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.

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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

One of the quickest and easiest ways to save some money is to compare gas and electric prices. In fact, the average saving to be made by switching gas and electricity suppliers is £202, with some customers set to save as much as £503.

You can take the hard work out of comparing energy companies at compareandsave.com by entering a few details into the 'compare gas and electric' form. The information you will enter will be about your current suppliers and how much you pay for your energy. This process will be a lot easier if you have some recent energy bills in front of you, but will work just as well if you know how much you pay per year for each type of energy you use.

Once you have entered in these details and hit the submit button, we will trawl the UK's main energy companies and find you alternative tariffs that match the details you have entered. The results will be displayed to you from cheapest to most expensive based on which ones will save you the most money compared to your current tariff.

The gas and electric comparison service is accredited to the energywatch Confidence Code. Energywatch is the industry consumer watchdog and its Confidence Code is given to comparison services which meet with all nine requirements of the code. If a comparison service is accredited, it means that the comparison results you are given are accurate and consistent.

Intrigued? Click the link and see how much you can save when you compare gas and electric
 

If you're a student, you will spend a vast amount of your time thinking about how to manage your finances. The Barclaycard Student Credit Card could help you to do this, providing it is used sensibly.

Plus, it comes with lots of benefits that will help you to stretch your cash further as well as a low typical APR of 14.9% (variable).

What’s more, you will receive discounts from a wide range of retailers, holiday deals through the Travel Service and you will be able to opt in to a text alert service which will send you a text message five days before your credit card payment due date.

Cardholders also benefit from an Identity Protection Service which offers advice about protecting against identity theft, and Purchase Delivery Protection which provides cover against loss or damage to online, phone or mail orders from the time they are despatched to the time they arrive at your door.

Click the link for more information about the Barclaycard Student Credit Card
 

Icesave have increased the interest rates on two of its savings accounts from 25 June.

The Icelandic bank has increased the interest rate on its Icesave Easy Access Savings Account from 6.05% to 6.30% as well as increasing the AER on its Icesave Fixed Rate Savings Account from 7.01% to 7.06%.

With these two Icesave Savings Accounts, you can choose to have your interest paid monthly or yearly and, because the bank is registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), be safe in the knowledge that your money will be covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) even though the bank is Icelandic.

The Icesave Easy Access Savings Account gives the saver online access to their money 24 hours a day, seven days a week and guarantees to beat the Bank of England base rate until October 2011 and match it until 31st January 2013. To open the account, you need a deposit of £250 and there are no catches or penalties if you withdraw your money.

The Icesave Fixed Rate Savings Account is a term account and you will therefore not be able to make any deposits or withdrawals once the account has been opened. You can open an account with £1,000 and the interest rate of 7.06% will be fixed for the entire term of the account; a time period you can choose out of either 6 months, 1, 2, or 3 years. The account also offers 24/7 online access so you can view the progress of interest being added to your account

To open either of these accounts you must be at least 18 years of age.

Click the relevant link for more information about the Icesave Easy Access Savings Account and the Icesave Fixed Rate Savings Account.

Marks and Spencer has increased the online discount for its pet insurance from 5% to 20%.

You can choose between 2 levels of cover if you choose Marks and Spencer Pet Insurance.

What’s more, you will benefit from a 24-hour helpline, manned by veterinary nurses, which you can call to get advice about your pet’s health if you take out a policy. Plus, you will receive an extra 5% discount if you insure more than one pet with the insurer.

Marks and Spencer Pet Insurance will also give you funds towards advertising should your pet be stolen or go missing. Additionally, you will benefit from a 5% discount at Best Pet Pharmacy which offers repeat prescriptions, non-prescribed drugs, pet food and dietary pet food if you buy Marks and Spencer Pet Insurance.

Click the link for more information about Marks and Spencer Pet Insurance
 

The results for the compareandsave.com poll, ‘Have credit card offers improved, got worse or stayed the same over the past two years?’ are now in.

Thank you to all those people who took the time to participate in our poll and we hope you find the results as interesting as us.

Of the 301 people that took part in the poll, a massive 47.2% (142) said that they thought credit card offers had got worse over the past two years.

On the flipside, 25.2% (76) said that credit card offers had improved and 10.3% (31) said the offers had stayed the same.

The percentage of people who said they didn’t know if credit card offers had improved or not over the last two years was relatively high at 17.3% (52).

For those of you who thought credit card offers had deteriorated over the last two years, we currently have some great new credit card deals on the site.

The Capital One Platinum Credit Card is offering 0% on balance transfers and purchases until September 2009.

Plus, the Barclaycard Platinum Credit card is offering 6 months free gadget insurance which gives the cardholder £500 cover for gadgets and £500 for personal possessions.

Click the link to find out more about the Capital One Platinum Credit Card.

Intrigued by the gadget cover? Click the following link to find out more about the Barclaycard Platinum Credit Card.

We have today launched the new compareandsave.com breakdown cover poll. It is dotted around the site on most pages, so if you see it and have a few spare seconds, please have your say and make your vote.

We have today launched a new poll on the site asking you, our readers, about how much you use your breakdown cover.

Breakdown cover is a service you can buy which would mean you could call for roadside help should your vehicle unexpectedly stop working. A mechanic will come and either try and temporarily fix your vehicle or, if that is not feasible, will arrange a recovery service back to your home or to the nearest garage so it can be repaired.

We would like to know how many times you have had to use your breakdown assistance in the last 12 months, if you have breakdown cover. If you don’t have breakdown cover we would like to know if it’s because you don’t have a car or just because.

The poll is dotted around on most pages of the site and just involves a simple click on the relevant answer and then a quick click on the submit button. You will also get to see how others have voted once you have submitted your response.

You can click on the link to find out more about the breakdown cover poll.

You can now compare breakdown cover at compareandsave.com.

Breakdown cover will cover you in the event of your vehicle unexpectedly breaking down when you are on your travels.

The breakdown assistance policies you can buy vary but most basic ones will enable you to call out a mechanic to temporarily fix your vehicle to get you to your destination, or back to your home, or recover you to the nearest garage for your vehicle to be repaired.

The brilliant thing about breakdown cover is that you can still get cover even if you don’t have your own vehicle by buying a personal-based membership. With this type of cover, you can call for breakdown assistance no matter what vehicle you are in, even if you don’t own it, because it is you that is covered not the vehicle.

We are currently offering breakdown cover from a number of providers including several of the UK’s largest breakdown services including the RAC and Green Flag.

Click the link to find out more about Breakdown Cover.