The new BT Credit Card, which offers customers money off BT phone bills, has just been launched on compareandsave.com.

The great thing about this card is its competitive low life of balance transfer interest rate of 6.9%, which you can only get by applying for the card on compareandsave.com.

Once the account has been opened, you will earn money off your BT phone bills each time the credit card is used.

For every complete £2 you spend on ‘retail purchases’, up to £250 per month or part of a month, you will receive 1p off your BT phone bill. Once you exceed this £250 purchase rate, you will start to receive 1p per whole £1 spent in the same month.

The maximum BT Credit Card Reward that can be earned in any twelve month period is £75.

The typical purchase APR is 16.9% (variable) but one of the advantages of the card is the low life of balance transfer APR of 6.9%. This is great if you are fed up of switching from one interest free balance transfer offer to another after every 12 to 15 months.

If you do decide to transfer a balance to the BT Credit Card you will be charged an admin fee of 3% of the balance transferred.

There is no annual fee for this credit card and it comes with online account management and a free 24 hour worldwide customer satisfaction helpline. To qualify for the card you must be at least 18 years of age and have a minimum annual income of £10,000.

Click the link for more information about the BT Credit Card

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The typical APR on the Barclaycard Long Term Balance Transfer Credit Card has been lowered from 16.9% to 14.9% (variable).

Plus, the typical APR applied to balance transfers, for the life of the balance, has been lowered from 6.5% to 6.3% with no admin fee to pay.

You will have the option of managing your account online and will benefit from an identity protection service and fraud protection.

The credit card comes with no annual fee and 24 hour customer service.

To apply for the Barclaycard Long Term Balance Transfer card you must be at least 21 years of age and have a minimum income of £10,000.

Click the link to apply for the Barclaycard Long Term Balance Transfer Credit Card.
 

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You can now get a 35% online discount and a £50 shopping or fuel voucher if you buy Tesco Home Insurance before 17th September 2008.

To be eligible for the shopping or fuel voucher offer, you need to be a new customer, have a Tesco Clubcard and buy either a Standard or Finest policy. When you apply for your policy you will need to enter home50 into the promotional code box.

With Tesco Home Insurance you can choose from three types of policy – Finest, Standard and Value.

The Standard and Value policies come with buildings cover up to £1 million and the Finest policy has unlimited buildings cover.

You will benefit from an emergency repair helpline and a dedicated claims team, plus you can choose to pay monthly if you like.

Click the link for more information about Tesco Home Insurance

This offer is current as of 22nd AUGUST 2008. Terms and Conditions apply. For more offers please refer to the Offers section of compareandsave.com’s ‘Your money matters blog’.

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We have a new online savings account on the website called the ICICI HiSave.

The ICICI HiSave Savings Account comes with an interest rate guarantee and a competitive AER of 6.16% plus offers 24/7 online access.

What’s more, you will receive your interest on a monthly basis and will benefit from a guarantee which will give you an interest rate of 0.30% higher than the Bank of England base rate until December 31 2011.

You will also be able to make an unlimited amount of withdrawals and deposits and can open an account from just £1.

To open an account, you need to click on the apply button on the ICICI HiSave Savings Account page, fill in the online application form with your details and then hit the send button. Once you have received an email to verify your details and application, which should get to you within two working days, you need to send a cheque off for at least £1.00. Once your cheque has been received, your savings account will be open and ready to use. You will be sent an account number and login ID via email once your cheque has been received and then your internet password will be sent to you in the post.

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Breakdown cover is a service provided by insurers which you can buy so that you can call for assistance should your vehicle break down.

The most basic of policies, which should at least provide you with assistance at the roadside to try to fix your vehicle, start from around £25 and will cover you for a period of 12 months.

Like any insurance product, you pay a breakdown cover provider an annual premium so that they take the risks associated with the cost of breaking down away from you. This means that if you buy breakdown cover but don’t use it during the year, you won’t get your money back.

However, the question you will need to ask yourself when trying to decide whether or not to buy car breakdown cover is how much would it cost you if you broke down and didn’t have it?

You can now get the answer to this question by using the new compareandsave.com Breakdown Calculator.

To put things in perspective, if you broke down you are likely to have to pay at least a £50 callout charge. This £50 could buy you a basic breakdown cover policy for two years or a more comprehensive policy for one year.

This £50 callout charge is purely the cost you would pay for an independent recovery contractor to come out to help you. You would then have to pay to be towed at a return mileage rate, at an average cost of £1.50 per mile, which means you pay for the recovery contractor from when he leaves his depot until he returns.

As you can already see, the cost of one breakdown without breakdown assistance could buy you several years’ worth of basic cover. If you break down more than once in a year, you would be set to save even more by having car breakdown cover, because a basic policy will usually allow you to call for help anywhere between 3-7 times in a 12 month period (if the maximum number of callouts is reached in one year the provider may restrict the number of callouts allowed the following year).

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The results from our recent poll on breakdown cover are in and have shown that 1 in 6 people have used their breakdown cover at least once over the course of the last 12 months.

Just over 500 people responded to the poll, which we started on June 19, and a lucky 70% didn’t have to use their breakdown cover at all over the past year.

However, nearly 18% of respondents said they had had to use their breakdown assistance at least once during the past 12 months, with 5% calling for assistance twice and 2% needing help three times.

What we also found out is that 12% of respondents didn’t have breakdown cover at all, with just under half of these owning a car and just over half without their own car.

From these results we have several tips to help people get the most from breakdown cover.

70% who didn’t use breakdown cover in the past 12 months

For the 70% of respondents who didn’t have to use their breakdown cover during the last 12 months, it is probably best that you don’t use this as a reason to be complacent and choose not to renew your cover because it could cost your dearly in the long run.

If you breakdown and need to call one of the major breakdown cover providers, but don’t currently have a valid policy with the particular provider, you will pay as much as £93 for the assistance and 12 months free basic membership. With basic cover starting from as little as £30 per month, you will effectively be paying the equivalent of three years membership in one year.

18% who used their breakdown cover at least once in the past 12 months

If you are one of the 18% who needed to make use of their breakdown cover at least once within the past year, it is well worth checking the wording of your current policy to see if you will have a reduced callout entitlement in your renewal year. Some breakdown cover providers cap the number of callouts you are allowed to make in the year and then the following year too. This will be especially relevant to the 2% of respondents who used their breakdown assistance three times in the past year.

5% who have a car but no breakdown cover

If you can relate to the 5% of respondents who have a car but don’t currently have breakdown cover, you can expect a bill of at least £89 if you breakdown and call to join either Green Flag or the AA, or around £200 if you break down 10 miles away from your destination and call a local recovery agent.

Basic roadside assistance breakdown cover policies start from as little as £30 per year and will allow you to call for help should you break down at least ¼ mile away from home. If you did breakdown, the mechanic will try to carry out a temporary repair so that you can get to the nearest garage or to your destination, depending on the nature of the fault.

7% who don’t have breakdown cover because they don’t have a car

If you find you have something in common with the 7% of respondents who said that they didn’t have breakdown cover because they don’t have a car, we possibly have the best tip of all for you.

Just because you don’t own a car, it doesn’t by any means imply that you will never travel in a car. However, if that car breaks down, and the driver doesn’t have breakdown cover, you are likely to be stranded too.

This is where ‘personal based’ breakdown cover membership comes in.

Some breakdown cover providers offer a service where the cover they sell you does not cover the vehicle you drive but you as a person. This means that you can call for assistance even if you are in someone else’s car.

RAC and Green Flag are among the providers who offer this type of breakdown cover.

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Last week we published the second instalment of our Breakdown Cover special: “PART 2: What to do if you breakdown on the motorway”.

This week’s instalment, Part 3, will guide you through the procedure to follow if you break down on other roads, as advised by the AA.

If you break down on other roads, the procedure to follow is quite different to that you would use on the motorway.

• The key thing to remember is that you need to get your vehicle off of the main road and make other drivers aware of the danger by putting on your hazard lights. Using your hazard lights is even more important if you are causing an obstruction.
   
• If you have a reflective jacket it is probably best to store it in the glove box or under your seat so that you have access to it from within the car. This will mean you can put it on before exiting your vehicle rather than hunting around in your boot for it, putting you at more risk of being hit by a passing vehicle.
   
• Before you exit your vehicle make sure you leave your sidelights on if it is really dark or if bad weather is affecting visibility. Only keep these lights on if it is safe to have the key in the ignition.
   
• If you think there is any substantial risk of your vehicle being struck by other traffic, make everyone get out and retreat to a safe place well away from traffic. Don’t let anybody (including yourself) stand between your vehicle and the oncoming traffic.
   
• Whilst you are out of the vehicle, and if it is safe to do so, put your warning triangle (if you have one) on the road. Place the triangle at least 45 metres (50 yards) behind your vehicle on the same side of the road. Be sure to take care when you do this.
   
• The next step will be assessing whether it is possible to fix the car, without putting yourself and other road users in danger, or whether you are going to need professional help to get your vehicle going again.
   
• If you think you will need professional help, use your mobile phone to ring for breakdown assistance. If you don’t have a mobile phone, lock up your car and try and safely find another phone. Be sure that you can give those coming to help you an accurate description of your location.
   
• Once your vehicle is up and running again, don’t forget to pick up your warning triangle if you used one, taking care to keep out of danger from other traffic.

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Capital One has extended the 0% on purchases offer on its Low Rate Balance Transfer Credit Card by one month.

This means you can now get 0% on any purchases you make until February 2009.

Once the 0% offer on purchases runs out, the  typical APR for purchases reverts to 15.9% p.a. (variable).

An additional plus is that this credit card comes with 5.5% on balance transfers for the life of the balance (subject to a 3% admin fee) and a free identity theft service.

What’s more, you can register online for free identity alerts provided by the credit reference agency Equifax.

To qualify for this card you must be at least 18 years of age and pass the relevant credit checks.

Click the link for more information about the Capital One Low Rate Balance Transfer Credit Card

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Part 2 of our Breakdown Cover special will guide you through what to do if you break down on the motorway.

The procedures for what to do if you break down on the motorway are quite different to those you need to follow if you break down on any other type of road (we will talk you through these next week in Part 3).

If you find you are in a situation where you need to stop your vehicle, it can be both dangerous and hard, especially on a motorway. The first thing that you must remember is that motorway hard shoulders are only for emergency use and you should only stop on one if you find you really have no other choice. If you can, it is best to try and find a place off the motorway to pull over.

The hard shoulder is not to be used to go to the toilet, have a quick nap, use your mobile phone or for reading maps/checking routes.

If you do need to stop in an emergency on the motorway, here’s what the AA advises you to do. Why not print off a copy and keep it in your glove box in case you ever need it. Don’t forget to keep your breakdown cover details with your vehicle too.

1. Pulling over
2. Exiting your vehicle
3. Making yourself seen
4. Getting help
5. When help is on its way
6. Leaving the hard shoulder
7. Can’t get on the hard shoulder…?
8. If you have a disability so cannot follow the advice above

• Pull over to the hard shoulder and stop your vehicle as far over to the left as you can. Make sure you leave your wheels turned over to the left so that if another vehicle happens to hit your vehicle, it will travel further into the verge and not out into the main carriageway. Leave your sidelights and hazard lights turned on.
• Try your best to stop close to an emergency telephone. These can be found at around one mile intervals along the hard shoulder.

• Exit your vehicle by the left-hand door, making sure all passengers in the vehicle do the same.
• Leave any animals in your vehicle if you can. In an emergency, take them from the left hand side of the vehicle and keep them well under control on the verge (on a lead or in a cage).

• If you have reflective clothing in your vehicle, put it on
• DO NOT use a reflective triangle.

• DO NOT attempt any repairs, no matter how simple they are.
• Walk to the nearest emergency telephone on your side of the motorway. You can follow the arrows found on the posts on the far side of the hard shoulder. This telephone is free to use and will connect you straight to the police. It is better to use these phones instead of a mobile phone as it will be easier for help to locate you.
• Only use your mobile telephone if you cannot leave your vehicle for any reason and you are sure that you can accurately describe your location to your breakdown cover provider – you will find reference numbers on all the telephones and marker posts.
• Give all your details o the police/breakdown cover provider and also tell them if you are vulnerable, i.e. a woman travelling alone or with children or have a disability.

• Go back to your vehicle and wait near it, keeping as far away as possible from the motorway and hard shoulder. The AA advises you to wait up the bank or behind a barrier if you can.
• If a situation arises where you begin to feel at risk from another motorist, get back into your vehicle via the left-hand door and lock all of the doors. Exit your vehicle as soon as you feel the danger has gone.

• The first thing you need to do before leaving the hard shoulder is to build up speed whilst looking out for a safe gap in the moving traffic.
• Be on the lookout for other vehicles parked up on the hard shoulder.

• Switch on your vehicle’s hazard lights
• DO NOT try to put any type of ‘warning device’ on the motorway
• Exit your vehicle only when you know you can safely get across the carriageway to safety by the hard shoulder

• Stay in your vehicle
• Switch on your hazard lights
• Use your mobile phone to contact the emergency services
• Be prepared to tell the services your location as accurately as possible

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