Dear listener,

In Money Box this week:

Brrrr. Snow, freezing temperatures, winter is certainly here. But this week Money Box learns that half of Britain's pensioners can't afford to pay their fuel bills without cutting back elsewhere. In 2001 the government promised to make sure all pensioners, disabled, and families with children could afford a warm home by 2010. We are warned it will take radical action to make that happen.

The Financial Ombudsman steps in after Alliance & Leicester closed the account of a customer who went to court to challenge its high bank charges. The ombudsman made the bank pay £125 in compensation.

Are you one of the 15 million people in the UK who buy or sell things with the online auction site eBay? This week the Revenue warns anyone who makes money from online trading that they may have to pay tax on their profits. Ditto if you rent out property.

And a major credit reference agency gives the thumbs up to a Money Box listener's radical idea to stop banking fraud. And that’s a clue about what it is.

But to find out, listen to Money Box, live on Saturday at noon, repeated Sunday at 9pm and any time (after midday) on the web.

Best wishes,

Paul Lewis

e-mail Paul Lewis