Secret world of the credit ratings unmasked – and why it could be Isa, Isa baby this year

Just how does the mythical and bizarre world of credit ratings really work? How can you improve your score and what does the figure even mean?

On this week's podcast, personal finance editor Rachel Rickard Straus and consumer affairs editor Lee Boyce join presenter Georgie Frost to discuss this and how one unknown fraud marker on a Cifas file left a reader with a 'do not employ' status when looking for job.

Rachel describes how she saw a tourist defrauded at a cash point and what it made her realise.

Lee explains why he is fed-up with car insurers taking motorists for a ride and how he beat a 67 per cent annual rise.

Whisper it: but there could be a cash Isa season this year. For years, banks and building societies scrambled to offer attractive rates – and 2018 could see the tax-free accounts finally en vogue once more.

Pensioner bonds – remember them? Well many are seeing the three-year versions of the accounts mature. But there could be a tax sting in the tail.