Author: BBC

Rental payments will be reflected in credit scores, one of the UK’s main credit ratings agencies has said. Experian said it was overhauling its scoring system to better reflect “more of the everyday financial behaviours that matter” which included things “like paying rent or reducing overdraft use”. The new system will see the maximum credit score someone can have go from 999 to 1,250, and will also give more guidance on how borrowers can improve their creditworthiness. Credit scores are used as a broad indicator of a borrower’s ability to pay back a loan. A low credit score can make…

China will begin easing an export ban on automotive computer chips vital to production of cars across the world as part of a trade deal struck between the US and China, the White House has said. The White House confirmed details of the deal in a new fact sheet after Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met in South Korea this week.The nations also reached agreements on US soybean exports, the supply of rare earth minerals, and the materials used in production of the drug fentanyl. The deal de-escalates a trade war between the world’s two largest economies after Trump hit…

Getty ImagesSome high-street clinics are putting lives at risk by allowing unqualified non-specialists to carry out baby scans, the Society of Radiographers (SoR) has warned.The trade union says its members have seen examples of pregnant women being incorrectly diagnosed with serious health conditions and given dangerous advice.Other expectant mums have been sent to hospital after being told an abnormality meant they would need to end the pregnancy only to find their baby was completely healthy.It is concerned that anyone using an ultrasound machine can call themselves a sonographer and offer the service – often sold as a reassurance, souvenir or…

Theo LeggettBusiness CorrespondentJas BainsJas Bains alerted Danish authorities to a £1bn tax scam and they hit him with a lawsuit”We’d be met at airports in 20-foot limousines, and taken to places like the Atlantis hotel in Dubai or the Singapore Grand Prix. There’d be a hundred grand spent in the bar.”In 2013, Jas Bains was an ambitious young lawyer, enjoying the high life that came with working for an extremely profitable City hedge fund.Today, he is jobless and has lost most of his wealth, having spent years fighting legal battles and attempting to clear his name of association with a…

Chris VallanceSenior technology reporterGetty ImagesPornhub says the number of UK visitors to its website is down 77% compared with July, when more rigorous age checks for sexually explicit sites were introduced under the Online Safety Act.It claims sites that are ignoring the new requirements are benefiting.The BBC has not been able to independently verify Pornhub’s claim – however, data from Google shows searches for the site have decreased by almost half since the law came into effect.This could be a consequence of people reducing their porn use but could also be partly explained by people visiting the site through alternative…

Getty ImagesThousands of people from some of Scotland’s most deprived areas are to be offered free weight-loss jabs as part of government-funded research.Up to 5,000 people in Scotland will take the injections as part of the multi-million pound study being led by Glasgow University.The findings will provide insight into the lives of people living with obesity and health inequalities across the UK.If successful, it could lead to a wider rollout of the injections throughout the country.The jabs copy or boost the effects of natural hormones called incretins, which control blood sugar levels.They act on areas of the brain which impact…

More than 80 Warm Welcome spaces have opened up across Surrey, allowing people to have a free hot drink and socialise with others during the colder months.Community centres, church halls, and most of Surrey’s libraries are among the venues being used for the Surrey County Council (SCC) initiative, which is now running for the fourth year. Residents can access these spaces, which aim to support those who are affected by cost of living pressures, between Saturday and the end of March. Councillor Mark Nuti, cabinet member for health, wellbeing and public health, said the aim was to “ensure that nobody…

The government is facing questions over whether the system at the heart of its plans for digital ID can be trusted to keep people’s personal data secure.Digital ID will be made available to all UK citizens and legal residents but will only be mandatory for employment, under the government’s proposals.Full details of how the system will work have yet to be announced but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has insisted it “will have security at its core”.It will be based on two government-built systems – Gov.uk One Login and Gov.uk Wallet.One Login is a single account for accessing public services…

BBC​​I’m bald, and that bothered me for a long time. ​​It bothered me that I was bothered. But just one swipe down my Instagram feed reveals I’m not the only man who is self-conscious about his hair.I’m greeted with videos and posts offering me hair transplants, regrowth tablets, thickening sprays, powders that fill gaps, and hair systems (once known as wigs or toupees).These products promise to restore my “lost confidence” and stop my lack of hair from “holding back” my life.But does the wealth of treatment options on offer mean attitudes towards hair loss have shifted? Is what was once…

If you moved house in the last five years, you could have unclaimed credit sitting in your old gas and electricity accounts.Around £240m is sitting in closed energy accounts which can be returned to customers, according to the regulator Ofgem and suppliers.Ofgem said there were 1.9 million closed accounts with credit in them. Most people may only be owed a few pounds, but some could claim back more than £100.Energy UK, which represents suppliers, said people should check letters and emails and contact their old suppliers if they think they have outstanding credit.More than 90% of closed account balances are…