Fraud victims facing salary deductions

Money Box - A podcast by BBC Radio 4

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We've been hearing from listeners who’ve been contacted by Department for Work and Pensions demanding repayment of Universal Credit advances that the DWP says they’ve received. The trouble is, they’ve never even applied for Universal Credit, let alone had an advance. The DWP are also contacting these fraud victims employers to deduct the money owed from their salary before investigations are completed.Two dozen people are facing the threat of redundancy because the small business they work for is being forced to shut down because it can’t get insurance. How is this possible and why isn’t the insurance market working like it should? Solicitor Merlin Batchelor talks us through his problem and Felicity talks to Martin McTague from the Federation of Small Businesses which is calling for the insurance industry and policy makers to investigate what’s going on.Savers at the UK’s government backed bank, National Savings and Investments, are struggling to withdraw their funds after the firm slashed its interest rate to next to nothing. Jill Waters, NS&I’s retail director joins us to explain what’s going on. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Reporter: Dan Whitworth Producers: Ben Carter and Darin Graham Editor: Emma Rippon