BBC Money Box

Ofgem Back Billing and Pensions and IHT

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The energy regulator Ofgem says suppliers must take urgent action to find out how widespread a problem back billing is. It's when suppliers send out new bills for electricity and gas from longer than 12 months ago, a practice that was banned in 2018. The development follows Money Box's investigation which discovered thousands of people have wrongly been receiving back bills. Paul Lewis interviews Tim Jarvis, Director General of Markets at Ofgem.

And unspent pension pots will be subject to inheritance tax from 2027. This change, announced by Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget, means most unused pension funds will be included within the value of a person’s estate for Inheritance Tax purposes from 6th April 2027. Money Box has been getting lots of emails from listeners who're now reconsidering their financial planning and are worried and upset about the new rules. The Treasury told us it continues to incentivise pensions savings for their intended purpose of funding retirement instead of them being openly used as a vehicle to transfer wealth. But how will the new rules work?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Sarah Rogers
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 22nd February 2025)
22 Mar English United Kingdom Business

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