50 word Moneyfesto - Small changes for a big difference 2013

DH2

Make it obligatory for pharmacists to tell you if the item on your prescription is cheaper off the shelf than the prescription charge you will pay.

DH2

Make it more difficult to get a credit card. Far too many organisations thrust credit cards at people without any check on suitability, which so often results in mounting debt that quickly gets out of hand.

VT82

50 (well, 36) word manifesto: As long as your current supplier and new supplier are given six weeks' notice, and you give a meter reading on the date in question, you should be able to set the date of your switch.

Explanation: 'Switching can take 6 weeks plus, so sort it out early!' is not good enough for me.

Switch too early and you risk uncontrollable early exit penalties, or lost 'terminal discounts'. Switch too late and you spend too long on the standard tariff. My OH has been on the standard tariffs for months, at the most heavy-use part of the year, waiting for the switch to take place, even after giving six weeks' notice before the end of the incentive tariff.

Yes you could ban terminal discounts, or penalties in the last month if you've started the switching process, or force your provider to extend your incentive tariff until the switch takes place. Maybe there already are rules I don't know about? That just shows how unclear it is. But there will always be too much confusion, and people wouldn't know where they stood. The simple answer is to be able to set a date, just like completing on a mortgage. As long as you give enough warning, this should be entirely achievable.

greyvoterman

Pensioners to pay a max of Grade D council Tax, not up to Band H. This is more than the pension. Grade G & H should be just for Millionaires.

cekj

There are too many products being targeted as a short term loan where the interest rate is so high that there is clearly an expectation that many of these will not be repaid. If companies cannot justify lending at a sensible interest rate to a particular individual then are they being irresponsible in providing that person with a loan? The government needs to make more of an effort to protect the financially vulnerable.

JimmyTheWig

If you get refused credit somewhere you then have to pay various agencies to see your credit reports.
A bank should give you the information that they have received from the credit agencies when they reject you. So you'd know automatically if there was a mistake and with which agency.

sina_ism

howhardcanitbe wrote: »

Bring back the 10% tax rate and move up in increments of 5% rather than big jumps from 20% to 40%, which would be more fair and remove the big incentives to find ways to avoid and evade taxes.

Fantastic idea. Love it and think it should be implemented immediatley. This is excellent not just on the personal level but would be uniformly fair for the raising of government taxes (though not liked, still a necessity).

Skie_2

If you can sign up to (or upgrade) a product or service online, then you must be able to cancel or downgrade online too. Why can't we end contracts in the same manner we started one?

henn6661

I think it should be illegal to charge to pay doctor's offices. The cues are often long and unavoidable, and will usually affect the health of yourself or your children. It is just WRONG!

AdF

People on low incomes struggle to manage their energy bills, going on pre-payment meters which costs more.

Allow people to opt into Fuel Direct so that payment comes out of benefits, pre-payment meter goes and they get a cheaper tariff. A free smart meter helps them keep consumption down.