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Money Box: Uncoupling your financial affairs; Who makes the most out of plastic; Mobile phone charges; Investigating insurance renewals

Uncoupling your financial affairs; Who makes the most out of plastic; Mobile phone charges; Investigating insurance renewals

06/07/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Money Box, Uncoupling your financial affairs; Who makes the most out of plastic; Mobile phone charges; Investigating insurance renewals

Insurance renewals, financial break-ups, the cost of plastic, why a second costs a minute.

A warning that banks aren't doing enough to protect joint account holders when relationships turn sour, the cost of plastic, rising phone tariffs and an insurance renewal probe.

The City regulator is investigating insurance companies for overcharging customers when they let their house or car insurance policy renew automatically. Money Box revealed in March that some customers who allow their policies to roll over year after year were paying hundreds of pounds more than new customers would pay. This weekend it's emerged that the Financial Conduct Authority is investigating automatic renewal and whether it treats customers fairly.

Breaking up is always emotionally draining. And if you have joint financial affairs - especially a joint bank account - pulling those apart can be financially draining too. With joint accounts either party can use all of the money. And if it goes overdrawn both parties are liable for all of the debt. How can you stop a departing partner making off with the cash and leaving you in hock?

Who makes money when you pay with plastic? Almost everyone but you. Your card provider, the retailer's bank, and of course Visa or Mastercard. And how much of your money goes to each of them before the retailer sees a penny? It is very hard to say. The EU wants to step into this process and ban or at least cut some of the interchange fees and make them clear to customers. Card companies say 'no'. Retailers answer 'yes'. Where does the consumer sit in all this arguing?

Not so much a slope more a staircase. A major mobile phone firm is planning to charge some customers for a minute when they talk for an extra second. Rounding up every call to the nearest minute is not unique in the mobile phone world. But why is Vodafone choosing now to move from per second billing to per minute for some of its pay-as-you-go customers? And who now charges the least for those short and infrequent calls?

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