Trying to understand interest rates, credit card changes and mortgage deals is an effort for most of us, so how do you manage if you have a learning disability? Dan Pepper, a former Paralympian joins presenter, Ruth Alexander, to talk about how he manages his money, and what challenges he faces. We'll also be talking about how ADHD and other neuro differences can affect your personal finances. On hand to answer listener questions: Tony Lloyd, CEO of the ADHD Foundation, The Neurodiversity Charit...
May 10, 2023•29 min
What are your children up to this weekend? Many will be busy eating chocolate eggs and enjoying their Easter break from school. Some youngsters are out there running businesses, balancing their books and even turning a profit. In this Money Box Easter special, we meet some of those remarkable kids and ask how we can help children learn entrepreneurial skills - and whether they should be? Featuring: Precisa, Max and Louis Plus, Julian Hall, CEO of Ultra Education, and Zoe Bennet, Managing Directo...
May 06, 2023•25 min
From 6th April, there's set to be a host of financial changes. From household bills, changes to pensions, national insurance and help for energy bills. Almost every household will be affected in some way. We breakdown the main things that you need to know and put your questions to a panel of experts - Helen Thornley, from The Association of Tax Technicians and Sam Richardson, Deputy Editor at Which? Money Magazine. Presenter: Dan Whitworth Producer: Amber Mehmood Reporter: Hannah Mullane Editor:...
May 03, 2023•28 min
In this special extended programme broadcast live from Lincoln, the Money Box team covers all you need to know as the financial year comes to an end and a new one begins. For many household bills are going up, from broadband costs and water bills to council tax - but what can you do if you're struggling? The team are joined by organisations who're supporting people every day, to find out what help is out there. We're in Skegness to find out how local people and businesses are coping with energy ...
Apr 29, 2023•24 min
Felicity Hannah and Winifred Robinson take questions on the legal rights of renters with experts Jasmine Basran from the housing and homelessness charity Crisis and Tessa Shepperson founder of the The Landlord Law Services she advises landlords of their legal rights and responsibilities. The number of people renting across England, Wales and Scotland has more than doubled in the last decade. The picture in Northern Ireland is similar with the numbers of people renting is up by nearly 2 thirds in...
Apr 26, 2023•29 min
Felicity Hannah starts a week of BBC coverage on the theme of Rental Health. For Money Box she examines the 3 year freeze in Local Housing Allowance (the portion of Universal Credit designed to cover housing) is leaving some on low incomes struggling to afford rental properties. Also on this episode as NatWest become the latest bank to impose restrictions on how much their customers can spend on crypto platforms and exchanges we ask if it’s ever a good idea to invest in this area. And we'll have...
Apr 22, 2023•29 min
In this podcast we hear from prospective and recent first-time buyers about the challenges, opportunities and top tips on taking the first steps into the housing market. The experts on the panel are, Ray Boulger, Senior Mortgage Technical Manager at John Charcol and Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at the estate and letting agents, Hamptons. Presenter: Adam Shaw Producer: Amber Mehmood Editor: Clare Worden
Apr 19, 2023•29 min
A Money Box investigation has resulted in a £150,000 refund for a vulnerable romance fraud victim, after their bank initially refused to reimburse. The victim's family were told that a voluntary code, known as the Contingent Reimbursement Model or CRM, designed to protect victims of fraud would not apply in their case, because the payments had been made to an international bank account. We look at what, if anything, banks can do to prevent payments to criminal accounts overseas. In the Spring Bu...
Apr 15, 2023•25 min
In this podcast we breakdown what was in the Spring 2023 budget and how the chancellor’s announcements impact your finances. The experts on the panel are: Laura Suter, Head of Personal Finance at AJ Bell Dawn Register, Head of Tax Dispute Resolution at BDO Matt Copeland, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at National Energy Action Subrahmanian Krishnan Harihara, Head of Research at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Amber Mehmood Editor: Beatrice Picku...
Apr 12, 2023•29 min
Felicity Hannah hears how HMRC have extended the National Insurance top up deadline after a surge in calls plus a listener asks if a drop in house prices means they should worry about negative equity? Presenter: Felicity Hannah Editor: Clare Worden Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Eimear Devlin Studio Manager: Olivia Miceli
Apr 08, 2023•25 min
Grocery prices have increased by 17.1% in the four weeks to 19th February, meaning it’s at the highest level they’ve ever been recorded. This could mean households see over £800 extra on their annual food shop (Kantar). With grocery inflation being the second most important financial issue for the public, behind energy costs, we speak to shopper’s about how their household budgets are being affected. The experts on the panel are, Kris Hamer, Director of Insights at the British Retail Consortium,...
Apr 05, 2023•28 min
The BBC understands that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to extend the Energy Price Guarantee at current levels for a further three months- but what does that mean for your energy bills? One of the UK's biggest flat share websites has told Money Box that rents are rising very fast: up almost 13% last year. In January 2022, the average UK monthly rent listed on SpareRoom was just over £650. By January this year it had risen to almost £750 pounds a month. We'll hear from them and also spe...
Apr 01, 2023•25 min
The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to introduce measures in his March Budget to encourage people who have retired early to return to work in-order to help revive the economy. In this podcast, we speak to people who are retired, people who are over 50 and looking for a new job, and some who are continuing to work after 70. With them, we identify what the barriers are keeping them out of work, and what the incentives are to keep them in the workforce. The experts on the panel are, Kim Chapla...
Mar 29, 2023•29 min
The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to use his Budget on March 15th to introduce measures to to encourage people over 50 to return to work. Since 2019 there has been a rise in the number of people defined as economically inactive. That means they are not working, self-employed, or looking for work to claim benefits. The number rose by 830,000 between 2019 and 2022, with three quarters of that increase among those aged 50 and over. The Department for Work and Pensions has a programme to enco...
Mar 25, 2023•26 min
With the end of the tax year fast approaching, people are looking at their finances and investments. But in a cost of living crisis with unstable markets, are they performing, and how should we be investing? The experts on the panel are Sangita Chawla, Managing Director at Standard Life, and Kirsty Stone, Chartered Financial Adviser at The Private Office. Presenter: Adam Shaw Producer: Amber Mehmood Editor: Elisabeth Mahy (First broadcast 3pm, Wednesday 22nd February 2023)...
Mar 22, 2023•29 min
The Office of the Public Guardian has told Money Box it apologises to its customers for the distress caused by delays in dealing with applications for Lasting Powers of Attorney. Its target is turning them round in eight weeks. But its own website says people should expect to wait twenty. It also says it has recruited more staff to process applications and teams have been working around the clock to reduce wait times and are now registering around 18,000 more LPAs a month than before the pandemi...
Mar 18, 2023•25 min
The problem of debt is never too far from the headlines at the moment. This week a group of charities - Citizens Advice, Step Change and Christians Against Poverty - told the BBC they're seeing record numbers of people coming to them for help with problem debt. Why is that and what can people who're worried about debt do? We'll also look at the "Buy Now Pay Later" industry as the government looks impose regulation on the sector for the first time. And we'll talk about when credit can be used in ...
Mar 15, 2023•29 min
The charity Citizens Advice says it's seen a sharp rise in the number of working people accessing crisis support in the past few years. In 2022, of the 200,000 people helped with a food bank voucher or an emergency grant, almost 24,000 - about 1 in 8 of them - worked. That figure was up more than double the number in 2020. We'll speak to Citizens Advice and get a response from the government. We'll hear from Harriett Baldwin, the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, on how she wants banks to ...
Mar 11, 2023•25 min
In the UK, millions of people go without the refunds, the replacements and resolutions they're entitled to - because they don’t know how to complain. In this podcast, we talk about the art of the complaint. What are your rights and how can you enforce them? The experts on the panel are Lisa Webb, senior lawyer at the consumer rights company Which?, and Helen Dewdney, a consumer champion. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Amber Mehmood Editor: Elisabeth Mahy
Mar 08, 2023•29 min
Paul Lewis hears how complaints to the Energy Ombudsman reached a record high last year. Plus, the child benefit trap that is catching parents unawares. And we hear one listener's difficult experiences trying to sort out the financial affairs of her terminally ill father. Presented by Paul Lewis. Reporter is Dan Whitworth. Researchers were Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner, studio manager Paul Lewis. Our editor is Clare Worden.
Mar 04, 2023•31 min
It’s estimated that more than 900,000 people in the UK have dementia but that’s a number that's on the rise. It’s a diagnosis that raises a lot of questions, from the care that might be needed to the impact on family members, and of course there are worries about how best to manage finances as the illness progresses. This podcast is for everyone, but especially anyone who has concerns about how to protect their financial future if they lose the ability to manage their own affairs. It’s also for ...
Mar 01, 2023•34 min
For the first time unmarried parents will be entitled to bereavement benefits after a change in law was passed this week. Until now these benefits have only been given to a bereaved spouse or civil partner. It comes more than four years since the Supreme Court ruled that denying them benefits was unlawful under the European Convention on Human Rights. The change will be backdated to the the day of that judgement 30 August 2018. We'll explain how it works and who can claim. Nearly a third of the ...
Feb 25, 2023•26 min
In this special programme we'll answer questions on mortgages, from interest rates to what to do if you're struggling to afford yours. Perhaps you’re looking to move or you need to re-mortgage this year - this is the podcast for you. The experts on the panel are, David Mendes Da Costa, Principal Policy Manager at Citizen's Advice, Charles Roe, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance and Sonya Matharu, Senior Mortgage Broker at The Mortgage Mum. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Amber Mehmood Edit...
Feb 22, 2023•29 min
As hundreds of people at two large debt advice charities face redundancy – we visit a local debt advice centre to see who they help and how. Mortgage rates are at their highest for 14 years - the average is five and a half per cent for a two year fix, nearly six and half for the standard variable rate. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, predicts more than half a million people will be at risk of falling into arears over the next couple of years. We'll discuss what to do if you’re st...
Feb 18, 2023•25 min
If you feel your income needs a boost, or you want a pay rise, then this is the podcast for you. We discuss top tips on how to negotiate a higher salary. Official figures show that wages have grown at the fastest rate in more than 20 years - but prices are rising even faster and the gap between public and private sector pay is at close to record levels. On the expert panel are, Helen Tupper, CEO of 'Amazing If', a career development company, Radha Vyas, CEO and Co-Founder of Flash Pack, and Ed R...
Feb 15, 2023•29 min
The anti-fraud charity the Fraud Advisory Panel says banks are inconsistent and being caught off guard by the emerging and growing threat of mobile phone fraud. It's when criminals steal people's phones not for the actual handset but to gain access to banking and financial apps. We'll hear from one man who had £16,000 stolen when he was mugged last year. UK Finance says the industry is constantly monitoring fraud threats to help protect customers and that this type of mobile phone fraud is not a...
Feb 11, 2023•25 min
As 31st January looms, there’s less than one month left for around 5.7 million Self Assessment customers to file their tax return or they may face a penalty. More than 12 million customers are expected to file a tax return for the 2021 to 2022 tax year by 31 January 2023 (HMRC). Whether you’re doing it for the first time this year, or not, we have the answers to all your tax-related questions. On this episode, we hear from experts, Clare Merrills, from HMRC, and Anita Monteith, Head of Taxation ...
Feb 08, 2023•32 min
In 2020, Lasting Powers of Attorney in England and Wales went digital. If you had permission to act on behalf of a relative who could no longer do it themselves you could download a digital certificate to prove it from the Office of the Public Guardian. But some organisations including His Majesty's Revenue & Customs have told Money Box they will not accept these digital certificates and demand a certified paper copy instead. We'll speak to a listener who's struggling with the system and get...
Feb 04, 2023•26 min
As the calendar page turns, so many of us also think of turning over new leaves, re-assessing what we're doing and how we are doing it. In this podcast, we are looking at the finances of happiness, in particular, whether there are lessons about the way we manage our money which can make us happier and improve our mental well-being. On the panel of experts are, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Oxford, and Mark Williamson, Director at the ch...
Feb 01, 2023•28 min
Money Box takes a look at three innovative energy projects changing the way people heat their homes to try to improve efficiency and reduce bills. First up is the village of Swaffham Prior in Cambridgeshire where residents and the local council have backed a scheme using air source and ground source heat pumps to warm people's homes. A new, multi-million pound energy centre of the edge of the village provides the energy through a newly installed heat network for any residents of the village's 30...
Jan 25, 2023•28 min
