Money Box

On April 6th the loan charge comes into force. It's an anti-tax avoidance measure which will enable HMRC to recover tax from disguised remuneration schemes which involved paying earnings back via a loan. Contractors, some of whom now face bills of hundreds of thousands of pounds, have told Money Box they were advised by their accountants to use these schemes, while others said they were told they would lose contracts without one. HMRC options for people in this situation are to repay the loans, settle the tax due or pay the loan charge in April which will apply to all loans made since 6 April 1999 if they are still outstanding. If a settlement has been agreed or is in progress with HMRC the charge will not apply. Guests: Andy Chamberlain, Deputy Director of Policy and External Affairs IPSE and Rebecca Benneyworth, Tax Lecturer and writer. Money Box listeners have been in touch to ask "what happens to debts when you die?" Guest: Andy Shaw, debt advice co-ordinator with StepChange debt charity.Margaret Snowdon, Chair of the Pension Scams Industry Group, discusses the findings of its pilot survey of three pension providers, who between them handled 27,000 pension transfers worth £1.33bn in a year. One of the aims of the survey was to identify areas where scams concerns around pension transfers might arise. It found the top concern to be the involvement of unregulated introducer firms who generate business leads for authorised advisers. Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Charmaine Cozier Editor: Richard Vadon

Confirmation of payee is a fraud prevention system which would allow banks and customers to check names alongside account and sort code details to ensure that transferred money goes to the right person. The Payment Systems Regulator wanted it to start in July. This week UK Finance, which represents banks, said it needed a delay until "some time next year." Guest Gareth Shaw, Head of Money, Which?Money Box reporter Dan Whitworth takes a forensic look at the accounts of companies linked to London Capital and Finance plc. The company is in administration, leaving 11,000 investors worried about what's happened to their cash. Guest Roger Isaacs, Forensic Partner at Milsted LangdonMegan Jarvie, Head of Coram Family and Childcare discusses the latest figures for tax-free childcare which show that 91,000 families used it for 109,000 children. Figures released this week revealed that 10 million people are now saving into a workplace pension. Some of those workers are non-tax payers and have been placed by employers in net pay arrangement schemes where pension contributions are collected before income tax. It means they don't get the tax relief on their pension contributions that they would get if they were in another scheme known as a relief at source, where contributions are collected after income tax. Guest: Meredith McCammond, Technical Officer for the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group.Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Producer: Charmaine Cozier Editor: Richard Vadon

So where are we with the promised Open Banking revolution?A little over a year ago we were teetering on the edge of radical reform after new rules meant that customers could give permission for their bank to share details of their current account with other banks and regulated companies. The plan was that by studying your spending and income details firms will be able to offer you financial products, give you a credit rating, or suggest ways to save money. What are you experiences? From 1pm on Wednesday 13th February you can call 03 700 100 444 or email anytime: moneybox@bbc.co.uk.Joining Paul Lewis on the panel this week: Imran Gulamhuseinwala, Implementation Trustee for Open Banking Ltd Pamela Meadows, payments expert from the Financial Services Consumer Panel. Freddy Kelly, founder Credit Kudos.Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Jasper Corbett

From April millions of households on default energy tariffs and who have not switched suppliers will see a rise in their bills after regulator Ofgem raised caps for gas and electricity. The first cap was introduced in January as a measure to ensure customers paid fairer prices. Guest Jo Butlin, Chief Executive of EnergyBridge Consulting and an expert in how the energy industry works in the UK.This week the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee held its final evidence session on leasehold reform. Founder and Chief Executive of the HomeOwners Alliance Paula Higgins debates the issues with David O'Leary, Policy Director with the Home Builders Federation.What happens to state and private pensions post-Brexit? James Walsh, from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, where he focuses on the EU, guides us through what's certain and what's uncertain.There are now more mortgage products than ever before for older borrowers, what’s attracting lenders to them? Guest: Darren Cook, Mortgage Analytics Manager at moneyfacts.co.ukPresenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Charmaine Cozier Editor: Richard Vadon

How would you like to receive a set income from the state without conditions?It's an idea which is gaining world wide attention with pilot schemes in Finland, Canada and Spain to name a few. In Scotland ministers have awarded funding to four local authorities to undertake feasibility studies with a view to holding a pilot. Adam Shaw and a guest panel discuss the theory behind the idea and examine how if it could ever work in practice.How have the trials worked in different countries? Is a universal basic income a useful way of thinking about wealth redistribution or is it just an unaffordable utopian dream? From 1pm Wednesday 6th February you can call us on 03 700 100 444 or email us at any time: moneybbc@bbc.co.uk.Joining Adam on the panel: Jamie Cooke, Head of Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce Scotland Dr Louise Haagh, author of The Case for Universal Basic Income and a Reader in Politics at the University of York Dr Luke Martinelli, the main researcher on the Institute for Policy Research’s basic income research project at Bath UniversityProducer: Linda Walker Presenter: Adam Shaw Editor: Jasper Corbett

A firm which raised more than £200m from 14,000 investors has gone into administration. London Capital & Finance Plc (LCF) issued mini-bonds which promoted returns of 8 percent and higher. The Financial Conduct Authority was already investigating, last December it froze the assets of the firm. It also directed LCF to pull its "promotional material on the basis that the way in which it was marketing bonds was misleading, not fair and unclear." The FCA also expressed concerns that "LCF bonds were being marketed as ISA eligible when they were not." Guest: Finbarr O'Connell, one of the administrators of London Capital & Finance Plc.Tougher fraud prevention measures have seen some websites asking online shoppers to verify their identities by entering a six digit number, sent to them by text, before the transaction can continue. What if you live somewhere without a mobile signal? Guest: James Daley, Managing Director and Founder, Fairer Finance. We hear from the Money Box listener who's paying hundreds of pounds a year in fee charges for a SIPP investment that’s been valued at £1. Guest: Adam Samuel, financial services compliance specialist. Child Trust Funds were set up for babies born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 to encourage regular, long-term saving habits. Families received starter vouchers of £250 or £500 to open fund accounts. If, after the first year, they hadn’t, HMRC did it and sent families details of their provider. In many of those cases families failed to contact providers and forgot about the accounts. The first wave of children are turning 16 when they can take control of managing accounts ahead of being able to make withdrawals at 18. How can a lost account be found? Guest: Carol Knight, Chief Operating Officer TISA.

According to the Association of British Insurers, average motor insurance premiums dropped by 1% last year. But the experiences of many Money Box listeners tell a different story.Louise Cooper and panel discuss why the cost of car insurance is so high. How do insurers work your premium out? Is it ever a good idea to stick with your existing provider? And how common is it for young people to pay more for their insurance than the cost of their vehicle?From 1pm Wednesday 30th January you can call us on 03 700 100 444 or email us at any time: moneybbc@bbc.co.uk.Joining Louise on the panel: David Williams - Technical Director at AXA Insurance Amanda Stretton - Motoring Editor, Confused.com Neil Hart - Client Services Director at Consumer IntelligenceProducer: Alex Lewis + Linda Walker Editor: John Murphy

Administrators have been appointed to the Dream Lodge Group leaving people, some of whom invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in the luxury holiday park lodge business, at risk of losing most if not all of their money. In return for their cash they were promised an 8% return on their investment plus a guaranteed buy back of their capital. In a statement to Money Box administrators Deloitte said "The best outcome for everyone would still be a sale of the business and we will formally report our progress on that and any other matters in our creditors report in mid-March. We appreciate this will be a difficult time for many people affected by the administration of the business.” What are the signs that an investment opportunity is too good to be true? Guest: Farhaz Khan, Secretary of the Financial Services Lawyers Association. The European Health Insurance Card, or EHIC, gives people from the UK the right to access state provided emergency care while temporarily staying in another European Economic Area country or Switzerland for free or for a reduced cost. Tamara Hervey, Professor of EU Law at the University of Sheffield explains what happens to the EHIC post-Brexit.The cash machine network Link will pay a 'super premium' to ATM operators in certain remote areas from April. It hopes the subsidy of up to £2.75 per withdrawal will keep machines free to use. Guest John Howells, CEO of Link. If you’ve signed up with a credit rating agency to get alerts whenever your file is accessed, what can you do if you discover a company you've never heard of has searched your details? Guest Lisa Hardstaff, Head of Customer Experience at Equifax.Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Producer: Charmaine Cozier Editor: Richard Vadon

Private parking firms are issuing penalties to drivers at the rate of one every five seconds. That's a 20% increase compared to last year. Council income from parking penalties has never been higher. So why this increase? Every motorist has a parking ticket story. So what's yours?Email us moneybox@bbc.co.uk or call us from 1300 on 23rd January: 03 700 100 444, geographic charges from landlines and mobiles apply. Presenter: Louise Cooper Producer: Alex Lewis and Linda Walker Editor: John Murphy

New rules are set to change access to pension credit. At the moment the benefit can be claimed to top up income when the older partner in a couple reaches the qualifying state pension age. From May 15th it will switch to when the younger person in the relationship qualifies. Pensioners with younger partners who are already on pension credit or pension-age Housing Benefit will not be affected by the change while their entitlement remains. The announcement was made via a written statement by pensions minister Guy Opperman which was published on Monday. Guest: Gareth Morgan CEO of Ferret Information Systems. Money Box listeners who took out student loans in the 1990s have received letters offering to settle the debt if they agree to pay a percentage of their outstanding amount. Some of these former students are approaching the point where their loans will be written off anyway. Guest: Martin Lewis, Founder and Chair MoneySavingExpert.comSorting out a £51 tax refund ended up costing one man £137 after he searched online and dialled a number listed on an official looking website which he thought belonged to HMRC. It wasn’t and the line he called which connected him to HMRC was a premium rate one. Guest: David Hickson of the Fair Telecoms campaign.Reporter: Dan Whitworth Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Charmaine Cozier Editor: Richard Vadon