Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Thursday 29 June, 2023. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Carers’ pension gap
Two thirds of people are likely to take time off work to provide unpaid care at some point during their working life that results in £5,000 less in their pension pots.
This was discovered by PensionBee in its Carer’s Pension Gap report which highlights the extent of unpaid care in the UK and how it affects people’s retirement savings.
The report also found that 67% of people have already taken time off work to provide unpaid care for someone.
The online pension provider’s report identified the five key life moments when a working adult may need to provide unpaid care.
Dreading networking events
Networking events can be nightmare for some.
Associate financial planner Tom Redmayne gives a first-person account about his dislike of such social gatherings.
“I was pleased to discover that I’m not the only one with an aversion towards formal networking events.
“To hear that some successful advisers avoid them like the plague was music to my ears. I had feared I was destined to spend hours at these formal gatherings, hating life, attempting to utilise them as a key source of business generation.”
Quote Of The Day
This is the latest in a long line of think-tank reports backing radical reform of the UK’s tax system. Some of the key proposals, such as drastically lowering the amount of tax-free cash someone is entitled to from the current maximum of £268,275, would likely be unpopular and potentially complex.
– Tom Selby, head of retirement at AJ Bell, on the Resolution Foundation’s latest tax planning ideas
Stat Attack
Data has revealed that UK businesses have lost around £1.9bn combined due to fraud. With this in mind, new research has revealed the UK regions that have recorded the highest loss in money per fraud case.
Top 10 UK regions with the highest loss in money per fraud case
| Rank | Region | Businesses | Business Fraud Reports | Reported Losses | Reported Losses per 100,000 People | Average Loss per Case |
| 1 | London | 536,065 | 8,918 | £1.4bn | £261.16m | £156,986 |
| 2 | South East | 412,650 | 2,982 | £201.4m | £48.81m | £67,539 |
| 3 | East of England | 272,695 | 3,406 | £113.3m | £41.55m | £33,265 |
| 4 | West Midlands | 221,510 | 2,033 | £50.3m | £22.71m | £24,742 |
| 5 | North East | 73,270 | 656 | £10.4m | £14.19m | £15,854 |
| 6 | East Midlands | 189,035 | 1,722 | £26.8m | £14.18m | £15,563 |
| 7 | South West | 238,345 | 1,794 | £24.2m | £10.15m | £13,489 |
| 8 | North West | 271,160 | 4,023 | £50.0m | £18.44m | £12,429 |
| 9 | Yorkshire & Humber | 193,310 | 2,091 | £23.2m | £12.00m | £11,095 |
| 10 | Northern Ireland | 77,950 | 307 | £2.8m | £3.59m | £9,121 |
Source: Utility Bidder
In Other News
Paradigm, the mortgage, protection and compliance services proposition has announced the launch of a new Lender Product Withdrawals Directory for intermediary firms.
The Directory shows each of the listed lenders’ expected product notice period policy split between: less than 24 hours; 24 hours; 48 hours; 48 hours-plus; and those who have not yet specified or have no set timeframe.
The document then covers each individual lender, the notice period they have outlined and, in most instances, a detailed commentary from each explaining the policy and its past performance.
TMA Club has revealed the most common questions their Broker Support Desk have assisted Directly Authorised (DA) brokers with ahead of the upcoming Consumer Duty deadline in July.
The most frequently asked questions have related to: The scope of Consumer Duty, vocabulary used by the FCA, and considerations that firms should prioritise.
It said it has seen a sustained focus on queries relating to who, and what, the FCA’s new guidelines will apply to. In particular, brokers have been keen to understand whether Consumer Duty will apply to all the products and services that they sell.
The guidelines apply to all regulated products except group policies (e.g. group life or group private medical policies).
From Elsewhere
UK mining venture targets enough lithium to power 500,000 electric cars annually (Sky News)
Cut low-cost broadband VAT to help more online, peers say (BBC)
Oil prices fall on concerns of slow fuel demand, weak China data (Reuters)
Did You See?
Private client tax experts Craig Hughes and Helen Cuthbert have listed the five reasons why UK non-doms must review their finances now.
“The outlook for non-doms living in the UK is getting more uncertain, meaning it’s important to keep financial arrangements under review. But what does this mean in practice and how should they plan?
“At a time when all taxpayers are concerned about what the future might hold, non-doms are right to feel that their way of life is facing increased scrutiny.
“High levels of public debt, which mounted up during the pandemic, combined with high inflation and increased costs, are putting pressure on policymakers to raise taxes.”
Read the full article here.
