In a year when the cost of living has dominated so many of our programmes and of course your lives, we’ll return to some of the organisations and individuals helping families cope with rising energy prices, soaring food costs and prices that only go one way - up. Paul Lewis is joined by a community interest company which focuses on fuel poverty - Warm Wales, Broke not Broken foodbank in Kinross and the South Manchester Credit Union. We'll hear from just a few of the listeners who we've helped th...
Jan 21, 2023•25 min
Christmas is a time for giving and often that means charitable donations. New research from the Charities Aid Foundation suggests fewer people are supporting good causes because of the rising cost of living putting pressure on their finances. In this episode of Money Box Live, we’re talking to charity founders about how the finances of their organisations are impacted. We'll also be joined by Caron Bradshaw, the CEO of the Charity Finance Group, and Alison Taylor, CEO of CAF Bank, from the Chari...
Jan 18, 2023•28 min
We discuss this week's Scottish Budget, from income tax to benefits. Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced that everyone earning more than £43,662 in Scotland will have to pay more income tax next year. It's as the higher rate of tax increases from 41p to 42p in the pound in April, and the top rate from 46p to 47p. We'll get reaction to that from people in Glasgow and analysis from Emma Congreve an economist who is Deputy Director at the Fraser of Allander Institute in Strathclyde. This m...
Jan 14, 2023•25 min
At some point in our lives, we all experience the death of family, friends or partners, and it is never easy. It's made worse - by what can feel like an uncaring and unnecessarily complex bureaucracy which can make dealing with your family finances difficult, draining and confusing. In this podcast, we hear the experiences of some who have gone through these problems and we look at strategies to help. On the expert panel are, Nick Hill, Senior Advice Manager at Money and Pensions Service, and Me...
Jan 11, 2023•29 min
It's going to be the coldest weekend of the year so far. We already know that typical energy bills will be double what they were last winter. So everyone is looking for ways to use less electricity and gas at the same time as trying to stay warm. One solution is being offered by so-called 'warm banks' - places where people can go to keep warm if they're struggling to afford heating costs. The Warm Welcome campaign now has more than three thousand places open on its website and says last week alo...
Jan 07, 2023•25 min
As households grapple with cost of living pressures and with Christmas just around the corner, many will be looking for cheaper options for the big day. We speak to listeners who share with us how they’ll be managing their finances this festive period. On the expert panel are, Richard Lane, Director of External Affairs at StepChange Debt Charity and Carol Mitchell, Retail Expert at British Heart Foundation. Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producers: Amber Mehmood and Clare Worden Reporter: Star McFa...
Jan 04, 2023•29 min
An new report suggests children are put at risk by 'loot boxes' in video games. More than a thousand steelworkers will share compensation of £49 million for pension mis-selling, but campaigners say it is unfair and inadequate. HSBC will close a quarter of its remaining branches next year. It is offering some customers free computer tablets instead. And more on spray foam - a plea for it not to be included in the Government's new £1 billion energy efficiency scheme because of the frequent problem...
Dec 31, 2022•25 min
3.6 million couples in the UK cohabit, meaning they live together in a relationship but without getting married or civil partnered. In fact, they are the fastest growing type of family in this country If those couples break up then they usually split their shared finances without the help of courts or solicitors. In fact, splitting after buying a house or sharing bills together has become known as the ‘millennial divorce’ – only it doesn’t just affect millennials and there are none of the protec...
Dec 28, 2022•28 min
We hear from a man whose home was valued at zero pounds which his mortgage provider said was because his loft was insulated with spray foam. 70,000 victims of fraud are sent texts by the police asking them to make contact - but will their bank text them too? People from diverse ethnic backgrounds are paid less than people in the UK who are white. We ask why, and what can be done about it?
Dec 24, 2022•24 min
The surge in inflation is hitting wide and hitting deep, impacting everything from energy and fuel, to food and everyday household goods. With inflation this high, the effects are leading to significant changes in the way lives are being lived – well beyond those on low incomes. In practice, rising costs of almost everything has meant large swatches of Britain’s working households having to make material cutbacks, people’s disposable incomes being wiped out and donors of foodbanks becoming users...
Dec 21, 2022•28 min
In this special Money Box we will delve into Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement and see what lies in the small print. How will changes to the support you’ll be getting to pay for your energy bills affect you? Paul Lewis and Nimesh Shah, the Chief Executive of Blick Rothenberg on why tax changes matter for you. What do announcements on benefits and getting back into work mean for those on welfare? And our reporter Dan Whitworth is live from Stafford Indoor Market to get reaction to this week’s inflat...
Dec 17, 2022•27 min
With hundreds of thousands of victims and billions of pounds stolen every year, the UK continues to be in the grip of a fraud epidemic. We'll discuss the conclusions of a House of Lords report, which describes how police, telecoms, tech and banking sectors must do more. We hear from victims of fraud and we speak to experts Kathryn Westmore, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Financial Crime and Security at RUSI, and Katy Worobec, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance. Presenter:...
Dec 14, 2022•28 min
A new report out today is recommending sweeping reform in the way fraud is dealt with in England and Wales. The House of Lords Digital Fraud Committee has spent six months looking at the systems enabling fraud, the response to fraud and how victims are treated. Recommendations range from a time limit stopping high value payments from leaving accounts, to what it calls 'less carrot and more stick' for companies who enable fraud. We'll speak to Baroness Morgan who is the Chair of that committee an...
Dec 10, 2022•31 min
There are around eight and a half million families who rent - quite a bit more than those who have mortgages - so the rise in housing costs, on top of a cost-of-living crisis, is likely to be causing significant challenges for millions of people. The official numbers from the Office for National Statistics show that, on average, rental inflation is now 3.6%. It's highest in the East Midlands and lowest in London. But companies such as Rightmove, HomeLet and Zoopla report much bigger rate increas...
Dec 07, 2022•29 min
The interest rate rose to 3% this week affecting mortgage rates. We'll be looking at what that means for buy-to-let landlords. Many will have interest only mortgages linked to the interest rate so they'll begin rising almost at once. What does it mean for landlords but also tenants? We'll discuss how the freeze in tax thresholds impacts your income and look at what could happen over the coming years. Why over half a million households could be facing heating bills more than double those covered ...
Dec 03, 2022•27 min
Are you one of the nearly three million people who has lost track of a pension? There is almost £27 billion that has been paid in by individuals and employers into a pension pot, but the firm holding the money has lost track of the owners. We'll give advice on how you can track your lost pension and take listener questions. Email your question now to moneybox@bbc.co.uk Featuring, Lauren Wilkinson, Senior Policy Researcher at Pensions Policy Institute, Duncan Stevens, CEO at Gretel and Nigel Peap...
Nov 30, 2022•29 min
Broadband providers have been told by the regulator Ofcom to 'think carefully' before making significant price rises. Most providers of telecoms and broadband raise their prices each spring in line with inflation plus three or four percentage points. That means some firms could put up prices by 16% next year - an extra £5 a month in some cases, and most have yet to confirm their plans. Stories of economic turmoil and falling share prices have led many investors to wonder what they can do about t...
Nov 26, 2022•25 min
Food prices are rising at their fastest rate for more than 40 years. Figures out this week from the Office of National Statistics the price of budget food is up 17% in the 12 months to September - with big increases in the cost of basic ingredients like bread, pasta, cooking oil and tea. Add spiking transport, rent, mortgage and energy costs to that - and the squeeze on household finances couldn’t be clearer. We’re looking at what the higher cost of living is doing to our spending behaviour. We’...
Nov 23, 2022•29 min
The Money Box team concentrates on the biggest cost of living fear that people bring to the programme - how will I pay my energy bills when the price of everything else is rising so rapidly and support may be withdrawn. We'll ask what another new Prime Minister and the government’s scrapping of the Energy Price Guarantee after April mean for those facing fuel poverty? Our reporter Dan Whitworth visits the Energy House at the University of Salford. It’s a Victorian terrace house built inside a wa...
Nov 19, 2022•29 min
The government has spent the past few weeks introducing and then withdrawing a confusion of financial policies, which first introduced the largest package of tax cuts in decades and then, in the face of market chaos, decided that they weren't such a good idea and withdrew many of them. So where does this leave the personal finance of people who've seen two mini-budgets, two chancellors, an emergency bond-buying programme, mortgage rate increases and widespread uncertainty about the future? In pa...
Nov 16, 2022•30 min
The Prime Minister has announced another U-turn in her government's tax-cut plan, in an effort to reassure financial markets. Liz Truss says she will reverse her plan to scrap an increase in corporation tax and admits the government's mini-budget had gone "faster and further" than many expected. It comes after the PM sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replaced him with former health and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. We'll ask what all this means for your income, pension, savings and mor...
Nov 12, 2022•30 min
As we move into a winter of record energy prices and double digit inflation, many families are facing the challenge of trying to keep costs down. But how do you educate your children about the cost of living crisis without scaring them? Ruth Alexander and a panel of experts answer your questions on how to navigate what can often be a tricky subject, and share tips on how to teach your children about money. Featuring Evelyn Forde MBE, Headteacher at Copthall School and President of the Associatio...
Nov 09, 2022•29 min
In the past week energy companies in Northern Ireland have announced increases in the price of electricity and gas. It comes as people in Northern Ireland wait to hear the details of exactly when they will receive the £400 off their electricity bills from the UK government and when and how the Energy Price Guarantee will apply there. The UK government has said the Guarantee will provide equivalent financial support to those in Northern Ireland as the rest of the UK some time in November, but it ...
Nov 05, 2022•28 min
With the energy price cap rising again, and the cost of living putting pressure on many people's finances - what can you do if you are struggling with debt? Felicity Hannah and a panel of experts answer your questions on everything debt related - from credit cards and interest rates, to dealing with debt collectors, and support if you have been the victim of financial abuse. We also hear advice on how to spot loan sharks and what to do if you are involved with an illegal lender. Featuring Laura ...
Nov 02, 2022•29 min
As energy bills rise, Paul Lewis and the team are in North Wales for a special programme focusing on the cost of living. The team will be joined by guests offering advice and support to those struggling to pay their energy bills, afford the cost of food and manage their money. Broadcasting live from the heart of Llandudno, we’ll hear directly from those facing a difficult winter and look at what help is available. Our reporter Dan Whitworth is also in Bethesda, a community leading the way on gen...
Oct 28, 2022•51 min
With changes to the stamp duty threshold, some of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders halting new home loans, and some economists predicting interest rates could double by spring, what does this all mean for you? Our panel of experts hear concerns and questions from listeners about the housing market volatility. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Reporter: Katie Barnfield Producer: Amber Mehmood Editor: Clare Worden
Oct 25, 2022•29 min
Paul Lewis has full details of what the mini budget will mean for your finances including changing tax rates, stamp duty alterations and support for those on low incomes. Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Sandra Hardial Editor: Clare Worden (First broadcast Saturday 24th September 2022)
Oct 22, 2022•26 min
Ten million people would struggle to cope in a cashless society even though only 17% of payments are not made with notes and coins, the Royal Society of Arts found. With thousands of bank branch closures in recent years, and access to cash withdrawals under threat, we discuss if we’re ready to abandon cash. Dan Whitworth is joined by a panel of experts to hear callers experiences and thoughts on the UK becoming a cashless society. With Natalie Ceeney CBE, Chair of Cash Action Group and Mike Cham...
Oct 18, 2022•28 min
As the Government begins a sector review Money Box explores personal insolvency options and why some are much more expensive than others, plus what is a deed of assignment and might you have agreed to one? And Paul Lewis investigates a new fraud involving buy now pay later companies. Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Sandra Hardial Editor: Clare Worden (First broadcast, 12pm Saturday 17th September 2022)
Oct 15, 2022•24 min
Today on Money Box we will mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II by looking at what will change – from our stamps to our passports. We'll speak to Dominic Chorney - an Ancient Coin Specialist at Baldwin's - one of the largest coin dealers and auction houses in the world. We'll also get reaction the government announcement on energy bills - answering your questions - email moneybox@bbc.co.uk. Plus, more than fifty thousand people have applied for an interest free loan to help them pay for food at ...
Oct 08, 2022•24 min
