| | MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING: For more tips, alerts & awful puns, follow Martin on Twitter 23 tricks to pimp your motor's MoneySaving
Incl avoid hidden £1,000 fine risk, can you get a year's car ins for 96p, or at least a free Kindle? Cashback each time you refuel & beat parking tickets  Cars cost - never mind buying them, the running cost of a typical motor is now £3,000 a year (source: AA). And with new car registrations only weeks away, we thought we'd pimp your motor MoneySaving with a variety of ways to hack down the cost.
| 1. | Check your photo licence or risk a £1,000 fine. More than 2 million people's have expired, see what to check & what to do if it's invalid. | | | | 2. | A year's car insurance for 96p (fully comp). That's the record result using every step in our full cheap car insurance guide, see how Barbara got 96p insurance then try the full MSE car insurance system or young driver insurance to see how you do (other quick car insurance tips below too). | | | | 3. | Seven ways to tweak your driving & cut fuel use by 30% (slowing down isn't one). Drive clever and you drive cheap, see 7 cheap driving tricks. | | | | 4. | Use hidden council 'fewer fails' MOT centres. As they don't do repairs, they've no vested interest to fail you. Use our UK council MOTs finder to find your nearest. As forumite jemayhew says: "Huge thanks. Last year ripped off £400 repairs, today passed at council centre with only test fee to pay." | | | | 5. | Bag a free tank of fuel via a gift voucher trick. If you're due to make a big purchase, manipulate gift vouchers to get a free full tank of petrol.
| | | | 6. | Try adding mum, son or Aunt Dot to car insurance to save £1,000s. Bizarrely, covering more people on a policy can cut costs if it brings down the risk average, see 7 tips on adding 2nd drivers. As @Faevouritexox tweeted: "Thanks, as a young driver my insurer wanted £5,000 but after adding mum and dad it dropped to £1,900." (PS: It's not just for young drivers.) | | | | 7. | Car (or bike) damaged by a pothole? You could be due £1,000s. They're a menace, so use our pothole damage claims full guide to see if you're due. | | | | 8. | Never renew AA or RAC policies without haggling. In our poll of hagglers the AA was top with an 84% success rate, RAC 77%. Eg, Kathryn tweeted: "Every year we haggle breakdown cover - with the AA we managed to knock off more than £100 this year." See our AA/RAC haggling tips. | | | | 9. | Cut new RAC & AA policy costs to under £20/yr buying the right way. Don't buy direct, go via the right site to get cheap AA/RAC cover. | | | | 10. | Smoke with kids in the car and you can be fined £50. From 1 Oct it'll be illegal to smoke in vehicles in Eng & Wales if there's an under-18 in it. | | | | 11. | Get 3% cashback every time you buy petrol or diesel. The Santander 123* credit card (eligibility calc) gives 3% cashback on fuel & train fares (max £9/mth back), 2% department stores, 1% supermarkets, so just repay it IN FULL to avoid its 16.5% rep APR and you're quids in. There's a £24/yr fee so it's only good for serious drivers. Full info: Petrol Cashback Cards | | | | 12. | Hidden car insurance deals comparison sites miss - free £79 Kindle, free £60 Amazon voucher, free £80 Karcher pressure washer. There's no one cheapest insurer, so to get as many quotes as possible first correctly combine comparison sites (as different sites search different insurers). Our order's Google*, Confused.com*, MoneySupermarket* & Gocompare*.
Yet they miss some promos, some insurers and they can't do multi-car. So we monitor them in our Cheap Car Insurance guide. Currently including...
- Admiral multi car*, £79 Kindle with policy by 30 Sep.
- Age UK*, get a £60 Amazon voucher with policy by 20 Aug.
- Co-op*, get a Karcher K2 pressure washer with policy by 31 Aug.
- Also try Aviva* and Direct Line* which comparison sites miss too.
- You may also be able to get cashback on a range of policies. | | | | 13. | Smash parking costs by renting a driveway. See if you can rent a private parking space for less. We found £11/day in Ldn compared to NCP's £27. | | | | 14. | Car insurance rising 10%, yet you can lock a quote in at today's price. Prices are predicted to rise 10% in 2015, even before Nov's insurance tax rise (which'll typically add £12 to new policies). So far it's already up 5%. Yet Aviva*, LV*, AA* & more give quotes valid for 60 days, so get one now for then in case prices rise, see our list of 20 insurers with lock in quotes.
| | | | 15. | Not at car insurance renewal? Check NOW if you can save mid-policy. With prices rising, everyone should check if they're overpaying. If so, unless you've claimed you can usually switch (do read switching mid-policy for full pros & cons), as Andy tweeted us: "You gave us confidence to challenge our insurance mid-policy. We were paying £40/mth, now it's £16." | | | | 16. | Nine quick pre-MOT test tricks to cut your chance of failing. Many fail needlessly, here are 9 pre-MOT tricks to avoid fails. | | | | 17. | Cut fuel costs by up to 50p/L with a nifty tool. It finds the cheapest forecourt near you, the differences can be huge. Petrol price comparison | | | | 18. | Private parking firms CAN'T fine you - don't believe the disguise. Many tickets from supermarkets, retail parks & private car park firms do better impressions than Alistair McGowan. Some even call themselves Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) to mimic official Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). Yet they've no right to fine you - see how to Fight Unfair Private Parking Tickets. | | | | 19. | Don't assume you pay less for 3rd party insurance than fully comp. It's counter-logical but if you want the cheapest, comprehensive can cost less. | | | | 20. | Slash tyre costs. Usually wheely expensive, our tyre tips can cut your costs. | | | | 21. | Some save £100s on car insurance by legitimately tweaking job titles. An illustrator is oft cheaper than an artist, an editor than a journalist, a PA than a secretary. Play with our car insurance job picker tool to read the rules and find yours cheapest, such as @fabsternation: "I saved £300+ going from creative director to marketing manager. Crazy." | | | | 22. | 50%+ of people beat unfair council parking fines even after rejection. If your ticket's unfair, appeal, but even if you lose that, go all the way to the final tribunal and over 50% win, see fight unfair COUNCIL parking tickets. | | | | 23. | Monthly car insurance doesn't exist, it's a hidden loan. They simply loan you the year's cost, often at 20%+ APR, check our car insurers APR list. Oft you'll be far better off spreading the cost over a year on a 0% credit card. | | | These are just the start, accelerate savings in 50+ Motoring MoneySaving tips. |
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| Wed 12 Aug 2015 |
New. FREE £50 of wine on TWO top 0% cards
Virgin Money's best-buy 0% for debt shifts, new spend & money transfers (cash loans) now has a £50 freebie too It's always best to pick a 0% credit card on the deal, not a freebie, but Virgin's free 6 bottles of red, white or mixed wine (usual price £50) includes existing best buys in many categories. So if you need one anyway, the wine's a corking boon... - How to get the free wine deals. Apply for a Virgin Money card by 20 Aug then spend or transfer (or combined) £1,000 on it within the first 60 days. Be Drinkaware. We've assessed the relevant cards and think only two are worth highlighting. Don't just apply in hope, as that'll mark your credit file - instead find odds of getting each card via our eligibility calc first.
1. The Virgin Money 3in1 card* - massively the top all-rounder card & a best-buy in 3 separate categories. It gives:
- 24mths 0% spending: in other words, pay on the card & you've interest-free borrowing (2nd-longest such deal).
- 24mths 0% (1% fee) balance transfer: lets you shift debts from other cards to it, so you owe it instead at 0%.
- 24mths 0% (1.9% fee) money transfer: this is a rare feature offered by some balance transfer cards - it lets you pay cash into your bank account (then you owe it at 0%) then you can use it to clear your overdraft, or as a loan.
2. The Virgin Money 36mth 0% card* - a long balance transfer for a 2.5% fee and money transfer for a 4% fee, and that should be its main purpose as the 0% on spending is just 6mths - far from a best buy. - The Golden Rules. It's not just about the right card, it's about using it the right way. Full info in Best Balance Transfers, Top 0% Cards & APR Examples....
a) Don't get new borrowing unless you have to. If so, always budget & plan to repay before the 0% ends.
b) With balance transfers, always get the lowest-fee card within the time you're sure you can clear it.
c) Never miss min monthly repayments, or the bank can end your 0% deal and charge far more.
d) Clear the card or balance transfer before the 0% ends, or the rate rockets to your card's standard APR.
e) Never withdraw cash. It's not at the 0% rate. It's often far more, and just doing it can hurt your creditworthiness. back to top ↑ |
| 5 Odeon tix £20 or 2 for £10. They needn't be used by same person, or on same visit. Norm up to £15 each. Odeon WARNING: A deadline on PPI claims may be imposed - DON'T WAIT. Worrying newspaper rumours suggest the regulators may agree to impose a time bar to help banks. If there's a chance you're owed, check: Reclaim PPI for free Amazon tool no.2: Is Amazon Europe cheaper? Eg, finds £395 Dyson £234 delivered. Last week we told you the free Amazon delivery trick tool that beats its 'you must spend £20 rule'. Now, as the strong pound means buying from Amazon's Euro sites (eg, France, Italy, Spain) can win even with delivery, try this Amazon EU tool. £18 Hi-Tec trainers & £23 walking boots via 50% off code. MSE Blagged. Includes sales items. Hi-Tec Free £100 M&S for switching bank + £10 dine in - and you NEEDN'T pay in owt. New switchers to M&S Bank* already get a £100 gift card, but via this link now also get a £10 Dine in for Two voucher. The account has a £250 0% overdraft and linked 6% regular saver, plus it's our only top pick that doesn't make you pay in a set amount each month (though you must use its switching service & have 2+ direct debits). Full info & options in Best Bank Accounts. |
New. Free flight delays reclaim tool - are you due £420/person?
'MSE's tips on flight delays helped me reclaim £2,565 from Thomas Cook' - our new tool makes it even easier If your flight arrives 3hrs+ late or is cancelled, under EU reg 261/2004, you may be entitled to up to £420 per person. We've piloted 400,000+ through this already with our template letters, this week we're launching our new free online tool that does it for you, to make it an even smoother ride. Full info in Flight Delay Compensation - here's our safety briefing:  Flight delay compensation - the basics...
- You can claim for delays now or dating back to 2009.
- You must've arrived more than 3hrs late (see how to check past delay lengths).
- Any flight from EU airports count, or to an EU airport but only if it's an EU airline.
- Compensation's fixed, based solely on delay & journey length. See what am I due?
- It must be the airline's fault - eg, bad weather doesn't count. See what counts.
- Airlines may offer vouchers as compensation, but you're entitled to cash. How much?
- Is it fair to airlines? Arguably not, if your flight cost £10 and you get £420. See Martin's legal vs moral concerns.- 'I reclaimed £2,565.' We're soaring with huge numbers of successes, eg, Jordan emailed: "Your helpful tips on flight delays helped me successfully claim £2,565 from Thomas Cook for a flight over 4yrs ago for a group of 9 people."
- New free online reclaiming tool. The flight delay reclaiming tool is our latest collaboration with complaining site Resolver, merging our template letters & experience with its technology. Enter your details and it auto-drafts the complaint, sends it, keeps track and escalates it to the CAA if necessary. Pls feedback. Related: Resolver guide
- Warning: Get your claim in NOW. Airlines have fought tooth & nail in the courts to stop this, but so far lost. Now Bott & Co, a specialist flight delay lawyer firm, is warning those with claims about technical faults to submit them ASAP as a European court judgment due later this year may change the rules. See the latest flight delays news.
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| New. Top student accounts, eg, free 4yr railcard or £3,000 0% overdraft. See Top Student Accounts 2015/16. FREE £26 Cake & Bake Show tix - London, Manchester, Edinburgh. MSE Blagged. 500 free pairs of tickets for London, 750 pairs for Manchester & unlimited pairs for Edinburgh. In Oct/Nov. See Cake & Bake tickets. Cheapest EVER loan - 3.5%. Borrow £7.5k-£15k: Sainsbury's* is 3.5% rep APR for Nectar cardholders (they're avail free) over 1-3 yrs & 3.6% rep APR over 4-5 yrs*, or M&S* at 3.6% rep APR. £5k-£7,499: Zopa* is 4.3%-4.4% rep APR and Hitachi* is 4.4% rep APR. £2k-£5k: Zopa* is 4.6%-7.9% rep APR, Hitachi* 7.4% rep APR (8% from £2,500 to £3,000). Warning: These are rep APRs so only 51% of those accepted need be given the headline rate. Use our Loans Eligibility Calc to check your chances. Full info: Cheap Loans FREE Warburtons bread. Print £1 off coupon to get a free small (400g) wholemeal loaf in supermarkets. Use your loaf CODES & VCHS - Travelodge 10%, Dorothy Perkins £5 off. This week, Travelodge 10% off one-night stays code, Dorothy Perkins £5 off £25 vch, Barratts 20% & Jones Bootmaker 20% codes (both incl school shoes). ALL Codes & Vchs Zara on the cheap - a must-know summer trick. Slash the cost of every item, see Martin's Zara on the cheap. |
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Show Best Buys
1,600 Kurt Geiger shoe styles £29 or less. Via its Shoeaholics web outlet. Some were £100+. Shoeaholics Bonkers for Bake Off? 50p bowls, 85p non-stick tin, £1 Jane Asher bakeware. See hot baking deals. £30 Jawbone UP24 fitness tracker (next cheapest £50, RRP £99). Monitors sleep & activity. Cheap Jawbone Free £8ish cocktail or £5ish cider. Sign up to get Pitcher & Piano voucher. Pls be Drinkaware. |
MSE Big Broadband Switch Event - market smashing deals
10 DAYS OR LESS LEFT: Incl Sky line rent, broadband & all-in TV (Sport & Movies) £800+/yr off standard price A collective switch is where you ask firms to bid to provide market beating deals. Last week we launched the results of our first broadband collective. Our b'band postcode checker shows which you can get & compares against the whole market. Here are the winners (click links for full info) - all end in 10 days or less. Questions? Read full FAQs. - Pay monthly line rental AND unlimited b'band equiv. £11/mth. TalkTalk's giving 18mth line rent (no calls) & b'band for equiv £11.13/mth (less than BT line rent alone). Unlike most cheap deals you needn't pay line upfront.
- All-in Sky TV (incl Sport & Movies), line rent, b'band equiv £35/mth - 19,000 codes left. Sky's 12mth deal massively undercuts owt we've seen before and is £68/mth cheaper than its standard price. You get line rent (no calls), unlimited broadband & all Sky channels incl Sport & Movies for equiv £35/mth (but not premium non-Sky channels, eg, MUTV or BT Sport). Codes went quickly, it's given us more, but if you're doing it, it's safer to go quick.
- All-in Sky TV deal plus FAST fibre b'band, equiv £38/mth. This Sky fibre deal's as above but with superfast up to 38Mb fibre optic b'band (25Gb download limit). Or there's an unlimited download version for a further £10/mth.
- No line rental broadband. We're oft asked about this, so we tried, but to little avail. The only bidder Relish is for central London only (check if you can get it) and, at £15/mth, is more than the line & b'band winner.
- Existing customer of these providers? These deals are for new custs, so you could switch, or try haggling. Claire did: "Thanks to your haggling tips I got Sky down from £45/mth to £28/mth with upgraded TV & phone." Success rates of those who try with telecom firms are over 50%, see our haggling tips for Sky, TalkTalk, BT & more.
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| Want to test our new FREE TravelMoneyMax app? We're testing our new Android app (iPhone due in 2wks). It a) compares 40 bureaux to find cheapest travel cash (including a nearness indicator for collection). And b) has a unique personalised currency calculator once away to show which card/cash to use. Get it: TMM app. Please feedback. Related: TMM web tool. Renew your EHIC for free (5.2m expire this year). Lasts 5yrs so sort it while you remember. FREE EHIC renewals SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: (Send us yours on this or any topic)
"Used your check & challenge my council tax band info and was successful in reducing it from E to D. I got a refund of nearly £600 (we have lived here for two years). Result." Want to be the first to get this email? It can take 18hrs to send to all 10m recipients, here's how to get it quicker.
Show Best Buys |
| Show Vouchers and Top Deals |
| | - iPad £40 discounts, Wed only
- Tesco £12 off £60 for newbies
- Hotpoint extra 35% off clearance
- Asos 20% off with £4 mag
- H&M donate clothes, get £5 off £30
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 MONEY MORAL DILEMMA
Should I charge my girlfriend interest for a loan?
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... My girlfriend wants to borrow some money from me to buy a car. I can spare the money but it's still quite a lot - is it unreasonable to charge her interest on the 'loan', especially as I'd be losing interest on it in my savings account? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I charge my girlfriend interest for a 'loan'? | Suggest an MMD | View past MMDs THE GREAT HUNT
Tell us which online stores give discount codes via live web chat
Have you ever chatted to a store's help person via a web chat window and been offered a discount code or other offer? We've heard rumours that people who ask few questions about an item can get hidden deals. We want to list which firms do this - and what type of discounts are on offer. Share yours/read others': Live Chat Discounts Past topics: View all back to top ↑ |
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Martin's blogs | Martin's appearances (from Wed 12 Aug onward) Thu 13 Aug - GMB, ITV, Deals of the Week, 7.40am. Watch previous
Fri 14 Aug - This Morning, ITV, 90-Sec Savers, 10.30am-12.30pm. Previous |
MSE team corner Regular team appearances: Thu 13 Aug
Share Radio, MSE Helen K and MSE Amy, 11am
Fri 14 Aug
BBC Radio Manchester, 4.50pm | Discussion of the week Does everyone have this many clothes? Often, you don't realise how much stuff you have until you have to move home. The same is certainly true of clothes. Join the discussion on the discoveries moving house can reveal and share your stories. | Cheap travel money |
This week's poll: How do you rate your bank account's service? Please vote based on CUSTOMER SERVICE for your main CURRENT account over the last SIX MONTHS. Please ignore rates or any other products. | Poll results The MoneySavingExpert.com Annual Census
Just using the most common result in each category, MoneySavers are typically women aged 46-55, who earn £20k-£30k a year, live in the South East, went to university, have kids and like tomato ketchup. That said, there's still plenty of variety among the 7,848 who voted (eg, on earnings, £30k-£40k a year was second and mayonnaise was only a dollop from ketchup in the condiments running). Full results |
| Are credit card providers allowed to just increase my credit limit? Mine very quickly went up to £7,500, which seems irresponsible. Keith, by email. MSE's Sam M: They can, but all the major card firms are signed up to the Lending Code which says they should assess if a customer will be able to repay it (ie, not do it for those with poor credit scores or where their account is in arrears) and give at least 30 days' notice. All providers signed up to the code must allow you to opt out of future rises to your credit limit. You can do this at any point by contacting it, though when lenders try to raise the limit, they often ask if you want to opt out of all future increases. If you feel your provider didn't follow these guidelines, you can complain to the free Financial Ombudsman, which can adjudicate on the matter. If you've overspent, see our Debt Help guide. Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails). |
 Nick's free game of the week: Avalanche |
When was the bazillionaire, shopaholic or bridezilla born? That's it for this week, but before you go, new words enter the Oxford English Dictionary all the time and now you can use the OED birth word generator to see which words were born the year you were (who'd have thought smartphone was from the 1980s?). We hope you save some money, Martin & the MSE team |
| Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com works We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of this email and the site. We're a journalistic website, and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques - but can't promise to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong.
What you need to know This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service. We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned, how likely they are to go bust, but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the section 75 guide for protection tips). We often link to other websites, but we can't be responsible for their content. Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion. Please read the Full Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, how this site is financed and Editorial Code. Martin Lewis is a registered trade mark belonging to Martin S Lewis. More about MoneySavingExpert and Martin Lewis What is MoneySavingExpert.com?
Founded in February 2003, it's now the UK's biggest consumer help website with more than 10 million people getting this email and about 13 million using the site every month. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple: saving cash and fighting for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 80 full time staff, more than a third of whom are editorial – researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE Who is Martin Lewis? Martin set up and runs MSE, and still writes this email each week (unless it says so). He's an ultra-focused money-saving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own ITV prime-time show The Martin Lewis Money Show and weekly slots on Radio 5 Live, This Morning and Good Morning Britain, among others. He’s a columnist for publications including the Telegraph, Sunday Mirror and Woman magazine. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography What do the links with a * mean? Any links with a * by them are affiliated, which means get a product via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference; the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to it. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in the same way. More info: See how this site is financed. As we believe transparency is important, we're including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for content too:
Unaffiliated web-addresses for links in this email santander-products.co.uk, google.co.uk, confused.com, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, ageuk.org.uk, co-operativeinsurance.co.uk, aviva.co.uk, directline.com, admiral.com, churchill.com, virginmoney.com, postoffice.co.uk, tescobank.com, lloydsbank.com, mbna.co.uk, barclaycard.co.uk, sainsburysbank.co.uk, bank.marksandspencer.com, zopa.com, paybyfinance.co.uk, firstdirect.com, directsavetelecom.co.uk.
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