Money Box

BBC Radio 4

The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.

  1. 21 uur geleden

    State Pension Age Rise, Gazundering and Air-Con

    Urgent action is needed to help people in their sixties on low incomes who face a delay of up to a year before they can claim their State Pension. That is the main recommendation of a new report from the Work and Pensions Committee. Pension age rises over the next two years from 66 to 67 and the committee of MPs fears some of the people affected by that delay face poverty unless the benefit rules are changed to give them more money. The Department for Work and Pensions says in February, 0.02% of the Universal Credit caseload was aged 65 or 66. It also welcomed the report saying it will consider the recommendations in due course. There’s growing concern in the housing industry over the rise in a practice known as “gazundering”. It’s when people selling homes are told by buyers just days before exchanging, that they must drop the agreed price by thousands of pounds or risk losing the deal. The Conveyancing Association says it’s a growing problem and is urging the government to implement reforms which would stop the practice “without delay”. The government says it's stopping gazundering by introducing "legally binding agreements that prevent buyers from walking away at the last minute without a valid reason, with fines for those who do." Money Box has found that a grant which can be used to install a heating system than can also act as air conditioning is not up and running, despite being announced in November. We'll investigate why. Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth, Jo Krasner and Niamh McDermott Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson Photo Credit: Witthaya Prasongsin via Getty Images (First broadcast 12pm Saturday 18th July 2026)

  2. 3 dgn geleden

    Money Box Live: Buy Now, Pay Later Shake-Up

    New regulations begin today (Wednesday July 15th) for shoppers using Buy Now Pay Later. Consumers using services like Klarna and Clearpay will now be given more protection but also a greater risk of rejection, as new affordability checks begin. BNPL schemes often provide interest free payment options over several months and have proved immensely popular. Experian estimates that a 100mn transactions were made that way last year, adding up to about £7bn. Meanwhile, new data from one of the country’s largest free money advice services, Money Wellness, shows BNPL has become an increasingly common feature of customers' finances over the past four years, with June recording 4,520 customers seeking help with BNPL debt. That's the highest June on record and second only to the traditional post-Christmas spike seen in January. Presenter Felicity Hannah talks to the Financial Conduct Authority to find out if the new rules are going to improve things for shoppers. She’s joined by an expert panel answering listener questions – Mick McAteer of The Financial Inclusion Centre, a UK not-for-profit policy and research group. and Matthew Sheeran from Money Wellness. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Craig Henderson Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson Photo credit: Pakorn Supajitsoontorn via Getty Images. (This episode of Money Box Live was first broadcast on BBC Radio Four at 3pm on Wednesday 15th July)

  3. 8 aug

    Making Tax Digital Deadline and Cheques

    A deadline approaches for 860,000 self-employed people and landlords who must start reporting their income and expenses in a new way. It is called Making Tax Digital and it affects small businesses with a turnover or gross income above £50,000 a year. They have until 7th August to report their income and expenditure to HMRC. What do they need to know? It is “unacceptable” that the government has refused to commit to bringing the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme back in-house. That’s according to PCS Union, which says a rare joint committee hearing in Parliament this week highlighted the “catastrophic failures” of the scheme, leaving many members facing “unacceptable delays, errors and distress” when trying to access the pensions they have worked their entire careers to earn. The Cabinet Office, which has overall responsibility for the scheme, says immediately terminating the contract would cause more problems and severely disrupt the pension payroll, jeopordizing the financial security of hundreds of thousands of public servants. How are rules which make banks reimburse victims of fraud going? A new report evaluates the first year of Mandatory Reimbursement. And a major high street bank has changed its mind after deciding not to allow customers to deposit their cheques in a Post Office. Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner Researcher: Catherine Lund Output Producer: Craig Henderson Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson (First broadcast 12pm Saturday 11th July 2026)

  4. 5 aug

    Money Box Live: Would you let AI manage your money?

    We look at whether artificial intelligence is a help, or a hazard when it comes to helping you with your personal finances. One in five adults in the UK - around 11 million people - are already open to the idea of using AI to manage their finances, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. But using AI to manage our money is not without risk. The FCA, the organisation tasked with keeping us financially safe, says that regulators are in an "arms race" to keep up with AI in financial services. We speak to the man behind its new report, Sheldon Mills. And with the increase in AI useage likely to attract the scammers and the deepfakers, just how will regulation evolve to protect us? Alongside presenter Ruth Alexander and taking listener questions is Simon Belshaw who is Chief Client Officer at the investment company Hargreaves Lansdown. And we hear from Elle Farrell-Kingsley, and advocate for AI ethics who has previously worked on artificial intelligence for one of the big tech companies. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Craig Henderson Researchers: Niamh McDermott, Catherine Lund Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson Pictured: Sheldon Mills, Financial Conduct Authority (This edition was first broadcast on Wednesday July 8, 2026)

  5. 1 aug

    Child Trust Fund "Injustice" and Pension Opt-Outs

    Parliament was asked this week to help tens of thousands of young adults get access to their own money. It is sitting in the state-backed Child Trust Funds set up more than 15 years ago with contributions from the government, parents and other relatives. However, because these young people have learning disabilities the legal process for getting hold of their own money can cost more than the couple of thousand pounds typically in their fund. What happens next? New figures reveal that in a single year half a million people said 'no thanks' to joining a workplace pension. Like everyone taking up a new job they were automatically enrolled into a pension, but they opted out before it even began. How might that impact their future? Capita has missed the deadline to return services to normal for civil servants facing long delays in getting their pensions sorted. And, a major change to the Lifetime ISA could see it replaced with a new product designed solely for First Time Buyers. How will it work? Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Meghan Owen Researcher: Catherine Lund Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson (First broadcast 12pm Saturday 4th July 2026)

  6. 29 jul

    Buying a flat: stepping stone or millstone?

    Buying a flat used to be a stepping stone to owning a house – but has this all changed? Research is telling us that the gap in price between flats and houses has hit a 30 year high. According to the property platform Zoopla, so far this this year two-thirds of one and two-bedroom flats listed for sale still haven't been sold. The leasehold system in England is being blamed, in large part, for the declining popularity of flats. There are concerns about the length of leases and the maintenance and service charges often involved when owning a flat. The Government is in the process of introducing new measures to deal with some of these issues. So today we're asking - what does buying a flat mean for your finances? Maybe you live in one and love it! Perhaps your children do? Or are you struggling to sell and feeling a bit flattened? Presenter Felicity Hannah puts listeners’ questions and concerns to an expert panel. Polly Gilbert is a director at the digital mortgage brokers Tembo, and Liam Spender is a trustee at the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Craig Henderson Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson (First broadcast 3pm Wednesday 1st July, 2026)

  7. 25 jul

    Chair of the Banking Review and Winter Fuel Payments

    More than 15,000 people have responded to a Government review into access to banking services in just three weeks since it opened. The review comes after a decade which has seen almost 7,000 bank branches close, with hundreds more happening this year and some announced in just the past few days. Richard Lloyd, a former Director at the consumer group Which?, gives his first interview since being appointed to lead the review. HMRC must "learn lessons" for the future after incorrectly suspending child benefit payments from thousands of claimants last year. That is the conclusion of a report published this week by the National Audit Office. The mistake happened during the wider roll out of a pilot scheme designed to cut some of the hundreds of millions of pounds estimated to be lost to fraud and error in child benefit claims each year. People who are 66 today, born 27 June 1960, are the youngest people who will get the Winter Fuel Payment this year. Normally the qualifying date is three months later. How does the payment work? And, VAT has been cut on summer attractions used by children - from theme parks to fast food - what kind of discounts are there? Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Sarah Rogers and Jo Krasner Researcher: Catherine Lund Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson (First broadcast at midday on Saturday 27th June, 2026)

  8. 22 jul

    Money Box Live: The Future of Banking

    We’ve seen a big fall in the number of bank branches over the last decade. Around 6,700 bank and building society branches have closed since the beginning of 2015, according to Which? With more due to close this month. Now the government is carrying out a review following concerns about the reduced access to face-to-face banking, and how this affects banking customers both in towns and in rural areas across the UK. In this special programme Money Box Live asks what IS the future for banking and what do these changes mean for you? Will online banking ultimately be the end of banking face-to-face – or will there always be some form of bank to pop into? Presenter Felicity Hannah is joined by Charles Randell, former chief of the regulator the Financial Conduct Authority and a member of the Financial Exclusion Commission, and Gareth Oakley, the CEO of Cash Access UK, to answer your questions. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Craig Henderson Editor: Jess Quayle Senior news editor: Sara Wadeson (First broadcast at 3pm on Wednesday 24th June, 2026)

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The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.

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  • Maker
    BBC Radio 4
  • Jaren actief
    2007 - 2026
  • Afleveringen
    742
  • Beoordeling
    Veilig
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Website van aflevering
    Money Box
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