Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Banks needn't break laws, you've a right to fair play! Over 5.1m people complained the WRONG way Ever been mistreated by a bank, insurer, credit card provider, mortgage lender? Latest figures show that from 2006-8, of 9m complaints made, 5.4m were rejected but only a paltry 340,000 (6%) then went to the free Financial Ombudsman. So let me yell... "Complaints often get rejected just to put you off, NOT because you're wrong" Eg, while 90% of PPI misselling complaints to the Ombudsman are upheld, most people stop before that, naively believing banks when they reply saying "you've no case", and justifying it with ridiculous legalese. It's all about fairness... The Ombudsman can order financial companies to give compensation or reverse decisions. Yet unlike courts, it looks at reasonableness and can even rule against companies acting within the law. It uses three sources to decide: The law of the land. This is quite clear cut. Regulators' rules. Breaking the FSA’s (or other regulator) rules & guidance can also be deemed unfair. Good Practice. The Ombudsman's allowed to define 'good practice'. Eg, it'll look at a trade body's standards, even for companies that aren't members of it, or just use what most people consider good practice, and rule against companies breaching that. So next time you complain, don't give up, you've strong rights. For more see our Financial Ombudsman Complaints guide, plus the specific bank charges, mortgage fees and loan insurance reclaiming guides. MSE News: 9m Bank Complaints Please suggest friends/family/colleagues get this free weekly e-mail from moneysavingexpert.com/tips PS. If you’re in next Tue (15 Sept) Angela Rippon & I are doing ITV1’s Millionaire (see m’blog).

Week of Tue 1 - Mon 7 Sep '09 (Last week's position) 1. Travelodge Sale (New) 2. Top Savings (1) 3. Freebies, Freebies, Freebies (3) 4. Credit Ratings (New) 5. Cheap MOTs (New) The above excludes daily deals notes Ryanair ups baggage charges NatWest/RBS customers' card protection boost MoneySavers predict house price rise HSBC's 1.99% mortgage Bank's latest move to block PPI ban This week's full MSE News list

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Bank Account Wars. New free £100 & travel ins. with 0% overdraft & 0.5% in-credit.
Two £100 switching bonus accounts relaunched this week to top the best-buys. New Deals: Alliance & Leicester* gives £100, free annual Europe travel insurance with a 0% overdraft for up to £1,000, and 0.5% interest if you're in-credit (up to £2,500). Sister bank Abbey's similar except no travel insurance. Who’s eligible? You must pass its credit score, earn over £6,050 for A&L (Abbey £15k) and pay your salary directly into the account. Existing A&L, Abbey & Cahoot customers aren’t eligible. Top Alternatives: Strong customer service bank First Direct* gives new switchers £100 too, but needs £23,500 salary and doesn’t pay in-credit interest. Halifax* requires a £15,000 salary and pays £5 each month you’re in credit (ie £60/year), a good long term option. Updated Guide: Top Bank Accounts Related: Bank Charges Reclaiming, Top Savings

Free Star Wars LEGO toys worth £4ish (with 45p paper). You only need one voucher. They're printed Weds/Thurs in The Mirror then redeem at WHSmiths, Toys R Us or Smyths. See the Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

54 Ways to Boost Your Income. Need extra cash for Christmas? Start now. Updated Guide If you'll need extra cash for Christmas, start now to get it in time. There are 50+ methods in the updated guide, e.g. Get paid for opinions: Sign up at local market research companies, survey sites or even write about your summer hols on travel site SimonSeeks and you can get paid. Take in a Lodger: The first £4,250 a year is tax free. Party Planning: Holding parties for Ann Summers, Virgin Vie et al, has top feedback as an income booster. De-clutter for cash: Savvily sell stuff you no longer use and you can net £££s, as well as freeing up some space. See the Updated Guide: Boost Your Income Related: eBay Selling Tricks, Survey Stashing, Make Money from Competitions New 2for1s at GBK (priciest free!) & Papa John's, plus any Domino's £10 this weekend. These join Pizza Hut 50% off, Prezzo £10 two courses & drink and more in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Urgent. £5(ish) Europe flights (Sept-Mar) Ends midnight Thurs 10 Sept. A million Ryanair flights at £5 each way (inc some charges) from various UK airports to over 65 European destinations. Speedily find them using the Updated Guide: £5 Flights then beat the scores of add-on charges with the Budget Airline Fee-Fighting guide. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels

New Top Balance Transfer. Shift debts to 1.9% for a year fees-free, it's cheaper than 0%
Bizarrely the new top deal for new customers to shift existing credit card debts to isn't a 0% deal. Can you repay in under 12 mths? The MBNA Platinum is 1.9% for a year (17.9% APR after) but wins as there's no balance transfer fee (it's equiv. to a 0% card with a roughly 1% fee). Yet you need a good credit score and existing MBNA / Virgin customers can't get the deal. Need longer? Go for 0% for 16mths: The Virgin* card is the longest 0% deal lasting 16 months (18.6% APR after) with a 2.98% fee or for even longer Barclaycard Platinum is 6.3% for three years. Alternatives: Next best open-to-all card is Halifax at 13 mths 0% (16.9% after) with a 3% fee. FULL info, how to pick, more best buys in the Updated Guide: Best Balance Transfers Related: Credit Rating, Cheap Loans, Credit Card Shuffle

Print 100s of photos for free(ish). Many online photo developers will print up to 50 of your summer snaps free as intro promos, you just pay p&p. Combine them for 100s of free prints. See the Deals List: Free Digital Photo Prints Related: Freebies Guide

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Last Chance. Tesco SAVINGS loophole. Make £10 with £1 savings. Open Tesco's savings account before 16 Sept, put £1 in and get 250 Clubcard points worth £10 of Tesco Rewards. See the Updated Guide: Tesco Savings Loophole

New Cheapest Broadband. £4.99/month with big download limits... less if you'll play
There's a rash of new, hot, standalone broadband deals. Cheapest Standard Deal: Sign up for the already best-buy £5.99/month Plusnet Value package via comparison site Uswitch* and you get 3 months free; bringing the avg. cost over the 18 mth contract to £4.99/mth. It has a big 10Gb download limit, enough for most people. Cheapest Unlimited Deal: The existing cheapest for uncapped downloads at £12.23/mth (£7.34 for O2 mobile users) is O2*. It's just launched 3 months free too, bringing the avg. cost over the year's contract to £9.17/mth (£5.05). For members of a cashback websites (anyone can register) up to £50 cashback's available on this deal, or £75 for its premium package. FULL info & more best-buys in the Updated Guide: Cheap Broadband. Related: Cheap Home Phone & Broadband, Top Cashback Sites

Join Sainsbury's online shopping, get £7.50 cashback; join Tesco for £20 off £50 spend, or Waitrose £10 off £80 spend for everyone. These work by registering at cashback sites or using codes. See the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

Car Insurance Job Picker. Tool of the Week. FUN way to tweak your job title and save cash With car insurance, job titles count. Is being a secretary cheaper than a typist? Should a civil service planning manager be a civil servant or planning manager? How can chicken chasers cut costs? Tool of the Week: Using the right title (never lie) could save you cash: the Car Insurance Job Picker uses sample data, and as a bit of fun, lets you compare which titles may be best. Also read the Full Guide: Cheap Car Insurance Related: Cheap Van Insurance, Cheap Motorbike Insurance, Cheap Home Insurance Free personalised £6 photo card (70p p&p) with special code (10,000 only). Register with Hallmark using a code and get a totally free greetings card. See the Forum Note: Free greetings card

New Top 3.26% Cash ISA, if you can wait 45 days for your cash! Updated Guide
As many use cash ISAs as a long term home for cash, we've added new top picks to our guide, which need notice to withdraw cash, providing they pay more. 3.26% tax-free: Either open a new or transfer existing cash ISAs to Manchester BS's Premier 45 account at 3.26% AER (min £1,000) including a 0.8% bonus lasting a year. However, to withdraw cash you must give 45 days notice. This could disappear any minute, so go quick! Top No-Notice: The highest easy access payer is Intelligent Finance at 2.75% AER (min. £1) Why use an ISA? Cash ISAs let you save £3,600/year (£5,100 from 6 Oct for over 50s) and not pay tax on the interest. For taxpayers, this boosts them ahead of the top instant-access savings accounts. FULL info & more options in the Updated Guide: Top Cash ISAs Related: Cash ISA Transfers, Top Savings, Safe Savings

10,000 free copies of Moneywise mag, worth £3.50 each. Blagged for MoneySavers. Want one?

Last chance. 50% off Tesco Home Ins. Grab a quote asap, then ALWAYS compare
The half price home insurance promo from Tesco* ends 16 Sep. Grab a quote now in case it's uber-cheap for you, as unlike prior incarnations of this deal, the quote doesn't last - you need buy it before the deadline. Is it any good? Even at half price, it's by no means best-buy for all (you normally get 35%-off online anyway), but it may win for some, so check. Do a combined comparison: Try & beat Tesco with the usual cost cutting plan; combine as many comparison sites as possible in the following order to max the number of quotes; Confused*, Moneysupermarket*, GoCompare* and CompareTM*. Then check for hidden cashback (some people even get paid to take insurance out). FULL step-by-step info in the Updated Guide: Cheapest Home Insurance Related: Cheapest Car Insurance

25% off everything Debenhams sale. 4 days only! From Weds (9 Sept) to Sat get 25% off full priced stock excluding some concessions. This joins rumoured 20% off Wallis 2-day sale. Full details in the Deals List: High St Sales

Childcare Vouchers Black Hole. Read my blog reporting back on my meeting with the Treasury

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The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

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

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*, Sainsbury's 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 Free New-Mortgage Guide: Order a copy now for free! Also see: Remortgage Guide Home Phone & Broadband: TalkTalk* £19.41/mth or Tiscali* £15.82 Holiday Bargains: Cheap Flights, Travel Insurance, Hotels, Packages, Travel Money Teen Cash Guide: Free 40 page PDF guide to teach your kids about money MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet, Thrifty Ways, Three Lessons

More MoneySaving MSE

Free family swim (2 adults, 3 kids) for British Gas customers, worth £5-15. Simply print a special voucher and take it your local participating swimming pool. Full details in the Deals List: Days Out £60 family holiday. 4-day UK & Europe holiday parks deal (usually c. £500). The Sun's running its vouchers again, collect 10 printed every day until 18 Sept, for Sept-Dec holidays. Full info in the Deals Note: Sun Holidays Donate £1 to The Children's Society for free. Just pledge to drive more slowly or donate to a charity shop. See the Forum Note: Free Charity Giving New Cheapest MoneySaving Book Stockists: Money Diet, Thrifty Ways & Three Lessons If you're buying my MoneySaving books, ensure you get them cheapest. To help, we constantly update the cheapest stockists. The Money Diet £4.49: My first and biggest book, it's a bit of a MoneySavers bible, The Money Diet is cheapest at the Book Depository* at £5.81 unless you're spending £15+ at Tesco Books* when it's £4.49. Thrifty Ways £4.99: Full of thousands of thrifty tips written off the MSE Old Style forum Thrifty Ways is £4.99 at the Book Depository* Three Lessons: The 3 Most Important Lessons is £3.49 incl p&p at the Book Depository* (all my ‘author’s’ proceeds for Thrifty Ways & Three Lessons go to the MSE Charity Fund) Great 'What to do with old cereal boxes?' Hunt Challenge: Radical Recycling... For a bit of fun this week, we’re replacing the usual Hunt with a Challenge. Quite simply what’s the best MoneySaving use you can get out of old cereal boxes? Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great Cereal Box Challenge Past Great Hunts: View all MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you contribute to a stranger’s train ticket? You’re on the train abroad, overhearing a ticket inspector talking to an English woman behind you. She hands her ticket to be checked but is told she’s got the wrong ticket (another network covers the same route) so she must pay £10 cash there and then or face a £50 fine. She's distraught as she doesn't have the cash on her, and starts asking if anyone would help. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Would you contribute to a stranger’s train ticket? Previous MMDs: View All New MSE Shopping Section. We’re redesigning our section pages to make them easier to use – this week the Shopping Section joined Cards & Loans and Reclaim in the new style. Hope you like them (an example of the old style is Utilities)

Q. If I get a free laptop with a mobile deal, and it breaks down, can I complain to the shop about it? Or do I lose out as it's a freebie? Martin's A. If you were given free goods alongside something else or as an incentive to buy something else, you've exactly the same rights as if you’d paid for it. In other words it must be satisfactory quality, as described, fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time. Any freebie where you pay something, even if only for "package & posting" is still a consumer transaction and therefore you keep your rights. Discuss: Do I get consumer rights for a 'free' item? 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 Tips, Tricks & Treats

2l Pepsi, 7up etc 50p. Plus other bargains in store While stocks last Wii fit with board £50 in stores. Can you spot cheaper? Ends Sunday Arts & Crafts Clearance bargains. WHSMith online & in stores Crafty! Free TV & computer powerdown for Eon users. Worth around £15. Turn it off & save Coen Brothers 4-DVD boxset £4 delivered. Big Lebowski big bargain Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Overspent and feel ashamed Competitions thread of the week: Australian Holiday Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Help, I've wrecked my jumper!

Theatre, Concert & Event Tickets: Find bargain show deals
The Theatre, Concert & Event Tickets board offers a wealth of top tips & ideas on where to grab cheap seats for events and shows. Recent discussions include Oasis V-festival cancellation refund?, Why is the cinema so expensive? and Are London shows on at New Year? Related: Cheap Tickets

Great 'MoneySaving Wedding Tips' Hunt Result
They say it's the biggest day of your life, but it can hit the wallet too. So last week I asked couples who've done it to help those who haven't. There were some great suggestions including Little savings add up, Call in favours and Local authorities have different rates for civil ceremonies

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Google Books, Dishwasher Tabs, Open Uni. Guide to UK Coasts France Show 2010 Tickets, Zutons Gig (Glasgow), Food Wastage Workshops (N London)

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 9 - Tues 15 Sep
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Wed, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 8:30 & 9:30am. Deals of the Week.
• Tues, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am. The topic's news reactive.
• Tues, Who Wants to be a Celebrity Millionaire?, ITV1, 8pm. With Angela Rippon.

This week's Martin's Blog: Should Which? launch its own product range?
"Meeting the Minister on Tax Credits & Childcare Vouchers black hole". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

How green are you? This week's poll. Vote and Going Green discussion.

MoneySavers spend an average £36.75 on weekly groceries. 13,330 voted last week. Almost a third of voters (31%) spend between £20 - £29 per week on groceries, followed by 21% who spend between £30 and £39. A combined 17% manage to survive on weekly shops costing under £19, and a further combined 17% spend over £50 per week. See Grocery Shopping poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Physics conundrum Civiballs 2

How rich is Scrooge McDuck? That’s it for this week, but before I go I’ve discovered a super-geek site which answers this and “How long was Bill Murray stuck in Groundhog Day” – nerd heaven

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: alliance-leicester.co.uk, firstdirect.com, halifax.co.uk, uk.Virginmoney.com, uswitch.com, O2.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, comparethemarket.com, confused.com, Tesco.com, energyhelpline.com, talktalk.co.uk, tiscali.co.uk, bookdepository.co.uk. Read more about this in how this site is financed.