Wrong Tax Code? How to Check It, Fix It, and Get Overpaid Tax Back
HMRC does not always get your tax code right, and a wrong code will not fix itself — a stale company benefit or a second job can leave you overpaying tax all year. Here is how to read your code, spot an error, get HMRC to correct it, and how the refund…
Free School Meals: The Earnings Cap Goes in September
From September every child in a Universal Credit household in England gets a free school meal. Eligibility becomes automatic. The meal does not — somebody still has to apply.
Help With Energy Bills: What the Price Cap Is Not, and What You Can Claim
The price cap does not cap your bill. The Warm Home Discount is not paid to you. And the Winter Fuel Payment now comes automatically, then gets taken back from higher earners.
State Pension: Check Your Forecast, and Decide If Filling NI Gaps Pays
The window to buy back National Insurance years to 2006 closed in April 2025. What remains is a rolling six years — and paying for the wrong year buys you nothing.
Council Tax: Discounts, Reductions, and Challenging Your Band
Your band was set on what your home was worth in 1991. Challenging it is free — and it can push the bill up as easily as down, including for your neighbours.
Universal Credit: The Five-Week Wait, and How to Claim Without Losing Money
The claim has two deadlines people miss and one wait nobody warns them about. Tax Credits have ended, so this is now the route for almost everyone.
HMRC Tax Refunds: The P800 Letter, and Why No Cheque Arrives
HMRC largely stopped posting automatic refund cheques. If you are owed PAYE tax back, you increasingly have to go and claim it — and the texts telling you otherwise are scams.
Lost Money: Dormant Accounts, Forgotten Pensions and Unclaimed Estates
Four official searches, all free, cover most of the money the UK is holding for people who have moved, changed name, or simply forgotten. None of them requires paying an agent.