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| DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads |
| Cheap pet insurance Vet bills (already sky high) and general pet care costs have risen a further 13% in the year leading up to September 2023. So much so that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has stepped in to investigate. The outcome's unlikely to be speedy, so in the meantime here are our top tips for those who want to cut the cost of pet insurance, to ensure you're not left facing tough decisions in the event of an unexpected trip to the vets. Our full Cheap pet insurance guide has a litter of tips to reduce costs, here's a brief walkies through it... Cats & dogs. Prices are bespoke, so the key is to get as many quotes as possible in the shortest time.1. Combine comparison sites. Try as many as you've time for, as they search different insurers and sometimes have different prices for them, and most let you get multi-pet quotes. In order of how many insurers they compare, try MoneySupermarket* | Compare The Market* (single pet quotes only) | Gocompare | Confused.com*. 2. Check deals not on comparison sites. Big providers Petplan* and Direct Line don't appear on comparisons, plus there are also promo deals in our top deals that comparisons don't list (some as we've blagged exclusive extras). So check them and compare to the comparison site winners, of course factoring in the level of cover (though we don't have much feedback on some of them): - Animal Friends* via this link offers a £75 Amazon voucher paid after 90 days of cover. - Waggel* via this link offers a £60 Amazon voucher per pet insured (up to £180) paid after 90 days of cover. - Agria* via this link offers a £75 (dog) or £40 (cat) Amazon voucher paid after 120 days of cover (max £155). - Tesco* offers 3,000 Clubcard points if you buy a new standard, premier or extra policy & enter your Clubcard number. - And check cashback sites too to see if you can get cashback on the comparison's winner. 3. Cats are seen as free spirits, dogs aren't. So you're liable for your dog's behaviour if it causes damage or injury to other people or property. Always check 3rd-party cover (as a min, get it standalone from Dogs Trust). Horses, rabbits, parrots, reptiles & other pets. As comparisons sites don't usually work for these, you'll need to manually compare quotes directly with specialist insurers. - For horses and ponies: Try SEIB, Petplan Equine* and NFU Mutual. - For rabbits, budgies, guinea pigs, parrots, lizards and more: Try Exotic Direct* and British Pet Insurance (+ Sainsbury's and Petplan* for rabbits). WARNING: Beware switching insurance if your pet has an existing condition. Most new policies won't cover past issues, whether you've claimed for them or not. Yet if you stay with your old insurer, you're likely to pay more to cover that condition in future. So it's usually a hard choice between switching to a cheaper policy with no cover for the specific condition, or sticking and likely paying more. Full help in existing problems. Pet insurance NEED-TO-KNOWS... 1) It generally covers big issues (such as broken bones and tumours), not check-ups. See what's covered. 2) Need cover but can't afford it? If you're on certain benefits, charities such as the PDSA may help with vet bills. 3) Could you self-insure? For smaller animals, you could put cash in savings to cover fees. See self-insuring help. 4) Keep your routine jabs up to date. Or it may invalidate your insurance. 5) Always check the policy is right for you. It's not easy, as insurance is about protection from the unknown, but do check the policy details, what's excluded, and that the firm's regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. 6) If your claim's unfairly rejected, take the firm to the Financial Ombudsman. Once you've complained to the firm, you've then a right to go to the free independent Financial Ombudsman Service for its help to settle the claim. |
| £120 Hoover cordless vacuum (normally £269). MSE Blagged. Via code. 5,000 available. Hoover New. Please report "sorry, we are experiencing unusually high call volumes" messages. We want to test if some firms have this for EVERY call. If you call a bank, broadband, mobile, credit card, energy, water or sewerage firm, please take 30 seconds to report it via our unusual call volumes tool. In some cases, it may be a breach of the Consumer Duty (please bookmark this for when you need to use it). £1 to £6 ex-high street shoes, clothes & accessories via rare 10% off code plus free delivery. MSE Blagged. Everything5pounds (well, it's not all £5) sells a mix of ex-high street & non-branded items. Everything5pounds Martin debunks credit scoring: Three quick videos... how credit scoring works (the pub version) | 12 tips to boost your credit score | how lenders actually analyse you. Or watch the full credit scoring Martin Lewis Money Show and read the How to boost your credit score guide for a detailed explanation. 'My wife saved £7,000 and boosted her state pension after reading your Child Benefit article.' Our success of the week comes from David, who said: "My wife has a low-paid job, so doesn't contribute to national insurance (NI), leaving her state pension record with a 10-year gap. We'd been thinking about making voluntary contributions, then I read your Child Benefit missing years article and realised as I'd been claiming Child Benefit, I could transfer all the Child Benefit credits to my wife and plug her NI holes. She got 10yrs' worth of free pension credits, which would have cost us approx £7,000. A huge weight off our minds. Thanks." If we've helped you save (on this, or owt else), send us your successes. New. How much will your water bill rise in April? Some 20 out of 22 water and sewerage firms will raise prices for bill & meter customers. See how much your water bill will rise and our How to slash £100s off water bills guide.
ITV 8pm tonight (Tue) - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live. Over to Martin: "I'll be brief because, as I've already written above, tonight I'm leading on the huge new car finance reclaiming campaign, plus loads more news you can use. Do watch, or set the Betamax (and catch up via ITVX)." |
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| Can't afford to clear your debts? You can't afford NOT to check if you can shift 'em Last week, we gave you 24 credit card need-to-knows, including how to slash interest rates to 0%. No apology for a bit of repetition this week, as it was hugely popular and we've learned the longest card is losing its promo cashback. As a reminder, a 0% balance transfer is when you get a new card that pays off debt on your existing card(s), so you owe it instead but INTEREST-FREE. This means your repayments clear the actual debt, not just mostly cover interest. Two tips first... 1. Don't 'just apply', as that can hit your ability to access credit. Go via an eligibility calc. In two mins, our 0% eligibility checker shows your card-by-card acceptance odds, so you can home in on those most likely to accept you. 2. If you've a choice, go for the LOWEST FEE within a 0% time long enough to clear your debt. Generally, the longer the balance transfer, the bigger the one-off fee, eg, 3% of the amount transferred (so £30 per £1,000). So if you can clear your debt quicker, go for a shorter deal to minimise fees. UNSURE? Play safe, go long, like the Barclaycard.
Quick balance transfer FAQs (click links for Martin's answers) | |||||||||||||||
| New podcast: In the wrong council tax band? 100,000 are, and are due £1,000s back. With news that council tax is to rise (see below), this a very timely podcast from Martin. It includes council tax discounts for students, single parents and some with dementia, low incomes. Plus landlord tips for renters, money mastermind and more, all in the new The Martin Lewis Podcast. Listen via BBC Sounds, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to get your Martin fix. News. Council tax in England set to rise by 5% on 1 April. See council tax hikes. Tesco shopper? You've a month to use/extend £18 million of expiring Clubcard vouchers. The deadline is 29 Feb. Full help in Tesco alert. Absolute last chance. Unmarried with kids and partner died since 2001? Claim up to £40,000 bereavement help. The deadline is THU 8 FEB and many MUST apply via post, so it really is the last-moment chance. Spread word, and get full info in our bereavement help. Free 4mth days-out pass (norm £4/mth) for 40% off cinema tix, 20% off Laser Quest and more. MSE Blagged. Other attractions include 40% off Drayton Manor, 30% off SeaLife and Legoland Discovery, 10% off Go Ape. For Day Out With The Kids pass newbies. Related: Free & cheap half-term ideas. Grind coffee 30% off code. MSE Blagged. Valid on ground coffee, beans and pods. Grind Live in Scotland or a park home & claim benefits? Apply for the £150 warm home discount ASAP. It's worth £150, but it's paid on a first come, first served basis, and some suppliers have already closed their applications. Full info in Warm home discount. Related: Final £299 cost-of-living payment paid from today - check if you're eligible. |
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| THIS WEEK'S POLL How much mobile data do you use in a month? Mobile phones are an essential part of everyday life for many, with streaming, gaming, social networking and more all increasingly done on data-hungry handsets. When we last did this poll in 2022, three-quarters of MoneySavers used less than 3GB/mth. We want to see if this has changed. Vote in this week's poll. Almost a third of people pay at least £50/mth for TV or streaming services. Last week, we asked how much you spend on TV and streaming, and more than 8,000 responded. After a TV licence, the most popular services are Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, with around half paying for at least one of these. And while more than half say they spend less than £30/mth on TV, a third are spending £50+/mth, with almost 9% spending £100+/mth. See the full TV and streaming poll results. |
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| MONEY MORAL DILEMMA Should I accept an expensive birthday present from my boyfriend who owes me money? My boyfriend, who has been trying to sort himself out financially, got me a beautiful bike that cost £1,500 for my birthday. He says it's a larger-than-normal gift to say thank you for finding us our flat and helping him sort his life out. Yet he owes me a month's rent and half of the deposit on the flat we recently moved into, and has been stressed about finding money to buy things his daughters want. Do I accept the bike to avoid hurting his feelings, or decline to continue helping him with his finances? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I accept an expensive present from my boyfriend who owes me money? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma |
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| MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 6 FEB ONWARDS) Tue 6 Feb - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV1, 8pm (watch previous episodes) MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECT TBC) Fri 9 Feb - BBC CWR, Mid-morning with Mollie Green and MSE's Molly, from 10.40am |
| BENDY BREADKNIVES & NEXT-LEVEL BARGAIN HUNTING - MONEYSAVING HACKS FOR NEW HOMEOWNERS That's all for this week, but before we go... what are your MoneySaving tips for someone about to move into their first home? One user goes everywhere armed with a notebook of measurements for all their windows and walls, so they know if any bargains will fit. Another writes on the wall how many rolls of wallpaper they used before applying the last sheet, as a reminder for when they come to re-paper. Making long-term choices is a recurring theme, with Forumites avoiding cheap toolkits and 50p bendy breadknives in favour of quality tools and cookware that'll last a lifetime - one says their 80-year-old woodworking chisels are still as good as new. Share your tips for anyone kitting out their first home in our MSE Forum thread. We hope you save some money, |
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 barclaycard.co.uk, bank.marksandspencer.com, santander.co.uk, natwest.com, rbs.co,uk, moneysupermarket.com, compare the market.com, confused.com, petplan.co.uk, animalfriends.co.uk, waggel.co.uk, agriapet.co.uk, tescobank.com/pet-insurance, petplanequine.co.uk , exoticdirect.co.uk, tsb.co.uk 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. |
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