Dear listener,

Up very early on Friday to go on Breakfast TV. The energy companies are being hauled over the coals (when will they move to wind powered torture?) because they are still charging people who pay their bills quarterly by cash or cheque a big premium – or as they would put it, giving them a smaller discount than they do those who pay monthly by direct debit. ‘So,’ you say, ‘What’s new?’ And it’s true they have been doing that for years. But since 1 September a new licence from the regulator Ofgem only allows them to charge the actual extra cost of paying in those pesky cheques and counting all those used fivers.

So far none has reduced the gap between monthly direct debit and quarterly. And five out of the six big suppliers contacted by the BBC said they were not going to review – still less reduce – the amount they charge to quarterly customers. Consumer Focus – the energy (among other things) watchdog – says the average differential of £97 a year is about double the justifiable extra cost.

The surprising thing is that the so-called ‘direct debit discount’ (6% in the case of one big supplier) is not given to those who pay quarterly by direct debit, only those who pay monthly. Though quarterly payers may qualify for a ‘prompt payment’ discount of rather less.

Breakfast presenter Charlie Staite asked if quarterly payers (who include many pensioners) were within their rights to write a cheque for less and say ‘prove it should be more than that.’ Do I hear ‘bank charges’ echoing through the studio?

So, onto the items we ARE covering in….

…(STILL) THE BEST RADIO PROGRAMME.

Charges and fees on personal pensions are so high that you only get £60 out of every £100 that would be paid if they were zero. That’s the claim from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) this week. We talk to the man behind the sums and the UK’s biggest pension provider, who disputes them.

‘Hello, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs here. Some good news. I’ve got a rebate for you. Total of £231. Just click on this link and I’ll arrange payment.’ Emails like that – but rather less well written, if I may say so, have been arriving in millions of inboxes. Of course they are fake. Part of a worldwide scam to get people to give away their personal and financial details, so they can be robbed. And although the link appears to come from a genuine HMRC address, in fact it will take you to a website like www.fraudstersittingsafelyinaforeigninternetcafe.kr . Safest thing is just to delete anything like this, unread.

Good grief! That funny nouveau riche foreign currency is worth almost as much as good old Sterling, dontcha know? So when you pay €5 for a coffee in the Champs Elysees, it is actually a fiver you are spending! On a coffee!! As the pound and the Euro head for parity (£1=€1 or, to put it another way €1=£1) we ask why (markets), what can you do about it (holiday in Scotland), and will it get worse – (probably, because that seems to be what Mervyn King, the Bank of England Governor, wants).

Attention those born before 6 April 1960. You can put more in your ISA from 6 October. At least that’s what the law says. But are the ISA providers making it easy enough to top up your tax-free savings? And what will you really gain – see last week’s newsletter for an answer to that. If you haven’t kept it (tut!) you can read it, and the entire newsletter archive, here paullewis.co.uk/archive/MoneyBoxNews/Newsletter.htm

Attention all those born 27 September 1949, or earlier. You are due a £250 tax-free gift from the Government this winter (and more if you were born 27 September 1929, or earlier). Most people will get the Winter Fuel Payment automatically. But if you are just 60, or don’t get any pension or other benefits, the pension service may well not know about you. So you will have to claim. Find out more at www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/winterfuel/home.asp or ring 08459 15 15 15.

Small print: the payment is per household (sort of) so if there’s two (or more) of you living together who qualify you will each get half (yes, half even in a ménage a trios, quatre, cinq, dix or cent). And if you are in a nursing home, you may get half or you may get nothing. And in jail? Forget it. And to claim for the first time you have to be living in the UK. After that… (enough small print, Ed.)

We will not be able to give the full treatment to all those five stories. And news may squeeze others out between now (Friday morning) and broadcast (Saturday at noon). But tune in, find out, enjoy, on Radio 4. The repeat is Sunday at 9pm – and 24/7 on the website. Or subscribe to the podcast on bbc.co.uk/moneybox where you can also read stuff, watch stuff, follow up stuff, download stuff, and send us stuff.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS. Don’t forget the programme taster on BBC Breakfast between a quarter to nine and nine o’clock.

e-mail Paul Lewis