Dear listener,

Goodness me. The phrase ‘can of worms’ could have been invented for the response we got to last week’s item on the fees charged to leaseholders of retirement flats. Our email box was red-hot with incoming messages which reinforced the concerns we mentioned and raised several new areas of concern.

We didn’t persuade Consensus Business Group – which owns or manages about half the retirement developments in the UK – to give Money Box an interview on last week’s programme. But CBG Director Ian Rapley did decide, at the last minute, to appear on BBC One’s Breakfast on Wednesday.

He was responding to an item about residents in the South West of England, who have taken action to cut the management fees of their retirement flats. His statement that the people in his developments ‘are not dribbling geriatrics’ offended many people. Now the company has apologised ‘unreservedly’ – through its PR company – and said it is conducting a ‘comprehensive review’ of the issues raised and promised to ‘appear on the BBC’ when the review is complete. So plenty of time to practise!

May I pause to let you know that Money Box has won yet another award – our third this year. The Santander Media Awards are the oldest and, in many ways, the most prestigious of the financial press and broadcast awards. Formerly known as the Bradford & Bingley Awards, they have been going since 1988. This year we won Personal Finance Programme of the Year. Well done to the team.

As for me, I was deep in the 19th Century again, this week. It’s the sesquicentennial of…no. I’ll wait until next week and hope the editor lets me talk about other broadcasts I’ll be making then, and why I am involved in some publishing minutiae of 1859. Meanwhile…

… IN THE BEST RADIO PROGRAMME (Voice of the Listener and Viewer), FINANCIAL PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR (ABI Media Awards) and the winner of PERSONAL FINANCE BROADCAST PROGRAMME (Santander Media Awards)…

Floods – it is surprising just how often these once-in-a-century events happen, nowadays. As more homes partly disappear under rising rivers, we discover that some people are spending thousands of pounds on flood defences only to find their insurance premiums are no lower.

Have you ever used a cashback website? We reveal a fraud that allows thieves to claim the cashback without buying the product. But why are they not being caught?

Have you ever responded to an advert for a financial product only to be really disappointed when you discovered what those subtle words really meant? Just how far can ads go, while still treating customers fairly?

Figures out this week show that inflation rose for the first time in eight months. So is inflation – not deflation – the real fear? (And yes I have been asking that since deflation started). What does printing £200 billion of new money do to inflation? And what will happen when VAT reverts to 17.5% on 1 January 2010?

That’s the plan. But the producer still has a spare slot for breaking news which may – or, of course, may not – happen. Check out what is actually broadcast by tuning in to Radio 4 Saturday at noon, listening to the repeat on Sunday at 9pm, or logging on to the website bbc.co.uk/moneybox where you can listen 24/7 or subscribe to the podcast, as well as read stuff, watch videos, download transcripts, and send us things you want us to look into. And Have Your Say on this week’s topic – flood insurance.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS. Don’t forget the programme preview on Breakfast BBC One, just after 0845h on Saturday.

Dear Listener,

Me again. Sorry to add to the burden of emails but the programme I promised to tell you about next week has been brought forward to this week! So if you tune in to Front Row on Radio 4 tonight - Friday at 1915h - you will find whose sesquicentenary it is. And if you miss it then you can find it on the BBC iPlayer for a week.

Best wishes,

Paul Lewis

e-mail Paul Lewis