Dear Listener

1 October 2011 is a big day. From that day no-one can be dismissed on grounds of their age. In fact the law really began on 1 April – that was the last day to give notice that you were dismissing someone just because they had reached the default retirement age, usually 65. But that six month notice period is just a few hours from ending so from tomorrow it will be illegal. In future no company can specify an age when their employees have to go. Of course they can still be sacked for all the other reasons. But it does mean employers will have to have sensitive rules in place to let people go when they are no longer up to doing the job.

Also a big day for the millions of people who earn the minimum wage. It is rising by 15p an hour to £6.08 for people aged 21 or more, an increase of 2.5%. Rates for younger ages are also going up but by much less – 6p for 18-20s taking their rate to £4.98 and a fourpence rise for 16-17s will mean they get £3.68 an hour.

***IN MONEY BOX THIS WEEK***

Your holiday is insured, a week before you fly abroad your nephew dies, you ring your insurer who assures you the cancellation will be covered, you cancel, claim, and go to the funeral. But then the insurer says in fact your nephew is too distant a relative for the policy to pay. What are your rights?

The Association of British Insurers changes the rules so that its members who run pension plans have to encourage their customers to shop around for the best deal when they come to turn their pension pot into a regular income for life. But will the system work? And why did the ABI act before a Government committee came up with its own suggestions?

New rules come in from October (I told you it was a big day!) which give more rights to the million plus people who are agency workers. In future, once they have worked for a firm for 12 weeks they will have equal rights to pay, holidays, and working time. There are, of course, complexities.

And one month tomorrow the new Junior ISAs are launched for children too old or too young to have a Child Trust Fund. What are the rules? And what will the charges be?

Even this late on a Friday we are not sure which of two other stories will finish the programme and fill our 24 minutes. So find out the exciting answer by listening to Money Box as usual on Radio 4 at midday, or at 9pm on Sunday, or online anytime, or get the podcast at www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moneybox. On our website www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox you can get more information and follow links, download transcripts, or send us stories or ideas you want us to look into. And Have Your Say on how waiters are treated by restaurants.

This newsletter is available at bbc.co.uk/moneybox/newsletter around the time it hits your inbox (tell your friends who don’t subscribe). And you could join more than 11,750 people who follow me on Twitter to enjoy (or rant about) my random but timely thoughts on money and a few other things whenever I’m awake at twitter.com/paullewismoney.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS I will be previewing Money Box on BBC One Breakfast on Saturday around 0845 and I am on Breakfast in the week, usually on Thursdays and usually around 0640 and 0820 talking about a money story and answering emails and tweets. But the time, and occasionally the day, can vary.

e-mail Paul Lewis