Unpleasant issues: Free wills, DIY Power of Attorney, Inheritance Tax; Chase cuts rewards; 33mths 0% ending; teachers' discounts

Plus huge car finance news; car insurance renewal warning; Ben & Jerry's + pizzas £5; no-risk energy

                                                           

11 March 2025 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL Martin: 'Time for a difficult conversation...' - Free solicitor-drafted wills - New. DIY Power of Attorney - 7 Inheritance Tax need-knows - Funeral planning & planning for death Car insurance renewal warning Chase cuts perks. We've new top picks... HUGE car finance mis-selling news Ben & Jerry's ice cream + 2 pizzas £5 Ends Thu. Longest 33mth 0% debt shift New. Teacher? Get same discount card as NHS staff FREE Ideal Home Show tickets Consider a NO-RISK energy fix... Urgent. Boost State Pension by £10k+? £74 summer plant bundle £15 Martin's warning if you've booked a hol Beat yet another stamp price hike New Martin pod. Savings Q&A special 8pm tonight (Tue): The Martin Lewis Money Show Live Interrail 15% off sale Got/had a Lifetime ISA? We need your help 3mths' free access to 8,000+ magazines Poll: How do you rate your broadband provider's customer service? This week's best buys: 5.8% loans, 10GB Sim £2/mth & more Money Moral Dilemma: Should we leave more to our younger children in our wills? BEST BUYS & TOOLS MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club including free credit report 0% balance transfers Compare broadband deals MSE Compare+ Car Insurance Best bank accounts Top savings accounts Credit cards for bad credit Credit Card Eligibility Calculator Loans Eligibility Calculator Mortgage comparison Compare travel money Cheap Energy Club Best Sim-only deals

Martin: Time for a difficult conversation... Financially secure yourself & loved ones against the 3Ds - death, divorce & dementia... - Free solicitor-drafted wills schemes on now - DIY Power of Attorney (more important than a will) - What everyone needs to know about Inheritance Tax - Funeral planning & how to plan for death No one wants to talk about the three Ds, but while everyone should hope for the best, they should plan for the worst. The knock-on financial and emotional costs of not engaging are worse (though often you won't realise till it's too late)... ... this is for anyone with dependants, not just those with grey hair Many struggle to start this conversation with loved ones, but whether it's with parents, a partner or adult children, do try. Blunt, warm and practical makes it easier. Be as candid as possible... the odd tear in the eye just means you love each other. I'm going to try and help you through some key issues here, especially for death & dementia (for the 3rd D, watch my ITVX divorce show). Let me explain this & answer your questions tonight... The Martin Lewis Money Show Live ITV1 8pm (Tue) Wills, Power of Attorney & inheritance are my big topics. Do suggest your parents / partner / adult children watch if conversations have been difficult. I'm joined by solicitors & specialists to answer your questions (email the show team via martinlewis@itv.com). PS: Watch it back after via ITVX 'Martin Lewis' FREE solicitor-drafted wills Sorting a will is vital if you've got a house, savings, a business, or people you'd like to look after when you're gone. It means you get to decide who gets what. Without one, the rigid intestacy rules dictate who gets what of yours. Plus, solicitors say dying will-less may complicate dealing with the estate. The gold standard way to draw up a will is to get a solicitor to draft it, which normally costs many £100s. Yet there are a couple of charity schemes which cut the costs, and some are on right now... New. FREE WILLS MONTH (for age 55+). Free Wills Month happens in March and October. This month covers London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Bristol, Birmingham & far more (see March free wills list). If it's not on in your area now, then it should be on in October, including Manchester, Nottinghamshire, N. Ireland and Cornwall. With the scheme... - A solicitor will draft the will for free. - It covers a single will for anyone aged 55+, or a 'mirror will' for couples where the wills are near-identical, as long as one is 55+ (provided your circumstances are relatively simple). - As long as it's booked in March, the appointment can be after. - It's organised for Age UK, Alzheimer's Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie, Mind, Help for Heroes and more, in the hope you'll leave them a bequest (money in your will) of typically £300 to £1,000, or a percentage of your estate. It's not compulsory, but it is a charity scheme, so do what you can. The scheme's in its 20th year and raises £30m for good causes annually. PS: If you've a lot of assets, it's worth knowing if you leave 10% or more of your estate to charity, this reduces any Inheritance Tax rate your estate pays from 40% to 36%. New. Octopus Legacy 'free' wills (age 18+). Octopus Legacy (the wills sister firm to Octopus Energy) is running its own March 'free will' month for adults across the UK. Wills can be done online, via phone/video, or during a home visit. Yet they're not solicitor-drafted, they're drafted by its team and then overseen by a solicitor (unless it's complex, when there can be a fee and a solicitor does it all). It hopes you'll leave a bequest to one of 100 charities supporting the scheme, but it's not compulsory. Charities include ActionAid, St Christopher's Hospice, National Deaf Children's Society and more. See Octopus Legacy. A bigger charity scheme is Will Aid, which is open to every age. It's UK-wide, open to all adults and operates in November. There you get a will for a suggested charity donation of £100. Other ways to get free wills. You may also currently be able to get a free or cheap solicitor-drafted will via individual charity schemes (such as Cancer Research), your trade union, and via your employer. Far more info in our Cheap & free wills guide. Six things you need to know about WILLS Already got a will? Check it's up to date (especially if you've married / divorced / become a parent since). An out-of-date will is almost as bad as no will. In Eng, Wal and NI (not Scot), wills are usually revoked when you get married, so you'll need a new one - and, in practice, similar may apply at divorce. Don't accidentally leave your pension to your ex, you CAN'T put it in your will. Die before taking your private or company pension, and the provider / trustees decide what to do with it. An expression of wishes (or nomination) form tells them your preference - it's not binding, but usually does the job. Check you've done one and it's up to date. There are horror stories out there from people who haven't, yet thankfully word is getting about. Will wrote to me on X in January: "@MartinSLewis Thanks to your programme, I've checked over my pensions, and I have one old one that my ex-wife was likely a beneficiary. I've now changed that." Unmarried couple? A will is even more important. You may've lived together for decades and have 21 children, but that means almost nowt in law across most of the UK (you've slightly more rights in Scotland). If one of you dies, the other won't get anything without a will, possibly even with the family home (then see joint tenants vs tenants in common). If you were married, the intestacy rules give primacy to your spouse. There are Inheritance Tax advantages too (a civil partnership does the same if you don't like the baggage of marriage) - see my 9 financial benefits to marriage blog for more. Store your will safely with instructions to executors on where they can find it. As this recent X reply shows: "@MartinSLewis A relative has recently and unexpectedly died. Her husband is in a care home with dementia. She was uncommunicative and estranged from many in the family. No one knows where her will was held or what her wishes were. It's been six weeks now - sort your affairs out people!" See where to store your will. Who'd look after your children if you died? We all want to imagine we'll see our little ones grow up, but not everyone gets to. I lost my mother while still a child, thankfully not both parents, but that happens too. So, the grown-up thing to do is consider and plan for this horrid eventuality (I hope I'll end up having totally wasted your time). Read our what happens to my children if I die? help. Socials & photos are an asset too - protect your digital legacy. There's no specific UK law on this, but you can grant individuals access to 'digital assets' in your will - social media, photos, videos, emails and so on. See the digital legacy blog. Some have had to take legal action when a lost loved one hadn't specified access, so it's worth doing the basics... List the digital assets you want to pass on, on paper. Back up important files (on an external hard drive if possible). Make a record of your decisions using a digital legacy template. Add a 'legacy contact' on a platform that allows it (Apple, Facebook, Google) - you could append this to your will. Got a will? Get a Lasting Power of Attorney! It's almost certainly MORE important (& you can DIY it) If you were to lose your faculties, don't assume relatives can walk into the bank and access your money - not even to pay for your care, or the mortgage. That's what a Lasting Power of Attorney (PoA) is there to fix. And this isn't a trivial thing. Lose your faculties and financial issues are often urgent, it leaves big questions... Who'll look after you? Who can access your funds to pay for necessities? Who'll ensure your money's still working for you if you're no longer capable? Without a PoA, it's often hellish for your loved ones. They'd need to apply to take care of your finances via the Court of Protection (Sheriff Court in Scot; Office of Care and Protection in N. Ireland). It's often difficult, costly, and usually takes many, many months, leaving you in limbo in the meantime. As Stephanie told us on Facebook last month: "I can't stress enough how important a PoA is. My mother had made a will but not a PoA. Sadly, she suffered a stroke which led to vascular dementia. She could not make decisions regarding her finances. I had to apply for a deputyship order via the courts, which took 8mths to come through and cost £4,000! Plus I had to make annual reports to the Office of the Public Guardian (which cost £300/yr) as to how my mum's funds were being used. All in all, a very costly exercise!" Losing faculties isn't just something that happens to the elderly - accidents, strokes, early onset dementia and more may hit anyone. And younger people tend to have more separate finances - so it can be even tougher. I'm only 52 (surely not, I hear you say, surely 42?) and have no reason to foresee losing mental capacity, yet... ... I've had a PoA set up since my 30s, just in case. Though, sadly, I'm in the minority. I polled on this last year, and only around half of respondents had a will, and that was double the number who had a PoA, so I'd urge more of you to look at this... How a Lasting Power of Attorney works. A PoA makes it easier for someone to take over your finances & financial decisions if you can't. You nominate a trusted friend or relative to look after your affairs if needed. This DOESN'T mean giving up control now - you can opt for it only to be in effect if you're no longer capable. And included within it, as a safety net, you can nominate other separate people to be notified if the PoA is enacted, so they can object to it if necessary (eg, if they thought you were still compos mentis). How much does a Power of Attorney cost? There's a fixed cost to register a PoA, but it varies a little across the UK nations, eg, in Eng & Wales it's £82 per PoA (there are two - one for finance & property, one for health & welfare). So do both & it's £164 - see PoA costs across the UK. Feel unsure of what to do? Pay for help. If you've more complex financial affairs, or are uncertain (or have substantial assets), the gold standard is to get a solicitor to set a PoA up for you, though it isn't cheap, usually £400 to £750. See getting PoA help. Alternatively, Which? Wills* has a decent halfway house, where you fill in a questionnaire that it populates for you, then it is checked by a specialist paralegal within two weeks. This normally costs £99, but via this link, we've blagged it for £70 for you. New. DIY Power of Attorney: The 8 key checks... As long as you're reasonably good at form-filling and following instructions, you can DIY apply for Lasting Power of Attorney (though if in doubt, get help). You'll still have to pay the registration fee though. We've a DIY Power of Attorney form-filling help section on the site. Do go through it. Last year, 51,000 PoA applications were rejected. This is specifically for England & Wales, as you can't do it online in Scotland, and it's more difficult in N. Ireland. Use the right form. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney: one for property and finance, another for health and welfare. You must apply for each separately, yet they're similar, so people often use the wrong one. See how to check it's the right form. Be specific about what's an 'instruction' & what's a 'preference'. This is for section seven. If you're filling it in, think very carefully about exactly what you want. An example helps explain... A preference: "I would like my attorneys to consult my doctor if they think I don't have the capacity to make decisions about my house."  An instruction: "My attorneys must not sell my home unless, in my doctor's opinion, I can no longer live independently." Instructions & preferences can only be in YOUR best interest. You can't tell your representative(s) to act in the best interests of anyone else, even your children or partner. They must act for you alone. You can only ask them to do legal things. Eg, you can't give instructions or preferences about euthanasia or assisted suicide. Nor can they alter your will. Include ALL the necessary (& some unnecessary) info. Including writing middle names where a full name is required, check every number and postcode and spelling, and send every page of the application (even ones you've left blank). Cross out, don't delete mistakes. Fill in the form in black pen, as pencil isn't allowed, nor is correction fluid. If you make a mistake, cross it out and write a correction, then initial that (put your initials next to it) as close to the box as possible. See how to correct forms correctly. Use an impartial 'certificate provider' to verify your application. There are strict rules around this, eg, it can't be one of your representatives or someone related to your representatives, including by marriage. See who can sign your certificate. Get the forms signed in the correct order. Sounds straightforward, but there are at least FIVE separate people who need to sign a PoA before it's sent off, and it has to be done in the right order. Full info in DIY Power of Attorney form-filling help. Don't ignore the health Power of Attorney. While my focus is of course financial, there's also a Health & Welfare Power of Attorney for medical and daily care routine decisions, should you be unable to make them - this is an extremely important document and you should consider it. Another option to consider is a living will (officially 'an advance decision'), where you can refuse certain medical treatments if you lose capacity. PS: Enduring vs Lasting Power of Attorney? In 2007, Lasting Power of Attorney replaced the older Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) system. If you've an EPA, it's still valid (though there are some differences). Seven Inheritance Tax (IHT) need-to-knows Inheritance Tax is much-discussed, much-feared and much-misunderstood. Our Inheritance Tax guide goes through in proper detail, but I wanted to briefly run through the key points... 1. Most people SHOULDN'T worry about Inheritance Tax (IHT), as only a little over one in 20 estates pay it. While many fear it, only about 6% of estates pay it, usually those at the higher end of the wealth scale. Even if the planned April 2027 changes - whereby pensions would fall within the IHT net - happen, the vast majority of estates still won't pay it. You'll see why below... 2. Anything left to a spouse is EXEMPT. So you can leave whatever you want to them and there's no tax on it. This is ONLY if you're married or in a civil partnership, and doesn't apply to those who are cohabiting, no matter how long you've been together. This is so big. I've had people who got married after hearing me talk about this - let us know if you're one. Yet while many love the idea of marriage, many don't too (some I know consider it paternalistic, or religious baggage etc). If so, that's what a civil partnership is for - it confers exactly the same rights, but without the baggage. 3. If your estate is under £325,000, no IHT is paid. You don't pay IHT on the first £325,000 of your estate (all your assets, including property, added up). So if that's you, IHT is not an issue. 4. This is boosted by £175,000 if you pass on your main residence to your direct descendants. You can get an additional £175,000 for your primary residence (or as much as it's worth if less than that). Direct descendants include (biological / foster / step / adopted) children or grandchildren. So if your house and other assets are under £500,000, then IHT isn't an issue. Estate over £2m? You start to lose this extra £175,000 allowance (by 50p for every £1 over £2m - so if it's over £2.35m, you lose it entirely). An important Inheritance Tax & probate listen... To really understand this, take a listen to my Not The Martin Lewis Podcast via BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify or other podcast platforms, where I discuss with top specialists key IHT issues, including... IHT need-knows | What counts as your main residence? | How to pay IHT during probate | Gifting rules | Are trusts worth it? 5. All your unused allowance is passed to your spouse. So leave them everything and they can leave up to £1m (including a house) with no IHT. Again, this only applies to those who are married or civil partners, not cohabiting. It works because they then effectively get your £500,000 allowance added to their £500,000. 6. IHT is charged at 40% of everything above the total allowance. So if your estate is £1.5m including the house, and it is all passed to one spouse, then on to dependants (so there's £1m exempt), you'd pay 40% of the £500,000 above that, ie, £200,000. 7. If it's likely your estate will pay IHT, giving assets or money away while alive can reduce or cancel it. Any regular gifts you can comfortably afford out of normal income are exempt from IHT (though proving it can be tricky). Plus there are a range of allowances, even if giving away from your capital (wealth). Give anything away and live 3+ years, and the IHT is reduced. After seven years, there's none to pay. For a full explanation, see gifting rules and/or listen to my IHT podcast. Preparing for the end & funeral planning... And to finish, now let's make the impact of your passing easier on those left behind - to avoid adding financial difficulty and admin to the grief. While I've covered a decent chunk of it above, our 22 death-planning checks is a good one-stop checklist of some of the things to look at. There's also our What to do when someone dies guide, which helps you through the practicalities, as well as details of where to find support as you go through the grieving process. And there's our Probate DIY guide if you're the executor of someone's will. Funeral planning. Funerals are expensive, from a direct cremation at c. £1,500, to a bells and whistles burial service at £3,500+. So prepaying for a funeral plan (which beats inflation by paying for a future funeral at today's prices) saves your loved ones the stress of organising your funeral. Leaving them notes about your preferences helps too. Funeral plans have been safer since July 2022, when the sector became regulated, which helps protect your money and means you can take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. Our Prepaid funeral plans guide takes you through it, including plan providers. Yet do be aware plans often exclude things such as burial plots, headstones, flowers, embalming and wake costs, so there can be £100s or £1,000s more to be paid by loved ones. So it's important to know exactly what's included before you're paying for it. Think you / a loved one had a funeral plan but can't find it? Details can get lost or misplaced as the years go by. Helpfully, you can fill in a short form on the 'find my plan' tab of the National Association of Funeral Plan Providers (NAFPP) website. Almost all authorised firms are part of the NAFPP. If that doesn't work, you'll have to individually contact the remaining authorised funeral plan providers listed on the Financial Conduct Authority register. Beware over-50s' life insurance plans. They work in a very different way and can be a waste of cash for many. See our Beware over-50s' plans guide.

 

 

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

 

 

 

Car insurance prices are DOWN 19%! So as it's a busy renewal time, a crucial reminder - if your insurer's price stays the same, you're likely OVERPAYING. Don't just accept it Our Compare+ tool has all the tricks in one place. Pete saved £450! The golden rule with car insurance is to always check how your renewal price compares against the market. The easy route to do this is through our Compare+ Car Insurance tool. In fact, it's still worth doing even if you're not at renewal (also try our new Compare+ Home Insurance tool). And that's important right now because March tends to be busy for car insurance renewals, as it's a new car registrations month. Remind yourself of Martin's key car insurance message this year... yes, prices have turned a corner, down 19% year-on-year (source: pricing consultancy Pearson Ham). But when you get your renewal, if the price is the same as it was last year, don't be complacent and just accept it - even if it's 10% cheaper, you can probably still do better. After all, while it's down year-on-year, that follows huge previous rises, leaving it still nearly 60% more than it was in 2021 and averaging over £800/yr. 1. Use Compare+ which, as the name suggests, does far more than just compare... - Fill in a questionnaire. Answer our Compare+ Car Insurance question set (we borrow MoneySupermarket's. If you've used it before, your answers are auto-filled). - Get MSE cost-cutting tips as you answer. Such as whether you can legitimately tweak your job title to reduce the cost. - See your cheapest insurers from the comparison as a benchmark. But, of course, we want you to beat them. - Follow our personalised tips to try for a bigger saving. Including whether you should look to add an additional driver or pay annually, not monthly. Some have one-click checks, so you can easily find out whether they work for you. - Find out whether you're asking at the right time. The tool will let you know if you're too early (and suggest coming back later) or too late (and ask if you want a reminder next year). Timing it right can, at the extreme, save you 50%. - Try other sites to see whether you can slice down costs further. We assess whether Direct Line - which isn't on most comparison sites - is worth trying, and give you the order of other sites to try to see if you can cut the price further. This email from Pete last month may motivate you: "A huge thank you for your Compare+ Car Insurance tool. I used it, following your tip to get quotes 25 days ahead. Direct price £1,046 vs £605 for like-for-like cover via MSE. Saved £441. RESULT!" 2. How to compare mid-year (and how to switch if doing so saves you money). Many wrongly assume you can't change insurer mid-year. You can, and with prices dropping, it's worth checking (especially if the risk has changed, eg, you've changed car or moved address). The first thing to do is check using Compare+, set a policy start date about three weeks ahead, as that's usually the sweet spot for lower premiums. If the new quote is significantly cheaper than what you're paying, it's worth considering - as long as you've not made, or plan to make, a claim for this insurance year. If you can save big, sign up for your new policy, then cancel your old one. You should get a pro-rata refund for the rest of the year (minus a £50ish admin fee - check the amount before doing this). Yet you usually won't earn the year's no-claims bonus. 3. More than one car at home? Check whether you can save with a multicar policy. Comparison sites don't check multicar cover, so you'll need to check manually whether it saves you money. Martin's rule of thumb is: "If you're on a multicar policy, check separate policies to see if you can save. If you're on separate, check multicar." This is because insurers use marketing discounts to suck people in, but these can then disappear at renewal. - Multicar (one policy for all): Probably the best known is Admiral*, but LV*, Aviva, Elephant* and Diamond also offer these policies. Don't worry if your renewals are at different dates, their systems work with that. - Discounts on separate policies: Axa, Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege all offer discounts for multiple cars - so check, especially if they're cheapest for one of your vehicles. - Got home or other insurance with another firm? Direct Line offers discounts of usually 10% if you get more than one policy type with it. Keep an eye on Direct Line in your comparison result, and check with it. 4. Make sure the policy is right for you and complain if you're unfairly treated. As with any insurance, check the policy details to ensure it's the cover you want, and that the insurer's regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority before you buy (all those available via Compare+ are). If a claim's unfairly rejected, you can take 'em to the free Financial Ombudsman.

 

STOP PRESS. Huge car finance mis-selling news - automatic payouts likely. Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority has today (Tue) announced it plans to 'consult' (in reality, this means it's made up its mind) on making firms automatically pay car finance redress, rather than making people complain to get a payout. Millions could be owed. See Martin's video & analysis on who's affected. Ben & Jerry's ice-cream tub & two pizzas £5 (would be £14 separately). That's less than the price of the ice cream alone, all via a Co-op member card (or £6 without). Cheap night in Ends Thu. Longest 0% balance transfer deal, shift credit card debt to 33mths interest-free. A balance transfer's where you get a new card that pays off old cards for you, so you owe it instead, but at 0% for a set period. There's Barclaycard's 33mth 0% (3.45% fee), available till Thu after which the deal gets shorter, though do note it's an 'up to' card, so about one in five accepted gets its 16mth 0% back-up instead (all pre-approved via our eligibility calc get the full 33mths). Alternatively, Tesco's 32mth 0% (3.19% fee) gives ALL accepted the full time at 0%, plus has a lower fee - a winner if you find you've decent acceptance odds. Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum & clear the card before the 0% ends, or both jump to 24.9% rep APR interest. Full help in Top balance transfers. New. Teacher? You can now get a Blue Light discount card (alongside NHS & care workers), eg, Asda 5% back, Pizza Hut 25% off & more. Learn all about it... 30+ teachers' discounts and NHS/care workers' discounts. 20,000+ FREE Ideal Home Show (London) tickets, including a chance to see Martin live. From 21 March to 6 April. For how to get tickets and what days Martin's there, see Ideal Home Show. Energy Price Cap to rise by 6.4% in April, but prices after that look better? Consider a NO-RISK fix... The Energy Price Cap, which two-thirds of homes in England, Scotland & Wales are on, moves every 3mths - and we know it'll rise 6.4% in April. As the current cheapest fixes are 7% below today's Price Cap, they're massively cheaper than April's price, so use our cheapest fixes comparison to find your cheapest and ditch the Price Cap. What happens for the July Cap and beyond? Analysts' forecasts have dropped this week, and there's now a chance the price will drop in July. So there's a good halfway house... The no-risk fix: You're always free to ditch a fix, though you sometimes need to pay early exit fees of £25 to £75 per fuel. Yet this cheap EDF NO EXIT FEE 'Simply Fixed Direct' tariff* is 4.3% below the current Cap (10% below April's), and if prices do fall, you can leave penalty-free whenever. Urgent. Beat the deadline to boost your State Pension by £10,000s. Watch Martin's new basic explainer video, read our full For each £180 to £800 you pay (free for some) many gain £5,400+ explainer from last week's email or watch Martin's full show on ITVX. Did you contract out? We've added extra contracting out info to the guide. £74 summer plant bundle £15. MSE Blagged. 15,000 available. Excludes N. Ire / parts of Scot. Thompson & Morgan Martin's 60-second warning for anyone who's booked a holiday this year. Watch Martin's new holiday video. Beat yet another rise in 1st class stamps - up 5p in April. See beat stamp price rise. New Martin pod. Savings Q&A special - ISAs, Savings Tax, pay off debt or save? Plus more. A beginners' guide to understanding savings, credit cards for beginners and more in the new The Martin Lewis Podcast. Listen via BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify or wherever you get your Martin fix.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - £74 summer plant bundle for £15 15,000 available - 3mths' free access to 8,000+ mags & papers Ends 31 March	DID YOU MISS? - M&S up to 50% off clothes & home sale - Cinema deals: 5 Vue tickets £22 & more - Martin to MPs: 'Serious holes in Lifetime ISAs must be fixed' - £58 Grüum home fragrance set £18 delivered

 

 

Bad news. Chase customer? It's slashing its cashback and ending it on spending abroad. So we've new top picks... - Earn up to 5% cashback on a credit card - New top card for spending abroad - Earn up to 5% on easy-access savings When the Chase* app-only bank account burst on to the scene in 2021, it was a triple threat - the best cashback card, best for overseas spending, and the top savings rate. It's since slowly scaled its perks back, and the latest downgrade that'll hit on 7 April is a big one, shifting it from best buy to 'pretty good'. It's still worth considering, as it's easy to get (you needn't switch banks to get it, and it doesn't credit-score you) and remains competitive in multiple categories, yet those who like to be atop the best deals may want to find something new. So let us tell you the top payers in each category and how Chase now compares... 1) TOP CASHBACK CARDS: Earn 5% short-term, or 1% for longer including on bills. American Express newbies getting the Amex Everyday card can get an unbeatable 5% cashback for 5mths (normally 3mths) up to a max of £125 (normally £100). The cashback's paid after a year, provided you spend £3,000+/yr on it. As it's a credit card, only do this if you'll repay IN FULL each month, or the 30.4% rep APR interest dwarfs the cashback gain. After the 5mths, it's 0.5% on spending up to £10,000/yr and 1% above. Overall, it's a strong option for bigger spenders. See Top rewards cards for full options. What's happening to Chase cashback? Currently, Chase* pays 1% cashback on almost all daily spending, max £15/mth (after year one, you must pay in £1,500/mth to get this). From 7 April, those terms remain, but it'll only pay cashback on groceries, transport (buses, trains, ferries; NOT flights & taxis) and fuel (petrol stations & electric vehicle charging; not home chargers). A far more limited range. ALTERNATIVELY... get 1% cashback on bills too, eg, energy, broadband, Council Tax. The Santander Edge* current account charges a £3/mth fee but pays a max £20/mth cashback across two categories. Its spending categories are similar to Chase's new ones. It will credit-score you, but you needn't switch to get it, so it makes a good (joint) bills account. - 1% cashback (max £10/mth) on bills paid via it: Council Tax, water, energy, broadband, phones and paid-for TV. - 1% cashback (max £10/mth) on supermarket, fuel, train and bus spending. - It also pays 6% interest on up to £4,000 saved in its linked Edge Saver. - You can get the Edge credit card too, which pays 2% spending cashback in year one (1% after), up to a max £15/mth. There's a £3/mth fee, so you'd need to spend £1,800+ on it in year one (£3,600+ after) to make it pay. Cashback via the bank account alone could net £80/yr to £100/yr if you've average bills (if yours are bigger, check the separate Edge Up account). You need to pay in £500/mth & have 2+ Direct Debits. See Top bank accounts for full options. OR... get 0.5% spending cashback on everything with a top non-Amex credit card. For those who don't want an Amex but do want cashback on spending, the Amazon Barclaycard gives 0.5% on purchases for a year (0.25% after). You also get an Amazon voucher on acceptance (usually £20, but can vary), plus 1% cashback at Amazon for Prime members (2% on 'shopping day events', eg, Prime Day). See Top rewards cards for full options. 2) TOP CARDS FOR SPENDING ABROAD: Get near-perfect exchange rates and 0.25% cashback. Spend abroad and most plastic adds a 'non-sterling exchange rate charge' of around 3%, so you pay £103 for £100 worth of euros. Yet a few specialist cards don't charge this, meaning you get the same near-perfect exchange rate that the banks do. Barclaycard Rewards will be the only top overseas debit/credit card that still gives cashback - it pays 0.25%. Unlike some credit cards, ATM withdrawals are fee-free and - as long as you repay IN FULL each month (28.9% rep APR if not) - interest-free too. Plus, as it's a credit card, you get the stronger Section 75 spending protection abroad. See Top travel cards for full options. What's happening to Chase overseas? The Chase* debit card currently gives you near-perfect exchange rates on all overseas spending. That's staying, but from 7 April, you'll no longer get 1% cashback on spending abroad, which is what made it the standout card. It's still a good deal, but now is beatable. ALTERNATIVELY... get a FREE £175 to switch to a top overseas debit card. First Direct newbies switching to the top-for-service 1st Account* get £175, and its debit card offers near-perfect exchange rates and fee-free withdrawals. To qualify, open the account via app and switch in an account from a different bank (not HSBC) with 2+ Direct Debits/standing orders, pay in £1,000+, make 5+ payments and log on to mobile/online banking within 45 days. See full First Direct review. 3) TOP EASY-ACCESS SAVINGS: Earn up to 5%. Cash ISAs are just savings you never pay tax on & current top payers beat top normal savings, so are winners if you haven't used this year's £20,000 ISA allowance. Top is Chip's 5% AER (min £1; 4.32% standard variable + 0.68% 6mth bonus), followed via our link by Trading 212's 4.78% AER* (min £1; 4.5% standard variable + 0.28% 1yr bonus). Both are newbies-only & have slightly complex structures. See Top cash ISAs for info. The top normal easy-access rates are Monument's 4.75% AER (max 3 withdrawals/year, min £25k) and Chip's 4.6% AER (3.5% standard variable + 1.1% 6mth bonus), though it has a slightly complex structure. Prefer a more well-known name? There's Post Office's 4.4% AER* (min £1; made up of a 1.25% standard variable + a 3.15% 1yr bonus) and also Post Office's 4.4% cash ISA* (min £100; with the same bonus structure). More in Top savings. What's happened to Chase's savings rate? Chase* used to offer a market-leading savings rate, but that was one of the first elements to go. While new customers still get a decent 4.5% (made up of a 3% standard variable + a 1.5% bonus for 6mths), everyone else gets its bog-standard, easily-beatable 3% variable rate.

 

Wills, Power of Attorney and other difficult conversations... The Martin Lewis Money Show LIVE, ITV1, 8pm tonight (Tue). Martin: "I'll be joined by specialists to help answer your detailed questions. Plus a host of the latest news you can use. Do watch, or at least set the VHS." Interrail 15% off sale - unlimited travel on European trains. Eg, a 7-day pass from £205, works on multi-country and many single-country passes activated within the next 11 months. Interrail sale Used a Lifetime ISA (LISA) to save for a home / retirement? We need your help. After Martin's recent evidence to the Treasury Committee on the holes in LISAs, we're conducting further research. Please answer our quick survey. Three months' free access to 8,000+ digital mags & newspapers, eg, Grazia, Gardeners' World, Vogue. MSE Blagged. For Readly newbies & those who cancelled over six months ago. Mag-nificent How do you rate your broadband provider's customer service? This isn't about price, we can do that, but we want to know how each provider rates for service (how it treats you). Please vote in this week's poll.

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Ends Thu. Longest 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility) up to 33mths 0%, 3.45% fee, 24.9% rep APR No-fee 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility) up to 14mths 0%, 24.9% rep APR Best bank accounts Free £175 + TOP service: First Direct 1st Account Free £175 + 5% interest: Nationwide FlexDirect Broadband top picks Fast fibre (100Mb+): Vodafone '£21.71/mth' Superfast fibre (500Mb+): Sky '£28.25/mth' On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs Cheap insurance Car: Use our Compare+ Car Insurance tool Home: Try our new Compare+ Home Insurance tool Cheap loans £5,000 to £7,499: People's Choice (check eligibility), 7% rep APR (6.5% rep APR on £7,000 to £7,499) £7,500 to £25,000: People's Choice (check eligibility), 5.8% rep APR Top savings accounts Top easy-access cash ISA: Chip 5% (incl 6mth bonus), min £1 Top easy-access savings: Monument 4.75%, min £25,000 Top one-year fix: Cynergy Bank 4.58%, min £1,000 Top energy deals Use our whole-of-market Cheap Energy Club Cheap Sims 10GB to 30GB data: Lebara, '£2.12/mth' for 10GB 31GB+ data: Lebara, '£2.57/mth' for 35GB

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL How do you rate your broadband provider's customer service? This isn't about price, we can do that - we want you to rate your most recent home broadband provider's customer service over the past SIX MONTHS. Vote in this week's poll.

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: Nationwide to pay some members a free £50 bonus - see if you're eligible

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should we leave more to our younger children in our wills? We've always treated our children equally. The older ones, now in their late 40s, were fortunate enough to go to university with generous grants and their fees paid for them, so they graduated with no debt and have now almost cleared their mortgages. It's much tougher for our younger ones - for example, the youngest is 31, has student debt of over £50,000 and rents a shared flat. Should we give the younger ones a bigger share of our estate in our wills as, due to circumstances beyond their control, they have greater need? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should we leave more to our younger children? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

 

Some Mother's Day competitions... - Win a luxurious hamper - Win a candle-making experience - Win a Happy Mother's Day chocolate bar ... from the MSE Forum - Win tea, shopping and pampering in Oxford Street - Win cakes, tea cups and a book - Win a garden furniture voucher

 

 

MSE TEAM BLOG - MSE Forum highlights: Charity shop bargains, beef brisket & the best sealant

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 11 MAR ONWARDS) Tue 11 Mar - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV1, 8pm Thu 13 Mar - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, noon Tue 18 Mar - This Morning, phone-in, ITV1, 10.20am

 

 

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