Money Box

The British public is expected to donate close to £3bn to good causes over the festive season according to research from the Charities Aid Foundation. If you are giving this year, how can you make sure all of your money gets to your favourite charity or if the charity is even real? We'll be considering the different ways to give and giving advice on how to avoid scams as well as hearing from some...

Around 9 out of 10 charities have told a new report they've had at least one issue with banking in the past two years. The Charity Finance Group and National Council for Voluntary Organisations spoke to almost 2,000 charities in the UK and found more than three quarters had struggled to change the named signatories on their bank account and 4 in 10 said that the checks they were asked to complete...

Almost a million women are trapped in dangerous relationships because of economic abuse, figures from a dedicated charity suggest. Economic abuse is now a legally recognised form of domestic abuse. It could include not allowing access to cash or bank accounts or the things money buys like food and clothing. The charity Surviving Economic Abuse reports that 1 in 7 women in the UK have experienced t...

A new report about the UK’s main financial regulator was published this week, concluding the Financial Conduct Authority is "seen as incompetent at best, dishonest at worst." The report was put together by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services, which is made up of cross-party MPs and members of the House of Lords. They spoke to victims of financial sc...

More than 800,000 people have called a dedicated fraud line, which connects them with their bank if they think they’re being scammed, since it started 3 years ago. Stop Scams UK, which set up 159, says 20 banks are now part of the service. We'll hear from a woman who called the number after losing £4,000 in a scam and find out more about how it works. Complaints about the wealth manager St James P...

A record number of people in England and Wales are getting help with the cost of their water bills. The number of people on low incomes who have been given a reduction in their bill grew last year by 250,000 to 1.6 million. They are called 'social tariffs' but newly released data from the Consumer Council for Water shows the amount people get varies widely depending on where they live. Water UK, w...

New research estimates that there are more than 3 million lost pension pots in the UK. These are pensions that have been paid into by an employer but the scheme can no longer find the person who owns it. The Pensions Policy Institute research also found number of lost pots has risen more than 17% since 2022. The Department for Work and Pensions told us millions of people will be saved from losing ...

Wednesday saw the first Budget from a Labour government for nearly 15 years and the first ever delivered by a female Chancellor. Rachel Reeves wasn't the first to stand up in the Commons and announce tax rises, but the scale of them was large by historical standards - about £40bn a year by 2029/30. The bulk of that will come from raising National Insurance contributions paid by employers. There wi...

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has announced her Budget but what does it mean for yours? Money Box Live is breaking down what the Budget mean for your finances, from pensions and Inheritance Tax to the cost of a pint. We hear from the experts who are on hand to answer your questions and comments. Felicity Hannah is joined by Dr Arun Advani, Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick and K...

There are just a few days to go until Rachel Reeves stands up in Parliament to deliver her first Budget as Chancellor. Since the Labour Party won the election in July, there's been a huge amount of speculation about what she might do to plug what she calls a 22 billion pound black hole left by the previous government. The Treasury says it does not comment on speculation around tax changes outside...

More than half a million young people are yet to claim their Child Trust Fund which could be worth up to £2,200 according to the government, but how do you know if your child has one or even how to get it? Plus with the Chancellor's budget on the way, we know parents are topping up Junior ISAs and giving away monetary gifts ahead of any changes she might make. So, today we're looking at how to bui...

It was a big week for carers as the Government announced an independent review into Carer's Allowance overpayments after families were told to pay back thousands of pounds, often pushing them into debt. The review will look at what happened, but in the meantime the Department for Work and Pensions has told Money Box it will continue to collect almost quarter of a billion pounds it says it's owed f...

Each year it’s estimated that £23 billion worth of help and support – from housing benefits to pension credit – goes unclaimed according to Policy in Practice. We look at the kind of help that is available, and hear from listeners on their experiences trying to claim the benefits they’re entitled to, as well as who might be able to get money off their childcare or broadband bills. Presenter Felici...

The Government is writing to 120,000 people aged 66 or more encouraging them to claim the means-tested benefit pension credit, which will also entitle them to the winter fuel payment. The letters will go out from next month to people the Department for Work and Pensions has identified as likely to be entitled following a targeted trial scheme last year. Also on the programme, a leading debt charit...

Buying a home is legendarily one of the most stressful events in life so today on Money Box Live we're going to try to take some of the pressure off by talking you through how it should work. Obviously there's much more to it than finding your dream house and a lot that can happen between viewing a property and getting the keys. We talk to first-time buyers on the property hunt in Stockport in Gre...

In a special programme broadcast live from the Atrium in Quay House at MediaCityUK, Paul Lewis discusses a momentous change in the way banks treat customers who have money stolen from their bank accounts by what is called Authorised Push Payment Fraud. In 2023 a record number of people lost hundreds of millions of pounds to thieves who tricked them, manipulated them and then drained their bank acc...

This month the new government will reveal its plans for the nation's finances in the Budget. We've been told 'difficult decisions' lie ahead as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves seeks to plug what she says is a £22bn black hole left by the previous government. There's been plenty of speculation around Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax and pensions tax relief - but what are they and who pays them? Our...

A new report given exclusively to Money Box is calling for more help for working families on Universal Credit. The University of Bath’s Institute for Policy Research wants the government to raise earning thresholds for extra help like free school meals, NHS prescriptions, council tax support and NHS dental help. The government says it's committed to supporting low-income families by extending the...

Across the UK freshers are heading off to university, many leaving home for the first time and most of them are paying for at least some of that with their student loans. Graduates in England leave university with average debts of around £48,500 according to the Student Loans Company. Tuition fees vary depending on where you live in the UK. Last year students in England were told they'd be paying...

People are missing out on nearly two billion pounds' worth of discounts on water bills and broadband, according to Citizen's Advice. Social tariffs give lower prices to people on low incomes, but the charity says there's a "postcode lottery" when it comes to what people can get. The government says more than 1.3 million households in England and Wales benefitted from £200m worth of help with water...

There are nearly 70,000 children in the UK who are in foster care. Foster carers main concern has to be the children they look after, including many who have experienced neglect and trauma. But they are self-employed, so there are also financial considerations, from allowances and fees, to tax returns and receipts. In this programme we'll hear from charities, foster carers and care leavers. We'll...

Hundreds of thousands of disabled pensioners will be unfairly impacted by the cut in Winter Fuel Payment, according to two leading charities who've spoken exclusively to Money Box. Disability Rights UK and Age UK have both told us that disabled pensioners often have higher energy bills because of medical needs and sharp cuts to the number of people receiving the payment will disproportionally affe...

Figures given exclusively to Money Box Live show that almost two-thirds of people who called the National Gambling Helpline had gambling related debt. So what are the options and what support is available? This week Felicity Hannah speaks to those affected by gambling, either themselves or through a family member. Joining her to talk about it are Nicholas Hill from the Money and Pensions Service w...

Hundreds of millions of pounds has been made available from the government for local authorities across the UK to spend on those most in need of financial help. Known as the Household Support Fund it's made up of £421 million for councils in England with another £79 million for devolved nations. Dan Whitworth meets Sam, who's 28 and got help from the fund via Stockport Disability. A new report ana...

Working parents and carers of children aged 9 months or over are now entitled to 15 hours of funded childcare a week during term time. 50 hours of nursery can cost around £14,000 a year, so it's a welcome relief for many. There had been warnings that parents would struggle to find places but the government says it is confident about meeting demand. From next September, the offer is set to rise to...