My house was flooded during Storm Bert, resulting in a fair amount of damage. I contacted my insurer, but it said it will send out an assessor to determine 'if I'm eligible to claim'. What does this mean, and is it trying to wriggle out of paying up?

Using a fan heater can work out cheaper, but the decision about whether to put on central heating or not does not just hinge on money. How much you pay for energy, your appliances, how cold you get and even the length of pipework in your house all make a difference.

The payments, worth from £100 to £300 a year, are now means-tested, sparking a widespread campaign urging older people who qualify for pension credit to apply by 21 December in time to keep them. Age UK has found before the new rules, 77 per cent of people aged 66 and over - the equivalent of 9.2 million pensioners - used the money to cover fuel-related household bills.

When my wife and I signed a four-year lease agreement with Volvo in October last year we didn't realise she was pregnant with twins, and when they arrived we could not all fit in the car. We asked to get out of the contract, but Volvo said we have to stump up the 40pc early termination fee of £6,384 on the £15,960 that is left to pay. Please help.

The Treasury-backed savings bank has once again cut the prize fund rate for Premium Bonds savers, having already lowered it last month. Instead of paying a monthly or annual interest rate, Premium Bonds holders have the chance to win monthly prizes from £25 all the way up to £1million.

The bank says it is reducing rates on a number of products by as much as 0.20 percentage points from tomorrow. It comes against the backdrop of a spate of mortgage rate hikes in recent weeks by major lenders.Since the start of October, the lowest five-year fixed rate has gone from 3.68% to 4.14% while the lowest two-year fix has risen from 4.84% to 4.22%.

My dad was a big fan of the Beatles in his youth, and we have some memorabilia we'd like you to value. We have three signed, colour photographs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. One has my dad with them, one has some other friends, and one is just John and Paul. They were taken in February 1963 when the Beatles played at the Azena ballroom in Sheffield, and signed later in Liverpool. We also have a vinyl copy of the Please Please Me album from the same year, which is signed (personalised to my dad) by John and Paul. The photographs are in excellent condition, the album good condition

I will be 60 in a few months, and I'm living just on Carer's Allowance and Universal Credit, which I've been receiving for a few years while caring for a family member. I have a few pension funds and according to a letter I've received from an NHS one I would be eligible to claim from the age of 60. Will I have this deducted from my benefits if I do this however?

I am 67 and have two buy-to-lets. I use the rental income along with my state pension to fund my retirement. This means that I am not drawing much from my £500,000 pension pot, which I built up through work and then transferred to a Sipp at retirement. After the Budget announcement that pensions would be drawn into inheritance tax, I now have a much bigger inheritance tax liability. Should I sell my buy-to-lets to cash in the profits, forgo the income from rent and start drawing on my pension for my everyday spending instead?

The department store owner said online searches for its Black Friday deals were up 73% compared to last year thanks to its reintroduction of the historic strapline. E-commerce director Steve Masterton said: 'The early signs showing interest in Black Friday are really strong and puts John Lewis as a really key player in that market.'

Ahead of the biggest shopping event of the year, Black Friday, I conducted a test of these Chinese retail giants - each of which is flooding the British market with promises of prices so low they seem impossible. Increasingly it seems these companies aren't just selling products - they're waging war on our high streets. Earlier this year, a survey found that these sprawling online Chinese marketplaces are rapidly gaining a foothold in the UK.

An analysis of house prices, salaries and deposits every year since 1974 reveals how tough it can be for couples to buy their first home. House prices have surged by 2,534% in 50 years, while salary growth has failed to keep up, data shows. In 1974, the average cost of a home was £10,027. Fast-forward to 2024 and the figure is £254,985 higher, at £265,012, Mojo Mortgages said.

The upward trajectory of MicroStrategy and other US small-cap stocks should also serve as an alert to UK investors who may be sceptical about crypto, but sense that they should be adjusting their portfolios ahead of Trump's arrival at the White House. MicroStrategy's share surge reflects the growing conviction that US 'small-cap' stocks are set for stardom under the Trump regime, following an era where Nvidia and the other 'mega-cap' members of the Magnificent Seven of tech - Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla - have so massively enriched shareholders.

Around 6.6 million people in the UK have lost money to online scams in the last year, according to Which?. And three quarters of those conned fell victim on the websites of technology giants who previously committed to the government's voluntary Online Fraud Charter in November 2023. Tech companies - including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube - vowed to adopt 'a raft of measures' within six months to protect users from scam content.

Bank of England boss Andrew Bailey has joined the Office of Budget Responsibility in stating that the recent Autumn Budget is likely to lift inflation, as employers face higher costs from national insurance and the rising minimum wage. On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert, talk inflation, rates, mortgages and savings, plus farmers and inheritance and the question of the week.

The Association of Optometrists wants changes to law to require that all drivers to have their vision checked when they first apply for a licence as well as each they renew. For motorists under the age of 70, a renewal is required every 10 years, though for senior drivers it is every three years following their 70th birthday. The findings are supported by a poll carried out among the public which showed that as many as one in every seven people say they know a relative, friend or co-worker is driving despite having eyesight below the legal standard. A quarter also have concerns about someone they know driving with poor vision.

More families will be drawn into inheritance tax from 2027, and some will want to start planning now to mitigate the effects, says Gary Smith of Evelyn Partners. Many retirees, and especially those close to and above age 75, will be revising what to do with their pots and that will probably lead to more pension savings being drawn down - but there are other options, he explains.

Blue Whale's Stephen Yiu reveals where he sees Trump as a tailwind and what that means for some of the big name global stocks in his portfolio. The Blue Whale manager also discussed where he sees opportunities now and why he is choosing to back AI in a very specific way.

A new family recently moved next door to us and appear to be very keen on leaf blowers. Every or every other day, the man of the household puts on his safety goggles and ear defenders and fires up the leaf blower. The leaf blowing seems to last for hours and can start before 8am in the morning. He even sometimes gives it a go when it's dark outside in the late afternoon.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and a variety of charges can leave investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. 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.