Age UK are in the news for partnering with a company that is accused of using high pressure tactics to sell pensioners overpriced mobility scooters.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Pensioners who contact Age UK asking for advice about which mobility scooter to buy are told to contact Quingo, referred to as “leading scooter specialists” by the charity.
Quingo has been accused of bombarding pensioners with calls and attempting to send sales reps to make pensioners buy expensive scooters costing up to £6,000. Quingo ‘donate’ around £100,000 per year to Age UK.
Age UK have previously admitted to making money by passing its customers on to the shamed financial advice firm (owned by HSBC) the Nursing Homes Fees Agency (NHFA).
The Financial Services Authority said that 2,485 people were mis-sold investments by NHFA, with the average age of those who purchased the bonds being 83. It reported that “a sample of NHFA customer files found unsuitable sales had been made to 87 per cent of customers”.
NHFA was fined £10.5m for selling inappropriate investments to thousands of pensioners.
NB. Age UK is the charity formed from Age Concern and Help The Aged. Age UK had an income of £167,655,000 last year.
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