MONEY MORSELS Childcare letdown

Cold-calling fine

A TELECOMS firm exposed by Money Mail for cold-calling the elderly has been fined £300,000. True Telecom’s staff promised savings on phone bills — only to lock customers into three-year contracts with exit charges of up to £600. Last month the firm went into administration, but watchdog Ofcom says it will have to pay the fine and reimburse customers.

Debt risk

borrowers are being encouraged to take on more debt by credit card companies hiking their limits without permission, Citizens Advice warns. It suggests 6million people had limits raised, with customers given £1,481 extra credit on average; a third were already struggling.

Cash evolution

PAPER £10 notes will cease to be legal tender on March 1, 2018. The Darwin notes are being replaced by the polymer notes featuring novelist Jane Austen. You’ll be able to exchange them at the Bank of England in person or by post.

Pensions dodge

A bus company boss has admitted deliberately denying employees a workplace pension in the first prosecution of its kind. Alan stott, of stotts Tours in oldham, pleaded guilty to 16 offences of wilfully failing to follow rules requiring companies to enrol staff in a pension scheme.

Housing sale

HOME-SELLERS are slashing prices to tempt buyers before Christmas, experts say. The asking price for 37pc of properties has been cut since being listed — the highest proportion since January 2013, according to Rightmove.

Advice failings

AdvICe firms are making false claims about qualifications, says consumer group which? More than six in ten firms on unbiased.co.uk which claimed to employ certified financial planners — an indicator of competence — did not have a single adviser at this level. seven of 24 firms wrongly claimed to have society of Later Life Advisers accreditation.

Bailiff danger

COUNCILS are setting debt collectors on residents more often. Money Advice Trust, a debt charity, says 2.3 million council debts were passed to bailiffs in the year to April, compared with 2.1 million two years earlier. More than nine in ten nurseries and childminders cannot afford to offer the Government’s new 30-hour scheme for free, according to the Champagne Nurseries on Lemonade Funding group. Many have hiked fees and now charge for extras such as lunch, nappies and wipes.

Premium pain

YOUNGER drivers are hardest hit by tax hikes on insurance cover policies, according to Comparethe market, which says insurance premium tax adds £165 to average annual premiums of 17-24-yearolds — for older drivers, it’s £67.