Car insurance cost crackdown, free teens' £15, shift to 0% till July 2028, top kids' savings, £70 Eurostar, 35GB Sim £4

Plus... beauty Advent bargains, Sky haggling, Citroen recall, £100m forgotten Premium Bonds

                                                           

09 September 2025 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL Boost kids' savings, including... - FREE teens' £15 - 5% interest in top-paying accounts - Are Premium Bonds good for kids? - Top junior ISAs - Hidden £1,000s in Child Trust Funds - Bank accounts vs prepaid cards  Shift debt to 0% till July 2028 Car insurance cost crackdown Beauty Advent calendar bargains Ends Mon. 35GB Sim '£4/mth' Last chance to opt out of Winter Fuel Ends Thu. £70 Eurostar returns Reglaze glasses lenses from £10 £100m forgotten Premium Bonds Starts Wed. McDonald's Monopoly tricks Updated. Citroen & DS recall rights  'I saved £576 on my Sky package'  Martin's podcast. Stop energy rip-off, flight delay compo & the £1 train! USA trip? Beat ESTA price hikes Regulator says 14m to get £100s in car finance payouts Free beer & wine at major pub chains Grind coffee 30% off code M&S up to 50% off sale Martin: Which analyst firms give the best Price Cap predictions? Want to work at MSE? This week's best buys: Free £175 bank switch, '£20.55/mth' fast fibre, 5.8% loans Money Moral Dilemma: Should we drive mother-in-law who doesn't pay for petrol? BEST BUYS & TOOLS MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club including free credit report 0% balance transfers Compare broadband deals MSE Car Insurance Compare+ Best bank accounts Top savings accounts Credit cards for bad credit Credit Card Eligibility Calculator Loans Eligibility Calculator Mortgage comparison Compare travel money Cheap Energy Club Best Sim-only deals

New. FREE £15 for teens Martin: The Top Children's Savings so your ickle ones can earn bigger interest, up to 5%  Including junior ISAs, hidden £1,000s in Child Trust Funds, Premium Bonds for kids?, top debit cards, kids' pensions There's no better financial lesson for children than, if you're going to save with a bank, as it can use your money (to loan out to other people), then it should pay you! And as different banks pay different amounts called 'interest', find the one paying you the most... New. Free £15 voucher for 13 to 17-year-olds Before I get into savings, until next week, via this specific link, the Santander 123 Mini* children's bank account will send 13 to 17-year-old new customers a £15 Love2Shop voucher. It'll arrive from 8 Nov, you need to claim it within 30 days, and it's redeemable in store or online at Waterstones, Argos, Boots, Foot Locker, New Look etc. Is the account any good? Yes, though there's little issue just grabbing the account just for the freebie. Santander 123 is one of our top-pick kids' bank accounts anyway - a way for 13 to 17-year-olds to get used to having real current-account functions, such as a contactless debit card (or an ATM-only cash card, if preferred).   It also gives decent if not table-topping savings interest: 3% on all your savings if you've £1,500 to £2,000 | 2% if £1,000 to £1,500 | 1% under £1,000. For any amount over £2,000, put that in a savings account as it earns no interest. The top children's savings accounts... Kids' savings rates are helped by the fact the maximum amounts that can be saved aren't high, making it cheaper for banks to offer them (in the hope they may end up buying a wee person's custom for life). Let's start with the top standard savings. While these are taxable, that's not usually an issue as most children don't pay tax. The two types are suitable for different purposes, and there is no problem having both. All savings I mention today have the full UK £85,000 savings safety protection. Top-paying children's savings accounts 1. Regular savings accounts. For money put aside each month. Halifax Kids' Monthly Saver 5.5% fixed for a year. Save £10 to £100/mth (you can skip months). No withdrawals allowed, so must close account to withdraw early. Ages 0 to 15, apply online or in branch. Must be opened by a parent or guardian. Saffron BS Children's Regular Saver 4.45% (drops to 4.2% next week) variable for a year. Save £5 to £100/mth (you can skip months). Withdrawals are allowed.  Ages 0 to 17, apply by post or in branch. Must be opened by a parent, grandparent or guardian if the child is under 13. When a regular saver ends, the money is normally moved to a pants rate, so be ready to then shift it into a top easy-access account. You can also then normally open a new regular saver, but can still only put the max (say £100/mth) in. 2. Top easy-access accounts. Simple savings accounts you can put money in and withdraw when you want. As they're 'variable', the rate can drop so do monitor it (or better, get your kids to, as a financial education lesson). Nationwide FlexOne Saver 5% on up to £5,000 (linked to FlexOne children's current account, which you must open first).  Ages 11 to 17. Parent or guardian must apply for under-13s in branch. Older children can apply online. HSBC MySavings 4.5% on £10 to £3,000. Under-11s must get parents' authorisation to withdraw over £50. Ages 7 to 17. Parent or guardian must apply in branch (or online if they bank with HSBC). Kent Reliance Children's Saver 4.3% on £10 to £25,000. Under-12s are limited to £100-a-day ATM withdrawals - bigger amounts can be via online transfer. Ages 0 to 17. Post or in branch. Parent or guardian must apply for under-7s. There's also Virgin Money's 5% kids' savings account, but parents must be a Virgin Money customer. Also do check your local building society. Top children's fixed savings. These are good if you're worried that UK base rates may drop and you want a guaranteed rate for larger amounts, or if you want to lock your children's money away so it can't be touched. The top fixes are State Bank of India 1yr 3.95% (min £1,000), Saffron BS 2yr 4% (min £500), Cambridge BS 3yr 4.05% (min £1,000). PS: A parents warning! I know many scrimp & save to put money aside for their kids, but it's a bit like aeroplane oxygen mask rules: "Put your own on before your child's." If you're struggling to breathe financially, you can't help them. Building a nest-egg for the kids isn't the priority: family financial security is - only do it after sorting costly debt and ensuring urgent living costs are met. Are Premium Bonds good for children? For years, many people, especially grandparents, have gifted children Premium Bonds. And frankly, in my view, for many they would've done better sticking with normal savings.  Premium Bonds are govt-backed savings, where the interest is based on a prize draw. The current prize fund rate is just 3.6%, yet even that overestimates what most people will actually win with typical luck (see Are Premium Bonds worth it? for a full explanation). Premium Bonds are best for: 1) Those with larger savings, say over £5,000, as then you've a better chance of earning closer to the published prize fund rate. With less, the odds are you will win little or nothing.  2) Those who pay tax on their savings interest, who have used up their ISA allowances, as Premium Bond winnings are always tax-free.  As most children have small amounts of savings and aren't taxpayers, Premium Bonds are particularly unsuitable. Of course, there's the ludicrously small chance your child will win a million, but they could also toss a coin and it land on its edge.  So if you're thinking of putting £1,000 or less into Premium Bonds for a child, it's worth noting that with average luck our Premium Bonds Probability Calculator shows they are likely to win nothing over a year (give it a try based on your scenario). Top junior ISAs Tax-free children's savings or investments A junior ISA is a tax-free savings wrapper you can save up to £9,000 per child every tax year in (so those lucky enough to fill it each year can have many £10,000s). It must be opened by a parent or legal guardian, not say a grandparent.  Its predecessor, Child Trust Funds (more on them below), are similar, and can now be converted into junior ISAs - a good idea for most. Top-paying junior cash ISAs Provider Rate (AER variable) How to open Coventry BS 4% on £1+ Post / branch Leek BS 3.85% on £1+ Post / branch NS&I 3.55% on £1+ Online Tesco Bank 3.5% on £1+ Online / phone Already got a junior cash ISA? If your child already has a junior ISA that pays less, you can transfer it to any of these to earn more. Just apply for the new junior ISA and fill in the transfer form.  Junior ISAs aren't for everyone though - there are two prime uses:  They're good if you want to lock money away till the child is 18. The money is only accessible on the child's 18th birthday. So it's a simple way to put money aside for their future without them getting their (or in some cases, their parents getting their) hands on it before.  Yet on the day they're 18, it's their money, in their control. So if you're saving it for them to use at uni, they may decide to buy a Taylor Swift-themed camper van instead (she may be a bit old then, but you get the point). Junior ISA savings and investments are always tax-free. If you save in a junior cash ISA the interest isn't taxable, if you invest (via a stocks & shares junior ISA), any income or capital gains on the share growth is tax-free too. So it's a valuable extra protection, but only if your children pay tax or may do in the future...  Children are eligible to pay tax, but most don't Children are, mostly, taxed just like adults, so just like adults the first £12,570 per tax year they earn is tax-free (as is their first £3,000 of capital gains profit on share sales). Only if they earn more will they be eligible to pay tax. In fact, if anyone ONLY earns from savings interest - so not kids about to star in the new Harry Potter series - they can earn £18,570/yr of interest tax-free (due to the Starting Savings Rate and Personal Savings Allowance - see how savings are taxed). That's more than plenty enough for most children, with one exception... It is different for under-18s on money given by parents... If they earn £100+/yr interest from money given to them by a parent / step-parent (not grandparents, aunties, uncles or others), then all of it is taxable as if it was the parent's savings, to stop parents stashing their own cash in their child's name. So if... a) A child earns £100+/yr of interest from a parent and b) That parent pays tax on savings interest because they've used up their personal savings and ISA allowances. ... then a junior ISA is a really good idea because it protects the child's savings interest or investment from tax. Clearly this will tend to only affect wealthier people. Should I pick a junior cash or investment ISA? While I normally focus on savings, it's important to point out there is a strong argument to invest rather than save for your child, especially if they're young. The general investment rule is if you're putting money away for over five years, on the balance of probability, investing will likely significantly outperform saving.  With junior ISAs you're often putting money away for far longer periods: it should, hopefully, mean much greater growth, even more than the top savings account. So putting some money in there (or in other investments) is often a good idea. You can have both a cash junior ISA and a shares junior ISA, as long as you don't put over £9,000 in per tax year. Investing isn't risk-free - you do it in the hopes of far higher growth, but at the risk you could end up with less than you put in. Yet if you do it in a wide spread of investments (eg, UK and global index tracker funds, which monitor the performance of stock market indices), that reduces the risk, and this could end up giving them a much bigger nest-egg. So you may be doing a disservice to your child by not giving them that chance. If you're investment savvy, you can use a provider that lets you pick individual funds and shares yourself. We've not done a full comparison but I'm talking the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown*, AJ Bell* and Fidelity*, which all offer a huge choice within their junior ISAs.  If you're new to this, then robo-investors, for example Aviva's Wealthify* and Moneyfarm, pick funds automatically for you. Better still, if you already have a financial adviser, speak to them. For more help, while they're aimed at adults, listen to my 'Beginner's guide to investing' podcast and read our Investment ISA guide. PS: This is a great topic to discuss with teenage children to educate them about the markets. You could set up a dummy portfolio, where they choose the investments (without real money) and see how it does. Top Child Trust Funds (possible hidden money) If your child was born 1 Sept 2002 to 2 Jan 2011 All UK children aged roughly 14 to 23 were automatically given a Child Trust Fund (CTF). It's the tax-free predecessor of the junior ISA, and works almost exactly the same way: the money being locked away until your child is 18. Yet there is one big difference... ... the state paid in £250 to start CTFs off (£500 for those in lower-income families), so even if parents, grandparents and others didn't put anything in it, every child of that age has some money in it. Unfortunately, many have lost track of it. What you do depends on your situation: Know where the CTF is, and the child is still under 18? CTF savings rates are poor as it's now a dead account, and financial advisers tell me the choice of investments isn't that great in the shares version.  The good news is if your child has a CTF, you can convert it to a junior ISA, where the rates are better. To do that, you just apply for the junior ISA and fill in the CTF details in the transfer section. For all the details, read the junior ISA section above. Don't know where your CTF is? You may have £1,000s sitting in one! Official stats show, 728,000 may have a CTF and aren't aware of it, with an average balance of over £2,200 (though this can vary hugely with age, whether it was an investment, and whether any money was added).  - If you already know your CTF provider, you can contact it directly. - If you don't know your provider, there is a FREE tool via Gov.uk to help you find it - there's absolutely no need to pay. Parents can do it for under-18s, and over-16s can do it themselves (and yes even if you're over 18 you can still trace the money, it's yours!). - You should get a response from HM Revenue & Customs within three weeks telling you which provider has your cash. See our Reclaim your Child Trust Fund guide for full detail. Delightfully, Kirsty emailed to say: "As an adoptive family we didn't know anything about Child Trust Funds until I read one of your newsletters. I followed the advice, was informed where the funds were originally set up, and we found both funds were valued at about £1,000 each. Thank you so much for raising our awareness." Over 18 and got/had a Child Trust Fund? If you do (or did) nothing at the age of 18, the CTF will mature into the same provider's cash or investment ISA, which may well be pants. So it's worth you locating the money, and making a proper decision of what you'll do with it. See our what to do with maturing Child Trust Funds / junior ISAs help. Want a spending card for your child? Children's bank accounts vs prepaid cards Savings accounts are a place to store money you don't intend to use frequently. Yet many children need a way to spend their money too, and with the ongoing digitisation of payments, now it's via contactless cards, phones and watches, that usually means you need a vehicle to do it with. There are two main types: Children's bank accounts. You have money in these and can spend it through a debit card, just like an adult's account. Pros: No fees | May pay interest | All money in there fully protected. Cons: Fewer controls for parents | Often only available for over-11s. There's full info in top kids' bank accounts, but our top picks in brief are... the Santander 123 account, as discussed above, with its free £15 sign-up bonus and up to 3% interest. Plus the Nationwide FlexOne, which pays 2% interest on up to £1,000 and has a linked savings account paying 5% on up to £5,000. Prepaid cards. Here you load up money on to the card that you want to spend. Pros: Lots of spending controls for parents | Available for younger children. Cons: No interest | Some have costly fees | Lesser e-money savings protection, so don't keep too much in. There's full info in top kids' prepaid cards, but our top picks in brief are: - Open to all, mostly free. The HyperJar* card (ages 6 to 17) is a spending card, but you can't withdraw cash from ATMs. There's a £5 delivery fee, and after that the card is usually free, unless you're doing a lot of top-ups (over 11) a month. To get it, the adult has to get a free virtual card of their own. - Free cards if parent has an account. There are a few cards that are totally free if the parent has an account there. These allow both spending and ATM withdrawals. There's Starling Kite, NatWest Rooster and Revolut*. - Best known & rated tools, but you pay. The most famous kids' prepaid card is GoHenry* (ages 6 to 18). It has a £4/mth fee though (code AFFMSE25 gets £5 cashback and two months free). Its big selling point is extra financial education tools. Full info in our Top kids' prepaid cards guide.  PS: All these cards give your children perfect exchange rates when spending abroad.   Your child can have a pension too - and get tax relief! If you're lucky enough to have enough spare cash that you've maxed your children's junior ISA and savings, then starting a pension for your child is worth considering. It'd also make a great gift from grandparents, so a newborn now may remember how you helped them in over half a century's time. This works because the pension rules allow even those who don't earn anything, of any age, to get the equivalent of 20% tax relief. That means for every £80 saved in a child's pension, the pension firm automatically tops it up for the state, with what's called  'relief at source', so your child gets £100. The max you can put away is £2,880/yr, meaning they get £3,600 saved. The money will be locked away until they're at least 57 (based on current rules - my guess is by the time children retire that'll be older). Yet as it's almost always better to start pension-saving earlier, as it has so many decades to grow, this is a great start. The simplest routes are via a basic stakeholder pension or other personal pension (they can transfer it when they're older) or, if you want more investment choice, a SIPP.

 

 

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

 

 

 

It's the best time to cut credit card debt we've seen for years A record-breaking SIX balance transfer cards let you shift debt to INTEREST FREE till July '28. Save £100s or £1,000s If you can't afford to clear your debts, you can't afford not to try this... A 0% balance transfer is where you get a new card that pays off debts on existing cards for you, so you owe it instead, but interest-free for a set period. That means more of your repayments clear the actual debt, rather than servicing the interest - getting you debt-free quicker. And we haven't seen deals as strong as today's since 2022 - most importantly, a large choice means you've a better chance of being accepted. First the need-to-knows, then best buys:  Protect your credit score by finding the card you're most likely to be accepted for. Our Balance Transfer Eligibility Calc shows your odds of getting each card BEFORE you apply, minimising applications on your credit file. Go for the lowest fee with a 0% period long enough to clear the debt. Longer balance transfers usually have a bigger one-off fee (eg, 3% is £30 per £1,000), so if you can go shorter, it's cheaper. Unsure? Play safe & go long. Usually rejected when you apply? Our eligibility calc also includes special balance transfer deals for poor credit scorers, while MSE's free Credit Club (available via the MSE App on Apple | Android) can analyse your credit issues. Longest 0% balance transfers for NEW customers (all links via our eligibility calc) The three cards that give you a DEFINITE 34mths 0% (so everyone accepted gets this)  - Virgin Money 34mths 0% (3.25% fee) 24.9% rep APR interest after 0% ends - lowest fee of the definite cards  - Tesco Bank 34mths 0% (3.45% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends - Barclaycard 34mths 0% (3.45% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends The three cards with the lowest fees, but all are 'up to' 34mth 0% deals The low fee means these beat the cards above, but only if you get the full 0% length, which most (but not all) accepted will get. Some will get the backup rates listed below. So use our eligibility calc to find what 0% length you'll get before applying. - MBNA up to 34mths 0% (2.99% fee) 24.9% rep APR interest after 0% ends - lowest fee of the up to cards Backup rates: 33mths or 18mths (3.49% fee) or 14mths 0% (3.99% fee) Does the eligibility calc tell you the 0% length before you apply? YES - New. NatWest up to 34mths 0% (3.15% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends Backup rates: No set figure, instead it can be anything from 16mths to 33mths 0% (3.15% fee) Does the eligibility calc tell you the 0% length before you apply? YES - HSBC up to 34mths 0% (3.19% fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends - has the best backup rate Backup rate: 26mths 0% (3.19% fee) Does the eligibility calc tell you the 0% length before you apply? NO Can you repay more quickly? The top NO FEE balance transfer deals - Barclaycard up to 14mths 0% (no fee) 24.9% rep APR interest after 0% ends - longest no-fee card Backup rate: 7mths 0% (no fee) Does the eligibility calc tell you the 0% length before you apply? NO - Virgin Money DEFINITE 13mths 0% (no fee) 24.9% rep APR after 0% ends ALWAYS follow the Balance Transfer Golden Rules: a) Never miss the minimum monthly repayment, or you could lose the 0% deal & it'll cost far more. b) Aim to clear the card (or balance-transfer again) before the 0% ends, or the rate rockets to the higher APR. c) Don't spend or withdraw cash. It usually isn't at the cheap rate & withdrawals may hit your ability to access credit. d) If you don't transfer at application, you've often only 60 to 90 days to get the 0%. Check your card's terms. Quick balance transfer FAQs (click links for Martin's answers) Q. Is it worth applying if my eligibility odds are low? | Q. What if my credit limit isn't big enough? | Q. Can I shift debt to existing cards too? | Q. Should I try to pay off my biggest debt first? SPOILER: NO. Full help and info, including options for poorer credit scorers, in Best balance transfers.

 

Vote for Martin: The National TV Awards vote closes Wed, just before the live ITV show. Pls help support consumer journalism on prime-time TV by voting for Martin's show in the factual entertainment category (& do click all the way to the end for it to count). It's big beauty Advent calendar time! Full round-up, eg, Lookfantastic £580 of items for £105, Liberty £1,180 of products £275. Stores are already launching this year's festive offerings, and these beauty bundles can be a great way of getting items you'd normally buy for cheaper, or to split up as gifts. See MSE Olivia's beauty Advent bargains. Ends Mon. 35GB monthly data Sim just '£4/mth'. With unlimited mins & texts, this 35GB Lebara Sim (uses Vodafone's network) is just £3.50/mth for the first 3mths, then £7.90/mth. Over 12mths, it's equivalent to £3.90/mth, and it's a one-month contract so you can cancel any time. Want different data? See Cheap Mobile Finder. Last chance for State Pensioners earning £35,000+ to opt out of Winter Fuel Payment. All UK pensioner householders will get up to £300 this winter, but it'll be clawed back automatically for individuals earning over £35,000/yr. If that's you, you may want to opt out of the Winter Fuel Payment. Ends Thu. £70 Eurostar returns (plus extra 5% off). For travel 22 Sept to 17 Dec. Eurostar sale Reglaze your glasses lenses from £10 delivered (normally £21). MSE Blagged. Need new lenses (eg, new prescription, or yours are cracked)? You can keep your existing frames and just replace the lenses. Lensology code Are you due a share of £106m in forgotten Premium Bond prizes? Most winnings are now paid automatically, but if you've older bonds or have ever had prizes paid by cheque, do a quick check for missing cash. Starts Wed. McDonald's Monopoly - tricks to boost your chances of winning free food. McDonald's is about to relaunch its Monopoly game - we show you how to (Big) Macs-imise your chances (please eat responsibly). Updated. Citroen & DS recall rights as 'do not drive' order extended. At least 10,000 more vehicles have been added to the recall yet MoneySavers say cars still aren't being fixed. See Citroen recall latest. 'I saved £576 on my Sky package - thanks'. Success of the week. Gary emailed: "My Sky TV contract ended and normally I would've just signed up for whatever they sent through. Instead, I read Martin's Sky haggling advice, and spoke to the retentions team. I wasn't impressed with their offer, so stood my ground and ended up cancelling. Eight days later I got an email offering the same package for 36% less: that's £24 a month or a whopping £576 saving over the two-year contract. A brilliant saving and all thanks to you. People need you in these tough times." If we've helped you save, please tell us about it. Martin's new podcast. 2/3 of you are being ripped off on energy bills - how to stop it | Plus flight delay compo & the £1 train (not ticket, the whole train!). All in the new easy-listen The Martin Lewis Podcast. Listen via BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify or wherever you get your Martin fix.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - Reglaze your glasses from £10 Ends Thu 9 Oct - Grind coffee 30% off code Ends Mon 15 Sept	DID YOU MISS? - FREE visits to 6,000+ UK historic buildings & heritage sites - 'Free' wills in Sept/Oct via Octopus Legacy (England & Wales) - Had a summer job? Claim holiday pay and tax back - Pizza Express 2for1 for £1 - Wear work uniform? Are you due a tax rebate?

 

 

What EVERYONE needs to know to slash the cost of car cover Beware car insurance renewals! Prices are DOWN 16% overall (so even if your insurer drops the price a touch, you're likely overpaying), yet young drivers' cover is UP 3% 'Huge thanks! I was quoted £3,000 for my 17-yr-old son before I used your Compare+ tool' The car insurance market is divided right now. Prices on average are down 16% compared with last year (source: pricing consultancy Pearson Ham). This lets some firms off the hook, though - as people too easily accept renewal prices without realising a much bigger saving is likely available. Under-25s, however, continue to pay sky-high rates, with the youngest drivers faring worse, and according to one source (Consumer Intelligence), under-19s' costs are up an average of 3% in the last few months. So, let's go through how everyone can save, with a special focus on young drivers' car insurance too... Whatever your age... try our Compare+ Car Insurance tool It's far more than just a comparison... You can make huge savings, as Clare found: "Renewal price quoted was £1,295 but after following your Compare+ comparison site advice I got a suitable policy for £689 - a saving of £605." - You fill in one questionnaire to compare. And for some it can auto-fill answers. - Get MSE tips as you answer. Such as our 'best time to get insurance' analysis. - Benchmark your cheapest insurers via the comparison result. Then try to beat it... - With personalised tips for an even bigger saving. Including a host of key info. - See whether other sites can slice down your costs further. We then give our latest comparison site order of others to try, as MoneySupermarket (which powers ours) may not always be cheapest. YOUNGER driver car insurance cost-cutting tips Prices are never going to be super-cheap for drivers under 25, as insurance pricing is based on risk, and there is more chance of younger drivers claiming. There are things you can do though, with the first step being to try Compare+, as Karen emailed us: "A huge thank you! I've spent days searching for car insurance for my 17-year-old son who just passed his driving test.  "The comparison sites came up with prices between £3,000 and £20,000(!) for the year. I then went to Martin's page (why didn't I go there first?!) and used the tool there - and we've ended up with insurance for £1,300, so much better! Thank you." Our Young drivers' car insurance guide takes you through it, but here are the key pointers... Bizarrely, adding an extra, safe driver (mum, dad, aunt, gran) to your insurance may slash costs. Insurance costs are about risk. So, if you have a family member or friend who legitimately may drive the car and has a good driving record, adding them as a second driver can bring down the average risk and the price. Try out different combinations, eg, add one parent, then another, then both.  And it works, with Duncan emailing: "My 21-year-old son has recently passed his driving test and bought an old car. He was quoted £1,200. He managed to reduce the premium by nearly £300 by adding me as a named driver. I'm 58 with an unblemished licence, never claimed and driven clean for 41 years." Full info in adding a responsible second driver. PS: NEVER put someone else down as the main driver if they are not. That's called fronting, and is fraud. It'll be checked if you claim and the insurance will be invalid if you're caught. You could even be prosecuted. Don't automatically go for 3rd party thinking it's cheaper. Logically, 3rd party insurance should be the cheapest, as you're getting less cover than fully comp. But some insurers see the fact you've selected 3rd party as an indication that you're a higher risk, so charge more, outweighing the fact it's lesser cover - so comprehensive may be cheaper. More info in comprehensive vs third party. Try 'black box' (or telematics) tech - keep it safe, keep it cheap? This is where you have a device fitted to your car that monitors your driving - when/where/how you drive, your braking, speed and cornering. Stick to the rules, and you could get around 30% off your renewal. Full details in telematics. Always do these basic checks...  - Get on the electoral roll. Insurers use it as an ID check to combat fraud. If not, you may be charged more. See how to get on the electoral roll but avoid spam. - Play around with the excess. The excess is how much you pay towards a claim. Insurers set a compulsory amount, but you can also set a voluntary excess. The higher it is, the cheaper the cover, but make sure it's affordable. - Limit your mileage. Drive less, pay less. Though be honest and realistic. - Buy a sensible car. Big engines and modifications can send costs soaring. And don't think old means cheap - the security, safety features and ease of replacing parts can make newer cars less expensive to insure. - Ensure the provider is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. All those via Compare+ are. This means it's properly regulated and if you're unfairly treated, you can go to the Financial Ombudsman. In a home with more than one car? Try multicar. If you're living with other drivers, check whether a multicar policy for all of you is cheaper. And if the policies start at different dates, don't worry - you start with one then add others later. See multicar cover (PS: sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't - it's trial and error).

 

Planning a USA trip in the next two years? Beat the ESTA price hike. The travel permit's price doubles from $21 to $40 on Tue 30 Sept - apply now to lock in the cheaper price as ESTAs approved prior to the increase are still valid for two years (or until passport expiry, whichever comes first). See ESTA hikes. Regulator says 14m likely to get £100s in car finance mis-selling payouts. The boss of the Financial Conduct Authority gave evidence to MPs on car finance redress. Here's our latest car finance update. FREE beer, wine, cocktail at major pub chains. There's a brimful of easy freebies available right now, so we show you how to get 'em. Free drinks (please be Drinkaware). Grind coffee 30% off code. MSE Blagged. Valid on beans, pods & more. Grind M&S up to 50% off clothes & home sale. Online & in store on brands including Monsoon, Joules & White Stuff, plus own-brand items. Read full M&S sale analysis. Martin: Which analyst firms give the best Price Cap predictions? See Martin's nerdy new blog. Love deals & bargains? Want to work at MoneySavingExpert.com? We're looking for a Deals Researcher & Writer to work on a 12-month contract at MSE Towers in London. For this & other opportunities, see MSE jobs.

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Virgin (check eligibility) DEFINITE 34mths 0%, 3.25% fee, 24.9% rep APR interest No-fee 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility) up to 14mths 0%, 24.9% rep APR interest Best bank accounts Free £175 + top service: First Direct 1st Account New. Free £100 + £25/mth for 3mths: Co-op Bank Broadband top picks Fast fibre (100Mb+): Vodafone '£20.55/mth'  Superfast fibre (500Mb+): Sky '£25.67/mth' On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs Cheap insurance Car: Use our Compare+ Car Insurance tool Home: Try our Compare+ Home Insurance tool Cheap loans £5,000 to £7,499: Santander (check eligibility), 6.9% rep APR interest £7,500 to £15,000: Tesco Bank (check eligibility), 5.8% rep APR interest (must have a Clubcard) Top savings accounts Top easy-access savings: Chase 4.75%, min £1 (newbies only) Top easy-access cash ISA: Trading 212 4.38%, min £1 Top one-year fix: Chetwood Bank 4.5%, min £1,000 Top energy deals Use our whole-of-market Cheap Energy Club Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£3.20/mth' for 3GB 4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.45/mth' for 5GB 10GB to 30GB data: iD Mobile, '£3.84/mth' for 20GB 31GB+ data: Lebara, '£3.89/mth' for 35GB

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: Lifetime ISA withdrawal fine puts one in five off opening one

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should we drive my mother-in-law over to visit when she doesn't pay towards petrol? My mother-in-law, 80, wants to visit me and my spouse. All of us are retired. My mother-in-law doesn't drive, and it's an 80-mile round trip to collect her and take her home again. In the past, she hasn't offered to pay towards petrol, and while she's not short of money, she rarely shares anything with us. How do we deal with this? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should we taxi my mother-in-law about? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 10 SEPT ONWARDS) Thu 11 Sept - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, midday Tue 16 Sept - This Morning, extended studio appearance, ITV1, 10am

 

 

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