Around 75% of people who have internet at home are also on a networking site, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Many of us like to vent our anger or even praise the services or brands that we have encountered recently. This is useful information for people out there who are waiting on friends and family members to try out a service or product and give their honest opinions on them. But what happens when there are spies who are tracking every little thing that is being said on their company or service? For example recently there was a story about pop singer Lily Allen, she was experiencing problems with her BT internet and vented her anger on Twitter.
After BT ‘internet spies’ saw her comment they immediately contacted her and resolved the problem. There have been many other customers that have been contacted by BT after leaving status updates about the poor service via Facebook status updates. After leaving innocent comments they have been contacted by BT’s customer service asking for more information so they can resolve the problem.
Are the social networking websites safe?
Yes and no, when you sign up to these sites you must check your privacy settings, if you want the whole word to see your information then no it is not safe. By changing your settings to allow only your friends that are on the networking site to see what you have written then ‘outsiders’ will not be able to access this.
There are many companies out there such as easyJet, Lloyds TSB, Carphone Warehouse, BT and many others that are monitoring social networking sites and blogs to see what is being said about them. They will only use this data to help improve their services and contact disgruntled customers who may have an adverse effect on business.
How can we benefit from social networking spies?
There was a customer recently who posted a rant on the internet about poor service and the lack of customer service staff in the call centres as her calls were never picked up or acted on. After just two hours a representative contacted her to sort out the problem. So if you have a blog, social networking site or forum you belong to have a good old fashioned rant and you could be contacted by a customer service representative to help solve your problem. This has worked for many people but remember if you think they are breaking the law by contacting you through a social networking site the lodge a complaint with Information Commissioner.
Most of us know that in each tax year we are given a personal allowance of £10,100, if profit exceeds this amount then the current Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rate is currently 18%. Before April 2008 the CGT rate was as high as 40% so many people have benefited from the decrease down to 18%. There are many things you do not have to pay CGT on such as your car, some gifts and your first or main residence.
It was recently announced that CGT is expected to go up again to the previous 40% threshold; this will affect many people but may strike the hardest for people who own two homes or more. At the moment the housing market has stabilised with many homes being put on the market everyday and since there are not enough buyers to go round at the moment the housing marking is being given a big boom. If CGT increases then the housing market will crash again as many investors and second home owners will be in a rush to sell to avoid the 40% tax they will need to pay to the taxman.
It looks like CGT will go up but not until the next financial year of 2011/12 when this happens there will be too many houses competing for buyers and will therefore cause another crash in the housing market. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to escape paying 40% on CGT but there are ways to not pay temporarily.
Avoid paying capital gains tax
These are both popular methods used by people when it comes to avoiding CGT on property, this is a temporary method as the asset has been signed over but CGT will still need to be paid at some point. When the asset is signed or handed over the new owner will need to pay CGT when they come to sell.
So whether you choose to sell your second home or not CGT will still apply, some people might hold off their plans for selling to see if the threshold will go down again in a few years. In the mean time there is no need for panic neither is there the need to start an influx of selling off property either. The best thing to do is to wait and see what happens.
When travelling abroad whether it is as far as Canada or as near as France every traveller is advised to take out travel insurance. Travel insurance is essentially a back up for finances should anything happen whilst on holiday, such as an accident or illness. If you are to fall ill on holiday or be involved in an accident in a foreign country then you may be obliged to pay foreign medical rates instead of reduced medical aid.
EHIC
The European Health Insurance Card was launched in 2005 replacing the E111 form that was needed to be filled out prior to any holidays taken within the EU. The EHIC is not a replacement for travel insurance as most travel insurance companies will only insure you if you also have a valid EHIC, you should check your travel insurance policy to make sure they will cover you if you don’t have one.
Who is eligible for an EHIC?
Every UK resident is entitled to have the EHIC, you may need to receive treatment whilst abroad so the card will ensure you receive free cover or charged the same fee as the residents in the country you are visiting.
EHIC scam
It was found a while back that there were fraudulent websites that were popping up promising to process an EHIC for a small fee. The websites looked very professional and many UK residents were fooled into buying one from these websites. If they did a little research they would have found that an EHIC is actually free. You can apply for EHIC through your local post office, over the phone or online, the only time you may be charged is if you opt for the Post Office’s check and send service where a small fee of £1.96 will be charged if you choose to send it off yourself then no fee other than the postage fee will apply.
The EHIC is valid for 5 years, after this time you just need to renew the application free of charge so that you can continue to receive cover should you need. As it is free and provided by the government everyone should have a valid card just in case. You need to bring it with you when you travel, leaving it at home or applying for it to late will not help as you will need to show it as proof. Before each holiday within the EU or qualifying countries check to make sure that it is valid and leave plenty of time to apply for a new one if it has expired.
Credit record repair – if you have bad credit it will stop you from getting loans, a mortgage and even a mobile phone. You may be tempted to contact companies that promise to repair your record quickly, there is no such thing so contact credit expert Experian for free advice to get your credit score higher again.
Help with Debts – if you have large debts mounting and you need help the last thing you want to do is pay someone for advice. You’ll find that these companies will contact you from letters or automatic cold calling. Why should you pay for advice that is given out for free? There are many organisations some run by the government that offer help and advice free. You can even look on the internet and join forums that share experiences and advice.
Password help – if you have joined a site and forgotten your password the quickest way to rectify the problem is by email, it’s free too. All companies have a premium rate number that charge you whilst someone just resets your password. You can email or even follow step by step instructions to help you reset it yourself without being left on hold whilst you pay for the call.
Claiming benefits – there are helplines that are charging up to £40 for information that is available free. You can contact citizens advice bureau or even visit the direct.gov website for free information of benefits available to you.
Fraud – many people are aware of fraud so if you are a victim or suspect someone of fraud you can get advice on what to do next. Unfortunately there are websites that are set up with a premium rate number that charges you for them providing advice that is free elsewhere. There are organisations that have a free phone number or the internet that has a wide range of resources to help you for free.
Problems with eBay and PayPal – as they deal with a large volume of transactions daily and worldwide there is a small chance of problems arising. If you do need help then don’t turn to auction helplines to give you advice whilst they charge you £1.50 for it. Instead contact eBay and PayPal directly you won’t be charged and you won’t have a third party involved.
Reclaiming mi-sold protection payment insurance – or PPI’s as they almost often referred to, there are many companies advertising their services but they will need to be paid for their help. Don’t part with your compensation search online for free help to get your money back free.
Contacting customer services – if for whatever reason you cannot find a number of a company and need to call them don’t do it via a search engine. Go directly to the company website and get the number there. You will sometimes find it is free but if they do charge why not email instead.
Opening a bank account – as we all know if you want to open a new bank account then all you need to do is call up or pop into the bank of your choice. There is a company that is charging customers £99 to set up a bank account. They claim that they take the hassle and the paperwork away from you so you don’t have to worry. Opening a bank account is simple, all you need is proof of address and identity, and if you need help you can get it free by contacting citizen’s advice bureau.
Unwanted telephone calls - we all experience cold calling by sales staff in customer call centres or even automated messages by companies but should we really pay up to £100 a year to block these calls? Some companies charge you a fee each month to stop such calls but if you sign up with TPS and silent call-gard service you could stop all these nuisance calls for free. If you still get marketing calls you can contact TPS as these companies are breaking the law. It’s worth noting when you sign up as this expires every year, but don’t worry signing up every year is a small price to pay for a free service.