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00:01Tonight, car and home insurance costs.
00:04It's time to put the brakes on.
00:09Millions of you are being ripped off right now on car and home insurance.
00:12What you pay should have dropped, but for many, it hasn't.
00:16So, from whether you get both policies together,
00:19to timing your quotes, counter-logical savings and more,
00:22I'm going to take you through all the tips, tricks and strategies
00:26to ensure maximum value at minimum cost,
00:30to save you hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of pounds.
00:34Then, in my news you can use, are you overpaying on prescriptions?
00:39The cheapest 0% debt shift card is about to end,
00:43and quick, use your McDonald's points.
00:46Let's do it!
00:56Wave your wallets, everyone!
00:58Wow, big audience tonight. Lovely to see you all.
01:00Amazing. Right, of course, we want your questions to get in touch.
01:03All the usual ways are on the screen right now.
01:06And off the back of last week's show on mobiles,
01:09we've had this success come in from Mick Martin.
01:12And Mick has said,
01:13I just asked for my PAT code, and within 10 minutes,
01:16I got a phone call from them.
01:18And my bill dropped from £31.50 to £14.
01:21Could have gone lower, but kept the EU roaming on.
01:24Also, still had three months of contract left. Win-win.
01:27Wow. Win-win.
01:30Well, that's 200 quid a year.
01:32If you watched back last week, you see I went through three steps,
01:34some people getting their bills down to £3.
01:36The key to that one, though, is literally,
01:38all he did is text PAC to 65075,
01:43which is the way of getting the code you need to leave.
01:46And because they thought he was leaving,
01:47they gave him a much cheaper deal.
01:48It's a good shortcut. It is a good shortcut.
01:50OK, so to start us off this week,
01:52we've got a question in the audience.
01:53It's a good evening to Diane.
01:54What's your question for Martin?
01:55Hi, Martin. Hello.
01:57Insurance, the car insurance is always going up year on, year on,
02:01and I don't see any benefits that I'm getting from that.
02:04What can be done about that, and why is it going up so high?
02:07It's a really interesting question,
02:10because I think your perception is the same
02:12as most people across the country,
02:14and I actually want to break that tonight.
02:16It was going up because of claim costs and costs to insurers,
02:18and some insurers were losing money.
02:20But things have changed, and you need to know that.
02:22And there's no better way to show you than with my graph.
02:24OK. OK.
02:25I've got a graph here.
02:27This is actually what's been happening
02:29to car and home insurance prices.
02:31There you go.
02:32You'll see from about three years ago,
02:34we had this massive ramp in prices,
02:37up nearly 60% on the car,
02:39up nearly 50% on home.
02:41But then that started to smooth off,
02:43and in car, it's come down.
02:45So when you actually look at what's happened over the last year,
02:49there we go, we'll go back a year,
02:50home is down 3%,
02:52car is down 11%.
02:55But we, and you've just proved it,
02:58we've been programmed to think each year,
03:02yeah, it's going to go up and up and up.
03:04And the problem with that is this.
03:06You get your renewal quote and you go,
03:08well, it's only gone up 5% this year.
03:10Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
03:12But no.
03:13What should be happening to you right now
03:15is it should be coming down.
03:18So my big warning today is when you get your renewal,
03:22if nothing else has changed,
03:23you want to be expecting to see your price being cheaper than last year.
03:27And even if it's the same as last year,
03:29that's actually you paying too much.
03:31So you're right in everything you say,
03:33but my aim today is to reprogram you to expect cheaper prices,
03:37not higher prices from this point onwards.
03:39Are you with me?
03:40Yes.
03:41Fantastic.
03:42Good stuff. Right.
03:43Success on this one.
03:44It's coming from Pauline for you.
03:45Now, listen.
03:46My car insurance renewal quote jumped from £292 to £1,460.
03:53Thanks to your advice,
03:54I knew to search thoroughly rather than auto renew.
03:57I rejected the massive price hike
03:59and managed to find a new policy for just £266.
04:03That's a total saving of £1,194.
04:07Well, that's a hideous jump of renewal that shouldn't happen.
04:14The saving is good, but we need to prevent that.
04:17And that's what I'm here to do tonight with my big briefing.
04:22So let's get into the practicals here.
04:23The first thing, never assume your renewal price is a winner.
04:26You always want to go and look across the market.
04:29Now, the obvious start point here is you combine comparison sites
04:32to get the wider spread of quotes.
04:34Two reasons I say that.
04:35The first, they don't overlap exactly.
04:38Some different insurers and brokers may happen with
04:41at least two different comparisons, I would always try.
04:43But more importantly, comparison sites are technically marketplaces.
04:47That means they can have their own prices for different insurers
04:50based on commissions and their agreements.
04:52So you could go to two different comparison sites
04:54and get different prices for exactly the same policy
04:57from exactly the same insurer.
04:59Now, just as a note, this all works well if you've got normal circumstances.
05:03But those struggling to get cover, especially on home,
05:05you may well need to go to a broker
05:07who's going to look at a bespoke policy for you.
05:09It will be more expensive, but brokers will work really well in those circumstances.
05:12You're probably wondering what the weird cloud at the bottom is.
05:15That's because I want to ask you a question before I give you the information
05:19to sort of test your perceptions.
05:20And I put a poll on X about this too.
05:22So here you go. You're with me.
05:23It's a bit of a quiz.
05:24Imagine you've just got your renewal quote for your 2004 beige Vauxhall Cavalier.
05:301.2 litres of pure modesty with special Go More Fuel Efficiently stripes on your side.
05:37OK?
05:38You go to a brand new comparison site, mildly but persistently perplexed.co.uk
05:44and you get a substantially cheaper quote than your renewal,
05:48but it's from the same existing insurer for the same policy.
05:54Is that legally allowed?
05:56Can existing customers be charged more under the law than new customers?
06:01So, who thinks, yes, annoyingly that is legal?
06:05Hands up. Let's see.
06:07And who thinks it's not legal?
06:09So we've got about a 50-50 split in the room.
06:12The poll I'm doing on social media, actually most people think it is legal.
06:15Now, for those of you who think it is legal,
06:18how many of you think there is a law or any law about this to protect?
06:21Does anyone know there's a law?
06:23OK. This is going to surprise you, what I'm about to say.
06:25Let's bring this up.
06:27In 2022, the regulator banned price walking for car and home insurance.
06:34Price walking is where you get a price and then each year at your renewal
06:37they walk it up so you don't really notice
06:39and after five years you're paying way more than a new customer would.
06:42And that was banned.
06:43The rule was existing customers should not be charged more than new customers.
06:47The baboon, the big but, is the rule is channel specific.
06:53Not charged more than a new customer via the same route.
06:56So, if you went direct, not charged more than direct.
06:59Via a broker, not charged more than a broker.
07:01You went via a comparison site, not charged more than the same comparison site.
07:05A new customer via the same comparison site.
07:08So, remember, my question said you went to a new comparison site.
07:12Madly, but persistently perplexed.co.uk.
07:14As it was a new comparison site, you couldn't have been an existing customer
07:19and therefore the rule didn't apply to you because you weren't going through the same channel
07:24so they could legally charge you more as an existing customer.
07:27So, there's been a lot of publicity about this rule
07:30but what I need to tell you is it doesn't mean your renewal is going to be a good price
07:34because pricing can still vary hugely from renewal via different channels.
07:40And that's why never assume renewal price is a winner.
07:45Yeah, Kaz has got a question.
07:47Did you know that?
07:48Did you know about that rule?
07:49No.
07:50Okay.
07:51Yeah, Kaz has got a question on this one, Martin.
07:52At the moment I'm paying £42 a month on my comprehensive car insurance.
07:56My renewal is due in four months' time.
07:59Should I look to see if there's a cheaper deal now or wait until it's out?
08:04Okay.
08:05So, anybody can go and do a check and go on a comparison site
08:08and see whether they're going to get a cheaper policy even if you're not at renewal.
08:11And if you do find a very materially cheaper policy,
08:15then as long as you haven't claimed this year,
08:18you're normally allowed to cancel your existing policy,
08:20get a pro rata refund for the rest of the year,
08:23they'll charge you an admin fee of around £30 to £60,
08:26so you'll need to check what that is and factor that in.
08:28You won't earn this year's no claims bonus,
08:30but, you know, if you're saving £400,
08:32you may as well go and do it.
08:34The issue is when you're actually doing that search,
08:38because like in good comedy,
08:40with car and home insurance,
08:42timing is everything.
08:45That is Director Richard deliberately playing and losing my punchline.
08:56Look, this is one of the most important things
08:58and the most ridiculous things I'm going to say tonight,
09:00and there's a lot of ridiculous things in car and home insurance.
09:02This is a graph for car, it works somewhere in home.
09:04So when you get your quotes,
09:07so it's the number of days before you get a new policy,
09:10which will normally be your new renewal date,
09:12can really affect the price of the quotes that you're getting.
09:16This is based on millions of quotes.
09:18So the sweet spot is roughly 26 days before the new policy,
09:23but a couple of days either side of that doesn't really matter.
09:25By the way, in home, it's more here.
09:27It's a little bit earlier, sort of 15 to 20 days beforehand.
09:30And the price you're quoted then can,
09:33and it doesn't work for everyone, but it works for many people,
09:36beat nearly half what would happen
09:40if you got a quote the day of your renewal.
09:43Bonkers, isn't it?
09:45Anyone want to tassard a guess why?
09:47Go on, be brave, someone.
09:49Yes, sir?
09:50I think they're going to be desperate to get the insurance.
09:53Well, you're sort of right.
09:54You said they think they're going to be desperate
09:55in case you didn't hear at home.
09:56What actually happens is all of insurance pricing
09:59is based on actuarial risk, risk charts,
10:01who's a good and who's a bad risk.
10:03The type of people who leave it to the last minute
10:06are deemed to be a higher risk
10:08than the people who go and get their insurance earlier.
10:11So they pay more.
10:12So even if you're the type of person
10:14who leaves it to the last minute,
10:15in this one, get in your diary to try and pervert the system,
10:19do it earlier and you can save money.
10:21We've got lots of successes on this.
10:22So many successes.
10:23I'm going to read you this one from Selene first.
10:25OK, so last year I paid £913 for my car insurance.
10:29I thought it was because I'm old.
10:31I'm 63.
10:32Well, this year I used your 26-day rule
10:34and for the same policy I paid £468,
10:37saving me £445, 49% saving.
10:41Thank you so much.
10:46The only issue with that is we can't quite be sure
10:48it's the 26-day rule.
10:49Have you got any more?
10:50Let me have a look for you here.
10:52Nicola, look at this.
10:54Quoted £555 for car insurance,
10:57checked it 25 days before
10:59and got it for an amazing £222.
11:02Thanks for the fantastic information, Martin.
11:04That's why the sweet spot is sweet.
11:13Let's say good evening to Diane on our virtual wall.
11:15She's got a question for you.
11:17Hi, Diane.
11:18Hi, good evening, Martin.
11:21My home insurance is £400 and ends on the 28th of February.
11:29And my car insurance is £500 and ends on the 29th of March.
11:36Should I be looking to combine the two
11:39to make sure that I get the best cost-effective policy?
11:44Well, it's really interesting and you're close to those renewals,
11:46so we're talking about sweet spot times for you.
11:49Not enough people think of this as an option,
11:51so the main question...
11:52I'm going to move on to my next graphic,
11:53so stay with me and watch this.
11:54Everything I've said so far also applies,
11:56but let's move on to this bit.
11:58OK, so this is one policy to rule them all, my precious.
12:03Now, first thing to say, comparison sites don't do this.
12:06This takes virtual elbow grease.
12:08This is trial and error to see whether it works or not.
12:10There are no guarantees.
12:11You just have to try it.
12:12Should you get car and home insurance from the same firm?
12:15So, Diane, this is what I want you to do.
12:17I want you to go onto a comparison site,
12:19and it's generally your car that's the most expensive,
12:21so I'd be focused on that, and get prices separately.
12:24Then see if any of those firms that offer combining discounts
12:28are within spitting range of the cheapest.
12:31So 5%, 6% of the cheapest, you're in not a bad spot.
12:34These are the combining discounts.
12:37Where you just get one policy for both is Admiral and LV.
12:40Where you get a discount for each extra policy is Aviva, Churchill and Direct Line.
12:45If any of those are looking cheap,
12:47then you may well be worth combining your car and home insurance.
12:51Similar is true for multi-car.
12:54If you have two or more cars in the same household,
12:56check if a multi-car policy is cheaper.
12:58Now, this is, again, I'm going to say bizarre so many times tonight.
13:01If you're on multi-car, I'd suggest you check separate policies.
13:04If you're on separate policies, I'd suggest you check multi-car.
13:06This is because existing customers tend to have worse deals,
13:08so therefore you want to switch to be the other type of customer
13:11is often where it tends to save people.
13:13The multi-car policies out there, Admiral Aviva Diamond, Elephant and LV,
13:17the discounts per extra car, AXA, Churchill, Direct Line and Privilege.
13:20It's basically the same system.
13:22Now, what people say to me at this point, and Diane,
13:24you're a month apart on your renewals, aren't you?
13:26Yes.
13:27But you might have been six months apart.
13:29What people say is, my renewal dates aren't at the same time.
13:32Well, what actually tends to happen, they give you an indicative price now.
13:35You move the one that ends first onto it,
13:39and then as long as nothing has changed,
13:41when the other one gets to its renewal,
13:43you then add that to the same policy.
13:45So you don't have to sort of cancel and re-book.
13:47It will all work.
13:48So I can't give you a hard answer because it's trial and error,
13:51but it is certainly possible that getting car and home insurance together
13:55will save you money, and it's absolutely worth checking it.
13:59Does that help?
14:00I'll do that. Thank you.
14:01My pleasure. Thank you for asking.
14:03Great stuff. Thank you very much, Diane.
14:05OK, and that's just the start.
14:07Coming up, we get into the nuts and bolts
14:09of how you can really slash your prices down.
14:11We'll see you in four.
14:12Welcome back, millions of you.
14:26Thank you so much.
14:28Millions of you are overpaying on your car and home insurance prices.
14:31So far tonight, we've already talked about how timing is everything,
14:34how to combine comparison sites,
14:36how to make sure as an existing customer,
14:38you don't pay more than a new customer.
14:40Now we're going to get into the nuts and bolts
14:42of the details for both types of policy.
14:44What are people saying, JK?
14:45Yeah, lots of people.
14:46It's very busy online.
14:47There's still time to get your questions in,
14:49but let's say good evening to Georgina,
14:51who's got a question for you, Martin.
14:52She's in our audience.
14:53Hello.
14:54Hi, Martin.
14:55Why is it so expensive for young people to get car insurance
14:57and how do I get it down?
14:59So, again, it all goes down to risk.
15:01Now, the funny thing is, how old are you?
15:0321.
15:0421.
15:05So you won't remember back in 2012, but some of the other people in here will.
15:09Before 2012, male and female drivers could be charged different prices.
15:13Then the EU gender directive came in that said they had to be charged the same.
15:17Before that, because of what is known as the boy racer phenomenon,
15:20young men paid absolutely hideous prices for insurance
15:24and young women just very expensive.
15:27Then, after the rule came in,
15:29it's one of those gender equalisation rules that didn't work well for women,
15:32it all became the same.
15:34So young women's prices went up, young men went down,
15:36and you are priced on your age, not your gender,
15:39even though we know that your gender tends to be cheaper and drive better.
15:44So that's one of the reasons.
15:45It's simply based on risk factors.
15:48I'd be looking, if I were in your position,
15:50everything I've already said applies to you,
15:52but I'd be looking...
15:53Do you know what a black box is, a black box insurance?
15:55Yeah, I've got a black box.
15:56OK.
15:57Is it based on how you drive or the time you drive yours?
15:59It's how I drive.
16:00OK, and you hopefully drive well and that'll bring the price down.
16:02But as you get a bit older, you might want to come off one of those.
16:05But there are other things that are important for someone your age
16:07and for everybody.
16:08So I'm going to move on to the next section, but this works for you.
16:11So look, many people say,
16:12I just want the cheapest car insurance, what do I do?
16:14So they'll go, I'll go for third party with just one driver,
16:18and I'll tell them what I do for work.
16:20And that would seem perfectly sensible, wouldn't it?
16:22Uh-uh.
16:23It's all counter logical on car insurance.
16:25So you would think that third party insurance always wins.
16:28But...
16:31I'd check comprehensive too.
16:32Here's why.
16:33By selecting comprehensive insurance,
16:36some insurers perceive you to be a lower risk
16:38than the type of person who'd go for third party insurance.
16:40And even though third party insurance is less a cover,
16:43the fact that you're perceived as a lower risk
16:44can in some cases make it cheaper.
16:46I'm not saying it always is.
16:47It's a trial and error.
16:48I'm just saying don't assume third party is always cheapest.
16:52Bizarrely.
16:53The next one, just one driver, you would think was similar.
16:56Well, it doesn't necessarily work like that.
16:58Let's imagine...
16:59I'll take my screen wife here.
17:00My real wife's in tonight, by the way, but I'll take my screen wife here.
17:03She's sitting at the back.
17:05Sorry, Lara.
17:06Right.
17:07So imagine that I am not a particularly good driver
17:09with not a particularly good record.
17:11If I add Jeanette to my car,
17:13because we're married, so therefore it'd be perfectly fine
17:15and she could legitimately drive my car and she's got a good record.
17:18She doesn't add on top.
17:20We take an average risk profile,
17:22so my price can actually be lowered.
17:25Thank you very much.
17:26You take directions, Martin.
17:27There we go.
17:28Not very often.
17:29Right.
17:30So, in your case especially,
17:32I don't know if parents or relatives
17:35who have a good reputation are being added to your policy.
17:38You might try mum, you might try dad,
17:40you might try auntie Flo, whoever it is.
17:42You might try two of them or three of them, trial and error again.
17:44Can massively bring down the price.
17:46So, especially if you're a high risk,
17:48try adding an extra legitimate responsible driver.
17:51But a warning, never add someone falsely as the main driver.
17:55It's called fronting.
17:56It's illegal.
17:57It can invalidate your policy and be against the law.
17:58It's about adding someone who could legitimately drive your car
18:00and you'd want to give permission to.
18:02And the final thing,
18:03and it's a bit more trivial this one,
18:05what you do for work.
18:06So, just the way it works,
18:09and all of these can vary with different firms,
18:11but statistically, having checked a mass amount,
18:15a beautician is more expensive
18:20than a beauty technician.
18:22So, if there is something in your job,
18:24and the title of your job,
18:25artist and illustrator,
18:26illustrator's cheaper than artist.
18:27If the title of your job is one that you could legitimately
18:30call yourself something else,
18:31there are tools online,
18:32as long as it's legitimate, never lie,
18:34but you can choose what your job title is,
18:37may even affect the price.
18:39Isn't that weird and crackers?
18:41Yeah, it is.
18:42But that is how it works.
18:43Darren has been in touch.
18:44Listen to this.
18:45So, Darren,
18:46I just helped my daughter renew her car insurance
18:48after her first year of driving,
18:50and it's gone from £450 a month
18:53to £93 a month with your advice.
18:56She saved a massive £4,284 a year.
19:00It's really gratifying to hear that, Darren.
19:06I should say,
19:07I mean, we picked the great savings
19:09because I want to enthuse you
19:10to make sure you check every single option out there.
19:12Not everyone's going to make savings like that.
19:14But if it's really expensive,
19:16try everything.
19:18OK, we can go.
19:19Let me carry on.
19:20See where I'm going now.
19:21We're going to talk home insurance,
19:22a little bit of housekeeping on home insurance.
19:24So, two types of home insurance,
19:26buildings and contents.
19:27The easy way to define the difference
19:29is you just go home,
19:30you take your house,
19:31you bend,
19:32you squat,
19:33you pick it up,
19:34and you turn it upside down,
19:35like this.
19:37There you go.
19:39If it falls,
19:41it's contents.
19:43If it doesn't fall,
19:44it's buildings.
19:45That's a pretty simple, easy way to define it.
19:47I need to put it back now.
19:49There we go.
19:51So, when we're talking home insurance,
19:52ensure you've got the right cover.
19:54Usually, only freeholders need buildings cover,
19:56so if you're renting or leasehold,
19:58you should check that your freeholder has that cover.
20:00News about leasehold today out there as well.
20:02Contents cover is for everyone.
20:04Now, with buildings,
20:05you need to ensure the rebuild value of your home.
20:07Literally, not how much it's worth,
20:09but how much it was cost if your home was knocked down
20:11and you would have to rebuild it.
20:13There's a calculator on the ABI website,
20:15but about 70% of people,
20:16this was from a vested interest survey,
20:18are potentially underinsured on that.
20:21Contents cover, beware underinsuring.
20:23Now, these days they'll often say 50,000
20:26or 75,000 pound type limit.
20:28Have a proper valuation of your contents.
20:30This is the problem with underinsuring.
20:31I'll take an extreme example.
20:33You go, I'll never claim more than 20 grand,
20:35so I'll cover 20 grand even though I've got 40 grand's
20:37worth of stuff.
20:38You have a two grand sofa that has a problem.
20:40They send someone round and the person goes,
20:42well, yeah, you're two grand sofa,
20:43but you've got 40 grand's worth of stuff.
20:45You only insured 20 grand's worth of stuff.
20:46Your two grand, we're only giving you half of it
20:48because you only insured half your contents.
20:50We're only going to pay out half.
20:51That's the problem with underinsuring.
20:53Did you know that?
20:54No.
20:55OK, so that's a good point.
20:56And then this is fascinating.
20:58This is based on 700,000 quotes that we worked on to get this.
21:02On home insurance, what matters for price and what doesn't?
21:05Now, look, it's never exact for everyone.
21:07It's based on a mass of quotes.
21:08It's the low ones that are most interesting.
21:10So things that don't really affect the price much,
21:13whether you're a homeowner or a renter,
21:14whether you smoke, your age, your marital status,
21:16whether you're at home all day or not,
21:18lots of people think that does.
21:19Your lock type.
21:21When you answer that question on home insurance,
21:22you always think,
21:23well, I should get better locks, shouldn't I?
21:24It doesn't actually change the price that much.
21:26Patio doors, accessible windows,
21:28whether you've got a burglar alarm or not.
21:30Yeah, shocked.
21:31Look at that face.
21:32Someone went, ooh.
21:33Get that over there.
21:34Medium, number of inhabitants,
21:37number of bathrooms, your property age.
21:39Have a medium impact.
21:40High impact, the obvious ones.
21:42Past claims, convictions, bankruptcy, flooding, subsidence,
21:45the number of bedrooms, proxy for the size of your house.
21:47If you're currently having building work,
21:48that will put the cost up a lot.
21:50If it's a listed property in the material of the walls.
21:52But I think these are the shocking ones, aren't they?
21:55Yeah.
21:56That surprise a lot of people.
21:57I'm not saying don't get yourself lock types.
21:58It might stop you being burgled.
21:59It might give you extra security.
22:01But don't assume it's going to cut your home insurance cost that much.
22:03Yeah, it's really, really useful.
22:04We've got some audience questions for Deepal.
22:06You've got a question for Martin.
22:08Yes, hi Martin.
22:09Hello.
22:10Hiya.
22:11So I've added my partner's engagement ring,
22:13worth approximately 10k, to my content insurance
22:16for an additional £150.
22:18And I clearly explained at the time
22:20that she wasn't permanently living with myself.
22:22And they said that was totally fine.
22:24However, when the ring was lost,
22:26they said they couldn't pay out
22:29because she didn't reside with me permanently.
22:31And they only refunded me the £150 additional that I paid.
22:35I believe I've been missold.
22:37Do you not believe that they need to honour the agreement?
22:40So they gave you the £150
22:42because they said that they shouldn't have told you
22:44in the first place that you were covered.
22:45Correct.
22:46But they haven't given you the £10,000 for them.
22:47I'm so sorry you've lost your ring.
22:48That's terrible.
22:49They haven't given you £10,000 for them.
22:50I'll be honest, it's a legal question,
22:54not a money-saving question.
22:55So I need to...
22:56What I would suggest is, when did this happen?
22:58Was this recent?
22:59It was about, yeah, April this year.
23:02Last year, sorry.
23:03The reason I'm pulling a face
23:05is you have six months to go to the financial ombudsman.
23:07Yes.
23:08Did you try that?
23:09No, I didn't.
23:10Well, that would have been my first port of call
23:12is to go to the financial ombudsman,
23:13which you can always do if you've had a claim unfairly,
23:16but you only have a six-month rule.
23:17You could still try it.
23:18I think they'll probably time you out.
23:20The other thing...
23:21I mean, look, if you have a legal case, you have a legal case.
23:24Yeah.
23:25And you may want to go and seek some legal advice
23:26to see if they think there's an opportunity.
23:28Just the fact that you get lawyers may push them
23:29into coming towards you with a settlement.
23:31Yeah.
23:32Listen, most importantly, it's just a ring.
23:34I wish you a wonderful, happy lives together.
23:36That's it.
23:37Don't you think?
23:38Yeah, definitely.
23:39Good luck to both of you.
23:40Definitely, definitely.
23:41Yeah.
23:42Right.
23:43I need to rush through my five quick tips now,
23:45so they're going to have to be ready to quit.
23:47Look, most importantly, paying monthly isn't paying monthly.
23:49Usually it means they pay for you and they lend you the money
23:52and you've got a loan.
23:53The APRs can be hideous.
23:54Look at that.
23:55From 23 up to 38%.
23:57Now, of course, some people can't pay up front.
23:59If you can't, check the APR, you'll be charged.
24:01See if it's anywhere cheaper with a cheaper APR
24:03that will bring the total price you're paying monthly down.
24:05Or see if you can get yourself a 0% for spending credit card.
24:10Pay the car insurance on that.
24:11Pay it off over a year.
24:12Do not put any other borrowing on it.
24:14You're only using it to bring down the cost of this,
24:16and that may save you some money.
24:18Play around with your excess.
24:19Higher excess can be cheaper.
24:21Just insure you'd be willing to pay the excess if you had a claim.
24:24These are for car and home, both these.
24:26If you're happy with your insurer, don't just renew.
24:28Haggle.
24:29So benchmark the best prices on the comparison site.
24:31They might actually ask you for a quote,
24:32so you will normally want that.
24:34Use charm, chutzpah, cheek and a smile.
24:36Never aggression when you're talking to them.
24:38Know your haggle reason.
24:39My husband, my wife, my boyfriend, my girlfriend,
24:41my pet parrot says.
24:42This is not acceptable.
24:43We need to get the cheapest policy.
24:44Whatever it is, you need to tell them that.
24:46But look at those success rates of people who tried,
24:48and that's a poll that we're just finishing today.
24:50The numbers aren't huge of those voted, but over 80%,
24:53four in five people who try succeed when it comes to haggling.
24:56You were just very, very quickly,
24:57we got a success on this one, Martin.
24:59Thank you, Martin, for mentioning retentions on your show.
25:02I had a renewal quote for my home insurance of £957, which was £270 more than last year.
25:09Following a conversation with retentions, I was re-quoted £683,
25:13£18 less than I paid last year.
25:15Amazing.
25:16Well done.
25:17Well, retentions is where you say, I am going to leave because I can get a cheaper price elsewhere,
25:23and then you go through to customer retentions, or they call it disconnections,
25:27but internally customer retentions, they've got the power to keep you.
25:30Let me do my final two quickies here.
25:32Check sites like Quidco and Top Cashback, cashback sites where you can get up to 45 quid cashback on top,
25:37but don't let the cashback tell Wad the dog.
25:39What do I mean by that?
25:40Get the right policy, then see if you can get cashback.
25:42Don't look at the best cashback and then choose the policy that way round.
25:45And important in this, whatever policy you're getting,
25:48read the policy summary document before signing up.
25:51AI can help.
25:52If you don't understand it, put it into a large language model like ChatGPT and Gemini,
25:56ask it to read and then ask it questions, but get you to give your quotes from the policy
25:59so you're sure it's not hallucinating.
26:01Ensure your insurer's FCA regulated, and Deepak, this is yours at the bottom,
26:05and you've got six months you just heard.
26:07If treated unfairly or claim is unfairly rejected, go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
26:11OK, well, coming up, more of your questions.
26:14Plus, in news you can use, are you one of 900,000 people overpaying for your NHS prescriptions?
26:20You can find out after the break.
26:32Hello, welcome back.
26:33What a show on car and home insurance.
26:35We've had a lot of questions, but this is coming for you from Sandy Martin.
26:38And Sandy's asking,
26:39How can I hit the sweet spot when my current provider doesn't send my renewal price until day 14?
26:45Well, you still need to do the sweet spot anyway, but most insurer's quotes are valid for 30 days.
26:50Not all of them do check, but that's the quote from the insurer, not via the comparison site.
26:54So you get a good quote, you know, 26 days beforehand.
26:57Then you go and click through, make sure you get it from the actual insurer's website.
27:00It's normally valid for 30 days, so you can wait until the 14 days.
27:03And then hopefully, if you've saved money, you'll go to the new quote.
27:06Awesome. And this is coming from Tracy as well.
27:08Tracy's asking,
27:09Last year, another driver hit me.
27:11It was proven it was his fault and went through his insurance.
27:14Now, not only has my insurance gone up for the next five years, so has my husband's as I'm a named driver on his policy.
27:22For a non-fault against me, what can I do?
27:25So remember I said it's all about actuarial risk.
27:28Someone hitting you means they class you as someone who is more likely to be hit because they've got proof that you've been hit before even though it wasn't your fault.
27:36And therefore, the risk profile goes up.
27:39I said the whole way through, the insurance feels bonkers.
27:42I mean, there is, there's logic to it, but it feels bonkers.
27:45Well, it was bonkers when it was benefiting us, and it's also bonkers when it's not benefiting us.
27:50But there is at least some consistency in the madness.
27:52Okay.
27:53No, it's terrible though.
27:55Okay.
27:56Well, let's get some news you can use, Martin.
27:57Sure.
28:00Okay, I've got four quickies for you.
28:02First of all, ending 10am Thursday, the longest everyone accepted will get it.
28:06Debt shift, balance transfer card.
28:07When you get a new card that pays off debts on your old card for you, so you owe the new card at a cheaper rate.
28:12It's Barclay card.
28:13It's 36 months 0% with a one-off 3.45% fee of debt shifted to it.
28:19What does definite mean?
28:20Some cards, not all customers get the advertised rate.
28:23On this one, if you're accepted, you'll get it, which is why you should go through an eligibility calculator to see if you're likely to be accepted first.
28:29The key thing, though, is until Thursday, if you shift over two and a half grand of debt from other cards, you'll get 20 to 25 quid cash back, depending which site you go through, which can help mitigate some of the costs of that fee.
28:39And you get one year Apple TV, and that's ending on Thursday.
28:42But that's the best definite card on the market.
28:44My golden rules, I've done the first one, repair at least the monthly minimum, or you can lose your 0%, so do that by direct debit preferably.
28:50Clear the card before the 0% ends, or it's 25% representative APR after the 36 months, though you've got three years to do it, and never spend on it or withdraw cash.
28:59Next, are you one of 900,000 people who last year effectively overpaid on your NHS prescriptions?
29:05This is England only, because the rest of the UK don't pay for prescriptions.
29:08NHS prescription prepayment certificates cover all your prescriptions over a set time.
29:13As many as you get, you pay one amount, that's it.
29:16So a standard prescription's basically a tenner, a three-month PPC is 32 quid, a one-year PPC is £114.50, and just as an aside, if you're on HRT, it's way cheaper.
29:27All your HRT prescriptions for £19.18, for women who are taking that's a massive saving, you should look at that.
29:32So, but for the main ones, it's cheaper if you do four or more items in three months, or 12 or more items in a year, so if you get quite a few prescriptions this will work for you.
29:41You get it, go online via nhs.uk and it'll send you to the right site, but don't always trust Google on these things, or at some pharmacies.
29:49Crucially too, you can backdate your application a month, so if you've just got five prescriptions, you might want to go and get one of these, as long as you've got the receipts.
29:56Backdate it for a month, as long as the five were in a month, and get the three-month one, and it'll be cheaper, just as simple as doing that.
30:02I haven't got much time, so I'm going to rush through.
30:04Finally, heat networks, district or communal heating, are today off-chain regulated. That's just started.
30:10This is where you have, your heating comes from a centralised source, and everyone's paying.
30:14500,000 users being brought in line with traditional supply, there's no price cap though.
30:19Offgem has power for poor service, and to look at if pricing is unfair.
30:23You have rights like no over a year back billing, yearly account statements and bill, choice of payment method, and credit refunds if it's fair.
30:30Vulnerable customers have stronger protections. If you have a problem, complain to the firm first.
30:35Citizens Advice has a helpline that's the statutory helpline for heat networks, talk to it.
30:40And then if you complain to the firm and it doesn't work, you can go to the Energy Ombudsman.
30:43And finally, have you got McDonald's points on your app?
30:46If you do, use them by the 17th of March, because it's milkshaking up its app loyalty scheme.
30:51So you need more points for the same item. Small Fries currently need 1,500 points.
30:55Well, from the 17th of March, you'll need 2,000 points. So that's a 20 quid spend to get the points.
31:0015 pounds there. A Big Mac, you currently need to redeem 5,500 points.
31:04You'll need 6,500 points. They're counting in my ear. That's not long.
31:07We are back in two weeks, because there's football next week.
31:10Marriage. We're celebrating marriage. Have you got married on the back of watching this show?
31:13Get in touch. We'd love to talk to you about it.
31:15All the tips you need, the benefits of marriage, the dis-benefits of marriage.
31:18Thank you to the brilliant audience. Everyone here, save some money on your car and home insurance.
31:22Bye-bye. Good night.
31:23Thanks, Martin. And if you're looking for some tips on how to make your pay go further,
31:35Grace the Sustainable Spender is on This Morning with Kat and Ben tomorrow at 10.
31:41And Emmerdale is up next here.
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