Firefighter Wins and Winter Fuel Scams

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hundreds of former retained firefighters have come forward to claim millions of pounds in missing pension payments after Money Box covered the story earlier this summer. We'd reported how their union, the Fire and Rescue Service Association, had warned thousands of its members risked missing out on the payments very often worth tens of thousands of pounds for each individual.

Scammers have been sending texts pretending to be from the government to try and trick pensioners into applying for the Winter Fuel Payment. That's a payment that can be worth up to £300 off energy bills over the colder months. It's prompted the Department for Work and Pensions to issue a warning, telling people to beware of the texts, which ask people to click on link which could be used to steal money from victims.

How are the rumours about changes to stamp duty affecting the housing market?

And a reminder that if you’re the parent or carer of a 16-19 year old you’ve got until Sunday to renew your child benefit claim.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researchers: Catherine Lund and Eimear Devlin Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 12pm Saturday 30th August 2025)

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:05.6	Your time starts now.
0:07.2	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast.
0:09.4	Absolutely right.
0:11.5	So, you might like to know that the BBC makes loads of other podcasts.
0:15.6	Really?
0:16.4	Wow.
0:17.2	Many of them are very funny.
0:19.1	Which I think means...
0:20.3	A hatful of ha-hars. And energy. Even if we do very funny. Which I think means a hatful of ha haas.
0:21.7	And energy. Even if you do say so ourselves. I agree 100% to that. Find them all on BBC Sounds. Just tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Tell us a joke. Come on, tell us a joke. Just search comedy on BBC Sounds. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. Hello. in today's Moneybox podcast, these scammers using the winter fuel payment to try to steal from pensioners.
0:43.3	What are the rumours about changes to stamp duty doing to the housing market right now?
0:47.5	And what should anyone trying to buy or sell actually do?
0:50.7	Plus, parents of 16 to 19-year-olds are on a deadline to renew their child benefit claim.
0:56.6	But first, what better way to start our new season than with a huge money box win for hundreds
1:02.2	of people, people like Tony? Well, it's just financial security for the rest of my life, if you like.
1:09.0	And I'm still in a bit of a days about it, to be honest.
1:12.8	More from Tony in just a moment.
1:14.9	He is one of hundreds of former on-call firefighters
1:17.7	who've come forward to claim millions of pounds in missing pension payments
1:22.2	after Moneybox covered the story earlier this summer.
1:25.4	We reported how their union, the Fire and Rescue Service
	...

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