Money Box

The National Union of Headteachers says the government "must step in" to help teachers in England and Wales who have retired but are facing long delays before their pension is paid. The Teachers' Pension Scheme is one of the biggest in the country with two million members. The Department for Education which has overall responsibility for the scheme says it’s working closely with Capita who administrate the pensions to monitor performance and address any emerging issues. Capita has apologised and says it's working closely with the government to ensure cases are progressed correctly and in line with scheme rules.In the last month average two year fixed mortgage rates have jumped from around 4.8% to 5.9% and there are around 1 in 6 fewer mortgages deals available to house buyers and people whose fixed mortgages are running out. How is that affecting the housing market?Mortgage rates going up is bad news but when interest rates rise savers, who far outnumber people with mortgages, many see it as better news.

The Employment Rights Act has been called the most significant change to workers rights in a generation, so what does it mean for your money?The new law will introduce a raft of new rules for employees and employers over the next 18 months. From April 6th statutory sick pay has been enhanced and will be available from the first day of illness. Also, fathers will have a right to paternity leave on joining a workplace, rather than after six months' service.In January protection from unfair dismissal will become a right after six months of being in a job, instead of two years, and there will be a clamp down on zero hours jobs with workers given the right to request 'guaranteed hours'.Felicity Hannah is joined by John Palmer a senior adviser at the conciliation service ACAS and Kaajal Nathwani, an employment lawyer at Osborne & Wise. Felicity also speaks to the employment rights minister Kate Dearden.Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producers: James Graham Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Henry Jones(First

Millions of people in their sixties will now wait up a year longer before they can claim their state pension. From Easter Monday the current state pension age of 66 will gradually increase over the next two years until it reaches 67 affecting everyone born on 6th April 1960 or later. How will it work for those affected?Rent arrears, council tax debt and unpaid utility bills are the main reason more than 400,000 people in Britain are homeless. A new report by the Centre for Homelessness Impact published next week sets out ways to reduce or even end homelessness. What does it recommend?Millions of drivers are in line for hundreds of pounds of compensation for mis-sold finance deals. We'll have 5 top tips on who gets what and how to claim.And there are some tax changes from Monday as well, we'll round up what's happening to dividends and inheritance tax.Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Sarah Rogers Researchers: Catherine Lund and Jo Krasner Editor: Jess Quayle(First broadcast 12pm on Saturday

Making Tax Digital for income tax is HMRC's biggest shake-up of self assessment for decades, but are you ready? The new system will involve filing quarterly updates as well as a final return via third party software. This year it'll affect 860,000 sole traders and landlords with a turnover of £50,000. In the coming years the threshold will fall, bringing a total of nearly three million people into the new system.Felicity Hannah is joined by Jonathan Athow, HMRC's director general for strategy and policy, to take listeners' questions about how it all works and what they need to do to prepare. We also hear from Emma Rawson, from the Association of Tax Technicians, a professional body for tax advisers.Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producers: James Graham and Rob Cave Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Henry Jones(First broadcast 3pm Wednesday 1st April 2026)

The cost of filling up your car has risen every day over the past three weeks as the conflict continues in the Middle East. Diesel is now averaging £1.78 per litre - a price last seen on Christmas Day 2022, 10 months after Russia invaded Ukraine. Petrol is up 17p and has just tipped over £1.50 per litre. Those figures are UK averages from the RAC. What can you do to bring down the cost?The boss of government-backed bank NS&I has been replaced after a lost funds scandal, affecting thousands and delaying bereaved families’ access to relatives’ money.Bosses from Capita apologise again as MPs question them about the long delays facing retired civil servants awaiting pension payments. And if you're a regular Money Box listener we'd hope you to know your ISA from your IHT, but do you know the difference between your gross and net salary? Or how to work out how much interest you'd pay on a loan? A group of financial firms and charities is calling for the introduction of an exam which measures how much you

The government has promised more than £52mn to help people in the UK hit by huge rises in the price of heating oil. Around 1.5 million households in rural areas and particularly in Northern Ireland rely on heating oil for their central heating and the price has more than doubled since the Middle East conflict began. The help will be targeted at vulnerable households but how will it work in practice?As the Bank of England decides to hold rates at 3.75%, figures show almost 1,000 mortgage deals have disappeared off the market since the start of last week.How do thieves persuade sensible people to part with thousands of pounds? It's a question many of you have been asking, especially after the item on the programme a fortnight ago about civil servant Sara. She put $250 into what she thought was a cryptocurrency investment but ended up having £337,000 stolen. We'll ask a criminologist about the tricks and tactics that thieves use.And, which animal did you decide should be on the Bank of England's new banknotes?

It's been a turbulent week for the mortgage market - as lenders adjusted their rates amid fears of a rise in inflation and what that will mean for interest rates. Average mortgage rates for a 2 and 5 year fix tipped above 5% for the first time since the summer this week, and they've been climbing since. In just a few days time the Bank of England will make its next interest rate decision, but a cut which had been widely anticipated two weeks ago, is now incredibly unlikely. Around 1.8 million people are to come off a fixed mortgage this year, and have some difficult decisions to make - what should they do?Victims' charities have criticised a long awaited and much delayed fraud strategy published earlier this week by the government. Ministers have described it as a "major upgrade to Britain's defences" with £250mn pounds to be invested over the next three years. On Thursday a £100 cap on contactless card payments in the UK is being scrapped. The Financial Conduct Authority is giving banks the freedom to

Just seven days has passed since the USA and Israel began their attacks on Iran. As the attacks become heavier and more destructive, the ripples of war are already spreading around the globe. There was an immediate jump in the price of oil and gas, now worsening, as processing plants and facilities are attacked and transport routes disrupted. Petrol prices at the pump have been creeping up too and are expected to rise further. Money Box listeners have been asking what it could mean for the price of gas, electricity, heating oil and filling up their car. A listener had more than £300,000 stolen from her in an investment scam. What can be done to catch the criminals who robbed her? And by the end of the month there should be an official free scheme to claim compensation for missold car finance. How will it work?Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Amber Mehmood Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 7th March 2026)

The number of emergency hardship loans issued to former civil servants who are facing long delays for pension payments is "pitiful" according to a senior MP. Clive Betts, the deputy chair of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, has told Money Box the loan system is "not adequate" after figures published for the first time earlier this week show fewer than 600 have been issued - compared to many thousands of people who are missing money. The Cabinet Office says an urgent recovery plan is underway and its immediate priority is to stabilise the service. Capita have previously apologised for the delays.Nearly one in five adults now use Buy Now, Pay Later - instead of paying the whole cost upfront with a debit or credit card you can spread the cost interest free over three or four monthly payments. At one time it was young people driving the rise. But some new research from the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol (commissioned by the Aberdeen Group Charitable Trust) suggests Buy Now,

Claims management firms have been warned by regulators to treat their customers fairly over compensation claims for mis-sold car finance. The financial regulator is set to announce its own free-to-use scheme for the millions of people who could be due compensation because the car finance deals they signed up to were mis-sold. Private claims management firms, which have already taken on many claims, can take as much as 40% of any compensation eventually paid out. The warning from the regulator includes telling consumers to guard against large charges to pull out of their claim, so-called exit fees, if they wish to switch to the free scheme.And, if you've been shopping online recently you may have been asked to eschew your usual credit-card payment in favour of a new way to hand over your money: pay by bank. By cutting out the credit or debit card middlemen, you'll be saving the retailer some cost from payment fees. But what's in it for the online shopper - apart from having to put up with weaker consumer pro

How hard is it for young people to find a job and once they do how can they make it pay? Some 16.1% of people aged 16 to 24 are not able to find work according to the latest government figures, the highest level for 10 years. Without a job, being able buying a home, paying into a pension or just pay the bills can seem impossible.So what's the best way to go? Graduate job, apprenticeship or working your way up from an entry level job and what support is there for those struggling whilst on the hunt?The Department for Work and Pensions told Money Box Live, "We’re determined to tackle youth unemployment, which is why we’re investing £1.5 billion through our Youth Guarantee in work experience, apprenticeships and subsidised jobs."Joining Paul Lewis today is Barry Fletcher, Chief Executive of the Youth Futures Foundation, a charity focused on reducing youth unemployment. And Lizzie Crowley a skills advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.Presenter: Paul Lewis Producers: James Graham and Sarah

The Chief Executive of Capita Public Services has apologised for the serious delays thousands of civil servants are facing simply to get paid their pensions. Richard Holroyd was speaking to MPs on the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday when he admitted his service was "overwhelmed" when it took over the running of the civil service pension scheme in December. We'll get reaction from people affected and hear from Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Conservative Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.Love might be in the air for some today - but with the roses and candlelight, comes a warning about criminals working in the shadows to trick people into giving away their money. Romance scams are types of fraud when a scammer pretends to be in a relationship with someone to gain money or personal information from them. They often start online or on social media. More than twenty million pounds was lost to romance scams in the first half of last year, up more than a third compared to 2024. We'll hear from one li

Mortgages are one of the most important financial products most of us ever come across, but they're also complicated. With more than 7,000 products on the market, how do you pick the right one for you?It can feel pretty overwhelming and hard to choose the best product at a time when rates are held at 3.75% but expected to fall, and relaxed lending rules mean some people can borrow 6.5 times their salary over longer terms. We'll answer listener questions about trackers, what term you should pick, and what to do if you're a first-time buyer.Paul Lewis is joined by Sally Mitchell, a mortgage advisor at Versed Financial, and Paul Broadhead from the Building Societies Association.Presenters: Paul Lewis and Felicity Hannah Producers: Sarah Rogers and James Graham Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson(First broadcast 3pm Wednesday 11th February 2026)

Debt charity StepChange says its research suggests around 2.5mn people who have debt on a credit card have paid more in interest, fees and charges over the past 18 months than they have repaid off the debt itself. Its survey of 6,000 adults, done by the polling organisation YouGov, found 1 in 20 adults had this persistent credit card debt. Its calling on the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, to improve the lending rules to stop debt building up and and ensure banks are intervening sooner to support customers in difficulty. The FCA says its rules mean that lenders should only provide credit to people who can afford to repay.The government has started a hardship fund because thousands of newly retired civil servants have been kept waiting months for their pensions to be paid. The Public and Commercial Services union, which represents many civil servants, has described the situation as "catastrophic" and is calling for urgent action to put things right. In a joint statement Capita and the Cabinet Of

Student loans and their impact on graduates’ finances have dominated the news recently. The average student debt in England for 2024 graduates was approximately £53,000, with repayments being made when salaries hit a certain threshold set by the government.But, the finer details on who gets what and how it's all repaid varies vastly depending on when and where students study. Rules also differ vastly across the UK. Recent campaigns have highlighted 'Plan 2' loans which focused on students in England who studied between September 2012 and July 2023 and the Chancellor's decision to freeze the salary threshold for repayments on these loans for three years, which means some graduates will now have to pay even more.In this episode we'll discuss the rules for current students, past graduates, as well as how maintenance loans are worked out and what support might be available.Joining Felicity Hannah is Tom Allingham from student money website, Save the Student and Graham Wright from the University of the West of

Billions of pounds is lost each year to fraud, be that by criminals simply stealing someone's money or by thieves tricking victims into giving them their details before draining their bank accounts. It's a crime that is massively under-reported, with very low conviction rates too. To tackle this, a new agency's been created called 'Report Fraud'. It replaces the problematic "Action Fraud" which had been the place for victims to report fraud for over a decade. Paul Lewis interviews Chief Superintendent Amanda Wolf who's the Head of Report Fraud.There are calls for a cut in the interest rate on some student loans. In recent weeks some graduates have been saying they feel they were missold their loans, because they're only paying off interest on what they owe, despite high levels of payments. The Department for Education says that its making what it called "tough but fair" decisions to protect taxpayers and students. We'll discuss that with the Higher Education Policy Institute.There is growing pressure fr

The number of people working past retirement age is growing. New analysis of tax data found a 12% rise over the past five years. It was carried out by the specialist employment law firm, Littler, which says official estimates for the last financial year show 2.1 million workers and self-employed people are over state pension age. For some people carrying on working is a positive choice. They enjoy the routine, like the social side, and of course the money but for others it’s much more about necessity, when pensions alone not stretching far enough.But, how flexible are employers when it comes to older workers and what are the tax implications of collecting your state or private pension while still working? To talk it all through Felicity Hannah is joined by Zoe Alexander, Director of Policy at Pensions UK, Morgan Vine, Director of Policy at charity Independent Age and Julie Dennis, Head of Inclusive Workplace Strategy at ACAS.Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Sarah Rogers Editor: Jess Quayle Senior Ed

The chair of Parliament’s Energy Select Committee has told Money Box it’s “vital” the Energy Ombudsman is given new, stronger powers as quickly as possible. Bill Esterson says that it is too easy for energy suppliers to simply ignore ombudsman decisions leaving consumers powerless. Energy UK, which represents suppliers, says customers have the right to expect a good service and, in the vast majority of cases, suppliers are able to work with the Energy Ombudsman to resolve cases within 28 days.As people live longer healthier lives more and more are working longer - often well past the state pension of 66. A new analysis of HMRC data found a 12 percent rise in the number of people working past the state pension age over the past five years. What's driving that increase?Top tips for filing your self-assessment ahead of the deadline next week.And as the number of payments made by cheque drops, what does the future look like for their usage? Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner Researche

Buying a new car last year increasingly meant going electric. Around one in four new car buyers made that choice with almost half a million electric cars registered over the year, according to industry figures. That means there are more than 1.8 million fully electric cars driving around the UK, which is still only just over 5 per cent of cars on the road. But in the next few years, more motorists will start navigating the change because by 2030 the UK government is banning the sale of new petrol and diesel, with hybrids allowed until 2035. So how much do electric cars to buy and run, and how easy is it to travel long distances in them?Joining Felicity Hannah are Stuart Masson from the website The Car Expert and Melanie Shufflebotham from Zap Map, which is an app and website showing where public charging points are.Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Sarah Rogers Editor: Jess Quayle Senior Editor: Sara Wadeson(This episode was first broadcast on Wednesday the 21st of January 2026)

When it comes to keeping our homes warm nearly all of us rely on just a handful of big energy suppliers. And during the winter, especially with the cold temperatures, we rely on those suppliers to do their job. When they don't customers can firstly complain to their supplier but, if they're still not happy, they can take their complaint to something called the Energy Ombudsman. It's a free, impartial service and gets thousands of complaints every year. In most cases, when the ombudsman makes a decision, that decision is followed to the letter, quickly, by suppliers. But in some cases that doesn't happen - we investigate one listener's battle over a £1,700 bill.HMRC has told MPs it's going to take more care in how it handles its effort to crack down on fraud and error, after a mistake which led to thousands of families wrongly losing their Child Benefit.It was the Scottish government's Budget this week and there were quite a few changes promised for people's pockets, we'll round up the details.And, there's a h