Which?

CAMPAIGN WIN! 'Ofcom confirming a ban on unpredictable mid-contract price hikes is a huge win for consumers. Which? has led the campaign to protect millions of households from being blindsided by telecoms price rises and give them certainty about the cost of these essential services. With Ofcom calling time on these unfair price hikes, providers must stop this practice immediately. Ofcom now needs to make sure that future mid-contract price rises are set competitively. It’s disappointing that ‘prices may vary’ terms have not been banned. The regulator must be prepared to intervene if these ad hoc increases are used as a back door for providers to impose unpredictable price increases on customers.' Rocio Concha Galguera, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy. https://lnkd.in/eaUbNU6w #ConsumerRights

Congratulations to June Values Sharer, Harley Messenbird-Palmer, assistant communications officer. She was nominated for living our values of ‘we’re rigorous’ and ‘we make it happen’. Harley has done an outstanding job at ‘finding, assessing and negotiating a great deal with a new media monitoring agency for the press team, handling the process with efficiency and professionalism’. Well done, Harley! #ValueSharer #Values

Congratulations to Chiara Cavaglieri and Dean Sobers who both won Headlinemoney Awards for Savings Journalist of the Year and General Insurance Journalist of the Year (Consumer) respectively. Chiara says, ‘I’m really chuffed to be chosen as winner of the Headlinemoney Savings Journalist of the Year 2024. Huge congratulations to all the other shortlisted journos especially my brilliant colleague Matthew Jenkin’ Dean says, ‘Hugely proud to win a Headlinemoney award - as the entries are judged by fellow journalists and the competition is always fierce. So proud of my money colleagues who got nominations and wins!’ Well done again to Chiara and Dean, as well as all our other colleagues who also got nominated for awards! #HMAwards24 #Awards

Recent figures released by the Financial Ombudsman Service found that customer complaints across a number of financial services areas, including credit cards, insurance and fraud increased compared to last year. Writing in The i Paper, Rocio Concha Galguera argues that the regulator needs to get tough with businesses found to be falling short of the required standards. https://lnkd.in/e_u9gVuf

Applications for the Which? Fund are now open. We're offering restricted grant funding to a wide range of UK charities, universities and not-for-profit Community Interest Companies (CICs) to explore the harm facing diverse and disadvantaged communities, and investigate potential solutions. Previous grant winners have explored all sorts of issues, from the quality of shop-bought baby food, to whether ethnic minority communities are less likely to use certain financial services products, to what support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities need with energy, and how insurance can be made fairer for people experiencing mental health problems. Applications are welcome until 16th September. For further details and how to apply visit   https://lnkd.in/eD8nzhGR #Funding #Grants #ConsumerRights #Inclusion

Virgin Media, ScottishPower and British Gas remained the worst performing broadband and energy firms for customer service. It is never okay for firms to provide sub-standard customer service, but in essential sectors providing vital services millions rely on every day such as energy and broadband, it is completely unacceptable. We have written to all three firms about their consistently poor performance in our research. Which? is calling on them to give consumers the customer service they deserve and clearly communicate the steps they are taking to improve. Full article: https://lnkd.in/eJA_xwBv #CustomerService #CustomerServiceCounts

We have written to Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, along with a coalition of organisations, expressing our significant concerns around the intense public pressure from parts of industry on the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to re-open the issue of mandatory reimbursement of Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams. It is vital that both the maximum reimbursement limit of £415,000 is kept and that the implementation date of October is met. Any deviation from this plan would be a major betrayal of victims of fraud. We urge the government to come out publicly to support the new reimbursement scheme. It’s unacceptable for consumers to bear the brunt of these losses at a time when many families continue to struggle with cost of living issues. MoneySavingExpert.com | National Trading Standards | Victim Support | Age UK

Recent Which? research found that insurers were found by the Financial Ombudsman Service to have piled misery onto claimants by causing them distress and inconvenience in nearly two thirds of upheld final complaint decisions. Writing today in the Insurance Post, Rocio Concha Galguera argues that insurers need to up their game - and the Financial Conduct Authority must get tough with firms found to fall below the required standards. https://lnkd.in/e8WB38u5

Say hello to Dan Glover, who joined Which? at the beginning of 2024 as External Affairs Officer. Most recently he’s worked in recruitment, recruiting for accountancy and finance staff, prior to that he spent four years working in the petrochemical grade fasteners industry, building relationships with key customers and achieving sales targets. His role at Which? involves interacting with a variety of key stakeholders across multiple cross-organisational priorities providing hands-on experience with the current issues we're facing. He enjoys helping Which? make an impact, especially when working on current consumer campaign areas e.g. our Stamp Out Scams campaign including calls on the new government to appoint a Fraud Minister. He says ‘I’m excited to start my external relations career here at Which?; there are plenty of areas to get involved in, many experiences and learnings to be had so I believe that this will be the start of something very fruitful for my career, all the while helping consumers lives change for the better.’ #Culture #Values

In the lead-up to the general election, we unveiled our comprehensive consumer agenda, urging the incoming government to appoint a fraud minister, update product safety laws, overhaul Trading Standards, strengthen the powers of the Civil Aviation Authority and deliver pensions dashboards. This agenda gained significant attention, with coverage in the i, Express and Times Radio. Rocio Concha Galguera further highlighted these issues in two opinion pieces for PoliticsHome, addressing necessary pension reforms and the urgent need for government action on fraud. To underscore the importance of coordinated government efforts against scams, we shared our findings on major airlines being impersonated by scammers on X (formerly Twitter). This story was widely covered by the BBC online, Telegraph, Star, Metro, Sun and more. Lisa Webb was interviewed about the issue on BBC Breakfast, BBC News at One and BBC Business World. Later in the month, Lisa Webb appeared on BBC Rip Off Britain to discuss unsafe products uncovered on Temu and TikTok, emphasising the need for the next government to impose greater legal responsibility on these marketplaces. Just in time for summer, we released our research revealing that three major sunscreen brands failed our safety tests. This story quickly became one of our year's biggest successes, achieving almost 250 pieces of media coverage. It was the most-read article on the BBC website that day and was prominently featured in the Telegraph, Times, Sky News, Sun, Metro, Express, Mirror, and Daily Mail. Grace Forell appeared on This Morning, and our spokespeople were also interviewed on BBC News at One, BBC Newsbeat, Channel 5 News, Sky News Radio, and in bulletins on LBC News.