Today in Money: Glasgow has been ranked among the happiest cities in the world; a data change means pensions will get a bigger boost next year; and a retirement age surprise awaits 14% of Britons. And subscribe to our newsletter below to get the answer to *the* classic heating debate.
Tuesday 14 October 2025 13:00, UK
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By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
The car loan mis-selling compensation scheme announced last week is set to cost a major car financier £135m more than they first thought. 
Close Brothers, the London Stock Exchange-listed specialist bank, has nearly doubled the amount of money set aside to fund the scheme set up to compensate up to 14.2 million people impacted by lenders failing to declare car loan commission. 
Its total cost exposure is now estimated to be £300m.
Despite the financial hit, Close Brothers’ share price fell just 0.36%.
Overall, the FTSE 250, of which Close Brothers is a constituent, fell nearly 0.7%, while the UK’s benchmark stock index, the FTSE 100, shed 0.5% after official figures showed rising unemployment and fewer job vacancies.
The pound fell back early this morning and now buys $1.32.
Against the euro, one pound buys €1.14. 
Currys customers can get at least £10 by handing in old and unwanted tech in the run-up to Christmas.
From this week, shoppers can receive double the usual £5 Cash for Trash voucher when handing in old electricals at any Currys store in the UK.
The vouchers can be redeemed on purchases until 30 December either in-store or online with a minimum spend of £50.
If items are thought to be valued more than the £10 Cash for Trash offer, customers could be offered gift cards or money.
In the 2024/25 financial year, customers who used the scheme got an average of £137.
“We’re delighted to double the reward customers can earn when they recycle their old tech, bringing this enhanced offer to customers for the second time this year,” Paula Coughlan, Currys’ chief people, communications and stability officer, said. 
“We’ve all got a part to play in solving the UK’s e-waste crisis and through our pioneering Cash for Trash scheme, Currys can play an important role in raising awareness, improving recycling rates and helping customers earn a little boost ahead of Christmas.”
Glasgow is among the 20 happiest cities in the world, according to the results of a global survey by TimeOut – and it’s also one of the most affordable British cities.
The happiness survey is part of the magazine’s annual index that seeks to determine the best city in the world, based on metrics such as culture, nightlife, food, walkability, affordability, quality of life and happiness.
The magazine has now separately released a city ranking based on the happiness part of the survey, for which residents were asked to share their opinions on five statements, including: My city makes me happy; I feel happier in my city than other places I’ve visited or lived; The people in my city seem happy.
There are some surprise entries among the global index. London has not made the list, while Glasgow – otherwise known as the Dear Green Place – ranks 20th. 
Brighton ranks 11th while Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, tops the table, followed by Medellin in Colombia and Cape Town, South Africa.
More notably, Brighton and Glasgow are among the only four British cities that also made TimeOut’s full best-city index (coming 34th and 36th, respectively), alongside Edinburgh and London. This also takes the perceived cost of living into account.
And while Brighton and London are infamously pricey, Glasgow is known to be relatively cheap, ranking among the 10 most affordable cities in the UK this year, according to data from global payments company TakePayment.
If you want your money to go further, Glasgow might well be your place to be.
Here is the full ranking of the 20 happiest cities in the world in 2025, according to TimeOut:
1. Abu Dhabi, UAE
2. Medellin, Colombia
3. Cape Town, South Africa
4. Mexico City, Mexico
5. Mumbai, India
6. Beijing, China
7. Shanghai, China
8. Chicago, US
9. Seville, Spain
10. Melbourne, Australia
11. Brighton, UK
12. Porto, Portugal
13. Sydney, Australia
14. Chiang Mai, Thailand
15. Marrakech, Morocco
16. Dubai, UAE
17. Hanoi, Vietnam
18. Jakarta, Indonesia
19. Valencia, Spain
20. Glasgow, UK
The state pension is anticipated to rise slightly more than expected in April after the Office for National Statistics revised a crucial figure. 
Earnings growth was recorded at 4.7% by the ONS last month, but that figure has been revised upwards today to 4.8%. 
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 week. 
As 4.8% exceeds both the expected inflation figure and 2.5%, this means the state pension will likely rise by the same amount. 
It will be confirmed by the chancellor in the budget and take effect in April. 
The boost will take the new state pension to around £12,547 per year – just £23 short of the income tax threshold of £12,570, according to pension consultants LCP.
The old basic state pension would increase from £9,175 per year to £9,614 per year.
Steve Webb, partner at LCP, said: “We can now be pretty certain that the new state pension and the basic state pension will rise by 4.8%.
“This will keep the headline rate of the state pension below the income tax threshold for one more year, but it will go above the tax threshold in 2027 if allowances do not rise.” 
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 is…
My deceased mother’s house is being sold for £15,000 more than the valuation used for probate. The estate is well below the inheritance tax threshold. Do we have to pay capital gains tax on the £15,000? Can we deduct estate agent and solicitors fees before the tax is calculated? 
Maire
Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, says: 
When someone dies, their assets are valued for probate and that valuation is what’s used for inheritance tax. If the property is sold for more than that valuation, unfortunately you can’t go back and increase the probate value just to match the eventual sale price.
HMRC’s view is that the probate valuation should reflect a fair open market value on the date of death, not what it happens to fetch later. So, if the house rises in value before it’s sold, that uplift is potentially a capital gain, rather than something you adjust on the inheritance tax return. 
The only time you can amend the inheritance tax calculation after a sale is if the property is sold for less than the probate value within four years of death – in that case, you can apply for a refund of the inheritance tax already paid on the higher valuation. 
Sadly, the system doesn’t work the other way around. 
Because the house is being sold for £15,000 more than the probate valuation, that gain technically falls within the capital gains tax (CGT) net, because the ‘base cost’ is set at the probate value. But there are two important things to consider.  
The first is that if the property is sold by the estate itself before it’s distributed to beneficiaries, then any gain is assessed on the estate. 
Estates do have a small annual CGT allowance – currently just £3,000 – and anything above that could be taxable. However, estate administration costs, like estate agent and solicitor fees directly related to the sale, can be deducted from the gain. 
If the property has already been transferred to the beneficiaries first and they are selling it, the gain is worked out on their own tax position. In that case, each beneficiary can use their own annual CGT allowance (£3,000 each this tax year). Again, they can deduct the selling costs before calculating any gain. 
Given the relatively modest increase in value – and once you’ve factored in fees, and if there are multiple beneficiaries with tax-free allowances to use – in practice, there may be little CGT left to pay. 
If the property is being sold by the beneficiaries and there is still a gain after costs and tax-free allowances, it will depend on your tax band as to how much you pay. 
For basic-rate taxpayers, the tax rate is 18% and for higher rate and additional rate taxpayers, it’s 24%. 
You need to add the gains to your income to work out the tax rate due, and if your income is near the £50,270 higher-rate tax band, you may find the gain tips you over into the next tax band. 
This means you’d pay the lower rate of capital gains for the portion of gains that sit in the basic-rate tax band and the higher rate on anything above this, minus any tax-free allowance you have to use.
A significant number of working Britons are in for a big shock: they’ve got many more years left to work than they think.
A total of 14% of respondents to a major Standard Life survey thought the retirement age was 64 or below. 
Eight per cent thought it was 60, while 18% were close at 65 – one year out. 
The correct age is 66, identified by just 18% of those surveyed.
The state pension age is rising to 67 between April 2026 and March 2028 – and 36% guessed this age.
Others are in for a pleasant surprise, with 13% thinking the retirement age is 68 or higher.
You can read more insights from the survey below… 
In our final post today, we’re once again on the subject of budget rumours…
Over the last few days, there have been multiple reports that those inside Whitehall are considering tweaks to the controversial inheritance tax (IHT) reforms on farms announced this time last year.
Plans to introduce a 20% tax on estates worth more than £1m drew tens of thousands to protest in London, many fearing huge tax bills that would force small farms to sell up for good.
Now there are reports the tax threshold could be increased from £1m to £5m (£10m for a married couple) – a shift that would remove smaller farms from being liable to pay.
Read Dan Whitehead’s full report here…
We’ve had two updates on tourist taxes over the past few days…
Kyoto
Tourists visiting the Japanese city will need to pay significantly more to stay there from March next year after the government announced a tax rise.
Travellers will have to pay the following fees, based on the cost of accommodation per person per night:
The tax will be paid per night by guests staying in inns, hotels and lodgings in the city.
School trips will be among the groups exempt from the tax.
Tenerife
Hikers planning to visit Tenerife’s Teide National Park, part of Spain’s Canary Islands, will have to pay an additional “eco tax” to use some of its walking routes from starting 1 January, according to The Independent.
The amount to pay will depend on which route is chosen and whether the walk is guided or not, ranging from €10 (£8.70) to €25 (£21.70). Solo hikes will cost more.
The money raised from the tax will go towards conserving the biodiversity of the park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and improving the quality and safety of the trails, local authorities said.
General access to the national park will remain free.
Any individuals caught without the correct hiking permit, which can be purchased on the Tenerife ON website and app, could be fined up to €600 (£521).
Vodafone says it’s trying to fix a major outage affecting its internet services.
The telecoms giant says broadband, 4G and 5G have all been impacted by the issue.
Thousands of customers have reported outages, according to monitoring website DownDetector.
A spokeswoman for the company says: “We are aware of a major issue on our network currently affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services.
“We appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to resolve this as soon as possible.”
What can you do if you’ve been affected? 
Outages can be very frustrating, especially if if it is not clear how long they are going to last.
If they go on for longer than 48 hours, you might be entitled to some money back. 
Sabrina Hoque, telecoms expert at Uswitch, said: “For those affected, the quickest way to check if the internet is down in your area is by searching for your provider on a site like DownDetector.
“If your broadband connection goes down for more than two days, you could be entitled to compensation of £9.76 for each calendar day that the service is not repaired. 
“Ofcom advises that compensation for mobile signal outages is ‘dependent on the circumstances.’ But in extreme cases where repairs take much longer, you may be entitled to an additional refund or account credit.”
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