The Sunday Times February 13, 2022 15
MONEY
CAN WE
HELP YOU?
Please email your
questions to
Jill Insley at
questionofmoney
@sunday-times.co.uk
or write to Question
of Money, The Sunday
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Bridge Street, London
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We regret that Jill
cannot reply to
everyone who~
contacts her.I
n November we went to Disney
World in Florida for our
honeymoon. We’re big Star Wars
fans, and we had booked online to
build our own lightsabers. This
involved putting in credit card
details to cover the reservation
cost for each of us at $220 plus
taxes, which would be charged in
the case of a no-show. We turned
up as scheduled in Orlando for our
appointment but were told we’d booked
for Disneyland in California, not Florida,
a mistake staff said happens all the time.
They took our details and told us they
would contact Disneyland in California
and make sure that we weren’t charged.
They said to not cancel the booking as
this would result in us being charged and
they had a system to ensure we weren’t.
We pleaded with Disney to allow us to
build our lightsabers in Orlando, it being
one of the main reasons we had booked
to go for our honeymoon. Kindly the
staff told us to come back after the park
had closed, and they put on another
experience for us and others. At this
point we were told we would need to pay
again. Having been told we would either
not be charged or receive a refund for
the California booking we went ahead
and did this, and everything was great.
A few days later I noticed on my credit
card that I had been charged $469 and
$440. Disney told me to fill in a form,
which I did. After a few days of no
response I called Disneyland California.
I was told that I shouldn’t have been
charged twice. The agent said I would
get a refund in seven to ten workingMy wife decided to try via WhatsApp
on January 6. The Dyson agent she
“spoke” to offered to replace the
machine free of charge. Brilliant. But we
heard nothing more, so phoned Dyson
on January 22. This time the agent asked
us to send photos of the WhatsApp
messages and said that if that was what
was offered then of course Dyson would
honour that. But it didn’t.
I got three further responses, all
refusing to honour the promise, so I
requested the complaints process. I got
an email suggesting that I have nothing
to complain about. Please help us to get
the replacement we were promised.Jill replies
I was surprised that any company would
offer a replacement hairdryer for free
outside of the product’s guarantee
period. It was maybe the act of an
overenthusiastic staff member, but since
it was suggested I felt it should be
honoured, so I asked Dyson if it really
meant to withdraw the offer.
Dyson seemed slightly offended that
I should consider such a thing possible,
saying that it is proud of its customer
service and was honouring its original
offer. “We are looking into this case to
ensure that our high standards are
always upheld, however customers and
owners choose to get in touch,” it added.
The same day it contacted you to say
it was sending you a new hairdryer with
a fresh two-year guarantee. That shouldQUESTION
OF MONEY
JILL INSLEY
days. It being Thanksgiving, I left the
matter until our return.
We hadn’t received the refund more
than a week after we got back, so I
attempted one last email that was again
ignored. At this point I called NatWest,
which provides our Reward Black credit
card. I was told that because I hadn’t
received anything from the retailer in
writing confirming a refund the bank
wasn’t able to do anything.
I’m now a bit stuck. I feel stupid for
having not got anything in writing when
we were in America, but I trusted Disney
to follow through on its word.Jill replies
The staff at Disney World saved the day
by enabling you to take part in an
after-hours lightsaber-building session:
it really was excellent customer service.
It’s just a shame Disney then spoiled
their efforts by charging you twice.
I asked the company to refund you.
After a week it called you to apologise for
not having been in contact, which it
blamed on a pandemic-induced backlog.
A few days later the money was in your
account. You said: “We’re off to Disney
in Paris in the summer, and this has
restored our faith in something we love.”Blowing a fuse over
Dyson hairdryer fault
I bought a Dyson hairdryer in November
2019 as a Christmas present for my wife.
She used it most days and loved it, but in
December, about three weeks after the
two-year guarantee expired, the
hairdryer stopped working. We wanted
to find out how much repair may cost.
My wife called Dyson on December 21,
but the company would only deal with
me as the purchaser. A chap phoned the
next day while I was Covid volunteering.
He said he needed me to have the
machine to hand to troubleshoot it, so
a colleague would call back after 6pm
that evening. Nobody called.‘Help me,
Obi-Jill.
Yo u’ r e m y
only hope’
ON
EY
LEY
Jill replies
Michelle Denny-West, a tax partner with
the accountancy firm Moore Kingston
Smith, says that the new rules do not
require the loan to be a mortgage for
the interest it charges to be eligible for
landlord tax relief. Any “dwelling-related
loan” is potentially eligible, including a
homeowner loan.
However, while the type of loan is not
an issue, the way you intend to use the
money is. Denny-West said: “HMRC’s
more recent guidance in its property
income manual says that additional
loans must be used wholly and
exclusively for the purposes of the
letting business. This leads me to
conclude that HMRC’s view would be
that interest on your homeowner loan
would not be eligible for tax relief if it
was used to finance your mother’s care.”
Even if you were able to claim tax
relief, I’m not sure that HSBC’s
homeowner loan is what you need.
A “homeowner loan” is usually used
for a secured loan taken out on a
property that is already mortgaged, or
where the borrower’s application for
a mortgage has been rejected. You can
get homeowner loans on buy-to-let
properties, but they tend to have higher
interest rates than mortgages.
HSBC then told you that it would not
lend to someone of your mother’s age —
92 — even though you tell me she has
banked with it for decades and you have
investments worth £500,000 with
HSBC. It subsequently told me this was
not correct and it is investigating your
case, but in the meantime I asked
Nationwide, with which you have an
account, whether it had age limits on its
buy-to-let mortgages. It doesn’t, so you
are planning to apply for a mortgage
rather than a homeowner’s loan from
the building society instead.Confusion at Currys
I bought a MacBook Air from Currys
online for £1,122 in November. I received
a delivery the next day, but it was a Dell
laptop that arrived. I phoned Currys,
which arranged for DPD to pick up the
laptop and assured me that a refund
would be in my account in five to seven
working days. The parcel was collected,
but I didn’t receive my refund.
After more than 30 phone calls,
several form-filling days and many, many
emails, I have no refund. I call customer
services every other day to request a call
back from a department supervisor, but
never get one. I am exasperated.Jill replies
This should have been a relatively simple
complaint for Currys to resolve — all it
had to do was refund £1,122. Within one
day of me contacting it repayment was
arranged. Unfortunately it sent you £5
less than the amount you paid.
This fiver was apparently the delivery
fee, which Currys has now returned to
you in addition to a £100 gesture of
goodwill.make up for being told that you had
nothing to complain about.Mum needs care, what’s
the best way to borrow?
My mother and I jointly own a buy-to-let
flat. It was bought for cash and has never
had a mortgage. It has been let out for
25 years, with a steady income stream.
My mother has now gone into a care
home, and I would like to raise cash for
care costs. HSBC will lend against the
flat, but it will not do it as a buy-to-let
mortgage. The bank calls it a
homeowner loan because the property
is unencumbered by a mortgage.
HMRC rules say that from April 6,
2020, income tax relief for landlords on
residential property finance costs is
restricted to the basic rate of income tax.
This allows for 20 per cent tax relief on
mortgage interest. Will we qualify for tax
relief on a homeowner loan, as opposed
to a buy-to-let mortgage?
Under the old system tax relief was
allowed only on interest charged on the
initial acquisition cost. We bought the
flat for £200,000, but if I borrow
£600,000, which is 60 per cent of the
value because the flat is now worth
about £1 million, will I get tax relief only
on £200,000?
I tried asking HMRC about this, but
after I finally got through, the technician
was unable to advise me.Julie Thorpe wanted to
unlock her £920,000 final
salary pension and manage it
herself, but she was told she
had to get a financial adviser.
This is because the
government requires anyone
who wishes to transfer from
a final salary (defined benefit)
scheme worth more than
£30,000 to seek advice to
ensure that they understand
what they would be giving up.
A final salary scheme offers
a guaranteed income for the
rest of the policyholder’s life,
based on a percentage of
their earnings. If you transfer
to a defined contribution
scheme, the amount you get
depends solely on how much
you put in and how your
investments perform. There
is a chance the funds may run
out before you die.
Thorpe, 54, from St
Albans, who had built up her
pensions working for the
insurer Aviva and now
works in admin at a school,
asked the advice company
Drewberry, based in London,
to assess her request for a
transfer. Drewberry is a “tied
adviser” linked to the wealth
manager Quilter, meaning it
cannot recommend products
from across the market as an
independent adviser can.
Drewberry looked at her
other income and liabilities,
as well as those of her
husband, Chris, 58, a retired
police officer. It provided a
report in December
approving a transfer, on the
condition that the pension be
managed by Quilter and that
Julie get ongoing annual
advice from Drewberry
costing about £6,900 a year.
A Quilter platform charge
of £922 a year would alsoapply — a total of £7,822,
excluding the cost of any
underlying investments.
The couple said they
wanted to transfer the funds
to the DIY platform
Interactive Investor, which
charges a flat monthly fee
and is good value for those
with larger pots. This would
cost them £240 a year with
underlying investment
charges on top. There would
be no annual advice charge.
Drewberry said it could
not recommend a transfer on
this basis. An updated report
was issued on January 20,
which stated: “Drewberry
have not undertaken any due
diligence of your selected
provider and the underlying
investments. To remove
Drewberry from the liability
risk... we are unable to
conclude the transfer in line
with our recommendation,
I need to amend my advice
to ‘do not transfer’.” This
meant Julie could not move
her pension out of the Aviva
scheme, but would still need
to pay a one-off advice fee of
£8,800 for the review.
She could seek advice
from another adviser, for
which she would have to pay
another fee, but there is no
guarantee that a transfer
would be approved. Julie
made official complaints to
Drewberry and Quilter, but
decided to withdraw them
because she did not want to
risk losing the chance to
transfer her pension to
Quilter. Quilter then refused
to accept the pension transfer
because the adviser had
changed his recommendation
when she wanted to switch to
Interactive Investor. The
Thorpes said they would
reinstate their complaint.
Chris, who corresponded
with Drewberry on behalf of
his wife, said: “All the way
through our discussions with
the adviser we made clear
that we did not want ongoing
advice and wanted to manage
our own money. When we
stated our preferred
investment platform, the
advice to switch changed.
“In other words, if we
didn’t agree to place the
money with the adviser and
its associated platform
Quilter, then he wouldn’t
sanction a transfer.”
The case highlights the
growing frustration of thosewho want to manage their
own pensions rather than
receive a guaranteed annual
income. Reasons for doing
this include being able to
draw more income early in
retirement when you are
more active, and less in later
life. With a final salary
scheme the annual income
remains the same, with
increases for inflation, for
the rest of your life.
Advisers are increasingly
reluctant to offer advice on
final salary pension transfers
after a spate of mis-selling
claims, particularly in
relation to British Steel
workers, and higher
professional indemnity
insurance costs for those
willing to offer such advice.
Some savers are being
quoted £10,000 — almost
three times what the
regulator suggested advice
should cost. Fees are
payable even if an adviser
recommends no transfer and
there is no sale of a personal
pension. Advisers are
insisting on managing a
customer’s new personal
pension as a condition of
providing advice, frustrating
experienced investors who
want to look after their own
savings to keep down costs
and boost returns.
You can transfer to an
advised platform such as
Quilter, then switch off the
advice if you feel you are not
getting value for money. It
may be tricker to manage
your money, though, because
such platforms are not
designed to be used by
customers directly, but via an
adviser. There is nothing
stopping you from
transferring out of the
advised service to a DIY
alternative once your money
is out of a defined benefit
scheme. There may be costs
associated with a transfer.
Quilter, which has more
than 1,700 tied advisers, told
Money it would not pursue
the £8,800 fee. “Quilter does
not provide execution-only
services for DB transfers. In
line with regulatory guidance
we offer holistic advice,
including recommending
suitable investment options
and the option of ongoing
advice, to ensure any transfer
has a good outcome.”
Drewberry declined to
comment.‘We wanted to
move a pension.
It cost us £8,800
for someone to
say we couldn’t’
Ali Hussain£922
Quilter’s annual
platform charge£6,900
Drewberry’s ongoing
annual charge for adviceChris Thorpe wanted
a cheaper platform for
his wife’s pension but
the advisor would not
give him the green light