MONEY MORSELS
Flight taxes
A TAX paid by airline passengers has risen. Air passenger duty on flights leaving the UK has gone up from £73 to £75 for long-haul economy flights and from £146 to £150 for first-class. Short-haul flights in Europe remain at £13.
Nuisance call block
TWO million households have signed up to BT’s scheme to block nuisance calls. BT Call Protect diverts pestering rogue callers to answerphone. Visit bt. com/
callprotect or call 0800 389 1572.
Roaming free
VODAFONE has abolished mobile phone roaming charges on calls, texts and data in 40 countries for new customers and businesses.
The deal covers the EU and holiday hotspots the Channel Islands and Switzerland.
Subscription trap
PEOPLE with mental health problems are more likely to be trapped by expensive subscriptions they can’t get out of. The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute says 71 pc of people with mental illness bought items on subscription, compared to 58 pc without.
Bad Samaritans
FRAUDSTERS are posing as good Samaritans to steal money. They send an email claiming personal details have fallen into the hands of scammers. But the attached file is a virus that steals passwords and details from your PC.
Fraud hotline
THE taxman has launched a fraud hotline. You can call 0800 788 887 between 8am and 8pm to report tax evasion, National Insurance and VAT fraud or failure to pay the minimum wage to HMRC.
Housing crisis
HOUSING in England last year was the least affordable it’s ever been. An average home costs 7.72 times a worker’s average annual earnings in 2016, up from 7.52 in 2015. In 1997, it was 3.54.
Penalty-free loans
NATIONWIDE Building Society has stopped charging borrowers to repay a loan early. The average customer will save £70 in charges, it says. Around 70 pc of Nationwide’s loan customers clear their debt before the end of the loan term.
Cashback blunder
THOUSANDS of Halifax credit card customers could receive a £100 payment after the bank failed to pay cashback on purchases for several years. Halifax says around 1.5 pc of its Clarity credit card holders are affected, and some have already been refunded.
Pension handouts
WOMEN are more likely to use lump sums from their pensions to support family, while men prefer to spend it on property renovations, research by Fidelity International shows.