Eight financial super-injunctions

Robert Powell reveals eight secrets that companies really don't want you to know...

Ryan Giggs, Fred Goodwin and Andrew Marr walk into a bar... sorry, I can’t tell you anything else.

I apologise; but I couldn’t resist starting with a corny super-injunction joke!

Yes, the recent obsession with what we don’t know about the lives of the great and not-so good has swept the nation over the last few weeks. It all came to a head last week when the MP John Hemming publicly revealed the worst-kept secret in Britain regarding the a certain Manchester United footballer.

So in light of the recent furore about secrets and sneakiness, I’m going to reveal eight things that companies really don’t want you to know....

Automatic renewal

Automatic renewal is a cunning trick that crops up in industries where a subscription or membership-based service is used. Back in February, I reported on how anti-virus software providers use an ‘automatic renewal service’ to sign you up and charge you for a further year-long subscription one month before your current package is due to expire.

Insurance companies peddle the same trick as it allows them to charge you above the odds rates while offering discounted prices to new customers. Loyalty rarely pays in these sectors, so make sure you opt out of any automatic renewal services and shop around for a new deal every year.

You can get quotes quickly and easily for home and car insurance right here at lovemoney.com.

Monthly payments

Whenever you take out any type of insurance, chances are your provider will ask you whether you’d like to pay for the cover in one lump sum or on a month-by-month basis. Yet what insurers may not tell you is that they’ll add on interest charges if you pay monthly, or – as many companies like to term it – give you a discount if you pay for your policy in advance. Needless to say, you should always go for the up-front option.

If you don’t have the cash to cover the initial payment then getting hold of a 0% purchase credit card may be a good idea. This will allow you to spread the payments across as many as 15 months (if you go for Tesco’s market leading Clubcard credit card) without paying any interest.

Train ticket fines

We’ve all been there; you’re rushing to get a train ticket and you find the fare machine broken, a long queue of dithering tourists or a stream of people all applying for railcards. So you jump on the train without a ticket, only to be hit with a fine from the inspector.

You attempt to explain your situation, but the hard-nosed jobsworth is having none of it!

Well, according to Section 8 of the Penalty Fare Rules, you cannot be charged a fine if there were no facilities available for selling the appropriate ticket. What’s more, if there were excessive queues at the ticketing window (defined as five minutes during peak periods and three at all other times) you can also avoid paying a fine.

Although you may need proof; so try and take a picture of the queue on your phone if you can!

Returning items

The dos and don’ts of returning faulty items is one topic that’s sure to get many an irate shopper hot under the collar. But the one hard and fast rule you should always carry with you is that if the goods and services you buy are not fit for purpose or of satisfactory quality, then you can return them and get your money back.

So if you shelled out for shoddy goods – kick up a fuss!

Head over to this article for some more information on refunds, repairs and replacements.

Typical APR

On a seemingly week-by-week basis, lenders will launch new, market-leading credit cards or loans, talking about the lowered APR in an attempt to lure you into applying.

But what they don’t tell you is that this APR is almost always ‘typical’; meaning that the lender only has to give the rate to 51% of the people who apply for the card. So if you have a sketchy credit history, you could find yourself with a higher rate of interest than was advertised.

What’s more, if you snapped up a credit card back in the boom years when lenders were flogging deals left, right and centre, you could find your bank revising up your interest rate in light of the current sketchy financial environment.

This practice is known as rate-jacking; but you can fight back against it – read The secret trick you can use against your credit card provider to find out how.

Parking fines

Traffic wardens issue over 10 million parking tickets every year, raking in around £781m in fines. Yet, if figures from the website noparkingfine.co.uk are to be believed, 67% of these tickets are actually invalid.

Despite this, only 1% of drivers will attempt to get their fine dropped, even though two thirds of appeals are upheld. As a result, UK motorists could be paying more than £500m a year for parking fines that should have never been issued.

So if you’ve been hit with a parking ticket you believe is invalid, fight back against it! Head to Traffic wardens are illegally ripping you off! to find out how.

Getting a refund from bust companies

With spending cuts and inflation stretching the purse strings of many businesses, you need to be sure that you’re not left out of pocket if a company goes bust. A great way to do this is by taking full advantage of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This offers you protection on anything you buy using your credit card that costs more than £100.

So if a company you’ve bought from goes bust, your goods fail to show up or your purchase is not up to scratch your credit card provider has to reimburse you for the lost money. Even if you’ve only paid for £1 of a purchase on a credit card, so long as the price of the item is above £100, you’ll be protected!

Accidental damage

Most basic home insurance policies will not provide cover for accidental damage.

If you want this additional protection you’ll usually have to pay around 20% extra on your premiums. So if you’re planning a big summer bash, it may be a good idea to check that you’re fully covered before you let friends and family loose in your home!

More secrets...

Has a company ever caught you out by using a secret clause or rule?

Let us know in the comment box below.

More: £9bn of PPI compensation up for grabs! | How to make a Super Complaint | John Lewis offers never-ending refund