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);
INSERT INTO `module_blog_posts` VALUES 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.
 

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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.

• Calculators
• How to guides
• Letter templates
• Polls

Firstly, we have the compareandsave.com calculators.

You might be one of those people who refuse to do something unless you are first shown what you are set to gain from doing it.

If you can relate to this, you would definitely love our Savings Calculator which can be used to calculate how much money you could end up with after a set period of time spent saving.

Or, are you one of those smokers who needs to see how much money they are spending on their habit before they can even think of quitting? If the answer is yes, then our Smoking Calculator will work this out for you. Once you see how much you are set to save, why not kick the habit and treat yourself to something nice.

If you are looking for a loan, but don’t know how much it is set to cost you each month, why not use our Loan Calculator which will give you an estimated monthly repayment based on the details you type in.

Secondly, our Tools section is home to our ‘How to guides’.

Each month we will bring you a new guide, based on an area of our site. We aim to give you all the information you need so that you can make better decisions about financial products and services. Our guides are unbiased because we don’t want you to choose important financial products based on opinions; we want you to make them based on solid facts.

Thirdly, you will find our Letter Templates. These can be downloaded so that you can add your personal details before you print them and send them off.

Finally, in the tools section you will find information about the new ‘Polls’ we are running on the site. Additionally, at the end of each poll, we will publish the results, and our analysis of them, in this section.

Our templates take all the hard work out of contacting those involved in your personal finance world because, at the end of the day, money matters are stressful enough.

New letter templates will be added as and when they are needed. Why not email us with your suggestions for the letter templates you would like to see in our tools section?

The Tools zone will be home to those little devices that will save you a big amount of time and effort, so be sure to check in regularly and kit yourself out.

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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

1. Credit Cards & loans

• Providers have tightened their lending criteria for new credit card customers
• Providers are also reducing their exposure to risk within their client base
• Millions of high-risk customers have had their credit limits reduced and/or had their accounts closed
• Those with good credit scores can still get cheap credit
• If you have been refused credit, but don’t know why, it will likely be because your credit rating makes you an unacceptable risk to lenders

What can I do to reduce the effect of the crunch?

• If you have a good credit rating, try to keep it this way. Don’t go over your credit limit, make sure you make all repayments on time and try not to use your credit card for withdrawing cash (lenders may view this as a sign that you are struggling for money)
• If you have a bad credit rating, try to fix it. To do this you will need to view your credit report and try to identify areas that may be putting lenders off. Experian is currently offering a 30-day free trial of CreditExpert so you will be able to view your credit report for free. For more information read the compareandsave.com guide on ‘How to improve your credit rating’
• Reduce the amount of interest you are paying. Compare best credit card deals to see if you can find a 0% balance transfer credit card to switch to so that you don’t have to pay interest for a while. This way you will also clear your balance more quickly
• Make your credit card work for you. If you pay off your balance in full each month, consider a reward or cash back credit card

2. Savings

• If you are a saver, you will actually be a winner in the recent credit crisis
• Banks have been struggling to raise funds. Because of this they are offering very appealing savings rates in efforts to attract more customers to save with them
• As a result, it is now possible to get interest rates as high as 6.5% on instant access savings accounts (1.25% above the Bank of England base rate)

What can I do to reduce the effect of the crunch?

• If you are a regular saver, spread your savings. Don’t save more than £35,000 with any one provider unless it is the government-backed National Savings & Investments or Northern Rock. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme will only guarantee the first £35,000 of any savings you have with each provider. Remember that they will only provide this cover per parent bank (the parent group, HBOS, runs Halifax and Bank of Scotland so if you had £35,000 in each of these banks, you would only be covered for one lot of £35,000 but not the other).
• If you aren’t a regular saver, then start saving. With interest rates so competitive, now is the ideal time to open a savings account. Remember that saving something will always be better than saving nothing. Use our savings calculator to see how much you could accumulate over the months.

3. Mortgages

• Getting a mortgage today is harder than six months ago
• The cost of borrowing is rising and repayments have been going up
• Many people are due to have their fixed-rate deals of 2 years come to end in coming months and will find it hard to remortgage
• House prices are falling month-on-month – according to Nationwide they fell 0.5% in February alone.
• Conditions have worsened for first-time buyers – especially those without a deposit
• A month ago, banks were offering 125% mortgages which would cover 100% of the house price and leave 25% of the house price available as an unsecured loan to pay for furniture, decoration and moving expenses
• These products have since been removed from the market and banks and building societies rarely lend more than 90% of the value of the property
• Those with bad credit ratings will have severe problems trying to get a mortgage
• Those who do get a mortgage will have to contend with a very high interest rate

What can I do to reduce the effect of the crunch?

• If you need to remortgage soon, it is still possible to find the money you need. Use a mortgage finder to see what is available to you and use a mortgage calculator to work out an estimate of what your mortgage repayments will be based on the interest rate
• If you want to buy a house in the near future, hold off buying and start saving for a deposit. With the market as it is, you are likely to need a deposit worth at least 10% of the price of the property. Make the most of the great rates on high-interest savings accounts and start preparing for buying your first house. Don’t buy yet because it’s a risky time for the housing market, especially if you don’t have a deposit. With house prices falling, you could end up paying more for your house than it will be worth in a few months

4. Tips to further reduce the effect of the credit crunch

• Review your borrowing. Make sure you are getting the best deals on your credit cards, loans and mortgages.
• Review your savings. Make sure you are getting the highest interest rates on your savings by comparing savings accounts for better deals. Our savings calculator will help you to work out how much you will accumulate over the months and recommend savings accounts paying higher interest rates (if applicable).
• Reduce your essential spending. Compare car insurance and home insurance and you are set to save up to £100. Search for the best gas and electricity deals and you could save up to £300 if you apply online and pay by direct debit. Follow our ‘Green tips to cut gas and electricity bills’ which will help you save even more money.
• Think about getting life insurance (if you have a spouse and children) so that your debts and mortgage can be paid off if something happens to you.

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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.

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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…

1. Energy companies should spend £150m on social tariffs
2. Increase in winter fuel payment to £250 for the over-60s and to £400 for the over-80s
3. “Savings Gateway” will be launched by the government in 2010
4. New Cash ISA tax-free savings allowance confirmed to be £3600 from April 5 2008 (the increase could have been a lot higher and so a change which ordinarily would have taken position 1 gets demoted to position 4)
5. £26m to go towards making homes greener

 
Five of the worst…

1. Increase in green tax charged on flights
2. 2p increase in fuel duty (but postponed until October 2008 – so instead of being in position 1, this change is in position 2 because it isn’t as bad with the six month delay)
3. 55p on a bottle of spirits
4. 14p on a bottle of wine
5. 4p added on a pint of beer

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.

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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.

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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);
INSERT INTO `module_blog_posts` VALUES 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

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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.

1. Annual percentage rate (APR) – the lower the better

• This stands for how much you will pay for any amount you borrow on your credit card
• To pay a provider for the credit facility you pay interest
• The APR is the percentage of interest you will pay on any amount you borrow
• It is the figure given so that consumers can easily compare the cost of different credit cards
• Generally speaking the lower the APR, the better the deal is for the consumer
• A ‘typical APR’ is the best amount you are likely to be charged for a particular card
• The APR you are charged will be calculated based on your credit history
• If you present more risk to the lender because of a tainted credit history, you will be charged more for the privilege of borrowing money
• Compare our top deal credit cards here

2. 0% balance transfers for ‘x’ number of months – the longer the better

• If you wish to transfer your credit card balance to another card, and benefit from an introductory offer of 0% APR, you will be offered a ‘0% balance transfer period’
• The longer the 0% balance transfer period, the better the deal
• The interest-free period will be quoted in terms of the number of months you will be benefit from 0% APR from when you open the card
• The 0% APR offers range from 9 months to 15 months
• Beware of sister companies because some cards are operated by the same parent company. Usually, you will only be allowed one introductory offer per parent company
• Compare balance transfer credit cards here

3. Balance transfer fee – the lower the better

• Credit card companies will charge you a ‘Balance transfer fee’ to move your existing balance over to their card. This usually ranges from 2.5% to 3.5% of the balance you wish to transfer
• The lower the balance transfer fee, the better the deal
• Compare balance transfer credit cards here

4. 0% purchases for ‘x’ number of months – the longer the better

• If you are looking for a credit card, but don’t want to transfer a balance from an existing card, the most important thing to look at (after the APR) is the number of months at 0% for purchases
• As an incentive, credit card companies offer introductory offers of 0% interest on any purchases you make over the interest-free period
• These 0% purchase periods offered usually range between 3 months to 6 months
• Generally speaking, the longer the 0% offer the better the deal is
• Look out for companies offering 0% until a set month in a set year e.g. 0% on purchases until July 2008 – make sure you work out how many months you will actually be getting from when you take up the offer
• If you’re getting a card for a balance transfer, you needn’t look at the 0% purchases offers. If you transfer a balance to a credit card you should ideally avoid making purchases on it because any money you pay off will go towards clearing the cheapest debt first (the balance transfer amount charged at 0%)
• Compare 0% purchase credit cards here

5. Rewards – the bigger the better (depending on circumstances)

• Some credit cards come with rewards ranging from store discounts to air miles
• Be sure that the reward the card is offering is something that you will benefit from
• If you are looking for a good balance transfer card, the rewards offered should really be the last thing you look at. The most important features of the card will be the 0% balance transfer period and the transfer fee
• If you are looking for your first credit card and expect to pay off your balance in full each month, the rewards will probably be the most important feature to look at when comparing credit cards
• If you want to contribute to charity, you may be better off getting a cashback card and giving any cashback you earn to the charity directly – some charity credit cards pay a lower reward percentage than the cashback cards
• Compare cash back & reward credit cards here

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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);
INSERT INTO `module_blog_posts` VALUES 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’

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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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