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You and Yours: Controlling rats, Insurance renewals, Disability support

Controlling rats, Insurance renewals, Disability support

02/11/2016

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Controlling rats, Insurance renewals, Disability support

Birth control for rats, insurance price hikes, disability support.

Could birth control treatments help to reduce rat populations? Calls for greater openness by insurance firms when prices rise.

Rats are becoming increasingly resistant to conventional poisons. In some parts of England scientists have found that 70 per cent are now 'super-rats' which are able to survive most poisons. An American firm is trying birth control treatments. Could this be the answer to keeping down the rat population? 

You & Yours listeners have been telling us how insurance companies have been stealthily increasing the cost of cover. When they send out renewal letters, most insurers don't tell customers how much they paid last year, so it is difficult for people to spot the size of the price increase. Last year, the Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates the industry, told us that they would force companies to tell customers how much they were previously charged, when sending a renewal notice. But the price comparison website, Moneysupermarket says it's taking too long for the change to be introduced. Meanwhile we have heard from listeners whose premiums are rising substantially, without any reason being given for the price rise.

We investigate claims by a leading disability charity that a million disabled people are not getting the support they need to live independently, with thousands trapped at home, isolated and unemployed. In a report, it's claimed that nearly half of disabled adults in Britain who say they need social care are not currently receiving any support at all, leaving many without the help they need to get around their homes and out into their communities. 

Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.

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