Money Box

It was a momentous day on Tuesday as the government and regulators announced major changes in the way investments will be sold. What's been proposed and what's the role of the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, in that? Inflation rose to 3.6%, this week the highest it has been since January 2024 - what's behind that? And two of the UK's leading end of life charities have told Money Box pe...

Unemployment recently rose to its highest level in almost four years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate went up to 4.6 per cent in the three months to April, up from 4.5 per cent in the three months to March. That's the highest since the Summer of 2021 in which the country was in the depths of the Covid pandemic. So today on Money Box Live we're asking what happens when you lo...

Reform of the state pension, auto-enrolment into company pensions and consolidation of small pensions spread across several providers are proposed this week in a major report on the future of pensions. It says major changes are are necessary to ensure today's workers have an adequate income in retirement. The conclusions come at the end of a two year study by the independent research organisation...

In this special programme Money Box Live has been given exclusive access to a centre working with former prisoners to find out how money works behind bars. There are around 98,000 people serving prison sentences in the UK right now, but how does money work on the inside and why do offenders even need it? Felicity Hannah meets former prisoners working in the centre as they rebuild their lives. They...

Six million people will have £150 knocked off one winter electricity bill this winter. The Government has announced an expansion of the Warm Home Discount scheme which will almost double the number getting it. Who is eligible and how will people get the payment? Money Box has been receiving a steady stream of emails from members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme complaining about how their pensions...

More people are living alone, in fact 3 in 10 households are made up of single adults, according to the latest government figures. Research from the pension specialist Royal London also suggests single people are more likely to be in their overdrafts at the end of the month and have smaller savings and pension pots than married couples. Today, we're looking at the impact of the single supplement,...

Campaigners say more needs to be done to help the parents and carers of tens of thousands of disabled young adults access their own money held in Government backed Child Trust Funds. The Financial Inclusion Commission has told Radio 4's Money Box it wants the Government to officially endorse an informal process that some financial providers are already using to help grant access in days, instead o...

Three quarters of financial firms are already using Artificial Intelligence, according to the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority, with more set to follow in future. Last month a new inquiry by the Treasury Committee began looking into the potential impacts of AI in banking, pensions and other financial services. So what does that all mean for your money? We speak to the experts ab...

We'll discuss proposals to reform the bailiff industry, hearing from a man whose small parking fine ballooned into a debt of more than £400 once bailiffs got involved. Paul Lewis interviews the minister responsible for the planned changes: will they be fair on both creditors and debtors and will they bring rogue bailiffs into line? Also, the Chancellor's changes to the Winter Fuel Payment have bee...

New research, seen exclusively by Money Box, suggests a third of households in England and Wales are trying to cut the amount of water they use to help reduce their bills. The research comes from the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol which worked with the Financial Fairness Trust to speak to 6,000 households about their money situation. On water bills, 34% said they're...

Hundreds of millions of pounds was stolen from people in 2024 by thieves who tricked them, manipulated them, and then drained their bank accounts. The latest figures from UK Finance show that more than £450m was handed over to criminals in that way. That was slightly less than in 2023 but there were fewer cases - down 20% to just under 186,000. So those who were robbed lost more - an average of mo...

Hundreds and thousands of sole traders and landlords are facing a significant change in how they file their tax returns. In less than a year 800,000 people with a turnover of above £50,000 who fill out self assessment tax returns will have to fill out summaries four times a year, and then do their final self assessment too. It's all part of something called "Making Tax Digital". Paul Lewis intervi...

The fight against what is called push payment fraud - when victims are groomed and manipulated into transferring money to criminals - took a huge step forward in October when new regulations for banks and other finance companies were introduced to make the banks involved liable for the losses. It was the result of years of campaigning which Money Box has reported on from the very beginning. Now th...

Earlier this spring the Financial Conduct Authority warned that some banks and firms lack empathy when dealing with bereaved customers and called for them to do more. Money Box Live received a huge response from our listeners when we covered the story, with emails from listeners about how they coped with their grief while managing finances following the death of a loved one. Felicity Hannah is joi...

Around 1 in 2 people living in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime according to Cancer Research UK. That stark statistic is a reminder how the disease can impact families up and down the country, but it's not just the health of people diagnosed that can forever be changed. The finances of those who survive the disease can also be devastating too. We'll hear from a man recove...

If your home isn't working for you, should you pack up and move or get the builders in and improve? Moving is expensive, aside from the price of the house there's Stamp Duty and solicitors fees to think about. So, is it worth getting the builders in instead if you're desperate for an extra bedroom? Insurance firm Aviva predicts 7 million of us will renovate over the next two years, spending an ave...

People over the age of 60 hold nearly £3 trillion of wealth in the value of their homes, almost all of it mortgage free. That is more than half of all housing wealth in the UK. Under 35s by contrast control only £600 billion and half of that is mortgaged. These startling figures were published recently by the upmarket estate agent Savills which has analysed housing data in Britain for many years....

In an exclusive interview with this programme the Pensions Minister has talked about the government's plans to reform the UK's pension system. Torsten Bell has said that pension schemes should be moving more of members' money out of shares and into infrastructure projects where returns are higher. And he announced a new plan this week to bring millions of small pension pots together into one multi...

Parents typically pay an average of more than £80 per week for a childminder and £66 per week for after-school club, to cover the hours they're working. That's according to the latest data from the charity Coram Family and Childcare. This week a new trial of free breakfast clubs launched at 750 schools across England, and the government says it'll save parents as much as £450 in childcare costs. W...

Money Box investigates fees being charged of teenagers who are struggling to access their child trust funds. We speak to an 18 year old who agreed to pay a claims management firm 25% of his fund plus VAT, not realising he could do it for free. Lord David Blunkett was in government when Child Trust Funds were created in 2002, he tells Money Box that the unclaimed public money sitting in CTFs should...

New analysis shows that some parts of England have waiting lists for social housing that exceed 100 years. Recently the government pledged £2 billion of new investment to build up to 18,000 new social and affordable homes. But will that be enough? Felicity Hannah is joined by Jasmine Basran of the housing charity Crisis, and Alastair Smyth of the National Housing Federation. Presenter: Felicity Ha...

The stock markets have been on somewhat of a roller coaster since US president Trump announced global trade tariffs. Listeners emailed Money Box to tell us about the impact of the fall out in their pensions and investments. The advice from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association which speaks for pension companies is 'if you still have many years until you retire, you have plenty of time to r...

US Trade tariffs, stock market ups and downs, economic uncertainty. What do they all mean for your money? Since last Wednesday, when Donald Trump announced huge increases in tariffs for goods being imported by the USA, global stock markets have been in turmoil. Money Box Live is discussing what these events might mean for your personal finances, over the short, medium, and longer term. Felicity Ha...

Stock markets around the world have plunged in reaction to the import tariffs imposed by President Trump and then the retaliation of China which responded with its own tariffs on American goods. Economists have warned that this trade war could seriously damage the world economy, and make all of us poorer. By the end of Friday shares traded in London had fallen nearly 5% in price. What does that me...

The cost of just about everything we need to run a home will be more expensive for millions of households from Tuesday. Switching on the lights, turning on the heating, turning on the tap, calling your mum or your best friend, logging on to emails, will all cost more with rises usually well above the rate of inflation. We'll have tips on how to tackle those bills if you're struggling to pay them....