You could be owed THOUSANDS from these companies – here’s how to claim it back
SOMETIMES it's a real stretch making your money go further every month.
And given that the Bank of England raised interest rates last month, now more than ever you should be making sure every penny counts.
But wouldn't it be great to find out if you were unexpectedly sitting on free cash? If you know where to look, it could all add up to thousands.
The clever guys at have highlighted six companies which might still owe you cash.
You could claim back up to £200 from your energy supplier
Many of us overpay on our energy bills without realising it and, according to price comparison website uSwitch, almost one in 10 of us could reclaim more than £200 from our energy supplier.
If you aren't on a prepayment meter and you don't enter your meter readings monthly, then you may be owed money from your supplier.
This is because your supplier will estimate how much you should pay each month.
To see if you're owed anything, take a meter reading and tell your supplier. Your account could then go into credit or debit - credit means you're owed something.
Your supplier may either refund you the money at the end of the year or pay you the amount back by reducing your direct debits. You can also claim the money back at any time.
But this means you might also be under-paying your bill.
Hannah Maundrell from says: "Remember your energy bills will be higher in the winter and may average out over time, so it might be worth paying a little extra in the summer to spread the cost of your winter energy bills."
Are you due a tax refund from HMRC?
You can often work out if you’ve been paying too much tax by looking at your tax code, particularly if you’ve started a new job recently, as often you're put on an emergency tax code until your most recent P45 has been submitted to HMRC.
You can check by using a .
Once you’ve worked out whether you think you’ve been over taxed, via its website.
There are lots of companies which offer to do this for you but they will charge you for the service.
It’s relatively easy to do it yourself so give it a go and save more money.
Get up to £240 back from your water supplier
Ten water and sewerage companies in England and Wales charge you for rainwater that falls on to your property and drains into public sewers.
But if you have a soakaway drainage system at home, that lets the rainwater run off into the ground, then you aren't using public sewers and therefore shouldn't be paying for it.
If this is you and you have been paying for surface water drainage, then MoneyMagpie.com reckons you could be entitled to a rebate of up to £240.
Have you been charged an unfair fee by your bank?
If you accidentally slip into an unarranged overdraft, or if a direct debit bounces, your bank could charge you a fee for dealing with the mistake.
But many people can claim the charges back.
You can claim by writing a letter to your bank and explaining why you believe the charges are unfair - where possible providing evidence for your reasons.
If it doesn't think your complaint is valid but you do, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Claim back thousands if you were mis-sold PPI
You’ve probably heard about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) but many people are still owed money.
It was sold by banks and credit card companies when they gave you a loan or credit card and was supposed to ensure you could continue to meet your repayments.
In reality, often it wouldn't pay out as the cover wasn’t appropriate for those taking it out, or it was added without your permission.
If you think you’ve been mis-sold PPI or aren’t sure if you were, contact your bank or speak to the independent Financial Ombudsman Service which will process your claim for free.
Money.co.uk expert Hannah Maundrell advises to not go through claims management companies which will be pushing hard ahead of the claims deadline next year.
She explained: "Don’t use them - they’ll only take a cut if you’re owed money. It’s really easy to check if you had PPI yourself, and then if you have been mis-sold to make a claim.
"Write to the company that sold you the PPI policy and explain why you believe you were mis-sold PPI.
"If your claim is successful, you will get back all of your premiums plus 8 per cent interest."
Delayed train? Here's how to reclaim
If your train is delayed or cancelled then passengers are entitled to a refund, under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, but there are certain conditions.
If your journey is disrupted and you chose not to travel, then you can claim a full refund. If you go ahead with the journey on the delayed service you can claim partial compensation.
Different train companies have slightly different compensation rules, but if your train is delayed by an hour, National Rail states that you're entitled to:
- 50 per cent compensation for a single ticket, or return ticket if both legs are delayed
- 50 per cent off the leg of the journey that was delayed if you bought a return ticket
- 20 per cent off the price of a weekly season ticket if you are one hour late at your destination. There are other rules for season tickets too so you should check the National Rail website.
To get compensation, you'll need to provide proof of purchase and make the claim within 28 days. You can claim via the train provider's website.
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Compensation for delayed and cancelled flights has been in the news a lot recently due to Ryanair cancellations caused by staff strikes around Europe.
If your flight is delayed by over 3 hours you can claim compensation for the inconvenience unless the delay was due to strike action or the weather.
Depending on how long you were delayed for and the distance of your flight – you could claim more than £500 so it’s definitely worth doing.
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