Terminate your money worries

OK you guys . . . I'm BACK . . . at the mail sack, and ready to BLOW AWAY your money worries.

My weekly flood of letters from ripped-off News of the World readers always makes me very angry.

And the release of the new Terminator movie puts me in the mood to go gunning for the kind of sharks featured in some of today's examples.

Take the recent tragic tale of a woman whose son had died-when she called his mobile company to explain and ask it to stop it sending bills, they refused unless she "got her son to give her the password". Disgraceful.

Hasta La Vista is too good for these babies. And there's more . . .

Q - I'M a disabled pensioner wrongly given a parking ticket by a private company.

They told me I couldn't appeal unless I paid the £60 fine first, which I did. Now they won't respond to contact. Have they acted legally?

G CALDICOTT, by e-mail

A - THESE people are cowboys. You've been bullied and duped.

The general rule is: if you get an unfair private parking ticket, DON'T PAY IT. They can only enforce it by taking you to court.

Paying it means you have to take action against them to regain your cash (for a guide with free template letters see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/privateparking ).

I couldn't get the company to answer either-all its contact numbers ring off. Why firms like this are allowed to pull off such despicable tricks is beyond me.

Q - STUDIES over, my student account has changed to a graduate account.

A banker has advised me to switch to a packaged account costing £13 a month, as "having a student or graduate account looks bad on your credit score". Is this true?

PAUL DART, by email

A - THAT'S an outrageous lie.

I suspect he or she was on commission on the £160 a year extra made from flogging you a package account rather than you keeping the graduate account which should have no monthly fee and give you a decent zero per cent overdraft.

You've just had a free lesson that your bank is a SALES not ADVICE institution.

Q - I'M being chased for a debt that I don't know anything about. What should I do?

NAME WITHHELD

A - THIS could be a debt collection agency chasing down debts for a company and using the disgusting time-saving tactic of "fishing"-trying to find the right person by sending demands to all those with the same surname in the hope one pays up.

If you receive a letter asking for money, the onus is on THEM to prove that you DO owe it.

So if the debts aren't yours, don't panic. Send a letter to say you're not responsible. Grab a template letter of reply that has been drafted by National Debtline at www.moneysavingexpert.com/debthelp or call it on 0808 808 4000.

Q - IF I'm in debt, can the lender take my partner's house or assets?

Various letters

A - THIS question is very common as some nasty debt collectors regularly try it on.

Nothing is simple but the basic rule is: NOBODY is liable for ANYONE ELSE'S debts, unless they SIGNED the credit agreement.

It makes no difference whether or not you're married.

But this gets more complex for JOINT bank or savings accounts-in this case the lender can apply to take these.

Plus, if there's a mortgage or loan secured on a property held in joint names, they may be able to force you to sell the house to release your share of the equity.

If you went bankrupt, they may be able to take a share of your partner's property-but ONLY if they proved you had a "beneficial interest" in it, meaning you must have contributed towards the mortgage, home improvements or day-to-day expenses.

Q - I DON'T earn loads but want a good credit card to secure myself when buying holidays, electrical goods etc, but don't know which is the best.

I would like one that ideally has zero per cent interest for a long period of time, with fraud protection and no scary handling fee etc. I have a store card and I always pay that off in full. DONNY, by e-mail

A - LET me summarise: you want a credit card for section 75 legal protection, which means if you buy something costing £100+, the card company's jointly liable if anything goes wrong.

Well, EVERY credit card has this; and as you're saying you'll pay debt off in FULL, actually pretty much any credit card will do, as that means most won't charge you interest. However checking that yours isn't one of the exceptions isn't easy. To do it you need look at the card's 'summary box' which is on every application form.

Sadly the terminology is confusing, but you're looking for the "interest-free period" which should be between 40 and 60 days.

That means you've got 40-60 days to repay in full without being charged interest and is nothing to do with any 0 per cent introductory offer.

Now normally I'd suggest you get a cashback card, like American Express Platinum or Halifax so you also earn rewards when you spend, but I suspect your limited credit score means getting one would be a struggle.

So to ensure you get any card try Capital One, Vanquis and Barclaycard which have so-called 'rate-for-risk' cards, where the card will be high interest but pay off in full and it's irrelevant. Doing this will also help build your credit score.

SEND questions for publication to notw@moneysavingexpert.com

GMTV money guru Martin Lewis is the creator of the Consumer Revenge website www.MoneySavingExpert.com which is packed with info on how to get more money in your pocket.

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