Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

New. Can you get the new £400 Apple Watch Series 10 for £10? There's a trick via private medical insurance (PMI), it works best if you're young(ish), fit(ish) and go to the gym

Vitality Healthcare is a PMI policy that encourages you to stay fit and active, as if you do, you get perks such as 50% off gyms, and a near-free Apple Watch. In the last week, it's moved from the Series 9 Watch to the latest Series 10 Watch and lowered its price. For some younger people, if you'd have spent money on the watch and gym fees anyway, the perks may come close to nearly covering the medical insurance fees (or vice versa).

What is PMI? It's a lifestyle choice policy offered by firms such as Bupa and Vitality, so that when you need medical help, you can choose to bypass the NHS - it covers the cost of private consultations, treatments and operations. The main advantages are speed, and 'hotel-like' hospital accommodation. Below we're focusing on the Vitality deal, but if you are going to do it, it's best to first read our full Private medical insurance guide for step-by-step need-to-knows.

• First do a comparison, not only to see other prices, you get up to £120 EXTRA with Vitality too. You need to see how a Vitality quote compares to other PMI policies. Most comparison sites out there are 'white labels' of just two actual engines (so while each comparison has its own look, widely-used technology makes it work). For each we've worked to get the white label with the biggest perks if you get PMI (including Vitality) through them. Try both to get a wider spread of firms, then even if Vitality is your winner, this is a more lucrative way to get it than going direct...
  
  - £120 Amazon voucher with MoneySupermarket* (uses Active Quote's engine). Via this link, after your sixth monthly payment, you'll get the voucher emailed to you. Max one voucher a year.
  - £100 cashback with Howden Life & Health* (this is direct access to an engine that powers many comparisons). Via this link, after six monthly payments for PMI of any value, you get the cashback paid into your bank account.
  
  
• The big Vitality perks in detail. The big boon of going with Vitality* are the perks. It has discounts for Caffè Nero, Nike, Samsung and more, but two big ones are worth serious cash...
  
  
  1. New. Apple Watch Series 10. It's just upgraded its offering to the new £399 Series 10, which you get for an upfront payment of £10 (or just £1 for the SE watch). You then pay the rest monthly over three years, but what you pay is reduced depending on how many 'Activity Points' you earn - do the top level (eg, 12,500+ steps for 5+ days a week or earn points via gym workouts, Parkrun etc) and you DON'T PAY ANY MORE towards the watch, so it costs just £10. Even for lesser activity, there are decent savings.
     
     
  2. Up to 50% off many Virgin, Nuffield Health and PureGym monthly fees (even for existing members). These are straight discounts off the full price, not linked to activity (many pay less than full price anyway by negotiating - see cheap gyms, but this is still usually a strong discount). It works even if you're already a member, eg, the Virgin gym in Sheffield has a listed price of £64/mth, but you could get it for £32/mth.
• How this stacks up & who it works best for... This works best for under-45s (min age 18) who pay for a gym and will earn the max activity points (though anyone can check & see) over three years. We got a Vitality quote for a 35-year-old living in London of £48/mth (so £576/yr). Yet if they were to buy an Apple Watch anyway, at the top activity level they save £120/yr on payments, and if they're already a member of their local Virgin Gym, they get a £44/mth (£528/yr) fee reduction - which is a combined £648/yr saving, more than covering the PMI cost.
  
  Vitality is more expensive than the cheapest equivalent quote, which is from around £20/mth depending on where in the country you are, but if you'd use the perks, and the gym in particular, it can work out substantially cheaper - the key is to do your sums before signing up. But be aware that, as with all firms, your policy cost will likely rise annually.

Martin's Car Finance Misselling UPDATE
Bought a car on finance? Are you owed £1,000s? The regulator's just paved the way to double the numbers who can complain (though I've some concerns)...

In January, regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched its final stage investigation into car finance hidden Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCAs) mis-selling. This is the 40% of cases where dealers could up the interest and thus consumers' costs to get paid more commission - without consumers knowing. No surprise we've had 2.5m complaints via our free car finance DCA complaints tool.

Now, after a Court of Appeal ruling a few weeks ago, the FCA's just announced a consultation on effectively paving the way to extend the scope to ALL deals that had commission on them, not just DCAs, doubling the number of potential complainants (though I have some concerns over this). So let me try and take you through this complex situation...

1. THE BIT WE KNEW: Did you buy a car, van, camper van or motorbike on finance? Ask now if you had a DCA. Our Car finance reclaiming guide takes you through it step by step, but in a nutshell, you may be able to claim an average of £1,100 back due to these hidden DCAs on your policy.

• It's for motor vehicles. Cars, vans, motorbikes & camper vans with finance taken out from Apr 2007 to 28 Jan 2021.
• Finance type. Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) & Hire Purchase (HP), but NOT leasing, for personal (not biz) use.
• It applies even if the person has passed away or the vehicle is paid off. More details in the guide.

If that's you... there's no way for you to know if you had a DCA without complaining. Our easy free complaints tool asks for you and then logs the complaint if you did. Speed is worthwhile, as when the ruling comes there may be a time bar introduced, so complain now, even though nothing can happen until May 2025 at the earliest. In my view, the latest court news means those who had DCAs are more likely to be paid out, but it is likely to take longer for that to happen.

2. THE NEW STUFF: Will this be opened up to ALL car finance commission-based deals? Three weeks ago, a landmark Court of Appeal ruling on a claims firm-led case sent shockwaves through the sector. It said: "Consumers need to know all material facts including the amount of commission". This opened the door to possible court reclaims for all car finance commission, and indeed can be read across to other lending areas. Yet it'll almost certainly be appealed to the Supreme Court, which can and commonly does have an entirely different view and overrule it, so this is far from a done deal.

I suspect this ruling stunned the FCA too. At the end of last week, it put out a two-week consultation on whether a hold on firms having to deal with complaints (done when there's a systemic issue so it can all be decided at once) should be extended to any deal where commission is involved, even if there wasn't a DCA (an estimated 95% of them). That in effect says they're now potentially part of this too. Yet in reality, it'll all wait until and depend upon what the Supreme Court says, assuming it allows the appeal.

What you're asking us: Do I resubmit if I put in a complaint and was told no DCA? Does this change the key dates? Does it broaden the type of motor finance? What do we put in a complaint? All good questions we want to answer, but...

The FCA's consulting for two weeks, then has two weeks to put things in place, so mid-Dec(ish). We need to wait to get final answers, and will fully update our guide (& tell you here) then. Please bear with us.