Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

How to boost your credit score  Quick tips to aid acceptability While we’re starting to see better deals for mortgages, credit cards & loans, all but the best customers are being weeded out.  So managing your credit score’s never been more important... What to do. Be on the electoral roll. If not, you’re unlikely to ever get credit. Check addresses on your file. Get your credit file (see how to check for free) and ensure every active account, even if unused, has the correct address. Errors can trigger rejection. Delink from past relationships. Write to credit agencies asking to be delinked from any ex you had joint finances with.  This stops their credit history impacting your applications. Amend errors.  If you think your file’s wrong, ask the lender to correct it.  If it won’t, add a notice of correction to your file explaining why it's unfair & complain to the financial ombudsman Cancel unused cards. Access to too much credit, even unused, isn’t positive. Build / Rebuild your score. Poor scorers should apply for expensive (30%+) credit cards, spend a little each month, but ALWAYS repay in full to avoid interest. This should slowly improve your score.  See the cards anyone can get. What not to do. Don’t miss payments / pay late.  Set up a direct debit to make at least the min. repayment (then manually pay more on top – see danger! min repayments) Don’t make lots of applications together. Space out applying for anything that adds a footprint to your file (inc car insurance, mobiles etc). Don’t do joint finances.  It's not marriage or cohabitation but joint products (bank account or mortgage) that financially link a couple, so avoid if one has a poor history. Never apply after rejection. Always check for errors on your credit files before applying for anything else.  If not, even if you fix an error later on, all the footprints from rejected applications may kaibosh your ability to gain credit anyway. These basic tips can improve your acceptability, but for a detailed makeover & free tools read the full boost your credit rating guide.

Week of Tue 25 - Mon 31 Aug '09 (Last week's position) 1. Top Savings (3) 2. Cheap Beauty Deals (New) 3. Freebies, Freebies, Freebies (4) 4. Cheap Travel Money (New) 5. Ryanair Flight Sale (New) The above excludes daily deals notes Wait! A&L + Abbey £100 account switching bonus may be back SkyEurope collapses leaving passengers stranded Student loan rates go negative Airlines risk court for fee tricks House prices continue to rise This week's full MSE News list

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Cut MOT costs by £100s. Hidden council test centres minimise fails. Major Update
MOT test costs are often dwarfed by repair bills, and as Sept's MOT month (it's new car anniversary time) we've done a full update. Step 1: Pre-checks. A staggering 1 in 5 MOTs fail due to popped lightbulbs, so walk round & replace duff ones beforehand. This guide now includes a full checklist of easy to fix, common fails. Step 2: Council Run MOTs. Some dodgy mechanics can be over-zealous in fault-spotting to gain lucrative repair business. If you've felt that, try council MOT centres. They're set up for councils' own vehicles, but must open to the public too. As they don't do repairs, they've no incentive to fail you, and the guide has a full list of them. Strong feedback: e.g. this email.."Just had my car MOT'd at one of the council centres and it passed!! The first time without the usual £250 for repairs. Thanks for the tip." FULL info in the Updated Guide: Cheap MOTs Related: Cheap Car Insurance, Cheap Petrol, Breakdown Cover

New Vouchers! Pizza Hut 50% off eat-in & takeaway, 15% off entire Hungry House directory. Plus Pizza Express 2 for £10 and 2for1s Cafe Rouge, Tootsies & Dexter's and extended 40% off YO! Sushi in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Tax Credit Overpayment Alert! Be ready for a letter asking you to repay £100s.
A month's passed since the tax credit renewal deadline, so roughly 1m people are likely to get 'overpayment letters' saying they must give cash back. A similar number will have been underpaid and are due lump sums. What's an overpayment? It's when you were given more money than you were eligible for and the tax office asks for it back. Why does it happen? The amount you get each tax year's (Apr-Apr) estimated using the previous year's situation; then at renewal the exact amount's calculated. Even small changes impact eligibility. Do you have to repay? Yes, unless you told it of the changes and it still overpaid - ie it's at fault - then you need fill in a dispute form WITHIN a month. If you don't know why you were overpaid, as nothing's changed, dispute that too. Can't afford to repay? The tax credit helpline's usually sympathetic and should let you spread or even forgo repayments. Step-by-step help in the Updated Guide: Tax Credit Help Related: Benefits Check-Up, Childcare Tax Credits

Travelodge 50,000 £12 Room Sale. Starts 6am Thurs for Jan - April stays. Plus 100,000 £19 rooms. See the Deals Note: Travelodge Sale Related: Cheap Hotel, Hotel Sales, Cheap Trains

Warning! Did you cap with Scottish Power last summer? Switch urgently NOW!
Last summer, to beat the ensuing 30% plus price hikes, 100,000s capped... one of the big tariffs was Scottish Power's Fixed Price Energy 2009. If you've got it, it finished on Mon (31 Aug). Act now. It's already shifted you to a new year-long capped tariff, and unless you switch before the end of Sept it'll lock you in with an exit penalty. Yet there are cheaper tariffs elsewhere, including caps if you want one. Is this legal? We're investigating whether it's allowed to lock you in by default, meanwhile the best plan is just avoid it, so do a ...Capped comparison. Most comparison sites only use your capped rate to compare, but more important is the rate the cap goes to. Energyhelpline* incorporates the new rate too (& gives £15 cashback via this link). FULL info & explanation in the Cap Guide: Switching from a cap. Main Guide: Cheapest Gas & Elec plus cashback

Urgent! 25% off Warehouse, Uniqlo, Mango, Oli.co.uk, Essensuals Hairdressing & more! Sept's Glamour magazine (£2) has a range of 25% off vouchers, but most are only valid on specific days next week. See the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

Got friends who'd like to save? Please tell them about this email

Tesco points loophole. Buy £9 Top Ten CD/DVDs, get £10 in Rewards. Tesco's top 10 DVDs, CDs & Blu-Rays all currently give 250 bonus Clubcard points, convertible into £10 of Tesco rewards vouchers (ie you're in profit)! See the Deals List: Tesco Clubcard Points Boosting

Grab £20 cashback with 3.15% savings (min. £1,000). Equivalent to over 5% interest.
The Alliance & Leicester Online Saver (min £1,000) pays a near table-topping 3.15% AER, the rate includes a 1 yr bonus 1.65%; sign up to it via cashback site Quidco* and it'll give you £20 cashback (first timers get £15). Is it worth it? Put the min £1,000 in over a year and with the cashback the interest's equivalent to 5.15%. Yet there's little point putting more in (barring convenience) as you can earn more elsewhere... Top Easy Access: Egg* pays 3.25% AER (min £1), the rate includes a bonus 2% for a year. Top 1 Yr Fixed Rate. If you can lock your cash away for a year, West Brom BS pays 3.9% AER (min £5,000) and Northern Rock 3.75% AER (min. £1) with the advantage that as it's a nationalised institution all cash in there is totally safe. FULL info, safety briefing & more alternatives in the Updated Guide: Top Savings Accounts Related: Top Cashback Sites, Top Cash ISAs, Regular Savings

BA & Virgin Sales. New York £299, Dubai £319 etc ... but beatable. A range of flights, but limited dates and most are beatable. Speedily find them using the FULL info & how to check in the Forum Note: BA & Virgin Sale Related: Cheap & Free Flights

Get paid to go to the gym! Well, £2.80 anyway. Grab a one-day trial for Fitness First via a cashback site and get paid £2.80 for your trouble. See the Forum Note: Get paid to work out

Minimum Repayment Calculator. Tool of the Week. How long will it take to clear your debt? The genius of credit card minimum repayments is it sounds like they're doing you a favour making it low & cheap, but actually they're designed to keep you perpetually in debt. Pay the min on £3,000 debt on a normal high street credit card at 17.9% takes 41 YEARS to repay it, costing £6,300 interest. Tool of the week: To find out how long your card(s) will take to repay use our Minimum Repayment Calculator. Beat the trap: For how to beat this even if you can't afford to pay more, see the Full Tool & Guide: Danger Minimum Repayments Related: Best Balance Transfers, Credit Card Shuffle Bank charges hardship claim been ignored? Lloyds especially. The reclaiming hold doesn't apply to those in hardship, but we're hearing tales some banks are ignoring that... most prominently Lloyds TSB. We're gathering evidence so Pls Feedback: Hardship case ignored? MSE News story: Lloyds 'ignoring' hardship claims Full Reclaim Guide: Bank Charges Hardship

Cheapest line rental offer extended. £9.50/mth inc eve & weekend calls. Primus' Home Phone Saver* deal (via a comparison site) has been extended; it's £1.75 cheaper than BT. Full details in the Updated Guide: Home Phones

Child Trust Fund new £250 - £500 payouts start this week. Top CTF Savings: 3% tax-free.
All children born since Sept 2002 are given £250 (lower income families £500) to save in a tax-free Child Trust Fund (CTF). New 'at 7' payment. As originally promised a second min. £250 voucher will be paid out on a child's 7th birthday - and this week's the first time that'll happen. Top Savings CTF. The Yorkshire BS pays 3% AER, which includes a 0.7% year-long bonus, and the top clean account is Skipton at 2.65% AER. You can also put cash in investment-type CTFs where you risk losing money in the hope of greater growth - nowt wrong with that, but we don't cover investing. Can you switch? Absolutely. If you've got a poor paying savings CTF, don't leave the cash sitting there, ditch and switch. FULL info in the Updated Guide: Top Child Trust Funds Related: Top Cash ISAs

Last Chance. MSE Charity financial education courses grants. For grants of up to £500 toward a specific financial literacy or education course, apply before 15 Sept. MSE Charity: Apply Now

Petrol Price War. Govt adds 2p/litre but Sainsbury & Tesco give 5p off vouchers & Morrisons holds prices
Yesterday the Govt increased fuel duty by 2p/litre. Supermarkets are fighting to capitalise on public angst over the rise. Sains & Tesco: Until 14 Sept at Sainsbury & 27 Sept at Tesco spend £50 in store (or online at Tesco) and get a 5p/litre discount voucher valid for 2 weeks. Morrisons: It isn't passing on the rise until Sun, so if that's your local, fill it up now. Save up to 30% more: Follow the four steps in the full guide to really slam down costs: 1. Declutter, pump up tires and more to boost your car's efficiency. 2. Drive more efficiently without losing time. 3. Use petrol/diesel price comparison sites. 4. Use promotions like the ones above. For full explanation see the Updated Guide: Cheap Petrol/Diesel MSE News story: Petrol Price War Related: Cheap Car Insurance, Cheap Trains

Dear Prime Minister.... an open letter on bank charges. Should payouts be automatic? Both Lib Dem & Tory leaders have replied (see Clegg & Cameron's letters), now we're asking Gordon Brown. See Blog: Letter to the PM

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The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

Quick links or click the titles for full pros, cons, alternatives & more savings

0% Balance Transfers: Top pick: Virgin* 16 mths 0%, 2.98% fee (APR 18.6% for BTs) Cheap Gas & Elec + Cashback! Top comparison site: Energyhelpline* Car Insurance: Use both MoneySupermarket* & GoCompare* Also see: Van, Motorbike Cheap Travel Ins: Annual policies from £15, worldwide £21. See Cheap Travel Ins Top Uninsured Loans: £7.5k-15k: A&L*, Sainsburys 7.9%, Tesco* 8% (can be 7.8%) Free Budget Planner: Use the free planner or do a complete Money Makeover Cut Home Bills: Read full guides on Cheap Home Ins, Cheap Boiler Cover, Grant Grabbing Reclaim £1,000s: Full Mortgage Fees, C'cil Tax, Endowments, Bank Charges, PPI guides Cheap Broadband: Plusnet* £6/mth up to 10 Gb download.  Home Phone & Broadband: TalkTalk* £19.41/mth or Tiscali* £17.49 Teen Cash Guide: Free 40 page PDF guide to teach your kids about money

More MoneySaving MSE

Great 'MoneySaving Wedding Tips' Hunt. What did you learn that’ll help couples-to-be? They say it's the biggest day of your life, and financially at least that's always true. The ultimate romantic gesture can cost large - so if you've done it what help can you give to those who haven't yet tied the knot. Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great How to Have a MoneySaving Wedding Hunt Past Great Hunts: View All Premium Bond Calculator with September's new odds. Check your new chances of winning in the updated Premium Bond Probability Calculator Mortgage or Rent arrears? New 5 min govt. video guides for those risking repossession / eviction There are three main schemes to help those who are severely falling behind (see the Mortgage Arrears guide for full details). Yet if you're in serious arrears, there are a couple of new videos which explain what to do and what happens at court (if things get that far) for both home owners and renters. Housing Duty Scheme: If you need to go to court you can get free advice by phone or at around 100 courts across England and Wales from Community Legal Advice. Full Guide: Mortgage Arrears Related: Debt Problems, Redundancy MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. How much should Nigella tip? Gordon, Nigella and Jamie love eating out, and have just discovered all the 2for1 restaurant vouchers. After eating, Nigella's in charge of splitting the bill, but they argue over the tip. Jamie says it should be 10% of the total bill pre-discount as the waitress did the same work, Nigella 10% after the discount as that's the price and Gordon thinks they're all mad for tipping at all  Enter the Money Moral Maze: How much should Nigella tip? Previous MMDs: View All 'A Guide To Uni Life' book giveaway result. 20 copies up for grabs, find out if you won one in the Forum Note: A Guide To Uni Life book giveaway Cheap Flight Sales Alert. Airline: BMI Baby. Price: £30 e/w. Ends: Ongoing. Our pick this week is the BMI Baby 40% off all flights sale: It includes some taxes & charges and is for Sept-Dec flights to a range of European destinations from many UK airports. To find them quickly use the FlightChecker on a £30 max search. Extra Charges Warning: Avoid payment and check-in charges - see the Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Spending Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel Insurance.

Q. I've £400,000 to save securely for a few months. Is Northern Rock safe as it's Govt owned? Or does the £50,000 limit still apply? Claire Nash, by email Martin's A. Both. Like all UK savings, if NR went bust up to £50,000 per person per institution's guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation scheme (FSCS), see the Safe Savings guide for more. Yet in this case that's mostly irrelevant. NR's owned by the Govt. and that's as safe as it gets (if it goes bust we've all bigger worries). After all, it's the Govt that backs up the FSCS scheme anyway. So NR's super-safe status doesn't come from its protection but its absolute solidity. If you've big savings it's a convenient place to put them all in one go (though you can earn more while spreading cash elsewhere - see the Top Savings Accounts). Of course, there's a slim chance the Govt may sell Northern Rock soon, but if so it has to be hoped it'll do this in such a way that the bank's future remains secure. Discuss: All money's safe in Northern Rock? Suggest: A question of the week (big general issues not personal q’s pls)

 

Quick Forum Tips Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly Daily Bargains Update Tips, Tricks & Treats

Top Deal: £1.49 book sale at Amazon. Free delivery over £5. Read 'em and cheap! Free Jute shopping bag or apron from British Turkey. Send off your receipts Gobble-up Nintendo Wii Internet channel now free (was £3.50). Just connect via WiFi. Mii! Mii! Five energy saving lightbulbs for 49p at Wickes. Can you find them? 2for1 steak bakes at Greggs. Just fill out a form. Steak out! Free training for unemployed South Londoners CV Writing, Interviews etc. Work skills Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: My debt-free day is... TODAY! Competitions thread of the week: Win up to £5k with McVities biscuits Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Economy Gastronomy- Help!

 

Board of the week: Consumer Rights: Ensure you're dealt with fairly
Set up in March, the Consumer Rights board has been a big hit, with a huge range of topics being discussed including Charged duty on US purchase, Cancelling a Cruise? and Trading Standards discussion Related: Consumer Rights

Great 'Best Value Cabin Luggage' Hunt Result
With all budget airlines now charging passengers to put baggage in the hold, we asked for your top tips on making the most of the free 10KG hand luggage allowance. There were some great suggestions including Check eBay, Take a Tripp and The Ultra-MoneySaving Option

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

30g Cat Food Sample, Children's Stories Downloads Ring Size Measurer, Carplan Demon Shine Sample

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 2 - Tues 8 Sept
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Thurs, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 8:30 & 9:30am. Deals of the Week.
• Fri, Jeremy Vine, Radio 2, between 1 & 2pm. Private parking fines.
• Tues, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am. The topic's news reactive.

This week's Martin's Blog: Nightmare Knight Rider Ring
"Beware hidden words", "Is MSE getting too Political on bank charges?", "An Open letter to the PM" and "When did a shrinking economy count as recovery?" Read m'blogs (or RSS users access

How much is your weekly shop? This week's poll. Vote and Economy vs. Gastronomy discussion.

MoneySavers expect an average house price increase of 0.4% this year. 9,321 voted. In April you expected an house price decrease of 3.7% on average. Yet now the balance has tipped mildly into the positive, with an average expected increase of 0.4%. A combined 46% of you expect house prices to increase next year, and just under a quarter (24%) expect to see a decrease. 24% think there'll be no real change. See the Is the house price crash over? poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Collect the gems in Shields of Gemland

How good's your world geography... take the test. That's it for this week, but before we go, if you want to get your geography in shape, have a go at this geo-genius quiz

We hope you save some money

Martin & the MSE team

Explanation of * Links

FSA NOTE: Referring people to insurers or insurance intermediaries can in some circumstances require FSA authorisation. For this reason, Martin Lewis of Shepherd's Studios, Rockley Road, Shepherd's Bush, London W14 0EH is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

How this site is financed.  Any links with a * by them are affiliated. That means go via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay ad-free and free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference, the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things I write) is NEVER impacted by it. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in exactly the same way. As I believe transparency is important, I'm including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for the same things: energyhelpline.com, homephonechoices.co.uk, eggmoney.co.uk, uk.virginmoney.com, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, .alliance-leicester.co.uk, tesco.com, halifax.co.uk, firstdirect.com, talktalk.co.uk, tiscali.co.uk. Read more about this in how this site is financed.