Consumer challenges 2015

[Legal Beagles]

17 February 2015 Consumer challenges 2015 Consumer challenges 2015 [Adobe Acrobat Document 2.5 MB] In the past six years there has been a prominent debate in Britain about a living standards crisis. Now, with a recovery having taken hold, this debate has broadened from a focus on falling incomes to a wider conversation about whether […]
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[PAWS]

Re: Consumer challenges 2015

The cost of putting a roof over your head does not go down when the economy improves –in fact it goes up. When people witter on about ‘in our day we lived within our means’ they conveniently ignore the fact that the percentage of income that went on housing was much lower ‘back in the day’. This is not about wanting unaffordable luxuries and it is not just a case of people wanting to live in Thames’ side apartments or Cotswold villages! The cost of basic housing is crippling many people.
Then there is that old chestnut, debt. The more you have the more they take. If you are out of work they may be persuaded to accept a low repayment plan but as soon as your income improves the court papers start flying about and you lose the little extra that could have helped you sleep at night.
We now also know that unless we pay a substantial part of our income into a pension plan we may be in trouble in our old age. Another drain on income that is costing us more regardless of any ‘green shoots’ of economic recovery.
Another big problem is modern selling. Cold calling and street or supermarket canvassing is rife. Cold selling is now a very well-studied and professionally executed science. Many ‘sellers’ are on commission only so the technique is aggressive, persuasive and sublime. The buyer is often literally ambushed. The buyer has little opportunity to ‘beware’. None of these utility or service providers believe in ‘loss leaders’ so the sign up deals and introductory offers are rarely without hooks. As a result many people get stitched up with unfair and costly contracts.