The new tax year is fast-approaching and we would just like to draw your attention to some of the compareandsave.com tools which we feel will help you at this time of year.

Firstly, from 6 April you will get your £3,600 ISA allowance (this may change when the Government announces the 2009 Budget on April 22);
INSERT INTO `module_blog_posts` VALUES and will therefore be able to save £3,600 tax free until 5 April 2010, and you will be able to open a new ISA offering more competitive interest rates.

Another option that will become available on 6 April is to transfer funds from your old ISA, which will have seen its interest rates slashed because of the cuts to the UK base rate, to a new one offering a better rate (without losing your 2009/10 allowance).

To help you with your ISA decisions, you may benefit from reading Section 10 of our Guide to Savings Accounts – Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), and could get your savings on track by using our Savings Calculator.

Secondly, the start of the new tax year means that the amount you can earn before you pay any tax will be going up to £6,475 (the tax-free allowance) and you won’t pay National Insurance until you earn £110 a week, up £5 from 2008/09.

However, the ‘upper earnings limit’ (at which the rate of National Insurance you pay drops from 11% to 1% on any additional income) will go up from £770 a week to £844 per week. This means you will pay more National Insurance at 11% instead of 1%.

If you are interested in working out how much you will be paying in tax and National Insurance over the next tax year, why not use our Salary Calculator. Be sure to use this from 6 April when the calculator will work out your net (after tax) pay based on figures for the 2009/10 tax year.

Finally, at this time of year it is ideal to compare ISAs and our ISA Savings Accounts page will help you with this. If you start your comparisons now, you will be ready to get your ISA when the new tax year starts and will therefore be ready to start your tax-free saving.

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You can now get 12 months for the price of 10 when you buy a Direct Line Pet Insurance policy before May 20 2009.

What’s more, if you take out pet insurance policies for more than one pet you will receive a 15% discount off the price of your premium.

Direct Line will pay your vet direct, so you won’t find yourself hunting for money when your pet gets ill, leaving you to concentrate on getting it better.

Plus, your policy will cover your pet per condition, so you won’t be restricted on the number of times you can claim and there is a fixed one-off excess to pay per condition.

Click the link for more information on Direct Line Pet Insurance

This offer is current as of 23rd MARCH 2009. 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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You can now get 2 months free cover with Direct Line Home Insurance, if you buy your policy before 30 April 2009. Plus, you will receive a 25% discount if you buy your policy online.

Direct Line Home Insurance provides new-for-old cover on items such as carpets and curtains and its contents policy comes with free accidental damage protection.

What’s more, you will receive a 10% discount when you renew your policy next year and if you are over 50 you will receive a further discount off the cost of your premium.

You will also receive cover for up to £500 cash in your home and will see your cover increase automatically by £5,000 or 10% during the weeks before and after Christmas and weddings.

Plus, you will also have access to a 24 hour helpline should you need any help.

Click the link for more information about Direct Line Home Insurance

This offer is current as of 23rd MARCH 2009. 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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Barclays Home Insurance now comes with 2 months free cover and a 20% discount when you buy a combined buildings and contents policy.

Plus, when you buy your policy you will be entered into a weekly prize draw for a chance to win £1,000 (for a limited time only).

If you choose to just buy buildings or contents home insurance, you will instead receive a 10% discount when you buy your policy online.

With a Barclays’ policy, you can buy up to £500,000 buildings cover and up to £50,000 contents protection, and TVs, satellite boxes, aerials, games consoles, glass and mirrors are covered for accidental damage as part of the standard contents package.

However, if you are looking for full accidental damage cover, you can get this added to your policy for an extra premium.

Click the link for more information about Barclays Home Insurance

This offer is current as of 19th MARCH 2009. 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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The Barclays MoreForMore Savings Account has recently been added to our comparison tables.

You can earn between 0.50% and 1.25% AER (variable) on your savings. The interest rate you receive will depend on how much you save in the savings account, so the more you save, the more you earn.

If you open more than one ‘MoreForMore’ accounts, the balances in all of the accounts will be added together and this could help to push you into a higher interest bracket.

You will have instant access to your account via branches of Barclays Bank, or through internet or telephone banking, and you will receive your interest on a monthly basis.

Plus, you can open your account with just £1 and there are no restrictions on withdrawals.

Click the link for more information on the Barclays MoreForMore Savings Account

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You can now include Simple Travel Insurance in your comparisons when you look for holiday cover on compareandsave.com.

Simple offers a range of travel insurance policies, including Budget, Standard and Premier, plus you can choose to add additional cover to suit your needs, circumstances and the type of holiday you are going on –you can choose extra cover for your baggage, for golf or for winter sports.

With your Simple policy you will receive cover for cancellation (up to £1,000);
With your Simple policy you will receive cover for personal money (up to £100);
With your Simple policy you will receive cover for baggage (up to £750) and medical care (up to £5 million).

Please bear in mind that Simple only provides travel insurance if you are less than 71 years of age.

If you apply online, you should receive your quote within 15 seconds.

Click the link for more information about Simple Travel Insurance

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You can now apply for the ING Direct Cash ISA on compareandsave.com, and get a competitive interest rate of 3.00% AER.

This AER is equivalent to 2.96% gross per annum (variable) and includes a 1.47% gross per annum bonus fixed for the first 12 months from the date you open your account.

A Cash ISA is a type of savings account which allows you to save up to £3,600 per tax year (from April 6 to April 5 the following year). Any interest you earn on your savings in an ISA will be tax-free and you will therefore not have to give any of it to the tax man. This will mean a basic-rate taxpayer will keep the 20% of the interest that is usually paid in tax, and a high-rate taxpayer will keep an extra 40% of the interest earned.

The ING Direct Cash ISA is an instant access savings account and so you can take out money from it whenever you need to, without incurring penalties or extra charges. However, because you have a £3,600 limit per tax year, if you have used all of this allowance and withdraw money from the account, you won’t be able to put it back during that same tax year.

You need to be at least 18 years of age to open this savings account

Click the link for more information about the ING Direct Cash ISA.

Want to know more about ISAs? Click the link to view our ISA guide

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If you apply for a Sainsburys Pet Insurance policy online you will receive a 15% discount.

Plus, you will receive a FREE 12 month Petback Protect membership from the Missing Pets Bureau with your pet insurance.

Your policy will cover up to £7,500 of vets’ fees cover in the event of your pet becoming ill or being injured in an accident. However, if you are looking for a lower cost option you can also buy a policy offering vets’ fees cover up to £3,000.

Sainsbury’s does not set a time limit on claims for vets’ fees, meaning you can claim after 12 months as long as you are up to date with your premiums.

What’s more, there is no maximum age for the pets you are insuring.

Click the link for more information about Sainsburys Pet Insurance.

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The MBNA Platinum Credit Card now comes with 0% on balance transfers until May 2010 (on balances transferred within the first 90 days of account opening, subject to an admin fee of 2.9%) and 0% on card purchases until July 2009.

Both offers will run until your statement date in the month the offer ends, so you will have 0% on balance transfers until your statement date in May 2010 and 0% on purchases until your statement date in July 2009.

What’s more, you will be able to manage your credit card account online, you won’t have to pay an annual fee and you will have access to 24 hour customer service.

Plus, MBNA won’t hold you liable or make you pay an excess if your card is lost, stolen or used fraudulently online.

You have to be at least 18 years of age to apply for this card.

Click the link for more information on the MBNA Platinum Credit Card.

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You can earn 3.00% AER (this includes a 1% bonus paid until 5 April 2010) on your savings if you put them in an Alliance and Leicester Online Saver Account.

With this savings account there are no charges for withdrawals and you will receive any interest your money has earned on an annual basis.

Accounts can be opened with just £1, but you need to be at least 18 to be given the account.

What’s more, you will be able to manage your account using online banking, which will make it easier to transfer funds in and out of the account and easier to keep track of your balance.
Click the link for more information on the Alliance and Leicester Online Saver.

This offer is current as of 16th MARCH 2009. 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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