Welcome to the Money blog, Sky News’s consumer and personal finance hub. Today, we answer another Money Problem – this time about a car hire experience which ended up costing a reader an extra 500 euros. Plus, there’s good and bad news for pensioners, and a tempting offer for pub fans.
Tuesday 16 September 2025 20:26, UK
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Traditionally, first time buyers would opt for a smaller home to get onto the property ladder, and slowly build their way up to owning a family home.
More of them are now skipping the first steps and jumping straight into their larger “forever home”, new data from Barclays has found. 
A third of first time buyers bought a semi-detached home last month – 1.7% more than the same time last year, the bank said. 
Meanwhile, flats declined in popularity by 2.7%, accounting for a fifth of first time buyer homes.
A third of recent buyers aged 18 to 27 said they bought a “forever home” so that they wouldn’t have to move.
At the same time, Barclays data shows more people are choosing longer mortgage terms of 30 years or more. 
Among first time buyers, these account for 41.3 per cent of purchases, as they are typically younger and so have longer to pay back a mortgage.
Food and drink inflation could surge to 5.7% by the end of the year, a leading industry body has warned.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) had previously forecast inflation to reach 4.8% in December, but has upped its prediction due to cost pressures on manufacturers.
The group – whose members make a quarter of all food and drink sold in the UK – said current prices were “steeper than anything in recent decades”.
It found that between January 2020 and July 2025, food and non-alcoholic drink prices increased by 37% – compared with 28% for overall prices.
Some products have seen particularly steep increases with sugar soaring by 56%, whole milk by 46%, and cheese by 31%, according to the analysis. 
UK food inflation has been higher than in other European countries in recent months, the FDF said, indicating that government policies have played a key part.
It pointed to a higher rate of employer national insurance and new packaging taxes weighing heavily on the sector.
“Food and drink inflation has been climbing steadily all year, with no sign of easing. Looking at the longer-term picture, today’s prices are steeper than anything in recent decades. The five-year average is running at more than double the rate seen between 1990-2010,” said Dr Liliana Danila, lead economist at the FDF.  
“Inflationary spikes between 2020 and 2023 were driven by geopolitical shocks which created supply chain disruptions and sharp rises in energy and raw ingredients. 
“With most of these costs now stabilised, this new inflation surge is fuelled by the financial impact of domestic policies, now trickling down to supermarket shelves.” 
We’ll get the latest official inflation figures from the Office for National Statistics tomorrow – we’ll have everything you need to know from 7am… 
Bodycare has confirmed the closure of another 30 stores after collapsing into administration earlier this month.
The beauty retailer said the shops will shut down today and Thursday, with all staff made redundant.
A shortage of stock and the cost of running high street shops has meant it is no longer viable to keep all the remaining 115 stores open, administrators said.
Bodycare appointed administrators from Interpath on 5 September, saying it had come under pressure from rising costs and a shortfall in funding.
Interpath is currently pursuing a potential rescue sale of the business and assets, and has said there has been interest from a number of parties in relation to the stores.
The latest closures come on top of 32 already announced. 
These are the locations of Bodycare stores closing on Tuesday:
These are the locations of those closing on Thursday:
Pret A Manger is looking to open its first drive-thru in the UK at the start of next year. 
The cafe chain’s chief executive Pano Christou said the option was being explored because the business offers fresh products that are different to its competitors. 
Speaking to The Times, he said: “Pret has grown over the years, and there is much more competition today than you had back then. So you have lots of shiny things to look at.” 
The company’s first drive-thru is due to open in the first three months of 2026, likely at a motorway services.
It is aiming to have 60 outlets at motorway services across the country by the end of the year. 
It recently announced it would start competing with supermarkets with its own meal deal offering…
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
Today’s figures confirmed what job seekers were feeling – it’s harder now to find employment. 
There are fewer vacancies and fewer people on payrolls, meaning more people are looking for work. 
The figures could, however, make it more likely we’ll have cheaper borrowing sooner.
A weak labour market could spur the interest rate setters at the Bank of England to cut. 
Strong employment and rising wages are of particular concern to the Bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) as they signal possible further inflation. 
It’s the job of the Bank of England to keep inflation at 2% by increasing or decreasing interest rates to slow or speed up spending. 
Market expectations are not immediately reflecting this possibility, with only a 2.5% chance of a cut at Thursday’s MPC meeting and a drop not priced in until February, according to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data. 
Traders do, however, see a December drop as likely. 
Sterling’s rally against the dollar continued following the wage-slowing stats, with one pound buying $1.36.
But the pound remained weak against the euro, with £1 buying just €1.1545, a week-long low. 
Pub giant JD Wetherspoon will cut prices on its food and drink on Thursday to highlight the tax “disparity” affecting hospitality businesses. 
The company’s 794 pubs in the UK and Ireland will drop prices by 7.5% to show the government and customers what could happen if the sector were given a VAT reduction. 
This means if you place an order worth £10, you’ll only pay £9.25. 
Pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars have to pay 20% VAT on food and drink sales, while most food and drink sold by supermarkets to be consumed at home incurs no VAT.
Tim Martin, founder and chairman of Wetherspoon, has been a regular campaigner on the issue for years, and has used the price cut stunt before.
He said: “The biggest threat to pubs and the hospitality industry in general is the vast disparity in tax treatment among pubs, restaurants and supermarkets.
“This tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer.
“Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades, because of the tax disadvantages which they have with supermarkets.” 
He has called for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to “create tax equality” by cutting the sector’s VAT to 12.5%, saying it would help the industry bring down prices and create new jobs. 
Shoppers are buying more supermarket-own products than they were last year, but there are some categories where household names still reign supreme. 
Supermarket-own labels now make up 51.2% of all sales, up from 50.9% a year ago, as shoppers seek out cheaper alternatives, according to market research firm Worldpanel by Numerator. 
Sales of premium own-label goods (think Tesco Finest or Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference) have been the “real standout”, with sales rising 10.3%. 
However, brands are “holding ground” in some categories, including toothbrushes, frozen chicken and baby toiletries.
“Consumers still value well-known names across some very different parts of the store,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel.
Lunchbox changes 
As students returned to school, sales of lunchbox staples shot up compared to the previous fortnight. 
Spending on yoghurt rose by 26%, sliced cooked meats by 17% and cheddar cheese by 24%.
While sandwiches remain popular, featuring in more than half of children’s lunchboxes, they are disappearing from some school bags as options like cooked poultry take their place, Worldpanel said.
Back-to-school fashion 
Overall, school uniform sales dipped slightly over the summer, but supermarkets saw school wear sales grow ahead of the market at 8.4%.
“The grocers clearly did their homework on back-to-school fashion. Value is still at the front of shoppers’ minds, and retailers have tapped into this,” McKevitt said. 
“Average prices have fallen, and buyers have increased their basket sizes as they aim to make the most of the discounts on the table.”
Worldpanel data shows that families were turning to the second-hand market in search of deals, with 13.1% of school wear shoppers buying it pre-worn. 
Jaguar Land Rover’s production pause has been extended as it struggles to recover from a crippling cyber attack. 
The carmaker has told staff, suppliers and partners that the factory shutdown will continue until 24 September.
“We have taken this decision as our forensic investigation of the cyber incident continues, and as we consider the different stages of the controlled restart of our global operations, which will take time,” a JLR spokesman said.
“We are very sorry for the continued disruption this incident is causing and we will continue to update as the investigation progresses.”
JLR was forced to halt production at the beginning of the month at its factories in Halewood, Merseyside, and Solihull in the West Midlands, and its engine manufacturing site in Wolverhampton.
It followed a major cyber attack that affected its global operations and forced the UK manufacturer to shut down its systems on 31 August. 
Staff have been told not to return to work while production lines remain affected. 
The state pension could rise by 4.7% in April, new data released by the Office for National Statistics suggests. 
Under the triple lock, the state pension rises by whichever is highest out of 2.5%, the rate of wage growth, or the rate of inflation in September, which will be published next month. 
The rate of wage growth has come in at 4.7%, according to data released today, which is higher than the 4% inflation figure that is expected next month.
A 4.7% boost to the new state pension will take it to around £12,534 per year – just £36 short of the income tax threshold of £12,570. 
The old basic state pension would increase from £9,175 per year to £9,607 per year. 
Tax warning for pensioners
Steve Webb, partner at pension consultants LCP, warned that the increase would mean those claiming just the new state pension will have to pay income tax on it by April 2027. 
“The standard rate of the new state pension is creeping ever closer to the frozen personal tax allowance,” he said. 
“Indeed, we know for certain that someone who has no other income aside from the new state pension will be a taxpayer come April 2027.  
“It is already the case that nearly three quarters of all pensioners pay income tax, and the ongoing freeze in tax thresholds coupled with steady rises in the pension will drag more and more into the tax net.” 
Changes would be ‘huge risk’ for chancellor
Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at investment platform AJ Bell, said the 4.7% figure poses a significant conundrum for Rachel Reeves and the Treasury. 
“If, as is likely, the triple lock sees the state pension increase above the personal allowance of £12,570 in April 2027 for the first time, then the government will come under increasing pressure to make a decision regarding either the personal allowance or whether it can sustain the triple lock as it has promised at least to the end of this Parliament,” she said. 
“Removing the freeze on the personal allowance would come at significant cost to the Treasury at a time when the chancellor’s fiscal headroom is already strained at best, while an overhaul of the triple lock would come with huge political risk before the next general election. 
“Needless to say, it’s a headache Starmer and Reeves could do without ahead of a crucial budget in November and economic and political pressure is already beginning to swell both within the Labour Party and outside of it.” 
Of course, it should be noted that the government doesn’t usually confirm the exact amount the pension will increase by until March. 
Every Tuesday, we get an expert to answer your financial problems or consumer disputes – you can WhatsApp us here or email moneyblog@sky.uk. Today’s problem is…
We booked a Goldcar rental via easyJet for our holiday to Pisa. When we arrived at the desk we were told the booking was made on my wife’s card and that she should be the main driver. This wasn’t explained in the booking process and we have never had this issue before with Goldcar or other firms. So we had to make a brand new booking, which was much more expensive at €500 (400+100 deposit), and we lost the money for our original booking, which they put down as a “no show”. Extra charges were not explained to me. Can the Money blog help? 
Martin Payne
Your email was probably the 10th relating to car rental this year.
When hiring a car, you’re often in a vulnerable position when you arrive, whether that be having restless kids in tow, being tired after a long flight or just being in an unfamiliar country.
In your case, you told us it was around 10.30pm at night, you were facing driving to your hotel in the dark and just wanted to get in a rental car and go.
First up, you say you weren’t asked to nominate a named driver during the booking process and that you were not informed of the “main driver” rule.
You later realised, however, that it was mentioned in the terms and conditions – and you guys had ticked the box to confirm you’d read them. 
What is clear from a lot of the emails we receive is that often firms fall back on “our terms and conditions do say…” so it’s vital that consumers take the time to read them.
In this case, this wasn’t made particularly easy for you. You sent us a contract that included 29 pages of terms and conditions – and the font was quite small.
A further illustration came in Goldcar’s response when we got in touch. Their response started with:
“Goldcar has investigated this case and can confirm that its terms and conditions – which can be found here – do specify that the name on the booking and the credit card must be the name of the main driver.”
If you click on the link you’ll be taken to the terms and conditions – in Spanish. When I tried switching to English I was taken to a different page entirely.
We asked consumer disputes expert Scott Dixon for his thoughts and it is his belief that you have a strong case under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which states key terms must be prominent and transparent, not buried in the small print.
“If the booking form allowed a payment to be made by someone who was not the main driver without warning that the booking may be invalid, it could be argued that it is misleading,” says Dixon.
He says the timing of your collection is also crucial.
“You had no realistic choice and put under duress to accept it, which could be considered as an unfair and aggressive commercial practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.”
What can you do?
Dixon says initially you have to complain to the firm itself – explain some of the above and request a refund, giving them an opportunity to resolve the issue.
You say you haven’t really got anywhere with Goldcar, so the next step, because you paid on debit card, could be to raise a chargeback with your bank.
Dixon says: “Tell them that they failed to make a key term prominent and clear during the booking process, which is a breach of contract under the CRA 2015 and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.”
There is a 120-day limit for chargebacks and evidence is key.
“Provide screenshots, booking pages, emails, photos, videos, receipts and any other evidence with a bullet-point timeline of events to prove your case,” advises Dixon.
“Chargebacks are often rejected on the first attempt and car rental disputes will be particularly difficult due to firms saying the customer signed and agreed to the terms and conditions, so push hard and stick to your guns.”
Industry bodies
Goldcar is not a member of the European Car Rental Conciliation Service, so there’s no route there. It is a member of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, but that organisation can’t assist with overseas rental disputes, so you cannot go down this route for redress.
The most important advice we could give
The biggest single piece of advice we could offer is: do your research and vote with your feet.
Goldcar came bottom of this year’s Which? annual car hire survey and has a Trustpilot rating of just 2.2 – a quick Google before you make this kind of booking could end up saving you a lot of hassle.
What Goldcar told us
Goldcar looked into your case after our intervention and we managed to get you some redress.
But the firm did maintain:
“The company, therefore, believes that sufficient information was available for the customer to be aware of the requirement for the booking to be paid for in the name of the lead driver,” a spokesperson said.
On the second booking, the spokesperson went on: “The company is sorry that Mr Payne does not believe the extra charges were explained to him – although it has his signature on the rental agreement as authorisation. Given the circumstances, the company would, therefore, like to refund these costs – totalling €255 – as a gesture of goodwill.”
Goldcar seemed to accept it could improve its customer service – it said work had been ongoing on this since it was taken over by Europcar Mobility Group in 2017.
A lot of its business comes from customers looking for a cheap, no-frills option via brokers – therefore, it isn’t always in control of the information customers receive.
But, after our intervention, it pledged to “review its terms and conditions, both on its own website and on that of brokers offering its services”.
This feature is not intended as financial advice – the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:
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