STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
I BOUGHT a security system from an auction website called John Pye last November. However, when I got it home, two of the cameras were not in the box. John Pye won’t respond to my complaint. B. D., via email. THIS is the risk when purchasing secondhand goods from an auction firm such as John Pye. It is up to you to check the items are in working order before you buy.
You have no protection under the Consumer rights Act if they turn out to be faulty. As you are a regular customer, however, John Pye has now refunded you as a gesture of goodwill. A READER wrote on January 18 that his wife, who is 60, is due to receive her state pension in five years’ time. I’m confused because I’m also 60, but have been told my state pension retirement age is 66. D. V., via email. The state pension age for men and women born between october 6, 1954, and April 5, 1960, is 66. If you’re 60, you would have been born during this period, so 66 is correct.
To be sure, you can check your state pension age online at gov.uk/ state-pension-age or call the Future Pensions Centre on 0345 3000 168. MY PARTNER and I ran our own business, before retiring in 2008. We have accounts from the Nineties up until then. Do we need to keep these? J. S., Otley, W. Yorks. You must keep financial records for five years after the January 31 self-assessment deadline of the relevant tax year.
Assuming you filed your last tax return in 2008, you are long past this deadline, so can destroy your documents. I HAVE been registered with the Telephone Preference Service to block nuisance calls for years. Recently, I got a call from someone saying they worked for it, offering me an extra paid-for service.
The person knew my name, address and the expiry date on my card. Is this a scam? D. B., Welling, Kent. The Telephone Preference Service is free, so it will never contact you requesting payment or credit card details. If you receive any call that makes you suspicious, just hang up. YEARS ago, I put £3,000 in a type investment with a fixed interest rate of 3 pc a year. I’m now in a care home and could do with the money, but can’t trace it. D. E., Lancashire. IT SOUNDS like you invested into a savings account offered by the Government-owned National Savings & Investments. You can find lost accounts at mylostaccount.org.uk or call NS&I’s tracing service on 08085 007 007.