Money Box

Welcome to April, the season of rising prices and higher taxes - including the largest increase in energy bills. The first of two payments to help with those bills should arrive this month - a £150 rebate paid by local councils to all householders in Great Britain in council tax Bands A to D. (In Wales and Scotland the money will also go to Band E-H householders who benefit from council tax reduction schemes.) For those who pay council tax by direct debit, getting the money should be straightforward. But as Money Box's Dan Whitworth reports, others - including students - may find it more difficult. We hear from Abby Jitendra, principal policy manager for energy at Citizens Advice.What's going on at the pensions and insurance company Scottish Widows? Listeners ask Money Box for help with very long delays in accessing money and problems with funeral plans. We hear from Kirsty Stone, independent financial adviser at The Private Office.From Wednesday 6th April, divorce will be easier in England and Wales. No more will one partner have to prove fault by the other. No more will a 2 or even 5 year separation be needed. It can all be done in 6 months, online and without the courts. And the same for ending a civil partnership. But is this too hasty to sort out financial arrangements? We hear from Jo Edwards, Head of Family at Forsters Solicitors.More than £1.5 billion in pension credit went unclaimed in 2020 leaving up to 850,000 pensioner households short. We hear from Henry Tapper, of the Pension Playpen, about a new initiative from inside the pension industry to tackle the problem that a third of the pensioners who need this extra money don’t get it. Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Paul Waters Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Marianna Brain

The cost of living crisis is fuelling valid fears about personal and household finances - but what happens when money anxiety gets out of control? Many young people worry about their own and their family's finances, but what can they do to conquer the fear? We hear from Iona Bain, musician turned financial author who specialises in millennial personal finance. She founded Young Money Blog after suffering with money anxiety herself. And we also hear from Sharon Davies, CEO of Young Enterprise, the national charity providing enterprise and financial education to young people up to the age of 24. Presenter: Bukiie Smart Producers: Paul Waters, Maggie Latham & Drew Miller Hyndman Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Emma Rippon

Inflation is the rise in the price of everything we buy. This week the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted prices would rise more than 7% this year, peaking at nearly 9% this winter. We hear from Isabel Stockton of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, on tax changes and the worst inflation most people have ever seen.Some very vulnerable people are facing an even worse cost of living crisis than the rest of us. The amount of money that working age disabled adults are allowed to keep from their benefits - the "minimum income guarantee" - has been frozen for 7 years, even though prices have risen. Money Box reporter Dan Whitworth investigates. And we hear from a family affected, and from Jackie O'Sullivan, Executive Director of Advocacy for the learning disability charity Mencap.The Chancellor is raising the income level at which employees start paying National Insurance. From July, anyone earning less than £12,570 will not pay NI contributions. How will this affect your state pension at retirement age?Money Box has reported sad stories of people who are manipulated by thieves into investing in what they thought was cryptocurrency. Most retail banks follow a code intended to ensure that victims are refunded where they are groomed into transferring their savings to crooks. However, banks often refuse to refund the money stolen by these psychological techniques. But one bank, TSB, refunds almost everyone. We hear from Paul Davis, TSB's Director of Fraud Prevention. And a major funeral plan provider, Safe Hands, goes bust with too little money to honour its promises. What faces their 45,000 customers now?Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Paul Waters Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Marianna Brain Editor: Emma Rippon

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, gives an update on the health of the UK economy. What will it mean for your household finances?A panel of experts will analyse what he says and we want to hear your thoughts too. Are you cheered or concerned by the state of the nation's finances? And how will it affect the way you spend or save your hard-earned cash? Also, looking ahead to the new tax year, we'll discuss the tax rises which begin in April and the outlook for our personal finances over the next twelve months.Guests:Heather Self, Corporate Tax Partner, Blick RothenbergMike Brewer, Chief Economist, The Resolution FoundationLaura Suter, Head of Personal Finance, A J BellPresenter: Paul LewisProducer: Drew HyndmanEditor: Emma Rippon

We report on a man who was fed up with poor returns on his savings and tried to invest in cryptocurrency instead. But he ended up losing his savings, his car, and his house as thieves stripped him bare. Money Box reporter Dan Whitworth investigates.The government is about to announce changes to who is eligible to receive the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales. This £140 payment off one electricity bill will be raised to £150 from next winter. But charities are warning that there will be more than 200,000 disabled people who will no longer get the payment even though, overall, it will go to more people. We hear from Louise Rubin, Head of Policy and Campaigns at the disability equality charity, Scope.One in four households will not be able to pay their electricity and gas bills in October if prices rise again as they are expected to - that's according to Citizens Advice, as the cost of heating our homes rises much faster than our incomes. Already millions of households are in what is called fuel poverty — unable to afford to heat and light their home. We hear from Caroline Flint, the newly appointed chair of the government’s Committee on Fuel Poverty.And there are two weeks left to top up your 2021/22 tax free ISA. But would you do better using a regular savings account? We hear from Anna Bowes, co-founder of SavingsChampion.co.ukPresenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Paul Waters Reporter: Dan Whitworth Producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham Editor: Richard Vadon

How do you make sure your pensions and savings and invested ethically? Do you know where your pension is invested? How much of your money is invested in Russia? How can you put pressure on your pension providers to invest ethically?Felicity Hannah chats to listeners, guests and our panel of experts about how to make your money ethical.Panel:Lucy Coutts, Investment Director at JM Finn wealth managementBecky O’Connor, Head of Pensions and Savings at Interactive InvestorFind out more: https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/Producer: Drew HyndmanEditor: Maggie Latham

Buying things online will be more difficult from Monday. A new law means that every purchase will have to be authenticated by an extra process after you have put in your card number, expiry date, and CVV code on the back. It will mean better protection against fraud, but may exclude some people from online shopping. We hear from Rob Cameron, Chief Executive of Barclaycard Payments, and Helen Saxon, Deputy Editor at Money Saving Expert.Two not-for-profit lenders have come up with a way to help low income families get the state help they are entitled to. Millions of people miss out of billions of pounds in means-tested benefits every year. Now these lenders have built in a benefits calculator to their loan approval process to help customers claim money they didn’t know they were eligible for. We hear from Theodora Hadjimichael, Chief Executive of Responsible Finance.Thousands of people try to avoid paying care home fees by putting their house into a trust. They're told it's a way to avoid the local authority counting its value so they get their care free. We hear about one listener's unexpected £900 bill, and about the many pitfalls involved, from Annie Shaw, Saga Magazine’s financial agony aunt.Why are petrol and diesel prices so high at the pump? Money Box reporter Dan Whitworth investigates.And a Money Box podcast exclusive - Disability Rights UK has lost almost £43,000 after NatWest mistakenly cleaned out its account without notice and transferred the money to the Crown. We hear from the charity's CEO Kamran Mallick - and whether Money Box is able to get the money back.Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Paul Waters Reporter: Dan Whitworth Producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham(Photo Credit: Sturti/Getty images)

The average UK rent has broken through the £1000 barrier for the first time and inflation is starting to push up landlords costs.How do you beat the rush for viewings? Could rent controls be a short term solution? And could a good tenant and landlord relationship solve all your woes?Charmaine Cozier is joined by an expert panel for tenants and landlords to answer questions and offer advice.Ruth Ehrlich, Policy Manager at Shelter.Chris Norris, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the National Residential Landlords Association.Elsie Bradley-Middle, Member of ACORN Renters Union.For more information on renting and letting: https://www.nrla.org.uk/ https://www.shelter.org.uk/Producer: Drew Hyndman Editor: Emma Rippon

The telecoms watchdog Ofcom has drawn up proposals to make it harder for criminals to fake caller ID when they phone people. It’s called number spoofing and happens when crooks use technology to make the number that comes up on your phone appear as though the call is coming from a legitimate organisation like your bank or the police. We hear from Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s Group Director for Networks and Communications.Big changes to the way student loans are repaid in England could change the balance for parents who can afford to pay for their education. The government's plans would extend the repayment period for the loans from 30 to 40 years before any balance is written off and reduce the earnings threshold at which the extra 9% tax kicks in. We hear from Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.A listener who pays for energy via prepayment meters asks if it's worth topping up ahead of prices rises in April. We hear from energy suppliers and the regulator, Ofgem.Plus a David and Goliath story. Money Box listener David takes on HMRC over self-assessment tax return financial penalties. Listen to find out who wins this time - and how. Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Paul Waters Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Ben Henderson Editor: Emma Rippon(Photo credit Tero Vesalainen/Getty images)

As Russian military forces continue bombarding Ukrainian cities and civilians, are your investments supporting the Kremlin's regime? International companies have been pulling out of Russian investment, and pension funds and investment firms say they are reducing holdings in Russian companies. But what can ordinary investors do? Are you aware that a tracker fund or an investment bond might help support Russian firms? We hear from Lucy Coutts, Investment Director at JM Finn Wealth Management.For 1.7 million people across the UK, funeral plans offer peace of mind that when the inevitable happens their loved ones will be spared having to pay for a funeral. But there is big change on the way for the industry and those customers. By this summer all firms in the sector must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, to raise standards in the industry. But an indirect consequence of this is that tens of thousands of customers could lose out. Money Box reporter Dan Whitworth has been investigating. We also hear from Matt Brewis, Director of Insurance at the Financial Conduct Authority, and from James Daley of Fairer Finance.Many listeners have been getting in touch to ask about rises in the standing charge in their energy bills. We hear from Helen Barnard, Associate Director at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.And Money Box has won back more than £8,000 for a listener who received a huge - and incorrect - fuel bill from Ecotricity. The company founder, Dale Vince, explains what went wrong and what he thinks is going wrong with the wider energy sector - and how to fix it.Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Paul Waters Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Ben Henderson Editor: Emma Rippon(Photo credit: Anghi / Getty Images)