You and Yours

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You and Yours: Legal Expenses, Loyalty Penalties and Time Share Battle

10/12/2021

Legal Expenses, Loyalty Penalties and Time Share Battle

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Legal Expenses, Loyalty Penalties and Time Share Battle

Around 15m of us have insurance that covers us for legal costs; why do so few claim?

Around 15m of us have insurance that covers legal costs in many circumstances; why do so few claim? and what now for comparison websites as the ban on 'loyalty penalties' bites?

A holiday company which told You & Yours that it would never force out timeshare members, is now taking steps to get rid of them all. Seasons Holidays denied pressurising people to give up their rights to stay at Slaley Hall Lodges near Hexham in Northumberland in a piece we broadcast around this time last year, but now plans to wind up the club.

Even though legal Expenses cover is often included in home and car insurance policies, not many of us ever use it or even understand how it can help us access the law. The Legal services Board, which oversees the regulation of legal services in England and Wales and which advocates for consumers’ interest in law, wants to see it more commonly vigorously promoted.

The idea of switching to get a better deal has become a mantra for consumers, so much so an entire industry in online comparison sites was born out of it in the early 2000s. But for how much longer? New rules mean you shouldn't get a big price increase at renewal - often referred to as the loyalty penalty. So where does all this leave switching as an industry model and the price comparison sites that depend on it?

With average broadband speeds in the UK of 50 megabits per second, we're lagging behind much of the developed world. The key to catching up is replacing copper wires in the pipes that carry the internet with a glass fibre connection, so called full-fibre or FTTP  but only about a quarter of UK homes have this.

People who do essential jobs...delivery drivers and retail staff...have faced two sides of the general public in the pandemic. They were hailed by most people as heroes for doing their jobs in difficult circumstances. But new research  shows that abuse of workers has continued to grow.

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