From energy bills to holidays, we won back £82,000 for readers in 2023 – are you due back hundreds of pounds?
ALL through the year our Squeeze Team has been working harder than Santa’s elves to win back thousands of pounds for you.
From energy rip-offs to insurers trying to wheedle their way out of paying claims, our inbox has been overflowing with readers’ money worries.
But our Consumer Champion Laura Purkess and her Sun Money colleagues have answered your pleas for help and won back £158,000 in the past two years.
Thank you to everyone who has been in touch, as it helps us to hold firms to account.
So keep writing and check out the tips in our Five-minute Makeover, below, to make sure you include all the information we need.
Today we celebrate some of our biggest wins of this year.
Energy bills
Faulty billing and threats of court action from suppliers demanding huge cash sums
ENERGY continued to be a big issue for readers this year, and while there is little we can do about high prices, we can fight for you when suppliers fall short.
In doing so, we helped win back more than £30,000 for energy customers who were overcharged or treated unfairly.
Beauty business owner Victoria Wood, 44, from Felpham, West Sussex, was stunned when So Energy emailed her 12 bills totalling £1,733 for the past year.
The email apologised for an “invoicing glitch” and said the amount would be taken in less than two weeks’ time – which Victoria could not afford.
After Sun Money stepped in, So Energy agreed to halve her bill to £800.
Disabled sister and brother Dawn and David Rutley, aged 75 and 78, were wrongly billed £5,000 by their provider Ovo.
Dawn, from Swindon, knew this could not be right and after several calls, an engineer came out. But the meter could not be read correctly.
We helped the pair get a £3,688 refund after arranging another engineer visit.
Dawn said: “This has only been resolved because of your intervention. I can’t thank you enough.”
Shop worker Bruno Sabatini, 35, had only just moved into his one-bed flat in Epsom, Surrey, when his provider Octopus hit him with a bill for £580 a month.
It was July so he had not had the heating on, but Octopus was projecting his annual cost at £16,239 for gas.
Octopus said it was already trying to help Bruno but had been waiting on accurate readings, however after we got in touch it cancelled the bill and refunded £101 in standing charges as a goodwill gesture.
Afsar Parvizi, 77, was terrified when she was told she could face court action if she did not pay a debt of £2,412, which her supplier Ovo later admitted she never owed. In fact, when Sun Money intervened, Afsar was £217 in credit.
Buying and selling
Risk of scammers and wrong items on online marketplaces
OUR inbox was flooded with complaints about buying and selling items online.
One seller on Vinted waited two months for his £100 earnings, with no sign of it arriving.
When John England, of Halesowen, West Mids, raised the issue with Vinted, it asked to see screenshots of his bank accounts as well as a signed letter from his bank manager confirming he had not received the money.
Vinted promptly put the payment through after Sun Money got in touch.
We also helped buyer Aisha Furtado, 37, get her money back after receiving the wrong item.
The communications executive, of Mitcham, Surrey, was sent a pair of old hair straighteners instead of the COS dress she bought for £35. Aisha said: “Thank you so much for resolving this.”
Once Sun Money intervened, a seller on eBay was refunded the £635 he was scammed out of by a buyer.
NHS worker Colin Monk-Roberts, from Swansea, was shocked when his buyer claimed the iPhone 14 Pro he had been sent was fake.
Despite providing proof it was genuine, eBay had sided with the buyer, leaving Colin out of pocket.
Insurance
Dog owner paid hundreds for putting in claim ONE DAY late
WITH premiums soaring, it’s more important than ever that insurers are fair when things go wrong.
Pamela Hay, from South Ayrshire, needed help when her seven-year-old dog Buddy had treatment for pancreatitis and she paid the £1,000 bills.
She did not claim on her insurance straight away but when she did, she realised she needed to make two claims, as Buddy was treated by two vets – a daytime vet and an overnight clinic.
The daytime vet promptly sent the forms back, but the overnight vet needed 18 working days.
By the time it sent the forms to Pamela’s insurer, Perfect Pet Insurance, it had been 91 days since Buddy came home on August 2 – while the policy had a 90-day limit for making a claim.
Perfect Pet decided to honour the claim after Sun Money explained the situation.
Pamela got back £464 after deductions based on other clauses.
She said: “Your call worked and I’m delighted. You’ve relieved a lot of stress.”
Retired carer Barbara Pain, 68, was told her Vauxhall Corsa’s engine was damaged beyond repair after it was hit while parked near her home in Malvern, Worcs.
Her local mechanic advised her to claim on the insurance as a write-off.
But Direct Line refused to pay out as its own mechanic felt the damage was down to wear and tear, despite not inspecting the car himself.
She was £1,995 out of pocket until Sun Money stepped in. Direct Line apologised and agreed to pay the full sum, plus £250 as a goodwill gesture.
Holiday hell
‘We walked into filthy hotel room to find blood on door’
DREAM getaways turned into nightmares for some of our readers this year.
Social media manager Estelle Keeber, 40, told us how a trip to Turkey in June with her sons Jed, 14, and Obi, 12, was ruined when they opened the door to find a filthy hotel room.
There was blood on their bathroom door and dirty loo roll in the bin.
Her package holiday provider Love Holidays told her to send photos but ignored her pleas for help. After Sun Money stepped in, Love Holidays refunded the family £700 for the hotel.
Estelle said: “I’m so grateful to The Sun.”
Martin Wood had similar problems with Love Holidays when he booked a family break in Crete.
The hotel had claimed online it was being refurbished, but when the family arrived it was dilapidated and dirty.
Love Holidays refunded the whole £2,783 cost after we got in touch.
We also won back more than £2,000 for passengers fobbed off by Wizz Air.
Catering business owner Peter Kieran, 59, and his wife Angie, 50, waited nearly a year for a refund for their axed flights home from Cyprus in August last year. After we intervened, Wizz Air coughed up £859 in compensation.
Retail manager Marta Praszczak, 39, and partner Matthew Thomas, 35, were ordered off their flight to Poland. They were refunded £658 after Sun Money spoke to Wizz Air.
Five minute makeover
How to complain like a pro
IF you’ve been left out of pocket by a business, we want to help. But to get results as quickly as possible, there are certain things we need from you.
Here our Squeeze Team columnist Laura Purkess explains what she needs to take on your case and how to be your own consumer champion…
WRITE TO ME: I love getting your letters and emails, so do write to me at squeezeteam@thesun.co.uk or The Sun, 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF.
Tell me what happened and don’t forget to provide your phone number so I can ring you if I need more information.
Share with me any reference number the company has given you relating to your case.
Include the following line so I can go to the firm on your behalf: “I give permission for [the company’s name] to discuss my case with Laura Purkess at The Sun”, along with your full name.
RAISING YOUR OWN COMPLAINT: Sadly, I can’t help every reader who writes in, but every week in Sun Money we share crucial advice so you can fight your own battles too. When complaining to a company, do so as soon as possible after the incident.
By emailing, you’ll have a record of correspondence, but if sending a letter, make a copy of it first.
Include evidence and say how you would like the issue resolved – for example, by asking for a refund. Use the word “complaint” to start a formal process.
BANKS AND INSURANCE: After complaining to a bank, insurer or pension provider you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free if you’re not happy.
If you don’t get a response from the firm within eight weeks or you’re not satisfied with their solution, fill out an online form at financial-ombudsman.org.uk or call 0800 023 4567.
You must do this within six months of your provider’s final response to your complaint.
ENERGY COMPANIES: Check your supplier’s website for the correct email or address. Again, energy firms have eight weeks to respond with a decision.
If it doesn’t or you’re not happy with the response, take your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman.
Based on the evidence submitted by you and the company, the ombudsman will make a judgement. If you accept this, your supplier has 28 days to comply.
MOBILES, BROADBAND, TV AND LANDLINE: If you get fobbed off by customer services, make a formal complaint by writing to the firm.
After eight weeks, you can ask for a “deadlock letter” and take your dispute to one of two ombudsman schemes.
Your provider must tell you which one it’s signed up to – the Communications Ombudsman or Communication & Internet Services Adjudication Scheme.
Both you and the provider will have to provide evidence and the scheme will then decide which of you is in the right.
If you agree, your supplier will then have 28 days to resolve the matter.