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BBC Radio 4

Money Box

More of us than ever before have access to private medical insurance. New data shared with Money Box Live shows that more than 8 million people were covered last year - that's about 5 million adults, plus their families. It's a rise of 4% on the previous year and comes after a series of sharp increases since the pandemic.

We find out what's driving the growth, who's buying the policies and hear from those who have used private health services.

We're joined by Tim Read, director of research at the health sector data firm LaingBuisson which is behind the numbers and has just published its annual study into the private medical cover market, and Tina Jennings, general secretary of the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries, a trade body representing insurance companies and brokers working in this field.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: James Graham
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(This episode was first broadcast at 3pm on Radio 4 on Wednesday the 1st of October 2025).

Money Box Live: Private Healthcare

The National Association of Head Teachers has written to the Department for Education demanding it take action to address what it describes as the failing Teachers' Pensions Scheme. The union has told Money Box it's shocked at the number of members contacting it for help describing a litany of delays, miscommunication and the failure to carry out even basic services leaving many in financial disarray. The government says it understands these problems have caused frustration and it's continuing to work closely with Teachers’ Pensions to resolve these issue as soon as possible.

This year's Winter Fuel Payment in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is going to all pensioners but instead of everyone keeping it, those who have an income of more than £35,000 will have it taken back by HMRC. How will that work in practice?

Fake news stories about the state pension have been worrying many listeners. We'll have some advice on what to look out for.

And tens of thousands of motorists could be eligible for a share of £200m in compensation after insurers paid them too little on their claims. 

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Catherine Lund
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 27th September 2025)

Teachers' Pensions and Car Insurance Compensation

Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are a type of digital money that has proliferated in recent years. They are mostly unconnected to governments or central banks. Some people treat them as an investment, some people as a bit of a flutter, and many more people don't yet know anything about them at all. 

We look at how they work and how the regulatory landscape is changing with the UK's financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority currently consulting on a range of proposals. It could mean crypto-related firms will be covered by the same requirements as traditional financial firms, boosting consumer protections.

It comes as Action Fraud, which is the UK's national reporting centre for cybercrime, says crypto-related scams jumped by 16% last year. In fact, it accounted for two thirds of all investment fraud reports.

Felicity Hannah is joined by Kate Baucherel, a digital strategy consultant specialising in emerging technologies like crypto, and Louise Abbott, a partner at Keystone Law with a focus on fraud, crypto and asset recovery.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: James Graham
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(This episode was first broadcast at 3pm on Radio 4 on Wednesday the 24th of September 2025).

Money Box Live: Understanding Crypto

Top lawyers have told Money Box that people across the UK are being misled into paying thousands of pounds for products which they are told will protect the value of their home from inheritance tax or being taken to pay for care home fees. In reality, they say, these schemes do not work and may trigger legal complications and huge financial costs in the future. Usually the products involve setting up some sort of 'trust' but they are often sold by people who are not lawyers and are not regulated. The Association of Lifetime Lawyers, asked over a hundred its own members and found 95% of those lawyers surveyed said they had seen such products being missold and more than 4 in 5 said they had clients who had been misled. 

Buy-to-let mortgage rates have dipped to their lowest level in almost three years and there is more choice of mortgage products for buy to let landlords than ever before. The data, which comes from Money Facts, might be good news for any landlords coming to the end of a 2 year fix when rates were higher, but not for those who fixed 5 years ago when rates were much lower. What does it mean for the market?

The state pension looks set to increase by more than inflation in April - that would mean an extra £500 a year for many. 
 
And why are house prices rising faster in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Eimear Devlin
Researcher: Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 20th September 2025)

Warning over Trusts and Landlord Mortgages

This week on Money Box Live we're looking at a topic that's very difficult but very important. What happens to your finances when the worst happens? How do you plan for your financial future when you've been diagnosed with a life-limiting or terminal illness? 

It's a question a group of MPs have been asking too. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Hospice and End of Life Care has found that people can face real hardship because they often have extra costs combined with a loss of earnings.

Felicity Hannah is joined by Jamie Thunder, senior policy manager for financial security at the end of life charity Marie Curie and Nina Sperring, partner at Price, Slater, Gawne solicitors. She's also a member of STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners which specialises in estates and wills. We also hear from Nathaniel Dye, a music teacher who was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer at 36.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: James Graham and Helen Ledwick
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast at 3pm Wednesday 17th September 2025)

Money Box Live: Navigating a Terminal Illness

New figures reveal that more than a quarter of a million homeowners have temporarily reduced their mortgages payments, or extended their mortgage term, since lenders agreed to offer better support to customers in June 2023 through what was called the Mortgage Charter. 

There's been a sharp rise in people taking their tax-free lump sum out of their pension over the past year. Since 2015 people over the age of 55 could take 25 per cent of their pension pots tax-free and then use the rest as they wished. These figures from the regulator the Financial Conduct Authority show tens of thousands more people made that choice - why?

Millions of people are missing out on tens of billions of pounds worth of help ranging from benefits to social tariffs from utility companies. That's according to the latest analysis Policy in Practice suggests. What type of benefits are people missing out on?

And the £100 limit on contactless card payments looks set to be scrapped. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, published plans this week to let banks set their own limit - or indeed have no limit at all. 

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm on Radio 4 on Saturday 13th September 2025)

Mortgage Charter and Unclaimed Benefits

About a quarter of a million 18-year-olds in the UK secured a university place this summer and are now preparing to head off to their chosen institution. The numbers increased by about 5% at a time when the costs associated with getting a degree are also rising. 

There's a patchwork of different funding models across the UK, but for students in England and Wales tuition fees have gone up for the first time in eight years. We take a look at how tuition and day-to-day costs are funded across the UK, and hear from students about their housing - another major cost that has been increasing.

Debt is also now a major part of the university experience, with students in England graduating with an average debt of £53,000. One graduate explains how she has struggled to make a dent in her debt over the past 10 years despite holding well paid jobs.

Felicity Hannah is joined by Tom Allingham from the student money website Save the Student and Clare Dickens, director of the Student Life team at the University of Wolverhampton.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: James Graham and Helen Ledwick
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first broadcast at 3pm on Radio 4 on the 10th of September 2025).

Money Box Live: The Cost of University

We look at changes which the Government has announced – and the speculation around those it hasn’t. Pension inheritance rules will change in 2027. It may seem a long time away, but people are making plans now. We hear from some of those pension planners as they try to clear up any confusion around the changes. We also look at speculation around what might be in the Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Autumn Budget, which she announced this week will take place on November 26.

His Majesty's Revenue and Customs tells Money Box it's deploying hundreds of staff to bring down waiting times for people making claims about missing state pension payments. It's already written to 370,000 people, mainly women, who took time off work to care for children and now might be getting less money than they should be because of an error in their National Insurance records. But given that HMRC has already admitted it's been, in its words, "inherently challenging" to try to fix the problem it might come as little surprise the vast majority of people still missing money, haven't been paid what they're owed. 

Just a few weeks ago thousands of would-be university students found out whether they had achieved the right grades to get into the university of their choice. Now comes the reality check, when many wonder how they will afford to pay for it. Some argue that the level of Government maintenance loans only covers half the true cost of student living. The Higher Education Policy Institute has just conducted a study into maintenance loans in England and reckons they only cover half of the true costs of student life.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Amber Mehmood, Jo Krasner, Catherine Lund
Editors: Jess Quayle, Craig Henderson

Inheritance Planning and State Pension Underpayments

Being a tenant can be pricey — and it’s only getting pricier. 
Private rents rose by almost six per cent in the year to July, and while the pace may be slowing, the average UK rent still stands at over £1,300 a month. So what does that mean for the millions of people living in private rented homes? 
This week on Money Box Live, we're looking at the cost of renting — and what it’s doing to your finances. 
We’ll hear from a family forced to live apart because they can’t afford to rent together, and from a woman struggling to rent because of debt problems. We’ll ask what the upcoming Renters Rights Bill means for tenants — and what tax breaks are available to people who choose to rent out a spare room. 
With rising prices, limited supply, and big reforms on the horizon, join us as we unpack the pressures facing renters — and what support is out there. 
Felicity Hannah is joined by Matt Hutchinson from Spare Room, Vicky Spratt, Housing Correspondent for The i, and Matt Sheeran from Money Wellness 
Presenter: Felicity Hannah 
Producer: Helen Ledwick 
Editors: Jess Quayle and Craig Henderson 
(This episode was first broadcast at 3pm on Radio 4 on the 3rd of September 2025).

Money Box Live: Rising rents troubling tenants

Hundreds of former retained firefighters have come forward to claim millions of pounds in missing pension payments after Money Box covered the story earlier this summer. We'd reported how their union, the Fire and Rescue Service Association, had warned thousands of its members risked missing out on the payments very often worth tens of thousands of pounds for each individual.

Scammers have been sending texts pretending to be from the government to try and trick pensioners into applying for the Winter Fuel Payment. That's a payment that can be worth up to £300 off energy bills over the colder months. It's prompted the Department for Work and Pensions to issue a warning, telling people to beware of the texts, which ask people to click on link which could be used to steal money from victims.

How are the rumours about changes to stamp duty affecting the housing market? 

And a reminder that if you’re the parent or carer of a 16-19 year old you’ve got until Sunday to renew your child benefit claim.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Catherine Lund and Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 12pm Saturday 30th August 2025)

Firefighter Wins and Winter Fuel Scams

April is a big month for our finances, some bills go up and one or two even come down. 

A big relief for many households will be the that energy prices are dropping, but one bill that is still going up is rent.

UK rent prices rose 9% in the 12 months to February.

Research shared exclusively with Money Box Live has revealed you're more likely to be in your overdraft if you're a renter compared to people with mortgages. You're also less likely to have savings to fall back on in an emergency.

Meanwhile government plans to scrap no fault evictions for tenants in England have been delayed. Neither tenants nor landlords are happy with the current position.

Felicity Hannah is joined by Sarah Pennells, Consumer Finance specialist at Royal London, Dan Wilson Craw, Deputy Director at Generation Rent UK, and Richard Donnell, director of research at the property platform Zoopla.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Neil Morrow and Sarah Rogers
Reporter: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first broadcast on the 3rd April 2024)

Money Box Live: Resenting Renting?

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