2.68% savings, £2,800 energy cap - fix now?, £160 M&S beauty £25, £17/month megafast broadband, Premium Bond rate rise, 10 motoring savers

Plus... extend Clubcard vouchers, 48 beers £50, reclaim lost cash, earn Blue Peter badge

                                                           

25 May 2022 | View in browser

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THE TOP TIPS IN THIS EMAIL 10 tips to put the brakes on accelerating motoring costs  Top savings rates for a decade: 1.5% easy access, 2.68% fixed Reclaim lost cash for FREE £25 M&S beauty bag with £30 spend Aged 45 to 70? Can you boost state pension by £1,000s?  Amazon £10 off £30 for some Updated. Energy price cap predicted to rise 42% - fix now? Premium Bond rate up to 1.4%  New. 108Mb Virgin broadband '£17/month' £17 million of Clubcard vouchers expiring - how to extend 'em  33 months' 0% debt shift + £25 cashback How kids can earn a Blue Peter badge to get into attractions for free Hit by passport delays? Your rights £60 off Ninja 11-in-1 multi-cooker  Amex tips & tricks 48 craft beers for £50  New Amigo mis-sold loan reclaim scheme Want to work at MSE? This week's best buys, including free £170 bank bribe, 5GB Sim '£5/month', '£13/month' broadband  I'm crashing on a mate's sofa - can I tell him to stop eating my food? BEST BUYS & TOOLS Cheap Energy Club, incl Pick Me A Tariff MSE Cheap Mobile Finder Credit Club incl free credit report 0% Balance Transfers Compare Broadband deals Cheap Car Insurance Best Bank Accounts Top Savings Accounts Credit Cards for Bad Credit Credit Card Eligibility Calculator Loans Eligibility Calculator Mortgage Comparison Free online complaints tool - Resolver Compare Travel Money Best Sim Only Deals

As fuel prices challenge the freedom to drive 10 big tips to put the brakes on the accelerating cost of motoring  Including MSE's new cheap car insurance tool, how to find cheaper petrol, licence backlogs, free EV charging & more A litre of petrol now costs an average £1.68, diesel £1.81. These scary prices risk curtailing many people's routines and lifestyles, making even basic trips to work or taking the kids to school difficult for some, especially in rural areas. Of course the environmental and health benefits to driving less should be factored in, but driving is often a necessity. So use our 50+ motoring MoneySaving tips to cut your costs. Here are some of the most important... Find cheaper petrol or diesel in seconds. The PetrolPrices website/app could save you £5-£10 each time you fill an average-sized tank - for example, we found that in Durham on Tue, petrol prices ranged from 163.8p a litre to 179.9p a litre. Got an electric vehicle? Do a search for FREE charging. A bit like a 'free parking' perk, there are a growing number of 'free charging' places across supermarkets and other stores. They're not the fastest chargers, but a buzz of leccy for free needn't be sniffed at, especially with today's prices. See find free electric vehicle charging for how to do it. New(ish). MSE's revolutionary Car Insurance Compare+ tool. First launched eight weeks ago, our Car Insurance Compare+ tool has already had incredible feedback, and we've done further tweaks based on your suggestions. You just... - Fill in one questionnaire. We've borrowed MoneySupermarket's (so if you've used it before, your answers can be auto-filled). - Get MSE cost-cutting tips as you answer. Like our Job Picker tool, which shows legit job description tweaks that can cut costs. - See your cheapest insurers as a benchmark. These are from the comparison, so you can see them straightaway, but of course we want you to beat them... - Personalised tips to cut costs further. These include whether delaying your quote a few days might lower costs, whether you should look to add an additional driver or to check multicar policies - often with one-click checks to see if it helps. - Whether to try other sites to cut costs further. We assess if Direct Line (which isn't in comparisons) is likely to be cheaper for you, and give you our latest comparison site order of others to try. As Emma emailed: "Thank you for this tool. My daughter just passed her test. We liked how easy it was to tweak things (start date, job description, adding second driver) and see the cost impact. She now has insurance at under £60/month, which is amazing, as well as a new life skill and the confidence she'll be able to sort out her insurance next year with the tool." The bad news... at launch our tool included an estimate, using independent data, of how likely it was you could save by using each of the other main comparison sites - we then called it 'Multi-Compare'. But those sites objected and either told us they wanted to be removed from the tool or said we couldn't use data about their quotes. Without those, we probably wouldn't have launched the tool in the first place. Yet from launch, much of the positive feedback we got was actually about our tips and functions to tweak your cover. So we decided to keep it going. Of course, we're keeping a section about using other comparison sites, it's just now less bespoke. We will try to persuade other sites to change their mind and rejoin the tool, as we believe that's better for you, us, and them. Check now when your driving licence goes out of date - you can be fined for driving without a valid one. Photo driving licences usually expire after 10 years - see how to check if your licence is valid (for the few with paper licences, these normally last until age 70). While for most, applications to renew should be turned around in normal times, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) says there are 300,000 more applications than usual currently in the works, so it's best to renew ASAP if you need to. See how to renew and what your rights are while your application's being processed. Think of your brake as a money burner, your accelerator as a money pump. Accelerating steadily and braking less sharply (done by thinking ahead and positioning yourself well on the road) can massively cut your fuel consumption. See our seven ways to guzzle less gas. Thinking of going fully electric? Electric vehicles will likely cost you more upfront, but are much cheaper to run - particularly with record petrol prices. See our Electric vehicles guide for full info. Full breakdown cover for £55 a year (includes home start & onward travel). AutoAid* has been one of our top picks for years. It covers you plus your spouse (or live-in partner, in some cases) in any car you or they drive. Newbies pay £55.49 a year (after an automatic £6 cashback via our links), or £70.49 if your car's over 15 years old. For comparison, an equivalent AA policy is £146 a year bought direct. If basic cover will do, see how to get RAC/AA cover from £14 a year. More help, deals and tips in Cheap breakdown cover. Got junk in your trunk? Don't worry, we're not suggesting you self-appraise in the mirror. Instead, this is about doing a few simple checks to make your car more fuel-efficient. If you keep stuff in your boot you don't need, move it, plus take roof racks off and check your tyre pressure is appropriate. All can make a difference - see six key car checks. MOT due? Find a 'hidden' cheap test centre. If no or only minor fails are likely, check our list of 'hidden' council MOT centres. These centres generally only do tests - they don't fix your car - and anecdotally some people find they get fewer fails, so there's less chance of shelling out for needless repairs. However, if your car's likely to need work, you're best off finding a reasonably priced garage that can do both testing and repairs, as you may not be able to drive away from the test centre if you have major fails. See how to choose the right MOT centre. And finally - could you can the car? The average distance of car journeys in the UK is less than nine miles, so think before getting behind the wheel - could you walk, cycle or take public transport instead? Or do your own maths. If you don't drive that frequently, it may be cheaper to get taxis on occasion or join a car club (though this is only really likely to work for city dwellers). For more, see our 18 ways to cut train costs and MoneySaving tips for cyclists (plus how Martin averaged 25,000+ steps a day in 2021).

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Record inflation means your savings are shrinking... Urgently minimise the impact by switching to the highest savings rates for a decade: 1.5% easy access, 2.68% fixed Yes, it's a mixed message: the good news is... after four UK base rate rises, savings rates across almost all categories are the highest in a decade. The bad news is... prices are rising faster than even the best savings will grow, so in real terms savings are shrinking. So unless you're willing to risk your capital, it's important to maximise your interest to minimise the shrinkage. Thankfully, with top savings rates up, most with savings can easily do this... Check your savings - if they pay under 1.5%, switch. The top easy-access account pays 1.5% AER variable interest. That's the bog-standard account, so if you're earning less than that, unless your money's locked away (or you've got more than £85,000 and want to spread it for safety), there's no excuse not to consider ditching and switching. Today's top savings rates All accounts have the full UK £85,000 savings safety guarantee Account term Top savings Top cash ISAs (Not good for most - see below) Easy access (variable rate) - withdraw & deposit at will - Chase 1.5% AER* (no min deposit / max £250k) linked savings via its bank app - no need to switch bank to open - Marcus 1.15% AER* (min £1 deposit) 6-month fix (money locked away for that time) - Shawbrook 2% AER (min £1k) - FCMB UK 1.9% + £50 MSE newbies' cashback, via 'savings marketplace' Raisin (wins if saving £10k - £85k) - Shawbrook 1.2% AER (min £1k) (1) 1-year fix (money locked away for that time) - Habib Bank Zurich 2.28% AER (min £5k) - FCMB UK 2.25% + £50 MSE newbies' cashback, via 'savings marketplace' Raisin (wins if saving £10k - £85k) - Virgin Money 1.7% AER (min £1) (2) 2-year fix (money locked away for that time) - Cynergy Bank 2.68% AER (min £10k) - Paragon 2.55% + £50 MSE newbies' cashback, via 'savings marketplace' Raisin (wins if saving £10k - £18k) - Castle Trust 2.12% AER (min £1k) (3) (1) Withdrawals allowed but with 90 days' interest penalty. (2) Withdrawals allowed but with 60 days' interest penalty. (3) Withdrawals allowed but with 180 days' interest penalty. What's all this Raisin stuff about? Raisin is a 'savings marketplace' - a website where you can manage your savings with less paperwork. Your money is still deposited with the underlying account providers. And until 30 May, Raisin newbies can apply via our links to get an automatic £25 cashback. Use code MSE25 when you register, then open a savings account and deposit £10,000+ by 30 June. You can also get its standard £25 cashback on top by emailing bonus@raisin.co.uk with 'Raisin UK Bonus' as the subject and your full name in the email. We get it's a faff. Yet as we've described in the table, factoring in the cashback, you can earn close to £50 more than the highest interest rates, especially if you've only just over £10,000, which is not insignificant. Is it worth fixing with interest rates rising? At the last Bank of England meeting, while rates went up, some members of the committee voted to raise them further - a strong sign further increases are likely. If that happens, you don't want to lock money away (as you have to with fixes) for too long, in case events overtake. But there's still a big gap between the best fixes over 6 months to 2 years, compared with easy access, so they're worth considering. Though there's only a small premium for fixing longer (the rates are hardly higher), so we've not listed these. Most should DITCH cash ISAs for accounts that pay more. Cash ISA rates are worse than normal savings in all categories. The advantage of a cash ISA is all the interest is tax-free, but these days fewer than one in 20 people pay interest on savings, so there's just no point - most should just focus on getting the highest interest. For full pros and cons, and who cash ISAs are still right for, see Martin's 'Should you ditch cash ISAs?' blog. Can you boost interest further? Some specialised options in our Savings section pay even more: - 50% bonus for many on universal credit or tax credits. See Help to Save. - 25% bonus for first-time buyers aged 18-39. See Top Lifetime ISAs. - Earn up to 3.5% on smaller amounts if you save monthly. See Regular savings. - Earn 2.02% on smaller savings. See Current account savings. - Prefer to invest? Higher returns, but more risk. See Stocks & Shares ISAs.

 

Heads-up. £25 M&S beauty bag (normally £160) if you spend £30. It's back from Tuesday (31 May). The 11-piece set is always mega-popular and sells out within a day or two. See what's in it and how to grab it: M&S beauty bag. Wow. Aged 45 to 70? Can you, like MoneySaver Zoe, boost your state pension by £31,000 for just £975? Success of the week. In last week's email, Martin explained an urgent way to boost your state pension. It was read by enormous numbers and successes are already coming in - Zoe emailed: "I checked and found I had 6 years missing for the full pension. I was entitled to claim national insurance credits for 4 years and pay to top up others. This means for about £975 and 30 minutes of my time, I'll receive an extra £31,000 in pension payments if I live for the average 20 years after retirement. Thanks Martin." Send us your MoneySaving successes on this or anything else. Amazon £10 off £30 - can you get it? How to check for this + other codes, plus another 33 Amazon tricks. Updated. Energy price cap now predicted to rise 42% in October - should you fix? October's price cap prediction has rocketed to a staggering £2,800/year on typical use - 42% higher than the current cap. We've crunched the numbers and analysed the cheapest existing-customer deals in Should I fix? (which includes Martin's video explainer). Premium Bond prize rate to rise to 1.4% from June. Yet most with typical luck will do better in the top-paying 1.5% easy-access account or with better-paying fixes (though Premium Bonds may win for a few). See full Premium Bonds analysis. It's back. Megafast 108Mb Virgin broadband & line just '£17/month' - we've not seen cheaper. MSE Blagged. This yo-yo deal comes and goes, but from now till Wed 1 June newbies can get this Virgin Media 108Mb broadband & line deal for £22.95/month, with an automatic £100 bill credit (so nowt to pay for four months, unless you make calls). Over the 18-month contract, it's equivalent to £17.40/month. Not available in your area? Use our broadband comparison. £17 million of Tesco Clubcard vouchers expire on 31 May - we've a trick to extend 'em. Use them now, or follow our clever trick to extend them for another two years. Clubcard alert Got credit card debt? Shift it to 0% for a huge 33 months AND get £25 cashback. A balance transfer's where you get a new card that pays debts on old card(s) for you, so you owe it instead - but interest-free. HSBC's 33-month 0% deal (2.7% fee, min £5)* is near the longest 0%. But crucially - via our links - it also gives £25 cashback if you shift just £100+, which can cover much of the fee. Will you get it? Always use our 0% Eligibility Calculator first to see your chances of being accepted for this and other cards. Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum, and clear the card before the 0% period ends, or it's 21.9% rep APR interest. Full help in Top balance transfers (APR examples). 8pm TONIGHT (Tue) ITV: The Martin Lewis Money Show LIVE special. A one-off show covering the cost of living crisis AND how to keep summer-holiday costs down. As Martin often says, do watch or set the Betamax.

 

 

BLAGGED FOR MSE - 108Mb Virgin broadband & line '£17/month' Ends 1 June - £60 off Ninja 11-in-1 multi-cooker via code 5,000 available - 48 craft beers for £50 delivered (normally £80) 1,000 available	DID YOU MISS? - Lloyds' free £125 joins bank bribe bunch - but others pay more - Energy firms essentially kiboshed from launching cheaper deals - Top way to spend abroad - get unbeatable rates and cashback - Martin: 'UO is just as important as UX for websites and apps' - English prescriptions frozen at £9.35 - can you get 'em cheaper?

 

 

'I found a £39,000 lost pension - thank you' Reclaim lost cash for FREE - up to £50 billion's sitting in old bank accounts, savings, private pensions & more There are few better (pre-watershed) feelings than finding an old fiver down the back of the sofa... unless of course you find £1,000s in an old pension or savings account you'd forgotten about. There's up to £50 billion waiting to be claimed, so it's worth doing a few quick, free checks to see if any of it's yours. Full info's in Find lost accounts, but in brief... Premium Bonds, current & savings accounts - up to £4.5 billion's waiting to be claimed. Just use the free one-stop service My Lost Account, which was set up by the bank & building society trade associations. Sign up, fill in the form with details and past addresses, and it'll zip your details to any of the 30+ banks, 43 building societies and NS&I (National Savings as was) where you think you may have had an account. If you did, it'll usually let you know by email or letter. The biggest payouts are usually from old private or company pensions & investments. These may take a little more work to find, but it can really be worth it, as Lance's story shows: "I used the information on your site to search for any old pensions I might have had years ago. I didn't think it would be a lot, but found I had a £39,000 pension with Scottish Widows. Thank you." See how to find old pensions for more. Plus for non-pension-based investments there are a number of different routes - see how to reclaim old investment trusts, unit trusts and insurance policies, which includes info on Gretel, a new free site which searches an array of pension, investment, insurance and bank account providers to check for lost cash. Find deceased relatives' lost assets too. If a family member has died and you're responsible for their estate, or you're the beneficiary, you may be able to reclaim what we've mentioned above for that person too. You'll need to put their name (as the account holder) on the search forms. To get the cash you'll need the will as proof that you're the right person to get the money. More help in how to recover deceased relatives' assets.

 

As the war in Ukraine continues, here's how you can donate money or help.  How kids can earn a Blue Peter badge to get FREE entry to 200+ attractions. Find out how to earn one in time for the summer holidays and how it compares with other deals. Hit by passport application delays? Your travel & compensation rights explained. Lengthy waits are threatening to derail holidays for some. We've your rights, plus what to try if you're affected by passport delays. £60 off Ninja 11-in-1 multi-cooker. MSE Blagged. Normally £230, but it's £170 with our code. 5,000 available. Ninja Amex tricks, including new boosted 'refer a friend' bonuses, £10 Asos cashback & more. We've lots of ways to boost your rewards in our American Express tips & tricks guide. 48 craft beers for £50 delivered (normally £80). MSE Blagged. Newbies only (not Northern Ireland) - please be Drinkaware. 1,000 boxes available. Flavourly Mis-sold an Amigo guarantor loan? Use its scheme to reclaim. The High Court's just approved Amigo's formal reclaim scheme - here's how to check if you were mis-sold and make a claim. Are you an avid deals hunter? Or a community champion? Work for MSE... We're looking for a new Deals Writer and an Assistant Forum & Community Editor. MSE jobs

 

 

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS 0% balance transfers Longest 0%: Virgin Money (check eligibility / apply*) - 34 months 0%, 2.7% fee (21.9% rep APR interest) No-fee 0%: Santander (check eligibility / apply*) - 21 months 0% (21.9% rep APR) or NatWest - 22 months 0% if you're a NatWest/RBS customer (21.9% rep APR) Broadband top picks Standard (10Mb+): Plusnet '£12.74/month' Fibre (30Mb+): Shell Energy '£16.58/month' Superfast fibre (55Mb+): Shell Energy '£16.91/month' Megafast fibre (100Mb+): Virgin Media '£17.40/month' Top savings accounts Top easy-access: Chase 1.5%, no min Top one-year fix: Habib Bank Zurich 2.28%, min £5,000 Car insurance Try our new MSE Car Insurance Compare+ tool Cheap loans Cheapest, £5k-£7.5k: Novuna Personal Finance (check eligibility / apply*) - 3.4% rep APR interest Cheapest, £7.5k-£15k: M&S Bank (check eligibility / apply*) - 2.8% rep APR interest Best bank accounts £170 to switch: HSBC £150 to switch + TOP service: First Direct Cheap Sims Up to 3GB data: TalkMobile, '£4.21/month' for 3GB, unlimited mins & texts 4GB-9GB data: Plusnet, '£4.34/month' for 5GB, unlimited mins & texts 10GB+ data: Plusnet, '£5.92/month' for 15GB, unlimited mins & texts

 

THIS WEEK'S POLL How did you buy your mobile phone? Mobiles are often pricey, but some ways of buying them are more MoneySaving than others. So this week, we want to know how you purchased your phone. Vote in this week's poll. Most MoneySavers say it's appropriate to borrow for a new home or car - but not for day-to-day living costs. Almost all (97%) of the 3,500 who responded to our poll last week said they thought borrowing for a new home was appropriate, and 87% for a new car. But only 12% said they thought it appropriate to cover day-to-day living costs, while most were also against borrowing for holidays, Christmas and train tickets. See full poll results.

 

 

MSE NEWS - Top story: Three's £2 a day roaming charges come into effect - Toy subscription service Whirli goes into administration - what it means for you - Vodafone customers unable to redeem Airtime Rewards - Lloyds Banking Group to shut another 20 Lloyds branches and eight Halifax outlets - Boots, Co-op and Morrisons hike meal deal prices

 

 

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA I'm crashing on a mate's sofa - can I tell him to stop eating my food? I'm crashing on a mate's sofa after falling on hard times. He wasn't keen on the idea, but I'm desperate - I'm paying him £160 a month to cover bills and the inconvenience. We do our own food shopping, yet I often find him eating my food, which I can't afford to replace. He says he's busy at work and doesn't have time to go shopping. Should I say something and risk rocking the boat or let it go as I don't really have other options if he decides he's had enough of me staying there? Enter the Money Moral Maze: I'm crashing on a mate's sofa - can I tell him to stop eating my food? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma

 

 

MSE TEAM BLOG - Blenders, bills and birds of prey - last week's MSE Forum highlights

 

 

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 25 MAY ONWARDS) Wed 25 May - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.30am Wed 25 May - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm. Listen to past episodes MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECT TBC) Tue 31 May - BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Mid-morning with Jeremy Sallis, from 10.45am

 

BAG YELLOW-STICKER BARGAINS & BATCH-COOK: YOUR TOP MONEYSAVING MEAL-FOR-ONE TIPS That's all for this week, but before we go... MoneySavers have been sharing their top tips for cutting food costs for those living on their own. There were lots of general MoneySaving tips, such as timing your shop right to nab yellow-sticker discounts, batch-cooking meals and portioning out and freezing the leftovers - which apply just as well to families/couples as those living on their own. Though others jokingly suggested wangling dinner invites from friends and family several days a week was the ultimate tip to save money on food. If you have tips to share or want to be inspired by others, see our top tips for spending less on food when cooking for one Facebook post. We hope you save some money, stay safe, 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 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 is now the UK's biggest consumer help website, with more than 12 million users each month and about 8.5 million receiving this email. 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 Lewis CBE is the founder and executive chair of MSE, as well as the founder of the MMHPI charity. He's an ultra-focused MoneySaving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own prime-time ITV programme The Martin Lewis Money Show, Radio 5 Live Wednesday show Ask Martin Lewis and weekly slot on This Morning, among others. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography. What do the links with an * mean? Any links with an * 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 products at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to them. 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 autoaidbreakdown.co.uk, chase.co.uk, marcus.co.uk, hsbc.co.uk, uk.virginmoney.com, santander.co.uk, novunapersonalfinance.co.uk, bank.marksandspencer.com Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Note MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 303190). MoneySavingExpert.com Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration Number: 8021764. Registered office: One Dean Street, London, W1D 3RB. MoneySavingExpert.com Limited is an appointed representative of MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited. To change your email or stop receiving the weekly tips (unsubscribe): Go to: www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips.