Household debt hits a record high of £1.5 TRILLION says The Money Charity

The Money Charity said the figure is set to rise and has expressed concerns that households could struggle to honour their repayments if interest rates are to rise from their current rock-bottom. Household debt including mortgages, loans and credit cards hit a new record high of £1.5trillion at the end of September, an extra £52billion compared to last year, according to the report.

Now the weather is colder, I've started thinking about switching energy providers, but should I do it now to avoid higher bills? And what's the risk of switching to a provider I've never heard of before?

Can I get back £8,500 I gave my ex, now she's found a new partner?

When I broke up with my ex I gave her £6,000 in cash and furniture worth £2,500 as a gesture of goodwill so she wouldn't have to worry about money. But now she has a new partner I've asked her to pay me back and she's refusing, is there anything I can do?

A BBC One Show investigation found that 52,516 speeding fines had been handed out on 11 sections of smart motorway last year. Just 2,023 were issued on the same roads five year ago.

NEW Geely is the biggest car maker you've never heard of. The Chinese firm has just invested £300m in a factory in Coventry to build electric versions of the iconic London cab.

Buyers' struggle to afford expensive homes even with mortgage rates at record lows has led to yearly growth slowing to 5.2 per cent, said Halifax.

NEW So much vitriol has been expended in the US presidential election campaign that we know little about the economic policies of Donald trump and Hillary Clinton.

Like
MailOnline

Follow
@MailOnline

   

DON'T MISS

MARKET REPORT: Unstoppable Fever Tree Drinks just keeps on fizzing up with its posh tonic

NEW The premium mixer drinks maker, founded in 2005, has had a meteoric rise since it listed on the stock exchange two years ago. It gave another confident update which sent shares bubbling up to new highs. On the second anniversary of its AIM flotation the group said performance had been strong in the second half of the year and sales had continued to grow.

NEW The heat-sensitive camera, named ThruVis, is being launched by surveillance firm Digital Barriers, which has teamed up with global security giant G4S.

NEW The budget airline's boss Michael O'Leary said the company's first-half performance was creditable in a period marked by terrorist attacks, airport strikes and the effect of the Brexit vote

NEW This week EU judges will decide whether the trademark registration covering the cube's three-dimensional shape should be cancelled.

NEW The FTSE 100 exhibitions business said revenue for the first nine months of the year jumped 10.6 per cent thanks to strong performance in North America and Asia.

NEW Applicants to what the airline describes as the 'worst job in Ireland' should have 'thick skin' 'saint-like patience' and 'an ability to operate without sleep or contact with the outside world.'

The Honda Civic Type R is the most unapologetic hot hatch on sale

The Civic Type R has had plenty of plaudits for its properly rambunctious attitude - it's like a touring car racer that's been slightly civilised for the public highway. But is that too much to live with day-in day-out? We spent a week behind the wheel to see if it's a step too far for family motoring.

Do people win supercar giveaways

William Hindmarch setup BOTB in 1999, first venturing into Heathrow with a Porsche he had to clean with bottles of Evian because there were no taps on site. Now, thousands of people use his site every week to play for luxury vehicles. We chatted to some of the people who've won over the last two years.

More than 1,200 people have pledged money to get The People's Trust off the ground. The trust is the brainchild of ex-Investment Association chief Daniel Godfrey, who wants to shake up investing.

Experts predict a price rise of five per cent for both gas and electricity this winter - adding £50 a year to the bills of dual-fuel customers on variable tariffs.

Widow who got an apology by ScottishPower after two years of blunders is now threatened

Utility giant ScottishPower is still failing to deal effectively with customer complaints - just seven months after it was handed an £18million fine by regulator Ofgem. In the latest episode of customer service ineptitude, it has allowed debt collectors to threaten an 87-year-old widow despite giving previous assurances that her billing problems had been resolved.

Labour MP Frank Field led calls for an end to the 'triple lock' guarantee, saying it was 'unfair and unsustainable' when children were twice as likely as pensioners to be living in poverty.

How to turn your shed into an extra room in the garden

A shed has hidden qualities that can make it far more than just a place to store tools and bikes. Here, The Mail on Sunday discovers how the humble shack can be transformed into an idyllic retreat - inspiring you to learn new hobbies, improve family relationships and make money.

The decline of Britain's bank branch network and the rise of online banking has led to a growing number of people seeking private banking services where the personal touch remains.

Only premium bonds, which have just celebrated their 60th anniversary, stand out from the madding crowd, paying an effective rate of interest of 1.25 per cent.

Check how credit scores in your postcode compare with the UK

Residents of Kingston Upon Thames have the best credit scores in the UK followed closely by Lerwick while Sunderland tops the list of the postcodes with the worst scores. Check how your postcode compares using the ClearScore interactive map

The plunge in the value of the pound has meant the cost of buying wine from the big wine-producing regions has shot up dramatically. But this may prove a boon to British producers.

Birds Eye has threatened to raise the price of goods it supplies to supermarkets as early as next month, according to the Sunday Times.

Beware fraudsters targeting your house sale proceeds

A couple who sold their house are nearly £100,000 out of pocket after their solicitor was tricked into sending their money to a fraudster in a new terrifying scam hitting both buyers and sellers. The scam involves fraudsters intercepting e-mail threads between home movers and their solicitors and convincing one of them to move money into the fraudster's account.

Advance tickets are released up to 12 weeks before the date of travel - though the discounts on offer vary between providers.

It dispenses with the traditional front passenger seat, replacing it with a unit containing a high-tech pop-up touchscreen for work or leisure use, while creating more legroom for the VIP in the back.

INVESTMENT EXTRA: Protect your nest egg from US election chaos

Experts tends to agree that if she becomes president the market will stay steady and the dollar could strengthen. That's a good boost to the earnings of those FTSE 100 firms. Trump's policies haven't been made as clear as Clinton's and experts say the uncertainty if he won could send the stock market spiralling. In a rush to safety, the gold price is likely to rise.

Should you invest in a VCT? Watch the Investing Show

Venture capital trusts offer generous income tax relief, tax-free dividends and the chance to strike it rich with early stage companies, yet remain something of a mystery to many investors. To find out more about what VCTs do and what they invest in, we invited Stuart Lewis, of Octopus Investments to join us on the Investing Show.

Boxing clever! Ex-banker hits on new fitness craze with Moose X-Training

Former City worker Manya Klempner left the world of finance and went into business with her personal trainer to set up Moose X-Training after noticing the growing popularity of trainers who visit the workplace or home for one-to-one or small group sessions. Now, with figures from Sport England showing boxing participation has more than doubled in the past five years to 42,000, she is planning to open a new boxing centre in London.

Three-quarters of UK firms say they have yet to feel any financial effect - positive or negative - from the vote to leave the EU.

Care workers must be prioritised if a points system for immigration is introduced following Brexit, according to Adam Pike, a former policy adviser at the Cabinet Office and the Treasury.

A five-day trade mission to China and Hong Kong from Gatwick airport this week will see Jonathan Jones and bosses of other small firms seek export opportunities.

Tobias Schreyer, co-founder of cross-border payments firm PPRO Group has already opened an office in Luxembourg and has four staff there.

Burberry gets a festive gift as the pound's fall boosts foreign earnings and lifts results

The luxury retailer, which is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year, makes just 15 per cent of its sales in the UK - giving it a boost when foreign earnings are converted back into pounds. The results come after Burberry unveiled its Christmas advert, starring Cinderella actress Lily James (pictured), which takes viewers on a journey through the firm's history and the story of its creator, Thomas Burberry.

BT's rivals - which pay to use the network - want Openreach to be independent, which they believe will encourage investment and provide better service for customers.

NEW The digger maker, whose boss Lord Bamford backed the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, has received an order for 1,200 machines worth £35m from the UK's largest plant hire firm.

The MoD has struck a deal with BAE Systems to start work on eight by next summer, but they have refused to guarantee that the UK's struggling steel industry will be awarded the vital contracts.

After a bitter and divisive campaign, Americans will tomorrow elect the next president of the United States, sparking a fresh bout of volatility on financial markets.

Sainsbury's £1bn pension black hole: Deficit triples after slump in bond market

The soaring deficit, set to be revealed in this week's half-year results, will further highlight the damage the low value of Government bonds is wreaking on pension funds - particularly in the retail sector, which has hundreds of thousands of pension fund members. Sainsbury's has been hit by the reduction in yields on Government bonds - also known as gilts.

Where will house prices rise the most over five years?

House prices will rise by more than £50,000 in some areas over the next five years, Savills forecast, as it mapped out potential property gains across the UK. The typical value of a home across the country will rise 13 per cent by the end of 2021. However, the biggest monetary gain is tipped for the South East, where higher prices combined with a larger percentage increase led to a forecast rise of £53,200 over five years.

What's the point in investing in cash - and do you hold too much?

We've been warned that inflation could hit 4% next year. Needless to say, if that happens it spells bad news for our money. The answer is to invest spare cash, says one expert, what we know about long-term financial history indicates it to be a wise suggestion. But what counts as spare cash and what's the point in holding cash at all?

So-called risk appetite is one of the first things you should decide before investing money - that means working out how much of your cash you can stomach losing. Premium bonds are a possible idea.

A humble shack can be transformed into an idyllic retreat - inspiring you to learn new hobbies, improve family relationships and make money - as Toby Walne finds out.

In its first set of forecasts since it cut economic growth forecasts and cut rates to 0.25% in August, the Bank revised back upwards its outlook for the economy to 2.2% for this year and 1.4% in 2017.

Markets plunge into red at prospect of President Donald Trump

The ferocious US presidential election is causing ructions in financial markets as Donald Trump closes in on frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the final days of the race. Polls showing Trump just behind or in a few cases slightly ahead have upset the conventional view that he was heading for defeat, and prompted a global sell-off.

Burdened with servicing debts of more than £20,000 each, nearly a quarter of people under 40 say they do not save into a pension because they can't afford to, Prudential claims.

TSB has launched a £100 cash bonus for switchers moving to its Classic Plus account just weeks after the bank announced cuts to the rate account holders receive on their balance.

How to check if you already have insurance for your smartphone

Standalone policies, particularly those pedalled to you when signing up for a contract can be eye-wateringly expensive, so before you take out mobile cover check that it won't overlap with any existing policies to handing over extra cash to needlessly double up.

Property bounced back in September, as it becoming the third best-selling fund sector just months after spooked investors were locked in by fund management giants.

Some parts of the capital have 100 per cent properties being leasehold, while some parts of the North-East are all above 90 per cent, new research has revealed.

English Manner etiquette school turns the way to behave into a business

Etiquette school The English Manner is exporting the British upper classes' unique set of protocol and social codes all over the world. Their clients want to know how to throw the perfect dinner party or impress future employers with a flawless grasp of English customs.

An estimated 4.6million UK businesses are family-owned and having a succession plan in place and making sure the younger generation feel involved are crucial to success.

Can downsizing your property help you fund retirement?

It's easy when you're 45 to say that one day you'll sell up the family home and move when you retire. It's much harder to do, when you reach retirement age, as many find out. We look at what you need to think about if you are considering cashing in on your home to help fund retirement.

A cash bonus worth up to £1,000 a year will be added to every £4,000 saved into a Lifetime Isa, and 57 per cent of under-40s felt this was the main attraction of the Lifetime Isa.

Ten of the best brand new cars for less than £10,000

Want a new car but don't want to spend a small fortune? We've enlisted the help of the expert test panel at What Car? to tell us which sub-£10,000 models are worth considering. The winner is a fairly modest brand that's managed to dethrone the might of the VW Group, but is it any of the cars pictured? Top left to right: Hyundai i10, Suzuki Celerio, Vauxhall Viva, Skoda CitiGo, Toyota Aygo, Dacia Sandero.

Is your fixed energy deal ending soon? Check here to avoid bill shock

As many as 64 fixed gas and electricity deals are due to close before the end of the year potentially hiking bills for hundreds of thousands of families. Those who fail to find a new tariff once theirs ends are typically moved over to their provider's more expensive standard tariff.

Fake messages which appear to come from a friend encouraging them to click a link to receive a Sainsbury's voucher are being sent through the social app Whatsapp by fraudsters.

Nearly three-quarters of Britons have not been contacted by their energy suppliers about changing tariffs, four months after the conclusion of an inquiry into the sector.

Can I protect my home and possessions if bailiffs chase me for my son's debts? 

I have tried - without success - to teach our son to budget and live within his means. He is 19, works full-time on a zero-hours contract and lives at home. My worry is what could happen if he gets into debt. Say, for example, he fails to pay his mobile phone contract and, ultimately, (if demands are ignored) this leads to court enforcement officers turning up to demand payment.

Figures from the RAC show the average price of a litre of petrol rose by 4.37p in October to 116.73p - the biggest increase in a single month since February 2013.

The Financial Conduct Authority is to probe high overdraft fees charged by banks when customers dive into their overdraft, it revealed this morning.

The binary trading shares sharks getting rich preying on British savers

Controversial binary trading firm BinaryBook has been encouraging UK savers to trade. But a group of investors are taking legal action against the firm. Some victims claim to have lost as much as £600,000. Employees of firms linked to it were pictured partying in Greece and being given BMWs wrapped in ribbons as rewards. The firm appears to be part of a group of linked companies owned by Israeli Yossi Herzog (inset).

NatWest, RBS, Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds and Santander are all cutting rates, hitting loyal savers particularly hard. Customers should vote with their feet and move their cash to better deals.

House prices stall for first time in 15 months, says Nationwide

The monthly change in house prices across the UK was 0 per cent last month, Nationwide's House Price Index showed, the first month not to post a rise in over a year. Meanwhile, house sales are down 10 per cent on levels seen a year ago, which may 'in part' reflect April's stamp duty hike on buy-to-let and second homes, Nationwide said. However, it also warned on affordability, with homes costing six times wages.

Property bounced back in September, as it becoming the third best-selling fund sector just months after spooked investors were locked in by fund management giants.

Mistakes in official records mean around 30,000 people are being underpaid the state pension, the Department for Work and Pensions has admitted.

Fisker EMotion could be an electric car rival to Tesla's Model S

Henrik Fisker, the Danish designer who brought us the Fisker Karma in 2011 is back, and this is the vehicle he envisages battling with Tesla, called the EMotion. A five-door family car with 'Butterfly doors', it could price match the Model S if it does make production.

Andrew Preston was told by his doctor he had terminal cancer and had just a year to live. Under his life insurance policy, he should have been entitled to £160,000. But L&G; refused to pay.

Around 1.8 million loans were issued last year, down from ten million just three years earlier, according to the chief executive of the Consumer Finance Association Russell Hamblin-Boone.

Broadband is set to look a lot more expensive - but here's why it's good news for you...

In the past companies often advertised misleading 'free' broadband deals, with a separate monthly line rental charge buried in the small print. New rules from the Advertising Standards Agency however mean companies must display the overall monthly cost and any up-front fees.

John Lewis said any charges and interest incurred had been repaid, and insisted it had fixed the problem. But customers continued to report difficulties last night.

The salesmen behind the schemes often talk a good game. Their slick websites look too professional to be a con. The crucial ingredient, though, is the slender hope of a decent return at last.

50 ways to save money....

To clear the average national household debt of ?13,000 at 6% interest with a monthly repayment of ?100 will take around 17 years. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear your debt - or boost your savings - in less than a year. This is Money's top 50 - updated - money-saving tips may appear light-hearted but are deadly serious.

Pick the best (and cheapest) investment Isa platform

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

L Board sign on the rear of a blue saloon car , UK

If you are new to investing then the huge number of funds and investment trusts on offer can be confusing. Fortunately, This is Money's experts have some ideas to get you started.

On the up: Emerging markets such as Brazil are where much of the world's growth is expected to be over future years.

If you're looking to add some flair to your investing Isa with emerging markets, This is Money's experts have some ideas to get you started

Income investing: Dividends can deliver both a healthy boost to long-term growth and a way to earn from your investments.

Income investing can let you draw on your portfolio or reinvest dividends to build solid growth over time. Our experts give their fund and investment trust recommendations.

In this low-income world it can be hard to find mainstream investments paying a significant yield. Stifel has compiled a list of 19 investment trusts with a yield of more than 4 per cent.

Handy Brexit table explains the options for the UK's exit from the EU

Despite endless media coverage of the political wrangling and financial speculation, the average Briton can be forgiven for remaining confused about what 'soft' and 'hard' Brexit really mean. About the difference between the 'Norway model' for the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the UK and the 'Swiss solution'. But a clever table put together by HSBC in a report called 'Is Brexit Getting Harder?' cleaves some clarity from the murk.

It would have been nice to have a plan. Instead, after the Brexit vote we were left scratching our heads. But now it's time for some answers on trade and what we mean to the EU.

Pensions Road Sign against threatening clouds

We tend to put ambitious targets on our hoped-for income in retirement and then underestimate how much we will need to set aside to achieve that. So how much should you save?

When will UK interest rates rise?

An interest rate cut before the end of the year looks less likely following the plunge in the pound. However, the Bank of England has indicated that higher inflation driven by rising import costs won't make it lift rates.

What next for mortgage rates?

Several months after the Bank of England slashed the base rate to 0.25 per cent and lenders are still cutting mortgage rates on almost a weekly basis - but how low can they really go? The experts say not a lot lower and it's likely that if you get a mortgage at the moment, it's going to be a pretty cracking deal. 

Ten tips for buy-to-let

For many buy-to-let looks an attractive income investment in a time of low rates and stock market volatility. Climbing house prices, rising rents and improving mortgage deals are tempting investors - although they will need a big deposit. Read This is Money's top ten buy-to-let tips

TIPS, TOOLS AND HELP FOR LANDLORDS

Partner services

Landlord insurance

Quick, easy - compare and buy today

Find a mortgage

Check the best rate for your circumstances

Boiler cover

Insure your heating system for less

Let a property for £99

Save on letting agent fees - or sell from £475

Compare your pay to the UK average across 350 professions

Musicians have seen pay rises averaging nearly 20 per cent in 2015, while cleaners are getting 17.8 per cent more, and window cleaners 12.3 per cent. Artists in general are earning 14.6 per cent more in 2015 than 2014, according to the huge annual data dump of pay scales by the Office For National Statistics highlights.

Premium Bonds winners

November 2016
Prize value Winning bond No. Area
£1,000,000 64ST558712 Bristol
£1,000,000 196XC935430 Norwich
£100,000 73XC247749 South Gloucestershire
£100,000 209BT382482 West Sussex
£100,000 196QY362195 Tyne and Wear
£50,000 48QF456615 North East Scotland
£50,000 279LW728226 Shropshire
£50,000 254GR423814 North Yorkshire
£50,000 159NM557980 Suffolk
£50,000 140PB015876 Avon
£25,000 41VP618789 Somerset
More Premium Bonds winners
   

MOST READ MONEY

Tourist rates

Currency Rate Buy now
Updated 07 Nov 2016.
Euro 1.099 Buy Now
US Dollar 1.2129 Buy Now
Australian Dollar 1.5761 Buy Now
Canadian Dollar 1.6261 Buy Now
Chinese Yuan 8.08 Buy Now
Croatian Kuna 8.137 Buy Now
Czech Koruna 29.47 Buy Now
Danish Krone 8.0957 Buy Now
Egyptian Pound 16.27 Buy Now
Hong Kong Dollar 9.3715 Buy Now
Hungarian Forint 330.69 Buy Now
Icelandic Króna 128.16 Buy Now
Israeli New Shekel 4.514 Buy Now
Japanese Yen 126.98 Buy Now
Malaysian Ringgit 6.2624 Buy Now
Mexican Peso 22.265 Buy Now
New Turkish Lire 3.7256 Buy Now
New Zealand Dollar 1.6601 Buy Now
Norwegian Krone 9.8659 Buy Now
Polish Zloty 4.6867 Buy Now
Singapore Dollar 1.6812 Buy Now
South African Rand 16.348 Buy Now
Sterling 1.0 Buy Now
Swedish Krona 10.818 Buy Now
Swiss Franc 1.1844 Buy Now
Thai Baht 41.92 Buy Now
UAE Dirham 4.4462 Buy Now

Monthly Or Lump Sum Savings Calculator

Monthly savings plan

Find out how much a regular monthly savings scheme could make me.

Results
Or lump sum investments

Calculate how much a lump sum investment could be worth.

Result

Mortgage Affordability Calculator

Your monthly payment

Enter how much you plan to borrow and find out your monthly bill. Assumes interest calculated annually.

Result
Your total mortgage

Enter the amount you can afford to pay monthly (eg. your current rent) to find out how much you can borrow...

Result
Are you over-stretching

How much of your income goes on your mortgage?

Result

James Matthews poured £20m into Hollywood film fund Aramid Entertainment Fund which financed movies starring actors including Ryan Gosling and Colin Firth.