Petar Lekarski

Assistant Editor – News & Investigations

Petar joined MoneySavingExpert in 2019, but his passion for all things MoneySaving goes back much further – as evidenced by his 'Part of the furniture' badge on the MSE Forum.

He developed his in-depth knowledge of bank accounts, credit cards, loans and savings in the Money team before moving across to MSE News. He has written about a wide range of personal finance topics, covering everything from mobile roaming charges to supermarket loyalty schemes to railcards.

In 2021, Petar researched and wrote MSE's comprehensive and massively popular guide to diesel emissions legal claims, and he continues to maintain it as the cases progress.

Petar has also worked directly with Martin Lewis as his researcher, supporting the MoneySavingExpert with his eponymous ITV show and other media appearances over a period of 18 months.

When he's not polishing prose or crunching numbers, you'll find Petar at the cinema, eating spicy food or cycling around London on a rented bike. He also enjoys playing video games, bouldering and lists of three.

Latest from Petar Lekarski

Bank of England from the outside with some flowers at the front

The Bank of England has held the base rate at 4.75%. Below we explain why, when it might be cut, plus what it means for your mortgage and savings.

23 December 2024

Nearly 2.5 million Premium Bond prizes worth a combined £92 million remain unclaimed, according to the latest figures. Most bondholders now get prizes paid automatically, though this may not be the case if you have older bonds. Plus, prizes paid by cheque may be unclaimed if you haven't kept your address up to date or simply forgot to cash them in.

17 December 2024

A Christmas cracker on a festive dinner table

If you're planning to order your Christmas food shop online, but you've yet to do so, Co-op and Iceland are now taking bookings from shoppers.

17 December 2024

Whether you're craving cobbled streets, wild moors or sea air for your holiday, the UK has it all... except, perhaps, the weather. But if you're considering a UK holiday, or you've booked one already, you may be wondering whether it's worth buying insurance to cover your staycation. Here's what you need to know.

10 December 2024

Spotify subscriber? Save up to £24 a year by removing audiobooks from your plan.

If you pay for a Spotify 'Individual', 'Duo' or 'Family' subscription and don't mind giving up audiobooks, you may be able to save up to £24 a year by switching to one of its 'Basic' plans. These don't have audiobooks but cost £1 to £2 a month less and let you keep all your other benefits, such as ad-free listening, downloads and high-quality audio – though only existing subscribers can access them for now.

10 December 2024

Parliament House in Edinburgh, where Scotland's Court of Session sits

A charity has launched legal proceedings against the UK Government, aiming to reverse its decision to restrict Winter Fuel Payments to those on certain benefits. It's still very early days and there are no guarantees, but here's what you need to know.

28 November 2024

Hand holding a smartphone showing the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker app

NS&I will cut its Premium Bond prize-fund rate to 4% from 4.15% for the January 2025 draw and beyond. But this rate was already lagging behind interest rates on standard savings accounts – so if you're a bondholder, you may want to consider moving your cash to an interest-paying account.

26 November 2024

If you've had a diesel car or van in England or Wales that was made between around 2009 and 2020, you should decide NOW whether to join a group legal claim over emissions. The last few deadlines for new claims are coming up soon – so if you're thinking about joining, you may not have long left.

19 November 2024

Chase has cut the rates on its linked savings accounts by 0.25 percentage points. As of Thursday 14 November, its easy-access 'boosted saver' now pays 4.5%, while its standard saver pays just 3.5%. The changes mean you can earn more on your savings elsewhere – though Chase is still worth keeping for its debit card perks.

19 November 2024

If you're scammed into making a bank transfer to a fraudster, your bank MUST now refund you in most cases, under new industry-wide rules which came into force on Monday 7 October. But you still need to be cautious when making payments, as you may have up to £100 deducted from your refund – and banks will be able to reject claims entirely if they find you were really careless.

18 October 2024

Chase has cut the rates on its linked savings accounts by 0.1 percentage points. As of Tuesday 8 October, its easy-access 'boosted saver' now pays 4.75%, while its standard saver pays just 3.75%. The changes mean you can earn more on your savings elsewhere – though Chase is still worth keeping for its debit card perks.

8 October 2024

Santander has cut the rate on its popular easy-access savings account – which paid 5.2% at launch – to 4% from today (Tuesday 1 October). Yet you can easily beat this new rate by switching elsewhere – which you're allowed to do without penalty.

1 October 2024

Fixed-rate mortgage deals have gotten cheaper in recent weeks – but will this trend continue following the Bank of England's decision to hold the base rate at 5%? We've spoken to five mortgage brokers to see what they think is next for mortgage rates. Here's what they told us...

24 September 2024

Primary school classroom with children and a teacher at the front

Universal financial education – providing young people with the knowledge and experience to thrive in our highly competitive consumer economy – is vital for the future of our society, MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has warned. Addressing an all-party group of MPs and peers at Parliament, Martin told them, loudly and plainly: we need financial education in EVERY school, for EVERY child.

10 September 2024

Barclays is overhauling its 'Blue Rewards' loyalty scheme for 100,000s of customers by scrapping monthly cash payments and adding Apple TV+ instead. The changes mean most should ditch the scheme from Wednesday 4 September. Here's what you need to know.

3 September 2024

Winter Fuel Payments – a tax-free payment made to all pensioners to help with winter energy bills – are to be restricted to those on benefits and Pension Credit, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced. But MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has urged the Government to include a wider group, and to leave no stone unturned ensuring the 800,000 eligible who miss out on Pension Credit get it.

2 September 2024