Welcome to the Money blog, Sky News’ consumer and personal finance hub. Today’s Money Problem is a “he said, she said” dispute between a disgruntled reader and Wickes over a kitchen order. Leave your thoughts in the comments box.
Tuesday 19 August 2025 06:53, UK
Child benefit automatically stops after your child turns 16 – but if they are still in education, you can extend it.
HMRC has urged parents to remember to file their extension before this year’s 31 August deadline.
If you forget, you could miss out on at least £1,354 a year.
Here’s what you need to know…
Who can extend their child benefit?
To be eligible for an extension, your child must be between the ages of 16 and 19 and in school, college or another recognised training course.
They must be completing one of the following:
You will not be able to get an extension if they are:
How much is child benefit worth?
Child benefit is worth £26.05 a week – or £1,354.60 a year – for the eldest or only child.
It is worth £17.25 a week – or £897 a year – for an extra child.
It is automatically paid into your bank account every four weeks.
How to get child benefit
If you are eligible, HMRC should have sent you a letter reminding you to extend your benefit.
On the letter, there will be a QR code you can scan with your phone that will take you to a webpage on the government website.
You will be taken to this page, which has a “start now” button to begin the process.
You will need to enter your government gateway ID and password, or set up an account.
Alternatively, you can see the HMRC app.
Anything else to be aware of?
If you earn more than £60,000, you should be aware of the high income child benefit charge.
This is a tax charge that must be paid to HMRC if you earn above the threshold.
If you earn more than £80,000, the charge will be equal to the full amount of your child benefit, so you are no better off for receiving it.
You can check whether you are over the limit here, and you can get an estimate for how much you will have to pay using the government’s calculator.
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 had our kitchen redone with Wickes – there were a number of issues, but the main one was that they sent the wrong worktop. I didn’t realise until after it had been installed. They are claiming this is the one we picked out in the showroom.
Tina
You told me when you went to pick out your kitchen, there was a particular quartz worktop on display that you fell in love with.
Not knowing the specific name, you pointed it out to the designer, who ordered it.
When it arrived, although it was similar, you had a nagging feeling it wasn’t quite right, so you went back to the showroom and realised the wrong worktop had been installed.
Other issues you told me about in the process included:
You filed an initial complaint with Wickes about this, but were told: “There appears to be a discrepancy between your recollection of the specific worktop ordered and the details recorded by the design consultant during the design process.”
You told me: “All I want is my worktop changed to the one I chose and my microwave refunded, but no one is listening.”
I reached out to Wickes, which said it was sorry to hear about your experience.
The company said: “Our customer relations team has conducted a thorough review of the matter and concludes that Wickes followed all due processes to ensure the order was correct. Our customer relations team has been in direct contact with Ms Edwards to explain our findings, and as a gesture of goodwill, we have offered a discount on the work surface.”
You told me they had offered you a 25% discount on the work surface, but you are unhappy with this because you said you didn’t want it in the first place.
But Wickes also said it was into how the hob protection plate can be correctly fitted to prevent the issue with your cutlery drawer overheating.
You have now filed a complaint with the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman.
Next steps
Issues like this can be tricky to resolve, because it has come to “he said, she said”. It will be up to the ombudsman to decide what happens next.
When ordering such high-value items, it is always worth double-checking the order confirmation the company sends across. I appreciate your invoice had 200+ items on it, and while you probably didn’t need to check every single fitting and fixture, the worktop and appliances would have benefitted from a double check.
While I don’t doubt your recollection of events, it is difficult to prove what happened. But given you had a host of other issues with the process, it is still worth taking the complaint to the ombudsman.
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:
There is no clear data on exactly how much making a claim impacts your car insurance premium – so we want to hear your stories to come up with an anecdotal overview.
Let us know in the comments or via email at moneyblog@sky.uk how much your premium went up and, crucially, whether it was an at fault or no-fault claim.
By emailing us, you’re giving us permission to use your words in the Money blog – of course we’re happy to keep it anonymous if requested.
Experts believe the pensions triple lock will eventually become unaffordable for the UK.
A common view is that scrapping the guarantee (which ensures pensions rise each year in line with inflation, earnings or 2.5%, whichever is highest) would be electoral suicide. But is this true?
An (unscientific) survey we conducted on LinkedIn and YouTube suggests a level of public support for the idea and uprating pensions each year in line with average earnings growth.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments box.
Lidl workers are getting their fifth pay rise in two years, bringing them in line with their Aldi rivals.
Staff will see their wage increase from £12.75 an hour to £13 nationally from 1 September.
This will rise further to £13.95 the longer staff have worked at the supermarket.
Those working in London will see their pay rise from £14 to £14.35, increasing to £14.65 with length of service.
“Over the last two years, we’ve held our spot as the fastest growing bricks-and-mortar supermarket,” said Stephanie Rogers, chief people officer at Lidl GB.
“This continued success is made possible because of the ongoing efforts of our colleagues, including customer assistants, shift managers, warehouse operatives and cleaners, whose commitment is greatly appreciated. In recognition of their contribution, we continue to ensure we are market leading on pay.”
How does it compare?
Last month, Aldi said it would pay store assistants at least £13 an hour from September, with those working within the M25 earning £14.33 an hour.
Tesco will pay a minimum of £12.64 an hour from next month, Sainsbury’s said it will raise pay to £12.60 an hour in the same timeframe.
The national living wage for people aged 21 and over is £12.21 an hour. For those aged 18-20 it’s £10 an hour and for under 18s it’s £7.55 an hour.
A brand of children’s gummies have been recalled due to the presence of prescription-only medicine.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is telling parents and caregivers to immediately stop using Nutrition Ignition Kids Magnesium Glycinate Gummies.
This is due to the presence of undeclared melatonin – a prescription-only medicine.
“Taking too much melatonin can cause drowsiness, headache, dizziness, and nausea. Lasting harm is not expected when ingesting melatonin at high levels, and the body typically clears this within 12 hours,” the MHRA says.
Wizz Air has announced new routes from the UK to some of Italy’s most popular holiday destinations.
The budget airline is offering flights from Glasgow to both Milan and Rome as well as daily flights from London Luton to Venice.
In total, Wizz has 16 new routes.
Flights from Glasgow to and from Milan’s Malpensa Airport will begin on 27 October, leaving on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with fares starting from €29.99 (£25.85).
Daily flights from London Luton to Venice will start from €24.99 (£21.54) and begin on 1 December.
Meanwhile, flights from Glasgow to and from Rome’s Fiumicino airport will also take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting from €29.99 (£25.85) and beginning on 27 October.
TalkTalk is the most complained-about broadband provider, the latest Ofcom survey shows.
Virgin Media comes just behind, while Plusnet received the least complaints.
The figures are another reminder that many of us aren’t happy with the service we receive – yet a separate Which? survey recently showed almost half of Britons have never switched providers.
If you’re thinking of switching, below are the “best value” deals currently available…
Look beyond the big four
Sometimes it pays to sign up with a provider outside the traditional big players.
In the latest Which? survey results, Zen Internet, Plusnet and Utility Warehouse all scored highly, while the big four (BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media) sat in the bottom half of the rankings.
Several regional providers, such as Community Fibre, also scored well. By building their own fibre networks, regional providers supply superfast speeds and, in some cases, very competitive prices.
Can you haggle?
Yes! Haggling is expected by providers and is a good opportunity to discuss the elements of your deal and upgrade or downgrade if the package doesn’t quite fit your needs.
Even if it feels a little awkward, many providers let you negotiate through live chat or even social media, so you won’t need to pick up the phone.
Which? research shows that customers who haggle on their broadband deal save as much as £81 a year.
Sky News has launched a free Money newsletter – bringing the kind of content you enjoy in the Money blog directly to your inbox.
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As always, we’ll also outline the best mortgage, broadband, savings, energy and bank switch deals currently available – as well as giving you exclusive early access to our weekend long read and weekly Money Problem.
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Train passengers are facing a potentially “outrageous” 5.5% rise in fares next year, public transport groups have warned.
The cost of train travel is often determined by July’s Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which will be announced on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, fares rose by 4.6% – one percentage point higher than RPI in July 2024.
Analysts at banking group Investec are expecting RPI to be recorded at 4.5% on Wednesday, which means fares could jump by 5.5%.
The government sets a cap each year on regulated rail ticket prices, which is around 45% of fares, but it has not confirmed how it will do so for 2026.
Regulated fares include season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance routes, and flexible tickets for travel around major cities.
Operators set rises in unregulated fares, although these are likely to be very close to regulated ticket increases because their decisions are heavily influenced by governments
‘Rising fares are putting people off rail travel’
Pressure group Railfuture has warned that a 5.5% rise would be “outrageous” and a rip-off.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said there will be an update on changes to regulated fares later this year.
A spokesperson said: “The transport secretary has made clear her number one priority is getting the railways back to a place where people can rely on them.
“The government is putting passengers at the heart of its plans for public ownership and Great British Railways, delivering the services they deserve and driving growth.
“No decisions have been made on next year’s rail fares but our aim is that prices balance affordability for both passengers and taxpayers.”
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