Money, in brief

No UK driver who was mis-sold a car loan will get compensation before 2027, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain's financial regulator, said on Tuesday. [1][2] Until a court rules, lenders do not have to work out or pay any of it. [2]

The Upper Tribunal, the court that hears appeals against UK financial regulators, will hear challenges to the FCA's scheme from 16 to 26 February 2027. [2][3] A ruling is expected in the months after. [2]

The scheme covers about 12.1 million car loans taken out between April 2007 and November 2024. [1][3] The average payout is about 829 pounds a loan, and the total cost could reach 9.1 billion pounds, paid by lenders. [1]

The loans were judged unfair mainly because car dealers were paid commission by lenders that grew with the interest rate the buyer was charged. The FCA banned that kind of deal in 2021. [1]

Three lenders brought challenges: the car-loan arms of Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, two German carmakers, and of Credit Agricole, a French bank. [3] All four challengers say the rules are unlawful. [14]

Consumer Voice, a campaign group working with the law firm Courmacs Legal, challenges from the other side. It says the scheme leaves too many drivers short-changed. [1][7]

Santander, Barclays and Lloyds, three big UK banks, accepted the scheme. Their customers must still wait, because the challenge has paused it for every lender. [1]

The court had offered a December hearing too. Consumer Voice says the FCA and the challenging lenders blame each other for losing it. [3][5]

The FCA told lenders on Tuesday to plan for the chance that there is no scheme at all, and that complaints go back to being handled one by one. [2]

Without a scheme, the FCA estimates that up to 19 million complaints would need handling separately, taking three years and costing lenders 6 billion pounds more. [1][6]

The FCA had planned to start the scheme in July, after more than 1,000 responses to its proposals. [13][10] It had allowed three months to set it up, and five for older loans. [11]

Claims firms and law firms can charge up to 36% of a payout for a claim the FCA's route handles free. [2] After regulators warned them over exit fees, two firms changed theirs, covering 70,000 people. [12]

Why it matters. Watch the February hearing. If the court strikes the scheme down, the FCA has warned that a new one could push payments to 2028 or beyond. [2][4]

Social Security, the US state pension paid to about 76 million people, announces its yearly rise on Wednesday, with the September price figures. [15][16] Forecasters expect 3.5% to 3.6%, against 2.8% this year. [15] A 3.5% rise would lift the average monthly payment by 67.90 dollars, to about 2,008 dollars. [15] The rise follows a price index built on what working households buy, and retirees spend more on health care. [16]

Why it matters. In an AARP poll published on Monday, 76% of Americans over 50 said 3.5% would not be enough. [15] The Medicare health premium taken out of most payments is projected to rise from 202.90 to 209.50 dollars a month. [15]

Bosses of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Costa met the chancellor, John Healey, on Tuesday. [17] They asked him to raise the pay level where employers start paying national insurance, a tax on wages, from 5,000 to 6,000 pounds a year. [17] Healey's predecessor, Rachel Reeves, cut it from 9,100 pounds, and they blame that for fewer jobs for young people. [17] Healey has also rejected taxing gains on shares and second homes at wage rates, the Financial Times reported. [17]

Why it matters. Economists estimate equal rates could raise 11.3 billion pounds a year. [17] The Resolution Foundation, a think tank on living standards, says the war has halved Healey's room within his borrowing rule to 12 billion pounds before the 28 October Budget. [18]

UK supermarket prices were 2.5% higher in the four weeks to 4 October than a year before, up from 2.3% the month before, Worldpanel, a retail data firm, said. [19] Shoppers spent over 250 million pounds more on special offers than a year earlier. [19] Chocolate was 3% cheaper than a year ago before Halloween, after double-digit rises in 2025. [19] More than half of shoppers said they were very worried about petrol prices. [19]

Why it matters. Till sales at big supermarkets grew only 1.4% in the four weeks to 3 October, NielsenIQ found, as shoppers stay careful. [19] Worldpanel expects shoppers to stay careful until the chancellor sets out his plans on 28 October. [19]

About 150,000 US homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages, home loans whose rate changes after a fixed start, face their first change this year, ICE Mortgage Technology, a data firm, says. [20] Seven-year loans taken out in 2019 at a typical 3% are set to move to about 6.06%. [20] That adds a typical 1,080 dollars to each monthly payment. [20] Caps limit each change, for example to 2 percentage points at the first reset. [20]

Why it matters. Another 186,000 loans reset for the first time in 2027, and 155,000 in 2028. [20] Some borrowers whose loans began at high rates in 2023 will see payments fall by a typical 124 dollars. [20]

Sales of existing US homes rose 1.5% in September, to a yearly pace of 3.99 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the agents' trade group, said. [21] August and September were still the two slowest months of the year. [21] The median price, 417,500 dollars, was a record for September. [21] Homes for sale reached 1.6 million, the most since November 2019. [21]

Why it matters. The figures may lag the rise in 30-year loan rates above 7%, HousingWire says. [22] The rate was 7.32% on Tuesday, NerdWallet reported from Zillow figures. [23]

State Farm, a big US insurer, is raising home insurance prices in Illinois by 8% on average. [24] New customers pay from 1 October, and existing ones from 1 December. [24] It says it paid out 1.22 dollars in claims and costs for every dollar of premiums there over three years, as hailstorms grow worse. [24] Building materials cost 6.7% more, the report adds. [24]

Why it matters. A New York Fed study says US homeowners still carry about 29% of their expected losses, through the excess, the part of a claim the owner pays, and cover limits. [25] Households with lower credit scores and homes facing the worst disasters carry the most. [25]

At least 183 homes on England's east coast have been demolished since 2010 because erosion made them unsafe, councils told the Guardian. [26] East Riding of Yorkshire pulled down 66 and Great Yarmouth 64, all in the village of Hemsby. [26] The demolitions cost 1.1 million pounds, paid by councils, the Environment Agency and at times the owners. [26] No UK insurer covers coastal erosion, because it is treated as near certain. [26]

Why it matters. Hilary Lightfoot lost a flat worth 650,000 pounds in Thorpeness and used her pension savings to buy again. [26] The Environment Agency expects 3,500 properties to be at risk by 2055, and offers 10,000-pound grants to demolish them. [26]

Car cloning is when criminals give a stolen car the identity of a real, almost identical car, then sell it. [27] A stolen-vehicle examiner for Avon and Somerset Police says he now sees two or three cloned cars a week, about double 2023. [27] Caroline Burt, 70, paid 6,000 pounds for a campervan that turned out to be a clone. [27] Christine Balson, 84, got nine fines in two weeks for a copy of her car. [27]

Why it matters. Police say a buyer of a cloned car loses the car and possibly the money paid for it. [27] Criminals now fake chassis numbers, log books and even electronics, so routine checks can look clean. [27]

Poundland, a discount chain with about 600 shops in the UK and Ireland and 12,000 staff, is in talks with possible buyers. [28] Its managers are working with Martin Property Group, an Irish property firm, on buying it themselves. [28] Pepco sold Poundland for 1 pound last summer to Gordon Brothers, a US investment firm. [28] Usdaw, the shopworkers' union, warns it could fall into administration if no deal is done. [28]

Why it matters. Administration is a legal process where outside managers take over a failing firm, and the union says thousands of jobs would be at risk. [28] Poundland expects sales to grow more than 3% this year, which its boss says shows its recovery plan is working. [28]

US workers who changed jobs saw median pay rise 4.4% over a year for four months in a row, the Atlanta Fed's tracker shows. [29] Those who stayed got 3.5% in September. [29] Last year the gap almost closed, and for a short time stayers did slightly better. [29] Few workers are moving: the share quitting each month has been around 2%, against 3% a few years ago. [29]

Why it matters. A bigger rise goes to people who can find another job, and openings are scarce. [29] Stayers' 3.5% is barely above the US price rise, which was 3.4% in August. [29][16]

In a Goldman Sachs survey of 5,106 Americans, 36.6% of households earning over 500,000 dollars a year said they mostly live from one payday to the next. [30] Only those under 50,000 dollars said so more often, at 60.8%. [30] Households on 100,000 to 200,000 dollars said it least, at 22.2%. [30] The share of workers raising their pension saving fell from 55% to 39%. [30]

Why it matters. Goldman says higher earners point to larger fixed costs and higher expectations. [30] Households at the bottom are trying to cover the basics. [30]

Bellway, a big British housebuilder, says the UK government's Your First Home scheme could raise the number of homes it builds by about 10%. [31] The scheme lends first-time buyers in England 20% of a new-build home's price, backed by the UK government, with a deposit of only 2.5%. [31] Buyers on high incomes, and homes above a price limit, are left out. [31] Its start date is due in the Budget on 28 October. [31]

Why it matters. Bellway expects to build 9,000 to 9,400 homes this year, down from 9,695. [31] It says some buyers may wait for the scheme to start, which could slow sales before then. [31]

Pakistan's government cut the price of petrol by 2.71 rupees, to 392.66 rupees a litre, from Wednesday. [32] Petrol peaked at 458.41 rupees on 3 April, after the US-Iran war began on 28 February. [32] It cost 266 rupees in early March. [32] Taxes and duties take 114 rupees of every litre, and prices have been set daily since July. [32]

Why it matters. Petrol runs Pakistan's motorbikes, rickshaws and small cars, so its price reaches middle and lower-income families first. [32] Markets must still close by 9pm under Pakistan's fuel-saving rules. [32]

Taxi fares in South Africa have not risen yet, but a fare rise is being discussed as diesel climbs. [33] Santaco, the national taxi council, decided on 7 October to keep fares as they are, and meets South Africa's transport ministry this week. [33] A worker taking four taxis a day at 24 rand a trip spends 2,016 rand a month. [33] That is about 40 of every 100 rand of the minimum wage. [33]

Why it matters. Every extra rand on a fare costs that worker 84 rand a month. [33] Diesel rose by up to 3.24 rand a litre in October. [33] Cosatu, a union federation, wants back the fuel tax cut South Africa's government made in April. [33]

Prices in Dubai rose 5.03% in the year to September, down from 5.54% in August and a peak of 5.7% in June, the city's statistics office said. [34] Air fares fell 23.4% in the month and holidays 12.5%. [34] Fuel for cars was still 37.5% dearer than a year before. [34] Food and drink rose 8%, and housing costs 6.2% as rents climbed. [34]

Why it matters. Fuel prices in the UAE are reset monthly with world oil prices, so households feel the war through the pump. [34] Cheaper flights pulled prices down 0.05% in the month, while rents kept rising. [34]

Etias, a permit that visitors from outside the EU will need to enter most EU countries, has been put on hold again, and no start date is set. [35] It will cost 20 euros, about 17 pounds, up from the 7 euros first planned. [35] People under 18 and over 70 will not pay. [35] Abta, the UK travel industry body, says over 150 websites already offer it, though it cannot yet be applied for. [35]

Why it matters. Frontex, the EU border agency, warns some copycat sites charge high fees and take personal data. [35] Travellers from the UK, the US, Australia and Canada will all need it once it starts. [35]

UK charity shops sell only about a quarter of the clothes they are given, Traid, a clothing charity, says. [36] The rest goes to rag merchants, who paid 50 to 60 pence a kilo ten years ago and now pay about 10 pence. [36] What they will not take, shops pay to have collected as waste. [36] St Raphael's Hospice in south London pays 30,000 pounds a year to dispose of donations. [36]

Why it matters. The British Heart Foundation plans to close 150 of its 651 shops, and Cancer Research is closing 190. [36] Shop managers say people now sell their best clothes online and give away the rest. [36]

In a survey by Texas Realtors, an agents' group, 69% of agents said their buyers had no competing offers this year. [37] It was 57% in last year's report. [37] The typical asking price in Texas is 359,990 dollars, 2.4% lower than a year ago. [37] Homes take 64 days to sell. [37]

Why it matters. With fewer rivals, buyers can ask sellers to pay closing costs or repairs. [37] One San Antonio agent says two of his last three offers were the only offer on the house. [37]

Matt Jones, a US housing official nominated to run the Federal Housing Administration, said on Tuesday that a new law could speed up factory-built homes. [38] The 21st Century Road to Housing Act drops a rule that such homes sit on a steel frame for moving them. [38] Many modular homes may then follow one national building code instead of local ones. [38] He also wants to widen a renovation loan that reaches only 3,000 to 4,000 homes a year. [39]

Why it matters. Factory-built homes are often much cheaper to build, so the change could add cheaper starter homes. [38] The renovation loan, called 203(k), lets a buyer borrow for the house and its repairs in one mortgage. [39]

Experian, one of three big US credit bureaus that keep records of people's borrowing, said on Monday that mortgage lenders can now run unlimited follow-up 'soft' checks without paying again. [40] A soft check shows a lender the credit file and a VantageScore 4.0 score without first running a full 'hard' check. [40] Lenders still pay for each FICO score, another kind of credit score. [40]

Why it matters. Experian says the change lowers lenders' early costs and lets them look at borrowers sooner. [40] A full check, at the usual price, is run only when a borrower is ready to go ahead. [40]

United Airlines, a big US airline, will rank its frequent flyers from 2027 mainly by money spent on its tickets and its credit cards, not by flights taken. [41] Its top tier, Premier 1K, will need 32,000 points instead of 28,000. [41] For that tier, members who flew more but spent less will need 45% more points. [41] A head-start bonus will only go to members holding a United credit card by 31 December 2026. [41]

Why it matters. American Airlines and Delta dropped flights flown as a measure years ago. [41] The change pushes regular flyers towards United's credit cards, which earn up to one point per 15 dollars spent. [41]

A seriously ill reader in York paid BT, the UK phone company, 32.99 pounds a month while a landline did not work after BT's switch to internet calling in May 2025. [42] Engineers found a cut wire in December and never came back. [42] BT first offered 6.46 pounds. [42] After the Guardian stepped in, the customer accepted 689 pounds for 60 days without service. [42]

Why it matters. Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, makes providers pay 10.34 pounds a day when a reported fault is not fixed within two working days. [42] BT refused more, saying the customer could not prove when the fault was first reported. [42]

Kerry Nelson, director of two Nexus financial advice firms, and Jacqueline Stephens, their operations manager, pleaded guilty to fraud at Portsmouth Crown Court. [43] Four clients lost 2 million pounds between 2019 and 2023, the FCA said. [43] Nelson also admitted money laundering for money she took to fund her lifestyle. [43] Both will be sentenced on 10 December. [43]

Why it matters. The FCA will seek to confiscate any gain Nelson made from the crime. [43] It brought the charges in February 2025. [43]

The first 'social supermarket' in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, opened on Monday. [44] Members pay 1 pound for a year and then buy groceries at cost price or below, using tokens. [44] It is run by Community Cupboard NUL, a local social business, and sells surplus food that would otherwise go to waste. [44] One carer said 20 pounds of tokens went further than 100 pounds at Tesco. [44]

Why it matters. Its founder says it lets people choose their own food, unlike a food bank parcel. [44] Researchers at Teesside University say such shops help but cannot replace government support. [44]

Forty-four community groups in West Yorkshire will share more than 400,000 pounds taken from criminals, from a fund run by the region's mayor, Tracy Brabin. [45] The money comes from the Safer Communities Fund, paid for under the Proceeds of Crime Act, a law that lets courts take criminals' gains. [45] The fund has given more than 5.3 million pounds since 2021. [45]

Why it matters. Rainbow Baby Bank in Heckmondwike gets 10,000 pounds to help women and children escaping abuse. [45] The Bradford Bulls rugby club's charity gets 9,900 pounds for work with young people. [45]