|
|
|
|
DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
|
There's lots of consumer news from last week's Budget peppered through this email, but for a full briefing on the need-to-knows and why it happened, including frozen tax thresholds, watch ITV's Martin's vs the Chancellor: Budget Special. News. Car finance mis-selling - Barclays to offer early settlements! The regulator's mass redress scheme is on hold until a legal challenge in Feb but providers are allowed to offer early settlement, and Barclays is about to become the first. For those offered, payouts will come by Jan at the latest. Full info, pros and cons in Barclays car finance redress. £100 energy support for EVERYONE in Council Tax bands A-D: how to get it and help if not. It was the big rabbit out of the hat in the Budget - 20m homes to get £100 towards energy bills. Full Budget energy support payment help. New. Quick, easy FREE £15 - just open a bank account WITHOUT switching or a hard credit check. MSE Blagged. Newbies downloading the fee-free Zopa Biscuit* app-based current account via this specific mobile link get £15 cash paid into their account within 7 days. You needn't switch bank to get it, and there's no hard credit check so it doesn't impact your creditworthiness. You could just cancel straight away, though it is a good secondary account as it offers 3% cashback on EITHER any Direct Debits paid via it OR restaurant, takeaway & bakery spend (both max £54/yr), as well as a top debit card for spending overseas (no exchange fees). See full Zopa Biscuit review. FINALLY, success - gas Standing Charges will be scrapped. After years of campaigning on it, on Wed - 10 mins after it was released to the media - Martin went in to No.11 for a briefing from the Chancellor on what the scrapping of the gas Standing Charge actually means and whether it'll happen to electricity too. See How scrapping Standing Charges will work. New. Top fixed savings: 5.17% for 1yr | 5.3% for 2yrs. App-based Afin Bank is making a play - in the last week it's upped many of its fixed savings rates and is now the highest rate pretty much across the board... Top 1yr fixes: Afin 5.17%* (min £1k, max £200k); OakNorth Bank 5.16%* (min £1, max £500k). Top 2yr fix: RCI Bank 5.3%* (min £1k, max £1m); Afin 5.28%* (min £1k, max £200k). Top 3yr fix: Afin 5.28%* (min £1k, max £200k); Secure Trust Bank 5.27% (min £1k, max £1m). Full info and options in Top savings. All accounts listed have the full UK £120,000 savings safety protection. Early Black Friday sales: Argos, Boots, Easyjet, B&M & more - any good? Updated Black Fri analysis. Martin Video: How the new State Pension Tax Allowance will REALLY work!' See Martin's 4min State Pension Allowance Budget explainer. New. FREE £50 when you put £100 in a shares ISA. 1,500 codes available. Newbies to DIY investment platform Quilter Invest* who open its stocks & shares ISA, junior ISA or general investment account via this link using promo code MSE50, deposit or invest £100+ within 30 days (or before codes run out), and keep it there for 6mths will then get £50 cashback paid into your account within 60 days. If you choose to invest the £100+, you can pick from one of its 30+ funds and ETFs, though you could just leave it uninvested in your account for the 6mths (either way, there's a 0.25% annual platform fee). Full Quilter Invest free £50 help. Related: Martin's Investing for beginners guide. |
|
|
|---|
|
Repaying a Student Loan Company loan?
How to reclaim overpaid student loans...
The rules are simple: if you voluntarily overpaid, you can't get the money back - but if you did it unwittingly, as millions have in four ways, you can. Clara is one of huge numbers who've been in touch with their successes: "I recently received £2,150 in student loan repayments. I thought I couldn't have possibly overpaid as my payments came out of my salary automatically. I spent 5 minutes applying 'just in case'... what a surprise! And in my bank within 3 days. Thanks so much for your advice!"
So now you know you can reclaim - should you? With normal loans I'd encourage you to overpay as it means you clear the debt quicker and repay less interest. Yet student loans don't work like normal loans. If you claim the money back - while your outstanding loan balance will increase by that amount and you will 'owe' more - the real question is whether owing more means you will repay more in future. The answer is 'it depends' - but for many, especially on Plan 2, reclaiming overpayments puts cash in your pocket that won't need to be paid back later. As it's complex, see my full Should you reclaim overpayments? help. |
AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
|
|
Your Credit Score just INCREASED! Quick links: Free MSE Credit Club - check & analyse your credit, or better go via the MSE App (Apple | Android). There are three main credit reference agencies (CRAs) in the UK. And one of them, TransUnion - the one we use in the free MSE Credit Club - is changing its Credit Score, so almost everyone's number is likely rising. Yet that doesn't mean your credit situation has improved. In fact, with the markets factoring in four Bank of England base rate rises over the next year, as well as disposable income reductions for some, acceptance for the cheapest products may get harder. Here's what you need to know...
|
|
5,000+ digital magazines & newspapers free for 100 days, eg, Cosmo, Women's Health, Daily Mirror. MSE Blagged. For Readly newbies & those who cancelled more than six months ago. Mag-nificent Sun only. FREE train travel to Remembrance services for armed forces personnel & veterans. Uniform or ID required. Free travel to London on Sat too. Remembrance train travel Extra £30 cashback when you spend £10+ online. MSE Blagged. Topcashback newbies can net a no-brainer £30 bonus by signing up using our link and spending £10 or more through it at one of 1,000s of brands. Topcashback top-up |
|
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK MoneySaving and knowing your numbers go hand-in-hand, and as this week (2nd-8th November) is Number Confidence week, why not give your skills a boost with the free National Numeracy Challenge? |
|
|
|---|
|
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA My boyfriend is moving in with me - how much rent should he pay? I own my own house and my boyfriend is moving in with me. We earn roughly the same and have agreed to split household bills 50/50, but we're stuck on how much rent he should pay. He's offered to pay half of my monthly mortgage payment, as he'll still save on the rent he currently pays for his house share and would rather his money go to me than a random landlord. But I'd feel awkward taking that, because it'll go towards my mortgage - I'd be investing his money in my future and getting the better end of the deal. What's the best way to balance it? Enter the Money Moral Maze: How much rent should my boyfriend pay me? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs |
|
|
|
MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 4 NOV ONWARDS) Thu 5 Nov - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC R5 Live, 12pm
|
Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com worksWe 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 LewisWhat is MoneySavingExpert.com? Who is Martin Lewis? 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 zopa.com, trading212.com, afinbank.com, oaknorth.co.uk, quilter.com, rcibank.co.uk Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Note MONY Group Financial Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA 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 MONY Group Financial Limited. To change your email or stop receiving the weekly tips (unsubscribe): Go to:www.moneysavingexpert.com/unsubscribe. |













