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Rip off Britain - Season 18 Episode 12 - Bank devalued our house after approving our mortgage
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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. So the question is, why didn't that stop the same bank giving
00:10them a mortgage to buy the house 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. Plus 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 a 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. And it's here that all these
00:49lovely 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. Now, when she came to our advice clinic
01:03in Mansfield, Jill had no idea how to unravel the mess 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 on visa
01:23numbers. We're asking if the system that's supposed to protect against fraud is actually having the
01:29opposite effect. But first, one of the biggest names in banking, Nut West. It says that it builds enduring,
01:36trusted relationships with its customers. But I'm afraid the couple in this next story would
01:40definitely take issue with that. They'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. Teachers John and Ali Byrne both love their jobs.
02:09How do you approach that? Going 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 terrace house
02:18in Starbridge, which they share with their teenage son, Jack. They downsized to this place back in 2021,
02:24when John was faced with the prospect of losing a job that he loved.
02:28The school that I had been working in for the past 15 years was set to close. And so through
02:35quite a lot of uncertainty outweigh, I wasn't sure which direction I wanted my career to take,
02:41whether I could work in the school again, whether I made my own business, tutoring. So there's a lot of
02:47uncertainty.
02:48And obviously you worry that you're going to be able to pay the bills, that you're going to be able
02:53to give the kids everything they need. To help steer them through these choppy waters,
02:59the couple decided to make a big change to their finances. We were living in a four bedroom detached,
03:06and we thought we were, we'd future proof ourself a little bit, and we were downsized.
03:11We just thought, if we move somewhere small, I can afford to pay all the bills,
03:16it takes the pressure off. And this place ticked all the right boxes at the time.
03:21John and Ali bought it for ÂŁ157,500, arranging a mortgage with Nat West.
03:29It instructed a surveyor called SDL Surveying to complete a mortgage valuation,
03:35which confirmed the 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,
03:45then we would have proceeded and got our own survey done. But because that came back all fine,
03:51we didn't feel the need to do that. That would be a choice that John and Ali would come to
03:56regret.
03:57But at the time, their thoughts were on how to navigate living on just one salary.
04:02The purchase went through, and John and Ali settled into 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. Fast forward two years, and with John settled in a
04:19new job as a secondary school teacher and more financially secure, the couple decided to put
04:25the house on the market and find something a little bigger. And they fell in love with a new
04:30four bedroom home. Things started to look up. We were really excited. The house that we had found
04:38was a beautiful house. And what could have been a really, really stressful, horrible time of life,
04:44we'd managed to flip. And it was really quite positive. The couple quickly found a buyer for their
04:52house. But the sale fell through. The estate agent called us and said that there'd been a problem
05:00with their mortgage. So they had had to pull out. But they didn't actually give us any other detail
05:07as to what the problem was. But when the same thing happened with their next buyer,
05:11it was clear that there was a major issue. So the couple contacted one of the prospective buyers
05:19who'd pulled the plug to find out just what was wrong. She messaged me and said there's a problem
05:26with the mortgage. They're saying that the property is single skinned. The buyer's mortgage was rejected
05:33because the house was classed as a non-standard construction, since part or all of the property
05:39has just one layer of brick with no insulation, something that can increase the risk of damp
05:45and raises possible structural concerns. Many lenders won't offer a loan on this type of property,
05:52but NatWest had given John and Ali a mortgage two years earlier. And when they went back to look at
05:58the paperwork, they could find no mention of non-standard construction. It says here it's standard
06:05construction. I've never heard of the term single skin. I have no idea what it is. And as far as
06:12we're
06:12aware, the house isn't single skin. We couldn't understand why they were saying it's a single skin.
06:19So we weren't sure where the error laid at that point. The prospective buyer's own survey had flagged
06:25the non-standard construction, and it quickly became clear that the NatWest mortgage valuation
06:31the couple had relied on when they bought the house was incorrect. It was a huge blow.
06:37Basically, you trust these people. We're not surveyors. We don't know what we're looking for.
06:42So we just kind of blindly gone along and believed what they had said. And then we found ourselves just
06:49stuck.
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 ÂŁ23,000 build, they approached NatWest. After all,
07:11it had lent them the money to buy the property in the first place. But now it was a different
07:17story.
07:17The 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
07:26we sent a surveyor around, it was standard construction. And they went, we're not going
07:29to lend you any more money. And when John and Ali complained to the surveyor about the report,
07:36it 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 and
07:55value. Otherwise, you will proceed entirely at your own risk. But for John and Ali, that's not the point.
08:03We did read the terms and conditions. And it's something like, we use that survey for mortgage
08:10purposes only. We weren't asking about the condition of the property. We just wanted to know if it was
08:16a mortgageable property. The couple cannot understand how the issue wasn't spotted. So we asked Hugh
08:24Phillips, a 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. And straight off, he's got his tape measure
08:38out.
08:38So let's have a look. What we've got here. So normally on a survey, we would check the depth of
08:48the reveals
08:48to the door openings, the windows, and we'd consider the brick pattern to determine if the property has
08:56single skinned walls, solid 9-inch walls or cavity wall construction. So this is an opening, your front door on
09:04the gable. So the thickness of this wall is measuring approximately 5 inches, 125 millimetres. This obviously
09:15indicates that it is not a 9-inch wall, but it's more likely to be a single skin, uh, gable
09:21-end wall on here.
09:23Next, Hugh heads up into the loft. From what I've seen so far, definitely would be a single skin,
09:29external wall to the gable. I'm speechless. It just beggars relief that the first time it was done,
09:35these were all missed. Back downstairs, Hugh is ready to deliver his opinion. We've, um, had a look
09:42around the property and we've determined that the front and rear walls are solid 9-inch construction,
09:47and the gable wall is, uh, of single skin construction. For Ali and John, it's a brutal
09:55reality check. The 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 and
10:06wouldn't now
10:07be in this position. But when the couple took their complaint to the surveyors' ombudsman,
10:12the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, it found that SDL wasn't accountable for their reliance
10:19on the report as John and Ali weren't SDL's customer, whilst a complaint submitted to the
10:25Financial Ombudsman Service has yet to be considered. So, the couple are stuck in a house they cannot sell
10:32or afford to extend. They've also been rejected for a mortgage with a different provider,
10:38and fear switching is likely to prove costly. After seeing how easy it is to check whether it's
10:46single skin, it just seems just so wrong. My mind is blown completely by how simple that is,
10:53and such a 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
11:12comparison 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
11:28property 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
11:46pity 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,
11:59what 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
12:14just 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 exactly
12:41what's going on with that property.
12:43Now, as Adam's saying, I think it is a very good idea to have a surveyor. And there are different
12:48types of survey report. There's the level one report, which is just a very simple condition survey,
12:54which is suitable for perhaps very newly built properties. There's the level two report,
13:00which used to be called the home buyer survey, which is suitable for lots of properties. But then
13:06you do go for the building survey if there has been structural work done, if it's older, if it's larger,
13:11if it's more expensive. If you employ a surveyor, then they are working for you and they are therefore
13:17carrying the risk if there are any physical defects to that property. So, it's a really good investment
13:23to have a survey. The mortgage valuation report is done for the bank. You as the buyer have no
13:29contractual relationship with the surveyor that carries that out. If you commission your own survey,
13:34you're paying for it. They owe you a duty of care. You have a contract with them. So,
13:38if it goes wrong, you can sue them. Adam, when people discover issues with their property,
13:43is there anything they can do to still secure a mortgage even though things have gone wrong?
13:48Well, actually, what you can look to as a mortgage broker is something I'd recommend people look at
13:53in these instances where they're struggling to remortgage, particularly in issues around
13:57non-standard construction. You do not have to stick with the same lender when you remortgage. You can shop
14:02around going to a broker who has a whole of market view. You can often find that lenders have very
14:08different lending criteria from one to the other. And then there are alternative financing models as
14:13well. So, it could be you just need to get that remedial work done. And then you can look at
14:16something
14:17called a bridging loan, for example, to tide you over financially, get that work done and then pay it
14:21back when you can remortgage. The 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.
14:32When we spoke to Nat West about Ali and John's case, it told us that it recognizes 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
15:02mortgage valuation was produced for the lender to ascertain approval for the loan, and was not
15:08a building survey, nor any form of commentary on a property's condition. SDL said the report contained
15:15clear and unequivocal 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 sympathizes 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.
15:42And SDL pointed out that when Ali and John raised a complaint with its ombudsman,
15:46the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, it found that SDL could not be held accountable for the
15:52couple's reliance on the report when they were not SDL'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
16:13fit for purpose. Think 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
16:37charter in 1227. But today we are going to hear from the people who live around here. We're going to
16:42help
16:43them with their problems. The biggest one right now is to 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
16:57payment for a bill she doesn't owe. Hi, Jill. How are you? Hello, Louise. Nice to meet you. Come and
17:04join me. We're going to try and help you. Jill says her problem goes all the way back to November
17:092023,
17:09when she switched mobile phone providers from O2, taking her old number with her to a different
17:16network. But O2 continued to charge her account for a completely different mobile number. Unfortunately,
17:23Jill didn't spot the ÂŁ7 monthly payments for more than two years, by which point O2 had taken over
17:30ÂŁ180. I explained to the bank, and they stopped it for me. And I went back to the O2 shop
17:38and explained,
17:40and she phoned customer services for me. So I said I wasn't happy. So they then said they'd give me
17:46ÂŁ28,
17:48and I refused that. Yeah, yeah. 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. The company said
18:01Jill owed ÂŁ18.88 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
18:14referred to debt collectors. When you get a letter from the debt collectors, how did you feel about
18:20that? Worried. Worried. Yeah, because they, you know, send bailiffs in. I'm not sleeping now because,
18:29you know, it's really frightening, isn't it? Yeah. Okay, I'm sorry that it's causing you that level of
18:36stress. Just to reassure you, debt collection agencies, they can't force their way into your home.
18:44Not in this instance. And then they shouldn't be harassing you. So if it gets to the point where
18:51these letters are causing you, you know, really high levels of anxiety, then we absolutely need
18:58to tackle that. And where a debt is disputed, then it's completely reasonable that you can ask them to
19:06halt their collection procedures. And there's really no need for them to continue contacting you because
19:12you have a formal dispute in progress with O2. Amy says that the onus is on O2 to prove Jill
19:20owes
19:21money rather than Jill to prove she doesn't. And the formal complaint she's raised means O2 should
19:27now be paying attention. The next step is to deal with the debt collectors. We're going to call the
19:34debt collection agency organisation called Moorcroft. The points that we need to include are that you
19:39dispute the liability for this 180, whatever it is, in full, and that you believe you had cancelled
19:48your contract with O2 in person. And that should then give us enough power to say you need to cease
19:56the
19:56collection activity until this dispute has reached a resolution or at least until O2 have conducted
20:03their internal investigation. Thank you for calling the Moorcroft Group.
20:08So I'm here with the account holder, my friend, Mrs. Jill Drain. There's actually a formal complaint in
20:16progress with O2 and I've got a complaint reference number to give you. We're now in the period that
20:23they're carrying out their internal investigation. We believe that it's an administrative error on O2's
20:29part. The call handler promises to freeze the account, stop adding interest and take the matter
20:35up with O2. In the meantime, Jill will receive no more letters or calls from Moorcroft.
20:41Hooray! Wow! Wow, so? No more of these. No, no more money added. And a bit more pressure on O2
20:49because now the debt collector's going back to them, saying we've got a dispute on our hands. Amy,
20:55I need you on every single call that I do. You're so, she's so brilliant and so calm. Did you
21:01feel
21:01like, like, it looks to me like there's a weight lifting a little bit from your shoulders. Definitely,
21:06definitely. I can breathe easy now. It's hard to know what to do, isn't it? Because you get these
21:11letters and you don't, you know, you, I wouldn't know exactly all the right things to say. And then,
21:14they are not friendly looking letters. No, they're not. Not at all. No. And over such a small amount of
21:20money, it just seems so stressful. Yeah, I think a lot of people, when they receive one of these
21:26letters, which are quite intimidating, might feel a bit nervous to pick up the phone. But hopefully,
21:32this experience will show other people at home that there is a real person on the other end and
21:38that when you can provide the right information, they've got to do their bit and they've got to back
21:44off. Yes. But this isn't the end of it. Even though the debt collectors won't be calling,
21:51there could still be further fallout for Jill. There's another issue to consider, which is when
21:56you get in arrears with a provider, even if it's an error and it's not your debt, your credit record
22:03could be impacted. Yes. I'm interested, have you ever checked your credit score or had a credit report
22:10before? No, never. And is that an important thing for us to be doing? Well, it can be if you're
22:16going
22:16to need to borrow money and it only comes to light that there's a problem on your credit file when
22:21you're rejected from an application with a provider. Checking your credit file for any errors is quite
22:28straightforward if you're online, but Jill isn't very confident with the internet. Good news though,
22:34Amy's prepared everything she needs to request a copy of her credit file by post. There are three
22:41credit reference agencies in the UK. So we've got TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Unfortunately,
22:47it's not a very joined up system and they don't talk to each other. So we are going to need
22:53to
22:53contact all three of them separately. They should then return a report showing whether there's a mark on
23:00your file to do with this debt and you can have it removed once it all gets resolved with O2.
23:07So before she leaves the advice clinic, Jill and her daughter, Tony, fill in the forms and pop them in
23:13the post. A few weeks later, Amy's catching up with Jill. How are you, Jill? I'm not so bad, thank
23:20you.
23:21So your credit report arrived and you sent it over to us. We've had a good look and they are
23:26not
23:26indicating any arrears to O2. Nothing's shown up on the report, so there should be no impact on
23:32your credit history, which is great. Lovely. I do think it's worth writing to the credit
23:37reference agencies again in a couple of months just to check. Right. What's going on with Moorcroft?
23:43Have they been in touch with you again at all? No, I haven't heard anything from them. That's
23:48exactly as it should be. Once we told Moorcroft that the debt was being disputed, they stopped all
23:53correspondence with you. When we got in touch with Moorcroft, it told us its role was to contact
23:59Jill on behalf of its client O2 and it wanted to reassure her that as soon as it was made
24:05aware
24:05the balance was disputed, it 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.
24:21But what about O2? Amy's got the latest on its investigation. O2 thinks this all dates back to
24:282022. It says a SIM-only plan was taken out using all of your details and that you were sent
24:35information
24:36regularly, so the contract, the monthly bills, the reminders, everything was made on your account
24:41using your details. Has 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,
24:53but the phone numbers O2 are disputing are two different phone numbers, so O2 must be able to see
25:02that I've never used these other two numbers. When we went back to O2 to explain this, it insisted the
25:09account was Jill's and that it had followed all processes correctly. Nevertheless, O2 said it could
25:15see Jill was acting in good faith and as a gesture of goodwill, it refunded all the payments.
25:22So that's great news. No debt collectors are chasing after you. Your credit file looks
25:28absolutely A-OK. How do you feel? Well relieved and I have to thank you all so much for all
25:35your work in
25:36helping us do this because 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. Well, if like Jill, you've got a problem you think our advice
26:04clinic experts can help with, drop us a line, ripoffbritain at bbc.co.uk.
26:12Well, I have to say what a great, great result in the end for Jill, but my word,
26:16what a palaver to get there. But well done you, Jill, for sticking with it.
26:20Yeah, persistence pays off. Well, time now to answer some of your questions that you've sent
26:24into the bulging Ripoff Britain mailbag. And we've got two titans of consumer rights here for you.
26:31Adam French and Martin James to do just that. And the first one is for you, Adam.
26:37Somasundaram Anandaraja from Kingston upon Thames says he's been sent a penalty charge notice
26:41for a car that isn't his because the number plate appears to have been cloned. He appealed straight
26:47away 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.
26:58What can you do?
26:59Yeah, it 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
27:06council. Now, clearly, if it continues to dig its heels in, not take that appeal seriously.
27:12It 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 signed up to really clearly from all of the paperwork you get as part
27:21of
27:21that parking ticket you've been issued. And if it continues to not deal with your complaint properly, appeal it to
27:27that body.
27:27Very good. And Martin, please, can you tackle this? Because Noreen Nolan in West Yorkshire says she ordered a
27:34jumper online for 54 quid. When it arrived, it wasn't the material advertised. The label inside showed a
27:40completely different fabric mix. So Noreen asked for a full refund, understandably, and even offered to return
27:46it at her own expense. But they keep refusing. How couldn't she get her money back, please?
27:50Well, this is incredibly frustrating, isn't it, Gloria? This is one of those things where it's a
27:55company not following the letter of the law. And 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
28:08described, as in false advertising, then you are entitled to a full refund, including the cost of
28:14returning the item. Now, I would cover my back here, take some photographs, just to prove that the advert
28:20is different to what's actually arrived. You can always ask your bank or car provider to charge back
28:25the money if they aren't listening. Or, best of all, go onto the Rip Off Britain website where you'll find
28:31our shopping guide and send that to the company. Now, that's a good tip. Now, next up, this one is
28:36from
28:37Stanley Thomas. Stanley says he damaged his car after hitting a pothole, but it took more than two years
28:43before the council finally paid out. He asks, why is it so hard to claim compensation for pothole damage?
28:49And what road users can do to improve their chances? Well, actually, Stan, lots of people tell us about
28:55their battles with potholes. So, to answer all your questions, we asked Harry Kind to put together a
29:01step-by-step guide on exactly how 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. You shouldn't have to shell out for a new set of rims
29:19just because a pothole broke your last ones. New AA figures show over 600,000 pothole-related
29:26call-outs in 2025. That's about 1,680 every single day. I'm Harry Kind, the everyday expert,
29:33and this is how to get the compensation your road. Firstly, the rules of the road. Most roads are the
29:41responsibility of your local authority. They 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
29:52and fix every pothole within hours. However, if the council was aware of a dangerous pothole and
29:58they didn't fix it, then you may be able to get compensation for any damage caused. So, if you do
30:03hit a pothole and hear an expensive clunk, the first thing to do is to pull over safely because potholes,
30:09they can cause accidents. Now, most insurance companies require you to immediately report
30:14any pothole damage, even if you don't later make a claim with them. Next, you'll need to collect as
30:19much evidence as possible if it is safe to do so. Take photos of the damage, the street, the conditions,
30:26and most importantly, the pothole in question. In order to qualify for compensation, a pothole must be at
30:33least four centimetres deep. That's an upright triple A battery, two 20 pence coins stacked on top of each
30:40other, or the head of a teaspoon. Take a photo with one of these items in the hole or, say,
30:46a ruler to show
30:48scale. Don't be deterred if it's not quite as deep as four centimetres though. It might still be worth
30:53making a claim. It would probably just be a bit tougher. Finally, take a note of the exact location
30:58where you hit the pothole. You 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. It will hone in
31:08on
31:08your location and transform your coordinates into a simple three-word phrase that's specific to the
31:13three square metres on earth. So, crunchy, orange, vegetable. Now that's accurate. Next, you'll need to
31:25take your car to a mechanic. You'll want to shop around for a few prices first, but when you get
31:29a
31:29quote or a repair, ask the mechanic to put in writing that the damage was caused by a pothole.
31:35Now take all of this information to the council. They should have an online form that requires all
31:40of the details that you've collected already. If in doubt, go to gov.uk and search for damage to
31:46your vehicle and that will guide you to the right place. Fill 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. It gets a bit complicated, but you should ask for the
32:05road repair policy and the inspection history for the area where you hit the pothole. That might
32:11require a Freedom of Information request. With this information, you can see whether the council failed
32:16to follow its own repair policy with regards to your pothole. Often the authority will pay up if you've
32:22proved its negligence. Even if you don't qualify for compensation, by reporting the pothole,
32:27you make it more likely that it'll be fixed, or for the next person who hits it, they'll get
32:32compensation. Either way, next time, I'll get the bus. Driver!
32:41I certainly hope he caught it. Thanks, Harry, for all that detailed advice. Next, we turn to a story
32:47we've looked into previously on the program, and how when it comes to major life events, planning is
32:53everything. That was certainly the case for Zeeshan Sarwa from Leeds, whom we met back in 2022. He'd booked a
33:01trip to Mecca for
33:02Hajj. It's a hugely important pilgrimage for Muslims. But because of a new booking system
33:07introduced by the government of Saudi Arabia before Zeeshan and his wife Anna were due to travel,
33:13the family's plans were thrown into chaos. In 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, it's driving some
33:25into the open arms of fraudsters. First, though, here's a reminder of our original film.
33:35Every year, up to two and a half 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,
33:48and one that Zeeshan was looking forward to back in 2022. For him, life revolves around three things.
33:55Football, family, and faith. I've been born into the faith, and it has become increasingly more
34:03important as I've matured, become a father. It's how we live our lives, a guideline for the way to live.
34:11Like many British Muslims, Zeeshan booked a trip with the UK-based tour agency, where a guide would
34:16accompany him and his wife, Adam, to focus on their spiritual journey. It cost ÂŁ24,000.
34:23Yeah, then we're starting to get a little bit excited. Once we got that confirmed and got that
34:27paid, it started to feel a bit more like it was happening.
34:31But just a few weeks later, the trip was thrown into jeopardy, when the Saudi government introduced
34:36a new booking system, called Mutterwith, which would run a lottery for places and would handle all visas,
34:43flight tickets, and hotel bookings. Even if, like Zeeshan and Annan, you'd already booked and paid for your trip.
34:49We were pretty devastated at that point. Everything 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 a anxious two-week wait,
35:07before they finally learned that the Mutterwith 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, because you just, you don't know what was going to come next.
35:23What did come next was chaotic. Not just for Zeeshan and Annan, but thousands of pilgrims from all over
35:29the world, including hundreds who missed their flights after their bookings failed.
35:35Zeeshan and Annan did make it to Mecca, but since they were no longer part of a guided UK tour
35:40group,
35:41they say it all felt very disorganised.
35:43There's just a sea of people. No one there to say this is what's happening. People are waiting for hours
35:50and hours and hours. People are getting on the wrong buses, ending up in a completely wrong place,
35:56having to walk. For me, it was wasting time thinking about the logistics. When I shouldn't have had to do
36:02that, I should have been focusing and concentrating on why I'm there.
36:07Professor Sean McLaughlin, a specialist in Islam at the University of Leeds, told us that the
36:12Saudi Arabian government's determination to change the booking system for Hajj in 2022
36:18was 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. It's failed at every stage from its launch
36:38and registration through to the ability of people to pay for packages. Communication was perhaps the single
36:49most concerning issue that people fed back about. They didn't seem to understand the need of pilgrims to
37:00know what was happening.
37:02Well, since then, the Mutawif booking site has been canned and a new system called Nusuk Hajj has been
37:09introduced. But while it solved many problems, there are more on the horizon. Under Nusuk Hajj,
37:15just 12 travel companies are licensed to sell Hajj packages. And while back in 2019, up to 25,000
37:23British Muslims would go for Hajj every year, new quotas mean that only three and a half thousand
37:29visas were issued in 2026, all of which sold out within an hour of becoming available in February.
37:35But the clamor for tickets is also driving some people into the open arms of fraudsters.
37:41To talk me through what this all means for Hajj pilgrims, I'm pleased to say that Professor Sean McLaughlin is
37:47back with us. And 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. You registered your details and then you hoped for the best. And if
38:04your name came up,
38:05you were lucky enough to go. The new system is more of a first-come, first-served basis. And so
38:11I've known people that have taken days off work just to sit on their computers or their mobile phones
38:17to try and get a spot or a place. It can be quite a stressful period for people because,
38:21you know, this is something that they've saved up to do. A lot of people usually save up a lifetime
38:26to go on this pilgrimage because they're not cheap.
38:29There were great hopes that this new system might break down the cost. Has that happened?
38:34It was promised initially, but it doesn't seem to have happened, unfortunately, because
38:38prices are increasing as they have done over the years. But even though the prices have increased,
38:45there have been improvements in services as well. And that is because the Saudi authorities are
38:50modernising. They are improving the Hajj facilities. They're building new hotels and improving communications.
38:56Sean, new statistics from the City of London Police say that victims have lost nearly ÂŁ200,000
39:04to Hajj fraud in 2025. You 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. So although there are lots
39:21of protections within the Nusuk Hajj system, we're still finding that people outside the system are
39:28preying on pilgrims. There are accounts of false websites being set up. Many websites promise to
39:36circumvent the official system, slash 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.
39:51People were registering from November. There are lots of WhatsApp and other groups that provide lots
39:57of support to pilgrims, trying to coach them through some of the glitches of the system. But we now find
40:05ourselves with many disappointed pilgrims and, of course, it could be people like that that scamsters are
40:13trying to prey upon. But 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.
40:27You have to go through the app. You have to go through these companies. And all of these companies,
40:33all 12 of them, are Saudi companies. And do you think so far it's working?
40:36I think that there are some glitches still, but it is beginning to smooth out. People are beginning
40:44to have more confidence in the system. Not everybody understands how it works because, of course,
40:50Muslims 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, if anybody watching the planning or would like to plan a pilgrimage,
41:04what do you advise?
41:06Well, I mean, booking the Hajj pilgrimage, the only way in is to know so familiarise yourself with it
41:13and work out how to navigate it, first of all. Be aware of the Saudi visa waiver because this is
41:19something that you need. So if you're going for Hajj, you need the right visa. You need the Hajj visa,
41:24not an Umar visa or a tourist visa. Otherwise, the Saudi authorities won't let you in.
41:29And don't be pressured by last minute deals at all. Real Hajj packages at the moment, on average,
41:34are pricing between ÂŁ11,000 and ÂŁ13,000, depending on what sort of package you choose.
41:39So if somebody offers you a package for ÂŁ3,000 or ÂŁ4,000, it's a scam. Don't be fooled.
41:45Thank you both very much for explaining it. Thank you. And by the way, we're going to put all that
41:50advice on our website. It is bbc.co.uk slash ripoffbrittain.
41:56When we contacted Nutsuk Hajj, a spokesperson told us it is the only platform approved to provide
42:02Hajj services and 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
42:15can get in touch. You can email us at ripoffbrittain at bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp message
42:22to
42:23033 0 678 1321. We're also on Facebook. Just search for BBC Ripoff Britain.
42:32Or write us a letter. The address is ripoffbrittain, BBC Media City UK, Salford, M50 2LH.
42:40Please include your phone number if you can, and don't send us any original documents,
42:45as we won't be able to return them.
42:50Well, I'm sad to say that we're coming to the end of this episode of Ripoff Britain. But
42:54just 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, to how to get your money
43:04back if your car comes off badly from a pothole. You'll find it all on BBC iPlayer.
43:09But for today, I'm afraid we're out of time. Thank you so much for joining us.
43:13And from all of us on the Ripoff team here in Salford, it's goodbye. Bye-bye.
43:32Bye-bye.
43:33Bye-bye.
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