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Consumer Advice: Money-Saving Expert Martin Lewis gives you advice on claiming back money you didn't know you had
By: Martin Lewis
Martun Lewis
Get back old Tesco vouchers
Totally FREE £20 energy saving plug
Every mainland UK household can grab a totally free LIME energy-saving plug worth £20, a water widget and flush bag. The plug saves energy by automatically switching appliances OFF rather than standby. Just enter the code 'FLUSH' on freegreengadgets.co.uk before Mon 6 Dec 2010. The kit will be delivered within 28 days. There is no P&P to pay.
Free reply to kids from Santa!
Write to 'Santa, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, SAN TA1', before 15 Dec, and his chums at the Post Office will ensure he writes back. Ensure they include their name, gender (for example, I've been a good boy/girl this year) and a reply address.
Martun Lewis
Money-Saving Expert Martin Lewis gives consumer advice
25 November 2010
I’m about to write a giant IOU. Millions of people can quickly reclaim cash from Tesco or their old mobile, broadband or phone company, but don’t know about it - we could be talking £100s.
In the past I’ve yelled about reclaiming bank charges, council tax, payment protection and more, yet these two new reclaims are much easier, and if you’re eligible the cash will come at speed.
Reclaim cash from old broadband, mobile & phone companies
If you’ve switched provider in the last six years, there’s a very real chance it owes you money. Some of the big providers, including Sky, TalkTalk and Three, haven’t been refunding your credit when you leave them.
The regulator Ofcom believes up to £10 million of unclaimed credit is available, and it only takes a couple of minutes on the phone to get it back.
Why might you have built up credit?
It may be that you were paying line rental or other costs in advance. So, having built up a credit, when you left there were a couple of months left.
Alternatively, if you signed up for a promotional deal, this is often paid via a credit - for example, twelve months for the price of nine. Normally you’ll pay the monthly fee, but have a credit on your account at the end of the period.
Or you may even have been told you would receive a credit to your account after complaining about something, but never actually received it.
Why haven’t they paid out?
Mobile and broadband providers should automatically refund any credit left over when you switch companies. In the past, few have done this - with the exception of a few good guys like BT, Orange and the Post Office.
The rest retain these balances unless you call and ask. And even though many are changing their ways thanks to moves by Ofcom, this won’t affect balances from past switches.
How much could I get?
Since I launched this reclaim campaign a few weeks ago, I’ve already heard of a number of successes over £100. For example, this comment from my forum: “Did as instructed and to my amazement have £144 refund from TalkTalk, well impressed.”
Or the more representative, “Fantastic, called Sky and I have credit on my account that I didn’t know about. £6.42. It’s going to take three weeks to show up but it’s better than nothing at all.”
How do I reclaim?
In most cases, just call up your old provider and ask it if you have any leftover credit on your account. This can go back six years in England and Wales or five years in Scotland, as periods are limited by the statute of limitations. Step by step guidance for each company is available at www.moneysavingexpert.com/billreclaim
In the past I’ve yelled about reclaiming bank charges, council tax, payment protection and more, yet these two new reclaims are much easier, and if you’re eligible the cash will come at speed.
Reclaim cash from old broadband, mobile & phone companies
If you’ve switched provider in the last six years, there’s a very real chance it owes you money. Some of the big providers, including Sky, TalkTalk and Three, haven’t been refunding your credit when you leave them.
The regulator Ofcom believes up to £10 million of unclaimed credit is available, and it only takes a couple of minutes on the phone to get it back.
Why might you have built up credit?
It may be that you were paying line rental or other costs in advance. So, having built up a credit, when you left there were a couple of months left.
Alternatively, if you signed up for a promotional deal, this is often paid via a credit - for example, twelve months for the price of nine. Normally you’ll pay the monthly fee, but have a credit on your account at the end of the period.
Or you may even have been told you would receive a credit to your account after complaining about something, but never actually received it.
Why haven’t they paid out?
Mobile and broadband providers should automatically refund any credit left over when you switch companies. In the past, few have done this - with the exception of a few good guys like BT, Orange and the Post Office.
The rest retain these balances unless you call and ask. And even though many are changing their ways thanks to moves by Ofcom, this won’t affect balances from past switches.
How much could I get?
Since I launched this reclaim campaign a few weeks ago, I’ve already heard of a number of successes over £100. For example, this comment from my forum: “Did as instructed and to my amazement have £144 refund from TalkTalk, well impressed.”
Or the more representative, “Fantastic, called Sky and I have credit on my account that I didn’t know about. £6.42. It’s going to take three weeks to show up but it’s better than nothing at all.”
How do I reclaim?
In most cases, just call up your old provider and ask it if you have any leftover credit on your account. This can go back six years in England and Wales or five years in Scotland, as periods are limited by the statute of limitations. Step by step guidance for each company is available at www.moneysavingexpert.com/billreclaim
Get back old Tesco vouchers
Now this one is fun, and hits all the 15 million holders of Tesco’s Clubcard loyalty scheme. In a nutshell, there’s now a way to check if you’ve any unused vouchers from the last two years and get them reissued - but you need do it quick.
How does Tesco's loyalty scheme work?
Shop at Tesco and present your Clubcard and you earn two points per £1 spent. Then every quarter, these are sent out in the form of vouchers – so 1,000 points is a £10 voucher to spend in store.
How to get back old vouchers
The Tesco website has launched a Clubcard section which lets you view your points and vouchers online. Squirreled away in there is an option to show all the vouchers you’ve had, and whether you’ve used them. Plus, if they're unused you can then access them online, or call to get them reissued (step by step guide to doing this at www.moneysavingexpert.com/tescoreclaim ).
Frankly I’ve been blown away by MoneySavers telling me how much they’ve got back. We’re consistently seeing even people who thought they’d always use their vouchers finding £30 or £40 worth.
Yet do go quickly as vouchers only last two years, so the sooner you reclaim them the further back you can stretch.
Boost the value of your vouchers
How does Tesco's loyalty scheme work?
Shop at Tesco and present your Clubcard and you earn two points per £1 spent. Then every quarter, these are sent out in the form of vouchers – so 1,000 points is a £10 voucher to spend in store.
How to get back old vouchers
The Tesco website has launched a Clubcard section which lets you view your points and vouchers online. Squirreled away in there is an option to show all the vouchers you’ve had, and whether you’ve used them. Plus, if they're unused you can then access them online, or call to get them reissued (step by step guide to doing this at www.moneysavingexpert.com/tescoreclaim ).
Frankly I’ve been blown away by MoneySavers telling me how much they’ve got back. We’re consistently seeing even people who thought they’d always use their vouchers finding £30 or £40 worth.
Yet do go quickly as vouchers only last two years, so the sooner you reclaim them the further back you can stretch.
Boost the value of your vouchers
Once you get the vouchers, whether new or reclaimed ones, don’t automatically spend them in store – as you can more than double their value if you know what you’re doing.
The biggest multiple comes from using them on things in Tesco’s Clubcard Rewards brochure, available online or in store. Here, each £5 in store voucher becomes worth £20 to spend on things like days out, gifts, and jewellery or magazine subscriptions.
Yet this is being devalued on 6 December, when £5 will only become £15 - so if you want to trade in your vouchers for these, get your skates on. Do also note that the values are based on the list prices, so you may be able to buy them cheaper elsewhere. Check prices elsewhere first to ensure you’re redeeming on the right things.
The other way to boost points is Tesco’s current in store Big Christmas Clubcard Exchange promotion, which also ends on 5 December. Here you can double voucher values, in exchange for another type of voucher to spend on specific sectors in store such as toys, baby goods, clothing, or Finest range wines.
Either way the key message is: to maximise your voucher value, act fast.
The biggest multiple comes from using them on things in Tesco’s Clubcard Rewards brochure, available online or in store. Here, each £5 in store voucher becomes worth £20 to spend on things like days out, gifts, and jewellery or magazine subscriptions.
Yet this is being devalued on 6 December, when £5 will only become £15 - so if you want to trade in your vouchers for these, get your skates on. Do also note that the values are based on the list prices, so you may be able to buy them cheaper elsewhere. Check prices elsewhere first to ensure you’re redeeming on the right things.
The other way to boost points is Tesco’s current in store Big Christmas Clubcard Exchange promotion, which also ends on 5 December. Here you can double voucher values, in exchange for another type of voucher to spend on specific sectors in store such as toys, baby goods, clothing, or Finest range wines.
Either way the key message is: to maximise your voucher value, act fast.
Totally FREE £20 energy saving plug
Every mainland UK household can grab a totally free LIME energy-saving plug worth £20, a water widget and flush bag. The plug saves energy by automatically switching appliances OFF rather than standby. Just enter the code 'FLUSH' on freegreengadgets.co.uk before Mon 6 Dec 2010. The kit will be delivered within 28 days. There is no P&P to pay.
Free reply to kids from Santa!
Write to 'Santa, Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, SAN TA1', before 15 Dec, and his chums at the Post Office will ensure he writes back. Ensure they include their name, gender (for example, I've been a good boy/girl this year) and a reply address.
Get Martin’s FREE tips and money-off vouchers emailed straight to you each week by signing up to moneysavingexpert.com/tips
TV money guru Martin Lewis runs the consumer revenge website MoneySavingExpert.com; ensure you get his weekly e-mail so you’re constantly saving money.
