Dear Listener

I know it’s the tennis season but the story about reclaiming bank charges is going back and forth like a new ball at Wimbledon.

• Bink! For months everyone who tries to reclaim their bank overdraft charges gets them back in full.

• Bonk! Two weeks ago a judge comes down on the side of the banks and throws out a claim by a customer

• Bink! The next week other judges say ‘that doesn’t bind us’ and carry on awarding claims against the banks.

• Bonk! This week a judge in Hull says he agrees with the judge who found for the banks and will throw out all twenty cases before him.

On Money Box this week an exclusive interview with a senior judge who calls for – no I can’t tell you til Saturday.

Consumer organisations and financial advisers are warning that we could all be (even more) confused when we buy financial products in future. In November a European Directive will replace the current rules which make advisers tell us who they are, what they sell, and how much they will charge us. It’s all in a set format which makes comparisons easy. But from November they will be free to decide what they have to tell us and how it will be have to tell us the same things but can choose how to do it. The Financial Services Authority tells us it will all be OK.

People should not be put off from saving up for festive season after the collapse of the Christmas club Farepak. That’s the message from the Office of Fair Trading this week. We ask what is the best way to save up for presents and pudding?

And if you have a second (or third) home you rent – watch out. The Revenue denies it is launching a clampdown on the tax paid by buy-to-let landlords. But it says about 80,000 people could be paying too little tax. And warns them to sort their finances out. A landlord and a tax adviser discuss.

That will probably be it. But to find out more on all those stories listen to Money Box – live on Saturday at noon, repeated Sunday at 9pm and any time (after the broadcast) on the web www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox

Best wishes

Paul Lewis

PS …and remember Money Box is trailed on BBC1 Breakfast every Saturday between 8.45 and 9.

e-mail Paul Lewis