End of the £20,000 cash ISA?; get £100s energy credit back; DEFINITE 32mth 0%; Sky TV '£13/mth'; year's 2for1 at 380 gardens; Kärcher 20%

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL End of the £20,000/yr cash ISA? - BEST-BUY easy-access ISAs: get 5% - BEST-BUY fixed cash ISAs: get 4.3% - Boost existing ISA rates - Cash ISAs are not the only fruit New. DEFINITE 32mth 0% debt shift Get £100s of energy credit back Does Trump mean cheaper energy bills? Ends Sun. FREE £30 on top bills account A YEAR'S 2for1 at 380+ gardens New. Get FREE £50 for investing £100+ Veg price war: 1kg carrots 8p etc Kärcher 20% off EVERYTHING code New. Sky Stream (+ Netflix) '£13/mth' What's the best value pack of mini eggs? 'I got £852 student loan refund - thanks' MSE's day-by-day cinema deal tracker How to avoid new HyperJar £3/mth fee 200+ FREE museums & galleries Club Lloyds card now free to use abroad £25 cashback on £50+ B&Q spend This week's best buys: 5.8% loan, 150Mb fast fibre '£22/mth', 50GB Sim '£3/mth' Money Moral Dilemma: Should our neighbour pay us for taking his parcels? BEST BUYS & TOOLS MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club including free credit report 0% balance transfers Compare broadband deals MSE Car Insurance Compare+ 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

New tax year, new tax-free ISA allowance Is the £20,000 cash ISA limit taking its final breaths? It's rumoured the Chancellor will cut the limit to £4,000 later in 2025. Got savings? Using your allowance sooner is likely safer. Earn over 5% tax-free. Best buys below The new tax year is here, so you've a brand new £20,000 ISA allowance to shelter savings & investments from tax. I know I talked about this a fortnight ago, but that was so last (tax) year. Yet while the tax year is new, 'ISA season' is already getting old - we're close to the end of the usual short period where firms boost ISA deals to win business while demand is high. Let me take you through it... How ISAs work | BEST-BUY easy-access cash ISAs | BEST-BUY fixed cash ISAs | How savings tax works | Boost existing ISA rates | FAQs | Lifetime ISAs, Junior ISAs, Shares ISAs Why sorting sooner is likely safer... The Chancellor has been evaluating cutting the cash ISA allowance - rumours say to as low as £4,000 - and if that does happen, it's thought it'd likely be announced in the Autumn Budget (though with so much current uncertainty, anything could or couldn't happen, at any time). The concept behind it is that it'd encourage people to put the money in shares ISAs instead (personally, I'm sceptical if it'd work - many will just keep saving but pay more tax). Of course, everything is pure supposition - I doubt any firm decision has been made yet. But if it happens as rumoured, it WOULDN'T impact money already in cash ISAs, it'd just cut what you can put in, in future. Whether it'd start immediately, or in January or April 2026, no one knows (including at this point, I suspect, Rachel Reeves). Yet if you plan to save in a cash ISA, all of this would suggest getting it in sooner would seem safer. Your money is often nicer in an ISA Each tax year, every UK adult (aged 18+) currently gets a £20,000 ISA allowance to put money away tax-free in savings via a top cash ISA, or in investments via a shares ISA. You can have all £20,000 in one, or split it across both types (there are other niche ISA types too). If you don't use this year's ISA allowance, you lose it when the tax year ends (ie, it can't be carried over), which will be 5 April 2026 for this tax year. Yet once it's in an ISA, it stays tax-free year after year, so some who've maxed out every year's allowance have £100,000s protected from tax. So as the last tax year ended just over a week ago... If you put money in an ISA last tax year, even only just before 5 April, you can now put up to another £20,000 in, as it's a new tax year. Understanding how ISAs work is a piece of cake... (No apologies, this has been my go-to analogy since 2001, so just gateau-ver it! Also, watch my why ISAs are a piece of cake video explainer) Picture a cake, let's say a chocolate cake for cash savings (though it could equally be a strawberry cake for shares). Normally it's just sitting there, so the tax collector can come and take a bite (of your interest). But think of an ISA wrapper like a protective piece of clingfilm you can wrap around some of the cake. Once your cash is inside, nothing changes - the cash in savings is still cash in savings (so a cash ISA is just a savings account), the only difference is... now the tax collector can't eat any. Our full ISA guide has a detailed Q&A. The top cash ISAs Savings accounts that are NEVER taxed A cash ISA is just a savings account you can put up to £20,000 in per tax year where the interest is NEVER taxed (savings themselves aren't taxed, but interest earnt on them is taxable). Just like normal savings, they can be easy-access, notice or fixed accounts, the only difference is they're inside a tax wrapper. The interest earnt in it DOESN'T count towards your personal savings allowance (the interest you can earn tax-free each year from any form of savings) either, so a cash ISA is an extra allowance... more on how savings are taxed below. The team have updated the tables below for me at the last moment before we send the email, as rates can change rapidly. Click the guide links at each column's top where we'll update any changes. Top easy-access savings (AERs) All these are variable rate, ie, the rate can change, so monitor them  Top cash ISAs Top normal savings Top rates (all unlimited withdrawals) - Trading 212* 5.04% variable (min £1). The rate includes a year's 0.54% newbie bonus. - Moneybox 5.03% variable (min £500). Includes a year's 1.03% newbie bonus. - Tembo 4.8% variable (app only, min £10). Transfers in will be delayed. Some top BIGGER names - Leeds BS 4.41% variable (min £1,000). Unlimited withdrawals. - Skipton BS 4.35% variable (min £1). Only allows four penalty-free withdrawals a year. - Marcus (owned by Goldman Sachs)* 4.3% variable (min £1). Rate includes a year's 0.49% newbie bonus. Unlimited withdrawals. - Post Office* 4.05% variable (min £100). The rate includes a year's 2.8% bonus. Effectively a year's minimum rate guarantee, but then it'll plummet, so be ready to ditch & transfer then. Unlimited withdrawals. Top rate - Atom Bank 4.75% variable (app only, no min), though the rate falls to 3% in any month you withdraw. - Charter Savings 4.59% variable (min £1). Unlimited withdrawals. Some top BIGGER names - Leeds BS 4.41% variable (min £1,000). Unlimited withdrawals. - Marcus (owned by Goldman Sachs)* 4.3% variable (min £1). The rate includes a year's 0.49% newbie bonus. Unlimited withdrawals. - Yorkshire BS* 4.1% variable (min £1). Unlimited withdrawals. - Post Office* 4.05% variable (min £100). The rate includes a year's 2.8% bonus. Effectively a year's minimum rate guarantee, but then it'll plummet, so be ready to ditch & transfer then. Unlimited withdrawals. Higher rates, due to short-term newbie bonuses Some firms are playing the best-buy tables via short-term rate hikes. So as most save for longer periods, I've asked the team to calculate the 'effective rate over 1yr', ie, the average rate you'd get if you kept the savings in there (yet these are still 'variable' as the underlying rate can change). Cash ISAs... - Moneybox 4.2% variable + 3mth newbie 1.51% bonus, so 5.71% (online/app, min £500). Effective rate over 1yr: 4.6% variable - Plum 3.54% variable + 3mth newbie 2.14% bonus, so 5.68% (app only, min £1). Effective rate over 1yr: 4.1% variable Normal savings... - Chip 3.5% variable + 3mth 1.1% bonus, so 4.6% (app only, min £1). Effective rate over 1yr: 3.77% variable PS: Since we drafted the table and started pushing back on the short-term bonuses, two of the main providers offering them have now changed to much-longer one-year bonuses. Top easy-access cash ISA rates currently BEAT top normal savings. This used to be unusual, but over the last year it's become commonplace. So even if you won't pay tax on interest, if you want easy access, you may as well save in a cash ISA as the rates are higher. For those who will pay tax on savings interest, the impact is heightened. The top cash ISA standard rate is 4.8% - compare that to what you'd get in the top 4.75% savings rate after tax... - 3.8% after basic 20% tax - 2.85% after higher 40% tax - 2.61% after higher 45% tax Top fixed-rate savings (AERs) The boon here is your rate is locked in, they CAN'T drop it Top fixed cash ISAs   Withdrawal interest penalties Top fixed savings Money can't be withdrawn early 1-year fixes UBL UK 4.31% (min £2k) Zopa 4.3% (min £1) Bigger name  Santander 4.25% (min £500) Cynergy 4.65% (min £1k) Family BS 4.64% (min £10k) Bigger names MBNA 4.3% (min £2k) NS&I 4.05% (min £500) 2-year fixes Progressive BS 4.3% (min £500) UBL UK 4.26% (min £2k) Bigger name Santander 4.1% (min £1) Close Brothers 4.58% (min £10k) Cynergy Bank 4.57% (min £1k) Bigger name  NS&I 4% (min £500) Nationwide 4% (min £1) Fixed cash ISAs have an advantage over normal fixes. Top fixed cash ISA rates are lower than normal savings rates. Of course, for those who'd pay tax on the interest (or want to protect money in case they will in future), they're still far better. If not though, on rate alone, normal savings win. Yet while normal fixed savings require you to lock the money away to get the guaranteed rate of interest, cash ISAs can't lock your savings away, even in fixes. So you can access your money, normally by closing the account, though you will need to pay an interest-rate penalty (90 or 180 days of interest, or more for longer fixes). So if you're mostly happy to lock money away, but there's a slim chance you'll need to access it, cash ISA fixes are a get-out-of-jail-free card. Will you pay tax on your savings? How savings tax really works Your savings interest is subject to Income Tax, but whether you need to pay that depends on what you earn. Understanding how this works is crucial for working out where to put your savings. My how savings tax works video takes you through it, but let me give you a brief rundown... On a very low income? You can usually earn up to £12,570/yr from earnings (work or pensions or other income) and interest combined before paying any Income Tax. Low earnings & savings interest. The starting rate for savings means some can earn up to £18,570 of earnings and interest combined without paying tax on it (the link explains how it works). Basic 20% or higher 40% rate taxpayers. Most people who pay tax on income get a personal savings allowance (PSA). This is the amount you can earn each year from any form of savings, without paying tax on it... - Basic 20% rate taxpayers can earn £1,000 interest a tax year. - Higher 40% rate taxpayers can earn £500 interest a tax year. - Top 45% rate taxpayers do not get a PSA. In practice, you'd currently need around £20,000 at the top savings rate to generate £1,000 interest, so only basic-rate taxpayers with more are taxed. For higher-rate taxpayers, you'd need £10,000 at that rate to generate £500 interest. Cash ISA interest doesn't count towards the starting savings rate or the personal allowances you get, so if you're going to pay tax, protecting it in an ISA is a crucial extra allowance. The only other main form of tax-free savings are Premium Bonds - though rather than an annual allowance, that's a maximum £50,000. See Are Premium Bonds worth it? Already got cash ISAs? Most can massively boost the interest Many with old cash ISAs either had poor rates to begin with, or have seen the rate plummet after the first year or so. Check your rate now. If it's worse than those above, ditch & switch! To do that, don't just withdraw the money, as then it's no longer within an ISA. Instead, transfer it. This is an especially good time to do it, as you can usually combine a transfer with opening a cash ISA for this tax year - though you don't need to be doing that to do a transfer. All the best-buy cash ISAs above allow ISA transfers in. To transfer to a higher-rate cash ISA. Open a new one, and on the application form it will ask you about transferring cash ISAs (you can do this whether or not you're also adding new savings). You can transfer some of your old cash ISAs over, or all of the money held in them - it's your choice. Once you've applied for the transfer, it'll move your savings over, usually within a few weeks. There are no tax-year deadlines on transfers, as your money is already in an ISA. Already got an ISA you want to transfer it into? If it allows transfers (you'll need to check), just ask for a form to do it. Simon emailed us last year: "Dear Martin & team. Many thanks for your help & advice on your weekly emails. I've just moved all my previous ISAs into one & at a much better rate (which I didn't realise you could do with relative ease), as explained on your excellent website, & am now £725/yr better off!" Got a fixed-rate cash ISA? Check if you can ditch, switch & gain. If your fixed rate is low compared to the best today, you still have an option. You can transfer it to a new provider and pay your current fixed ISAs' interest-rate penalty for early withdrawal. Our fixed-rate cash ISA switch calculator works out if it's worth it for you. Frequently asked cash ISA questions I know many of you will still have questions, so let me try to include answers to some of the most common ones I get. More in our ISA guides. Q. Is the interest paid into an ISA part of your £20,000 cap? No. Any interest paid stays within the ISA wrapper, but doesn't form part of your £20,000 limit. The limit is on what YOU put into the ISA each tax year. You didn't put the interest in, the savings provider did. So you're fine. Q. If you can choose between receiving interest monthly or annually, which is best? If you want to access the cash, monthly is best because you can access it more regularly. If not, there's no difference. I suspect you're asking me because the same account will list different rates, eg, one 1yr fix pays 4.52% annually or 4.43% monthly. This is a technical, not a real, difference. The annual rate includes compound interest. The monthly rate has to assume you withdraw the interest each month, so you don't get interest on the interest. If you don't withdraw it, it would compound and you'd have the same amount. Q. Is it worth opening a cash ISA even if you aren't going to use your full allowance of £20,000? It's just a savings account you don't pay tax on, so if the rate is higher than normal savings, even if you won't pay tax on interest, then put what you have in there. It may also mean that if you did come into more money in future, you've got more room to protect that too. Q. Can I have multiple different cash ISAs in the same tax year? Yes. You've always been able to from past years' ISAs, but since April 2024, you've been able to open more than one in the current year too, (eg, a fix and an easy-access) just as long as you're not putting in more than £20,000 in total, though whether a provider will allow you to open two types with it is up to its own rules. Q. Is it worth combining all my old cash ISAs into one place? Yes, then they can all be with the top payer. Plus it makes it far easier administratively, as then they're all together, and if the rate drops in future, it's simpler to transfer in one go. There are two main exceptions... - If you wanted different types on the go (say, easy-access and a fix). - If the total is over the £85,000 savings safety limit, in which case you may want to spread it across a couple of providers. Cash ISAs are not the only fruit... Lifetime ISAs, Junior ISAs, Shares ISAs A new tax year means all your ISA allowances have restarted... LIFETIME ISAs (LISAs): Saving for your first home? Get up to £1,000/yr on top. A LISA is a powerful tool for first-time buyers' savings (even if you're buying with someone who's owned before). You can save up to £4,000 each tax year and the state adds 25%, so a max £1,000 free cash every tax year. For detailed step-by-step help and best buys, read the Top Lifetime ISAs guide. Though I've four basic caveats... - You have to be aged 18 to 39 to open one. - You can only use it to buy a home once it's been open a year. - It's only for residential mortgages (not buy-to-let) on homes worth under £450,000. Looking to buy bigger? It's not for you. - Withdraw for any reason other than to buy a qualifying home (ie, one under £450,000), or once aged 60, and you pay an effective fine of 6.25% of your money to access it. PS: I recently gave evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Committee about the LISA system holes that need fixing. Yet that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. It's still good for most. Just ensure you understand whether it's right for you first. JUNIOR ISAs (JISAs): Up to £9,000 a year saved tax-free for under-18s. JISAs let under-18s save or invest up to £9,000/yr tax-free, so there's also a new allowance for this year here too. The money is then locked away till their 18th birthday. Yet while children are eligible to pay tax on savings interest just as adults are (see above), most don't earn enough. However, with money given to under-18s from parents/step-parents (not grandparents or others), if they earn £100+/yr interest from this, it's taxable as if it was the parents' money (to stop parents stashing cash in their child's name). So it's when you pay tax on savings, and give your kids money, that JISAs come into their own. The top cash JISA payer is Coventry BS's 4.25% AER variable via post, branch or phone. The top online openable account is NS&I's 4% AER variable. Both let you transfer in existing JISAs or Child Trust Funds (JISAs' predecessor). More help is in Top JISAs. STOCKS & SHARES ISAs: Investing often beats savings. Investing's generally for money put away over the longer term (say, five years plus), in the hope it'll substantially outperform savings - and while there's no guarantee that'll happen, it really is something many should consider. I rarely talk about it, not because I'm anti-investing, but because it's not my professional expertise, yet I'd definitely suggest you consider it. You can invest up to £20,000 in a stocks & shares ISA, and then you don't pay Dividend or Capital Gains Tax. And remember, with current volatility, shares can scare people. Yet in reality, it's the cost when you buy and what you get when you sell that really matters (plus any dividends paid). What the share price does in between times doesn't affect you.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Pay interest on existing credit card debt? Can you save £100s or £1,000s? New. Top balance transfer, a DEFINITE 32mths 0% with a lower fee lets you shift debts interest-free until 2028 We're quite chuffed this week. Before we explain why though, the basics... a 0% balance transfer is where you get a new card that pays off debts on existing cards for you, so you now owe it instead, but interest-free for a set period, so more of your repayments clear the actual debt, rather than servicing the interest. Anyone paying credit card interest should check NOW to see if you can do this to cut costs. So, why are we happy? Over to Martin... "Over recent years we've seen more 'up to' 0% deals, where some accepted customers only get a backup deal, eg, 29 months 0% advertised, but some get just 16 0% months. We've long pointed this out, but in February I decided to go harder, and redesigned our tables to prominently list the backup rate. Now Barclaycard, which oft offered poorer backup rates, is offering its first long definite-rate deal in 4 years, so all accepted get the headline 0%. Coincidence? Possibly." Find which top card you're most likely to be accepted for via our eligibility calc. It shows your odds of getting each card BEFORE you apply, minimising applications & protecting your credit score. Go for the lowest fee with a 0% period long enough to clear the debt. Longer balance transfers usually have a bigger one-off fee, so if you can go shorter, it's cheaper. Unsure? Play safe & go long. Usually rejected when you apply? Our eligibility calc also includes balance transfers for poor credit scorers, while MSE's free Credit Club (available via the MSE App on Apple | Android) can analyse the problem. Top-pick newbies' 0% balance transfers (all links via our eligibility calc) New. Barclaycard DEFINITE 32mths 0% (3.19% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends Joint-longest DEFINITE-length 0%s  These two cards have identical major terms, so we've grouped them together. With both, all accepted get 32mths at 0% with a relatively low one-off fee of 3.19% (so £31.90 per £1,000 of debt shifted) for this length of card. So if our eligibility calc (Barclaycard | Tesco) shows you're pre-approved for one, it's likely your winning long card. If not and you've decent chances for one, then go for that. Tesco DEFINITE 32mths 0% (3.19% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends HSBC Up to 32mths 0% (3.49% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends Long 0%, but an 'up to' with a higher fee Headline rate: 32mths 0% (3.49% fee) | Backup rate: 26mths 0% (3.49% fee) Those pre-approved in our eligibility calc definitely get the full 32mths 0%. While it has a higher fee than the cards above, if you're pre-approved for this and not those, that's likely a price worth paying. If not, its shorter 0% is still pretty decent at 26mths. Tesco DEFINITE 18mths 0% (0.99% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends Can you repay quicker? Low-fee DEFINITE-length 0%  This 18mth card is in a sweet spot, of decent length with a low fee of just £10ish per £1,000 shifted. Barclaycard Up to 14mths 0% (NO FEE)  24.9% rep APR after 0% ends Don't need too long? Longest NO-FEE 0%, but it's an 'up to' Headline rate: 14mths 0% NO FEE | Backup rate: 7mths 0% NO FEE.  Used right, no-fee cards mean zero cost. If you're pre-approved in our eligibility calc, you'll definitely get 14mths. If not, it says 20% of customers may get the backup rate, so you may be safer going for NatWest's NO-FEE card, as while its headline 12mth 0% rate is shorter, its backup 10mth 0% rate is longer. ALWAYS follow the Balance Transfer Golden Rules: a) Never miss the minimum monthly repayment, or you could lose the 0% deal & it'll cost far more. b) Aim to clear the card (or balance-transfer again) before the 0% ends, or the rate rockets to the higher APR. c) Don't spend or withdraw cash. It usually isn't at the cheap rate & withdrawals may hit your ability to access credit. d) If you don't transfer at application, you've usually only 60 to 90 days to get the 0%. Do check your card's terms. Quick balance transfer FAQs (click links for Martin's answers) Q. Is it worth applying if my eligibility odds are low? | Q. What if my credit limit isn't big enough? | Q. Can I shift debt to existing cards too? | Q. Should I try to pay off my biggest debt first? SPOILER: NO. Full help and info, including options for poorer credit scorers, in Best balance transfers.

 

Martin: 'Will the Trump effect mean lower UK home energy bills?' Wholesale rates have plummeted due to market turmoil, but will that actually impact home energy bills? Watch Martin's energy video briefing Ends Sun. FREE £30 Amazon, 1% bills cashback, top overseas debit card & you NEEDN'T switch bank to get it. New & existing customers opening a Santander Edge* current account via this link get a £30 Amazon voucher. Santander Edge is our top-pick bills & joint bills account. It costs £3/mth, but that's more than outweighed for most as it pays 1% cashback (max £10/mth) on Council Tax, water, energy, broadband etc bills that you pay on it via Direct Debit. There's also a separate 1% debit card cashback (max £10/mth) on grocery, fuel & travel spending. The debit card also gives near-perfect exchange rates abroad. You can open it, without switching, and use it alongside your main account - great to use as a bills account (you need to pay a min £500/mth in). See full Santander Edge review & eligibility. A YEAR'S 2for1 at 380+ gardens (eg, Leeds Castle, many National Trust) in £10 mag. Always popular - often the cover price is cheaper than just one visit (though no longer includes Kew or Eden Project). Gardeners' World New. Get £50 cashback for investing £100+. Only 2,500 available. Newbies to InvestEngine's fund platform who open its stocks & shares ISA* and add £100+ to their account (there are 800 funds from a range of providers to choose from, you can leave it in its cash holding account while you decide) will get £50 cashback paid into their account within a week. To keep the cashback, you need to keep your money invested for a year. Full info & options in our Stocks & shares ISA guide. Veg price war: 1kg carrots, 500g parsnips etc, just 8p. Six supermarkets chopping up to 89% off veg for Easter. Kärcher 20% off EVERYTHING code, incl sale items, eg, Window Vac £56. MSE Blagged. See Kärcher code. New. Sky Stream (includes Netflix) just '£13/mth'. If you haven't had Sky TV for at least 12mths (or ever), use this specific link to apply for Sky Stream* by 30 April to get all the basic Sky channels for £15/mth (it also includes Netflix with ads, normally £5.99/mth), plus you'll be emailed a choice of a £40 prepaid Mastercard or shopping voucher (do monitor your spam filters). Factor that in as a discount, and it's equivalent to £13.33/mth over the 2yr contract. What is Sky Stream? You plug it into your TV and watch programmes streamed via your broadband. What's the best value pack of mini eggs (best taste for least cost)? Last week, we reported our mini egg taste test winners, yet the boss (Martin) was off - now he's back and wants to "go bigger on the cost". So we've a new table which combines taste and price - and the winner has changed... Related: Cheapest Easter eggs. 'I got an £852 student loan refund after listening to Martin's podcast.' Our success of the week comes from Kirsty, who emailed: "I have recently found Martin's podcast and I've been listening to it on my commute. I've just listened to the episode about student loan refunds. I've been self-employed since leaving uni and have an accountant, so I assumed it would all be correct as I pay on what I have earned. But I've received an email this morning saying that I will be getting £852 back! I can't even describe what this means to me at the moment. And it was so easy, I'm telling everyone about it. Thank you so much." If we've helped you reclaim or save (on this, or owt else), send us your successes.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - Kärcher 20% off EVERYTHING code Ends Thursday - £25 Quidco cashback on £50+ spend at B&Q 5,000 available	DID YOU MISS? - Ikea 'up to 50% off' sale, eg, £20 duvet set for £10 - Check your 2025/26 take-home pay with our updated calc - Is your driving licence one of 2.3m expiring in 2025? Check now - Flog your RUBBISH for cash - loo rolls, jam jars, corks & more - Blocked from boosting State Pension? You'll get another chance

 

 

Martin: It's the PERFECT time to check if your energy Direct Debit's in too much credit. You may be due £100s back! I often say get off the Price Pants Cap to stop overpaying (compare & cut bills by 10%+), yet energy firms are also said to be sitting on over £3 BILLION of our credit, having built up this huge reservoir from homes that pay by monthly Direct Debit (DD). Well, we're about to enter the PERFECT time to check if they've too much of your cash. My can you get £100s of energy credit back? blog has full info, but let's run through the basics... This matters. After I warned about it last year, many got in touch, such as Diane, who emailed: "Thanks to you I discovered I was £1,000 in credit. I did decide to leave £200 just in case. I am now looking forward to a cheeky little holiday, which I wouldn't normally have been able to afford. Happy days." And Liz: "Taking MSE's advice, I was about £800 in credit. I emailed Octopus for a £500 refund. They didn't hesitate or quibble, just refunded the money immediately." Now, what better way to see if you're in too much credit than a sexy graph. Drum roll please! This is the energy Direct Debit cycle... Monthly Direct Debits aim to smooth out seasonal use, so you pay the same year-round. They estimate your annual usage and, usually, divide that by 12 so you pay the same each month. That means you build up credit in the lower-use summer, and use up that credit (or go into debt) in the higher-use winter. And we're heading towards the bottom of the cycle, as late April and early May is usually when you've minimal credit/maximum debt before you start to rebuild it. Monthly Direct Debits are a great budgeting concept, ruined by poor delivery due to firms mis-estimating use or credit-grabbing. Yet you have rights to ensure it is done fairly. Under condition 27 of both the gas & the electricity supply licence rules for Eng, Scot & Wales, suppliers must: 1) Set fair Direct Debits. 2) Give clear explanations. 3) Refund credits where appropriate. So let's ensure that happens... Check your usage history is up to date. By that, I mean either you've a working smart meter that does regular readings for you or, if not, submit an up-to-date meter reading, and wait until that has been incorporated by the firm in its calculations. It's also worth checking our Is your Price Cap Direct Debit about right? calculator to see if your DD is too high (or low). My rough rule of thumb... over a month and a half's credit right now is likely too much. Exactly how much credit you should be in depends on when you started with the firm (see how the cycle varies for more graphs), eg, those who started with a firm around this time of year will rarely be in debt if things work well. Yet as this is the low point, I'd suggest if your energy account is up to date and is more than a month-and-a-half worth of Direct Debits in credit, it's worth considering getting some of that money back. As the Energy Price Cap - which two-thirds of homes are on - has just risen 6.4% on average, some will have or will be about to see their DDs rise, so I've set my 'what's too much?' rule of thumb a little higher than it was at this time last year. Then again, as prices are predicted to drop again in July, the impact isn't huge. And just to repeat, if you're on the Price Cap, do a comparison. In too much credit? Contact the firm to ask it why. Call, use online chat or email to ask why you're in so much credit, and do listen to its explanation, there may be a legit reason. Though the rules state if too much credit has accumulated and a customer asks for it back, suppliers must refund it - or clearly explain why not. If the firm doesn't do this, make a formal complaint, and if the firm rejects it, escalate it to the free Energy Ombudsman to adjudicate. A few firms do promise automatic refunds or reduced DDs if your credit's too high on the anniversary of you joining, but others require you to check (see firm-by-firm refund rules). Just want to pay for what you use? Variable Direct Debit is cheaper than payment in receipt of bills. If you are prepared to budget yourself or cope with winter's heavier cash flow demands, payment in receipt of bills (where you're billed and pay for what you use each month) costs 6.5% more on the Price Cap than DD and has few switchable deals. Instead, check if the firm offers variable DD - there, you still pay only for what you use each month, but it's collected by Direct Debit.

 

The MSE day-by-day cinema deal tracker... see new releases, eg, A Minecraft Movie. Many discounts & deals depend on the day, so we've a day-by-day cinema deal tracker letting you home in on when you want to go. Do you or does your child have a HyperJar card? How to avoid its new £3/mth inactivity fee. The top-pick children's prepaid card will charge the fee from 3 June - it's not an issue for most as you can easily avoid the new HyperJar fee. 200+ FREE museums & galleries. Perfect for the Easter hols. Find your nearest free UK museums. Club Lloyds customer? Your debit card's now free to use abroad. You won't be charged any fees for using it overseas, including withdrawing from ATMs. Though the fee for not paying in £2,000+/mth is rising from £3/mth to £5/mth on 2 June. See our packaged bank accounts guide for info. Related: Top cards for spending abroad. £25 cashback on £50+ B&Q spend. MSE Blagged. 5,000 available. For new & existing Quidco members. Quidco

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Tesco (check eligibility) 32mths 0%, 3.19% fee, 24.9% rep APR interest No-fee 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility) up to 14mths 0%, 24.9% rep APR interest Best bank accounts Free £175 + TOP service: First Direct 1st Account Free £150 + £36/yr cashback: NatWest Reward Broadband top picks Fibre (55Mb+): Sky '19.92/mth' Fast fibre (100Mb+): Vodafone '£21.71/mth' Superfast fibre (500Mb+): Sky '£24.67/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 interest (6.5% rep APR interest on £7,000 to £7,499) £7,500 to £25,000: People's Choice (check eligibility), 5.8% rep APR interest Top savings accounts Top easy-access cash ISA: Trading 212 5.04%, min £1 Top easy-access savings: Atom Bank 4.75%, no min Top one-year fix: Cynergy 4.65%, min £1,000 Top energy deals Use our whole-of-market Cheap Energy Club Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£2.57/mth' for 3GB 4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£2.63/mth' for 5GB 10GB to 30GB data: Lebara, '£2.70/mth' for 10GB 31GB+ data: iD Mobile, '£3/mth' for 50GB

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: NS&I's one-year and five-year British Savings Bonds are back - see how they stack up

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should our neighbour pay us for taking in his parcels when he's out? Our neighbour runs a business buying and selling online. He gets deliveries every day and when he's out, we take them in. Yet he never comes and picks them up, so I always end up taking them over. When we're out, he takes in parcels for us, but never drops them round. The last delivery for him was four big parcels that sat by our door all weekend, waiting for me to take them over. Should I tell him that if he wants to keep using our house as a delivery depot for his business, he's going to have to pay us? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should our neighbour pay us for taking in his parcels? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

 

 

MSE TEAM BLOG - MSE Forum highlights: Baking on a budget, banking apps & bulk-buying

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 15 APR ONWARDS) Wed 16 Apr - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, podcast only (listen to previous podcasts) Tue 22 Apr - This Morning, phone-in, ITV1, 10.20am

 

 

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