The ‘Grinch’ gift cards Millions of pounds lost every year

Millions of pounds worth of Christmas presents are likely to be lost, in the form of gift vouchers that are never spent, an MP has warned.

Patricia Gibson, the Scottish National Party’s consumer affairs spokesman, has called for changes to the law. Stores and businesses that put short “use-by” dates on their cards, or hide details about expiry periods, are like “the Grinch who stole Christmas”, she said.

Ms Gibson is calling for new legislation to either ban expiry dates or at least impose a minimum five-year period, along with fairer terms and conditions.

She said any cash left unspent when vouchers expire should go to charity and not to retailers’ profits.

The UK Gift Card and Voucher Association estimates the market to be worth around £6billion a year in the UK, but around £300 million of that is unspent.

Ms Gibson said: “Nobody wants to see the hard-earned cash they spend on presents thrown down the drain but consumers in the UK are currently being short-changed to the tune of millions of pounds every year in lost gift card money.”