Car, home, travel and life insurance are just some of the policies we might take out to protect ourselves if the worst happens.This year we've already seen floods followed by freezing temperatures and property claim pay outs hit £4.1 billion last year according to industry figures.So this week we look at whether insurance companies step up when we need them, and more widely at the rising costs of insurance, particularly for motorists.Felicity Hannah is joined by experts Mark Shepherd from the Association of British Insurers, and Sam Richardson, Deputy Editor of Which? Money.Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers and Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle(This programme was first broadcast at 3p.m. on Wednesday 22nd of January 2025)
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28:17
Child Trust Funds and Gilts
A senior MP has backed calls to start automatically paying out hundreds of millions of pounds to young adults if they haven’t claimed government-backed child trusts funds by the time they turn 21. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who is also chair of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, says the move would help nearly half a million people born between 2002 and 2011 access one billion pounds of their own money that they don’t even know about. The government says the idea would be complex and costly.There has been a lot of talk on the news about gilts and the bond market. We're joined by Russ Mould, the investment director of AJ Bell, to explain what a gilt is and whether you can buy one?There's less than three months left to boost your state pension by to filling old gaps in your National Insurance record. At the moment people who have not yet reached pension age and those already on the new state pension can fill gaps in their record back as far as 2006. From this April that window will be shut. What should you do, if you think you've got gaps to fill?And, the couple who boosted their income by more than a hundred pounds a week after listening to Money Box. Find out how they did it.Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 18th January 2025)
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24:59
Money Box Live: School Costs
1 in 5 parents say they're struggling with the cost of sending their children to school according to the National Parent Survey.There're uniform costs, school trips, afterschool clubs and school dinners to consider, but is there a way to keep costs down?Some changes are on the way with government plans to give every parent of a child in a state primary school in England the legal right to a half hour breakfast club, as well as limits on how many branded uniform parents have to buy. This week Felicity Hannah will hear from parents and is joined by Jo Thurston, parenting coach from Action for Children’s Parent Talk service,
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown and Neil Renton, Head Teacher of Harrogate Grammar School.Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Sarah Rogers
Editor: Jess Quayle(This programme was first broadcast at 3pm on Wednesday the 15th of January 2025)
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28:29
Breakfast Clubs and Housing Costs
The Government made a start this week on its manifesto promise to provide free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill got through its first big step in the House of Commons on Wednesday and will give every parent of a child in a state primary school in England the legal right to a half hour breakfast club for their children with food and childcare. Schools Minister Stephen Morgan speaks to Paul Lewis about the plans.New research form the housing and homelessness charity Shelter, seen exclusively by this programme, suggests more than half of those facing housing worries have been kept awake at night over the past year due to concerns about things like high rents, poor conditions and the risk of eviction. What can be done to help them?And millions of people who need to file a self assessment tax form have still not done it - and the deadline is less than three weeks away on January 31st. Listen for the Money Box guide on what you need to know.Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Emma Smith, Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 11th January 2025)
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25:25
Live from Sheffield: Affording Care
Money Box Live broadcasts from Grange Crescent Residential Care Home in Sheffield for a special programme on the cost of care.Unlike NHS services, social care is not free at the point of use. It costs an average of around £60,000 per year to live in a residential care home and considerably more if you need nursing care.Last week the Department of Health and Social Care announced a new review into care costs, but the independent commission tasked with the job will not publish it's final report until 2028.We'll be speaking to residents and family members about how they're paying their care bills and hearing from the care home manager about how it all works.Joining Felicity Hannah is Claire Rintoul, CEO of the charity Sheffcare which operates Grange Crescent Residential Care Home as well as eight others in the city,
Professor Vic Rayner, Chair of the Care Providers Alliance which represents independent and voluntary adult social care providers in England and from the Society of later life advisors, Independent Financial Advisor Jonathan Rowley.Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Production Coordinators: Emma Smith and Molly Pipe
Editor: Jess Quayle(This programme was first broadcast 3pm on Wednesday the 8th of January, 2025)
Ireland