Summary
In his first budget speech for the new Labour government chancellor Gordon Brown announced the 1999 introduction of individual savings accounts. The idea was to encourage the habit of putting money away, especially those who had never saved before. Twenty years later, there are more types available. We look at non-cash ISAs with Mark Polson, Founder of The Lang Cat financial services consultancy.
Money Box reporter Dan Whitworth looks into warnings sent to the Financial Conduct Authority years before it took action against London Capital & Finance plc. LCF entered administration in January. By that time over 11,000 people had put £236m into high risk mini-bonds. At best they might only get around 20% of their original investment back.
Laura received a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions asking for £625 of benefits it had placed into the bank account of her deceased grandmother. Laura's only involvement was to register the death. There was no will and no executor. The few assets her grandmother had went towards meeting funeral costs. The DWP confirmed to Money Box that there's no legal obligation to return a benefit direct payment of this type and if the recovery letter it sends is ignored, it will not pursue the amount. It also confirmed there are no plans to reimburse Laura the £625 she struggled to raise to pay it. Guest: Adam Sym, Probate Executive, Stephensons Solicitors.
The exit fees charged by investors who want to move from their current online platform, and the difficulty many face in doing so, is the subject of the latest market study from the FCA. What might change for investors and do the proposals go far enough?
Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Producer: Charmaine Cozier Editor: Richard Vadon
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy. |
| 0:05.4 | My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:10.8 | The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that. |
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| 0:35.0 | check out BBC Sounds. |
| 0:41.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:47.4 | Hello in Moneybox today. Tax-free Isis, what should people beware of when they invest their money in stocks and shares, or indeed in the new innovative finance Isis? |
| 0:52.2 | The financial regulator was warned in 2015 about the now-collapsed |
| 0:56.5 | investment firm, London Capital and Finance, but did nothing for three years. Why? One listener |
| 1:02.5 | says she felt forced by the DWP into repaying part of her grandmother's pension, even though |
| 1:08.0 | her grandmother died with virtually nothing. And investment platforms, why does it cost hundreds of pounds to take your business elsewhere? |
| 1:16.8 | But first, the individual savings account, or ISA, will be 20 years old in April. |
| 1:22.7 | The ISA replaced two other schemes, PEPs and Tessas, and was the bright idea of the former |
| 1:27.3 | Chancellor Gordon Brown, |
| 1:28.7 | who said he wanted to encourage the habit of saving among people who have never saved before. |
| 1:34.1 | Well, it seems to have worked. There was just over £600 billion in Isis in April 2018, |
| 1:40.2 | more than half of it in stocks and shares, and were being encouraged to put more in before the end of the tax year, |
| 1:45.8 | that use it or lose it moment to invest up to this year's £20,000 allowance by April the 5th, |
| 1:51.5 | or wait till April the 6th when you can invest next year's £20,000, if you have that much. |
| 1:57.5 | Live now to Edinburgh to talk to Mark Poulson, the founder of the Langcat Financial Services |
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