On Your Behalf

The Consumer Council’s Richard Williams guides us through consumer travel rights and what to do if your transport is cancelled. We hear listener Nicola who took an airline to the small claims court and won, and Daire whose bag containing valuable items went missing on a flight from Dublin to Leeds.

We also get good results for listeners to the programme who have been battling suppliers over items like misplaced sofas and broken televisions.

The Consumer Council’s Raymond Gormley is back to chat about energy price changes coming in the new year. He responds to listeners’ questions about getting a refund of credit from a pre-pay meter and a case of 500L of oil going missing, and has advice for keeping your energy bills down over winter.

Chris Gourley from Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful shares tips on cutting waste (and costs) at Christmas, from wrapping paper to gift choices.

A charity supporting elderly people has published its first annual report looking at the safest places for older people in Northern Ireland and the Department for Communities pays out over £11,000 to a benefits claimant who missed out on the money after getting poor advice.

Travel journalist Simon Calder responds to listener's bad experiences with air travel. Julie was trying to fly to New York but was taken into a room by immigration to answer questions when the fingerprint scanner didn't recognise hers. Sarah's family of five were split, when three of them were put on a plane to London, then onto Orlando, while two of her children were put in a taxi to Dublin to fly to Orlando, on their own. Also, it's International Day of People with Disabilities and we're discussing pavement parking and how that affects people who walk or wheel. Diane Marks and Alison Crawford speak of their experiences.

Chief Superintendent Gerard Pollock of the PSNI and Scamwise partnership is in studio to chat scams; what to watch out for in the run up to Christmas and how to shop safely. The Metropolitan Police will text 70,000 people who were scammed and in Northern Ireland, Trading Standards are continuing to return £10,000 to more than 60 people who were victims of another scam.

Energy suppliers have signed up to a voluntary charter to support and protect customers. Peter McClenaghan of the Consumer Council explains how it will work and what it means for people.

With fuel prices rising, many will be tempted to turn to things like electric heaters for warmth. We ask Guiseppe Capanna of Electrical Safety First how safe they are and whether they’re more efficient than turning the heating on.

While technology has enabled people with sight loss to work effectively alongside their peers, the number of blind and partially sighted in work hasn't changed much in a generation. That's something the RNIB would like to change and Linda has been finding out what’s happening to make that a reality.

Earlier this month, Charlene came to the programme worried about the amount of lead in her drinking water. We heard from Dr Tristan Sturm of Queen’s University who said more could be done to make people aware of the risks of any amount of lead in their water supply.

NI Water’s Head of Drinking Water Regulation, Alison McMullan, is in studio to answer your questions on drinking water, what NI Water is doing to remove lead pipes and how homeowners can find out whether there might be lead pipes supplying water to their property.

We look ahead to Black Friday with Trading Standards who urge customers to stop before they shop, and the Consumer Council’s postal expert Michael Legge explains how to swap out your old stamps for the new barcode editions.

Many consider broadband to be an essential, much like electricity, water and heating. Brigid contacted the programme when she faced repeated delays getting her rural home connected to the network. To make matters worse, there was no phone signal at her home so using mobile data wasn’t an option either. From a petrol station several miles away, she explains the toll it’s taking on her family.

Northern Ireland Fraud Forum is holding its first annual conference in Belfast soon. We speak to NI Fraud Forum Chair, Bill McCluggage, and Mike Haley, CEO, Cifas, the UK’s largest cross-sector fraud sharing organisation.

Two listeners contacted On Your Behalf after getting a tax return from HMRC, but the cheque was made out to another company they’d never heard of. The repayment agents then take a cut of the money as a fee. Joanne Walker of the Low Income Tax Reform Group explains why this might be happening to some people, and suggests what HMRC could be doing to prevent it happening in future.

We take water for granted, but don’t often consider how it reaches our homes. NI Water estimates around a quarter of properties here could still be connected to water supplies through lead pipes. They’re working on replacing them, but only those outside property boundaries. We speak to a listener who grew concerned over how much lead was in her water supply after construction work to a neighbour’s garden and Dr Tristan Sturm of Queen’s University Belfast explains the dangers of lead in water.

Sasha Gillespie and Dr Esther McGuinness join Linda to explain the importance of the Ulster Law Clinic’s Pro Bono week, where students are trained to provide free social security, employment and tribunal representation.

This week is Talk Money week with the Money and Pensions Service. Janine explains why, as the cost of living crisis continues, first step of tackling many financial issues is to seek support.

The Welfare Mitigations Review was published this week, making nine recommendations for Stormont to improve the benefits system here. Panel chair Les Allamby discusses what the report found and what needs to be done to realise its recommendations. Kevin Higgins from Advice NI offers his thoughts and speaks about the pressure the independent advice sector is under at the minute.

Listener Sinead got in touch when she got a repair bill for her car. She had a lease agreement with a mileage limit that she adhered to, but the dealership told her the brakes had corrosion as a result of not being driven enough. Motoring expert Amanda Stretton offers top tips for car leasing, and the introduction of E10 fuel.

Community Pharmacists have warned government over the shortage and cost of basic medicines, saying supplies could run out within weeks. Terry Maguire of the Ulster Chemists Association, explains what the issue is and what patients can do.

Sara Neill puts listeners questions to consumer expert Jane Hawkes. We hear from two customers unhappy with their car hire agreement and holidaymakers tackling wildfires and missing wheelchairs.

We hear from one listener struggling to get answers about a fault with his mother’s car, and we explore how the Motability scheme works.

Sara visits a visually impaired reading group at Ballymena Library to find out how accessible our libraries are, and meets something of a local celebrity.

Sara Neill puts your questions to consumer guru Jimmy Hughes. We hear from listeners having difficulties with unlevel flooring, football tickets and second hand cars.

October is positive ageing month so Allison Forbes from the South West Age Partnership &; Margaret Maguire from the Trendsetters Club in Irvinestown give us a run down of the events happening in Fermanagh &; Omagh.

Dynamic ticket pricing prompts us to ask how much are you willing to pay to see your favourite artist?