Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

You and Yours

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Consumer

BBC Radio 4 LW

You and Yours: Vivienne Westwood, Bereaved consumers, Right to buy

you-and-yours_vivienne-westwood_011015_e_Get.jpg

01/10/2015

Vivienne Westwood, Bereaved consumers, Right to buy

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Vivienne Westwood, Bereaved consumers, Right to buy

Dame Vivienne Westwood warns listeners about the dangers of replying to 'scam letters'.

Consumer affairs with Winifred Robinson. A listener tells how a string of companies and organisations treated her with rudeness and incompetence after the death of her husband.

Insensitive, rude and incompetent - that's how one You & Yours listener describes how she was treated by a string of big companies and organisations after her husband died. The charity Cruse Bereavement Care says it's common for bereaved people to find that banks, mobile phone companies and others just don't know how to respond appropriately when a customer calls to say their relative has died. 

Trading standards officers in North Yorkshire have teamed up with detectives and social workers to set up a new unit, dedicated to protecting vulnerable people from financial abuse. By working more closely together, it's hoped that people can be prevented from becoming repeat-victims. 

The "right to buy" for Housing Association tenants was a promise made by the Conservatives before the last election and the government says it is still committed to the idea. But the organisation that represents Housing Associations is negotiating a voluntary deal with the government, which would avoid the proposals going through parliament. What will this mean for tenants, and how is it likely to affect the supply of social housing?

The fashion designer Vivienne Westwood got in touch with You & Yours when a letter landed on her doormat, offering her the opportunity to inherit a huge sum of money. Her suspicions were justified. Dame Vivienne gives a warning to all of us about the dangers of replying to "scam letters".

Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

You and Yours

Vivienne Westwood, Bereaved consumers, Right to buy

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4