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Money Box: PIP disability benefit, direct debit charges, putting your home into a trust and slow Financial Ombudsman Service

PIP disability benefit, direct debit charges, putting your home into a trust and slow Financial Ombudsman Service

08/06/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Money Box, PIP disability benefit, direct debit charges, putting your home into a trust and slow Financial Ombudsman Service

The new PIP benefit, the FOS answers listeners' complaints, and direct debits.

Giving disabled people the PIP, Financial Ombudsman (slow) Service, banks get fairer over direct debit charges, and who to trust over care home costs. Finance news with Paul Lewis.

From Monday any disabled person with care or mobility needs will have to claim a new benefit called Personal Independence Payment (PIP) rather than Disability Living Allowance which it is replacing. PIP demands a higher level of disability to get the same amount of money. We look at what those criteria are and how they have changed.

If you have a complaint about a financial firm that cannot be resolved then the standard advice is 'go to the Financial Ombudsman Service'. But many listeners have contacted us to say the service is so slow that the delays are costing them money too. The Deputy Chief Ombudsman answers the criticisms.

Many people are afraid of the cost of going into care in later life. But is putting your home into trust a sensible way to hide it from the local council? Many advisers say it is. But they charge a hefty fee upfront and offer no guarantee that this wheeze will work. A lawyer and a local council director advise.

Almost all the High Street banks have agreed not to send customers into overdraft if sufficient funds arrive to cover the deficit by the end of the day. The Financial Conduct Authority says charges in these circumstances have cost customers £200 million a year. But could the FCA have been tougher? And why did the banks charge us in the first place?

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