Latest news with #Kingswinford
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Shameless insurance hikes make me steaming mad!
According to those who monitor buildings and contents insurance premiums for a living, the days of double-digit price hikes are over. Hallelujah, I hear you say. Data analysts at the august Association Of British Insurers calculate that the average cost of annual cover currently works out at around £393, which is 7 per cent higher than a year ago. Yet averages - prices and increases - can be deceiving, as John and Sue Miller have recently found out when their home insurance came up for renewal. The Millers, who live in a three-bedroom detached house in Kingswinford, Dudley, were told by Saga that their premium for a new three-year fixed-rate deal would be jumping from £391 to a tad over £1,011, an increase of 158 per cent. John, a former executive with local building society Tipton & Coseley, who now volunteers in the ticket office at Severn Valley Railway in Kidderminster, was flabbergasted. As a result, he sought reasons for the increase. Although a claim for a small water leak was made (and paid) in 2023, the 70-year-old knew this wasn't the main reason for the mind-boggling price hike. Given the scale of the increase, John wasn't surprised when Saga said there was room to negotiate. By offering a one-off 'discount' of £125 and getting John to pay a slightly higher excess in the event of making a future claim, it reduced the renewal price to £801. Still an increase of 105 per cent. It also said that if the Millers were happy to renew for just one year - as opposed to three - and accept a slightly lower level of cover, it was prepared to offer a premium of £591. An increase of 'just' 51 per cent. 'We've been loyal customers of Saga since 2019,' says John. 'We have stayed with them even when we could have shopped around and got cheaper cover elsewhere. But this time we felt it was taking the proverbial biscuit.' John and Sue used comparison website Go Compare to find cover with the AA. For its most deluxe cover (platinum) the premium was £494, a more acceptable increase of 26 per cent. There are two conclusions that can be drawn from the Millers' insurance saga (apologies for the pun). First, despite rules that now require insurers to treat new and existing customers on equal terms, it's obvious they are not being applied vigorously enough. By offering existing customers who kick up a fuss a discount, insurers (not just Saga) have created a two-tier pricing system where non-complaining loyal customers get a poorer deal than those like John and Sue. That isn't fair. Secondly, as the Millers discovered, there is only one way to keep big premium increases at bay - and that is to shop around. 'I'm afraid that customer loyalty only goes so far,' John told me. Yes, but I think he is being far too polite. In his shoes, I would be steaming mad (apologies for the second pun). Sadly, when it comes to car and home insurance, customer loyalty still counts for zilch. So my message to you is simple. If insurers treat you with contempt at renewal, take your custom elsewhere. It's easy-peasy and could save you a small fortune in these rather straitened times. Banks are helping to kill off our small towns The way things are going, customers of the big banks will soon have to live in - or close to - a city centre in order to obtain five-day-a-week access to high-street banking services. While most city centres are currently awash with banks, branches are being routinely axed in many towns up and down the country. A banking feast as far as city dwellers and workers are concerned - but the equivalent of a famine in many towns. This point was drilled home last week when readers updated me on the banking health of their respective high streets. First, from the glorious city centre of Chester in Cheshire, local Richard Chamberlain was thrilled to report the opening of a new Metro Bank (the bank's 76th branch). 'It makes a refreshing change from endless branch closures,' Richard told me. The branch, which will be open six days a week, joins Lloyds, Nationwide, the Post Office and Santander on the city's Foregate Street. Barclays, Cooperative, Handelsbanken, Halifax and HSBC also have a presence in the city. In contrast, reader Geraldine Davis is finding it increasingly difficult to access banking services in her home town of Margate in Kent. A long-standing Barclays customer, 80-year-old Geraldine has seen the bank close its local branch - as well as nearby branches in Deal, Herne Bay and Ramsgate. 'The nearest Barclays is now 15 miles away in Canterbury,' she says. 'I'm disabled and have no car, so it's a no go.' After her debit card was recently swallowed up by an ATM, she was temporarily left with no way of accessing cash. With the 'local' Barclays hub in Margate not offering any cash services (like all hubs operated by the bank), she was only able to get money by cashing a cheque at her local pub. 'It's not good enough,' she told me last week. I agree. The banks are playing their part in destroying our towns' high streets. Let's bury the funeral fraudsters The regulation of funeral plan providers has been in force for three years, but the sector continues to suffer from the fallout caused by the collapse of Safe Hands. Last week, administrator FRP Advisory Trading informed the company's customers that they would be receiving an 'interim dividend' by no later than November 28 this year. A wee bit of welcome news for those caught up in the scandal – 46,000 at the time of the collapse. And when I say a scandal, I mean an almighty one involving the misuse and misappropriation of money held in a trust fund for the sole purpose of meeting the cost of customers' future funerals. The Serious Fraud Office continues to look into what went on at Safe Hands after launching a criminal investigation on the grounds of suspected fraud in 2023. Sadly, customers should not hold out hope of seeing a big chunk of their investments returned. Three months ago, FRP indicated the expected return to planholders would be between a paltry 8p and 13p in the pound. Maybe the best customers can hope for is that those responsible for driving Safe Hands into the ground will be held to account. I hope so.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Dudley MP proud to lead first incontinence debate in Commons
A Labour MP has said she is proud to be leading a debate about incontinence that is the first of its kind in the House of Kumar, MP for Dudley, will chair the backbench business committee debate on Thursday, which will shine a light on the issues faced by those with pelvic health issues. Kumar said the issue "affected millions across the UK", however it remained "overlooked and under-discussed". She hoped the debate would help to bring incontinence "out of the shadows" and give it the "attention it deserves". The National Institute for Health and Care estimates that 34% of women had urinary Dudley MP, who is a physiotherapist, said she had worked closely with women to help them manage the challenges of pelvic floor had previously spoken about pelvic health during a Westminster debate on women's health and received a "wave of responses" from people who had similar experiences."These are not just medical conditions, they are deeply personal challenges that can significantly impact individuals' dignity, independence, and mental wellbeing," Kumar said. Mum-of-four Leanne Shakespeare, 51, said she experienced incontinence for nearly 30 years after she had a breach birth. "I have to wear towels when I leave the house, I'd love to go swimming again but I can't. "When I'm on holiday I couldn't take my shorts off or go in the water."Ms Shakespeare, who is from Kingswinford, said it had impacted her confidence and mental health. She added that it had taken her 10 years to tell anyone what she had experienced."It's a taboo and it isn't talked about enough, now I just have to get on with it and try not to let it stop me."Ms Shakespeare said the debate was a "great idea" and she planned to "follow it on TV". Polly Weston, co-chair of the Association for Continence Professionals, was pleased that the issue had "finally gained traction". "The government is talking about something that the nation is secretly trying to deal with", she said."People will quite happily talk about other medical problems, but the minute you talk about your bowels or bladder, it doesn't seem to be a conversation." Ms Weston said she had spoken to cancer patients who found it "more complex" to talk about their bladder and bowels than the treatment they had received. She added that the privacy towards incontinence was "culture and learnt behaviour" and called for health professionals to "ask patients more open questions" about the issue. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
04-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Kingswinford garden's open days raise £500,000 for charities
A West Midlands garden has raised more than £500,000 for charities through open days for the Garden at Ashwood Nurseries near Kingswinford has been described by the National Garden Scheme as "stunning" and one of the finest private gardens in the UK, with an impressive collection of rare plants, trees and shrubs. It spans eight acres and was created by nursery owner and four-time Chelsea gold medallist John Massey who opens it to the public every Saturday. He told the BBC the garden had evolved "with lots and lots of fantastic help". It is close to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and has a pool and rock garden which Mr Massey said he was very fond of."There's always been a rock garden in my life ever since I was born and so we've got the pool with the rock garden round it, lots of different conifers; and conifers get so much bad press but I don't think you can have a garden for every day of the year without conifers in them," he said. "Nothing really has been planned but the great thing with plants in the garden is, if you get it wrong you can move them."He said every day of the year the plants and garden "attracted loads and loads of insects and birds". He said the money had been raised over what seemed a "long time"."I'm very proud of the team," he added."I'm very, very lucky. I've led a charmed life." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
