Not all phone and mobile providers pay back credit when you leave a contract, unless you ring them and ask to be refunded.

I’M about to write a giant IOU. Millions of people can quickly reclaim cash from Tesco or their old mobile, broadband or phone company, but don’t know about it – we could be talking hundreds of pounds.

In the past I’ve yelled about reclaiming bank charges, council tax, payment protection and more, yet these two new reclaims are much easier, and if you’re eligible the cash will come at speed.

If you’ve switched broadband, mobile or phone provider in the last six years, there’s a very real chance it owes you money. Some of the big providers, including Sky, TalkTalk and Three, haven’t been refunding your credit when you leave them.

The regulator Ofcom believes up to £10m of unclaimed credit is available, and it only takes a couple of minutes on the phone to get it back.

Why might you have built-up credit?

It may be that you were paying line rental or other costs in advance. So, having built-up a credit, when you left there were a couple of months left.

Alternatively, if you signed up for a promotional deal, this is often paid via a credit – for example, 12 months for the price of nine. Normally you’ll pay the monthly fee, but have a credit on your account at the end of the period.

Or you may even have been told you would receive a credit to your account after complaining about something, but never actually received it.

Why haven’t they paid out?

Mobile and broadband providers should automatically refund any credit left over when you switch companies. In the past, few have done this – with the exception of a few good guys like BT, Orange and the Post Office.

The rest retain these balances unless you call and ask. And even though many are changing their ways thanks to moves by Ofcom, this won’t affect balances from past switches.

How much could I get?

Since I launched this reclaim campaign a few weeks ago, I’ve already heard of a number of successes of more than £100. For example, this comment from my forum: “Did as instructed and to my amazement have £144 refund from TalkTalk, well impressed.” Or the more representative: “Fantastic, called Sky and I have credit on my account that I didn’t know about.

£6.42. It’s going to take three weeks to show up but it’s better than nothing at all.’’ How do I reclaim?

In most cases just call up your old provider and ask it if you have any leftover credit on your account. This can go back six years in England and Wales or five years in Scotland, as periods are limited by the statute of limitations. Stepby- step guidance for each company is available at moneysavingexpert.com/billreclaim Get back old Tesco vouchers

NOW this one is fun, and hits all the 15 million holders of Tesco’s clubcard loyalty scheme. In a nutshell, there’s now a way to check if you’ve any unused vouchers from the last two years and get them reissued – but you need to do it quickly.

How does Tesco’s loyalty scheme work?

Shop at Tesco and present your clubcard and you earn two points per £1 spent. Then every quarter, these are sent out in the form of vouchers – so 1,000 points is a £10 voucher to spend in store.

How to get back old vouchers

The Tesco website has launched a clubcard section which lets you view your points and vouchers online. Squirreled away in there is an option to show all the vouchers you’ve had, and whether you’ve used them. Plus, if they’re unused you can then access them online, or call to get them reissued (step-by-step guide to doing this at moneysavingexpert.com/tesco reclaim).

Frankly I’ve been blown away by money savers telling me how much they’ve got back.

Even people who thought they’d always use their vouchers have found £30 or £40 worth of unused vouchers.

Yet do go quickly as vouchers only last two years, so the sooner you reclaim them the further back you can stretch.

Boost the value of your vouchers

Once you get the vouchers, whether new or reclaimed ones, don’t automatically spend them in store – as you can more than double their value if you know what you’re doing.

The biggest multiple comes from using them on things in Tesco’s Clubcard Rewards brochure, available online or in store. Here, each £5 in store voucher is worth £20 to spend on things like days out, gifts, jewellery or magazine subscriptions.

Yet this is being devalued on Monday, when £5 will only become £15 – so if you want to trade in your vouchers for these, get your skates on.

Do also note that the values are based on the list prices, so you may be able to buy them cheaper elsewhere. Check prices elsewhere first to ensure you’re redeeming on the right things.

The other way to boost points is Tesco’s current in store Big Christmas Clubcard Exchange promotion, which also ends tomorrow.

Here you can double voucher values, in exchange for another type of voucher to spend on specific sectors in store such as toys, baby goods, clothing, or Finest range wines.

Either way, the key message is: to maximise your voucher value, act fast.

Something for free

■ Totally free £20 energy saving plug Every mainland UK household can grab a totally free LIME energy saving plug worth £20, a water widget and flush bag. The plug saves energy by automatically switching appliances off rather than leaving it on standby.

Just enter the code ‘FLUSH’ on freegreengadgets.co.uk before Monday. The kit will be delivered.

within 28 days. There is no p&p to pay.

■ Free reply to kids from Santa Write to Santa, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, SAN TA1, before December 15, and his chums at the Post Office will ensure he writes back.

Don’t forget to include your name, gender (for example, I’ve been a good boy/girl this year) and a reply address.

Savvy shopping

WITH the UK planning to spend an average £258, £67 more than last year on Christmas gifts for others, online retailer eBay has found that Brits are turning away from credit cards and opting for savvier shopping methods. Cashstrapped shoppers are increasingly taking advantage of discounts and deals, planning their shopping further ahead and hitting the January sales to make sure they can afford the must-have gifts for family and friends.

Its survey of shopping habits has discovered some other interesting findings: An average of £258 is spent per person on gifts for others with one in ten people expecting to pay over £400 this year; A tenth of people are expecting to spend £483 on Christmas overall this year, including presents, food and decorations; Of those who buy presents one third of women pre-plan and buy throughout the whole year, with one fifth of men doing the same pre-planning; Half of us save throughout the whole year to buy Christmas gifts for others, in comparison to a third in the previous year.

The number of people using Christmas saving schemes has almost doubled.

This year one in 20 Brits started shopping a year early in the January sales.

A RE your children mad about birds of prey and do you want to get them interested in wildlife and the environment?

Adopting an owl box from the Hawk and Owl Trust could make a great Christmas gift for someone, no matter what age.

The trust hopes that as many of its nest boxes as possible are adopted this year to help breeding barn, tawny and little owls, even kestrels.

An Adopt a Box subscription costs £18 a year and all adopters receive a certificate, an illustrated guide to Britain’s owl species, stickers so they can show their support, a biannual newsletter and news of the birds using the nest box.

Adoption forms are available online at hawkandowl.org or on 0844-984-2824.

A CCESSORIES company Outfit, which has shops in Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Stockton, could help you find the perfect earrings, heels, necklace and clutch to go with your LBD. As well as their own designs, Outfit also stocks accessories from high street favourites such as Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Burton, Evans, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis.

Outfitfashion.com A TUTORED wine tasting will tackle the subject of matching food and wine next week. Award-winning wine consultant Danny Cameron will cover the best way to match any wines and foods together at the event on Monday at North Yorkshire fine food and wine store Lewis & Cooper. He will also guide his audience through wines suitable for the festive season’s classic dishes.

The event takes place from 7pm at Lewis & Cooper’s Northallerton store. Tickets are £10 per person, from Kate Wintersgill on 01609-766702 or kate.wintersgill@lewisandcooper.co.uk.