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| DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
| Martin: 'Are you paying off a student loan? Over 4 million graduates are due £100s of overpayments back!' Student loans, like tax, are repaid via the payroll - but only if you earn over a threshold, and what you pay is in proportion to earnings. And just as millions can reclaim tax overpayments, many uni leavers can reclaim unwittingly overpaid student loans. Our Freedom of Information (FOI) requests indicate that over four tax years (6 April 2019 to 5 April 2023) likely more than 4 million overpaid, and many more did before & since. When I did a video explainer on this last year, it went viral & we drowned in successes, such as Kayleigh's: "I wanted to thank you. I've just found out I'm due just over £800 through having made 5 repayments to my student loan when I hadn't reached the yearly threshold." Full info in reclaim student loan overpayments, but in brief... The big four reasons you may have overpaid the student loan Reason 1: You repaid the loan in some MONTHS, despite not earning enough in the tax YEAR. (~3.3m affected over the 4yrs). Student loans only need to be repaid if you earn over an ANNUAL threshold, but they are taken by the MONTH, so if you earn over the equivalent monthly threshold, it'll be deducted by your firm's payroll. So some have money taken monthly, even when their total annual income isn't enough. This is common for those who don't work a full tax-year (eg, your salary's above the threshold but you only worked nine months), or are on variable incomes or commissions. So check whether you repaid some loan when your total annual earnings were under your plan's threshold...
PS: Paid too much in a month, but earnt OVER the annual threshold? You CAN'T reclaim. Eg, earn £2,000/mth on Plan 2, you'd make no repayments as it's under the monthly threshold (£2,082/mth). Yet get a £4,000 bonus on top in December (so total £6,000), and you'd have 9% of the excess over the monthly threshold taken (so £335). Yet your annual earnings are £28,000, only £705 over the £27,295 (and 9% of that is £63), but the rules say here you can't reclaim the excess, as you earnt over the annual threshold. Reason 2: You're on the wrong student loan payment plan by default. (~600,000 affected over the 4yrs). If you've not told your firm which plan you're on, the Govt tells it to default to a Plan 1 loan, where you repay on income above £24,990/yr. Yet millions are on plans where you only repay if you earn over £27,000/yr - so if the default setting is then used, you'll have overpaid, so should speak to your payroll to fix it & reclaim. Reason 3: You started repaying your loan too early. (~120,000 affected over the 4yrs). You're usually only eligible to start repaying in the April after you left your course. If you mis-stated when your studies finished, or your employer got it wrong, you could've repaid too early, and are due that cash back. Reason 4: You had money deducted after the loan was fully repaid. (~190,000 affected over the 4yrs). After a set time the loan is wiped - often after 30 years for those currently repaying, but it does vary (see When will my loan be wiped?). However, you could still repay even after your loan is cleared due to pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) timings. If this does happen, you will automatically be repaid so don't need to reclaim. Yet better still, to prevent this, you can set up a Direct Debit for the last two years of your repayments, rather than do it through the payroll. PS: The Student Loans Company asked me to say that there may be overlap between each reason, so you can't simply add them up to get the total people impacted. So I've said it. And while we're on mostly irrelevant geeky notes, the reason the numbers are estimated is because we missed doing an FOI request in one of the four years, but as the patterns are consistent, I've estimated the missing years on that basis. 'Nuff of this, let's get on with the important bits... How to reclaim (you can go back as many years as you like)... There's no time limit here either, so even if this was a decade ago, you can still do it. If possible, gather old payslips, your payroll number and a PAYE reference number. But if you don't have those, don't let it put you off - this can often be done in a phone call, and now a new system allows some of the claims to be done online. Full free help in how to reclaim student loan overpayments. Should you claim the money back if you've overpaid? Overpaying on normal loans is a good thing - it means you clear the debt quicker and pay less interest. Yet student loans don't work like normal loans. It's complex... see Should I reclaim overpayments? for plan-by-plan details (spoiler alert: for many, the answer is 'yes'). |
| Exclusive. The top 20 celebrities used by scammers - beware ads with these people in. We've exclusively analysed data from Action Fraud on public figures, & yes, it does include our Martin. Full top 20 with tips to avoid scams. 1p personalised photo birthday / wedding / thank you greetings card delivered (normally £3.84). MSE Blagged. No typo - it's just 1p via our exclusive code including delivery. 5,000 available. Card Factory £239 Hoover 'pet edition' cordless vacuum for £119. MSE Blagged. Or £229 'home edition' for £109. 5,500 codes available. Hoover Top savings: 5.2% easy-access tax-free cash ISA (min £1). Not only is it the top easy-access cash ISA (ie, you can withdraw money whenever you want) but Trading 212's 5.2% AER* (min £1) pays the same as the top normal open-to-all savings too, so if you're saving up to £20,000, it's worth a look. You can normally put in new money & transfer in from other cash ISAs (though with transfers, over-demand means it's saying open now & it'll let you transfer by approx the end of July). While it's a share-trading platform, it should all work like normal, though you can read more about its complex structure. Far more options in Top savings & Top cash ISAs. Extra 30% off already-reduced preloved Zara, White Stuff & more clothing. Used-clothes site Thrift+ has 60,000 items in its up to 80% off summer clearance, & our code gives an extra 30% off £20+ orders. Thrift+ New. How to get money out of your pension - avoid the tax trap, annuities, drawdown & more. The final Not The Martin Lewis Podcast has just launched, where Martin asks specialists key questions on subjects he doesn't cover. They delve this week into taking your pension, including: Avoid the tax trap | Annuities | Drawdown | The 25% tax-free lump sum | Plus far more, & it's now embedded, with transcript, in our Pension need-to-knows guide. Amazon 'Prime Day' predictions - will the 40% off Ninja air fryer return? Prime Day's next week & it perversely lasts two days, & while many deals are often meh, there can be hidden corkers. Prime Day predictions. Related: 1-click check to see if you can get £15 off £30 at Amazon. Netflix axing its cheapest ad-free 'basic' plan. Find out what this means for you in our Netflix shake-up news. New. How student loans REALLY work (tuition fees, living money, rents, etc) - crucial if you or your kids plan uni in the next few years. This is the big topic of this week's The Martin Lewis Podcast (just to confuse you, it's separate from the Not The Martin Lewis Podcast on pensions above). It's now embedded, with transcript, in Martin's 2024/25 student loans guide. All this & more via BBC Sounds | Spotify | Apple or wherever you get your Martin fix. |
| Car insurance costs level off after big year-on-year rise Use Marc's success as inspiration: 'I saved £618 via the Compare+ tool' It's the too-little-discussed inflation that has been the final nail in the coffin of many budgets. Car insurance, already a grudge purchase for many, rose substantially again over the year to May/June 2024 (Consumer Intelligence says 34%, MoneySuperMarket 19%). Overall its now up around 70% since 2021. Though things seem to be levelling off somewhat... Yet big savings are possible, as Marc found when he emailed last month: "My car insurance renewal increased by the princely sum of £800 (for a 14-yr-old car, and I've 30yrs' no-claims), roughly a 305% increase. Using your Compare+ Car Insurance tool, I got a like-for-like policy for £182 [a saving of £618]. So I'm taking the Mrs to lunch courtesy of your good selves! 😊😊" Full help in Cheap car insurance, but in brief... NEVER just auto-renew. Instead take five minutes on our tool, which does far more than just compare... Auto-renewing denies yourself the benefit of choice and competition, and with prices in a state of huge churn, different firms' competitive stances are changing all the time, so there's no guarantee that because your current insurance was cheaper for you a year ago, it still is now. So use our Car Insurance Compare+ tool, where you...- Fill in one questionnaire. We borrow MoneySupermarket's, so if you've used it before, your answers are auto-filled. - Get cost-cutting tips as you answer. Such as whether you can legitimately tweak your job title to reduce the cost. - See your cheapest insurers from the comparison as a benchmark. But of course we want you to beat them... - Personalised tips to try for a bigger saving. These include whether you should look to add an additional driver or pay annually, not monthly - and some have one-click checks, so you can easily find out if they work for you. - The other sites to try to see if you can slice down costs further. We assess if Direct Line - which isn't on comparisons - is worth trying too, and give the order of other comparison sites to try, to see if you can drive down the price more. More than one car? Always check if you can save with a multicar policy. Comparison sites don't check multicar cover, so you'll need to check manually whether it saves you money. Martin's rule of thumb is: "If you're on a multicar policy, check separate policies to see if you can save; if you're on separate, check multicar" as they use marketing discounts to suck people in, but these can then disappear at renewal. - Multicar (one policy for all): Probably the best known is Admiral*, but LV*, Aviva, Elephant* and Diamond also offer these policies. Don't worry if your renewals are at different dates, their systems work with that. - Discounts on separate policies: Axa*, Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege all offer discounts for multiple cars - so check, especially if they're cheapest for one of your vehicles. Already got home or other insurance with another firm? Some firms, including Direct Line, Aviva and Churchill, give discounts of usually 10% if you get more than one policy type with them. This won't be included in your comparison result, but when you scan down the list, if any of them are cheap it's worth factoring in the increased discount which usually applies on the new policy when picking. Even if your renewal is ages away, it can be worth checking NOW. The sweet spot to get car insurance quotes is 23 days before renewal (so put that in your diary) - prices can double if you leave it later. Yet even if you're far from renewal, with the recent price flux it's still worth checking in case you can make big savings. Then provided you haven't claimed this year, you can just get a new policy, cancel your existing policy and get a pro-rata refund if you paid upfront, minus a usually £50ish admin fee (so factor that in). See save if not at renewal help. The only negative is you won't earn the year's no-claims bonus, but for big savings, it's often worth it. Make sure the policy is right for you and complain if you're unfairly treated. As with any insurance, check the policy details to be sure it's the cover you want, and ensure that insurers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority before you buy (all via Compare+ will be). If a claim is unfairly rejected, remember you have a right to take 'em to the free Financial Ombudsman. |
| What has Keir Starmer promised to do for the pound in your pocket? We group his answers from our Leaders' Debate, on energy bills, rents, first-time buyers, WASPI, carers, student finance & more. See Labour's pledges. Interrail 20% off sale - unlimited travel on European trains & ferries. Gets adult (aged 28+) 7-day pass for £259. Works in 32 countries but NOT in the UK. Interrail sale The Sun '£9.50' holidays are back... but are they ever really £9.50? Our analysis suggests otherwise, though decent savings are still possible. For hols from now to July 2025. The Sun holidays Buy now, pay later firm Laybuy falls into administration. If you're a customer, see full Laybuy help. 'Free' sports sessions for kids aged 5 to 16, including football, netball, swimming, taekwondo & more. Via promotional packs of Capri-Sun juice (normally £2 to £5). 'Free' kids' sports |
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| AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS
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| Credit cards want you to spend on them, so much so that some pay you to do it. They of course hope they'll earn far more in interest. Yet just neuter that by setting up a Direct Debit to repay the card IN FULL each month, then provided you don't withdraw cash on it, bust your credit limit or see it as an excuse to overspend, it's interest-free and you're quids in (don't do it if not). Yet a boost - clearly targeting middle Britain - on one of our long-standing top picks is about to end. Free £140 shopping + Deliveroo cashback + airport lounge passes. The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card (link goes via eligibility so you can see if you'll be accepted, or you can just apply*) has temporarily increased the points you get for signing up to it, making it a powerful deal for some. You get...Ends next Tue (16 July). 1) Enough bonus points to get £140 at Amazon, M&S or Sainsbury's if you spend £3,000 within 3mths. For those who haven't had an Amex card within the last two years, and who'll spend a total of £3,000+ over the first three months (so it's for higher spenders, but many families do £1,000/mth if they put all spending on it), open the card by 11.59pm on Tue 16 Jul and you can currently get 25,000 bonus points (normally it's 20,000) on top of the standard one point per pound spent. So hit the trigger and you'll have at least 28,000 points, which is enough to be exchanged for... - £140 in Amazon, M&S and Currys, or £140 worth of Sainsbury's Nectar points. - Or 28,000 air miles with Avios, Virgin, Emirates and other airlines, or 42,000+ Hilton, Marriott or Radisson hotel points. 2) Two £5 Deliveroo cashbacks a month (worth up to £120/yr). Save the offer to your card (found under 'offers' in the Amex app or online banking) and use the card to pay for Deliveroo (min spend £5), and you'll automatically get £5 credit on two orders a month. 3) Four free airport lounge passes a year (worth around £50 each). These should come within six weeks of acceptance and they're usable in many airport lounges worldwide. Warning. The card is fee-free in year one, but £195/yr after. Diarise to cancel before year two if you don't want to pay the £195. Plus if you don't repay IN FULL each month, it charges 31% APR on purchases. Make sure you've a Direct Debit in place to ensure that never happens. When we say pay off IN FULL, we mean IN FULL, not nearly in full. The words IN FULL are Martin's catchphrase for a reason. If you spend £1,000 in a month and clear the card entirely, there's no interest. Spend £1,000 and pay off £999, and you usually pay interest on the whole £1,000, not just the £1 left. |
| THIS WEEK'S POLL Are you going on a summer holiday this year? With peak summer holiday season fast approaching, we want to find out whether you're going away this summer, and if so, how much you're planning to spend, and whether it's more or less than you typically do - especially as many are still feeling the squeeze of the cost of living. Vote in this week's poll. Over half of MoneySavers use several comparison sites when shopping for home insurance. Last week, we asked how many comparison sites you use when shopping for home insurance. Just over 3,000 of you responded, with more than half telling us that you browse at least two different sites when looking for deals - important as they can cover different insurers, and often have different prices for the same insurer. We were also pleased to see that fewer than 5% of respondents let their home insurance auto-renew - the worst thing to do for a cheap deal. See full home insurance poll results. |
| MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I get my fence fixed and send my neighbour the bill after he messed it up? I had my garden fence repaired and stained, and it looked great. Then my neighbour spray-painted his side, and it came through and went all over my side as well as my path, shed and some of my plant pots. I was devastated as I'd spent a lot of money on that fence. I spoke to my neighbour, who said he'd fix it, but did nothing. I chased over several weeks, but still nothing. I've considered getting it fixed and sending him a bill, or should I just let it go and sort it myself? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I bill my neighbour over botched fence? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs |
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| MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 9 JUL ONWARDS) Wed 10 Jul - The Martin Lewis Podcast, BBC Radio 5 Live, from 6pm (listen to previous podcasts) |
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