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00:00Today, the couple whose bank told them that their house was unmortgageable because of
00:06the way it was built.
00:07So the question is why didn't that stop the same bank giving them a mortgage to buy the
00:11house just a few years earlier?
00:13It just seems just so wrong and such a little mistake like that has made such a big impact
00:19on our life.
00:20Plus, perilous potholes, the cause of countless costly bumps and scrapes.
00:25We've got the ultimate guide on how you can claim costs back if your vehicle comes
00:30a cropper.
00:31When you've got nowhere else to turn, we step in because this is Rip Off Britain.
00:43Hello and welcome to Rip Off Britain HQ here in the heart of Salford.
00:48And it's here that all these lovely people are working tirelessly to fight for your rights.
00:53Today, the mysterious phone contract that resulted in debt collection letters from one woman who
00:59thought that she'd cancelled the contract years earlier.
01:01Now, when she came to our advice clinic in Mansfield, Jill had no idea how to unravel the
01:07mess and to call off the bailiffs.
01:09I'm not sleeping now because, you know, it's really frightening, isn't it?
01:15Plus, the Hajj pilgrims driven into the open arms of scammers because of high prices and limits
01:22on visa numbers.
01:24We're asking if the system that's supposed to protect against fraud is actually having
01:28the opposite effect.
01:30But first, one of the biggest names in banking, Nut West, it says that it builds enduring trusted
01:36relationships with its customers.
01:38But I'm afraid the couple in this next story would definitely take issue with that.
01:42They're flummoxed thanks to this, a mortgage valuation.
01:46This one for their house, issued by Nut West in 2021, said it was suitable for a mortgage.
01:53But fast forward five years, same property, same bank, and it's a different story.
02:01I've got a maths lesson first thing on Monday.
02:04Teachers John and Ali Byrne both love their jobs.
02:08How do you approach that?
02:09Going first by seeing how they would approach it.
02:12But it's a bit of a squeeze at their kitchen table in this two-bedroom end of
02:17terrace house in Starbridge, which they share with their teenage son, Jack.
02:21They downsized to this place back in 2021, when John was faced with the prospect of losing
02:27a job that he loved.
02:28The school that I had been working in for the past 15 years was set to close.
02:34And so through quite a lot of uncertainty our way, wasn't sure which direction I wanted
02:40my career to take, whether I could work in the school again, whether I made my own business,
02:44tutoring. So there's a lot of uncertainty.
02:48And obviously you worry that you're going to be able to pay the bills, that you're going
02:53to be able to give the kids everything they need.
02:56To help steer them through these choppy waters, the couple decided to make a big change to
03:02their finances.
03:02We were living in a four-bedroom detached, and we thought we would future-proof ourself
03:09a little bit, and we were going to downsize.
03:11We just thought, if we move somewhere small, I can afford to pay all the bills, take some
03:17pressure off.
03:18And this place ticked all the right boxes at the time.
03:21John and Ali bought it for £157,500, arranging a mortgage with Nat West.
03:29It instructed a surveyor called SDL Surveying to complete a mortgage valuation, which confirmed
03:36the purchase price was a fair value for the two-bedroom house.
03:39I think if there would have anything been questionable on the mortgage survey, then we would have proceeded
03:46and got our own survey done. But because that came back all fine, we didn't feel the need to do
03:52that.
03:53That would be a choice that John and Ali would come to regret. But at the time, their thoughts
03:59were on how to navigate living on just one salary. The purchase went through, and John and Ali settled
04:05into their new home.
04:06It took a lot of the stress and a lot of the strain away. And then John was able to
04:12kind of figure out what his next move was.
04:16Fast forward two years, and with John settled in a new job as a secondary school teacher,
04:21and more financially secure, the couple decided to put the house on the market and find something
04:27a little bigger. And they fell in love with a new four-bedroom home.
04:31Things started to look up.
04:32We were really excited. The house that we had found was a beautiful house.
04:40And what could have been a really, really stressful, horrible time of life, we'd managed to flip.
04:45And it was really quite positive.
04:48The couple quickly found a buyer for their house.
04:52The estate agent called us and said that there'd been a problem with their mortgage, so they had
05:02had to pull out. But they didn't actually give us any other detail as to what the problem was.
05:08But when the same thing happened with their next buyer, and the next, it was clear that there was a
05:14major issue.
05:16So the couple contacted one of the prospective buyers who'd pulled the plug to find out just what was wrong.
05:22She messaged me and said, there's a problem with the mortgage. They're saying that the property is single-skinned.
05:30The buyer's mortgage was rejected because the house was classed as a non-standard construction since
05:37part or all of the property has just one layer of brick with no insulation, something that can increase
05:44the risk of damp and raises possible structural concerns. Many lenders won't offer a loan on this
05:50type of property, but NatWest had given John and Ali a mortgage two years earlier. And when they went
05:57back to look at the paperwork, they could find no mention of non-standard construction.
06:03It says here it's standard construction. I've never heard of the term single-skin. I have no idea what it
06:10is.
06:11And as far as we're aware, the house isn't single-skin.
06:15We couldn't understand why they were saying it's a single-skin. So we weren't sure whether
06:20they were related at that point. The prospective buyer's own survey had flagged the non-standard
06:26construction, and it quickly became clear that the NatWest mortgage valuation the couple had relied
06:32on when they bought the house was incorrect. It was a huge blow. Basically, you trust these people.
06:39We're not surveyors. We don't know what we're looking for. So we just kind of blindly gone along
06:44and believed what they had said. And then we found ourselves just stuck.
06:50With lenders refusing three mortgages on the property, they knew their choices were either
06:56to find a cash buyer or stay put and find ways to create the extra space that they needed.
07:02So they drew up plans for an extension. To finance the £23,000 build, they approached NatWest.
07:10After all, it had lent them the money to buy the property in the first place. But now it was
07:16a different story.
07:18The NatWest said, we're not going to lend you any money because your property is single-skin.
07:22To which we said, but we've already got a mortgage with you because the last time we sent a survey
07:26around,
07:26he said it was standard construction. And they went, we're not going to lend you any more money.
07:32And when John and Ali complained to the surveyor about the report,
07:35it referred the couple to the terms and conditions of the original mortgage valuation, which say,
07:41the report is not a building survey and may not mention defects that may be important to you,
07:49and recommends buyers should get their own survey to satisfy yourself to the property's conditions
07:55and value. Otherwise, you will proceed entirely at your own risk. But for John and Ali, that's not the point.
08:04We did read the terms and conditions, and it's something like, we use that survey for mortgage purposes only.
08:11We weren't asking about the condition of the property. We just wanted to know if it was a mortgageable property.
08:18The couple cannot understand how the issue wasn't spotted. So we asked Hugh Phillips,
08:24a local building surveyor with over 20 years' experience, to visit the property and give the
08:30couple a second opinion. Hello there. Hi there, I'm Hugh. Hi Hugh.
08:35And straight off, he's got his tape measure out. So let's have a look.
08:40What we've got here. So normally on a survey, we would check the depth of the reveals to the door
08:49openings, the windows, and we'd consider the brick pattern to determine if the property has single
08:56skin walls, solid nine inch walls or cavity wall construction. So this is an opening,
09:03the front door on the gable. So the thickness of this wall is measuring approximately five inches,
09:11a hundred and sort of 25 millimetres. This obviously indicates that it is not a nine inch wall,
09:17but it's more likely to be a single skin gable and wall on here. Next, Hugh heads up into the
09:25loft.
09:26From what I've seen so far, definitely would be a single skin external wall to the gable.
09:31I'm speechless. It's just a beggar's belief that the first time it was done, these were missed.
09:37Back downstairs, Hugh is ready to deliver his opinion. We've had a look around the property,
09:43and we've determined that the front and rear walls are solid nine inch construction,
09:47and the gable wall is a single skin construction. For Ali and John, it's a brutal reality check.
09:56The problem was always there. It just wasn't picked up on the initial mortgage valuation.
10:01If it had been, John and Ali would never have been able to buy it in the first place,
10:05and wouldn't now be in this position. But when the couple took their complaint to the
10:10surveyors' ombudsman, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, it found that SDL wasn't
10:17accountable for their reliance on the report, as John and Ali weren't SDL's customer. Whilst a complaint
10:24submitted to the financial ombudsman service has yet to be considered. So, the couple are stuck,
10:30in a house they cannot sell or afford to extend. They've also been rejected for a mortgage with
10:37a different provider, and fear switching is likely to prove costly.
10:42After seeing how easy it is to check whether it's single skin,
10:46it just seems just so wrong. My mind is blown completely by how simple that is. And such
10:53a little mistake like that has made such a big impact on our life.
11:01If all of this has left you wondering how to ensure that you get the correct advice when
11:05buying a home, I'm joined by solicitor Gary Rycroft and mortgage expert Adam French from
11:11comparison site Money Facts to talk surveys. Gary, I don't know how many house sales and purchases
11:18you've been involved with over the years. Based on what we've just seen, it's a shocker, isn't it?
11:23Well, it is. And over my 30 years as a lawyer, I've probably been involved in hundreds of
11:27property sales and purchases. What's common, of course, is that most people involved in those
11:34transactions, the people buying and selling, aren't experts. They rely on the professionals,
11:40they rely on the banks, they rely on the surveyors, they rely on the lawyers. So, it really is an
11:45enormous
11:45pity when things go wrong and people, innocent people, are left feeling, well, why should we
11:52pay the cost of this? Adam, talking more broadly, a lot of people, I think, are confused by surveys,
11:58what type they need and what should be covered. And I imagine that's something that you see a lot of.
12:04Well, absolutely. I mean, it's terribly confusing. And actually, when it comes to a building survey
12:08and a mortgage valuation, these are two very different things. A mortgage valuation is really
12:13just there for the lender to make sure they're getting back the money that they're lending to you.
12:18That could be done remotely. It could be done just on the basis of a drive-by. It could be
12:23a quick
12:24look in the front door to make sure the property all looks okay. It won't be to the same level
12:28of
12:28detail as a proper building survey, which you are paying often hundreds, if not over a thousand
12:33pounds for in some instances. So, it's really important that you do make sure you're getting
12:37the right survey for the property. So, you're going into that transaction with your eyes open,
12:41exactly what's going on with that property. Now, as Adam's saying, I think it is a very good idea
12:46to have a surveyor. And there are different types of survey report. There's the level one report,
12:51which is just a very simple condition survey, which is suitable for perhaps very newly built
12:57properties. There's the level two report, which used to be called the home buyer survey, which is
13:02suitable for lots of properties. But then you do go for the building survey if there has been structural
13:09work done, if it's older, if it's larger, if it's more expensive. If you employ a surveyor,
13:14then they are working for you, and they are therefore carrying the risk if there are any
13:19physical defects to that property. So, it's a really good investment to have a survey.
13:23The mortgage valuation report is done for the bank. You, as the buyer, have no contractual
13:29relationship with the surveyor that carries that out. If you commission your own survey, you're paying for
13:35it. They owe you a duty of care. You have a contract with them. So, if it goes wrong, you
13:39can
13:39sue them. Adam, when people discover issues with their property, is there anything they can do to
13:45still secure a mortgage, even though things have gone wrong? Well, actually, what you can look to
13:50as a mortgage broker is something I'd recommend people look at in these instances where they're
13:54struggling to remortgage, particularly in issues around non-standard construction. You do not have to
14:00stick with the same lender when you remortgage. You can shop around. Going to a broker who has
14:04a whole-of-market view can often find that lenders have very different lending criteria from one to
14:10the other. And then there are alternative financing models as well. So, it could be you just need to get
14:14that remedial work done. And then you can look at something called a bridging loan, for example,
14:18to tide you over financially, get that work done, and then pay it back when you can remortgage.
14:22The key thing here is trusted independent advice that a broker can provide.
14:26Well, thank you, Gary and Adam, for giving us the lowdown on the financial and the legal side of things.
14:31When we spoke to Nat West about Ali and John's case, it told us that it recognises the impact of
14:38the uncertainty they're facing about their home, but that it must rely on the findings of qualified,
14:44independent surveyors when making lending decisions, and that while an independent review of the matter
14:50arising from the valuation has concluded, it would be open to considering any new information
14:56that Ali and John may be willing to share. Meanwhile, SDL surveying stressed that its mortgage
15:02valuation was produced for the lender to ascertain approval for the loan, and was not a building
15:08survey nor any form of commentary on a property's condition. SDL said the report contained clear and
15:16unequivocal advice that buyers obtain their own report on the property's condition and value,
15:21and anyone not doing so would continue at their own risk. SDL added that while it sympathises with
15:29Ali and John's situation, its obligations are to its client, Nat West, rather than the couple,
15:36who have never been its clients or received advice from the firm on their property purchase. And SDL pointed
15:43out that when Ali and John raised a complaint with its ombudsman, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution,
15:48it found that SDL could not be held accountable for the couple's reliance on the report when they were not
15:55SDL's clients.
16:00Time now to put more of our experts to work solving your problems.
16:06The advice clinic is on the road, bringing the best consumer advice. The service that you bought was not fit
16:13for purpose.
16:13Think about going through the small claims court to get your money back. To you.
16:21Today we're in Mansfield in Nottinghamshire with solicitor Aaron Chohan and personal finance expert Amy Knight.
16:31Welcome to Mansfield, you two. We're in Market Square. A lot of history around here. It was given its market
16:36charter in 1227.
16:38But today, we are going to hear from the people who live around here, we're going to help them with
16:43their problems.
16:44But biggest one right now? It's get warm, isn't it? Let's go.
16:51Jill Drain from Spalding has asked for our help after receiving letters from debt collectors demanding payment for a bill
16:58she doesn't owe.
17:00Hi, Jill. How are you? Hello, Louise. Nice to meet you. Come and join me. We're going to try and
17:05help you.
17:05Jill says her problem goes all the way back to November 2023, when she switched mobile phone providers from O2,
17:13taking her old number with her to a different network.
17:17But O2 continued to charge her account for a completely different mobile number.
17:22Unfortunately, Jill didn't spot the £7 monthly payments for more than two years, by which point O2 had taken over
17:30£180.
17:32I explained to the bank, and they stopped it for me, and I went back to the O2 shop and
17:39explained, and she phoned customer services for me.
17:43So I said I wasn't happy, so they then said they'd give me £28, and I refused that.
17:50Yep, yep. And they said they would be in touch.
17:54When O2 did get in touch, it wasn't with an apology, but a demand for payment.
17:59The company said Jill owed £18.88 for the period after she'd cancelled the monthly payments and wanted it settled.
18:09Jill wrote a formal letter of complaint to O2, but a week later, she discovered the matter had been referred
18:15to debt collectors.
18:17When you get the letter from the debt collectors, how did you feel about that?
18:21Worried. Worried.
18:23Yeah, because they, you know, send bailiffs in.
18:26I'm not sleeping now because, you know, it's really frightening, isn't it?
18:32Yeah. Yeah.
18:33Okay, I'm sorry that it's causing you that level of stress.
18:36Just to reassure you, debt collection agencies, they can't force their way into your home.
18:44Not in this instance.
18:46No.
18:46And then they shouldn't be harassing you.
18:49So if it gets to the point where these letters are causing you, you know, really high levels of anxiety,
18:56then we absolutely need to tackle that.
18:59And where a debt is disputed, then it's completely reasonable that you can ask them to halt their collection procedures.
19:08Yes.
19:08And there's really no need for them to continue contacting you because you have a formal dispute in progress with
19:15O2.
19:16Amy says that the onus is on O2 to prove Jill owes money rather than Jill to prove she doesn't.
19:23And the formal complaint she's raised means O2 should now be paying attention.
19:29The next step is to deal with the debt collectors.
19:32We're going to call the debt collection agency, an organisation called Moorcroft.
19:36The points that we need to include are that you dispute the liability for this 180, whatever it is, in
19:44full.
19:44And that you believe you had cancelled your contract with O2 in person.
19:50And that should then give us enough power to say you need to cease the collection activity until this dispute
19:58has reached a resolution,
19:59or at least until O2 have conducted their internal investigation.
20:05Thank you for calling the Moorcroft Group.
20:08So I'm here with the account holder, my friend, Mrs. Jill Drain.
20:13There's actually a formal complaint in progress with O2 and I've got a complaint reference number to give you.
20:21We're now in the period that they're carrying out their internal investigation.
20:25We believe that it's an administrative error on O2's part.
20:29The call handler promises to freeze the account, stop adding interest and take the matter up with O2.
20:36In the meantime, Jill will receive no more letters or calls from Moorcroft.
20:43Well, no more of these. No, no more money added.
20:47And a bit more pressure on O2 because now the debt collector's going back to them saying we've got a
20:53dispute on our hands.
20:55Amy, I need you on every single call that I do.
20:58You're so, she's so brilliant and so calm.
21:01Did you feel like, it looks to me like there's a weight lifting a little bit from your shoulders.
21:05Definitely, definitely. I can breathe easy now.
21:08It's hard to know what to do, isn't it? Because you get these letters and you don't, you know, I
21:12wouldn't know exactly all the right things to say.
21:14And then they are not friendly looking letters.
21:17No, they're not. Not at all.
21:18They're not, no. And over such a small amount of money, it just seems so stressful.
21:23Yeah, I think a lot of people, when they receive one of these letters, which are quite intimidating, might feel
21:29a bit nervous to pick up the phone.
21:31But hopefully this experience will show other people at home that there is a real person on the other end
21:37and that when you can provide the right information, they've got to do their bit and they've got to back
21:44off.
21:44Yes.
21:46But this isn't the end of it. Even though the debt collectors won't be calling, there could still be further
21:52fallout for Jill.
21:54There's another issue to consider, which is when you get in arrears with a provider, even if it's an error
22:00and it's not your debt, your credit record could be impacted.
22:04Yes.
22:06I'm interested. Have you ever checked your credit score or had a credit report before?
22:10No, never.
22:12And is that an important thing for us to be doing?
22:14Well, it can be if you're going to need to borrow money and it only comes to light that there's
22:19a problem on your credit file when you're rejected from an application with a provider.
22:25Checking your credit file for any errors is quite straightforward if you're online, but Jill isn't very confident with the
22:32internet.
22:32Good news, though. Amy's prepared everything she needs to request a copy of her credit file by post.
22:40There are three credit reference agencies in the UK. So we've got TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
22:47Unfortunately, it's not a very joined up system and they don't talk to each other.
22:51So we are going to need to contact all three of them separately.
22:55They should then return a report showing whether there's a mark on your file to do with this debt.
23:02And you can have it removed once it all gets resolved with O2.
23:07So before she leaves the advice clinic, Jill and her daughter, Toni, fill in the forms and pop them in
23:13the post.
23:14A few weeks later, Amy's catching up with Jill.
23:17How are you, Jill?
23:19I'm not so bad, thank you.
23:21So your credit report arrived and you sent it over to us.
23:24We've had a good look and they are not indicating any arrears to O2.
23:29Nothing's shown up on the report, so there should be no impact on your credit history, which is great.
23:34Lovely.
23:35I do think it's worth writing to the credit reference agencies again in a couple of months just to check.
23:41Right.
23:42What's going on with Moorcroft? Have they been in touch with you again at all?
23:46No, I haven't heard anything from them.
23:48That's exactly as it should be. Once we told Moorcroft that the debt was being disputed, they stopped all correspondence
23:54with you.
23:54When we got in touch with Moorcroft, it told us its role was to contact Jill on behalf of its
24:00client O2, and it wanted to reassure her that as soon as it was made aware the balance was disputed,
24:06it suspended all further contact and referred the details to O2 to investigate.
24:13Moorcroft also said that the account is now closed on its systems and it will not contact Jill again.
24:20But what about O2? Amy's got the latest on its investigation.
24:26O2 thinks this all dates back to 2022. It says a SIM-only plan was taken out using all of
24:33your details and that you were sent information regularly, so the contract, the monthly bills, the reminders, everything was made
24:40on your account using your details.
24:43Has that rung any bells for you when you think back to 2022?
24:46Well, I did have an account with them, and I do have the phone number from that account, but the
24:54phone numbers O2 are disputing are two different phone numbers, so O2 must be able to see that I've never
25:03used these other two numbers.
25:06When we went back to O2 to explain this, it insisted the account was Jill's and that it had followed
25:12all processes correctly.
25:14Nevertheless, O2 said it could see Jill was acting in good faith, and as a gesture of goodwill, it refunded
25:20all the payments.
25:22So that's great news. No debt collectors are chasing after you. Your credit file looks absolutely A-OK. How do
25:30you feel?
25:30Well relieved, and I have to thank you all so much for all your work in helping us do this,
25:37because I don't think the way things were going, we would ever have had any success.
25:43So it's a relief to have it all done and dusted. But I still think they were in the wrong.
25:51Well, it's our absolute pleasure to help you out with this, Jill, and it's been lovely to talk to you.
25:57And you. Thank you all again.
26:00Well, if like Jill, you've got a problem you think our advice clinic experts can help with, drop us a
26:06line, ripoffbritain at bbc.co.uk.
26:12Well, I have to say what a great, great result in the end for Jill. But my word, what a
26:16palaver to get there. But well done you, Jill, for sticking with it.
26:19Yeah, persistence pays off. Well, time now to answer some of your questions that you've sent into the bulging ripoff
26:26Britain mailbag.
26:27And we've got two titans of consumer rights here for you. Adam French and Martin James to do just that.
26:33And the first one is for you, Adam.
26:37Somasundaram Anandaraja from Kingston upon Thames says he's been sent a penalty charge notice for a car that isn't his,
26:43because the number plate appears to have been cloned.
26:46He appealed straight away and sent evidence showing it wasn't his vehicle, along with a police crime reference.
26:52But the council hasn't responded properly and keeps demanding payment, which is really stressful. What can you do?
26:59It does sound horribly stressful. He's done everything right in this instance.
27:02Gather your evidence together, prove that the car wasn't yours and get that appeal across to the council.
27:07Now, clearly, if it continues to dig its heels in, not take that appeal seriously.
27:11It should be clear that you can appeal to an independent appeals body, which the council will be signed up
27:16to.
27:16It should signpost which one it's signed up to really clearly from all of the paperwork you get as part
27:21of that parking ticket you've been issued.
27:23And if it continues to not deal with your complaint properly, appeal it to that body.
27:27Very good. And Martin, please, can you tackle this? Because Noreen Nolan in West Yorkshire says she ordered a jumper
27:34online for 54 quid.
27:36When it arrived, it wasn't the material advertised. The label inside showed a completely different fabric mix.
27:41So Noreen asked for a full refund, understandably, and even offered to return it at her own expense.
27:46But they keep refusing. How could she get her money back, please?
27:50Well, this is incredibly frustrating, isn't it, Gloria?
27:53This is one of those things where it's a company not following the letter of the law.
27:58And the law in question is the Consumer Rights Act.
28:01It states there very clearly that if goods aren't fit for purpose, as clearly we're seeing here, or as described,
28:09as in false advertising,
28:10then you are entitled to a full refund, including the cost of returning the item.
28:15Now, I would cover my back here, take some photographs just to prove that the advert is different to what's
28:21actually arrived.
28:22You can always ask your bank or car provider to charge back the money if they aren't listening.
28:27Or, best of all, go onto the Rip Off Britain website where you'll find our shopping guide and send that
28:33to the company.
28:34Now, that's a good tip. Now, next up, this one is from Stanley Thomas.
28:37Stanley says he damaged his car after hitting a pothole, but it took more than two years before the council
28:44finally paid out.
28:45He asked why is it so hard to claim compensation for pothole damage and what road users can do to
28:51improve their chances.
28:52Well, actually, Stan, lots of people tell us about their battles with potholes.
28:56So to answer all your questions, we asked Harry Kind to put together a step-by-step guide on exactly
29:02how to make a claim and what evidence you're going to need.
29:08Rip Off Britain expert Harry Kind is on a mission to keep more money in your pocket.
29:13And these are his handy how-to guides.
29:16You shouldn't have to shell out for a new set of rims just because a pothole broke your last ones.
29:21New AI figures show over 600,000 pothole-related call-outs in 2025.
29:28That's about 1,680 every single day.
29:31I'm Harry Kind, the everyday expert, and this is how to get the compensation your road.
29:37Firstly, the rules of the road. Most roads are the responsibility of your local authority.
29:43They have a legal obligation to keep them in good condition.
29:46Now, with over 260,000 miles of roads across the country, councils can't be expected to know about and fix
29:52every pothole within hours.
29:55However, if the council was aware of a dangerous pothole and they didn't fix it, then you may be able
30:00to get compensation for any damage caused.
30:02So if you do hit a pothole and hear an expensive clunk, the first thing to do is to pull
30:07over safely because potholes, they can cause accidents.
30:10Now, most insurance companies require you to immediately report any pothole damage, even if you don't later make a claim
30:17with them.
30:18Next, you'll need to collect as much evidence as possible if it is safe to do so.
30:22Take photos of the damage, the street, the conditions, and most importantly, the pothole in question.
30:29In order to qualify for compensation, a pothole must be at least 4cm deep.
30:35That's an upright AAA battery, two 20p coins stacked on top of each other, or the head of a teaspoon.
30:42Take a photo with one of these items in the hole, or say, a ruler, to show scale.
30:48Don't be deterred if it's not quite as deep as 4cm though.
30:51It might still be worth making a claim, it would probably just be a bit tougher.
30:56Finally, take a note of the exact location where you hit the pothole.
30:59You can just zoom in on your Maps app and take a screenshot.
31:02Or, if you want to be really specific, you can use a website called what3words.com.
31:07It will hone in on your location and transform your coordinates into a simple three-word phrase.
31:12That's specific to the three square metres on Earth.
31:15So, crunchy, orange, vegetable.
31:20Now that's accurate.
31:23Next, you'll need to take your car to a mechanic.
31:26You'll want to shop around for a few prices first, but when you get a quote or a repair, ask
31:31the mechanic to put in writing that the damage was caused by a pothole.
31:35Now take all of this information to the council.
31:38They should have an online form that requires all of the details that you've collected already.
31:43If in doubt, go to gov.uk and search for damage to your vehicle and that will guide you to
31:48the right place.
31:50Fill that all in and cross your fingers.
31:52You should either get a full payout, a partial compensation or be rejected.
32:00If that's the case, don't give up.
32:02It gets a bit complicated, but you should ask for the road repair policy and the inspection history for the
32:09area where you hit the pothole.
32:10That might require a Freedom of Information request.
32:13With this information, you can see whether the council failed to follow its own repair policy with regards to your
32:18pothole.
32:19Often, the authority will pay up if you've proved its negligence.
32:23Even if you don't qualify for compensation, by reporting the pothole, you make it more likely that it'll be fixed,
32:29or for the next person who hits it, they'll get compensation.
32:33Either way, next time, I'll get the bus.
32:36Driver!
32:41I certainly hope he caught it.
32:43Thanks, Harry, for all that detailed advice.
32:45Next, we turn to a story we've looked into previously on the programme,
32:49and how when it comes to major life events, planning is everything.
32:54That was certainly the case for Zeeshan Sarwa from Leeds, whom we met back in 2022.
33:00He'd booked a trip to Mecca for Hajj.
33:02It's a hugely important pilgrimage for Muslims.
33:05But because of a new booking system introduced by the government of Saudi Arabia
33:10before Zeeshan and his wife, Anna, were due to travel,
33:13the family's plans were thrown into chaos.
33:16In the years since then, a new system has been introduced.
33:19But as I'll be finding out shortly, rather than making things easier for pilgrims,
33:24it's driving some into the open arms of fraudsters.
33:27First, though, here's a reminder of our original film.
33:35Every year, up to 2.5 million people travel to Mecca and Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
33:42The trip to the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad is Islam's holiest pilgrimage,
33:47and one that Zeeshan was looking forward to back in 2022.
33:51For him, life revolves around three things, football, family, and faith.
33:59I've been born into the faith, and it has become increasingly more important as I've matured, become a father.
34:06It's how we live our lives, a guideline for the way to live.
34:11Like many British Muslims, Zeeshan booked a trip with a UK-based tour agency,
34:15where a guide would accompany him and his wife, Anna, to focus on their spiritual journey.
34:20It cost £24,000.
34:23Yeah, then we're starting to get a little bit excited.
34:25Once we got that confirmed and got that paid, it started to feel a bit more like it was happening.
34:30Yeah.
34:31But just a few weeks later, the trip was thrown into jeopardy,
34:35when the Saudi government introduced a new booking system called Mutawif,
34:39which would run a lottery for places and would handle all visas, flight tickets, and hotel bookings.
34:45Even if, like Zeeshan and Annan, you'd already booked and paid for your trip.
34:50We were pretty devastated at that point.
34:52Everything was as we could hope for it to have been.
34:56And then for that to be snatched away, yeah, it was pretty, it was pretty gutting.
35:02The travel agent refunded their money, and the couple faced an anxious two-week wait
35:07before they finally learned that the Mutawif lottery had given them a place.
35:12It was exciting, but at the same time, you know, it was difficult to get too excited through the whole
35:18process
35:18because you just, you don't know what was going to come next.
35:22What did come next was chaotic, not just for Zeeshan and Annan,
35:27but thousands of pilgrims from all over the world,
35:30including hundreds who missed their flights after their bookings failed.
35:34Zeeshan and Annan did make it to Mecca,
35:37but since they were no longer part of a guided UK tour group,
35:40they say it all felt very disorganised.
35:43There's just a sea of people, no one there to say this is what's happening.
35:48People are waiting for hours and hours and hours.
35:51People are getting on the wrong buses, ended up in a completely wrong place, having to walk.
35:57For me, it was wasting time thinking about the logistics.
36:01When I shouldn't have had to do that, I should have been focusing and concentrating on why I'm there.
36:06Professor Sean McLaughlin, a specialist in Islam at the University of Leeds,
36:11told us that the Saudi Arabian government's determination to change the booking system for Hajj in 2022
36:17was because it was seeking to make things more efficient and accessible to visitors.
36:22But he believed that ambition crumbled when it made contact with reality.
36:27I've described the launch of the Mutawif portal as an epic fail.
36:33It's failed at every stage from its launch and registration
36:40through to the ability of people to pay for packages.
36:46Communication was perhaps the single most concerning issue that people fed back about.
36:54They didn't seem to understand the need of pilgrims to know what was happening.
37:02Well, since then, the Mutawif booking site has been canned
37:05and a new system called Noosuk Hajj has been introduced.
37:09But while it solved many problems, there are more on the horizon.
37:14Under Noosuk Hajj, just 12 travel companies are licensed to sell Hajj packages.
37:19And while back in 2019, up to 25,000 British Muslims would go for Hajj every year,
37:26new quotas mean that only 3,500 visas were issued in 2026,
37:31all of which sold out within an hour of becoming available in February.
37:35But the clamour for tickets is also driving some people into the open arms of fraudsters.
37:40To talk me through what this all means for Hajj pilgrims,
37:44I'm pleased to say that Professor Sean McLaughlin is back with us.
37:48And he's joining me in HQ with BBC journalist Kush Shemeja.
37:54So Kush, obviously, having reported on the new system, what is the change?
37:58Originally, it was like a lottery system.
38:00You registered your details and then you hoped for the best.
38:03And if your name came up, you were lucky enough to go.
38:07The new system is more of a first-come, first-served basis.
38:11And so I've known people that have taken days off work just to sit on their computers
38:15or their mobile phones to try and get a spot or a place.
38:19It can be quite a stressful period for people because, you know,
38:22this is something that they've saved up to do.
38:24A lot of people usually save up a lifetime to go on this pilgrimage
38:27because they're not cheap.
38:29There were great hopes that this new system might break down the cost.
38:32Has that happened?
38:34It was promised initially, but it doesn't seem to have happened, unfortunately,
38:38because prices are increasing as they have done over the years.
38:42But even though the prices have increased, there have been improvements in services as well.
38:47And that is because the Saudi authorities are modernising.
38:50They are improving the Hajj facilities.
38:53They're building new hotels and improving communications.
38:57Sean, new statistics from the City of London Police say that victims have lost
39:01nearly £200,000 to Hajj fraud in 2025.
39:07You know, so the new system would appear to have created new opportunities.
39:12Well, I suppose, Gloria, that scammers and fraudsters adapt with the times too.
39:18So, although there are lots of protections within the Nusuk Hajj system,
39:24we're still finding that people outside the system are preying on pilgrims.
39:30There are accounts of false websites being set up.
39:34Many websites promise to circumvent the official system,
39:38slash the cost and secure visas for those who didn't get one before they sold out.
39:43It's very important to understand that pilgrims don't just log on and it's over within an hour.
39:50People were registering from November.
39:53There are lots of WhatsApp and other groups that provide lots of support to pilgrims,
39:59trying to coach them through some of the glitches of the system.
40:03But we now find ourselves with many disappointed pilgrims.
40:08And, of course, it could be people like that that scamsters are trying to prey upon.
40:16But despite this, Sean believes the new system is far better than the old one,
40:20in part because just 12 companies handle bookings for every pilgrim from around the world.
40:26You have to go through the app, you have to go through these companies,
40:31and all of these companies, or 12 of them, are Saudi companies.
40:35And do you think so far it's working?
40:36I think that there are some glitches still, but it is beginning to smooth out.
40:43People are beginning to have more confidence in the system.
40:46Not everybody understands how it works because, of course,
40:49Muslims don't go for Hajj every day or every year or every week.
40:55They might pray every day, but they go for Hajj once in a lifetime.
41:00What's the advice then, Kush?
41:01If anybody watching is planning or would like to plan a pilgrimage, what do you advise?
41:06Well, I mean, booking the Hajj pilgrimage, the only way in is Thunasup.
41:10So familiarise yourself with it and work out how to navigate it, first of all.
41:15Be aware of the Saudi visa waiver because this is something that you need.
41:20So if you're going for Hajj, you need the right visa.
41:22You need the Hajj visa, not an Umrah visa or a tourist visa.
41:26Otherwise, the Saudi authorities won't let you in.
41:29And don't be pressured by last-minute deals at all.
41:32Real Hajj packages at the moment, on average, are pricing between £11,000 and £13,000,
41:37depending on what sort of package you choose.
41:39So if somebody offers you a package for £3,000 or £4,000, it's a scam.
41:44Don't be fooled.
41:45Thank you both very much for explaining it.
41:48And by the way, we're going to put all that advice on our website.
41:51It is bbc.co.uk slash ripoffbritain.
41:56When we contacted Nusselk Hajj, a spokesperson told us it is the only platform approved to provide Hajj services
42:03and guarantees a unique experience to perform the Hajj.
42:10If you've got a problem and you think our team might be able to help, there are lots of ways
42:15you can get in touch.
42:16You can email us at ripoffbritain at bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp message to 033 0678 1321.
42:27We're also on Facebook. Just search for BBC Ripoff Britain.
42:31Or write us a letter. The address is Ripoff Britain, BBC Media City UK, Salford, M50 2LH.
42:39Please include your phone number if you can and don't send us any original documents as we won't be able
42:46to return them.
42:50Well, I'm sad to say that we're coming to the end of this episode of Ripoff Britain,
42:54but just before we leave you, don't forget that you can catch up on anything new to miss today,
42:59from how to make sure your house survey is worth the papers written on,
43:03to how to get your money back if your car comes off badly from a pothole.
43:07You'll find it all on BBC iPlayer.
43:09But for today, I'm afraid we're out of time.
43:12Thank you so much for joining us.
43:13And from all of us on the Ripoff team here in Salford, it's goodbye.
43:17Bye-bye.
43:17Bye.
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