Money Box

The official body which tackles loan sharks tells Money Box that for the first time in its almost 20 year history it is seeing people turn to loan sharks to pay for essentials like food and fuel. The England Illegal Money Lending Team investigates and prosecutes loan sharks and supports those threatened by them. We report from Blackpool and visit a credit union - CLEVR Money - where people can bor...

More than £500m was stolen by fraudsters in the first half of 2023, according to figures from UK Finance. This is less than the same period in 2022, but Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams, where people are tricked into transferring money to thieves, are on the rise. We ask what can be done to fight back against the fraudsters, both on a personal and industry-wide level? Joining Felicity Hannah ar...

We investigate the case of Kent Brushes, a hairbrush company founded in 1777, which has had £1.6m stolen by thieves. The money was transferred in 40 separate transactions, all to new payees, in less than 20 minutes. Dan Whitworth reports. And - the difficulties facing people in England who used the government’s Help To Buy loan scheme to get on the property ladder. What advice is there for those a...

Just how much does technology impact your finances? Do you search for the best deals on your laptop or phone? Perhaps you keep track of your money through online banking. As many as 40% of people in the UK feel they cannot keep up with newer technology according to the charity the Good Things Foundation. And not being online can cost you money, over £1,000 a year, according to Hargreaves Lansdown....

This week, the energy watchdog Ofgem released data showing energy debts reached £2.6 billion between April and June. It says the rise in debt was due to both the increase in wholesale energy prices and wider cost of living pressures. We'll get reaction to that figure from Octopus Energy, one of the UK's biggest suppliers. More and more people are taking money out of their private pensions. Between...

A lot of us like to save up for special occasions - a holiday, some home improvements - but, as we grow older, more of us think about saving for the costs that come after we die. In fact, 69% of people make some sort of provision to help with the cost of their funeral, according to the financial services firm Sunlife. And it's a big bill - more than £9,000 if you want a funeral and a wake or even...

A funeral plan company with more than 13,000 customers has gone bust leaving thousands of people without the plan they paid for. One Life Funeral Planning Limited was just 1 of around 40 firms which were not approved by the Financial Conduct Authority in July 2022 when it took over regulation of funeral planners. Attempts to find a regulated firm to take over its customers failed and last November...

Money Box Live is looking at how to prepare for the cold nights ahead this winter following a year of high energy costs. The Ofgem energy price cap has fallen by 7% to just over £1900. The price cap is the maximum amount your provider can charge per unit of gas and electricity. It is the amount a typical home in England, Scotland and Wales will pay a year, but if you use more, you will pay more. L...

Energy companies are holding on to too much of their customers' money in the form of credit on their accounts. That's according to Angus MacNeil, Chair of the House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero committee. Money Box has uncovered the total amount of credit being held in the first three months of this year was £8.1 billion. Those figures are from the regulator, Ofgem. Energy UK, which rep...

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 5.25%, ending a run of 14 consecutive increases. What does that mean for mortgages? We'll also look back one year on from the mini-budget. Hear from Clare Beardmore the Director of the Mortgage Club at Legal and General and Nimesh Shah the CEO of Blick Rothenberg. Nearly half of our universities are now encouraging students to work part time by promot...

Inflation has dropped to 6.7% but that doesn't mean our bills will be coming down anytime soon. The news offers a small amount of welcome relief as the dip means prices are rising slower than they have been. But inflation is still way off the Bank of England's target of 2%. This week on Money Box Live we're looking at how to try and lower your personal rate of inflation and cut costs. Felicity Han...

Exclusive data for Money Box suggest that 1 in 5 UK adults have had to ration things like heating or electricity to keep up with their debt repayments. 1 in 8 have changed the food they eat for less healthy options. The survey, carried out by debt charity StepChange, found a third of adults say they are in financial difficulties, but half would be reluctant to contact their lenders to try to sort...

This week we're talking about pensions for the next generation and taking your questions and comments. Writer and director Richard Curtis is with us to consider why green investments could be the key better engagement when it comes to young people. Also joining us, Sophie Smith, News Editor of Pensions Age and Helen Morrisey, Head of Retirement Analysis from Hargreaves Lansdown. Presenter: Felicit...

This week there have been warnings that millions of people aren't saving enough for retirement and calls for pension contributions to be increased. One thinktank - New Financial - released a report saying that despite the success of auto-enrolment nearly a third of the UK workforce are not saving for a pension at all. Most aren't saving enough and will have smaller pensions in future. The governme...

15 million adults in the UK feel financially insecure as a result of the rising cost of living. And almost 1 in 10 say they have debt they don’t know how they will repay – that’s according to the charity Christians Against Poverty. Felicity Hannah and a panel of experts answer your questions on everything debt related - from the cost of childcare, bankruptcy and support if you have been the victim...

New research has found that one in five people are paying for essentials - like food and household bills - by borrowing on Buy Now, Pay Later. A report from The Money and Pensions Service says more than ten million people now use it and claims around 40% of people they surveyed were managing their repayments badly including turning to credit cards, savings or overdrafts to pay it back. Millions of...

Felicity Hannah and the team broadcast live from Leeds University as students from England face a massive overhaul to their finances. It's the biggest change in more than a decade. Previously, student loans were written off after 30 years, but under a new scheme called 'Plan 5' it's 40 years. Graduates will also have to start paying money back when they earn £25,000, the threshold has been lowered...

High streets have a double challenge; they need to cope with their own rising costs and keeping hard pressed customers spending. We hear how Barnsley’s sellers are adapting to tricky times. Is anyone able to see a path through to a thriving business? Felicity Hannah meets traders in The Glassworks, home to the town’s new redeveloped undercover market. Here she’s made a special coffee by Dave in hi...

Schools are dealing with their own rising costs, but they are also coping with the impact of the cost-of-living on their pupils and their families. One primary school tells us how they’re facing up to the challenge. Can they thrive in tricky economic times? Felicity Hannah spends a day at school with Sally Herbert, Principal at Oasis Academy Harpur Mount, primary school in Manchester. She meets st...

Rising costs are having an impact on almost everyone, but that impact is very different for different sections of the economy. Rising food production costs are pushing up everyone’s grocery bills, and squeezing farmers’ profit margins. How are farms adapting to survive difficult times? Are any of them finding new ways to thrive? Felicity Hannah travels to South Wales to meet two farmers, both runn...

Rising costs are having an impact on almost everyone, but that impact is very different for different social groups. Is anyone managing to make a difference to their own budget, however small? Whether they be high earners or low income households, how are people taking control of their finances? Felicity Hannah meets Peter who lives alone in a rented flat in Stoke and has a disability that prevent...

The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates again this week, for the fourteenth consecutive time. The increase will hike the monthly repayments for anyone on a variable rate mortgage, for those trying to re-mortgage after coming off a fixed-rate and for first time buyers with new home loans. In this podcast we look at the dilemmas created by high borrowing rates. The experts in this po...

Care home leaders are the latest group criticising the Government for failing to get £400 of winter fuel help to the people entitled to it. The Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Fund was supposed to help nearly one million households who don't pay an energy supplier directly. 20,000 households in care homes got this money, but according to new BBC Verify analysis for this programme that sugge...

An average of 20 potential tenants request to view each available rental home, more than triple the amount in 2019, according to data commissioned by the BBC. The queue to view is even longer in some regions, reaching 30 in the North West of England, according to the property portal Rightmove. From facing tough competition for a home to receiving a section 21 notice of eviction, we hear what rente...

Sick people in England are being caught out by the complex rules which exempt some from NHS prescription charges. The Patients Association says the rules surrounding the £9.65 per item levy should be simplified. The call comes after Money Box listeners told us how they struggled to navigate the rules. The NHS Business Services Authority which runs the system told us "Patients can check they are el...