Cheap medical insurance, new FREE £175, MPs… put financial ed in all schools, cheap Samsung S24 + FREE laptop, beat stamp hikes

Plus... council tax warning, cheap BT broadband, £221 Boots £65, new top 0% card, £70 Eurostar

                                                           

10 September 2024 | View in browser

Banking & Savings Household Bills Deals Insurance Cards & Loans Mortgages Income Reclaim

 

THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL How to get the cheapest medical insurance - there are two types... - 1) PMI: Where you go private - 2) Cash plans cover NHS costs & more - Plus cut prescription & medication costs It's back! FREE £175 + debt-busting 0% overdraft + 7% savings + more Martin's mis-sold car finance warning: IGNORE no win, no fee ads, use my tool 1st class stamps UP... beat the hikes Cheapest Samsung S24 '£28/mth' + FREE laptop Martin to MPs: 'Financial ed needed for EVERY child' Ends Thu. £70 Eurostar returns Urgent. A quick favour for our Martin... £221 Boots beauty for £65 New. Top 29mth 0% debt shift Easy FREE Coca-Cola Zero Ending. 145Mb BT broadband '£25/mth' Martin: Aggressive council tax debt collection warning Nationwide hikes FlexPlus fee... ditch it? 50% off preloved Zara, White Stuff etc 'Your Virgin haggling tips saved me £756' Wetherspoon 7.5% off food & drink FREE London Snow Show tix Used a LISA to buy a home, or plan to? Please take our 2min survey This week's best buys, eg, 5.01% ISA, 50GB Sim £4/mth, Cheap Energy Club I loaned my friend £1k and she isn't paying it back - what should I do? 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

How do I get the cheapest medical insurance? First know there are two types... 1) PMI: Where you go private 2) Healthcare cash plans: Less known but great for many, as it covers NHS & other costs (dental, physio etc) The NHS and its staff are true national treasures, but much as it's painful to write, the pandemic and cost of living crisis have seen it struggle - even the Prime Minister has said it's 'broken'. So it's unsurprising we're getting questions about medical insurance, both for getting treated privately, and for covering NHS costs too. According to Martin's Twitter poll last week, one in five people have private medical insurance (PMI), and one in 10 healthcare cash plans, even though the latter should likely be held by far more. So let's get into it... Private Medical Insurance (PMI) 6 tips to get best value for you/your family PMI is a policy you pay for, so that when you need medical help, you can choose to bypass the NHS and it covers the cost of private consultations, treatments and operations - be it hips, cataracts, ears etc - and sometimes mental health too. The main advantages are speed, and 'hotel-like' hospital accommodation. This is a lifestyle choice, it ain't cheap, it will be unaffordable for many, which leaves a two-tier system. And the older you are, no surprise, the costlier it gets. A healthy 25-year-old could scrape mid-£20s/mth, by 55 it may be £54/mth or more. We've a full cheap PMI guide, but here are the need-to-knows... 1) Do a comparison and get £100+ cashback. There are many comparison sites out there, but most are just 'white labels' of two actual engines (in other words they've different names, but it's roughly the same comparison under the bonnet). So we worked to get the best perks for you on top of each white label.  Both engines have many policies in common, yet as they can give different prices, it's worth checking the two... PMI comparisons plus cashback MoneySupermarket* Underlying comparison: ActiveQuote compares 9 firms & brokers (also used by Gocompare). Review: Clear summary of cover and option to specifically add/remove certain features. MSE Blagged. £120 Amazon voucher. Via this link, after your sixth monthly payment, you'll get a £120 Amazon voucher emailed to you. Max one voucher per year. Howden Life & Health* Underlying comparison: Howden Life & Health compares 13 firms (so this is the comparison direct - it also powers Confused, uSwitch, Compare The Market). Review: Shorter list of questions to get a quote, so speedier, though with a few less options. MSE Blagged. £100 cashback. Via this link, after 6 monthly payments on PMI of any value, you get £100 cashback paid into the account you pay the PMI premiums from. Annoyance alert: Both want you to put your phone number in, and may try to contact you by phone or email to discuss a quote. There's no way to opt out. It would of course be terrible if you accidentally put in a non-working phone number - we hope that doesn't happen. Are you young(ish), fit(ish) and go to the gym &/or fancy an Apple Watch? Vitality may pay for itself... Vitality Healthcare* is a PMI policy that encourages you to stay fit and active, and if you do, provides serious rewards, such as a near-free Apple Watch, and 50% off gyms. For some younger people, if you'd have spent money on those anyway, the perks may come close to nearly covering the PMI fees. The key perks are... New. Apple Watch Series 10. Vitality has long offered an Apple Watch. As the new Series 10 launched yesterday, it's told us once stock is available in a few weeks, its PMI members will be able to get the Series 10 £399 watch for an upfront payment likely to be about £39 (the SE watch for just £1). How much you pay after depends on how many 'Activity Points' you earn - so do the top level (must hit 12,500 steps for five days a week) and you DON'T PAY ANYTHING MORE. Even at lesser activity there's decent savings. Up to 50% off many Virgin, Nuffield and PureGym monthly fees. These are straight discounts, not linked to activity. While they're off the full price, and many may be able to bring that down by negotiating (see cheap gyms), this is still likely to be a big discount, and works even if you're already a member, eg, the Virgin gym in Sheffield's listed price is £64/mth, but you could get it for £32/mth. There are also discounts for Caffè Nero, Nike, Samsung and others. How to get Vitality. You've got a choice. Use our Vitality* link and you get the first 2mths free. Or go via the comparison links above, both list it, so as well as seeing how it compares to others, you can get the extra cashback too. How this could stack up... We got quotes for a 25-year-old living in London - their Vitality policy quote was £44/mth (so £528/yr). Yet if they were buying an Apple Watch anyway, that's a saving of about £120/yr on payments, and as they're already a Virgin gym member, an annual reduction in fee of about £384 - which combined is £504, more or less covering what you'd pay for the insurance. So even though Vitality is more expensive than the cheapest equivalent quote, which is between £25 and £37 a month depending on where in the country you are, if you'd use the perks, it can work out cheaper. Clearly though, to get max benefits you'll have to stick with the policy for a few years, and like all firms, your policy cost will likely rise annually. What to look at when picking a PMI policy... Comparison sites give an overview of cover, but always do a detailed look before signing up. Full help in picking a PMI policy, but do check... - Which hospitals can you use? Bigger choice = increased cost. So once you home in on a policy, check its hospital list and options - this can make a huge difference to cost (and it's really important to look at when comparing policies). - What treatments do you want to cover? Options can include improved cover for cancer and mental health. Consider what you'd be happy to use the NHS for and what you'd want to be private for. - 'Full medical underwriting' (FMU) vs 'moratorium'. With FMU, you disclose your medical history at sign-up (possibly via a check-up). Moratorium doesn't need that, but will automatically exclude pre-existing medical conditions and your claim being slower than usual. 2) Already got PMI? Be careful switching if you've already used it for treatments. PMI prices usually rise at renewal each year, so before you know it, they're far higher than when you started. So no surprise a comparison will often reveal BIG savings. This is great if you've never claimed - switch away! Yet if you've had treatments on the policy within the last five years, and the issue reoccurs within two years, a new provider will likely exclude treating it, as it's a pre-existing condition (some even say more than two years, so do check policy details). If that's an issue, you may effectively be locked in to your current provider. Then the only route is to haggle with your existing provider at renewal to see if it'll price-match the cheapest found. As Tony tweeted us: "@MartinSLewis @MoneySavingExp I saved £1,001 (35%) on a private health insurance renewal quote by haggling 🤛😄." 3) The excess matters. This is the amount you'll pay, either towards each individual claim, or better but more expensively, towards all claims per year (so once you've paid it in a year, you won't pay it again even on other claims). The amount you set the excess at has a huge impact on cost. An almost £31/mth policy with no excess reduces to £21/mth with a £500 excess. So think about at what level you'd claim and whether you're wanting a 'cover everything' policy or only a 'cover big things' policy. Go high excess if you want 'emergency only' cover One strategy is to combine a very high excess (£1,000+), therefore cheaper, policy with self-insuring, where you put cash aside each month in top savings, then if you need to pay the excess or have smaller treatments, you have the money. This way, you're covered for bigger treatments, but for the rest you're NHS or pay-as-you-go private. It works for some but does depend on circumstances, so needs some thinking. 4) PMI can be a great employment perk, even if your employer doesn't pay (as it's often cheaper), but... if you need treatment and claim, and then later decide to leave your employer, will you be able to continue your membership with the healthcare firm on the same terms? Do check. If not, you may then be stuck without being able to get a new insurer to cover that pre-existing condition. 5) Confused or can't find what you want? Use a broker. If you're confused or have conditions that make things difficult, get assistance from a member of the snappily titled Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries. These brokers can answer questions about cover, particular insurers' records, rules and more. Most are free to you, because they take commission from insurers if you get a policy. Though check how and if they'll charge before you get the advice. 6) Feel your claim's been unfairly rejected? Go to the ombudsman. Picking the right policy is only half the journey - it needs to deliver when you need to claim, too. But it's more difficult to predict how it'll perform. So it's worth knowing, like all insurance, that these are regulated policies where you have a legal right to be TREATED FAIRLY. If not, make a formal complaint, and if it still doesn't stack up, you can take it to the free Financial Ombudsman Service to adjudicate. Healthcare cash plans Worth everyone considering, especially if you wear specs/contacts With a healthcare cash plan, if you shell out for NHS or private treatments, you then send off the receipt and it gives you the cash back up to an annual limit (the more you pay, the bigger the limit). So say you spend £140 on dental treatment, it could give you the full £140 back. Few have heard of these, but MANY should consider them. These can work by themselves or alongside PMI. Full help in Healthcare cash plans, but let us take you through what you need to know... 1) If you or your family wear contacts/glasses and get annual dental check-ups, cash plans are likely a winner. With the top policies, if you'll max the claim back just on these two categories, you get back more than the policy costs, so owt else is a bonus, and you can also usually claim on... - Therapies (physio, chiropody, osteopathy, acupuncture) - Consultants & tests (physician/surgeon & PET, CT or MRI scans) - A payment each day you're in hospital (even if you don't pay anything) - A payment for maternity or paternity - Some providers cover a portion of prescription charges - Health screening - Personal accident For example, with UK Healthcare, one of our top picks for individuals... So tot up how much you currently spend on routine appointments, and calculate what you'd get back as a rough valuation of whether it'll be worth it. 2) The top healthcare cash plans. There are no comparison sites we know of, so to try and help, we've calculated which plans give the highest potential payout compared to cost. We think that gives a decent but imperfect model of the best policies, yet it'll always depend on what you actually claim: - The top 4 healthcare policies for INDIVIDUALS - The top 4 policies for COUPLES - The top 4 policies for FAMILIES INCLUDING CHILDREN - The top 4 policies for INDIVIDUALS OVER AGE 65 If you're an employee, it's also worth checking with your employer if it offers a work-based policy. These can be extremely good value - bulk-buying power means firms can negotiate big discounts. And with all policies, always check the terms in detail before signing up. 3) If you WON'T remember to claim, DON'T bother with a policy. Apathetic customers - who pay but don't claim - keep plan providers' coffers healthy. Yet if you always claim, you can turn the odds in your favour. To claim, you'll have to fill in a form and send receipts each time. Though if admin fails are part of your DNA, don't bother with cash plans. 4) You don't usually require a medical (if under 65), and pre-existing conditions may be discounted. Look carefully at policies. Some will exclude any claims based on pre-existing conditions, but others, including top picks Sovereign Healthcare and UK Healthcare, won't exclude ongoing dental and optical issues (though may exclude other pre-existing conditions for a period of time).  Even if pre-existing conditions are excluded, most usually play fair, so if you've had a shoulder injury, this wouldn't usually stop you from claiming physio treatment if you get a bad knee. 5) Most firms have a 'qualifying period', so you can't usually claim for treatment in the first one to six months (or 10 months for childbirth claims). This means you can't claim anything in that time. It's done to stop people joining for specific known conditions and then cancelling - firms want these to be longer-term policies. PS: As with PMI, healthcare cash plans are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (all the ones we mention are - do double-check first if you're going elsewhere), so you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman if you feel your claim has been treated unfairly. Cut the cost of prescriptions & medications The medical savings don't stop there, so while we're on about it, here are a couple of other things it's worth looking at: Cut prescription costs - are you one of 100,000s overpaying? Many people pay for prescriptions in England when they needn't - either because they're due them free, or they're cheaper over the counter. Even if you need to pay, as you get a lot of prescriptions, you'll find prepay prescription certificates can slash the cost, plus you may find it cheaper to buy over the counter than to use your prescription for some medications. Check the magic code on ALL over-the-counter medicines. While most good MoneySavers will know it's the active ingredients in medications that count, ie, generic does the same job as much costlier branded equivalents, you can take this a step further by checking out the PL code.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

It's back! The five-perks-in-one bank switch 1) FREE £175 cash 2) Debt-busting 0% overdraft 3) Top customer service 4) 7% savings 5) Fee-free spending abroad The bank switch market has been weak for a while, but now First Direct's 1st Accounts's* free cash switch bonus has returned, finally we can say there's a corking deal. Switching bank is usually easy & hassle-free. You just do it (in fact, you must do it) via their 7-working-day switch service, which sorts it all for you. It moves across all your money, Direct Debits & standing orders, closes your old account, and auto-forwards any payments to it to the new account. You usually must pass a not-too-harsh credit check too. Full info & other options in Best bank accounts, but here's the latest... New. FREE £175 First Direct switch plus £250 0% overdraft, 7% linked saver & more. New customers who switch a current account to First Direct's 1st Account* will be paid a £175 bonus. First Direct's been top or near-top of every bank customer service poll we've ever run - it scored 91% 'great' in our July poll, plus you get these perks... A £250 0% overdraft: good for anyone who dips into their overdraft. Overdrafts are a danger debt. Almost all now charge around 40% interest, far more than a typical high street credit card. If you have one or dip into it, minimising it is a priority. First Direct will let many switch banks when overdrawn, and the first £250 is interest-free (above that, it's the standard 40%) - use the bank's eligibility checker before applying to see if you'll get it (click on First Direct*, then the checker's within the 'How our overdraft works' dropdown). Plus there's the £175 bonus, which can reduce what you owe, eg, if you're overdrawn by £425, the free switch cash pays some off, the rest's interest-free. Even if you've a bigger overdraft, unless you've already got a special deal, you should be up. Much more help, and other options, in our Cut overdraft charges guide. A year's linked 7% AER fixed regular saver on up to £300/mth. Regular savers are accounts designed for you to put smaller amounts in each month, in return for higher interest. First Direct offers the highest rate over a year, but only if you've its current account. Max it out, you get £136 interest at the end of the year. You must contribute a minimum £25/mth, and can't withdraw money until the year's out (in an emergency you can close it earlier to withdraw, but you sacrifice interest to do so). More info in Regular savings. Near-perfect exchange rates on spending overseas. The debit card doesn't add a foreign exchange fee when you spend abroad - so you get the same near-perfect exchange rate the bank does - plus ATM withdrawals are fee-free (though the ATM itself may still charge). That means it makes our list of the Top cards for travelling abroad. How to qualify for the free £175. The money will be paid into the account by the 20th of the following month after all these qualifying criteria are complete... Open a 1st Account*, then, within 45 days: switch over an existing account with 2+ Direct Debits or standing orders, pay in £1,000+ (you can withdraw it the next day), make 5+ debit card payments, and log in at least once to its online/mobile banking. You CAN'T have had any First Direct account before, be switching from HSBC (its parent bank), nor have opened an HSBC current account after 1 Jan 2018. BOOST the gain and get 1% cashback on all spending... On top of First Direct, or any bank account, you can get the fee-free, app-only Chase current account*. This doesn't do a hard credit-check, nor do you need to switch to it, which is why it's easily usable as a second account. The big perk is you get 1% cashback (max £15/mth) on most normal debit card spending. So just use First Direct as your main account, but put some spending money in Chase, and you get up to £180/yr cashback on top. Full info in our Chase bank review.

 

1st class stamps UP AGAIN by another 30p from 7 Oct - beat the hike. See beat stamp rise. Cheapest Samsung S24 deal ('£28/mth') with 100GB/mth AND get FREE Chromebook laptop worth £200. MSE Blagged. Newbies to iD Mobile (on Three's network) can get the latest Galaxy S24 (marketed as 'the AI one'), with a huge 100GB/mth of data, for £89 upfront (enter our Blagged code IDM10OFF), then £24/mth, so a total of £665 over the two-year contract - cheaper than the £799 Samsung charges if you buy the handset alone. PLUS you can CLAIM a Chromebook laptop from Samsung worth £200 with this deal. Want a different phone/network? See Cheap Mobile Finder. Martin tells MPs loudly and plainly 'we need financial education in EVERY school for EVERY child'. Watch Martin's full-on speech to an all-party group of MPs & peers at Parliament yesterday (Mon). Related: Free financial education textbook | Free MSE Academoney | Free financial education resources. Ends Thu. £70 Eurostar returns (plus get extra 5% off). For travel 24 Sept to 27 Nov. Your(o) star deal Ends tomorrow (Wed) midday: A quick favour for our Martin... It's the National Television Awards tomorrow night, Martin's up in two categories, so if he's helped you save, as there's tough competition, pls vote for him (page 6 for his show in factual entertainment & page 10 for top TV expert - do click to the end or it won't count). A win would reinforce to broadcasters how important consumer journalism on prime-time TV really is. £65 Boots beauty Advent calendar gives £221 of skincare. Or pay £99 and get £325 of skincare & make-up (our valuations based on items bought separately). A good way to get the products cheaper, many buy them then split them up to give as gifts. Boots Advent calendars New. Top balance transfer 29mth 0% (3.5% fee) - check if you can shift debt to it. A reminder of Martin's credit card cost-cutting masterclass (incl poor credit) from last week, which told you of the new MBNA 29mth 0% balance transfer that lets you shift existing card debt(s) to it for a one-off 3.5% fee. It's an 'up to' though, meaning some could get 14mths interest-free - in which case other cards beat it. Do read the masterclass for full help. Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum & clear the card before the 0% ends or it jumps to 24.9% rep APR. Easy FREE Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (normally £2 to £4). Claim a free Coke Zero at Tesco and Co-op supermarkets. Ends Thu. Fast 145Mb BT broadband '£25/mth'. Via Broadband Genie, BT newbies pay nowt for 3mths for this broadband only package (no phone line), then £34/mth. Plus you can CLAIM (don't forget) a £70 Amazon, Tesco or M&S voucher AND a £50 prepaid Mastercard. Factor 'em in, and it's equivalent to £24.75/mth over the 2yr contract. Not the cheapest, but we know many prefer a big name, and BT scored well in our service poll. See all deals: MSE's broadband tool. Martin: 'Warning, council tax debt collection is so aggressive banks'd blush - change is needed.' Miss a monthly payment and within three weeks some councils demand you pay the whole year (as if people who've missed payments can afford that). Fail to do that and bailiffs can be sent in just a few weeks later. No consumer debt firm would be allowed to be so harsh. New research from Martin's charity the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute shows that up to two million people with mental health problems are at risk of harm caused by aggressive council tax debt collection. Watch Martin's council tax debt collection - change is needed explainer.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - Samsung S24 + 'free' Chromebook '£28/mth' Ends 17 Sept	DID YOU MISS? - Fly for under a fiver? Tickets to Faro, Split & Corfu for £5 or less - Top 5.25% savings - but 90 days' notice needed to withdraw - FREE visits to 5,000+ historic buildings & heritage sites - Don't put bananas in the fridge... - Ends Thu. TWO branded prescription specs £25

 

 

Martin's warning: You may be due £1,000s back having unwittingly been MIS-SOLD CAR FINANCE. Yet ignore ads pushing no win, no fee firms. It's easy and speedy to do yourself via my completely FREE tool Turn on the radio or social media and you'll be hard pressed to miss ads pushing you to do a no win, no fee car finance claim. Yet do that and, if you're due a payout, you'll lose up to 50% of it. Pointless! Our free complaints tool - which I drafted after talking to lawyers, then confirmed with the big firms that they'd accept it and respond - does it for you. Already 2.3m complaints have been submitted through it, such as Catherine's - she emailed us after: "Your online tool is brilliant. I have submitted 6 'claims', yes 6 - and I did it only because of how easy, clear and simple you made it." The story so far... Back in January, the financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), launched a formal investigation, meaning it thought there was a substantial likelihood of car finance mis-selling, and it can now use beefy powers to force its way into firms and gather evidence. We were expecting its ruling this month, but that's been knocked back to May 2025. Disappointing, but the FCA told me this signals that the chance of consumers getting money back for mis-selling is now MORE LIKELY - though the finance firms are unsurprisingly fighting it hard. 1. Did you buy a car, van, camper van or motorbike on finance? Get a complaint in ASAP. Our car finance reclaiming guide takes you through it step-by-step, but in a nutshell, you may be able to claim £1,000s back due to HIDDEN Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCAs) on your policy. These DCAs are where finance firms let car dealers pump up interest rates, without customers being told, and then bunged 'em extra commission if they did. This likely meant many OVERPAID WITHOUT KNOWING and may be due a predicted average £1,100 back. It's for motor vehicles: Cars, vans, motorbikes & camper vans (not static caravans). Key dates: It's for finance taken out between April 2007 & 28 January 2021. It's on two finance types: Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) and Hire Purchase (HP). It's doesn't work for leased car finance. Personal Contract Hires (ie, leasing) aren't included. It's about vehicles for personal use: That includes commuting, but not biz use. It applies even if the person has passed away: The relevant executor or beneficiary can claim on their behalf. It applies even if the vehicle's paid off: And/or you no longer own it. If that all stacks up for you... it's time to put in a complaint. There's no way for you to know if you had a DCA without complaining. That's why our complaint tool does two things: It formally asks the finance company if your policy had a DCA (in our recent survey, of the 60% who told us they'd got a final response, 74% had been told they had a DCA) If you did have a DCA, it then asks the firm to log it as a mis-selling complaint. The key to all this is to get a complaint in ASAP, as it's possible when the ruling comes there may be a time bar introduced, and the sooner you log a complaint may mean the less chance you'll be excluded due to that. Once your complaint is logged, then it's a waiting game until the FCA rules in May 2025. Key resources to check whether you're eligible & then to complain Car finance mis-selling FREE TOOL & guide My (Martin's) video explainer | My BBC Car finance mis-selling pod (from 10m 30s), also via Apple / Spotify etc (These were recorded before the deadline was shifted from Sept to May, but are still relevant in other ways) 2. Already complained? What you do next... The millions who've used the tool since we launched it have unsurprisingly had a mixed bag of responses, so I've had huge numbers of 'What next?' questions. Yet please bear in mind these are uncharted waters, and we won't have full facts until May next year, so in some cases I'm making best guesses based on experience from the past mass-reclaim campaigns I've run. Here are the main scenarios, though there are more in the full What next? help section in the guide... It says 'you DID have a DCA'. Great, your complaint is logged, you've done all you need to for now. Unless it requests any further info, get on with your life until May 2025. It says 'your car finance DIDN'T have a DCA'. You weren't overcharged, so that's good, but it means no payout is possible, so shrug your shoulders and forget it. (PS: You may've been mis-sold car finance in other ways though). Some, such as Josie, ask: "How do we know they're being honest?" Well, barring data errors, it'd be staggering if a firm lied amid a regulatory investigation, and there'd likely be huge fines once discovered, so we must assume honesty. It has only 'acknowledged your complaint'. This is frustrating, especially if you sent it months ago. Yet crucially it means your complaint is logged. Find out how car finance firms are responding, according to our survey, to get a feel for whether your delay is normal for the firm (if so, 'it's them, not you') or whether you're an outlier - if the latter, you may want to chase it up. It hasn't replied at all. If you complained over a month ago, i) check your email sent box that it did send, ii) check your junk mail for replies, iii) check the email address you sent it to. If all of those are good, see if yours is an isolated incident for the firm - in which case, resend. Or if you're one of many waiting - as seemed common with Ford and Close Brothers earlier this year, from the limited number of responses we had on them - have a private swear, but wait a little longer. It says 'we need more info' or 'we can't find your info'. If it wants more info, often as you've moved home since you took out the agreement, this is legit - see our it wants more info help. If you've given it all the info you can, and it can't locate you, it's trickier. The FCA says firms should make serious endeavours to find policies - certainly if you've documentary evidence of a policy and it doesn't, it'll likely be pushed to settle later (if that's what's ordered), based on 'what happened with others in similar circumstances'. If not, it depends how long ago it was you took out the finance. If your car finance was active (so not paid off) within the last six years, it should have details. If it was longer ago, it could become harder, but it should try. If not, it's another 'wait until May 2025', when harder rules on disclosure are likely to come out (I'll update then).

 

Nationwide to hike FlexPlus packaged bank account fee by £60/yr - ditch & switch? See Nationwide news. 50% off code for preloved Zara, White Stuff & more clothing. Works on a £25+ spend at used clothes site Thrift+. 'I saved £756 using your Virgin Media haggling tips.' Our success of the week comes from Phil, who said: "Thanks. I followed your how to haggle down broadband costs guidance and renegotiated my Virgin Media contract for broadband, phone and TV. I went through retentions, turned down their offer of £129/mth, and they put me through to a UK team. They offered £94/mth. I told them my wife was looking for a better price, so we settled on £87/mth, saving £756 over the next 18 months." If we've helped you save (on this or owt else), send us your successes. Wetherspoon pubs ONE DAY 7.5% off food & drink. Full info: Wetherspoon discount. Please be Drinkaware. FREE London Snow Show tix (norm £18). For snow sport enthusiasts, 19 to 20 Oct, 5,000 available. A nice saving Used a Lifetime ISA (LISA) to buy a home, or plan to? We want to hear from you. Take our quick survey.

 

 

Tell your friends about us They can get this email free every week

 

 

AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: MBNA (check eligibility, MBNA's asked us to link only to our eligibility calc) up to 29mths 0%, 3.48% fee (24.9% rep APR) No-fee 0%: NatWest (check eligibility, NatWest's asked us to link only to our eligibility calc) 13mths 0% (24.9% rep APR) Best bank accounts Free £175 + top service: First Direct 1% cashback on bills and spending (£3/mth fee): Santander Broadband top picks Fast fibre (100Mb+): Virgin '£20.95/mth' Superfast fibre (500Mb+): Vodafone '£26.25/mth' On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs Car insurance Try our Compare+ Car Insurance tool Cheap loans Cheapest for £5,000 to £7,499: Santander (check eligibility / apply*), 7.2% rep APR Cheapest for £7,500 to £15,000: Tesco Bank (check eligibility / apply*), 6.1% rep APR (for Clubcard holders) Top savings accounts Top easy access: Santander-owned Cahoot's 4.85%, min £1 Top cash ISA: App-based Chip 5.01%, min £1 Top one-year fix: Close Brothers 4.92%, min £10,000 Top energy deals Try our relaunched Cheap Energy Club Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£2.92/mth' for 3GB 4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.23/mth' for 5GB 10GB to 30GB data: Lebara, '£3.97/mth' for 15GB 31GB+ data: iD Mobile, '£4.09/mth' for 50GB

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL How much did you spend on school uniform for your child this summer? The start of the new school year is always a scramble to ensure uniforms fit (and are allowed by school policies). It can be an expensive exercise, and this week we want to know how much you had to spend this year. Vote in this week's poll.  Most MoneySavers say they have a will. In last week's poll, we asked you if you had a will, and if not, why not. Of the more than 7,000 people who responded, three in five (61%) said they do have a will - although about 15% of those admitted that theirs isn't up to date. Of those without one, 'not getting round to it' was the most common reason why. See the full poll results (and for help getting one, see our Cheap and free wills guide).

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: State pension set to rise by up to £460 a year - but Martin Lewis has two warnings on it for pensioners

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA I loaned my friend £1,000 and she isn't paying it back - what should I do? I've often loaned my friend money when she's been short, and she's always paid me back over a few months. This time, she borrowed £1,000 - but two weeks later, she asked if she could pay me £20 a month. I have a deteriorating medical condition, and this may be my final year - which she knows, so she must realise it'd take over four years to pay back and that I might not live to see it. I told her I was upset and felt used, and she paid me £50, but there's been no word and no more money since. My daughter thinks I should write it off for the sake of my mental health, but a friend thinks I should tell her husband, who doesn't know about the loans, to try and get it back from him. What would you do? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I ask my friend to pay back the money I loaned her, or let it go? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

 

 

MSE TEAM BLOG - MSE Forum highlights: Carpet moths, changing a bathroom & collectable coins

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 10 SEPT ONWARDS) Thu 12 Sept - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm Tue 17 Sept - This Morning, extended phone-in, ITV1, from 10am MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECT TBC) Wed 11 Sept - Look North with MSE's Gary Caffell, BBC One (Yorkshire), from 6.30pm

 

TIME TO 'HAVE A BREAK'? OR GOT 'A TIGER IN YOUR TANK'? DO YOU KNOW THESE MEMORABLE TAG LINES? That's all for this week, but before we go... last week, John Lewis brought back its 'Never Knowingly Undersold' price pledge. That got us thinking - what other tag lines are so memorable you know the brand straightaway? MoneySavers contributed in their 100s - so... how many of these do you remember? We'll start easy with 'The best a man can get', 'Good things come to those who wait' and 'It does exactly what it says on the tin'. But maybe you'll need to reach back a bit further into the memory banks to get 'Tell them about the honey, mummy!', 'Re-record, not fade away' and 'Watch out, there's a Humphrey about!' Let us know which great tag lines we've missed in our Facebook, Twitter and Threads conversations. We hope you save some money, The MSE team

 

Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com works We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of this email and the site. We're a journalistic website, and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques - but can't promise to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong. What you need to know This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service. We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned, how likely they are to go bust, but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the Section 75 guide for protection tips). We often link to other websites, but can't be responsible for their content. Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion. Please read the Full Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, How This Site is Financed and Editorial Code. Martin Lewis is a registered trade mark belonging to Martin S Lewis. More about MoneySavingExpert and Martin Lewis What is MoneySavingExpert.com? Founded in February 2003, it is now the UK's biggest consumer help website, with more than 12 million users each month and about 8.5 million receiving this email. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple - saving cash and fighting for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 80 full-time staff, more than a third of whom are editorial - researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE. Who is Martin Lewis? Martin Lewis CBE is the founder and executive chair of MSE, as well as the founder of the MMHPI charity. He's an ultra-focused MoneySaving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own prime-time ITV programme The Martin Lewis Money Show, Radio 5 Live Wednesday show Ask Martin Lewis and weekly slot on This Morning, among others. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography. What do the links with an * mean? Any links with an * by them are affiliated, which means get a product via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference; the links don't impact the products at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to them. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in the same way. More info: See How This Site is Financed. As we believe transparency is important, we're including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for content too: Unaffiliated web-addresses for links in this email moneysupermarket.com, howdenlifeandhealth.co.uk, vitality.co.uk, firstdirect.com, chase.com, santander.co.uk, tescobank.com Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Note MONY Group Financial Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA FRN: 303190). MoneySavingExpert.com Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration Number: 8021764. Registered office: One Dean Street, London, W1D 3RB. MoneySavingExpert.com Limited is an appointed representative of MONY Group Financial Limited. To change your email or stop receiving the weekly tips (unsubscribe): Go to: www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips.