate to help manage rising global energy costs.</span></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Treasury used exactly the same wording on its Facebook page of 3 February and linked to a video of the Chancellor saying to the camera </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Secondly, in April, we're going to give a £150 council tax rebate to households in bands A to D to help with the immediate costs of energy.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A Factsheet issued by the Treasury at the time (a Treasury press officer referred to it in an email to me on 3 February as '<span style="text-align: center;">our factsheet') also confirmed the money would be paid 'in April'. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjGJCB_KkN0O-CPjBng3DuuYhmPbH5MFEbkTBZLRcs_k6WuLcy0gBmUWbugQSx_SfJh9ZRbRj5zPtsdc1G-Xy_Bgyjm8O2Jqn08rIi4pw23JI0Xi2qtaDyCXOhkmdbIovDyvAsNgE48r5tErir9wBlsBOptu1dv9XpVKQSb0RPHIpLTaqcNB51yDobbg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="951" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjGJCB_KkN0O-CPjBng3DuuYhmPbH5MFEbkTBZLRcs_k6WuLcy0gBmUWbugQSx_SfJh9ZRbRj5zPtsdc1G-Xy_Bgyjm8O2Jqn08rIi4pw23JI0Xi2qtaDyCXOhkmdbIovDyvAsNgE48r5tErir9wBlsBOptu1dv9XpVKQSb0RPHIpLTaqcNB51yDobbg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A Council Tax Information Letter <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055121/4-2022_council_tax_information_letter.pdf" target="_blank">dated 14 February 2022</a> from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) to local authorities in England says</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On 3 February 2022, the Department issued a Council Tax Information Letter (CTIL) summarising the Government’s announcement that an Energy Bills Rebate will be provided to households in England in April 2022 to help protect them from rising energy costs.</span></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Deadline changed</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;">But at some stage the Treasury Factsheet was amended to the one now <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1052719/Energy_Bills_Rebate_updated_factsheet_v2_.pdf" target="_blank">available online</a> with a url indicating it is 'v.2' and the deadline has been changed to 'from April'.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXASYhmI0MmS3Wrmlxoa99YcS8w9Qg-gR88sz9ThLKQvaPUPUxjJoK1TUCdPlSqbbcdBT2Bu5bw7CIvw_YTbxrQLmAGfmL4E_qCEW9RRMrz5BpiZNdjUd4PDrxDoHMQIGWmlsFmMzw4AZ_Ga9SciEt-5HtJlY-eHUBQV4F761tED41n8H2jxS96JRJXw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="950" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXASYhmI0MmS3Wrmlxoa99YcS8w9Qg-gR88sz9ThLKQvaPUPUxjJoK1TUCdPlSqbbcdBT2Bu5bw7CIvw_YTbxrQLmAGfmL4E_qCEW9RRMrz5BpiZNdjUd4PDrxDoHMQIGWmlsFmMzw4AZ_Ga9SciEt-5HtJlY-eHUBQV4F761tED41n8H2jxS96JRJXw" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite the evidence of Parliament, Twitter, Facebook, and the Factsheet that the original deadline was to pay the money 'in April' the Treasury claimed in a statement to journalists on 30 April 2022 that </span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We’ve
always been clear...that the £150 council tax rebate to help with the cost of
living would be paid “from” April.</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></span><div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It referred to its <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-to-receive-350-boost-to-help-with-rising-energy-costs" target="_blank">press release of 3 February</a> which did use the phrase 'from April'. But in Notes to Editors (labelled 'Further Information' in the version now online) it added </span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We expect the vast majority of people who pay by Direct Debit to receive this money in April...for households in Bands A-D who do not pay by Direct Debit, their councils will be ready to process their claims in April.</span></span></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance/support-for-energy-bills-the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance" target="_blank">Later guidance</a> from the DLUHC also uses the phrase 'from April'. </span></div></div><div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b0c0c;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b0c0c;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All Council Tax Rebate grants should be paid as soon as possible from April </span></span></div></div></blockquote><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Original deadline missed</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It is the original deadline set by the Chancellor and the Treasury of 'in April' which local councils up and down England have not met. Some did pay in April, others have said it will be May or even June before households on Direct Debit are paid and it could be as late as 30 September before those who pay in other ways get the £150. The end of September is the final deadline set by the Government for the payments to be made and after that it has made clear that any money not spent by councils on the rebate by 30 November 2022 would be taken back.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">What to do</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">If you live in a band A-D home in England and are still waiting for your council tax Energy Bills Rebate the councils do not want you to call them. Check your council's website, though many of those I have seen have only very sparse information. </span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">If you pay by Direct Debit the rebate should be paid automatically. If it has not been credited to your bank account by the end of June you should contact the council and ask when you will be paid. Remind the council that the Chancellor and the Treasury initially promised the payment 'in April'.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">People who do not pay by Direct Debit will probably have to wait longer. This group will include pensioners who get their council tax reduced to zero because of their low income. If the council has not contacted you by the end of June to ask for bank details then you should call the council and ask why. Remind the council that the Treasury said councils would be ready to process these claims 'in April' and that 'almost all households should see the full benefit by May'.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;">If you live in a band E, F, G, or H home but you are in hardship and need help with your energy bills you will have to apply to the council for money from the Discretionary Fund which the Government has provided to all councils in England.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Rest of the UK</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In <b>Scotland and
Wales</b> the payment is due to everyone in a band A-D home and is extended in both countries to people in higher bands E-H who get council tax reduction due to their low
income. Both countries also have some extra funding to help those who fall outside the scope of the payment but are still in hardship. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In <b>Scotland</b> councils can make the payment by reducing the council tax bill by £150 and many
have done that. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In <b>Northern Ireland</b> there is no council tax and no decision has
yet been taken about how the payment will be made.</span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Version 1.10</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">3 May 2022</span></p></div></div><div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-26253820523938120782022-04-26T01:03:00.004-07:002022-04-26T01:06:12.997-07:00<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;">DOWN AND OUT IN MOSCOW <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> A VIEW FROM RUSSIA <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> Paul Lewis<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Originally published </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Saga
Magazine, </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">September 1993, pp. 18-22.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Nikolay
Andreevitch Yasinsky’s</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: justify;"> apartment is set back from Parkovaya
Street 15th, so called because it is the fifteenth of sixteen parallel
streets all called Ulitsa Parkovaya or Park Street which hatch the space
between Moscow’s outer ring motorway and a long wide road called Okrusnoy
Avenue. To the north lie the remains of the natural woodland on which this
estate was built and the blocks of flats on Parkovaya Street 15th seem
to have been placed among the fully grown trees without disturbing any that
were more than six feet from their walls.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> </span></p>
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to relieve </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">the siege of Leningrad, but today he </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">cannot afford to buy the vegetables
he needs.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Trees
are the redeeming feature of Moscow’s dilapidated blocks of dreary flats which
officially house nine million and actually accommodate thirteen million. They
need redemption. At each address there are several buildings, set back from the
road. Nikolay’s is a good 200 yards from the pavement along unmade roads
relieved by scrap cars, earth playgrounds, and large rubbish containers. Four
doors lead into his building. Through the first and up six short flights of
stairs is apartment 85, building 5, number 42, Parkovaya Street 15 — home to
Ukrainian Nikolay, aged 72.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He
lost his left leg fighting to relieve the siege of Leningrad. “Where Pushkin
was wounded, Black River” — he is proud to have been wounded at such an
illustrious place. There is no lift in the building and the red and yellow
tiles on the concrete landings and stairs are broken and uneven. On every other
half-landing there is a rubbish chute. His front door is well locked and leads
to a small hallway which gives on to a tiny kitchen, through which there is a
balcony with a few plants. A second door leads to the bedsitting room where his
small box bed is part of his daytime furniture. A table covered with an old
carpet and a cheap settee fill the rest of the room. The finest objects are
large, framed photographs of him and his wife taken before the war.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
has three rooms, though all are less than 12 feet square. One was his and his
wife’s, one was their daughter and son-in-law’s, the other was for his
grandson, his wife and their two-year-old daughter. Seven people crowded into
three rooms, a typically crowded Moscow family flat. But last year his wife
died of cancer and his daughter died of diabetes. A few months later his
grandson, a soldier, was killed in a shooting accident and his widow and their
baby have moved back to live with her parents. Now Nikolay Andreevitch lives
alone with his son-in-law Viktor Mikhailovitch. The three-roomed apartment is
too big for just the two of them. He weeps at the memory of the loved ones he
has lost.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nikolay’s
pension is enough, he says. He gets 24,000 roubles a month — his flat costs him
just 85 roubles a month. Over the last year all flats in Moscow have been privatised
by the simplest possible means — handed over to the tenants. The 85 roubles
covers heating, water, and rubbish collection. In addition, he pays 20 roubles
for electricity and 106 roubles for the phone. Local calls are free. With the
basics taken care of, Nikolay still has almost all the 24,000 roubles a month
left for living.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It
is impossible to say simply what a rouble is worth. If you go into a bank with
pounds sterling you can buy 24,000 roubles for about £14 so his pension is
little more than £4 a week. But all state services, such as the flat and
electricity, are very cheap. A ride on the Metro, Moscow’s efficient
underground railway costs six roubles, about a third of a penny, for any
distance. A ride on a trolleybus or tram is four roubles. Conversely fruit, for
example, is very expensive. Two pounds of apples will cost 2,000 roubles, a
twelfth of a month’s pension. Even a pint of milk is expensive at 80 roubles, a
2lb bag of sugar costs 355 roubles. But Nikolay Andreevitch doesn’t think in
such quantities. “Five small carrots are 100 roubles. I need vegetables but I
cannot have them. I need the vitamins and I cannot buy them in the chemist.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nikolay’s
pension is enough for his needs because his diet is very poor. He never eats
fruit, he doesn’t like meat. It is just as well. Ham is 3,784 roubles a kilo at
a local shop. At about 25p a pound it sounds cheap, but not if you are living
on £14 a month. Nikolay Andreevitch lives on vegetable soup, porridge, which
Russians eat as a main course, potatoes and, at 24 roubles each, eggs. He never
goes out, except to return to his factory for some company during the day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
says, “I fought in the war. I was honoured at work. I was a technician in a
textile research plant and factory. But now life beats me greatly. I don’t know
why God does it. Under Stalin, after the war, he told us the price of bread. And prices came down each year. Now
inflation has robbed us. My wife and I had 5,000 roubles each in the bank. It
was good savings. Now it is worth nothing.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
rate of inflation in Russia is hard to grasp. Although it is now falling, it
was 2,600 per cent in 1992. Something which cost 100 roubles in January cost
2,700 roubles in December. To try to cope with the effects, the Government
raises the pension every three months. Pensions are now ten times what they
were nine months ago and sixty times what they were two years ago. If we had
inflation at the same level in Britain, the basic retirement pension would have
risen from £52 in 1991 to £3,120 a week in 1993. Despite the frequent increases
in pension, inflation soon destroys its value —by one third at the end of the
month in which the pension is paid; after three months when the next pension
rise is due it is worth less than half its original value.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nikolay
had a reasonable job and his war injury ensures that his pension is higher than
the pay of many people still in employment. Other Russian pensioners are not so
fortunate, you can see them in their hundreds round every Metro station, in the
subways beneath Moscow’s broad avenues, and lining the busier streets. The city’s
poor have joined the market economy with a vengeance to try to scrape a living
with a few extra roubles. Some sell small bunches of cut flowers; others offer second-hand
clothes, a few sell kittens. But mainly they sell food.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They
even sell food outside Moscow’s central market in Svetnoy Boulevard. Inside the
market, pyramids of glossy fruit and plump vegetables are a testimony to the
fertile diversity of Russian soil and climate. The market has always been here,
even under the communist regime, and its Georgian stallholders have a
reputation for hard bargaining and high prices. On the street outside, it is
different.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
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</v:shape><![endif]--></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWCgwg6AEk2RgPL18TSMNhcvHcOyVAz4eESS741sb-S-2Wg4AvTAbglIy5hYjNNCRzUqJ65LtorWquC6hez4TCSLqci4tpRWo0OZ7fdimpT4o-Pv2G4_51QNL-_Jfhhyp4wPQafm-DFSkXamkGyKDE-8j9bY-SFmcWX_Ole4K5hW5FiRPb4KSLU1daaw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="410" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWCgwg6AEk2RgPL18TSMNhcvHcOyVAz4eESS741sb-S-2Wg4AvTAbglIy5hYjNNCRzUqJ65LtorWquC6hez4TCSLqci4tpRWo0OZ7fdimpT4o-Pv2G4_51QNL-_Jfhhyp4wPQafm-DFSkXamkGyKDE-8j9bY-SFmcWX_Ole4K5hW5FiRPb4KSLU1daaw=w243-h288" width="243" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Lubov Vassilievna takes all day to
sell a </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">couple of loaves and some milk —
she makes 17p.</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Widow
Lubov Vassilievna, 79, wears a colourful scarf and an orange-coloured cardigan
over a print dress. Her wares are displayed on a cardboard box: one loaf and a
one litre carton of milk. In her bag there are two more of each. It takes her
all day to sell them and she makes less than 300 roubles (17p). She worked for
20 years in a shoe factory after bringing up her children. Her pension is 8,000
roubles (£4.45) a month. She told me, “I cannot remember when I last ate meat
or sausages. I eat milk, potatoes, and bread but no butter, just oil to fry
them in. I have no fruit or vegetables but I may be able to afford them later
in the year when they get cheaper.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Russian
pensions are related to earnings. A wife who has a pension of her own gets no
widow’s pension when her husband dies. Lubov Vassilievna is suffering from
widowhood after a short, low-paid, working life when her children had grown up.
Perhaps the children helped her now? She smiled: “I have a daughter, a
granddaughter and two great grandchildren. I help them from my pension and what
I make here. They need help because of the expense of everything and the new
problem of unemployment. Soon I will be 80 and I am looking forward to that
because my pension will be a bit more then. My main worry is that I have high
blood pressure and medicines are very hard to get. It is a worry to know that
you cannot get them when you need them.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like
most of the women lining this busy thoroughfare, Lubov sells food on the street
which she has bought in ordinary shops. Her customers are workers who are too
busy or too lazy to queue for it themselves. Although there are no longer the
chronic shortages and long queues which characterised daily life under
communism, buying food is still a lengthy process. Choice is very limited in
the small, local grocery shops which are all called, simply, Produkti
(products).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
of these is nearby in a dirty, drab building. The windows are empty. Inside
there are three counters: one stocks milk and cereals, another meat, mainly
dried or preserved in some way, and a third vegetables. There are just six or
seven different items at each counter with half a dozen people queuing for
them. Patches of bare concrete show through the broken floor tiles; some new
plastering is left unpainted. If the lighting had not been so poor, it would
look even worse. Prices displayed on torn pieces of rough card show that butter
is 1,180 roubles a kg (30p a pound), tea is 231 roubles for 100g (14p a
quarter), and sugar is 355 roubles a kilo (9p a pound). The prices seem low
when converted into sterling but they are not when they have to be found out of
a pension consisting of just a few pounds a month.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At
each counter there is a small queue. Occasionally, a veteran or disabled person
goes to the head of the queue, which by convention they may, and they will be
served at once. Others wait patiently. Once the few items have been chosen and
the price calculated, either mentally or, in difficult cases, on an abacus, the
customer is given a ticket. This process is repeated at each counter and the
tickets must be taken to yet another queue at the central cash desk. In turn,
the totals on the tickets are added — on another abacus — before the total is
finally entered on a new Casio till! The customer takes the receipt to each
counter in turn to collect the groceries. By enduring this long process then
re-selling the goods on the street for a small profit, Lubov, like thousands of
other women across Moscow, sells her time and patience to supplement her pension.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fifty
yards in front of the Izmaylovo International Hotel is the Ismaylovskaya Metro
station. Forty women stand in two lines like an honour guard for the passengers
emerging from its entrance. Maria, 63, holds aloft a large salami and a small
plastic bag full of tomatoes. Occasionally a passer-by shows interest and asks
the price. “My pension is 10,000 roubles (£5.55) a month because I had a
low-paid job in a meat factory where I worked for 15 years. My husband died two
years ago. I am here maybe two or three times a week, I make perhaps 1,000 or
1,500 roubles (55p-83p),” she said. Next to her is Alexandra, 70, selling milk.
“My father was imprisoned by Stalin. He was taken when I was 14, so I had no
education and could not get a good job, so I have a small pension. I buy milk
in the shop for those who have not got the time to queue. I think this is a
good use of my time and I make a few roubles.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not
everyone buys the produce they sell. Outside a cheese shop in the south suburbs
of Moscow, Ivan Mikhailovitch sits in front of a box on which are three
portions of rocket, a kind of wild lettuce, replenished by the sackful. “My
pension is 10,000 roubles (£5.55). I collect this in the woods and then sell it
here two or three times a week. It is 50 roubles (3p) a portion.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlaU06SxnqIExs5KMt0fiPkoVhbweAsYkKCHSaR2kw4OuOBOJkLERQxUcBzhhsmjf0QgciyfZYR9YBUNSWOMWZagexjp363Kob715LsSJEwSE6eTGcCzKl025rVoyXIad1VZJNa-1qw8sb_xKQxk7iE7nL1KLObPcmr-kBSM9rhyB1fq5FIXU9P3wxJg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="264" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlaU06SxnqIExs5KMt0fiPkoVhbweAsYkKCHSaR2kw4OuOBOJkLERQxUcBzhhsmjf0QgciyfZYR9YBUNSWOMWZagexjp363Kob715LsSJEwSE6eTGcCzKl025rVoyXIad1VZJNa-1qw8sb_xKQxk7iE7nL1KLObPcmr-kBSM9rhyB1fq5FIXU9P3wxJg=w225-h283" width="225" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Ivan Mikhailovitch supplements his
pension by </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">selling wild lettuce. He makes
around 3p a portion.</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
the central market is the best in Moscow then Tishinksky market is the worst.
On a piece of waste ground, in front of derelict buildings, using sheets of
newspaper for stalls, Moscow’s poor sell to each other: rusty blunt drill bits
and a handful of used brake shoes. Sergei, is selling his grandchildren’s old
shoes, three out-of-date reel-to-reel tapes for which he claims to have a
buyer, and four small steel hinges. At the entrance a woman sits in front of a
small tray on which are various boxes of medication, dirty and old, but items
which are hard to find in Moscow’s chemist shops.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Inside
the market is Praskovia Ivanovna who lives alone in a one-room flat and sells
empty 1.5 litre plastic bottles for 15 roubles each (less than 1p). Aged 80,
her pension is 15,000 roubles (£8.33) a month. It is enough to live on, she
says, but adds: “I haven’t eaten a tomato all year because they are too
expensive. I sell my things here for almost nothing.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
recent survey by the charity Care International found that pensioners living
alone were the most vulnerable here. In the south west corner of Moscow, near
the university, the International Protestant Church organises a modest response
to this problem, providing meals for Moscow’s poorest and loneliest pensioners
in what it calls a soup kitchen – a stolovaya or canteen. These stolovayas
provide more than 10,000 meals a day to needy, people, mainly pensioners. The
stolovaya I visited feeds 300 each lunchtime, staffed by volunteers and
students, many from Nigeria who are in Moscow studying engineering. On offer
today is a thin vegetable soup, plain pasta served with thick brown porridge, a
hard boiled egg, two pieces of dark bread, and a glass of tea.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anna
Nikolayevna Volodina, 81, wears a white patterned scarf tightly drawn over her
round face. Her black dress is old and worn and covered by a blue cardigan. Her
shoes are thin. The Russian language has a wonderful term of love and respect
for its older women — babushka or grandmother. If anyone personifies it, Anna
does. She looks at her soup, pasta, and porridge and peels her egg. “The food
here is very delicious,” she says. “I worked all my life in the Dulova china
factory where I painted designs on cups and plates. After I retired I got 52
roubles pension and that was plenty. Now I get 8,000 roubles (£4.44) a month
and it is not enough. I respect those who work in factories, but I do not
respect these businessmen and speculators. They are really workers but they don’t
want to work.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
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</v:shape><![endif]--></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg73-PusLU-WrjOEdCUf-af8B0_WG9NgXOe1NBiCHPeZ_OI98wOROmDEM__KVbAHS2tmL1-f_rdzd5brGjJ2146KIdPQcedkFNTZ-X4OmHJA62Ar61-pPXfM5HC286kSjLSywCEWGbzkheav0eUlCpb0enKE4CMDJRjz644CvgoCIyY9yYTTNuxOim7xg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="448" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg73-PusLU-WrjOEdCUf-af8B0_WG9NgXOe1NBiCHPeZ_OI98wOROmDEM__KVbAHS2tmL1-f_rdzd5brGjJ2146KIdPQcedkFNTZ-X4OmHJA62Ar61-pPXfM5HC286kSjLSywCEWGbzkheav0eUlCpb0enKE4CMDJRjz644CvgoCIyY9yYTTNuxOim7xg" width="212" /></a></i></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Anna Nikolayevna Volodina
personifies </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">the Russian Babushka (grandmother). </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The stolovaya’s (soup kitchen) food </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">is “very delicious”, she says.</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her
family, two sons and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren still live
in Dulova, about 60 miles from Moscow. She remarried a Muscovite late in life
and is now a widow but now that she is registered as a Moscow resident it is
hard for her to move away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“My
sons don’t help me because they have many children themselves. One is a
mechanic but wages are low and unemployment is now a constant fear. I live in a
communal flat, I have one room and there are two other rooms with young men in
them. We share a bathroom and kitchen. They don’t help me. No, if I’m not
careful they would steal from me. I have bread and butter and tea for breakfast
but I do not have enough to eat — the food here is very good. Hot meals of the
sort I like. Really I am young, my life is young, I am hoping to live a very
long time. I am always smiling and that is the important thing.” Her deeply
lined white face breaks into a smile as the beauty and mischief break through
the patient endurance of this wonderful babushka.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
flats were allocated by the state, the housing shortage was dealt with by
putting childless people in communal flats. Unrelated, and often incompatible
single people or couples, like Anna and her flatmates, would share three rooms,
with common facilities, waiting for the time when they could get some privacy.
It could take years but technically they were “housed”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_6" o:spid="_x0000_i1025"
type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:204pt;height:296.25pt;visibility:visible;
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</v:shape><![endif]--></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgr-FKGM789PqqPNHlyJTep0SFuq6ZYk1bA0jIEMRSfqOYdzj7_bSpJ8m1mi36xHq8RKo5qzCPxuHkp9rA3UjW_FxaUkGShRfu_GiPFXAKW85oW8LfMbROD6LkjMbRaW8fo9WQSE6HjP2-OqmEqlbb-uc3rBsD2gg75kc6vGeNLydyreGSi78amx18bQA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="425" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgr-FKGM789PqqPNHlyJTep0SFuq6ZYk1bA0jIEMRSfqOYdzj7_bSpJ8m1mi36xHq8RKo5qzCPxuHkp9rA3UjW_FxaUkGShRfu_GiPFXAKW85oW8LfMbROD6LkjMbRaW8fo9WQSE6HjP2-OqmEqlbb-uc3rBsD2gg75kc6vGeNLydyreGSi78amx18bQA=w197-h287" width="197" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Viktor is homeless. He lost his
documents so </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">he receives no pension. “I sleep
where I am”.</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now
that the state no longer controls housing, there is real homelessness. Viktor
is 57 and an epileptic. Married twice and an officially registered resident of
Moscow, he is homeless. His dark face framed by a flowing brown beard, his
dark-coloured, thick clothes and shoes tied with string. He smells of strong
Russian tobacco. He eats at the stolovaya. “I was a carpenter. I have been
married twice but now I sleep where I am. All my documents were stolen so I get
no pension. Sometimes I collect old bottles and return them for a few roubles.
Or I just beg. I get perhaps 100 or 200 roubles (5p-11p) a day. I eat here free
but at other canteens I must pay 72 roubles (4p) for a plate of soup.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John
Melin is a Lutheran minister from Minneapolis, currently resident with the
International Protestant Church in Moscow which runs the stolovaya. As people
come and go they thank and praise him for his kindness. One woman stops to say,
“I have worked for 63 years yet I have to come here for my food. God bless the
church and God bless the Americans who help us.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John
explains, “We wanted to share with the people who were needy during the
difficult transition from communism. This soup kitchen is our response to that
need. We provide healthy traditional meals for 15 to 18 cents (10p-12p) each.
Every dollar we are given goes straight to those in need. It is a food sharing
ministry and I want to stress we provide service not just food, an opportunity
to talk with people. Here they can sit, and be served, and talk. We do not proselytise.
Our witness is in our service.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
soup kitchen can never be more than a stop-gap measure to deal with the
economic problems </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">which
create the terrible poverty prevalent in Moscow. Under the communist system,
the welfare of older people was shared be-tween relatives and an elaborate
system of organised care. Charities and voluntary organisations were banned by
a state which had to seem to provide everything its people needed. But when the
communist regime collapsed following the rapid political changes which followed
the attempted coup in August 1991, the structures it supported went with it.
The gap is slowly being filled by charitable efforts, according to Megan Bick,
director of the Moscow office of the BEARR Trust (British Emergency Action in Russia
and the Republics), an English charity devoted to helping the countries of the
former Soviet Union.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Megan
said, “The Trust keeps in touch with the local needs and channels help, from
people in Britain, such as money or goods or technical aid about how the
voluntary sector works.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prospekt
Mira, or Peace Avenue, is a broad boulevard running due north out of Moscow
past the exhibition of economic achievements which lies beneath a soaring
titanium statue of a space rocket pointing skywards. Close to these monuments
to Russia’s past a small group of people is trying to create the human side of
its future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Alexeyevskiy district consists of 300 blocks of flats and is home to 80,000
people. It was built for those who worked on the Metro and among them are now
an estimated 35,000 pensioners. Here, in a damp basement office that used to
house communist party meetings, the Alexeyevskiy Fund, with some assistance
from the BEARR Trust, is developing services for them. Its director is Tatiana
Yurievna Pavlicheva, who used to work as a metallurgist in the defence industry
until, in 1990, she became involved in distributing humanitarian aid. “It was a
big problem about how to give aid to people who needed it and stop well off
people from grabbing it. Doing this work made me realise what problems existed
and I started trying to see what I could do. God wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t
do something.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her
first step is to carry out a survey of the pensioners in the area and she
expects to find about 1,000 who need help to cope alone. Like any western
charity, the Alexeyevskiy Fund has to raise its own money. Tatiana appears to
have found a uniquely Russian way of doing that, using the value of the newly
privatised flats which these older people now occupy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She
explained: “An old woman lives alone and needs help. And there is a businessman
who would like to have the flat when she dies. So the Fund sits in the middle.
We contact the businessman, telling him that there is a flat of such a size in
such a district and it is owned by a woman born in such a year but no other
details. If he agrees, we get a lawyer to draw up documents so he pays money to
our Fund and he will receive the flat in the end when she dies. The Fund then
provides her with the services she needs for the rest of her life.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tatiana
admits that with high inflation and investors wanting a quick return on their
money, it is hard to persuade Russia’s new entrepreneurs to support the Fund
now, in exchange for a possible return in several years’ time. But already one
local businessman is paying some salaries in exchange for the promise of a flat
when its octogenarian owners die. With salaries of 15,000 roubles (£8.50) a
month and some flats worth $50,000 (£33,500) it could end up a very good deal. Already
documents are being drawn up to allow the Fund to share in the profit to pay
for some of its future projects.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It
is a practical answer to the terrible problems which their older people face.
They live in the biggest country on the planet, packed with natural resources.
They have some of the best science and technology in the world and an enviable
heritage of literature and art. They could have so much. But many have so
little.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Translation:
Lyudmila Alekseevna Cromova</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Pictures:
Grigory Dukor and Paul Lewis<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vs. 1.00 </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">20 April 2022</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><br /></p>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-27766574564731782152022-04-02T10:30:00.001-07:002022-04-02T10:45:03.374-07:00HELP WITH RISING FUEL COSTS<h2 style="text-align: center;">The three measures announced by the Chancellor to reduce the effect of the huge April 2022 rise in electricity and gas prices</h2><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On 4 February 2022 the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced three changes to, as he put it, 'take the sting' out of rising electricity and gas bills. They are </div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>£200 off every electricity bill in England, Scotland, and Wales from October 2022 to be repaid by a £40 surcharge on every electricity bill every year for the next five years starting in April 2023.</li><li>£150 off one council tax bill in April 2022 for homes in England in council tax bands A, B, C, and D.</li><li>An improved Warm Home Discount scheme for the winter of 2022/23 </li></ul><div>The Chancellor claims that the package will cost £9.1 billion. But that includes £6 billion which will be lent to energy companies so they can take £200 off one electricity bill this autumn. That will be repaid over five years. So the net cost is a lot less.</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Updated 2 April 2022</i></b></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>£200 off one electricity bill</b></h3><div style="text-align: left;">In the autumn of 2022 there will be a £200 deduction from one domestic electricity bill. It will be applied by all energy providers in England, Scotland, and Wales. It cannot be refused - it will just appear on the bill. It is called the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. There will not be a deduction from gas bills.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If your bill is for less than £200 any credit balance will be carried forward to the next so you will get the full amount.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It will be up to individual energy suppliers how they amend monthly direct debits for those who pay that way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The 4.5 million homes which have a prepayment meter will get the full deduction. If they have a smart meter it will normally be credited automatically. People who do not have a suitable smart meter or still have a meter where they have to pay to put credit on a token will normally get a voucher to use when they charge it up. This will be sent by email or post. Alternatively, it may be paid through what is called a Special Action Message (SAM) to retailers they use to top up their account so the credit can be applied then. If all else fails, they will get a cheque in the post. Everyone on a prepayment meter will get the full £200 deduction.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">People who are on a fixed price contract will get the £200 discount. It is not clear how that will be paid.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>It seems more likely now that the £200 discount will be paid before VAT is applied to the bill.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Government will lend energy suppliers the money to give the discount. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>£40 a year repayment over five years</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The £200 credit will be taken back through a £40 addition to every domestic electricity bill in 2023/24 and the next four years ending in 2027/28. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Chancellor <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-02-03/debates/C5CCE4F1-1C96-47FA-B57E-B2701F67A099/EconomicUpdate" target="_blank">told Parliament</a> it will "automatically be repaid from people's bills in equal £40 instalments over the next five years". In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18KnJnw5VdQ">press conference</a> he said the "discount will then be automatically repaid from people's bills over the next five years in equal instalments of £40 a year, starting next April."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Exactly when and how this repayment will be taken has not been finalised. In a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1052719/Energy_Bills_Rebate_updated_factsheet_v2_.pdf" target="_blank">Factsheet</a> the Treasury said "it is expected to be reflected as an increase to standing charges on bills". And the Treasury has now told me "We expect for most energy customers, suppliers will reflect
this as a standing charge on electricity bills. This means the £40 per year
will be evenly distributed across the year. Households will not repay
the £40 in a lump sum unless they choose to pay their bills annually."</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: left;">If that happened it could add £40 a year or 10.96p a day (including VAT) to the standing charge on electricity bills. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It is not clear yet how energy suppliers will amend monthly direct debits for those who pay that way. Nor is it clear how it will be deducted from those with a prepayment meter.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">People on a fixed price contract will also have the extra £40 repayment added to their bills. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Energy suppliers will use the amounts added on to bills to repay the Government loan given to make the initial £200 discount.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All these tricky points will be dealt with in a consultation in the spring on exactly how the Energy Bill Discount Scheme will work. It will be run by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b>Northern Ireland</b></div><div>The Northern Ireland Executive will be given around £150 million by Westminster to implement a similar £200 discount off one electricity bill. It will be expected to repay it through £40 additions to bills. But it can make its own decisions. There is no price cap in Northern Ireland and energy prices have been rising as the wholesale cost of gas has increased.</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Anomalies</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The £200 discount is not a personal loan, or a loan attached to a property or to a meter. It will simply be taken off every bill. Similarly, the £40 extra will simply be added to every bill once in each of the next five years. That will create some unfair situations.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Young people living with parents in the autumn of 2022 will not benefit from the discount. But when they move out and live independently they will pay the £40 a year extra on their electricity bills. On the other hand, people who are living independently and get a £200 discount but then move in together will only pay the extra £40 between them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Each year the number of domestic electricity meters grows. In the year to September 2021, for example, official figures show that the number grew by 313,621. That is fairly typical. By October 2022 there will be around 27,000,000 domestic electricity meters. If that number grows by 300,000 a year there will be 28,500,000 by 2027 when the last £40 repayment is collected. The energy companies will have collected £180 million - about 3% - more than they paid out in 2022. The Treasury has now told me "If the number of domestic electricity meters grows the amount paid back by households will be slightly lower." </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Tenants who have their own rooms in multi-occupied houses do not pay for their electricity directly. The landlord pays and charges them. The landlord will get the £200 discount and have to meet the £40 repayments. It will be up to the landlord whether either is reflected in rents. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Leaseholders or tenants in heat network or communal heating schemes will get the discount off their individual electricity bill. Where they do not have individual electricity accounts, the Treasury says it will be consulting "to ensure maximum eligibility".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On VAT the treasury says "Electricity bills are subject to VAT at 5%. This currently
applies to levies and all other inputs to the bill. Government will work
closely with industry and consumer groups on this issue through a public
consultation in the Spring."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are more details and a discussion of exactly what the discount and how the finance works by Joe Malinowski on the <a href="https://www.energyscanner.com/energy-bills-rebate/" target="_blank">energyscanner</a> website.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>£150 council tax rebate in April 2022 </b></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><b>England</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">A £150 rebate will be given to some householders in April 2022. This rebate applies to England and only to people living in a home in council tax bands A to D. Your bill will tell you which band your home is in. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">People in Band E properties who have their Council Tax bill reduced
to a Band D bill through the Disability Reduction Scheme will be eligible for
the £150 rebate payment. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Households where everyone is severely mentally impaired or all under the age of 18 and people in granny annexes who are exempt from council tax also be entitled to the discount.</div><div><br /></div><div>The rebate will not be paid for second homes or empty properties. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>The status of the property is what it was on 1 April 2022.</div><div><br /></div></div></div><div>This £150 will not have to be repaid.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Local councils will be responsible for paying the rebate. It will not be a deduction from the bill, it will be a payment from the council. People who pay their council tax by direct debit will get the money paid into their bank account automatically. They should be paid in April. Those who do not pay by direct debit will be asked for their bank details but that could delay the payments. They could speed up the process by setting up a direct debit now. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The £150 discount will be given in full after any other deductions such as the 25% discount for a single person. It will be given where the council tax due is less than £150 even if it is zero. More than a million pensioners on pension credit for example have their council tax reduced to zero through council tax reduction. They are still liable for the tax but it is reduced to zero. They will get the full £150. The local council will contact them to get their bank details or they may be sent a cheque. How this works will be up to local authorities. People in that position should contact their council to find out more. The Treasury hopes it will all be sorted by May.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Students</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Students in halls of residence will not get the rebate. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The rules about houses or flats occupied by students are complex. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A student who lives alone or two students living together with no one else in a self-contained flat or house is exempt from council tax but will get the rebate. They should contact the council to let it know their circumstances. See this <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance/support-for-energy-bills-the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance" target="_blank">guidance</a> paragraph 11.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If three or more students live in a house share then the house is exempt from council tax. They may or may not get the rebate. If it counts as a House in Multiple Occupation they do not get the rebate. That normally means they have their own independent bed-sitting rooms. But if they just share the whole house then they should get the rebate. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance/support-for-energy-bills-the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance" target="_blank">guidance</a> covering these circumstances is in paras. 11 and 12. Homes lived in entirely by students are in exemption class N. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Students should contact the council but some councils have said they are still struggling with how to deal with these issues. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Discretionary fund</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Some groups in England will not get the £150 rebate</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>People in England who live in a property in band E, F, G, or H will not get the £150 rebate. That means many low-income pensioners living in home in Band E to H will not get it. </li><li>Some houses occupied by students.</li><li>Tenants who pay the council tax as part of their rent will not get the rebate. It their landlord gets it they may not pass it on. </li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;">To help these groups each council in England will be given a share of a £144 million fund which it can use to provide discretionary payments. On average they will get £467,500 which would enable them to give the full £150 to only 3000 or so people in their area. The mechanism for how this fund will work has not been worked out but it is likely that each council will have discretion to set different rules. They will be able to choose whether to pay the whole £150 or a lower amount.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has set out <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance/support-for-energy-bills-the-council-tax-rebate-2022-23-billing-authority-guidance" target="_blank">further guidance</a> and also a more detailed <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1062222/220309_-_CTIL_Q_A_v2.pdf" target="_blank">Q&A</a>. At times they may seem to contradict each other. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Westminster government will give the devolved authorities money "to enable them to provide similar support". Scotland will get around £290 million, Wales £175 million and Northern Ireland £100 million. Ministers in <a href="https://www.gov.scot/news/scottish-budget-bill-passed/" target="_blank">Scotland</a> and <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/mark-drakeford-accuses-uk-government-23039928" target="_blank">Wales</a> have questioned whether this money is extra or merely re-allocated from other budgets. In Northern Ireland, where there is no council tax, the rebate will probably be given to ratepayers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The <a href="https://www.gov.scot/news/scottish-budget-bill-passed/" target="_blank">Scottish</a> and <a href="https://gov.wales/written-statement-cost-living-support-package?utm_source=rss-announcements&utm_medium=rss-feed&utm_campaign=announcements-Written+Statement%3A+Cost-of-living+support+package" target="_blank">Welsh</a> governments have both announced their £150 rebate will go to two groups of households. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Every householder in a band A, B, C, or D home, and</li><li>Every householder in a band E or higher home who gets council tax reduction on grounds of low income. </li></ul><div>Both governments have also announced that there will be a discretionary fund to help others who are in fuel hardship. Ask your local council about what extra help there may be.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some councils in Scotland may pay the rebate as a deduction off the council tax or paid direct to the householder. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Northern Ireland no scheme to help with rates has been sorted out. With elections and the conflict over the First Minister this may not be resolved for some time.</div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Warm Home Discount Scheme</h3><div style="text-align: left;">The Warm Home Discount scheme for England and Wales will be changed for the winter of 2022/23. The discount will be raised from £140 to £150 and expanded to include more households. But some households who received the money last winter will not get it in 2022/23. They include 290,000 households where someone receives DLA or PIP and 50,000 families with young children. It will be paid on top of the new measures announced above. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Last winter the scheme applied in England, Wales, and Scotland but in Winter 2022/23 Scotland will have its own scheme. There will be a separate consultation on this. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The new scheme</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">There will be two ways to be eligible for the new scheme.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Low income pensioners - Core Group 1</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the new scheme pensioners who get the guarantee element of pension credit will automatically qualify for the discount. They will be aged 66 or more and usually have an income of less than £182.15 a week (£278.70 for a couple). They do not have to claim. They will now be called Core Group 1.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Other households - Core Group 2</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyone not in Core Group 1 may be eligible for the discount if </div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>they get a means-tested benefit (and in some cases have an income below a certain level) and</li><li>they live in a home that has high energy costs</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;">The controversial change is that only those with 'higher energy costs' will qualify. That will exclude an estimated 290,000 people who get Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment who live in a building that does not have high energy costs. That is about 35% of the 810,000 who qualified last winter. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The method of assessing high energy costs will also be controversial as it will be done automatically and related to the building not the people who live there. So a disabled person who needs warmth or to keep essential medical equipment going may be excluded. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Government says that 750,000 more people, many of them on low incomes who live in hard to heat buildings, will get help and that the cost will increase by £125m. People in both elegible groups will get the payment automaticaly and there will be a procedure for those excluded on hard-to-heat grounds to challenge the decision. Suppliers with fewer than 50,000 will not have to iffer the scheme - last winter it was fewer than 150,000. From 2023/24 that will will be reduced to fewer than 1000 customers. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can read the plans for <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1065684/Warm_Home_Discount_Better_targeted_support_from_2022_Government_response.pdf" target="_blank">Warm Home Discount from 2022 </a>and the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1065787/Warm_Home_Discount_reform_final_stage_Impact_Assessment.pdf" target="_blank">impact assessment </a>which measures the gains and losses in a fairly impenetrable way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Winter Fuel Payment</h3><div style="text-align: left;">The Winter Fuel Payment is paid to people throughout the UK who have reached state pension age. The qualifying age for the winter 2022/23 will be those born on 25 September 1956 or earlier. The standard rate is £200 per household; if two or more people qualify in a household they get £100 each. If someone is aged 80 or more - which means born on 25 September 1942 or earlier - the payment is £300 for the household. It is normally paid automatically. But people who do not receive state pension or other state benefits should apply or they may not be included. Once paid it does not have to be claimed in future years. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">See <a href="https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment">Winter Fuel Payment</a> at gov.uk.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Disclaimer</i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The information in this blogpost has been carefully checked with published sources, Treasury officials, and others. I am confident it is as full and accurate as it can be. It will be updated when fresh information comes to light. However, I take no responsibility if people rely on it and suffer any loss. Always check with official sources before taking action.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">2 April 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;">version 1.50</div>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-67753725584195122632022-02-26T08:18:00.005-08:002022-02-27T02:25:59.195-08:00THE REAL RISE IN FUEL BILLS<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Electricity and gas suppliers are telling their customers how their bills will change from 1 April. And it is coming as a great shock to many.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The April rise is headlined as 54% - for every £100 you spend now you will spend £154 from April. The annual bill will jump by £693 pushing annual costs from £1277 a year to £1971 a year (they don't add up because of rounding). But these figures are averages and most people will have a different experience.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These increases are rises in the cap. Anyone who paid below the cap and now pays the full new cap will face a much steeper rise. That is particularly true of those coming off a one or two year deal with prices fixed one or two years ago. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>To understand how your bill will change you need to look at the actual charges. </div><div><div><br /></div><div><b>We pay twice for our electricity and gas. </b></div><div><ul><li>A standing charge - an annual fee just for being connected which is collected at so much per day. </li><li>A charge for every unit of electricity or gas we use. </li></ul></div><div>So with two fuels and two different charges there are four different rises to be aware of. These figures are GB average for monthly direct debit customers. </div></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b>Default cap tariff from 1 April 2022 (including VAT)</b></p><div align="center"><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><tbody><tr style="height: 24.35pt;"><td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; height: 24.35pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"></td><td colspan="3" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: 1pt solid windowtext; height: 24.35pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Standing charge per year<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td><td colspan="3" style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: 1pt solid windowtext; height: 24.35pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Unit price per kWh<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 21.15pt;"><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid windowtext; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">New price<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Old price<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Increase<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">New price<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Old price<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Increase<o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 21.15pt;"><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid windowtext; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Electricity<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">£165.48<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">£90.81<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">£74.67 (+82%)<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">28.34p<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">20.80p<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 21.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">7.54p (+36%)<o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 20.75pt;"><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid windowtext; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 20.75pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Gas<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 20.75pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">£99.35<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 20.75pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">£95.35<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 20.75pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">£4 (+4%)<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 20.75pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">7.37p<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 20.75pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4.07p<o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; height: 20.75pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3.3p (+82%)<o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Electricity</b>: The average standing charge is rising from £90.81 to £165.48 a year. That is an increase of £74.67 or 81%. So even if you use no electricity but have a meter you will pay £3.18 a week for the privilege. That amounts to about one sixth (17%) of a typical bill. If you are a low user the standing charge can easily be a quarter of your bill. You cannot reduce it by putting on a jumper or turning down the thermostat.</p></div><div>The average price for a unit of electricity is rising by 36% from 20.8p to 28.3p. So boiling your kettle or running the dishwasher will cost you just over a third more from April. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you only use electricity then your costs from April should rise by around 40% compared with your costs from October 2021. The more you use the lower that percentage rise will be. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Gas</b>: the gas standing charge is rising very little - by just 4% to £99.35 a year, barely half the new price of the electricity standing charge. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the unit rate is increasing by a massive 81% from 4.07p to 7.37p. So your morning shower and your central heating will cost 81% more from April. Remember though that the unit price for gas is much less than electricity. So gas it is still the cheapest way to heat hot water, run central heating, or cook.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Prepay and quarterly</b></div><div>If you pay by prepayment meter or quarterly on the actual bill your charges will generally be higher, though the increase may be less. </div><div><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>THE CAPPED PRICE</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just about everyone now pays the capped maximum price set by the regulator Ofgem. Competition in the energy market and switching supplier to find a better deal are all but over. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div align="center">
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Competition
in the energy market and switching supplier to find a better deal are all but
over. </span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
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</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The maximum capped price changes every six months in April and October. And we know what the rise will be on 1 April 2022. But the official figures of a £693 rise to £1971 - 54% higher - are confusing for several reasons. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><b>Way to pay</b></div><div>First, they assume you pay by monthly direct debit. That is the cheapest way to pay for two reasons. </div><div><ul><li>There is less admin for the supplier to do and </li><li>Suppliers try to ensure customers pay a bit too much so they have surpluses which help with cash flow and investment.</li></ul></div><div>Prepayment meters are more expensive. The headline rises for them are bigger - £708 a year taking your bill to £2017. The percentage rise is 54%. </div><div><br /></div><div>The most expensive way to pay is every quarter when you get a bill showing your actual consumption. If you pay that way the average annual bill will increase by £731 to £2100 - a 53% rise. </div><div><br /></div><div>These figures are also misleading because they are the annualised cost. In other words they represent what your cost would be if the price cap lasted for a year - which of course it will not, they last for six months. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What you use</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Secondly, the headline figures are worked out for what Ofgem calls a 'typical' household. That is one which uses 12,000 units of gas and 2,900 units of electricity. (A unit of gas or electricity is one kilowatt-hour or kWh. That mean you use one kilowatt for an hour. A kettle uses about 2 kilowatts so if you boil it for half an hour a day in total that is 1 kilowatt-hour or one unit of electricity used.)</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If your use is different your price rise will be different. If you only have electricity - as around 4.5 million households do - then your bill will probably increase by less than 54%. If you use very little fuel your bill could well increase by more than 54%. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Regional variation</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Added to all these complexities Great Britain is divided into 14 energy regions, most of which are different from any other way of dividing up the country. Each region has its own prices. Unit costs can be 5% above or below the mean and standing charges for electricity as much as 29% different. The official Ofgem document that sets out the cap has 252 separate boxes to hold all these different prices. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>WHY ARE PRICES RISING?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Unit prices</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Most people know that the price of gas has risen strongly over the last year. And now Russia has gone to war with Ukraine that may well get worse. So the next increase in October 2022 may be very high as well. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The UK of course is surrounded by large gas fields in the North Sea. But the firms that extract that charge the world market price. As that rises we pay more and the firms like Shell and BP make bumper profits.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>A lot of our electricity is generated by burning gas. So the price of that is rising too. We do have large wind farms and a lot of solar panels. But the electricity they produce is expensive - not least because to get them built the Government offered premium prices or subsidies to the firms that invested in them. </div><div><br /></div><div><div align="center">
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">we are
stuck with world prices for gas and electricity</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
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</div></div><div><br /></div><div>For now, we are stuck with world prices for gas and electricity. As demand rises and supply does not follow the basic law of economics means that prices will increase.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The standing charge</b></div><div>The electricity standing charge is going up hugely - by £75 a year on average a rise of 82%. This charge used to cover just the fixed costs of providing the wires and pipes to our home, maintaining them, and reading our meters. But not any more. The electricity standing charge in particular has many other costs added onto it. It includes a share of what are called 'policy costs'. These are levied on us to cover the extra cost to energy firms of delivering a greener future. The cost of the smart meter programme for example adds £18 to the average capped bill, for example. The Government makes energy firms do these green things and the cost is mainly added to the electricity standing charge. </div><div><br /></div><div>This year at least £34 of the electricity standing charge is to cover some of the cost of reimbursing the big energy suppliers for taking over the customers of the 27 small firms that went bust in 2021. Worse is to come. In Autumn 2022 there will be a £200 discount on every electricity bill. The Government has lent the industry over £5 billion to make those discounts. But that money has to be repaid and from April 2023 £40 a year will be added to the electricity standing charge to collect that repayment from customers. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>ECONOMISING</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This blogpost is not the place for more than a few brief hints about cutting your use of electricity and gas. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Switch off lights, wear an extra jumper, turn down the thermostat, dry clothes in the air, use the dishwasher only when it is full. Remember that any device that uses electricity to heat something up is expensive to run. So only put enough water in the kettle for the pot of tea you are making. Electronic items use very little electricity but turn them off too when you can. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div align="center">
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">any device
that uses electricity to heat something up is expensive to run</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
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</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Gas boilers are the cheapest way to heat water up for washing and central heating. So use gas where you can. But keep radiators turned down and shorten your shower. Baths use much more water so more expensive.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Keep windows shut. Consider draughtproofing, lagging, loft insulation, better fitting doors and double-glazed windows. They can all be expensive to do. But in the long term will save you money. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">High energy costs will be with us for a very long time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">version 1.02</div><div style="text-align: left;">27 February 2022.</div>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-47669458888060857112022-02-14T06:23:00.007-08:002022-02-15T03:57:33.424-08:00TRIPLE LOCK RISE AFFORDABLE<h4 style="text-align: left;">A <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1047413/E02705826_Un_Act_GAD_NIF_Uprating_Report_Jan22_Web_Accessible_-_UPLOADED_GOV_UK.pdf" target="_blank">report by the Government Actuary</a> published on 17 January shows that the Government could have kept the triple lock and increased the state pension by 8.3% in April without serious damage to the National Insurance Fund in the next five years.</h4><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Figures in the report show that if the Government had raised the basic and new state pensions by 8.3% in line with earnings instead of prices the surplus in the National Insurance Fund would still have been more than £50 billion in 2022/23 and remained above £50 billion in 2026/27. That is more than double the surplus needed by the Fund to operate safely. </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The Government Actuary publishes a report each year into the cost of uprating benefits in April. It calculates the effect on the National Insurance Fund of the uprating and the surplus left in the Fund at the end of each tax year until 2026/27. This year's uprating in April 2022 will raise the state pension and other benefits by 3.1%. But the Actuary also looked at the effect of raising the basic and new state pension in line with earnings which had grown by 8.3%. </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Under the triple lock promise in the Conservative Manifesto the basic and new state pensions are increased by the rise in prices or earnings whichever is higher, There is a minimum increase of 2.5% if both are below that figure. In October 2021 official statistics showed that prices rose by 3.1% in September and earnings by 8.3% in May to July. Those are the figurs used to uprate benefits and pensions the following April. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Under the triple lock promise in the Conservative Manifesto the earnings figure of 8.3% should have been used to increase the basic and new state pensions in April 2022. Instead the Govenment passed a law so that the state pension rose in April in line with the 3.1% rise in prices not the 8.3% increase in wages. That decision was criticised at the time and that has grown now the Bank of England predicts price inflation to be 7.25% in April.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The Actuary's report reveals that under the Govenment's plans the surplus in the National Insurance Fund will grow steadily over the next five years from £42.5 billion in 2020/21 to £60.4 billion in 2022/23 reaching £76.2 billion in 2026/27. That will be more than three times the surplus needed to safely operate the Fund without the Teasury stepping in with a grant.</div><div><br /></div><div>In separate calculations the Actuary finds that if the triple lock promise had been kept the surplus in the Fund would be £25.4 billion lower in 2026/27 - which my calculations show would leave a surplus of £50.8 billion and represent 36.5% of benefit expenditure that year. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Actuary's rule is that a surplus of 16.7% is needed to operate the Fund without the need for a Treasury grant. So on these figures the surplus under the triple lock would still be more than double the required level. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Department for Work and Pensions told me</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">"The
one-year move to temporarily suspend the Triple Lock ensures fairness for both
pensioners and taxpayers...</span>The new legislation is a one-year response to exceptional
circumstances of the pandemic and we plan to return the earnings element of the
Triple Lock next year."</div><div><br /></div><div>All figures rounded. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paul Lewis</div><div>15 February 2022</div><div>version 1.01</div><div><br /></div></div>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-42875004265774212332022-01-28T01:46:00.011-08:002022-01-28T03:02:03.997-08:00Deflating Inflation <h2 style="text-align: center;">Why is it so hard to measure changes in the cost of living?</h2><div><br /></div><div>A battle is raging over inflation. Not the public one over how to defuse the looming cost of living crisis. But a much deeper one about how inflation is measured and if that can be changed retrospectively. </div><div><br /></div><div>The evidence for the battle is published every month by the guardians of truth in official numbers – the Office for National Statistics. Its consumer prices bulletin publishes not one but three different rates of inflation. The latest batch revealed in January were 4.8%, 5.4%, and 7.5%. </div><div><br /></div><div>The range is massive. The highest is 2.7 percentage points above the lowest. If your pension was linked to that the rise would be 56% more than if it was linked to the lowest. Yet the government’s latest plan is to do just that. </div><div><br /></div><div>The lowest rate is also the ONS’s preferred measure called CPIH which stands for Consumer Prices Index (including Housing). It has been criticised for using changes in rent as a proxy for housing cost changes for owner occupiers. It is the index which now tops ONS press releases and briefings and to find any other measure requires research or even downloading a spreadsheet. Despite that the media doesn’t generally report CPIH and it is not used in the real world for any practical purpose except by Ofwat for setting controlled water prices. </div><div><br /></div><div>Until 2011 there just one main measure of inflation – the Retail Prices Index or RPI. It is the highest of the three and was used since its introduction in 1947 for any official calculations relating to the cost of living including wage bargaining. It is so prevalent that it has been back calculated by ONS boffins to the year 1270 when Edward I was on the throne, and it is still used for historical calculations to tell us what £100 in Victorian or Elizabethan times is ‘worth’ now. </div><div><br /></div><div>But statisticians said the RPI was flawed and wanted to replace it with the more internationally favoured measure called the Consumer Prices Index or CPI (no H yet). The Government gladly accepted their advice largely, cynics say, because CPI was lower than RPI. That is due principally to what is called the formula effect. The RPI aggregates multiple prices using a simple arithmetic mean or average – add them up and divide by how many there are. But CPI uses the geometric mean – multiply the prices together and take the <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">n<sup>th</sup></span> r</span>oot where n is the number of items. For positive numbers that always gives a lower number. Since January 2015 the average reduction in inflation due to the formula effect is 0.81 percentage points. </div><div><br /></div><div>CPI was published from 1997 and from 2003 it was used for the Bank of England inflation target. But it was only in 2011 it became the official government measure of inflation and was used to raise benefits which saved a cumulative £2 billion a year. It has since come to replace RPI for other things such as tax allowances – when they are not frozen to save even more money. </div><div><br /></div><div>Two years later RPI was dealt another blow when the National Statistics Authority declared it was no longer what it calls a National Statistic. The Authority and ONS both advise against using RPI. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless ONS publishes RPI each month because it is used in many calculations not least where it saves the Government money such as raising controlled rail fares and the interest charged on student loans. It is also used to increase various duties. Car tax – VED – will rise by RPI in April as will Gaming Duty and Landfill Tax. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is also used in the contracts of many company pensions which specify RPI for the annual cost of living increase. Most pension schemes where the contract does not specify RPI have made the change to CPI – a welcome relief for the fund if not the pensioners. But where RPI is specified the Supreme Court ruled in November 2018 that it cannot be changed. </div><div><br /></div><div>The biggest problem for the Government is the £819 billion pounds-worth of index-linked gilts. These inflation proof government bonds account for nearly a quarter of all gilts and are linked to the RPI – a phenomenal return now that RPI is 7.5% compared with a 25-year standard gilt issued in January 2021 which paid just 0.875 per cent. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Government now plans to keep RPI but change the arithmetic so in effect it becomes CPIH. That will happen with the RPI issued in February 2030. Holders of index-linked gilts and others will not be compensated – a saving, says Insight Investment, of £100bn to the Government over the life of the bonds and a cut in the value of pensions by 10 to 15 per cent. </div><div><br /></div><div>When it does that it is hard to see the CPI surviving as the measure used to uprate benefits and tax allowances. CPIH – the lowest of the three measures – will have triumphed, albeit under the name RPI.</div><div><br /></div><div>In December the High Court gave three major pension funds, which have 450,000 members between them, the right to challenge these plans. Their judicial review hearing is expected in the summer. The Government’s defence could be published as soon as this February. </div><div><br /></div><div>The battle for RPI continues. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>This blogpost is adapted from a piece first published in FT Money 15 January 2022. </i></div><div>v.1.00</div><div>28 January 2022
</div>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-63462710082354204512021-11-25T01:21:00.002-08:002021-11-25T01:24:44.464-08:00YOUR HOME AND CARE HOME FEES<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b>SPENDING THE
WINDFALL</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-align: center;"><b>Don’t resent selling your home to pay for care – you didn’t pay for
most of it anyway.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">To read the
headlines you would think that the moment an elderly person goes into a care
home they are forced to sell their own house or flat to pay the costs of up to
£1000 a week or more. It is not true. No-one – I repeat no-one – can be forced
to sell their home to pay for their care. Many of course are led to believe
they must, and some choose to do so, but no-one has to.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>It is sad that as the details of the Government plan to cap care costs is debated the phrase 'people have to sell their home to pay for care' is being used - ignorantly - on both sides. </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The Government
made the true position clear when it launched its plan in September to cap the cost of care.
It reminded us that “the existing service allowing people in need of
residential care to defer payment of their care home fees…means that people
have the flexibility to avoid selling their home within their lifetime”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">This deferred
payment agreement is law only in England but in the other countries of the UK
similar arrangements can be made. In England anyone with capital (apart from
the value of their home) of £23,250 or less can apply for it. The care home
bill ticks up while they are alive and is paid from their estate after they
die. Interest is added and some local authorities add fees too. The people who
eventually pay the bill are the heirs through a reduced inheritance.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">A deferred
payment arrangement may not be necessary. The value of the home is not counted
at all for the care home means-test if a spouse or partner lives there. It is
also ignored completely if a relative – on a broad definition – who is over 60
lives there. There is also discretion to ignore the value if a carer or a
younger financially dependent relative lives there. As a result, the value of
many homes is ignored and the council pays for the care.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">It is also
possible that the NHS will pay the whole cost without a means-test. It is
called NHS Continuing Healthcare and applies if the person is discharged from
hospital into residential care and their primary reason for needing that is
medical. In Scotland it is different and called Hospital Based Complex Clinical
Care. It is hard to make the NHS pay and may require legal help. But the law is there and it can be done.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b>Sell your home</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">But why not
sell your home anyway and use its value to buy yourself the best care in the
nicest place that you can afford? The value of your home is yours and any
decent heirs would rather you used the money to make yourself as comfortable
and happy as you can be in your final years. The average time in a care home
for people over pension age is around two and a half years so there may still
be plenty of money left for them. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">People say to
me ‘I worked hard for that house, paid the mortgage for over 40 years. Why
should I lose it because I need care in my very old age?’</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">Legally of
course it is your money. But if you had a mortgage 40 years or more ago then
that was subsidised by other taxpayers. In the 1970s you could set mortgage
interest off against your income tax up to any amount and at your highest tax
rate. From 1983 it was called MIRAS and restricted to smaller loans and basic
rate tax. That was abolished in 2000 saving other taxpayers £1.4 billion a
year. If your mortgages have included years before 2000 then some of your
mortgage interest was paid by other taxpayers.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">As for working
hard, most of the value of your home is a windfall caused by house prices
rising faster than any other inflation measure. From 1981 to 2021 prices
measured by the Consumer Prices Index have trebled and wages have risen almost
twice as fast. But house prices have soared tenfold. The Nationwide house price
index shows the average UK home was worth £265,700 in June 2021. Forty years
ago it was worth less than a tenth as much – £26,381.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">If house values
had risen with consumer prices your home should be worth £80,500 and if they
had gone up with pay it would be worth around £150,000. Either way you have a
huge windfall gain – up to £185,000 compared with prices – for which you did no
work at all. It was created by society failing to build enough homes,
controlling interest rates, and subsidising mortgages.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">So do not be
resentful or afraid to use that tax-subsidised windfall gain to give yourself
the best last few years you can. Your kids will survive without it.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>This blogpost is adapted from an article which first appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 6 November 2021 and a few days before online.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Vs 1.00</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">25 November 2021</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-10290163569863398842021-10-11T03:55:00.003-07:002021-10-11T03:58:53.719-07:00DECOMPLEXIFICATION IS THE KEY TO FAIR FINANCES<p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Business hates competition. And it makes products complex hoping we will make the wrong and more expensive choice. </h2><p>Banks make
money because they are better at arithmetic than their customers. They know
that if they fix monthly repayments on a credit card at 2 per cent of the
outstanding amount with a minimum of £5 it will take 25 years to clear a £2,000
debt and they will have been paid £3,500 in interest.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">They know that
after 43 years of charging 1.5 per cent a year on a pension pot with 4 per cent
growth they will have taken the equivalent of a third of the pot. Even for the
section of the population that is not functionally innumerate those are
difficult sums.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">And where the
arithmetic could be simple the banks devise ways to make them complex. A theme
that has run through my working life is explaining complex things to people in
a simple way. Over the years I have come to believe that this process of making
things complicated — complexification, as I call it — is deliberate. And it is
anti-competitive.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Imagine if you
went to fill up your car. The local garage is Esso and the price is 136.9p a
litre. But Sainsbury’s sells it for 132.9p a litre. So you drive the extra mile
to Sainsbury and save yourself a couple of quid.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Suppose instead
that your garage charges 129.9p a litre plus £5 to enter the forecourt. That
would be dearer. But if you agree to make it your petrol station for the next
10 visits it waives the forecourt charge. Is that still cheaper than
Sainsbury’s at 132.9p, which charges you £2 to visit and then gives you back £1
if you fill up for two consecutive times?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Such an
approach would be retail madness. But it is often the way you are charged for
personal finance products.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There are
nearly 5,000 different residential mortgage products on the market. Far too
many to choose from rationally. Fixed rates, discounted rates, variable
trackers, extended tie-ins, cashback, discount on legal fees, high lending
charge, and nearly always a fixed upfront fee of between £495 and £1,995. Which
mortgage is best should be a simple question — who charges the least? But these
complex deals are a mixture of bets on the future of interest rates — which
even professionals get wrong — and simultaneous equations.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">On a loan of
£200,000, is 1.09 per cent for three years with a £999 fee better than 1.56 per
cent over 5 years with a £1,995 fee? And what if grandma comes through and you
only need borrow £185,000? Without knowing how to use a spreadsheet it is
impossible to calculate.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">But what the
lender and the broker do know is that at the end of two, three or five years on
a fixed rate you will be back to borrow it all over again. If you stay in your
home for a typical 20 years you could take out anything from four to 10
different mortgages on it. Ker-ching!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Instead of
businesses competing fairly on price — that can of beans is 55p, this one is
62p — they make the sums so difficult that no one can solve them, hoping that
many customers will make the wrong choice and pay more than they need.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"complexification destroys competition </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by rendering rational choice impossible"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A population
that is better educated in financial matters could become a challenge to the
industry which is why I support the FT initiative to promote financial literacy
at all ages. But unless the banks are forced to make things simple, progress
will be very slow.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Business has
always hated competition. Elizabeth I made the Crown's fortune by selling monopolies to individuals and organsiations. The City of London, home to our banking sector, was
founded on the trade guilds which policed quality but whose hidden agenda was
to fix prices.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Nowadays we
tend to think competition is good. The Financial Conduct Authority has a vision
of a world where “firms are competing vigorously in the interests of
consumers”. We even have the Competition and Markets Authority to police it
all, though if businesses liked competition we would not need one!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The CMA’s
predecessor, the Office of Fair Trading, ruled in April 2006 that credit card
providers could not penalise customers who missed a payment. Any fee they
charged could not be more than the late payment actually cost them. But then
the OFT added this fateful statement: “We do not propose at present to consider
legal action where charges are set below £12.” Within days all card providers
had cut their charge to — guess what — £12. I am not, of course, accusing the
banks of illegal price fixing. It was just a happy coincidence. And an unhappy
one for competition on late payment fees.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Firms look for
ways to defeat competition rather than embrace it. The only way to force them
to be fair and competitive is through rules</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Financial
Conduct Authority has tried to impose general overarching principles to stop
the banks misleading people. Under the current rules they must show that “fair
treatment of customers is at the heart of their business model”. Despite the
FCA’s £600m a year budget it is clearly not working because now it wants to
introduce a Consumer, Duty where firms will put themselves in their customers’
shoes and ask “would I be happy to be treated in the way my firm treats its
customers”. It is not clear from the consultation paper how that will be
enforced or how its outcomes will be reported to the public.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">My experience
in 40 years of writing about personal finance is that firms look for ways to
defeat competition rather than embrace it. The only way to force them to be
fair and competitive is through rules. When you make a part payment off your
credit card the bank must now take it off the balance on which it is charging
the highest interest rate.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In the past,
payments were taken first from the debt with the lowest interest rate —
sometimes as little as 0 per cent — leaving the expensive debt ticking away at
29.9 per cent. That was not treating customers fairly but that principle did
not stop the practice. It took a specific rule change in 2014 to do that.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Decomplexifying
financial services means banning the factors that make things complex. Ban
upfront mortgage fees so that interest rates are comparable. Ban small
percentage minimum repayments off credit card balances. Root out all the clever
ideas that complexify our finances. Because complexification destroys
competition by rendering rational choice impossible.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>This article
first appears in the Financial Times 5 October 2021</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><br /><p></p>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-84343739053443058612021-04-29T04:17:00.005-07:002021-04-29T04:17:50.061-07:00FOR WHOSE BENEFIT?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">Millions of people on benefits will get just a few pence a week more in smallest uprating</h2><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The week
beginning April 12 was a big one for people who are so disabled they need help with
their bodily functions from another person by day and by night. They got an
extra 60p a week on their Attendance Allowance – less than the price of a 2<sup>nd</sup>
class stamp to write and complain. Their carer will get an extra 35p a week
which, for the minimum 35 hours they must do their caring, amounts at best to an
extra 1p an hour. In total their weekly stipends will creep up to £89.60 and
£67.60 a week. A carer who tries to work their way out of poverty loses all
their carer’s allowance the moment their wages rise above £128 a week – 14
hours at minimum wage if they are aged 23 or more.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Other benefits rose
by similarly inconsequential amounts. Those on employment and support allowance
got 35p a week more, slightly less if they are under 25. People on long-term
incapacity benefit because they are, guess what, incapacitated over the long
term, were given an extra 55p, barely enough for a pint of semi-skimmed.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Child benefit
paid to millions of mothers will rise by just 10p for the oldest child and 5p
for each other – less than the cost of a visit to a public toilet.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Even widowed
mothers, once in the pantheon of those we should help, will see their allowance
rise by just 60p a week to £122.55. They are lucky. More recently bereaved spouses
will get zilch. Bereavement Support Payments, which began for deaths from 6
April 2017, are only made for eighteen months so the Government has seen no
need to raise them at any of the four Aprils since they were introduced. Many
other amounts are also frozen. The benefit cap – the maximum allowed which generally
cuts the benefits of people with high rents and several children – remains where
it was fixed five years ago at £20,000 a year. The amount of savings which
denies entitlement to means-tested benefits is still frozen at £16,000, an
amount set fifteen years ago. The Local Housing allowance – the maximum amount
of rent that can be paid – has also been frozen for 2021/21. So as rents rise, tenants
are poorer.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I am old enough
to remember the trouble Gordon Brown got into in 1999 when he announced a rise
in the state pension of just 75p a week. That is more than the increase in
every working age benefit rate on 12 April this year. But there is no outrage
this year, even though Brown’s 75p pension increase was the correct amount
according to the same rules. Each April benefits rise in line with the
inflation rate the previous September. In 1999 that was 1.1%. In 2020 it was
0.5%. That 75p rise would be worth £1.77 in today’s money.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There have been
two changes to that rule. From 2011 the CPI replaced the RPI as the measure of
inflation, a change which reduces inflation by almost one percentage point just
because of the different arithmetic the two measures use. Indeed, in September
2020 while the CPI was 0.5% the RPI was at the 1999 Brownian level of 1.1%! Five
years later austerity kicked in and most working age benefits were frozen from
2016 to 2019. Over that period prices rose 7.4% (CPI) or 10% (RPI).</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Even pensioners
are not exempt from this parsimony. Of
course, at the moment the old basic state pension and the flat rate new state
pension are increased each year by the magic triple lock – forged from the Gordon
Brown embarrassment and tempered in the fire of six general elections. Those amounts
are raised each year by the highest of the rise in prices or wages or 2.5%.
This year with pay increases negative in the autumn and a 0.5% rise in the CPI,
the default rate of 2.5% was used. So from April 12<sup>th</sup> the basic
state pension went up to £137.60 a week – a rise of £3.35, almost ten times the
increase paid to a carer, and the new state pension is now £179.60, a full
£4.40 a week more – equal to the rise in child benefit for a mother with 87
children. But pensioners are not free of the CPI shackle. Only the two headline
rates get that triple lock treatment. The extras – SERPS and its enfeebled lookalike
state second pension, the old graduated pension, the protected amount paid with
some new state pensions above the flat rate, and the extra for deferring your
claim which is paid (at different rates) with old and new pensions, all rose by
0.5%. As a result many state pensioners will see an increase in their weekly
benefit of less than 2.5%. A rise of less than 2.5% was also given to those who
get the means-tested pension credit.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I recite all
these facts partly because I am the Mr Gradgrind of financial journalism “Facts
alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else….You can only form the minds of
reasoning animals upon Facts…Stick to facts, sir!” (Charles Dickens, <i>Hard
Times</i> 1854, Chapter 1). But mainly because they are little known, seldom
acknowledged, and rarely understood. As Thomas Cranmer said – read, mark,
learn, and inwardly digest.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A version of this blogpost was first published in <a href="https://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/" target="_blank">Money Marketing</a> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">29 April 2021 </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">vs 1.00 </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-91576394999539863522021-04-06T04:26:00.001-07:002021-04-06T04:26:46.173-07:00Banks must act to control fraud epidemic<h1 class="o-topper__headline" data-trackable="header" style="font-family: FinancierDisplayWeb, serif; font-size: 40px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-right: 158px;"><span class="article-classifier__gap">Banks must act to control fraud epidemic</span></h1><div class="o-topper__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: MetricWeb, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px; opacity: 0.8; padding-right: 158px;">Don’t think you are too clever to be conned</div><div class="o-topper__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: MetricWeb, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px; opacity: 0.8; padding-right: 158px;"><br /></div> An epidemic is sweeping the UK. Laying low the old and vulnerable, damaging healthy adults for life and undermining our belief in the systems that are supposed to protect us. It is caused not by a few strands of RNA, but by an intelligent life form. Clever, resourceful and agile, it worms its way into our brains, distorts our perception of reality and makes us pleased to give our money to thieves. <div><br /></div><div>In 2020, nearly 150,000 individuals had £479m taken from them by this plague. And that is just a small subgroup of the most common form of crime in Britain — fraud.
It may be costing us billions of pounds a year. No one knows because much of it is never reported. What could be more embarrassing than admitting you were fooled by thieves into giving them the keys to your safe? Fraud is the crime we are the most likely to experience. It is out of control. And no one seems able to stop it. </div><div><br /></div><div>This type of scam begins with a frightening cold call. BT says your router is insecure and you need to pay to secure it. HMRC calls to warn that you are about to be prosecuted for tax evasion if you do not pay a sum into court now. Your bank reveals that your account has been compromised and the money must be moved somewhere safe.
They panic you, threaten you, and if you are still sceptical they ask you to check caller ID. When you do it will show the correct number for BT inquiries, HMRC or even the fraud reporting line for your bank. </div><div><br /></div><div>These genuine numbers are sent by a technique called number spoofing, which allows the thieves to send any number they choose to the Caller ID system. One top law enforcement officer told me on Money Box recently “do not trust what you see on caller ID”. But people do and then agree to transfer money to the thieves or even give them the keys to do so themselves.
Some steps have been taken to bar some numbers from being spoofed but the gov.uk website is a rich source of official numbers for thieves to harvest. Ofcom says there is no general solution to the problem of callers sending a false number. </div><div><br /></div><div>Until one is found the thieves will wrap this cloak of credibility around them.
It would matter less to customers if they were compensated for being victims of this professional psychological warfare. A recent code was supposed to ensure that blameless victims would have their money reimbursed by the banks. But the latest figures from UK Finance show that for the 139,104 thefts that fell under the code in 2020, only 45 per cent of the £312m stolen was given back to customers — just £141m.
That is a lot better than the 19 per cent reimbursed before the code began in May 2019. But evidence from dozens of people who still come to me after losing life changing sums indicates that banks are using the code itself to justify not paying. </div><div><br /></div><div>One popular disclaimer is that under paragraph R2(1)(a)(iii) the customer did not heed an “effective warning” about the transaction before they made it. That raises the question — can a warning be effective if it is not heeded?
Another is paragraph R2(1)(c)(iii), under which the customer did not have a reasonable basis for believing the person they were paying was legitimate. But would anyone hand over thousands of pounds to someone they did not believe was legitimate? The code was not intended to be a playlist of excuses not to pay. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some banks are worse than others. The Payment Systems Regulator revealed last year that two out of eight banks in the code paid customers nothing in 96 per cent of cases. Even the best only reimbursed 59 per cent in full (the average was one in six). The regulator refuses to identify which banks are the worst, keeping that vital information secret from the people who need it: their customers. </div><div><br /></div><div> Contrast this with TSB, the one major high street bank that is not a member of the code. It has its own “fraud refund guarantee” and says it repays in full 99 per cent of customers whose money has been stolen in this way. The regulator is now consulting on similar mandatory rules that would reimburse all customers who were not implicated in the crime.
That would concentrate the minds of the banks. They already meet all losses from unauthorised thefts, such as card fraud or remote banking fraud, and these are being controlled, falling by 7 per cent in 2020 according to UK Finance. But losses to authorised payment frauds, where less than half are reimbursed, increased by 5 per cent with total incidents up 22 per cent. If the banks had to repay everyone it might make them more interested in stopping these thefts. </div><div><br /></div><div>The uncomfortable truth for the banks is that they are at the heart of these crimes. They allow thieves to open and operate current accounts and then use the faster payment system to receive the money and move it rapidly between accounts until it vanishes. In 2020, 96 per cent of the money stolen this way went through the faster payment system, a total of £398m, up 19 per cent on 2019. </div><div><br /></div><div> I put my hand up here. In my early days on Money Box I championed faster payments. Why does it take three days to move money in the 21st century, we asked. And where is our money for those three days? Answer: earning interest for the banks. By 2008 the banks were shamed into setting up a new infrastructure that moved money at once and, crucially for the crooks, beyond recall. </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps now is the time to introduce a pause in the system so that when we transfer money to a new payee there is a delay of, say, 24 hours before the payment is made. One of the characteristics of the people whose money is taken is that within at most a few hours the psychological drug that made them credulous enough to co-operate with the crime wears off and they think: “****! I’ve been robbed.” But even after a few seconds it is too late to undo the transfer. </div><div><br /></div><div> Preventing number spoofing, making the banks liable and introducing a pause for new payees would go a very long way towards ending most of these crimes. Meanwhile, there is one impenetrable barrier to them. End the call. No one ever lost money by doing that. And do not think that you are too clever to be caught.
No one is. Once you engage, you are hooked. Their silver tongues will wrap around your brain while their digits enter your bank account and fish out all your money. So end the call.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>This piece originally appeared in the FT early in April.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Paul Lewis</div><div>Version 1.00</div><div><br /></div>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-51208995295057949942021-02-14T01:48:00.005-08:002021-03-23T06:06:50.523-07:00ANYTHING BUT FINE<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<h4 style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Every day the Government sells the
addresses of 23,000 drivers to private parking companies so they can send them
a £100 bill for breaking their rules. And it is a bill, not a fine, because
these companies have no right to fine anyone for parking their vehicle. Only
local authorities or the police can do that. What these firms send is an
invoice. Called parking charge notices, they are designed to look like the
legal penalty notices issued when you break street parking rules. But they are
not. They are simply an invoice for payment.</span></h4><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The parking firms say that when
you enter their car parks you agree to a contract under which you pay a fee,
park between the lines, and leave within a certain time. If you break these
rules, they send you a bill for breaching that contract.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sometimes the parking charge
notice is put under the windscreen wipers. But in many cases the first you know
about it is when it arrives in the post.
Many car parks have no barriers or attendants. Cameras at the entrance
and exit register your number plate and compare it with the one you give when
you buy your ticket. If you are deemed to have broken the rules then the firm
pays £2.50 to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and sends the notice to
the address it gives them.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Most people pay up at once because
you are bribed to do so. A fee of £100 is reduced to £60 if you pay within 14
days. But that is not a sensible approach.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Of course, it is reasonable for a
private landowner to charge people for the convenience of parking on their
property. The Supreme Court decided more than five years ago that they may also impose a
reasonable penalty if you break the rules laid down. However, if you get a
parking penalty on private land do not pay it without reading it very
carefully.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Check the Notice</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Were you – or your vehicle – there
at the times stated? Are the rules set out clearly, not just at the entrance
but around the car park where you can see and read them? It is useful to have
photographs if you are claiming they are not clear.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Most car parking firms belong to
the British Parking Association (BPA) which has a Code of Practice. Has the
notice broken any of those rules? For example, you must be given time to read
the rules before parking and a grace period of up to 10 minutes after your time
runs out before a penalty is charged. Other firms belong to the International
Parking Community (IPC) whose Code of Practice also has a grace period in some
cases.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">If the penalty notice seems
correct are there mitigating circumstances? Was the car park very busy so it
took a long time to buy your ticket? Did you leave without parking? Did you
have a good reason to overstay such as an urgent phone call about a sick
relative? Did just half a tyre stray outside the marked parking bay? Did you
make a minor error entering your car number? Had your car broken down? Send
supporting evidence – with photographs if you can.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">On the back of the notice there
will be details of how to appeal – normally within 21 or 28 days. However, once
14 days has passed you will lose the discount on your charge. If your appeal is
rejected you can go to a further appeal. The BPA uses an independent service
called the Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA). Around half of those who appeal to it are
successful. IPC uses the Independent Appeals Service (IAS). A firm that does
not belong to either of the trade bodies cannot get your address from the DVLA
and will find it much harder to enforce the charge.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Take control</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">A more militant way to challenge a
parking notice is to ignore it. In England and Wales the person registered as
the vehicle’s ‘keeper’ (usually the owner) is liable for the penalty if the
driver does not pay. So, the firm will pay for the keeper’s address from the DVLA
and send them the notice. That must be set out in a very precise way and firms
often get that wrong which invalidates it. In Scotland and Northern Ireland the
keeper does not have to pay. That makes enforcement much harder.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">If you do not pay the only way to
make you is a civil action in court. That is expensive and time consuming for
the firm and it may not bother - though some parking operators are getting militant about going to court themselves! Even if it does take you to court you may win, especially if it
has behaved unreasonably. If you lose you will have to pay the full charge and
possibly some costs as well, but as long as you pay when the court orders you to do so your credit rating will not be affected. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Government steps in</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Private parking firms may soon
have to obey new rules designed to end the “poor practice and behaviour of some
parking operators”. The Government has <a href="http://bit.ly/3vRjB9N" target="_blank">announced its plans </a>for a legally enforceable Code
of Practice and a new appeals service to apply in England, Scotland, and Wales.
That should happen over the next twelve mnoths or so.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Real fines</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">If you get a parking fine from a
local authority, Transport for London, or the police the rules are different.
Fines are easier to enforce but if you feel the ticket is unfair challenge it
and then appeal to the independent adjudicator. More than half who do win.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Further information</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://MoneySavingExpert.com">MoneySavingExpert.com</a> or
<a href="http://CitizensAdvice.org.uk">CitizensAdvice.org.uk</a> search ‘parking tickets’.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://parkingcowboys.co.uk">parkingcowboys.co.uk</a> has useful
information about possible defences.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://britishparking.co.uk">britishparking.co.uk</a> – the British Parking Association website</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://theipc.info">theipc.info</a> – the International
Parking Community website<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://popla.co.uk">popla.co.uk</a> – for appeals against
firms that are British Parking Association members.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://theias.org">theias.org</a> – for appeals against
firms that are International Parking Community members.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This blogpost is an amended and updated from an article I wrote for <i>Saga Magazine</i> in November 2020.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Paul Lewis</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">23 March 2021</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">vs. 1.2</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p></p>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-16449026989732059862021-01-05T10:11:00.001-08:002021-01-18T00:34:55.363-08:00FLIGHT DELAY COMPENSATION NOW A UK RIGHT<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">If your flight is delayed by three hours or more or is cancelled you now have a right to compensation of up to £520 per passenger under UK law. The rights to compensation were given to air passengers in 2004 by a European Directive. Now that we have left the EU those rules have been brought into UK law with some amendments. </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The new rules apply to passengers in three circumstances.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. They are on any flight which departs from a UK airport.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2. They are on a flight which departs from an airport outside the UK if
it</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span> </span>a. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">lands in the UK and the carrier is based in the UK or the EU.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">OR<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span> </span>b. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">lands at an airport in the EU and the carrier is based in the UK.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The compensation applies if a flight arrives at least three hours late.
The amounts of compensation are <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• £220 per passenger for
flights of 1500 kilometres or less<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• £350 per passenger for flights between
1500km and 3500km<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">• £520 per passenger for flights over
3500km.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Similar rules apply to cancellations at the airport or within seven days
before the flight was due to leave. If you are given a replacement flight you
will normally still be entitled to compensation if that arrives more than two
hours later than the original flight - or departs more than one hour earlier than
the original flight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The rules are a bit more complicated than that largely because airlines have tried to find ways to avoid paying and lawyers have taken cases to court to establish what the law really means. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">One key escape airlines like to use is if the delay or cancellation was due to 'extraordinary circumstances'. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">A <a href="https://paullewismoney.blogspot.com/2014/11/claim-up-to-470-for-flight-delays.html" target="_blank">separate blog</a> looks at some of those complexities. Where decisions of the European Courts are
referred to these still apply as they were all retained in UK law from 1 January
2021. The primary UK law is the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/261/contents" target="_blank">European Directive EC 261/2004</a> as retained in UK law but it has been amended by the </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/278/regulation/8/made" target="_blank">The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing(Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 SI 2019/278</a>.</span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="color: #58595b; text-align: justify;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #58595b; text-align: justify;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Get help</b></span></div><div style="color: #58595b; text-align: justify;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">An online claiming tool is provided by <a href="https://www.resolver.co.uk/rights-guide/flight-delays-cancellations" target="_blank">Resolver</a>. It makes no charge for its service. Never use a claim management company. It will take 40% of your compensation and may or may not be good at the job.</span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The consumer organisation Which? also has a useful <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-had-a-flight-delay-can-i-get-compensation" target="_blank">guide to claiming compensation</a> yourself.</span></div><div style="color: #58595b; text-align: justify;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #58595b; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You can get some advice free from the <a href="www.caa.co.uk" target="_blank">Civil Aviation Authority</a>. If an airline has refused your claim the CAA offers an arbitration service. Its decision is not binding on the airline - though they usually follow it - and there have been long delays in the past as the CAA had inadequate staff numbers to handle the volume of cases. </span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #58595b;">If you feel you need professional help you can use the lawyer <a href="https://www.bottonline.co.uk/flight-delay-compensation" target="_blank">Bott & Co</a> </span><span style="color: #58595b;">which specialises in compensation for flight delays. It has an online checker to see if you have a claim or not. If it takes a case then it charges 25% plus VAT (so 30%) of any compensation obtained plus a £25 administration fee (including VAT) per passenger. Altogether that will be more than a third of your compensation. There is no charge if you lose.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #58595b; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Brexit</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Now that the UK has left the EU and the transition period has ended you should
apply under the UK law if you can. However, the EU regulations still
give all passengers rights to compensation where flights leave from or arrive at EU airports and you can apply under those rules if
your flight is outside the terms of the UK regulations. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Now that the UK has left the EU a UK government will be able to change these compensaation rules. There is no sign of that happening. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #58595b; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />18 January 2021</span></b><span style="color: #58595b; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
<b>vs. 1.1</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-58136679996481362942020-11-19T05:59:00.002-08:002020-11-19T05:59:39.620-08:00Capital gains tax should be fairer and simpler<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b>Charging
CGT at income tax rates is not that controversial — it’s been done before<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">“Taxes should be simpler and
fairer” is the common mantra of better off people and tax commentators.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Even accountants who make their
living wrestling into submission some of the more arcane rules of HM Revenue
& Customs tell us the UK tax code is the longest in the world and should be
simplified. This is usually when opposing yet another attempt to close a
loophole they sell to their clients.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">So I was shocked to read the
numerous objections to the latest report by the Office for Tax Simplification
which proposed making capital gains tax (CGT) simpler and fairer. It proposes:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Chucking out the separate rates of
tax for gains and income. </li><li>Slashing the annual £12,300 gains
allowance to as low as £2,000. </li><li>Scrapping highly complex reliefs
intended to encourage entrepreneurs, but which do not do that.</li><li>Taxing equally the products of our
labour whether we are paid in wages, dividends, or share options (adding the
word “options” allows tax to be avoided). </li></ul><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">What could be fairer? Or simpler? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">No, no, no, said one
credulity-stretching comment to the OTS. “Without a lower rate of tax on its
eventual sale [I] would not have worked nearly so hard to expand the business.”
Really? You work to pay less tax on money you have not even made yet?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Perhaps the key to all the
objections is this sentence in the review: “If gains were taxed at income tax
rates some taxpayers could face a substantial increase in their overall tax
liability,” the OTS said, citing HMRC estimates that aligning rates of CGT and
income tax could raise £14bn. Objectors seem to think that simplicity and
fairness is fine as long as it doesn’t mean more tax is paid by the well off.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">And the people who pay CGT are
well off. If you inherit a home and keep it for a few years and then sell it
the CGT will be modest, only being calculated on the difference between its
value at inheritance and price at sale (CGT death uplift prevents it being
valued when the deceased acquired it, though the OTS also recommends scrapping
this uplift). But you are better off than most because you have a second home
and when it is sold you have the value of it.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">In fact, charging CGT at income
tax rates is not that controversial. At the end of its report, the OTS notes
that for the 20 years to 2007-08, that is how it was charged. Nigel Lawson, the
Conservative chancellor, believed there was “little economic difference between
income and capital gains” so they should be treated along similar lines.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">He echoed the principle of
Labour’s James Callaghan, who introduced CGT in 1965 and told Parliament:
“Gains confer much the same kind of benefit on the recipient as taxed
earnings . . . the present immunity from tax of capital gains has given a
powerful incentive to the skilful manipulator.”</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The OTS report has many examples
of the way skilful manipulators have got to work to minimise the effect of CGT
on share and business owners. Two examples in the report (cases 8 and 9) show
the advantage for self-employed people to set up a company, pay themselves
largely in dividends, store excess money in the business, and then liquidate
the company and claim business asset disposal relief to slash the tax on the
gain to 10 per cent. Thus director Rose pays £108,817 less tax over five years
than self-employed Geoff doing the same job for the same income. Rules that
distort behaviour to pay less tax are found throughout the review. But the OTS
loses its nerve when it comes to scrapping them.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Stupid Geoff, you might say. No.
Stupid tax system that includes rules which the OTS says “distort behaviour,
pushing taxpayers towards incorporation”. In the last tax year, this business
asset disposal relief gave £58,700 each to 46,000 people at a cost of £2.7bn —
even though OTS says it does not “stimulate investment and risk-taking by
business owners”.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Rules that distort behaviour to
pay less tax are found throughout the review. But the OTS loses its nerve when
it comes to scrapping them. It tries to find fairness by tinkering with the
dog’s breakfast rather than starting again with the basic tin of Chum, in the
form of the principles of Callaghan and Lawson. It should ignore the special
pleading of the better off that “it’s not fair”.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Fairness is being fair to all
taxpayers, not just the few who pay CGT. A truly fair and simple system would
tax a capital gain like income in the year it is received. Just as a bonus at
work or a pension withdrawal is added to income and taxed that year, so should
a capital gain.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The right level for the annual
exemption is not a de minimis £2,500 but zero. Scrap relief for enterprise
investment schemes, social investment relief, venture capital trusts shares,
investor relief, rollover relief, death uplift, holdover relief and losses
relief. Get rid of anything that gives scope for well-paid advisers to help
wealthy people game the system.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Tax the 265,000 people lucky
enough to have taxable capital gains (which would rise to 1m after the changes)
at the same rates as the 32m who pay income tax, with no choice and before they
even see it. And prevent the manipulators by applying the change from Budget
Day afternoon.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Simpler and fairer. Who could
possibly object?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>This piece first appeared in the Financial Times 19 November 2020.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-10651841186442041642020-09-25T09:00:00.002-07:002021-05-14T00:38:43.298-07:00GET THAT REFUND<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
All over the country thousands of people are due refunds for
holidays, flights, trips, concerts, or events that they have paid for but have
not happened. The law is clear – if you pay for a service and it is not
provided then you are entitled to your money back. These rights are given under
various legal provisions, but they all say money must be refunded. If you bought something through an agent - a ferry ticket for example - it is the supplier of the goods or service who remains liable not the agent.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite these clear rights, enforcing them can be difficult
against a firm that says it will not – or cannot – pay you. It may have offered a
voucher for a future replacement trip. Ot it might claim that the event has just been postponed and your
ticket will be valid at some future date. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
None of those alternatives take away your right to
a full refund.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b>Enforce your rights</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Knowing your rights is one thing, enforcing them can be quite another. So here is my guide to the big stick you can use to make a company obey the law. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Of course, you have written, emailed, phoned, hung on for ours and tried all the things the firm suggests and you still have not got your money back, as the law says you must. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time for the nuclear
option. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Step 1: The court</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If a firm owes you money you can go to court to recover it.
We used to call it the ‘small claims court’ but in England and Wales it is now
done centrally through the Courts & Tribunals Service website at
<a href="http://moneyclaim.gov.uk/">moneyclaim.gov.uk</a>. In Scotland it is called the <a href="https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure#" target="_blank">Simple Procedure</a> at Scottish Courts and Tribunals. In Northern Ireland go to <a href="http://justice-ni.gov.uk/">justice-ni.gov.uk</a> and search
‘small claims’ or use this <a href="https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/small-claims-process" target="_blank">direct link</a>. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don't worry, you are almost certainly not going to go to court. Begin the court action online. Fill in the claim form with
your details, and the details of the firm and the amount claimed. Claim the full amount including non-returnable deposits. Put your reasons. Do not proceed with the claim but <b>take a screenshot of the page</b>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If you are having difficulty finding details of the firm see 'tracke them down' below.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Step 2: The boss</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Forget about customer service, go straight to the person who can make something happen. Email the Chief Executive of the company that owes you
the money. You can find that address from <a href="http://www.ceoemail.com/">www.ceoemail.com</a>. Write a brief, polite but firm email summarising in a few lines what you are claiming and why, reminding them that you are entitlted to your money back and warn them that you
expect a refund within seven days or you will go to court. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Now attach the screenshot of your court claim to the email</b>. That is the masterstroke. It proves that you are not just threatening to 'go to court' but that you know how to do it and are already halfway through the process. </div>
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Emails to the boss will usually be read by a minion. But that does not matter. Every firm has a section to give cases special treatment. You have just reached it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shortly after you should get your money. One happy reader who had spent weeks going through the usual channels used this technique and emailed me: “It worked! Easyjet wrote back today and I’ve received the reimbursement to my credit card”.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Turn the screw</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If after 14 days this method does not result in a full refund including non-returnable deposits and without deduction of any administrative fees, then go back to your online claim and start the court action. These proceedings are very simple and straighforward and any small fee charged at this stage will be refunded when you win. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In fact your case will almost certainly never get to court. The last thing any firm wants is a judgement that it has to refund customers. It will be settled out of court and you will be given your refund - in full without fees or charges deducted - and reimbursed for your costs. You may even get a few pounds added on.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<b>The regulator</b></div>
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Don't just take my word for it. The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) is a government agency whose job it is to promote fair competition between companies and make sure they do not trample on consumer rights.</div>
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<br /></div>
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At the end of April 2020 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-cma-to-investigate-cancellation-policy-concerns" target="_blank">it warned firms</a> that </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<i>Where a contract is not performed as agreed, the CMA considers that consumer protection law will generally allow consumers to obtain a refund. In particular, for most consumer contracts the CMA would expect a consumer to be offered a full refund where:</i></div>
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<i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>a business has cancelled a contract without providing any of the promised goods or services;</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><i>no service is provided by a business, for example because this is prevented by Government public health measures;</i></li>
<li><i>a consumer cancels, or is prevented from receiving any services, because Government public health measures mean they are not allowed to use the services.</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The CMA said that weddings, holiday accommodation, and nurseries and childcare particularly concerned it. A couple of months later it <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-major-holiday-lets-firm-offers-refunds-after-cma-action" target="_blank">forced Hoseasons and Cottages.com</a> to offer refunds to customers instead of trying to fob them off with vouchers. It has now had similar successes with holiday firm <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tui-uk-to-complete-refunds-by-the-end-of-the-month?=0" target="_blank">TUI</a> and with <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/915278/Open_letter_to_Weddings_providers_7sept20.pdf" target="_blank">wedding organisers</a>. It did not mention flights as they are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority but these rights to a refund apply equally to flights under t<span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #58595b; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;">he European </span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004R0261:EN:HTML" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;">Regulation EC 261/2004</a></span>.</div>
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<o:p><o:p></o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Track them down</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">One problem people find with global companies is that it is very hard to track down a UK address for them. You need that for your court claim - you can only sue a UK entity for money. First, search the website very carefully as it may be there. Second, have a good rummage round that <a href="http://ceoemail.com">ceoemail.com</a> website - it will probably be there. If not try <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house" target="_blank">Companies House</a>. It is almost certain the firm has a UK branch. Try searching on company names but always check you have the right one by looking at the 'people' or 'filing' tabs to see what the company does and who are its directors. The search is free - never google 'companies house' you will get firms that want to charge you for free information. But Google can be helpul to find who owns whom by googling the firm's name and clicking news to see who may own it now. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Thanks</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am grateful to Helen Dewdney of
<a href="http://www.thecomplainingcow.co.uk/">thecomplainingcow.co.uk</a> for this idea. She has many more in her excellent books <i>How to Complain </i>and<i> 101 Habits of an Effective Complainer</i>.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Paul Lewis </div>
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<br />Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-81544914924157400752020-09-21T09:30:00.001-07:002020-11-21T23:54:06.862-08:00NOT SO PREMIUM BONDS<h2 style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Premium Bonds give a poorer return from the December 2020 draw. So are they still a good place for your savings?</span></b></h2>
<br />
Premium bonds are good if you fulfil three conditions<br />
<ul>
<li>You can buy the maximum £50,000 or close to it. </li>
<li>You pay higher or additional rate income tax. </li>
<li>You have used up your personal savings allowance with interest on other savings outside ISAs.</li>
</ul>
<div>The further you are from those conditions the worse they are.</div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></div><b>How do they work?</b><br />
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Each month the 95 billion £1 bonds earn interest which is 1% from the December 2020 draw. Each month the interest - which from December NS&I says will be £82 million - is put into a prize fund. That total is then shared at random among the
bondholders as prizes. From December each bond has a 1 in 34,500 chance of winning a prize in
each monthly draw. Prizes are paid tax-free so the return is better for higher rate (40%) or additional rate (45%) taxpayers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The fund is divided so that 98% of the prizes are for £25 which uses up
85% of the money. From December about 2.8 million £25 prizes will be paid. Just over 25,000 prizes each of £50 and £100 will also be paid. Those three prizes use 90% of the prize money and accounted for 99.8% of the prizes. <br />
<br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>Go for the max</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Although the stated interest rate is 1%, when considering the actual interest earned in any realistic timeframe it is only the £25 prizes that should be counted. That means the effective interest rate - the money used for the prizes you might win - is 0.85% from December. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">With the maximum £50,000 bonds you will now expect a £25 prize every month at least - 17 over a year. Of course chance will not produce an even return. But over time that should be the average. That is equivalent to earning 1.06% taxable interest for a basic rate taxpayer, 1.42% for a higher rate taxpayer and 1.55% for a taxpayer with an income over £150,000 who pays 45% income tax. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div><br /></div><div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Those are not bad rates for an instant access account. Money in Premium Bonds can be taken out without notice at any time, though it may take a few days to get your money back.</div><div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">You would expect a £50 or £100 prize very 6 and a bit years, a £500 prize every 33 years and £1000 ever 100 years. Above that prizes range from £5000 to £1 million. Although winning a million is a nice thought,
forget it. You won’t ever win that prize. Even with the maximum £50,000 bonds
you would have only an even chance of winning a million after 82,000 years. That was when when humans were still having sex with Neanderthals and 40,000 years before
we started painting in caves. The odds of winning the second prizes of £100,000 are just half those for the million pound prizes. If you bought £50,000 of premium bonds to celebrate your first cave painting you might by now have won one prize of £100,000. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Even the smaller large prizes are very sparse. If you had bought £50,000 premium bonds to celebrate the death of the Roman Emperor Caligula in 37 AD you would have expected just one £5000 prize by now. You will wait another 1975 years for the next.<br /><br /><b>Fewer bonds </b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">With smaller amounts of bonds, prizes of course are much rarer. £100 gives you an even chance of winning a £25 prize every 29 years. The new minimum of £25 would mean a wait of 115 years to have an even chance of one prize and 200,000 years to win a £1000 prize. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">With one bond bought when when Stonehenge was built you might have expected one prize of £25 by now at the current rates, and only have a few hundred years to wait for the second. Earth has barely been around long enough to have an even chance of getting the £1,000,000 prize which happens ever 4 billion years with one bond. <br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>Good for the much better off</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The interest on all savings is tax free up to £1000 for basic rate taxpayers and £500 for higher rate taxpayers. So the tax-free prizes are of most value to those who have other savings which have used up those savings allowances. For higher rate taxpayers that probably means £50,000 in top savings products as well as any cash in ISAs. For basic rate taxpayers it means at least £100,000 in best buy svings accounts. Additional rate taxpayers do not get the personal savings allowance. So premium bonds are very good for them. More than half the bonds are held by people who have at least 30,000 of them and 650,000 individuals own the maximum £50,000.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>Randomness</b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment) who draws the winning bonds each month is not a computer. However hard they try computers cannot produce genuine truly random numbers. So ERNIE uses a process which was invented by a Bletchley Park codebreaker - called transistor thermal noise - to create truly random events which are then counted and combined in turn into bond numbers. Every month the Government Actuary checks the prize list for randomness before the prizes are paid.<br />
<br />
Because every bond really does have an equal chance of of winning there is no point in cashing in 'unlucky' bonds and buying new ones. Doing that also means there is a month between selling and buying when the bonds are not in the draw. So it worsens the odds of winning.<br />
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<b>Buying</b><br />
You can buy Premium Bonds online at <a href="http://www.nsandi.com/" target="_blank">www.nsandi.com</a> where you can also check for prizes and trace lost bonds. You can also buy them by phone or post. You must be at least 16 years old. Parents, realtives, and friends can buy them for children under 16.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">From March 2021 all prizes must be paid direct into a bank account. At the moment about a quarter are paid in the post with a warrant - effectively a cheque on the Government. NS&I says there will be provision made for people without a bank account to receive the money or a mobile phone or email to be informed they have won. Details are awaited.Meanwhile those with bank accounts can register the details at <a href="nsandi.com/prize-options" target="_blank">nsandi.com/prize-options</a>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><a href="http://nsandi.com/prize-options"></a> <br /><br />
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Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-72942895548816892532020-07-29T10:00:00.001-07:002020-09-01T04:28:27.095-07:00FREE TV LICENCES<h2 style="text-align: center;">
MORE THAN A MILLION OVER 75s MUST ACT NOW TO KEEP THEIR FREE TV LICENCE</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
From 1 August 2020 the BBC has decided to restrict free TV licences to people aged 75 or more who also get a means-tested benefit called Pension Credit. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
Before the change around 4.6 million people over the age of 75 got a free TV licence. From 1 August the number getting one could be as low as 500,000. Another 1 million and more could get a free TV licence but only if they take action now. </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>450,000 people over 75 </b>who also get Pension Credit have registered with TV Licensing. They will continue to get a free TV licence. <b>The green slice of the pie</b>. </li>
<li><b>472,000 people aged over 75 </b>are on pension credit but have not registered with TV Licensing. They will not get a free TV licence after 1 August if they do not register. <b>The yellow slice of the pie. </b>They need to <a href="https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/update/your-licence/index.app?authorizationFilterPageName=authorization-75view" target="_blank">register with TV Licensing</a> online or call 0800 232 <span style="background-color: white;">1382 - at the moment that line is pretty rubbish. </span></li>
<li><b><span style="background-color: white;">U</span>p to 650,000 over 75s </b>could get Pension Credit but have not claimed it. If they successfully claim Pension Credit they can <a href="https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/update/your-licence/index.app?authorizationFilterPageName=authorization-75view" target="_blank">contact TV Licensing</a> and their free licence will be restored and backdated. If they do not successfully claim Pension Credit they will have to pay for their TV licence. <b>The amber slice of the pie</b>. </li>
<li>All free licences expire on 31 July 2020. Anyone who does not get Pension Credit will have to pay from 1 August 2020. There will be more than three million people over 75 who cannot get a free TV licence whatever they do. <b>The red slice of the pie</b>.</li>
</ul>
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<img alt="" 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" 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In August TV Licensing will write to everyone who gets a free TV licence except those who have already registered as on Pension Credit. No one need do anything until that letter is received. People who get the letter will have two months to (a) register that they get Pension Credit or (b) claim Pension Credit and let TVL know or (c) pick a payment plan to pay the £157.50.<br />
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Some people who must now pay will not have paid for a TV licence since the scheme began in 2000. They will be able to pay by credit or debit card on the phone or online and can pay weekly, fortnightly, or monthly if they choose. </div>
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People without a bank account or credit card will have to pay in cash at a shop with a PayPoint - or get someone to do it for them. DWP says there are 375,000 over 75s who access the state pension or pension credit via the Post Office Card Account. They are less likely to have a bank account. </div>
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Some of those who have to pay will have a very low income. An income as low as £209 a week for a single person or £305 a week for a couple will be just above the normal pension credit limit. They will have to pay in full for the Licence. That will cost up to 1.4% of their income. </div>
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Some couples may have a lower income than that and still be excluded. Couples where one partner is below state pension age can no longer claim Pension Credit for the first time and they may have benefits as a couple as low as £137 a week. The TV licence will be more than a week's income. <b>However, a mixed age couple who already gets pension credit will keep it and will still be eligible to a free TV licence. </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b>Who can get Pension Credit</b></h2>
<div>
<b>Age</b></div>
<div>
Pension Credit can only be claimed by people over state pension age - from October that will be 66. If they live with someone else as a couple then to claim Pension Credit in future both must be over state pension age (there are exceptions - see Couples below). If they get Pension Credit the free TV licence is given if either of them is over age 75.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Income</b></div>
<div>
If you are over 75 and your income is up to £208.65 a week then you can get Pension Credit. If you live as part of a couple then your income is counted jointly and the upper limit is £304.20 a week. <b>Even if you qualify for just 1p a week pension credit you will still get the £157.50 free TV licence.</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you get Carer's Allowance you can add £37.50 to these amounts and still qualify. You can count as a carer even if you do not get carer's allowance if you would be entitled to it. See 'Carers' below.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you are severely disabled add £66.95 to these amounts. 'Severely disabled' normally means means you get Attendance Allowance. See 'Severely disabled' below. If you are part of a couple the rules for adding these amounts are complex but you should still apply.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Savings</b></div>
<div>
If you have savings or investments of up to £10,000 they do not affect your entitlement to Pension Credit. If they are more than £10,000 then an amount is added to your income. That amount is £1 a week for every extra £500 of savings. So savings of £15,000 mean that £10 a week is added to your income. Of course, savings of £500 will not produce an income of £1 a week. You will be lucky if you get 10p a week. But that is how the rules work. Any income the savings actually produce is ignored. <b>For a couple, savings are added together and the limits apply to their joint savings.</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
There is no upper limit for savings that disqualifies you from getting Pension Credit. Some people with low incomes and tens of thousands of pounds in savings can still get Pension Credit. But if savings are very high then your entitlement to Pension Credit will be wiped out. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Just claim!</span></b></div>
<div>
<b>If your head is hurting with all these complex rules (mine often does!) then just claim pension credit. You can do that easily by calling 0800 99 1234. The call will be free. Have all your details of income and state pension with you and if possible your NI number. They will </b><b>process your claim if you do qualify and </b><b>tell you if you do not. </b></div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
The average amount of unclaimed Pension Credit for people over 75 is £1820 a year. So it is well worth claiming regardless of getting a free TV licence. <b>Even if your entitlement is just 1p a week you will still get the free TV licence.</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<b>Check your entitlement</b></div>
<div>
If you want to check entitlement yourself then you can use one of the online calculators. All are anonymous. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The best online calculator is from an organisation called <a href="https://www.entitledto.co.uk/" target="_blank">Entitled To</a>. It will also work out if you can get any reduction in your council tax and, if you are a tenant, your rent as well. It also suggests other places you might be able to get financial or other help. Homeowners can claim Pension Credit.<br />
<br />
Another online calculator is run by the charity <a href="https://www.turn2us.org.uk/" target="_blank">Turn2Us</a>. It also has an online search for grants and other cash help you may get. So it is worth using for that.<br />
<br />
The extra help will almost certainly include money off your council tax (or rates in Northern Ireland). If your income is below £173.75 a week (£265.20 for a couple) then your council tax should be reduced to zero. If your income is higher than that then your council tax will normally be substantially reduced.<br />
<br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b>Fiddly Bits</b></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b>Extra information about some of the complex rules that surround Pension Credit and the free TV licence.</b></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Limit for pension credit </b></div>
<div>
<div>
There is some confusion about income limits for Pension Credit. That is because it is in two parts - guarantee credit and savings credit. Guarantee credit will raise your income to £173.75 a week (£265.20 for a couple). But if your income is higher than £150.47 a week (£239.17 couple) then you are also given an extra bit of pension credit called 'savings credit'. Entitlement to that runs out as your income exceeds £208.67 a week (£304.25 for a couple) though you will not see those two figures in any official publication.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
The savings credit is not paid to people who reached state pension age from 6 April 2016. They are men born from 6 April 1951 and women born from 6 April 1953. At the moment they cannot get free TV licences as they are still under age 75. When they can claim from April 2026 and 2028 there will be discrimination between men and women and the scheme may have to change. See also 'Younger People' below.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Couples</b></div>
<div>
A new rule for couples began on 15 May 2019. From that date they can only get Pension Credit if they are BOTH over state pension age. Before that date they could claim Pension Credit if EITHER of them had reached state pension age. So a man of 75 with a partner aged 65 is not now entitled to claim Pension Credit.<br />
<br />
However, no-one will have their pension credit taken away. So if you are a mixed age couple (as the DWP calls them) and you already got Pension Credit or Housing Benefit before 15 May 2019 you will still qualify for them.<br />
<br />
The DWP does not care if a couple is married, civil partnered, or neither. If they live together as a couple then they count as a couple.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Carers</b></div>
<div>
You qualify for Carer's Allowance if you spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone else who is severely disabled. That normally means they get </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Attendance Allowance, or</li>
<li>One of the two higher rates of Disabled Living Allowance (DLA) or, </li>
<li>Either rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
If you are over state pension age you may not have claimed Carer's Allowance as it will not be paid on top of your state pension. But it is important to claim it as it will entitle you to more Pension Credit. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Severely Disabled</b></div>
<div>
For people over 75, severely disabled normally means you get </div>
<ul>
<li>Attendance Allowance, or</li>
<li>Constant Attendance Allowance paid to ex-service personnel</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Mixed households</b></div>
<div>
The free TV licence is available to any household where at least one person aged 75 or more lives. So if the licence is in the name of a younger person it should be changed to the person over 75 on pension credit who lives with them. The household itself will not be means-tested. So younger people will benefit from the free licence in those circumstances.</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b>Numbers</b></h2>
<a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml" target="_blank">DWP statistics</a> for November 2019 show that 922,028 people aged 75 or more get Pension Credit. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
DWP <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">take up figures</a> for 2017/18 - published in February 2020 - show that between 520,000 and 650,000 over 75s who could claim Pension Credit do not do so. The central projection was 590,000. This analysis uses the highest number. Roughly four out of ten people who could claim pension credit do not do so. The average amount unclaimed by them is £35 a week or £1820 a year. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The BBC now estimates that there were 4.4 million people who got a free licence before the rule change. That is lower than the estimate of 4.6 million produced for it by <a href="https://www.frontier-economics.com/media/2896/bbc-licence-fee-report-nov-18.pdf" target="_blank">Frontier Economics in 2018</a> when it was consulting on changes to the free licence. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2020" target="_blank">The DWP</a>, which still paid part of the cost in 2019/20, said there were 4,665,000 free licences in 2018/19 and forecast 4,779,000 in 2019/20 - an increase of 114,000 in a year. The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2018based#changing-age-structure" target="_blank">Office for National Statistics</a> predicts that the number of people over the age of 75 will grow by 165,000 a year over the next 25 years. That argues for a growth in the number getting free TV licences by around 139,000 a year over that period. In this blog I use the 4.6m estimated by Frontier Economics as a compromise between the BBC's low figure and the DWP's high figure. The BBC offered no explanation for why its figure is now lower.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b>Why the BBC changed the rules</b></h2>
<div>
<b>Origins</b></div>
<div>
The free TV licence for people over 75 was introduced by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was announced in the <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130814162317/http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm44/4479/chap5.htm" target="_blank">pre-Budget Report</a> on 9 November 1999 and confirmed in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265498/hc346.pdf" target="_blank">Budget</a> on 21 March 2000. It began on 1 November 2000, a few months before the June 2001 election which Labour won comfortably. The cost - around £350 million a year then - was paid by the DWP and it has continued to pay the BBC for the cost of the free licences. So the free licences did not cost the BBC anything.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
People now aged 95 or over will have had a free licence for 20 years. Those aged 75 to 95 will never have paid for a licence once they reached 75.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Change</b></div>
<div>
As part of the renewal of the BBC Charter in 2015 the Government insisted that the BBC bear the whole cost of the free licences from April 2020. Passing on the cost was phased in over three years from 2018/19. The BBC estimates the full cost at £745 million in 2021/22 rising to £1 billion a year by 2030 as the number of 75 year olds grows and the price of the TV licence increases with inflation. The cost is around 15% of its current £5 billion a year budget and is more than the total cost of all its radio stations and almost as much as all its TV stations apart from BBC One. The BBC says it cannot afford to pay that full cost without major cuts affecting programmes enjoyed by all licence fee payers. The cost of the means-tested free licence scheme is estimated by the BBC at £250 million a year. However, that assumes that all the 1.5m over 75s who get or could get pension credit will do so and will register for a free licence. That seems very unlikely as take-up of pension credit is highly resistant to change and the cost is much more likely to be between £100m and £150 million a year. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As part of the Charter deal the BBC was allowed to raise the licence fee by inflation from April 2017. It had been frozen since 2010 as part of the previous Charter deal when the BBC had refused to take over the cost of free TV licences. It rose in April 2017 by £1.50 to £147, by £3.50 in April 2018 to £150.50, then in April 2019 it went up by £4 to £154.50 and then in April 2020 by £3 to £157.50. There are almost 26 million licences so the inflation rise brought in around £40 million in 2017/18, £90 million in 2018/19, £100 million in 2019/20 and will bring in around £75m in 2020/21. That is nothing like enough to match the decline in the DWP payment of between £200m and £250m a year over the three years 2018/19 to 2020/21 nor to pay the estimated continuing cost of the free licences for over 75s on pension credit. And of course the increase with inflation also has to fund the BBC's other rising costs including pay and services. </div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>People outside the UK</b></div>
<div>
<div>
The change in the rules applies throughout the UK. People living in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man - which are not in the UK - also pay for a TV licence and get a free one if they are aged over 75. Their position is still being discussed.<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<b>Free TV Licence</b></div>
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<b>Version 2.3</b></div>
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Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comLondon, UK51.5073509 -0.127758323.197117063821153 -35.284008299999996 79.817584736178844 35.028491700000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-69653498667374136042020-07-20T16:30:00.001-07:002020-07-20T08:27:14.573-07:00MONEY BACK PLASTIC<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you pay for
goods or services by credit or debit card or by a prepaid card you have clear rights
to get your money back if anything goes wrong. So it is always safer to pay by
plastic and you should always do so if you can. With a credit card you have two
separate rights. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Legal right<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you pay
by credit card for an item which costs more than £100 and up to £30,000 then
the credit card provider has a joint legal liability with the retailer for the
goods or services you buy. <span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 19.26px;">I</span>f the product or service goes wrong you can
claim the full cost back from the credit card provider. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For example,
you pay for a holiday or flight and the firm goes bust. Or you buy clothes
online and they do not arrive. Or you purchase an electronic device which stops
working after a week. Or you pay for an online service which is a fraud. In all
those cases you can use your legal right to get your money back from your
credit card provider. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The legal right covers purchases made anywhere in the world – whether
you are buying in person abroad, or you pay online or by phone. <o:p></o:p>Note the price limit applies to each item not the total amount of the bill. So two items of £80 each bought at the same time are not covered but one item of £160 is.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It is called
your ‘section 75’ (or s.75) right because it comes from that section of the
Consumer Credit Act 1974. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Of course,
it is usually best to go first to the retailer or supplier to get your money
back. But if they refuse or have disappeared or gone bust then the credit card provider
must refund the whole cost. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Even if you
just pay for part of the purchase on a credit card and the rest in some other
way s.75 covers you for the whole purchase price if that falls within the
limits. So if you buy a £750 sofa and pay a 10% deposit of £75 on a credit card
and then you pay the balance in cash, you can claim a refund of the whole
amount from your credit card provider if the sofa doesn’t arrive or is faulty. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There is no
time limit on making a s.75 claim but it is always best to make a claim as soon
as possible. If the purchase was more than six years ago you may find it more
difficult as that is the normal limit on legal claims.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Section 75
rights apply to every credit card – Visa, MasterCard, or American Express
(credit cards but not its charge cards).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Contract right<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If you pay
by debit card, credit card, or prepaid card you have a separate right to get
your money back called chargeback. It is part of the contract between Visa, MasterCard,
or American Express and the bank or firm that provides the card. Chargeback generally
has no upper or lower limits, but MasterCard won’t consider claims for items
that cost less than £10. Chargeback is most useful for plastic card purchases
not covered by s.75. It does not apply to American Express charge cards but American
Express credit cards are covered by it (and, of course, they are covered by s.75).
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Chargeback
covers the same problems as s.75 – goods that are defective, do not arrive, are
fraudulent, or where the firm goes bust. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There are
time limits for claiming which are quite complex. Normally you have to claim
within 120 days – about four months – of realising something has gone wrong.
But there is also an absolute time limit of 540 days which is about 18 months. So
claim as soon as you know something has gone wrong. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
chargeback procedure involves your bank going to the bank of the supplier and
trying to recover money from them. The supplier’s bank will then ask the supplier to provide the money. If the supplier refuses then its bank has to refund you if you have a valid calim. Some guides and some banks suggest it depends on the firm you paid agreeing to refund their bank. That is not true. If can only refuse to pay if it believes that you do not have a valid claim. If you insist you do then it goes to a dispute procedure with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. The card network's decision is final. If it upholds your claim then the suppliers bank has to pay. It is part of its contract with the netork and if it refuses then it will - or should - lose the ability to use Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Although it is not a right under a legal
provision, it is an absolute right guaranteed by Visa, MasterCard, or American
Express and their contracts with the card providers. If your claim is valid the supplier's bank must pay up.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Many banks
and card providers misunderstand chargeback and frontline staff may well say
that you cannot recover your money or they must wait for the provider to refund
them. If the product has failed or not arrived they are wrong. But if you ultimately lose and the network says your claim is not valid you may have to give the money back.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>How to claim<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Write to
your bank or card provider setting out the details of what has happened and say
you are claiming a full refund under s.75 of the Consumer Credit Act or under
the chargeback procedure. In your initial letter always say that if you do not
get a satisfactory response within eight weeks you will take the claim to the
Financial Ombudsman Service. That tends to concentrate the mind. If the claim
is refused or not resolved within eight weeks then do take it to the <a href="http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm" target="_blank">FinancialOmbudsman Service</a>.
Normally a claim to the Ombudsman costs the financial firm £550. It is free to
you. The Ombudsman upholds most of the claims that reach it. You must go to the
Ombudsman within six months after receiving a final refusal from the card
provider.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Not covered<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Section 75
and chargeback apply when the item you purchased is faulty, goes wrong, doesn’t
turn up, or was fraudulent. They do not apply if you change your mind. However,
if you buy online or over the phone you have an absolute right to reject the
item as long as you tell the supplier within 14 days. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Version 2.0<br />
20 July 2020</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">15730<br />
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Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-33479325047100588832020-06-03T08:30:00.002-07:002020-06-03T02:04:08.956-07:00SMART METERS - DO THEY THINK WE'RE DUMB?<b>UPDATED 3 June 2020</b><br />
<br />
The latest figures indicate the Government is going to miss its revised target to fit 85% of home in Britain with a smart meter by the end of 2024.<br />
<br />
This new target was introduced in September 2019 when it became clear that the original target of fitting or at least offering one to every home in Britain by the the end of 2020 was, literally, unachievable. But now the new one looks out of reach too.<br />
<br />
By the first <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-meters-statistics" target="_blank">quarter of 2020</a> just over 19 million smart meters had been installed in homes, split about 57:43 between electricity and gas. The number of installations has fallen from its peak of 1.3 million in the last quarter of 2017 to just 984,685 in the first quarter of 2020. A year ago I said that at the current rate of fitting it would be be mid to late 2026 before the target was reached. That remains the case.<br />
<br />
To install the remaining 25 million smart meters by the target date would require 1.3 million fitted every quarter. In 2019 the average was just over a million a quarter. The rate is falling - and will have been practically shut down by coronavirus - so even at a million it would take 25 quarters which takes us to the first few months of 2026.<br />
<br />
The trade body energy UK <a href="https://www.energylivenews.com/2019/11/15/target-of-deploying-smart-meters-to-85-of-homes-by-2024-is-impossible/" target="_blank">warned the Government</a> in November that the target was unreachable and the best it could hope for was just over two thirds of homes fitted by the end of 2024.<br />
<br />
<b>Meters fitted</b><br />
Of the 19.2 million smart meters which had been fitted by the end of March 2020 only 4.3 million were SMETS2, leaving 14.9 million of the early version called SMETS1. Despite their name they are not smart enough to cope when the customer changes supplier and will normally go dumb or, to use the official phrase, 'operate in traditional mode'. The latest figures show that 3.7 million of these SMETS1 meters have gone dumb and BEIS has told me that "the vast majority is likely to be a result" of customers switching supplier.<br />
<br />
So in addition to the 25 million traditional meters that need replacing another 15 million SMETS1 meters need upgrading.<br />
<br />
Since <a href="https://smartenergycodecompany.co.uk/latest-news/smets1-end-date-derogations/" target="_blank">15 March 2019</a> all meters being fitted <a href="https://smartenergycodecompany.co.uk/latest-news/beis-response-to-consultation-on-smets1-end-date/" target="_blank">should be SMETS2</a>. However, we know that some suppliers have still been fitting SMETS1 meters because SMETS2 are in short supply and they still have SMETS1 meters in their stores. The latest report for Quarter 1 2020 says "Energy suppliers are now installing second generation smart meters (SMETS2) as the
default choice <b><i>in most cases</i></b>." My emphasis. It clearly implies some SMETS1 meters are still being installed.<br />
<br />
There are plans to upgrade SMETS1 meters to operate with any supplier. They will still not be SMETS2 meters but the workaround will at least mean they can support switching supplier. This process is known as enrolment into the DCC network (described below) and it was due to begin in July 2019. The target date to upgrade all SMETS1 meters is still the end of 2020. It is not clear to me yet what progress has been made but we do know that 3.7m SMETS1 meters are still operating in dumb mode.<br />
<br />
<b>Voluntary</b><br />
Customers are free to choose whether or not to have a smart meter fitted. But the large companies are more and more trying to make it seem inevitable. Some are even booking appointments without agreement others are cold-calling and sending texts to customers. This hyperactivity was because if they missed the original 31 December 2020 target they could be fined. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/15/edf-energy-to-pay-350000-smart-meter-penalty">EDF was fined £350,000</a> for missing its 'milestone target' for fitting meters. These milestone targets are secret and Ofgem refuses to reveal them despite an FOI request. Ofgem also confirmed that any SMETS1 meters fitted after 15 March 2019 will not count towards those milestone targets.<br />
<br />
Most major suppliers now have at least one tariff where agreeing to a smart meter is part of the terms and conditions. Regulator Ofgem says such terms are within its rules as long as <span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">"communications are
transparent and accurate, including around any smart meter only tariffs they
are offering.</span><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">"</span><br />
<br />
Not all homes can have smart meters. Rural areas, tall blocks of flats, buildings with thick walls, and meters in odd locations can all prevent installation. And the target by the end of 2024 is only to fit them to 85% of homes - leaving between four and five million homes without one.<br />
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<b>What smart meters do</b><br />
Smart meters are not in fact very clever. They simply report back to the supplier how much electricity and gas the customer uses each day and, with the customer's permission, every half hour. More frequent reporting may be available in future.<br />
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The meter also feeds some information about current use to what is called an 'In Home Display' or IHD. If you have both electricity and gas there will be one IHD which covers both electricity and gas. It will normally be mains-powered and fixed in position but there will be an option for a separate portable battery powered unit. The IHD can show how much fuel is currently being used and can display the cost in £.p. Some of them will have a traffic light system - glowing green when consumption is low through amber to red when it is high. They can also do calculations of past and future use. Some reports suggest that if the IHD is switched off for any reason it is difficult or impossible to get it back online and recording usage accurately.<br />
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<b>Costs</b><br />
The costs of the smart meter programme are certain, though it is inevitable now that they will increase above their current estimates. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-cost-benefit-analysis-2019" target="_blank">latest cost/benefit analysis</a> was published in September 2019. It is still priced in 2011 pounds and to get to a current 2020 cost these figures should be multiplied by 1.17. It estimates that manufacturing and installing 53 million meters, communication devices, and IHDs in 30 million premises will cost £7.5 billion. There is also a new communications infrastructure network called DCC which will cost £2.9bn. That was due to be completed late in 2015 but was in fact not switched on until November 2016 and was still being tested In 2018. It now seems to be working with the 4.3 million SMETS2 meters fitted by the end of March 2020. The cost/benefit analysis puts the total costs of the programme over 22 years at £13.5bn. That is around £15.8 billion in today's pounds.<br />
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That cost is more than £500 per household and is paid through higher electricity and gas bills. Those payments have begun. In 2017 all major suppliers and some smaller ones have put up the cost of electricity by 10% to 15% and each of them blames that rise in part on smart meters. That process continued in 2018. <br />
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<b>Savings</b><br />
Estimates of the savings are more speculative.<br />
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<b> * Customers</b> will save money because they will use the information from the IHD to cut their energy consumption. That is the theory and the saving from that is put at £6.2bn over 22 years based on a 3% cut in electricity use and 2.2% in gas use (and just 0.5% for prepayment gas customers). The savings figure assumes that just one in three customers will achieve these savings.<br />
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Achieving those savings requires active engagement by customers. But many will not be engaged and will end up paying more. A report by the old Department for Energy and Climate Change on some pilot smart meter installations found that initially 96% used their IHD but about four out of ten disconnected them during the research. None were able to identify any clear savings due to the IHD. The Public Accounts Committee estimated in 2014 that customers would save on average about £26 a year. A <a href="https://www.comparethemarket.com/media-centre/news/smart-meters-driving-greater-awareness/">survey by a price comparison site</a> in July 2018 (on a small and perhaps not representative sample) found that less than half (49%) of its sample of 678 people with a smart meter had reduced energy usage. And as standing charges grow - in 2019 they accounted for <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/11/how-to-avoid-paying-a-standing-charge-on-your-energy-bills/" target="_blank">13.5% of the typical bill </a>- the scope for reducing bills by cutting energy use decreases.<br />
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Customers will also gain, if they choose to, by faster switching from one supplier to another. The process can take weeks now but a 24 hour service is promised. They will also benefit from suppliers sending an accurate monthly bill of energy used rather than sending out estimated bills. Though they will then lose the advantage of smoothing their bills over the year. <br />
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In the 2019 Cost benefit analysis there is a new saving allocated to customers. It is £1.4 billion from what it called 'time savings' which it says is a monetary value on "reduced time consumers spend interacting with the energy system". That includes reading the meter, sending the results to the supplier, calling the firm with complaints or questions and, in the case of prepayment customers, travelling to a shop to get their key charged up. It comes to 32 minutes per year for credit meter customers and around three hours per year for prepayment customers. Halve those times for customers who only have electricity.<br />
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<b>* Energy suppliers</b> will save an estimated £8.1 billion. The biggest chunk - £2.3bn - will be from ending meter reading and other home visits. Reduced customer enquiries and complaints will save £1.2bn. Another £1bn will be saved by managing pre-payment customers better and there is a big saving of £1.2bn from reducing the cost of customers switching supplier. A further £1.9bn is saved by managing debt better and reducing theft.<br />
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<b>* Networks and the generators</b> will save £1.7bn between them from smoothing the peaks and troughs of demand and generating less power.<br />
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* Finally, <b>carbon related benefits and air quality improvements</b> will add £2bn to bring total savings to £19.5bn, of which £9.8 billion is saved by the energy industry directly.<br />
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These figures from the 2019 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/831716/smart-meter-roll-out-cost-benefit-analysis-2019.pdf" target="_blank">cost/benefit analysis</a> are in 2011 pounds. Actual costs in 2020 pounds will be 17% higher. Even in constant terms the total cost of £13.5 billion is £2.5 billion more than the 2016 assessment. The cost is being paid by energy customers through their bills.<br />
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<b>Who gains?</b><br />
Less than a third of the savings will be made directly by consumers, though if you add in the value of the time saved that comes to 39%. Half the savings will be made by the industry. The hope is, of course, that suppliers, generators, and transmitters of electricity and gas will pass some of those savings on. They may. But some of their savings - on debt management and prepayment meters for example - will come at a direct cost to the customers affected though they may be passed on to others.<br />
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So while the customers will pay for the £13.5 billion cost of the smart meter programme through their bills, the savings of £6.2 billion will only be gained by those who adjust their behaviour and and the £9.8 billion saved by the industry will only be felt by customers if the industry passes on its own savings to customers in lower prices. It is not at all clear that the £2 billion rather speculative carbon related and air quality savings will ever reach consumers' pockets.<br />
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The energy industry has a very poor record in passing on savings. In 2014 they took many months to pass any of the gains from the fall in the wholesale price of gas and none reduced electricity prices even though much of that is generated by burning gas.<br />
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<b>Extra costs</b>.<br />
The impact assessment does not take account of two significant extra costs.<br />
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First, bills will no longer be estimated as they will be based on actual usage over a month. That is promoted by the Government as good news for consumers. But it will be expensive for gas and electricity suppliers. For many years they have encouraged customers to agree to pay estimated bills monthly by direct debit rather than quarterly based on meter readings. The result is that the firms have kept hundreds of millions of pounds on their books belonging to customers. The value of that is shown by the fact that customers who pay a more accurate quarterly bill can be charged 7% extra or more more than monthly direct debit customers. If they no longer make that saving then prices will inevitably rise. Some customers may prefer to keep estimated bills. They are at least constant and that can help with budgeting.<br />
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This money the suppliers routinely hang onto is separate from the £400m that Ofgem found they had wrongly kept when customers switched to another supplier. In February 2014 it ordered firms to refund this money. That event does not bode well for hopes that the industry would voluntarily return to customers the savings it makes from smart meters.<br />
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Second, the DCC has incurred expenses planning and eventually implementing the upgrade of SMETS1 meters. The <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/press-release/rolling-out-smart-meters/#" target="_blank">National Audit office </a>estimated in November 2018 that will add another half a billion pounds to the cost.<br />
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<b>Time of use</b><br />
The report also makes no assessment of the costs or savings to be made from what are called Time of Use tariffs. Once the smart meter network is rolled out suppliers will start making customers manage the load, especially in electricity supply. In other words when demand is high the price goes up. When demand is low the price comes down. And with half hour reporting - and it may be more frequent in future - time of use tariffs could be very specific.<br />
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For example, energy could be more expensive between 7am and 9am when most people are getting up, putting on the kettle, and making breakfast. Or between 5pm and 8pm when evening meals are being cooked. The result would be that poorer families could not afford to eat dinner at dinner time.<br />
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Ultimately the cost of power could rise during the adverts in TV soaps or the interval in football matches when millions put the kettle on make a cup of tea.<br />
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Time of use tariffs mean that the customer is being drafted in to manage the national power load. By pricing people out of energy use at peak times the peaks and troughs of usage - so irksome to the engineers managing the grid - are smoothed out.<br />
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Time of use tariffs are particularly being touted for charging electric vehicles overnight for those drivers who have a drive or garage at home where they can charge them up. The current specification for home vehicle chargers specifies that suppliers will be able to decide the time of day that the energy is fed to them.<br />
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<b>Debt and disconnection</b><br />
Smart meters will also enable energy suppliers to manage debt and disconnection remotely. Customers can be switched from credit payment to prepayment by the supplier without changing the meter. It also means that if someone has not paid their bill then the supplier will be able to disconnect them remotely. There are currently safeguards about who can be disconnected and when. But once the conditions are met the process of doing so will be much simpler. In fact though there were only 17 disconnections in 2017.<br />
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<b>Organisation</b><br />
The delivery of this programme is in the hands of the six large and dozens of smaller energy suppliers. They each fit the meters for their own customers. Which could mean dozens of different engineers visiting the same street or block of flats to do the same job in neighbouring homes.<br />
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The central Data & Communication Company (DCC) is run by Capita. It will be responsible for collecting the data sent back by smart meters and forwarding it to the right energy supplier, the networks and energy services companies. Others may also get access to it. In 2014 the Information Commissioner expressed concerns about the security and use of this data. There is currently no provision to let customers know specifically who has access to it.<br />
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The data network will be run by two companies - Arqiva will cover northern England and Scotland using a long-range radio network and Telefonica UK will cover the rest of England and Wales using standard cellular telephone technology with what it calls 'mesh technology' to fill the gaps in the cellular network. Unlike individual customers the devices will be able to roam between suppliers to find the strongest signal. The target is to cover 99.25% of dwellings - which if achieved will leave 225,000 premises unconnected. However, remote dwellings, tall buildings, and multi-occupied premises are problems that have not been solved. Some in the industry have said that <a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-4291166/Not-smart-New-energy-meters-won-t-work-1-3-homes.html" target="_blank">30% of homes cannot be integrated </a>into the DCC grid. The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy has not denied that figure.<br />
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Meanwhile <a href="https://www.smartenergygb.org/en/-/media/SmartEnergy/essential-documents/essential-documents/english/2019-Annual-Report-Final.ashx" target="_blank">Smart Energy GB</a> spent £87m over 2018 and 2019 to persuade us all that the smart meter programme is a good thing. What it calls building consumer awareness and understanding of smart meters and encouraging consumer engagement. It included advertising such as the Gas and Leccy characters and a Smarter Britain bus tour with daytime TV housing gurus Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer - who admitted he didn't have a smart meter before he was paid to promote them. <br />
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In November 2018 the Advertising Standards Authority told SmartEnergyGB to stop claiming smart meters were free as we were all paying for them - about £400 per household - through higher bills. And in March 2019 it ruled that a claim smart meters saved people money was false and should be withdrawn. They only save money if we change our habits to use less.<br />
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<b>Criticisms</b><br />
On 25 November 2018 the <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/rolling-out-smart-meters/" target="_blank">National Audit Office</a> published a report on smart meters and warned<br />
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<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">"The facts are that the programme is late, the costs are escalating, and in 2017 the cost of installing smart meters was 50% higher than the Department assumed. 7.1 million extra SMETS1 meters have been rolled out because the Department wanted to speed up the programme. The Department knows that a large proportion of SMETS1 meters currently lose smart functionality after a switch in electricity supplier and there is real doubt about whether SMETS1 will ever provide the same functionality as SMETS2. The full functionality of the system is also dependent on the development of technology that is not yet developed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">The facts summarised above, and many more, are not fatal to the viability and value for money of the programme. However, there are serious issues that need to be addressed if Smart Meters is to progress successfully and deliver value for money."</span></div>
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On 15 October 2018 a revised <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8119/CBP-8119.pdf">House of Commons Library briefing</a> set out the difficult task of meeting the 31 December 2020 deadline and has a lot of useful background information. <br />
<br />
In July 2018 the British Infrastructure Group of MPs and Peers published their report <a href="http://www.britishinfrastructuregroup.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/BIG-Not-So-Smart-Full-Report.pdf" target="_blank">Not So Smart</a> which said that the saving per household would probably be only £11 a year and that the 2020 deadline was not achievable - it recommended a two year extension. It also raised concerns about whether the savings by the energy suppliers and the networks would be passed on to consumers. It was concerned that customers would not know what was happening to their data.<br />
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On 7 March 2015 the <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmenergy/665/66503.htm" target="_blank">Energy and Climate Change Selec</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmenergy/665/66503.htm" target="_blank">t Committee</a> expressed concerns about delays and unresolved challenges in the smart meter programme. "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Without significant and immediate changes to the present policy, the programme runs the risk of falling far short of expectations. At worst it could prove to be a costly failure."</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #292f33; line-height: 20px;">In December 2014 the Ontario auditor general Bonnie Lysyk said that the state's <a href="http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/12/09/smart_meters_have_few_benefits_for_big_costs_ag_report.html" target="_blank">smart meter programme</a> had cost twice its estimate and made few if any savings for customers or suppliers and failed to reduce energy consumption.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #292f33; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #292f33;"><span style="background-color: white;">3 June 2020</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #292f33; font-family: inherit;">vs 4.01</span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #292f33; font-family: inherit;">19777</span></div>Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-8180764728539585062020-05-22T21:58:00.001-07:002020-05-22T22:15:12.187-07:00MARRIED WOMEN PENSIONERS SHORT-CHANGED<b>SUMMARY</b><br />
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<b>Tens of thousands of married women in their seventies or older are being paid too little state
pension. Some could be owed £4000 a year. </b></div>
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<b>You are almost certainly entitled to extra state pension i</b><b>f </b></div>
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<li><b>your husband was born before 17 March 1943</b></li>
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<b>AND</b></div>
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<ul>
<li><b>you get less than £80.45 a week state pension</b></li>
</ul>
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<b>Some slightly younger women - aged at lest 67 - and some women with younger husbands may also be due extra money.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>The women affected get the old state pension, not the new one which began for those who reached state pension age from 6 April 2016.</b><br />
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<b>These married women </b><b>are normally entitled to a top up to bring their basic pension up £80.45 a week. However, many did not claim it or it was not paid due to an error by the Department for Work and Pensions. See 'Married women' below.</b></div>
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<b>Some divorced or widowed women may also be entitled to a bigger state pension. See 'Widowed or divorced' below.</b></div>
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<b>Anyone aged 80 or more - men and women, married or not - should normally get a state pension of at least £80.45 a week. See 'over 80' below</b></div>
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<b>DETAILS</b></div>
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<b>Married women </b></div>
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Nowadays most married women have their own state pension paid for with their own National Insurance contributions. But millions of older women do not. Women born before April 1950 needed 39 years of contributions to get a full pension. If they had fewer than that their pension was reduced and women with fewer than 10 years contributions got no state pension of their own. </div>
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Many married women did not earn enough at work to pay National Insurance contributions or, if they did, they chose to pay the reduced married woman's contribution - known in the past as the 'married woman's stamp'. It did not count towards a state pension. The result is that millions of older married women are only entitled to a reduced state pension of their own, or none at all.</div>
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To help them there is a special rule that when a husband reaches state pension age his wife can get a pension
based on his National Insurance Contributions. That married woman's pension is 60% of the basic pension – and currently comes to £80.45 a week. </div>
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If a married woman has a basic state pension of less than £80.45 a week
or none at all it is topped up to that amount when her husband reaches state pension age. That applies even if he – but not she – gets the new state pension (men born from 6 April 1951 get the new state pension). </div>
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Nowadays that top up to £80.45 a week should be paid automatically when her husband reaches state pension age. However,
before 17 March 2008 a married woman who already had a pension when her husband
reached pension age had to apply for the upgrade. </div>
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Research done by former Pensions Minister Steve Webb indicates that
there could be more than 100,000 women whose husbands were born before 17 March
1943 who get a state pension of less than £80.45 a week but who did not apply for the top-up. Those women were born before 17 March 1948 and are now aged 72 or more.</div>
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They can apply for the higher pension now. It will top up their state pension to £80.45 a week and the top up will be backdated for a year. A woman with no state pension will get £4183 plus £80.45 a week for life. </div>
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There may also be some younger women born between 17 March 1948 and 5 April 1953 and some women with younger husbands - born 17 March 1943 or later - whose pension should have been upgraded
automatically but was not. Steve Webb's figures show that error did happen in many cases. They can apply for this pension now and, because the mistake was made by the Department for Work and Pensions, it will be backdated to the date it should have been paid. That can be up to 12 years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Any married woman who has a basic state pension of less than £80.45 a week should claim the extra. She will probably be successful.</b></div>
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To see if you qualify use <a href="https://www.lcp.uk.com/is-your-state-pension-being-underpaid/" target="_blank">this calculator</a> provided by Steve Webb at Lane Clark & Peacock. </div>
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You can claim your extra pension either online at the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service" target="_blank">Pension Service</a> or call free 0800 169 0154.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Widowed or divorced</b></div>
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A widow can use her late husband's record to get a state pension if that would be more than was due on hers. In most cases her reduced pension can be boosted to 100% of the basic state pension - currently £134.25 a week. She can also inherit some or all of his SERPS.</div>
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A woman who is divorced can use her ex-husband's National Insurance record instead of her own up to the date of the divorce. If she has had more than one husband then it is only the record of the most recent one she can use to boost her state pension. This should be done when she claims her state pension. But it may not have been so it is worth checking.</div>
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<b>Women who are widowed or divorced and get less than the full 100% basic state pension of £134.25 should ask the DWP to check they are getting all they are entitled to. If it was worked out wrongly in the past it could be backdated to the date of that error. </b></div>
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Call the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service" target="_blank">Pension Service</a> free on 0800 169 0154.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Over 80</b></div>
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Once you reach 80 you are entitled to a state pension of £80.45 a week if your existing state pension is less than that or you do not get one at all. To qualify you must be </div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>aged 80 or more </li>
<li>live in the UK or the EU when you reached 80 or when you claim</li>
<li>have lived in England, Scotland, or Wales for at least ten years out of the last twenty.</li>
</ul>
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It is not means-tested and does not depend on your National Insurance record. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/over-80-pension/eligibility" target="_blank">full rules</a> are here. </div>
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<b>If you are over 80 but get less state pension than £80.45 or none at all then claim it now. It can be backdated up to a year. </b> </div>
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You can claim your extra pension either online at the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service" target="_blank">Pension Service</a> or call free 0800 169 0154.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b>Exceptions</b><br />
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<b>Not every married woman</b> with an old state pension of less than £80.45 will be due extra pension. Some husbands themselves had less than a full state pension - they needed 44 years of National Insurance contributions then to get a full one. If he gets less than the full basic state pension – currently £134.25 a week - then his wife will also get a lower married woman's pension. However, it is his basic state pension that counts (called Category A), so ignore all extras like additional pension - what we used to call SERPS - graduated retirement benefit, or extra pension for not claiming it at 65.<br />
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If he was originally given less than a full basic state pension then his wife’s pension on his contributions will be 60% of that and will be less than £80.45 a week. But she may still be getting too little and should claim.<br />
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People living <b>outside the UK </b>in a country where the state pension is frozen - it does not rise with inflation - may well be getting less than £80.45 a week and not be entitled to any top up. </div>
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Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072634147812210668.post-61561382460458936892020-04-05T00:10:00.004-07:002023-04-07T05:31:30.545-07:00WHY DOES THE TAX YEAR REALLY BEGIN ON 6 APRIL?<br />
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<b>The tax year in the UK starts on 6 April and runs through to the following 5 April. To find out why we
need to go back a l o
n g way.</b></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Romans</b></div>
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Just over
2000 years ago, in AD 14, the first Roman Emperor Augustus died. Among his many
legacies was the calendar we use today. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It was
initially devised by his predecessor Julius Caesar. By the time Gaius Julius
came to power the Roman calendar was in a mess. One reason was that it was a
secret religious document controlled by the priest class and not subject to
outside scrutiny. Their job was to make the calendar work and determine the
dates of religious holidays, festivals, and the days when business could and
could not be conducted. But they had done it badly for many years and Caesar
inherited a calendar that was out of step with the seasons by a quarter of a
year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He called in
an Egyptian astronomer Sosigenes and decided to put things right. He added 90
days to the year 46 BC to bring the calendar into line with the seasons so that
the spring equinox was on 25 March and the year began on 1 January as it was
supposed to do. Caesar decreed that in future the calendar would follow the
solar year of 365.25 days divided into twelve months of 30 or 31 days apart
from the 28 day February to which would be added the leap day every fourth
year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Two years
later, on the Ides of March 44 BC (15 March), Julius Caesar was assassinated on
the steps of the Senate. As was their wont, the priests who were left in charge
of the calendar mistook the instructions and added the extra day every third
year (they counted inclusively 1-2-3-4 so to them the third year was called the
fourth). <o:p></o:p></div>
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This error
went unnoticed for more than thirty years and was finally corrected by Julius's
successor, Augustus. By then the seventh month had been named after Julius and
on Augustus's death in AD 14 the eighth month was named for him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Apart from
that one change the amended Julian calendar with the same months of the same
lengths and a leap year every fourth year has run continuously since the year 8
BC. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Church</b></div>
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But one small
correction was needed. The Julian Calendar assumes the year is 365.25 days long
- hence the extra leap day every four years. In fact the year is very slightly
shorter than that. So over many centuries the calendar began to get more and
more out of step with the seasons. Towards the end of the 16th century it was
almost two weeks ahead of the Sun. Pope Gregory XIII decided to correct it. He
took ten days out of the calendar - which fixed the spring equinox around 20/21
of March - and decreed that in future there would be no Leap Year in century
years unless they were also divisible by 400. Taking out three days every 400
years would almost precisely align the new Gregorian calendar with the time it
takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The change
was made in October 1582 and much of Europe soon followed. But the Protestant
UK refused to obey a Papal decree and no change was made in the UK or in what
were then its Colonies and Dominions. So our calendar got further out of step
with the seasons and of course our dates were different from much of Europe. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Britain</b></div>
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It took
nearly 200 years before the British Government decided to make the necessary
changes. The Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 decreed that Wednesday 2 September 1752 would
be followed by Thursday 14 September thus removing eleven days and bringing the
calendar back where it should be. Note that the weekdays were not changed - the weeks we use have proceeded unchanged since the eight day Roman week was changed by the adoption of Christianity in 325 AD. </div>
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The Act also set the start of the new year on 1 January. Many people had reverted to starting it on the old Roman
equinox day of 25 March. You can still find eighteenth century books published
early in the year with two dates such as '1724/25'. They were published in what we would call 1725 but before the new year on 25 March. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But there
was a problem. Tax was due over a whole year. So if there were 11 fewer days in
1752 tax would be due 11 days early and over a shorter period. At the time the
tax year began on that Roman spring equinox day, 25 March. It was called Lady
Day and was one of four quarter days when rent and other payments fell due. The quarter days are</div>
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<ul>
<li>March 25
(Lady Day)</li>
<li>June 24 (Midsummer Day)</li>
<li>September 29 (Michaelmas Day)</li>
<li>December 25 (Christmas Day)</li>
</ul>
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In the 1750s the tax year was not a concept as it is today. We are now taxed on our income which arises during the tax year 6 April to the following 5 April. But there was no income tax in 1750 - that innovation was nearly 50 years away. However, there were regular tax payments to be made - Land Tax and Window Tax for example were paid on the quarter days and there was no concession to the shorter year. The Land Tax year ran from 25 March and that continued until the tax was abolished in 1963. The quarter days too remained as they were. So people paid rent on the same day they always had. So for the quarter June 24 to September 28 1752 they would have paid the same rent for eleven days less in their property. Similarly, servants who were normally paid on a quarter day would have been paid the same amount for eleven days less work. To resolve that problem tables were published <span style="font-family: inherit;">suggesting how much the pay or rent should be reduced. Over the whole year the reduction should be 7¼d in the £. But over a quarter it would be 2s 5d in the pound, or just under an eighth. One publication (<i>The True Briton</i>, 20 September 1752, pp 118-119: from O'Brien, below, App.51) suggested using exactly an eighth which is 2s 6d, erring on the side of the employer for wages but on the side of the tenant for rent. There is evidence in a brilliant book by Robert Poole (<i>Time's Alteration</i>, 1998) that there was widespread confusion. Some payments were abated while others were allowed to run to the 'old' quarter days 11 days after the calendar dates. The opportunity for error and cheating people was extensive. The complications lasted for at least 50 years. </span></div>
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<b>Extra day</b></div>
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If the eleven days were added to the start of the Land Tax year on 25 March you get to 5 April for the start of the tax year. That is still one day short of its present starting date. And in in 1758 Window Tax was collected for the first time 'from and after' 5 April. That is the first mention of 5 April in the context of the tax year. Subsequent Acts also used that phrase from which historians have concluded that the tax year began on 5 April and ran to the following 4th April. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many theories have been advanced for where the extra day came from. The simplest and neatest explanation suggests that from 1753 the tax year should have begun on 5 April but the extra day was added in 1800. That year would have been a Leap Year under the old calendar but not under the new Gregorian Calendar as century years (except those divisible by 400) were no longer leap years. It is said there were protests. If people were denied their extra day of 29 February then they would be paying the same taxes but over a shorter period than they expected. So the Government extended the tax year by a day so it ended on 5 April and the next one began on 6 April 1800. There is little evidence for this. But you will find a version of it repeated many times if you google the question 'why does the tax year begin on 6 April'. Indeed, I had it myself in an earlier blog on this topic.<br />
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In any event that explanation failed to deal with 1900 except to say that no-one demanded the extra day for the tax year and the question did not arise in 2000 as it was divisible by 400 and so was a leap year. Incidentally, Microsoft Excel still counts the year 1900 as a Leap Year 250 years after the reform that stopped it being one. It blames Lotus whose spreadsheet software it bought in 1995. </div>
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<b>From</b></div>
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However there is a better and more complete explanation. Evidence has been gathered by Alan O'Brien in his massive self-published book <i><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/alan-obrien/why-the-tax-year-begins-on-sixth-april/ebook/product-24400017.html">Why the Tax Year Begins on Sixth April</a></i> (2018) (here the etext is free and you can also buy the 672 pp paperback cheaper than on Amazon). It suggests that the whole question is misplaced. He looks in great detail at the legal use of the word 'from'. He provides evidence that the phrases 'from 25 March' and 'from and after 25 March' both mean that the year did in fact begin on the next day 26 March and end on 25th March following. And the phrase 'the year ending on the twenty fifth day of March' is found in a 1799 Land Tax Act. If you add eleven days to 26 March you get to 6 April and he says that is why the present tax year begins on that date. </div>
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I found his book very persuasive. Not least because there are clear statements in tax laws from 1758 that the tax year ends on 5 April and absolutely none that it ends on 4 April - a date not mentioned once. The first Act to introduce an income tax in 1799 clearly did collect tax on income in the year which ended on 5 April 1800. It was the phrase which said that the year ran from 5 April 1799 until 5 April 1800 which may have caused the confusion suggesting an extra day was added for the Leap Year. But other words in the Act show that is not the case. The legal meaning of the word 'from' shows the first income tax was charged over a year beginning on 6 April 1799 and ending on 5 April 1800. As it does now.<br />
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Paul Lewis</div>
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Paul Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617845361376223988noreply@blogger.com