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PROOF! Banks reject complaints knowing they're valid. Don't listen to lies that you don't have a case A reject to put ‘em off policy is being used on bank charges, missold PPI and other complaints. Yesterday's first ever bank-by-bank Financial Ombudsman stats paint a nasty picture, while reading the stats remember... Complaints to the Ombudsman must usually first be rejected by the company. Financial Ombudsman Complaint Stats (Jan-June'09) Govt owned? Complaints Upheld Insurance complaints Upheld Black Horse Part 1,009 95% 836 99% Capital One No 1,744 91% 330 98% Egg No 912 88% 481 99% Lloyds TSB Part 6,947 81% 3,466 98% Northern Rock 100% 593 78% 430 98% RBS Majority 1,812 71% 1,013 94% Barclays No 8,283 71% 2,085 93% Abbey No 2,493 67% 236 60% A&L No 1,786 66% 544 74% MBNA No 2,298 63% 1,233 99% Natwest Majority 2,379 60% 582 89% HSBC No 2,177 60% 621 79% HBOS Part 5,804 52% 1,227 79% Nationwide No 1,149 41% 227 63% These stats prove finance companies often unfairly reject complaints and their pages of justifying legalese are a cynical ploy to put people off going further. Staggeringly, 90% of insurance complaints are upheld, most are about PPI reclaiming and big companies like Egg, Black Horse, MBNA and Lloyds shockingly lose over 98% of cases at the Ombudsman stage. Banks' despicable reject to put ‘em off tactics work. Of 3m annual complaints, only 140,000 get reported to the Ombudsman. It's time this ends: either the Ombudsman needs power to force companies to stop rejecting obvious cases or it must levy huge fines on companies where a substantial proportion of rejected complaints are upheld. The new reclaim rule - ignore your bank! From now on, ignore banks' protestations that they haven't done anything wrong and head for real justice at the Ombudsman. Free Reclaiming Guides with Template Letters: Bank Charges, Mortgage Exit Fees, Credit Card Charges, Endowments and the any financial complaint guides for help. MSE News: The Worst Banks

Week of Tue 8 - Mon 14 Sep '09 (Last week's position) 1. Freebies, Freebies (3) 2. Top Savings Accounts (-) 3. Boost Your Income (New) 4. Ryanair Flight Sale (New) 5. Reclaim Bank Charges (New) The above excludes daily deals notes GPs’ premium rate line ban House prices stable in ’09 Savers oblivious to rates paid Inflation sinks to 2004 levels Hopes of petrol price war This week's full MSE News list

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Warning! Rate-Jacking: your credit card's APR may be hiked 10%. Hidden rules to help
Barclaycard, Egg, MBNA & others are writing to some customers telling them their APRs will increase by up to 10%, though they may've done nothing wrong. This is the growing phenomena of 'rate-jacking'. A hidden weapon: Under-publicised rules launched this year can be deployed to stop rate-jackers in their tracks - these include an absolute right to reject rate rises for existing debts. Fight Back: This is a brand new, step by step guide including asking for compensation if they've not followed the rules. New Guide inc. Template Letters: Beat Credit Card Rate Rises Related: Top Balance Transfers, Credit Card Shuffle, Check Your Credit Rating

New instant 30% off Gap voucher & Oasis online £10 off £50 code, plus FC UK & Debenhams 20% off (in mags). These as well as Argos, Tesco Direct and more in the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

The Best Free SIMs! Totally free Skype calls, unlimited texts, cheap calls & 2for1 cinema. Top no-contract free Sims now offer seriously cheap features, either switch to them or pop them into any unlocked handset for specific tasks. No Top-Up Skype Calls: Get a free 3 Sim & you can use Skype over its mobile network at absolutely no cost, even without credit! Unlimited Texts: T-Mobile* offers unlimited texts if you topped up by £10 the prior month. 2for1 Cinema: Every Wed. Orange customers can text to get 2for1 at cinemas, so bag a Free Orange Sim* & you can just pop it in your phone when you need to. Cheap Calls: Not free, but for 47p Asda Mobile offers the cheapest overall PAYG calls (8p/min inc to mobiles). FULL info, unlocking details & more in the Deals Note: Free Mobile Sim Cards Related: Cheap Mobiles, Mobile Unlocking, Orange 2for1 Loophole First ever 25% off Odeon cinemas click 'n' print voucher (valid Mon-Fri). Print as many vouchers as you like for screenings before Fri 25 Sept when you book in-store. See the Deals List: Days Out

New Cheapest Gas & Electricity. One new provider, two new cheaper tariffs
Last week, a brand new energy company Ovo launched with the new cheapest online tariff, but then another, First Utility, undercut it, but only for property owners who stay on it for 12mths plus. Size of the Savings: While the average person pays £1,200 a year, they could pay just £965 on the cheapest deal. Compare & Get Cashback: There's no one cheapest provider for everyone, so always do a comparison, all these sites include the new tariffs (cashback only via these special links) Top Pick: Energyhelpline* pays £15 cashback per switch. Dual Fuel Picks: MSMarket* £30 cashback, Uswitch* a case of wine. FULL info inc. possible cashback boost in the Updated Guide: Cheapest Gas & Elec MSE News: New energy provider Related: Grant Grabbing, Boiler Cover

Urgent. £1(ish) Europe flights (Sept-Mar). Ends midnight Thurs (17 Sept). Yet another million Ryanair £1 each way flights (inc. some charges) from various UK airports to over 80 European destinations. Speedily find them using the Updated Guide: £1 Flights then beat the scores of add-on charges with the Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels

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Free McD coffee, La Tasca 50% off, Toby Carvery Roast & Ice-Cream £5, Ask 3 course £11.95. For these & more see the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Pit your shopping wits against others. Tool of the Week. New quick quiz Can you return faulty goods? Can you demand to buy mispriced goods? Our new 12 question quick quiz, to celebrate National Consumer Week, has questions from the OFT's Consumer Direct (it's easier than normal MSE fayre), see how you do compared to other MoneySavers. New Quiz: Consumer Rights Quiz MSE Super-brain Quizzes: The full MoneySaving IQ and the Summer Hols Quiz. Related Guides: Consumer Rights, Section 75, Cheap Online Shopping

New Beauty Deals! £7 posh Korres gift set (usually £30), free lipgloss/mascara, free Estee Lauder night cream (worth £8). Plus a free bronzer when you spend £5 at Wet 'n' Wild and 3for2 beauty at Boots. See the Deals List: Beauty Deals & Freebies

New Top Cashback Cards inc. Amex & Shell cardholders warning...
Use a cashback credit card every time you spend and it'll pay you £100s a year. Yet ONLY do this if you repay in full each month to avoid interest. The best-buys depend on your annual spend on the card. Spend over £3,000/yr: Amex Platinum* currently pays 5% cashback for 3mths, then up to 1.25%, though it requires min. family income of £30k. Instead Egg Money pays 1% cashback though this is partially eaten by a £12 annual fee. Spend under £3,000/yr: The new Barclaycard cashback card pays 1% on the first £2,000/yr then 0.5%. Existing cardholder warning: Amex Platinum: From 1 Oct, it'll charge £20/yr for unused cards, and requires old customers to spend £4,250 before it pays cashback out. Tier changes mean those spending under £10,000/yr can beat it with other cards. Shell Card: It's slashing cashback from 3% to 1% on petrol and to 0.25% on everything else so ditch & switch to the best above. FULL pros, cons & more best buys in the Updated Guide: Cashback Credit Cards Related: Credit Card Freebies, 0% Credit Cards, Credit Card Shuffle

Last Chance! Line rental, broadband & free wknd calls £15.82/month. Until Mon, Carphone Warehouse's Tiscali* is offering 3mths at £9.99/mth then £14.99/mth. Even with a £30 set up fee the avg. £15.82/mth cost over the 18 mth contract makes it the best-buy. See the Guide: Cheap Home Phones Related: Cheap Broadband

Save £1,000s using tax-free childcare vouchers for nurseries, after-school clubs etc
Now kids are back at school, if you've toddlers starting at nursery or pay for older children's after-school clubs, vouchers could be a massive financial boost. What are childcare vouchers? They effectively enable you to pay for Ofsted-registered childcare from your PRE-TAX salary. How does it work? Usually by salary sacrifice, ie, you give up £1,000 of salary (only worth £700ish in a basic taxpayer's pay packet) and get £1,000 of childcare vouchers instead; so you're £300 per grand better off. Any negatives? Your employer must offer 'em and it can impact your eligibility for tax credits, especially important for those with family income under £25,000, so check. FULL step-by-step info in the Full Guide: Childcare Vouchers Related: Childcare Tax Credits, Child Savings

New high st sales. Possible 50% off Next, £5 shoes at House of Fraser & toy bargains at Boots. These and more in the Deals List: High Street Sales

To fix or not to fix? ITV1 Tonight, this Friday 8pm. Mortgages, savings & gas and elec... find out whether a fix works.

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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) Top Bank Account: Top Pick: £100, 0% overdraft & free travel insurance with A&L* Car Insurance: Use both MoneySupermarket* & GoCompare* Also see: Van, Motorbike Cheap Broadband: Plusnet* £6/mth up to 10 Gb download. 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 Free New Mortgage Guide: Order a copy now for free! Also see: Remortgage Guide Holiday Bargains: Cheap Flights, Travel Insurance, Hotels, Packages, Travel Money Teen Cash Guide: Free 40-page PDF guide to teach your kids about money

More MoneySaving MSE

Avoid credit rating damage. Check acceptance chances before credit card applications Barclaycard now allows customers to pre-check their likelihood of success before applying. Why does this matter? Those with a patchy credit history may be rejected or may not get their desired card. As every application dents your credit file, which could make future borrowing harder and more expensive, this could prevent a needless application. What about non-Barclaycard customers? Use the result to estimate your chances of being accepted elsewhere, but it's a rule of thumb only. Full details in the MSE News story: B'card pre-application check Related: Credit Rating 'Battenberg Britain' coffee-table book giveaway. 20 copies of this new book all about not quite forgotten comfort food blagged for MoneySavers. Want one? MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. The price of romance? In the heat of the moment, Edward promises to treat his girlfriend, Bella, to a trip to Paris for her birthday, knowing she’s always dreamt of going. Bella gets really excited and can’t stop going on and on about it. Then Edward goes to book Eurostar tickets for that weekend, assuming he’d be able to get them for £59, but there are no cheap trains or flights left; it would cost £300 return for two. Edward has the money, but it was much more than he was banking on. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Edward take Bella to Paris? Previous MMDs: View All Great 'What's your favourite MSE forum thread' Hunt The MSE Forum's a huge mine of information, with like-minded MoneySavers offering support, help & tips. So we thought we'd ask you to share your favourite threads, whether useful, interesting, or just hilarious, do please add yours. Add your ideas/read other people's: Great 'What's your favourite MSE forum thread' Hunt Past Great Hunts: View all Board of the week: Motoring, Transport & Cycling Following suggestions from MoneySavers wanting somewhere to discuss cutting the cost of cycling, we've changed the board's title to Motoring, Public Transport & Cycling. Discussions are already going including Garage Charged for MOT work not done, Key fob doesn't work and Is the cycle to work scheme worthwhile? Plus read: Train & Coach Deals Note and the Parking Tickets sub-board

Q. Do I get the same protection paying via Paypal as I would if I use my credit card? Karen Murphy, via email A. No, not even if you charge you paypal account by credit card. All credit cards by law have to give Section 75 protection meaning spend over £100 on the card and the card company is jointly liable with the retailer. Yet paypal isn't covered by this; and even if you charge it up by credit card it doesn't apply as for Section 75 to work the card company must have a direct relationship with the retailer not through a third party (ie, Paypal). Paypal does offer its own protection (no where near as strong as the section 75 law) but only when you buy from eBay - if you have problems raise a 'dispute' within 45 days of buying the item. Discuss: Paypal protection 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

Top Deal: Trade in a Wii for £120 cash at Game. Show Mii The Money! New Muse album download £4. At Tesco Digital. Next cheapest £7 BOGOF Big festive tins of choccies, £8 at Co-op. Roses, Celebrations & more Free Surestart Centre open days. For Under 5s. Free activities & goody bags Asda Baby Sale 15-27 Sept in stores & online. Incl £25 junior car seat Baby bargains Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: The 12-week Debt-Life 'Achieve something' Plan Competitions thread of the week: Win a 32" TV with Yakult Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Best home made burgers

Great 'What to do with an old cereal box' Hunt Challenge Result
Last week we came over all pragmatic, and maybe a bit silly, asking how can you best transform an old cereal box into something useful? The box could have been rubbish, but the suggestions were great, including A pageful of projects, Re-use the bags and Take note(s)

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Lenor Fabric Softener, Budget Cookbook Download, Charlie Small Scrapbook Groove Armada Download, Tomorrow's World Programme Archive

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 16 - Tues 22 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. Rate jacking.
• Fri, Tonight, ITV1, 8pm. To fix or not to fix?
• Tues, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am. The topic's news reactive.

This week's Martin's Blog: Radical Bank Charges Thoughts: Bigger and longer compensation?
Plus "Fogies and Orgies on Countdown". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

Is the economy in an L, a W or a V? This week's poll. Vote and Shape of the economy discussion.

Green concerns no match for cheap prices! 5,946 voted last week. 58% of MoneySavers go for price over green concerns, and a third (33%) are split down the middle, leaving just 9% opting for green first. See the Price vs. Ethics poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Test your knowledge of world architecture. Where on earth?

Massive Monopoly! That's it for this week, however, if you've ever dreamed of owning the whole world, this'll be right up your street. Monopoly City Streets

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, americanexpress.co.uk, energyhelpline.com, gocompare.com, moneysupermarket.com, orange.co.uk, plus.net, t-mobile.co.uk, tescofinance.com, tiscali.co.uk, uswitch.com, uk.virginmoney.com. Read more about this in how this site is financed.

MoneySavingExpert.com is the free to use Consumer Revenge website focused on how to save you cash. It's owned, and run by ultra-focused journalist and bestselling author Martin Lewis. On TV amongst other things Martin is GMTV's Money SavingExpert and presents money programmes for ITV1 Tonight. On Radio Martin has regular slots on Radio 2 Vine and Radio 1 Whiley. He's also a columnist for the News of The World, Moneywise and the Sunday Post. Find out more: About the site and its funding.

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