Money

According to real-world comparisons, the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure - or WLTP - used from September 2018 is still five per cent away from what motorists can achieve under normal driving conditions, so says a new study.

In terms of how easy and cheap it is to fly, the golden age of air travel is now. The problem is that's not meant to be quite so golden for the environment. A Free Ride's plan is simple: everybody gets one tax-free return flight a year and beyond that they pay tax on an escalating scale for every extra set of return flights they take.

Often it's not enough just to have a simple asking price, other terms that commonly appear on property adverts include phrases such as 'offers in excess of', 'guide price' and 'price on application'. So what does these mean and how much attention do you really need to pay to them when making an offer? We spoke to a buying agent - who helps to find homes and negotiate a better price for house hunters - to find out.

Retailers and restaurants are coming under huge strain and nowhere is it more visible than in the many towns up and down the country littered with scores of vacant sites. A 'lethal cocktail' of factors have conspired to make life very difficult for High Street operators - increasing business rates, a weak pound, volatile consumer confidence, falling footfall as shoppers migrate online... I could go on. And for some the pressure has proven too great.

Three versions will be on sale - Standard Range Plus, Long Range AWD and Performance - with the priciest of the lot ringing in at £56,900, minus the electric-vehicle subsidy. First deliveries will arrive in June, the vehicle maker said.While the entry-model fee is what steals the headlines, the battery life of the Standard Range Plus model isn't all that impressive. Tesla estimates that it will be able to cover 258 miles on a single charge, which is less than cheaper electric models already on the market including the Kia e-Niro (282-mile range) and Hyundai Kona Electric (279 miles).

On December 27 last year, we noticed water marks on the ceiling of our living room and ground-floor study. A plumber traced the leak, which had been caused by mice gnawing through a plastic coupling on a water pipe. I reported the incident to Tesco Bank Home Insurance the same day. On January 2, we had a visit from pest control (and have since had two further visits). But, the following day, water was again dripping from the same site.

Swedish fintech Klarna attracted 25,000 new UK users each week in the last three months of last year, as it celebrated a bumper 2018 that saw worldwide revenue increase 31% to £445m. Announcing its 2018 financial results, the 'buy now pay later' company backed by American rap icon Snoop Dogg claims it now has 4.4m active UK users across all its different ways of paying.

The Schroders Global Cities 30 index is an annual rankings system compiled by the FTSE 100 firm which identifies the world's top cities in terms of their projected economic growth, disposable income levels of residents, population size and investment potential.

Chief executive Kenny Alexander took home £19.1m while chairman Lee Feldman was handed £8.5m, according to the annual report. It was the third consecutive year of bumper pay for the pair, who are among the highest earners in Britain. The latest bonanza came after Foxy Bingo owner GVC bought Ladbrokes Coral for £3.2bn in March 2018.

Rogue firms posing as comparison sites are preying on record numbers of over-55s rushing to unlock cash from their homes. Homeowners are being bombarded with marketing calls and emails from salesmen trying to convince them to take out an equity release deal through advisers who paid for their details.

The certificates pay inflation plus 0.01 percentage points for two, three or five years. They are popular because they are protected against rising prices and backed by the Government. But the switch means savers with £10,000 in an account will earn £191 interest tax-free instead of £241, a 20% fall.

Long gone are the days when you could pick up the phone and speak to someone about a complaint. Today, customers are routinely forced to spend hours on hold, or promised callbacks that never come. Some firms make it very difficult to track down their contact details, hoping you'll give up. Others push customers towards computer 'chatbots', where robots rather than humans try to answer their queries.

Auction house John Pye has seen a new generation of younger bidders chasing bargains going under the hammer online, including items from John Lewis and Made.com. Among those heading to its auctions are first-time buyers and renters looking for big savings on kitting their homes out with new furniture, white goods and gadgets that can sometimes be bought for knock-down prices.

The financial sting is the cost of guaranteeing basic care for all could involve over-50s paying an extra 1 per cent in national insurance, and taxing the winter fuel allowance. The proposal by the former work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, has reignited debate over how to make an aging population pay care bills that few budget for earlier in life.

Julia Medhurst, a former careers officer from West Sussex, was immediately suspicious - and It eventually turned she was due to get £129.66 a week - not £164.35 as stated. That's a difference of just over £1,800 a year, and would work out at about £36,000-plus over a 20-year retirement. The massive error was condemned by This is Money columnist and former Pensions Minister Steve Webb. He warns 'there is something bigger going on here', which raises the question of whether forecasts can be trusted.

In December 2017, I inherited money from my late grandad, but my ex bullied and threatened me into using it to pay off his store card accounts, credit card, his council tax and other bills - all of which are in his name and nothing at all to do with me. Is there any way of getting any the cash he's coerced me to give him back?

By 2025, London could have at least five separate road user charging schemes - all of which have different vehicle standards, hours of operation, charge amounts and payment arrangements. Unsurprisingly, experts predict that motorists will get confused. Instead, they want these schemes - including the Congestion Charge and ULEZ - to be replaced with one system that takes into account every driver's emissions per journey.

The next best thing to being at a sporting fixture has to be going to a pub with a group of mates - but the number of boozers is dwindling. This week, broadcaster Georgie Frost and assistant editor Lee Boyce take a deeper dive into the world of 'pub' sports, namely darts and snooker.

I'm stuck in the leasehold trap and my ground rent is set to double every 10 years. I've since found out that the freehold has been sold on to a third party, who have been slow to respond to my enquiries. I've seen on social media that lots of people are in the same situation - what is the Government doing about this? And what can I do to get out of this situation?

Last week, it was revealed that inheritance tax receipts collected by Revenue and Customs rose to £5.4billion for the year to April 2019. This compares to £5.2billion the year before and £4.8billion in the year to April 2017. But analysis by financial services company Canada Life reveals this is likely to jump in future years - to £10billion a year by 2030.

British tourists are being bullied into paying more for food, drink or accommodation abroad by retailers insisting they pay their bills by card in pounds rather than the local currency. It is the latest twist on a currency conversion con that experts believe will cost holidaymakers £1.7million a day between now and the end of September. When paying by card at a cafe or shop, tourists are usually given a choice between paying in pounds or the overseas currency (typically euros).

The amount you can save into a pension ultimately depends on what you can afford - but the longer you leave it the more you will need to save. 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?

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.

Lower than expected inflation figures have added weight to expectations that interest rate rises will remain on hold throughout most of 2019. This combined with the Brexit extension is forecast to keep monetary policy steady, with rates held at 0.75 per cent. While unemployment is low and wages are rising, there are still concerns over Britain's consumer economy and business investment being stalled by continuing Brexit uncertainty.