Age UK and energy suppliers, insurance deals

Charities are not allowed to trade so their trading arms are always run at arms length from the charity, but all the profits of trading go direct to the charity. Any charity with a trading operation will run it the same way as Age UK's. It is the law.

I think many charities have lost their way in recent years. When I was with Age Concern, nearly 10 years ago it was accepted that the energy deal was not the cheapest, but that was not the point, what made it special was the customer service attached to it that was specifically designed for older people. The same applied to car and house insurance and other specialised products.

Nowadays, Charities are run like commercial operations, Directors and fundraisers are set financial targets to raise more and more money and the need to provide specialised products gets lost in the need to be as profitable as possible.

I suggest that in the future charities should only be able to offer services like energy deals to their interest group if they can show that something about the product has been specifically tailored for that group. In other words go back to the old system, be honest that the deal is not the cheapest, but show how the service package that comes with it is specifically tailored to its clients and worth paying that little bit extra for.

Just been listening to this. I hadn't realised Age UK Trading was not a charity,like Age Concern was.
Poor show.

He's now complaining there's a media campaign against Age UK

Eddie Mair biting chunks out of the Age UK rep just now on PM Radio 4.
Asking him if pensioners have paid more than they should.
Age UK bloke slithering and can't answer his questions.

Have just purchased an annual travel insurance policy for half the amount quoted by Age UK. It was recommended on the Martin Lewis page so I do trust it.

Charities do not pay tax if the money is being used for the charitable purposes it is set up to serve.

They do pay tax if they use it for non-charitable purposes like political campaigning.

Hi James, I agree, I was staggered to see what their CE earns. And the company "employs" volunteers!? Staggering.

Good that there is some noise being made. I shall be watching with interest.

A most interesting subject, I do recall the days of Age Concern and Help the Aged. They both did a fantastic job and I trusted them both to put older people first.

Since the merger creating the new charity "AGE UK", of which less than 50% of the original Age Concerns have joined. I read that the ethos has some what changed and the commercialism, linked to high salaries £100,000 + for key executives has become the norm. £190,000 for the CEO is not what I expect a charity which thrives on volunteers to be paying.

I can understand the need for a charity such as AgeUK, to seek commission for goods they promote. What I cannot condone are such high commission that are in the long run coming from overcharging older consumers living on a low income. They are in principle being deprived of lower prices because of their loyalty to an older people charity with a past respected reputation.

Perhaps, the suggestion of scutiny, and an MP's enquiry is really needed. Certainly, Age UK Enterprises Ltd is failing to live up to the same high prinicples of AGE Concern and the great respect it was held in.

James

I agree gk.
I also wondered whether the business arm of Age UK pays tax in the same way as other businesses do, or whether the charitable status of Age UK means that it doesn't.
Does anyone know?

Age UK seem to do a lot of good work, and appear to be viewed as something of a "national treasure" (if an organisation can be that!)

However, that should not put them above scrutiny. Or accountability.

Perhaps there's more to this then than meets the eye?
I presume the 'business activities' include the AUK shops, as well as insurance, hearing aids, mobility scooters etc.?

loopy but in refuting the allegations, they say:

"Age UK Fixed 2 Year tariff was the market-leading 2 year tariff when re-launched in January 2016".

I didn't see the original report, this in The Times is what caught my attention:

"... last night it emerged that the charity was making bumper profits from commercial operations that generate more than £110 million a year. The charity’s business activities earn twice as much as its fundraising, an analysis of the accounts discloses. Tie-ups with more than a dozen businesses operate at a profit margin of 39 per cent, a level unimaginable for many companies".

And that remains true today M0nica, as anyone reading AUK's response to this would see.

10 years ago, when I worked for, what then, was Age Concern, they did not pretend that their energy deal was the cheapest, the selling point was the customer service that came with it, specifically aimed at older people; UK call centres, vulnerable customer registration and other advantages that didn't come with other companies or tarriffs.

This has been reported a few days ago and it looks that way.