Unauthorised Recurring Card Payments and Overpaying Mortgages

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute is warning people to keep a close eye on their bank and credit card accounts after thousands of unsuspecting shoppers have said they're having money taken without their knowledge. Individual payments are usually quite low, but if not spotted, they can quickly start to add up. Trading Standards say it's "outrageous" these payments are being taken without explicit consent. How can you spot and stop these payments?

Two thirds of first time buyers are overpaying their mortgage and one in six hope to be mortgage free by the time they're 40 according to a report from TSB. Is it the same for other mortgage holders and what should you think about if you're considering overpaying on your mortgage?

More than half of adults in the UK do not have a will. So if they die they will have no say in how their money, property, and possessions are distributed. WillAid, where solicitors all over the UK make free wills and suggest a donation to charity in exchange. How does it all work and what happens if someone dies without a will?

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner Producers: Robert Cave Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast at 12pm on Saturday 18th October 2025)

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	Hello, I'm Emma Barnett. For most of my career, I've been on live radio, and I love it.
0:13.3	But I've always wondered, what if we'd had more time? How much deeper does the story go?
0:19.2	I remember having this very sharp thought that what you do right now, this is it.
0:24.3	This defines your life.
0:26.0	I'm ready to talk and ready to listen.
0:28.4	I'm insulted by how little the medical community is ever bothered with this.
0:33.9	Ready to talk with me, Emma Barnard, is my new podcast.
0:37.0	Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello, welcome to this
0:40.0	Moneybox podcast. More than half of one bank's first-time buyers are trying to pay their mortgage off
0:46.4	early, but is overpaying always a good idea. Have you gotten up-to-date, Will, if not book now,
0:52.8	to make one with a solicitor free? Well,
0:55.5	almost. And there's been a big surge in texts saying claim winter fuel payment. Delete them.
1:02.2	They're from thieves. But first, is a business you don't recognise dipping into your bank or credit
1:08.1	card account every month and taking out money.
1:11.8	It happens a lot.
1:17.6	They're called recurring payments and whenever you give your debit or credit card number online or on the phone,
1:19.6	you're potentially setting one up.
1:24.7	Firms are very good at turning a one-off special offer into a regular payment.
1:29.8	Thousands of unsuspecting shoppers have said they're having money taken without their knowledge.
1:32.3	Trading standards says it's outrageous.
1:36.9	These regular payments are being taken without explicit consent.
	...

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