They do need to change the law so that gift vouchers are protected. It might mean ring fencing the funds from any such voucher sales.

My brother was sooo pleased about this. Means he'll be able to use one of his Christmas presents instead of having to file it with the Zavi gift card he got in similar circumstances a while ago.

Until there's a change in the law, one would have to be pretty daft to purchase a gift-card for someone from any large retailer. It has absolutely no advantages over cash and considerably more risks attached to it.

though you can send them in the post with less chance of the postie stealing it.

Posties can spot them easier than cash

Have you warned all your stupid relatives that gift cards are at risk of being down the drain?

In my experience* they may be easier to spot but get stolen a lot less, knick the cash from the envelope and it cant be tracked. Gift cards can be, though it might a be a right pain to prove it wasnt you fraudently claiming it had been stolen.

*when I worked as a postie some of the guys were shall we say a bit dishonest and almost saw it as a perk of the job knowing it was practically untraceable.

Years ago I heard of a story of the aggravations of a friend whose unemployment benefit kept going missing. The Benefits Agency thought that he was cashing it and reporting it stolen. He was eventually vindicated when they sent him a payment but had the investigators track it. They caught a postman emptying it before it ever got to him. In the end they reimbursed him all the weeks of missing dole.