MONEY MORSELS
Barclays delays
SAVERS investing with Barclays are being hit by delays of more than 90 days when trying to move cash from its Smart Investor platform. Some have been unable to view their account while the transfer goes through. Barclays insists problems tend to arise only in complex cases.
Fraud fighters
IN THe past year, fraud fighters at HM revenue & Customs have removed 16,000 websites that claim to be linked to the taxman, but are really run by crooks. It has also cracked down on 300 million spam emails promising refunds, but are really a bid to steal bank details.
£125 switch perk
SAVERS who switch their current account to Halifax will receive a £125 bonus. To qualify, customers must start the process before midnight on March 19 and use the Current Account Switch Service.
Cruise cover crisis
A BrITISH great-grandmother faces a £50,000 bill for an airlift to hospital from a cruise ship off the coast of Mexico — because she did not realise her travel insurance through her bank only covered trips to europe. Joyce Kettle, 74, from Blyth, Northumberland, was suffering breathing difficulties.
Pensions fail
ONE million workers will receive compensation after Now: Pensions failed to collect and invest some savers’ cash for several years. The firm, which has been fined £70,000 by the Pensions Regulator, blames a systems failure.
Funeral shortfall
ALMOST half of savers who have taken out over-50s plans that pay out a cash sum on your death do not realise it will not cover the full cost of their send-off. Co-op funeral Care says there is a typical £1,500 shortfall between the plan’s payout and the cost of the average funeral.
Compensation con
FRAUDSTERS are posing as the Financial Ombudsman Service to con people. The crooks cold-call their victim, claiming they are owed compensation from a financial services company, and say they must pay up to £300 to release the cash. Never give coldcallers money or personal details.
Worker worry
JuST a quarter of Britain’s 4.6 million self- employed workers pay in to a pension, compared with 66 pc of those who work for someone else, Government figures say.
Tax grab
ABOUT £262 million in tax has been wrongly snatched from retirees using new pensions freedoms in the past three years. They are being taxed via an emergency code, meaning they pay far more than is owed — and have to claw it back using three forms. An HMRC spokesman says refunds arrive within weeks.