KATIE MORLEY INVESTIGATES

CONSUMER CHAMPION OF THE YEAR If a company has let you down, Katie is here to fight your corner

LETTER OF THE WEEK We can’t get ‘NHS heroes’ discount on our new home

My fiancée and I recently exchanged contracts on the purchase of a £325,000 new-build home in Kent. The housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey, has just announced a discount scheme under which NHS workers can get 5pc off their home as a “thank you” for their work during the pandemic.

My fiancée is an intensive care nurse and has been on the front line of fighting the virus. So, thinking we must qualify for the discount, we asked our solicitor about it. He said we were ineligible as the offer related only to new reservations and we had already reserved our new home.

We have struggled to understand this. In public Taylor Wimpey is portraying itself as supporting NHS staff, but in reality only new reservations can benefit. These past few months my fiancée has been working harder than ever before in her life. To be excluded from this offer feels like a kick in the teeth.

We made our case to Taylor Wimpey directly and it said it was unable to give us the discount because of the implications it would have on our mortgage. I can’t see why this would be an issue. Our mortgage adviser has confirmed that an amendment to our existing mortgage offer for a lower amount would be perfectly feasible.

Taylor Wimpey has since offered us £5,000 of “options” for carpets, upgraded fittings and appliances. But this pales in comparison with a 5pc discount on the house, which would be £16,250. We do not feel it is right that NHS workers with new reservations get 5pc off when, as it stands, we won’t.

HB, VIA EMAIL

Taylor Wimpey says it introduced this discount scheme to thank NHS and care support workers for their “heroic efforts” during the crisis. Some will view it as a genuine move to show people such as your fiancée how valued they are by society. Others may see it as a cynical PR stunt to help the company appear in keeping with the public mood at the smallest possible cost. Personally, I feel this special offer came from a place of good intention.

But that is not to say it is not a deeply flawed concept. Instead of bringing you relief, the discount scheme has ended up adding to your fiancée’s stress throughout this time, you say. She has already had a great deal on her plate, having been working flat-out in intensive care. On top of this, you were due to get married on Good Friday, but thanks to the lockdown your ceremony and subsequent honeymoon were cancelled. This business with Taylor Wimpey has been the final straw.

Write to Katie Morley, Telegraph Money, The Daily Telegraph, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT

Please do not send original documents. Include an address, phone number and separate notes addressed to all organisations authorising them to talk to Katie. For full terms see p7 or visit telegraph.co.uk/go/ consumerchampion. You can also email kminvestigates@ telegraph.co.uk

You both felt extremely hard done by, and I can absolutely see why. This discount was being awarded for exactly the type of work your fiancée was performing every day, so excluding you on the basis of the date on which you had reserved your house felt arbitrary and unjust.

From the outset Taylor Wimpey clearly stated that its 5pc discount was available only for new reservations. As with any offer, it had to draw the line somewhere. But by dishing out special deals on the basis of people’s “hero” status at work, Taylor Wimpey has guaranteed that some will end up feeling peeved.

You are incensed, as you feel your fiancée is no less worthy than another NHS worker who reserves a home today. It’s also true that a supermarket worker, for example, may feel hard done by because they wouldn’t qualify either, despite their significant contribution and personal risk throughout this crisis. It also strikes me as perverse that an NHS worker whose parents have given them a generous deposit will benefit over, say, a transport operator who has received no parental assistance.

The property market is already steeped in great unfairness. So I’m afraid that, once a company starts dishing out discounts based on buyers’ perceived worthiness, it becomes impossible for it to draw the line without exacerbating jealousy and upset.

The good news for you, and other buyers in your position, is that following my involvement Taylor Wimpey has agreed to offer you 5pc off your home. This includes a cash discount of £11,250 and £5,000 to put towards appliances and fittings, which you had already selected. Your lender has agreed to the change to your mortgage, which will reduce your monthly repayments.

A spokesman for Taylor Wimpey said: “We apologise for the confusion over how our policy is applied in this case for a customer who has already

One of my best friends is a single mother who has been in lockdown with two-year-old triplets. Clearly she has had her hands full. They are all boys and, while cooped up in the house, they have managed to break her only television set.

I happen to have a £449 Currys voucher, which is about to expire, and I offered to buy her a new television with it. But the voucher won’t work, despite it clearly showing money is there. I have spent days on the phone on hold, sent endless emails and have even resorted to social media.

I just want to do something nice for my friend before it is too late and the voucher expires.

LH, VIA INSTAGRAM

This £449 credit was given to you by Currys as part of a refund for a cancelled order in November 2019, which consisted of a gift card element. It is still in-date, but when you tried to use it you found it was showing a zero balance.

After my intervention Currys has called you to apologise for the delay in resolving your complaint. It sounds like the retailer has been struggling to cope with a higher than usual volume of customer calls coming through to its hotline. Its customer services staff have been working from home and have had to adapt to using new systems.

Currys has now solved the problem by cancelling the voucher and issuing a new one, which is being emailed to you.

A spokesman said: “We are truly sorry for any inconvenience caused to our customers. We contacted Miss H immediately and apologised for the inconvenience and frustration caused.

“Our gift card team is cancelling Miss H’s existing gift cards and a new e-voucher will be emailed as soon as possible.”

You are happy this is now sorted out and you can now buy this television for your friend. I hope it brings her some muchneeded respite.

Currys website says my £449 voucher is worth £0

Follow Katie on Twitter: @katiemorley_ and read more of her columns at telegraph.co.uk/authors/katie-morley