

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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 25, 2020 • 42min
Help for small businesses and the self employed
Announcements from the Government are coming thick and fast about the help available for small business in these difficult times.An expert panel joins Adam Shaw to discuss and answer your questions on what assistance might be on offer.We also look at issues facing the self-employed and discuss what support is currently out there for them. Get in touch by email: moneybox@bbc.co.uk or tweet: @moneybox.Joining Adam:
Will Hadwen - rights adviser from Working Families
Sonali Parekh - Head of Policy at the Federation for Small Businesses
Alasdair Hutchison - Policy Development Manager from the Association of Independent Professionals and Self EmployedProducer: Darin Graham
Editor: Emma Rippon

Mar 21, 2020 • 25min
The Coronavirus Effect
Money Box unpicks the Chancellor's announcement on support for wages and rents.Investments have taken a massive hit over the last few weeks as the stock market has dived. We speak to one Money Box listener who thought his fund, which was nearing maturity, had been moved to a 'safer' account - only to discover it hadn't.And the latest fraud statistics show that in 2019 fraud increased by 45%. We speak to Katy Worobec, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, the collective voice of the banking industry.Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researcher: Darin Graham
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon

Mar 18, 2020 • 29min
MBL: Travel and coronavirus
The UK government has urged Britons to avoid non-essential travel to anywhere in the world for 30 days to tackle the spread of coronavirus. Where does that leave people and their holiday plans? And what about future holidays?Joining presenter Louise Cooper to share their views:Simon Calder, Travel Editor at The Independent.
Charlie Campbell, Senior Policy Adviser at the Association of British Insurers.
Gary Rycroft, solicitor at Joseph A Jones & Co LLP.Email questions to moneybox@bbc.co.ukProducer: Darin Graham
Editor: Richard Vadon

Mar 14, 2020 • 31min
Corona Virus - the financial fallout
The financial fallout from the Corona Virus pandemic. Making sense of the help available.And the Chief Financial Ombudsman, Caroline Wayman, tells us that the banks warnings are not good enough and that they need to do much to stop people becoming victims of so-called "push payment fraud". We report on a "never seen before" fraud that lead to a ninety-one year old losing his life's savings. The criminals used the victim's driving licence to set up an account in his name, but under their control. They stole £90,000 over five months. When he became suspicious he contacted his bank but they refused to refund him. Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researcher: Darin Graham
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon

Mar 11, 2020 • 38min
MBL: The Budget Special
Whether you're young or old, rich or poor, how will the Budget affect your personal finances?Paul Lewis and a panel of experts give their opinions on how it will affect your wallet and take your calls.Our panel this week;
Anita Monteith – Institute of Chartered Accountants
Heather Self- Blick Rothenberg Accountants
Tina Riches – Tax AidCall 03700 100 444. Lines are open from 1pm on Wednesday 11 March. You can also email moneybox@bbc.co.uk or tweet @moneybox

Mar 7, 2020 • 31min
TikTok - time for change?
TikTok has been downloaded over 1.6 billion times and most of its users are young. They share videos and stream their activities live. The site allows people who have over 1000 followers to be given presents by other users in exchange for giving their account a 'shout out'. To give money you should be over eighteen. So how did a 9 year old girl gift thousands of pounds from her dad's bank account?It will be at least another two years before estate agents and the property business will be regulated - that estimate from the man the government asked to propose reforms.And why do student loan repayments take more from people who work and earn irregularly than if they had a steady salaried job?Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Daniel Whitworth
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon

Mar 4, 2020 • 35min
MBL - The future of giving
The traditional model of giving is in decline, no longer do people have a charity for life. Now the sector is coping with huge changes in the way people give from card payments, crowdfunding to adventure fundraising. Is sponsored skydiving becoming the raffle of the 21st Century?Technology offers huge opportunities as well as challenges, with new software making fundraising easier as well as connecting charities to donors across the world. But how can smaller charities tap into this potential?Louise Cooper and her panel of guests ask whether charities are ready for these changes and what they mean for donors.Joining Louise are-
Kelly Southcott from charity consultancy Kivo
Joe Saxton from charity research firm NPF SynergyEmail: moneybox:bbc.co.uk with questions and experiences for the panel.

Feb 29, 2020 • 29min
New hope for leaseholders
People who bought leasehold homes from developers were "misled". That is the damning verdict of a report by the Competition and Markets Authority. They say its findings support calls for a change in the law in this area and that they are ready to take this fight to the courts to force developers to change their ways bringing new hope to leaseholders.
Young savers in the government-backed pension scheme called NEST see their money grow more slowly than older people because their contributions are automatically put into a low risk, lower return fund.And after years where hundreds of thousands of students have overpaid their student loans by hundreds of millions of pounds, the Student Loans Company is starting to trial a system to automatically refund customers who have over-paid on their student loan repayments.Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon

Feb 26, 2020 • 32min
Discrimination and housing benefit
Landlords and letting agencies who advertise property with a ban on renting benefits claimants - so-called "No DSS" clauses - risk legal action under anti-discrimination laws. So why do such restrictions persist? What can prospective tenants on benefits do about it? And what legal and financial risks are being run by landlords who display "No DSS" restrictions?Money Box Live takes your calls and hears from Polly Neate, the chief executive of the homelessness and housing advice charity, Shelter. And from John Stewart, policy manager of the Residential Landlords Association.Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producers Paul Waters & Jordan DunbarEmail- moneybox@bbc.co.uk
Twitter - @moneybox

Feb 22, 2020 • 29min
Savings - are they drowning not waving?
A Money Box investigation has found that two of the biggest broadband providers are charging people up to £90 a year to keep their email address if they switch to another supplier. The regulator Ofcom has told Money Box that it has written to the firms and may take further action. Nearly two million savers will miss out on more than £100 million a year income following the announcement this week of cuts to National Savings and Investments interest rates. Is this the end of savings? From April the liability for any underpaid tax shifts from the contractor - IT expert, business consultant or indeed a care worker - to the firm that wants the work done. The result is that many big firms including banks are refusing to take on contractors unless they become employees for the short period they work there. The contractors say that cuts the fees they are paid, increases their costs, and removes their flexibility. Campaigners say contractors are leaving the UK and want the changes to be delayed.Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Richard Vadon


