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Watchdogs and WhistleBlowers

• Vauxhall Insignia

  One of Vauxhall's top-selling cars, The Insignia, was launched in 2008 and crowned European Car of the Year just one year later. However, if you're unlucky, the car could lose power while you are steering, flammable fluid could leak into your engine and, according to some experts, your car could even burst into flames. Chris Hollins reports... In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content. Martin Webb bought his new Vauxhall Insignia in April 2010. By May 2011, the £21,000 vehicle's engine had caught fire when Martin was driving to Dorset for a weekend away. He was only notified when a car pulled alongside him and told him that there were flames coming out the back of the car. Martin and his wife got out of the car just as the fire had taken hold. He explains: "There were two or maybe even three large bangs which could have been the tyres because a lot of the car was actually melted to the pavement. If the fire brigade had been two more minutes, there would have been nothing left." Although Martin and his wife were badly shaken, neither were hurt. The car, on the other hand, was a write-off. So what was it that caused Martin's Insignia to burst into flames so dramatically? He says the reason given by Vauxhall over the phone was that the pipe on the power steering had come off and the fluid had dropped onto the diesel particulate filter and ignited, as the diesel particulate filter gets very hot. Vauxhall later commissioned a forensic report. It didn't find the exact cause of the fire, but said that it was fluid based. It ruled out fuel or oil, and it also appeared to support the theory that power assisted steering fluid had escaped, causing the blaze. The report identified staining on the heat shield of the diesel particulate filter - the device that removes soot from the exhaust. Car expert, John Dabek explains that power steering fluid is an hydraulic oil, and like any oil it is combustible: "Power steering fluid is delivered under pressure through the pipework that this is located quite close to the exhaust system. If this was to fail, fluid could find its way into the exhaust system. Depending on how hot that part of the exhaust system gets, you run a risk of this vehicle catching fire." As Martin's car was a diesel, it means that if there was any leakage of hydraulic oil, pressurised from this pipe then it could find its way on to the exhaust system which contains the diesel particulate filter - which according to John Dabek is arguably the hottest part of the exhaust system, which means the effects of that could be quite serious indeed. Vauxhall now say their own investigations have ruled out this possibility, and that no fault was found with the high pressure hose or fittings, but they also say the cause of the fire remains unknown. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vauxhall have also identified a fault in some other Insignia models, which according to some experts, could result in fire. And how do we know that? We got our hands on what Vauxhall refers to as a 'Technical Service Bulletin'. It's a document that Vauxhall distributes internally to mechanics when something has gone wrong with one of their vehicles and a part needs replacing. The report that we have, which is dated October 2011, refers to the pipe that carries the power steering fluid and it's pretty clear: the power steering pressure pipe might crack/leak. The remedy? Replace the Power Steering Pressure Pipe and Clip. The cause? Insufficient design. So what could be the consequences of failing to remedy this 'insufficient design'? According to John Dabek, there's a potential situation where you can have a failure of a power steering pipe under pressure, meaning that drivers could lose power assistance to their steering, which is could be quite serious. There is also the potential for power assisted steering fluid to spray onto the hot part of the exhaust, the diesel particulate filter, that can cause smoke - and in the worst case, could cause a fire. However, Vauxhall say that if power steering fluid does escape from a pipe, it will leak out slowly, rather than be sprayed across the engine. But how reassuring is that? Automotive engineer, Mark Brown, explains: "This fluid is highly flammable, and its presence on the engine in any form is dangerous. A leak once started can, and usually does, worsen of its own volition owing to the nature of the reason the leak starts in the first place - so even a slow leak presents a serious fire hazard." Vauxhall says the fault affects 6,900 vehicles, all manufactured in Germany between 2009 and 2010, and they told us it cannot state categorically that no fluid would, under any circumstances, come into contact with a part of the engine where a fire could potentially result. But: it's recalled none of the affected vehicles. Instead, the fault is being fixed only when owners put them in for service. Mark Brown highlights that there are two potential hazards here caused by one fault; the first is the leakage of power steering fluid that could lead to a loss of power steering assistance which may or may not be rapid or sudden depending on the level of leakage. The second is the fact that because there is a significant risk of fire from the leakage of any power steering fluid which is flammable, this makes it a safety issue which needs to be sorted immediately. "If they don't," states Mark, "they're leaving owners in danger." John Dabek also flags up that Vauxhall have known about this for some time: "They've not been proactive. In fact, they've been putting it right on the quiet when the vehicles have been in for servicing. That's not good enough. They should find the vehicles affected, bring them in by issuing a recall and then getting them properly sorted." COMPANY RESPONSE Martin Webb's vehicle is not in the range of vehicles is impacted by the service action. There is no evidence of a connection between the fire and the power steering system service action. Vauxhall has no record of the content of the alleged telephone call to Mr Webb. The initial response to Mr Webb following an inspection of his complete vehicle was that there could have been a potential low pressure fluid leak but this was not necessarily directed at the steering system. Subsequent expert inspection of individual components, including the high pressure hose, concluded that there was no fault with the high pressure hose or fittings. The cause of this fire remains unknown. Vauxhall takes every incident of a vehicle fire very seriously; each case is thoroughly investigated together with specialists and insurance companies to determine the root cause and consequently, ensure the continuing safety of its vehicles. This is a complicated task, many individual root causes are possible - customer misuse, incorrect vehicle repair, electrical systems, fuel systems, mechanical friction or other external influences. Vauxhall currently have a Service Action in effect in the UK on 6,900 Insignia Diesel Vehicles built in Model Years 2009 and 2010. The service action was to deal with a slow leak from the power steering pipe joint and is not safety related either in terms of rapid loss of steering assistance or fire. There are no instances where the slow leak has resulted in a vehicle fire. The decision to handle this as a service update minimises the inconvenience to customers. The service action refers only to diesel-engined vehicles, petrol-engined vehicles are not affected. None of the vehicles within the service action range that has been inspected has either exhibited a leak or shown other than a slow leak of fluid even though the system is pressurised. There is also no evidence that movement of or within the engine has caused the leak to worsen or spread. Vauxhall cannot state categorically that no fluid would, under any circumstances, come into contact with a part of the engine where a fire could potentially result. Should fluid leak from the joint specified in the service action, it would do so slowly. The reservoir containing the fluid (under atmospheric pressure) is relatively large and any persistent leak from this reservoir would become evident - either on the ground or at the point of the vehicle being serviced. Power assistance would only be lost when the reservoir is empty. Even at this point the driver would only lose assistance and not steering control. Evidence of loss of assistance would be most noticeable at parking speeds and up to 15-20mph. Above this speed the steering would be 'heavier', akin to a manually steered car without power assisted steering. To date c63% (of a total of 6,900) of the vehicles in the range have been reworked with the new pipe. If customers have any concerns about their vehicle, Vauxhall is always happy to arrange for an inspection at a local Vauxhall retailer. Customers who may wish to ascertain whether their Insignia is the subject of the service action should contact their local retailer who can advise if their vehicle is within the range and if so, whether or not it has already been reworked. Vauxhall Customer Care telephone number: 0844 369 0112 Vauxhall retailer locations can be found at: www.vauxhall.co.uk/tools/vauxhall-locate-dealer.html - 2 weeks ago

• Martin Lewis' Savings Tips...

  At the start of May 2012, the Nat-West increased mortgage repayments, despite Bank of England rates remaining stuck at their lowest-ever level: 0.5%. At the same time, the Nat-West and other banks have been slashing interest for savers. In fact, new research shows that those with savings accounts and ISAs are losing out on an incredible £13billion each year. Martin Lewis reports. In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content. He needs no introduction, but Martin Lewis does have bags of savings advice. Martin explains: "the fact is that in this day and age you can't just put your money in the bank, leave it sitting there and expect to earn a decent interest rate. The only way to do it is to become an aggressive saver." But, before you can do that, you need to find out what rate you're on, and with so many different accounts and interest rates, it's not always that easy. Martin Lewis was on hand to offer up advice to some Watchdog viewers. Case 1 is inventor and entrepreneur Mark Searles. He's currently designing a new product to provide power assistance to bicycles. In 2001 Mark invested his money in an online 'e-savings' account with Nationwide. That gave him around 5% interest - a healthy £6000 per year. But in the tax year ending 2010 that dropped to just £600 - and he's only just found out about the reduced rate. He was sent messages over a period of two to three weeks and it took a total of two weeks before he received the interest breakdown. That breakdown revealed that his interest had gone from around 5% to just 0.45% per year. Mark explains: "I trusted Nationwide as the largest building society to keep the rate competitive and also to keep me informed. Nationwide effectively earned an income lending out £180,000 of my money, whilst paying me almost nothing in return." Martin Lewis explains that banks make it difficult for us to find out what we are actually earning. "Why isn't it printed on every statement?" Martin asks. "Even on online accounts, many will make you click on a link and then lists a whole range of different accounts - how do you know exactly which one is yours? Well, they won't make it easy because they don't want us to leave. Don't let them off the hook: pick up your phones and ask them. And if it's not good enough, leave." Case 2 is retired gardening enthusiast David Windebank, who wishes he'd left Lloyds TSB early. He put his money into their 'Reward Savings Account' back in 2001. David found his rate had dropped to just 0.5% and despite investing thousands of pounds over the year, it only earned him £11.40. Lloyds said he could open a "new" account with a bonus rate of 1.6%. Trouble is, that rate lasts just 12 months, after which it plummets to a mere 0.1%. David comments: "I would have thought that loyalty would have counted for something, they would look after my money and give me better interest each time." Martin explains that David appears to have fallen victim to what he likes to call the 'Suck. Slap. Flog' technique: banks like to such people in with headline rates of interest, then they slap the rate down so we still think that we are earning well, but we aren't and at the same time they flog an altogether new account with a similar sounding name so you may catch it in the best buy tables and thing 'fantastic' but you'd be wrong. Martin's advice? Get them, set them up while the bonus rates are there, then diarise to ditch and switch when it ends. Cash ISAs are usually seen as a better deal for savers because they provide tax free savings, but they're just as vulnerable to having their interest rates slashed. Case 3: DIY and car enthusiast Alan Emsley from Cheshire is a loyal customer of Natwest. He had his Natwest ISA for six years, but shortly after paying in this year's maximum allowance, they gave him some very un-helpful news: they were dropping the interest rate from what it was at 3.01% to 2.70% for the year. Alan felt that they should have given notification of change before the new tax year came into play. Martin explains that whether it's a cash ISA from this year or 10 years ago, never think that when the money is in there, it's a done deal. You have a right to transfer your ISA. Now don't do this by withdrawing the cash because then it's not a cash ISA anymore and you will lose your tax status. What you need to do is find the best paying new provider that accepts transfers and ask them to move the money across for you. Then your cash ISA will be in an account that pays better than your previous one. So the advice is clear. If your bank or building society has cut the rate on your savings, look for a better deal. Those deals are there to be had. COMPANY RESPONSESA Nationwide spokesperson said: Mr Searles has previously complained to the Society and we have written back to him at the time to address his concerns. He has made a number of points to both ourselves and Watchdog, which I will address in turn below. Mr Searles is unhappy with the rate paid on his savings account during 2009. At the start of 2009 Bank of England Base Rate fell to its current historic low of 0.50%. Interest rates we pay on variable rate savings accounts are related to the Bank of England Base Rate, and we are unable to sustain rates at the previous levels seen when the Bank of England Base Rate was much higher. We need to manage the business in a prudent and sustainable way for all of our members and unfortunately this means that we have had to change savings rates in accordance with reductions in the Bank of England Base Rate. The nature of online accounts such as e-Savings are that they are opened and managed online. Whilst Mr Searles may not have the time to visit the branch, he is a regular user of the online bank, and therefore can access all savings rates from the site before he signs in. Mr Searles has complained to Watchdog that the interest rates are not indicated clearly online, but as you can see from the link below the link to find savings interest rates is clearly shown on the right hand side of the main savings page on nationwide.co.uk. http://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/default.htm Having said that, we are always looking to improve the service we offer our members and in November 2010, we introduced our 7 Savings Promises, and Promise number 6 states: "We will contact you every year detailing our range of savings accounts, so you know about any new accounts we have launched. We will send you an annual savings statement showing the rate you are receiving, and we will always have our latest rates available at nationwide.co.uk." The new statement sent to Mr Searles in November 2011 that clearly indicates the rates he was receiving on all his savings accounts. In our last letter to Mr Searles dated 27 October 2011, we apologised for the fact that the levels of service he received were not at our usual high standards and as a gesture of goodwill we offered him £75 compensation. Mr Searles has chosen not to accept this compensation. The Society also outlined his rights to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service if he remained unhappy and they would independently investigate his concerns, but no complaint has been received. A spokesperson for RBS said: 'We're sorry if Mr Emsley feels disappointed regarding the change to his Cash ISA. This product does have a variable interest rate and has remained unaltered since 2009. We regularly review all savings products and occasionally do have to alter the rates offered, however all affected customers are contacted in advance of any changes being made. If Mr Emsley chooses to move his ISA elsewhere he will be able to transfer to another ISA provider without losing the tax-free status. These rate changes were deliberately introduced during the ISA season, precisely so customers were able to look at all ISAs offered when the most competitive rates of the year are available.' 'It's important that customers keep track of their savings. To help do this we've started printing interest rates on paper statements and will be extending this online during 2012. We also have a free savings goal tool which helps customers monitor their funds online, and just last week launched a free budgeting tool allowing customers to easily keep track of their funds. We provide detailed product guides in branches and online, as well as contacting customers every year to invite them in for a personal savings review. We strongly recommend savers take advantage of these tools, to ensure they really are making the most of their money.' A Lloyds TSB spokesperson said: Lloyds TSB always encourages its customers to regularly review their savings rates and we are transparent in ensuring customers can easily find their current interest rate by publishing these online and on statements. We communicate any downward changes in rates as we recognise that savers want to get the best return possible on their money. Across our range, Lloyds TSB offers competitive products both with and without bonus rates, as there is strong customer demand for bonus accounts. We are upfront about any changes to the rate, and we write to customers at the end of their bonus or fixed period to explain that their rate has changed, so they are always in control. - 2 weeks ago

• Rogue Traders: Smartproof

  Based in Leeds, Smartproof is the trading name of Smartcoat Ltd and is not to be confused with companies of a similar name. Smartproof offers renovations and coatings for roofs - in fact "total roofing solutions". Gordon Aldred from Wakefield took them up on this. He was told it would cost himapproximately £11,000 for a new roof. Instead SmartProof offered to refurbish and coat his roof. He was told the coating would help preserve it and would also help the heating bills and prolong the life of the roof. They said it would cost him £5000, but only if they could start 4 days later - thereby depriving Gordon of his 7 day cooling off period. As soon as they signed up him up, they took £2,500. They had already finished the first stage of work when Gordon's daughter Judy found out the cost of a complete re-roof would be considerably less than £5,000. Judy cancelled the job to prevent Smartproof taking any more of her dad's money. Overcharging is one thing, but what about their workmanship? Following a cold call, Margaret Keir was offered the same roof treatment. Up until that point, Margaret had had no problems with her roof. She was told that it would take one day to clean the roof and one day to apply the coating. Unfortunately for Margaret, her roof now looks shoddy, and is in an even worse state than it appears. Just six days after Smartproof had worked on her roof, Margaret awoke in the morning to find her whole bathroom was like a shower. Smartproof sent five people out on the five occasions and it was still flooding two weeks later. Margaret explains: "They have reduced the life of my roof and I would need to have it totally replaced now within the next 10 years." Chartered Surveyor, Barry Cross assessed Margaret's roof and concluded that it was a "pretty poor job." Some customers have informed Rogue Traders that they had been told that the whole Smartproof service had been approved by Watchdog. It's not - we don't do endorsements. The company have denied using the Watchdog name. In fact, from what we've heard from Gordon and Margaret, Smartproof would have a tough time persuading anyone to give them the thumbs up. We set up a house with small cameras, and had our actress, Pauline, ready and waiting. However, before we called Smartproof out to work, we got Barry to assess the roof. He concluded that the roof was in pretty good condition and just needed some basic maintenance. As for cost, the absolute top charge should be £500 and for that the roof should last another 35 years. Smartproof salesman Adrian Pickles arrived at the house. He claimed that the waterproof coating had eroded in the weather and had actually disappeared from Pauline's roof in 1980, meaning that her roof tiles were "totally saturated". Barry, however, deems this "absolute rubbish". Adrian went on to claim that "when properties get to around 45 years old with this type of tile, people then start re-roofing." Again, Barry rubbishes Adrian's claim as "absolute nonsense". Adrian warned that if Val were to ignore it, she will be re-roofing to the cost of £10,750. Barry states that it would be "nowhere near that amount". Adrian explained that the process was actually brought over from Denmark and is "preventative maintenance", in that "the coating system physically soaks in to the tile, it's the equivalent to six inches of rockwool insulation so you are going to retain heat in your building, obviously depending on the all the insulation you've already got. But it's been proven to reduce heat loss by up to 25%." Although Adrian went on to say that this insulation claim is not something they push in this country, the company doesn't follow suit. They publish on their advertising that customers will save 25% on energy bills. Seeing as our house is already fully insulated, that's nonsense. Adrian explained the process to Pauline: firstly the roof is cleaned, and if any of the ridge tiles were loose, they would be removed, re-cemented and re-bedded. If any of those tiles are damaged, they are replaced. They then check every single tile on the roof, and if anything is cracked, broken or missing, it is replaced. He also claimed that Smartproof that will re-point the roof, inspect all the lead-work, re-set, repair and seal it and then apply a fungicidal wash. Later, Smartpoof will return on a dry day to apply the coating system. It all sounds impressive, but remember: our expert Barry reckons the roof just needs some basic maintenance which will add another 35 years to Pauline's roof. As for the coating - it might look nice, and may even give the roof a few more years, but as a whole new roof would cost around £4,000, you wouldn't want to spend more than about £750 on this. Adrian's quote? £4,672. Barry's conclusion? "Unbelievable, extortionate." However, Adrian is prepared to negotiate, offering Pauline the whole service for £2,575 - still about five times more than she needed to spend on the roof. Pauline told Adrian she needed to think about it, but Adrian was keen to get an answer and said he would call her in an hour for a decision about whether or not she could afford to pay for it. We booked in the job and Adrian dropped the price again - to £2,380. He said it would take two full days and tells us we should expect a surveyor. We accepted this and paid a deposit of £500. The roofers, Danny and Mark, arrived before the surveyor. Danny and Mark explained to Pauline that they were going to jet wash the roof and then treat it with an anti-fungal treatment. Barry observed that they were setting up for the jet washing equipment without having done any pre-survey work; when Pauline queried where the surveyor was, she was told that he would come after the work had started. Barry observed that they hadn't done a check in the roof space: "We know that the underfelt is torn so there is a distinct possibility that water will now come through the roof and cause damage inside the roof space - let's hope that doesn't happen." In the meantime, there was a distinct possibility that Danny and Mark would cause damage to themselves, as they did not take adequate health and safety precautions when standing on the ridge of the roof. When they finished jet washing, Mark told Pauline that they were going to repoint the roof. According to Barry Cross, in order to do the pointing properly, Mark would have to re-bed the tiles because they will have come loose: "All he is doing now is filling in where there are gaps; that's not good enough because the mortar will fall out again after a short while. He's actually smoothing out the mortar with his hand - that's not the way to point ridge tiles on the roof." After doing this, Danny collected £940 from Pauline and both Danny and Mark headed off - just 2 hours and 50 minutes after they had arrived - supposedly to do a full day's work. It was time to inspect the loft and see if they had caused any damage; after all, there was no survey conducted and we had holes in our underfelt, which could have let water in. However, just as we were about to carry out our own inspection, the surveyor arrived - after the work had been completed. It was a quick visit and didn't include a loft inspection when it should have. It was Barry's turn to check it out; he concluded that the water and some of the debris from the roof had actually come through the torn underfelt and had deposited all over the insulation. "Can you imagine if there had been no insulation in this roof? It could easily have damaged the ceiling. This company didn't know that because they didn't check, and that really is unacceptable." Almost two weeks later, Phase Two was about to begin - however, Danny and Mark were off to a bad start as they threw tiles from the roof onto the lawn. They were also walking across the roof where they could break more tiles, were carrying tiles on their shoulders and they didn't even have a roof ladder in place. Where Adrian Pickles had said that they would go around all of the flashing and re-set it, in actuality they were painting the flashing but not actually doing anything to it - despite what had been promised. At least Mark replaced some of the broken tiles, and Danny seemed to be making good progress with spraying the first coat. However, Barry observed that one of the duo was repairing a broken tile by pushing mortar into the crack with his fingers, thereby concealing the breakage of the tile, meaning that the repair wouldn't last. Yet Mark ploughed on, and told Pauline that the first coat was pretty much completed, so it was on to the second coat. Barry observed that the second coat that was being applied was very light and there was no attention to the detail: "This coating is supposed to have thermal properties and I think it is self-evident that such a thin coating of paint is hardly going to create any significant difference." After 2.5 hours of work, Mark informed Pauline that the work was completed and asked her to pay the balance. This means that the entire so-called two-day job has actually lasted just 5 hours and 20 minutes. The total price? £2,380. But what did we get for our money? Barry concluded that it was a "pretty poor job all round" and instead of the roof renovation that they had promised, they simply "put a coat of paint on and done some rudimentary works which don't fit the bill at all" and reveals that Pauline ended up with more broken tiles than she started with. They also caused damage on the inside of the roof because no one checked inside the roof before they started work. We wanted to ask salesman Adrian Pickles why he told us all those lies... and why the company didn't deliver on all his big promises. Pauline took Adrian over to meet her neighbour - who was actually Matt dressed up as a woman. When Matt put the allegations to Adrian, he said that he would pass Matt's details over to head office. COMPANY RESPONSE We put all our allegations to the company and they've apologised. They say their workers have let their customers down and also damaged their reputation. They say in all the cases featured they've offered to put right the damage and to refund if customers still aren't happy, including us. They say they encourage sales staff to adopt a soft sell approach. They say they carry out work for thousands of happy customers each year. They insist the lifespan of a roof like ours is 60 years. They stand by the benefits of Smartproof. They say it's far cheaper than paying for a new roof, and the price is competitive. They say the insulation benefits are backed up by independent and respected research but have withdrawn the claim the product will save 25% on energy bills. The roofing contractors that worked on the cases featured no longer work for Smartproof. - 2 weeks ago