As consumers, we seem to rarely get a chance to say what we actually think about the service we receive. It can sometimes feel as if we are constantly dealing with big corporations who don’t view us as people but, instead see us as numbers.
For this very reason, compareandsave.com has a ‘Reviews’ section where our readers can view what other customers have to say about the financial products they use. Reading these should provide you with the real-life experiences of others who have actually used the products or services. This should then help you to make more informed decisions when it comes to choosing services.
At the bottom of each individual product page, there is an area where you can enter in your own product review in terms of its pros and cons. You can then give a rating out of ten to the product (or service), to the customer service you have received and then rate the product as a whole.
To see what others have said about their financial products, visit our Review section. To start contributing, you first need to register with us. Then, once you are registered, all you need to do is visit the page for the product/service you have used, click on ‘Write a review’ and have your say.
We would like to formally introduce you to our brand-spanking-new Tools section.
In our Tools section you will find resources which, if used correctly, will help you to repair your finances.
The news is currently full of stories about the ever-worsening credit crunch. Because of this we have come up with our at-a-glance guide to what is going on in the world of personal finance, how it will effect you and how you can reduce its effects.
Contents
1. Credit cards & loans
2. Savings
3. Mortgages
4. Tips to further reduce the effect of the credit crunch
This Easter weekend we get two lovely bank holidays. What better way to use these than to go on a nice short-break holiday?
However, these weekend breaks present just as many risks as any other holiday so it is paramount that you cover yourself with a travel insurance policy.
If you think that your Easter weekend break is going to be the only holiday you will take outside of the UK this year, then you will probably just need a single-trip travel insurance policy.
If, however, you are fortunate enough to be going on more than one holiday this year you stand to save a reasonable sum if you buy annual multi-trip travel insurance.
Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy an annual multi-trip travel insurance policy in place of a single-trip policy, i.e. you buy multi-trip cover when you know you are only going on one trip.
You would need to check the terms and conditions of individual policies to be sure that the annual travel insurance policy would be valid if you only went on one trip. You would also need to be sure that the amount of cover provided by the cheaper multi-trip policy is equivalent to the cover you would get with the single-trip policy.
Some providers offer a no-claims discount if you have purchased travel insurance from them in the past and not had to make a claim. Other providers offer a discount on their travel insurance policies if you currently have another insurance product with them, e.g. car insurance or home insurance
Compare single-trip and multi-trip travel insurance and see how much you can save.
Earlier this week, Chancellor Alistair Darling announced the 2008 Budget.
Below we bring you what we think will be the five best and worst changes for you, the consumer:
Five of the best...
Five of the worst...
We’d love to hear your views on how the changes announced in the 2008 Budget will affect you, so please click on ‘Add comment’ to have your say.
Please note that your comment will need to be moderated by our team and so will not appear immediately.
The results for the compareandsave.com poll, ‘Do you normally switch credit cards at the end of a 0% balance transfer offer?’ are now in.
We would like to thank those of you who took part in our poll because it is good to see people getting involved in our site.
Of the 296 people who took part in our poll, 55% said that they always switch credit cards at the end of a 0% balance transfer offer and 16% said that they ‘sometimes’ switch.
The other 29% of people said that they don’t switch at the end of an introductory 0% offer. Out of this group, almost two thirds said they didn’t move their balance to another card because they couldn’t be bothered. The other third said that they simply forgot.
There are many fantastic credit card deals out there at the moment, so you may be missing out if you don’t compare 0% credit cards.
If you are one of 29% of people who either can’t be bothered or forget to switch at the end of a 0% introductory offer, you may be better off with a life of balance credit card which will offer a much lower fixed interest rate until you manage to pay off your balance.
Today is the 25th annual ‘No Smoking Day’, which occurs on the second Wednesday of every March. It is a day which encourages smokers to join in on “The Great No Smoking Day Challenge”.
According to the No smoking Day charity, around 2.25 million people are planning to quit today.
Quitting smoking will not only bring huge benefits to your health, but will also be very healthy for your finances.
The average male smoker gets through 14 cigarettes a day at a cost of over £1300 a year. This amount of money would easily cover the average dual fuel bill for a year, and leave you will a substantial amount of change.
And, you won’t just save money through not buying cigarettes because non-smokers also benefit from cheaper life insurance policies.
A year after giving up smoking, you will be classed as a non-smoker by life insurance standards. This will typically cut your life insurance premiums by a third, but could reduce them by as much as 50%.
Darren Dicks, head of protection marketing for Norwich Union, said: “As well as not spending around £5 a week on every pack of 20 cigarettes they would have bought (which could add up to £1,825 a year for a 20-a-day smoker), people could save twice over by cutting the price of their protection products too.
“People who smoke have an increased risk of heart disease, breathing disorders and certain cancers, to name but a few illnesses, which is why non-smokers often pay significantly less for life insurance and critical illness policies.
“So bearing in mind both the health and the monetary benefits, No Smoking Day could be the perfect day to stop,” he concluded.
For help with giving up smoking visit the No Smoking Day website.
To compare life insurance policies click here.
To see how much you could save by quitting smoking why not try out our Smoking Calculator
Credit cards can be confusing, there’s no doubt about that.
You may be looking for your first credit card, or be looking for your first balance transfer credit card. Either way, there’s plenty of potential confusion to be experienced.
Because of this, we decided to bring you our top tips on things to look out for when you want to compare credit cards:
1. Annual percentage rate (APR) – the lower the better
2. 0% balance transfers for ‘x’ number of months – the longer the better
3. Balance transfer fee – the lower the better
4. 0% purchases for ‘x’ number of months – the longer the better
5. Rewards – the bigger the better (depending on circumstances)
Note: Be sure to pick a credit card best on the features that best suit your individual needs.
If you have recently read our article “Important ISA tip: compare, get better rates and then save” you will know that you can transfer existing ISA funds into an ISA paying better interest rates without affecting your annual tax-free allowance.
We thought we would make the process of transferring your ISA even simpler by writing this step-by-step mini-guide:
Step one – Compare ISA savings accounts
Firstly, you will need to find yourself an ISA which offers a better rate of interest. To do this, why not use our user-friendly comparison service. If you go to our compare ISA savings accounts section, you will be shown a table of ISAs with columns showing you key information about what each account offers, without having to fill in forms.
Step two – Choose an ISA
Find the account which you like the best. Don’t automatically go for the account offering the highest interest rate; this should obviously be one factor you look at, but don’t forget to bear other features of the account in mind.
It will be pointless choosing an account with a 10% interest rate if you will end up losing out in the long run if you cannot meet the other requirements of the account.
Step three – Apply for the ISA
Once you have found the ISA that best suits your needs (and has a higher interest rate than your present account), click on the ‘Apply’ button and fill in the form with details of your current provider.
Step four – Over to your providers
Your old ISA provider should now provide the full account details to the new provider within five days.
This in practice, according to industry experts, could take a couple of months.
Step five – Wait
Wait until you have received confirmation from your new provider stating that your new account is up and running.
Do not close your account before you have spoken to your new provider, otherwise you will lose your tax breaks.
Step six – Save, save, save
Try to make the most of your annual tax-free savings allowance. This currently stands at £3,000, but will increase to £3,600 on 6 April.
Related articles: 'Important ISA tip: Compare, get better rates, and then save'
At the moment, you will find loads of articles in the press about using up your tax-free savings allowance each year.
This is a good thing, because it is not often these days that you get something for nothing.
Also, like many others, you are probably aware that you are entitled to open a new Cash ISA each tax year, which is great too.
However, few people know that they are allowed to open a new ISA each year AND transfer accounts from previous years into it without having any impact on their annual tax-free allowance.
This means that if you have £20,000 in one cash ISA offering say 4.75% AER, you could transfer it into an account paying a higher interest rate and still be left with all of your yearly tax-free savings allowance.
Why not compare ISA savings accounts in our easy to use table.
Related articles: 'Transferring your ISA, step-by-step'
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