Dear Listener,

Top story this week (at the moment) is that dramatic promise by the
Conservatives to raise the threshold for Inheritance Tax from £300,000 to £1
million. It certainly seems to have gone down well in the polls. But most
analysts seem to doubt that the £3 billion plus cost can be paid for by a new
£25,000 a year levy on foreigners living in the UK but paying no tax here on
their worldwide income. I ask Conservative shadow chief secretary to the
Treasury, Philip Hammond, if his figures really do stack up.

Another laptop with personal and financial data on it has gone missing. This
time it is not a bank or building society but HM Revenue & Customs itself which
has lost a computer. We believe it has data from five financial firms and
information on hundreds of customers may have been compromised. Someone close
to the story will give us more.

As many as half a million women in their early sixties could be in line for a
state pension payout of thousands of pounds – and they don’t know about it.
Liberal Democrat MP Steve Webb, whose Parliamentary questions revealed the
numbers involved, will tell me who the women are and how they can claim.

Nine lenders have put up the cost of personal loans this week, some by as much
as 4 per cent. We look into the problems that rising rates are causing some
borrowers.

And we unpick the details of the new compensation rules for cash saved in a
bank or building society. Savings up to £35,000 are 100% protected. But how can
you cover amounts above that?

Remember that Money Box and Money Box Live can both be downloaded now so you
can listen to them on your computer or MP3 player anytime, anywhere. And you
can sign up for a weekly download to make sure you never miss an episode.

Best wishes,


Paul Lewis

P.S. Don’t forget the live preview of Money Box on BBC1 Breakfast between 8.45
and 9 Saturday morning.

P.P.S. I’ve made it to the end without mentioning Northern Rock!
 

e-mail Paul Lewis