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00:01Tonight, car and home insurance costs.
00:03It's time to put the brakes on.
00:08Millions 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,
00:29to save you hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of pounds.
00:34Then, in my news you can use, are you overpaying on prescriptions?
00:38The cheapest 0% debt shift card is about to end,
00:42and quick, use your McDonald's points.
00:45Let's do it!
00:56Wave your wallets, everyone!
00:57Wow, 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.
01:05And off the back of last week's show on mobiles,
01:08we've had this success come in from Mick Martin.
01:12And Mick has said,
01:12I just asked for my PAT code, and within 10 minutes,
01:16I got a phone call from them.
01:17And my bill dropped from £31.50 to £14.
01:21Could have gone lower, but kept the EU roaming on.
01:23Also, still had three months of contract left.
01:26Win-win.
01:27Wow. Win-win.
01:29Well, that's 200 quid a year.
01:31If you watched back last week, you see I went through three steps,
01:34some people getting their bills down to £3.
01:35The key to that one, though, is literally,
01:37all he did is text PAC to 65075,
01:43which is the way of getting the code you need to leave.
01:45And because they thought he was leaving,
01:47they gave him a much cheaper deal.
01:48It's a good shortcut.
01:49It 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.
02:03What 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.
02:15It 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, up 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,
02:51home is down 3%, car is down 11%.
02:56But we, and you've just proved it,
02:59we've been programmed to think each year, yeah,
03:02it'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,
03:09well, it's only gone up 5% this year.
03:11Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
03:12But no.
03:13What should be happening to you right now
03:16is it should be coming down.
03:18So my big warning today is when you get your renewal,
03:22if nothing else has changed,
03:24you want to be expecting to see your price being cheaper
03:26than 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.
03:41Good stuff.
03:42Right.
03:42Success 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.
04:11Well, 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.
04:33Two reasons I say that.
04:34The first, they don't overlap exactly.
04:37Some different insurers and brokers may happen with
04:40at 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
05:11in those circumstances.
05:13You'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.
05:25Imagine you've just got your renewal quote for your 2004 beige Vauxhall Cavalier.
05:301.2 litres of pure modesty with special
05:34Go More Fuel Efficiently stripes on your side.
05:37OK?
05:38You go to a brand new comparison site,
05:41mildly but persistently perplexed.co.uk
05:43and you get a substantially cheaper quote than your renewal,
05:47but 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
06:36and then each year at your renewal they walk it up
06:38so you don't really notice and after five years
06:39you're paying way more than a new customer would.
06:41And that was banned.
06:42The rule was existing customers should not be charged more than new customers.
06:46The baboon, the big but, is the rule is channel specific.
06:53Not charged more than a new customer via the same route.
06:57So, 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.
07:15As it was a new comparison site, you couldn't have been an existing customer
07:19and therefore the rule didn't apply to you
07:22because 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? Did you know about that rule?
07:49No.
07:49Yeah.
07:50Yeah, 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?
08:04OK, so 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
08:09even if you're not at renewal.
08:12And 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
08:25so 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, you may as well go and do it.
08:34The issue is when you're actually doing that search
08:38because, like in good comedy, with car and home insurance,
08:42timing is everything.
08:45Hmm?
08:48Timing is everything.
08:49Beep, beep, beep, beep!
08:51That 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.
09:05So, when you get your quotes,
09:08so 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.
09:31And the price you're quoted then can,
09:33and it doesn't work for everyone, but it works for many people,
09:37beat nearly half what would happen
09:40if you got a quote the day of your renewal.
09:44Bonkers, isn't it?
09:45Anyone want to tassard a guess why?
09:47Go on, be brave, someone.
09:49Yes, sir?
09:50Are you going to be desperate to get the insurance?
09:53Well, you're sort of right.
09:54You said you think you'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.
10:02The 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 in this one,
10:16get 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,
10:4049% saving.
10:41Thank you so much.
10:45The 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.
10:53Quoted £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.
11:07That's why the sweet spot is sweet.
11:12Let's say good evening to Diane on our virtual wall.
11:15She's got a question for you.
11:16Hi, Diane.
11:18Hi, good evening, Martin.
11:20My home insurance is £400
11:24and ends on the 28th of February
11:28and my car insurance is £500
11:31and 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
11:45and 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,
12:01my 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.
12:13Should 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 on to a comparison site
12:19and it's generally your car that's the most expensive,
12:21so I'd be focused on that,
12:22and get prices separately.
12:24Then see if any of those firms
12:26that offer combining discounts
12:29are within spitting range of the cheapest.
12:31So five, six percent of the cheapest,
12:33you're in not a bad spot.
12:35These are the combining discounts.
12:38Where you just get one policy for both
12:39is Admiral and LV.
12:41Where you get a discount for each extra policy
12:43is Aviva, Churchill and Direct Line.
12:45If any of those are looking cheap,
12:47then you may well be worth combining
12:50your car and home insurance.
12:52Similar 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
13:00so many times tonight.
13:02If you're on multi-car, I'd suggest you check separate policies.
13:05If you're on separate policies, I'd suggest you check multi-car.
13:07This is because existing customers tend to have worse deals,
13:09so 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,
13:15Admiral Aviva Diamond, Elephant and LV,
13:17the discounts per extra car,
13:18AXA, Churchill, Direct Line and Privilege.
13:20It's basically the same system.
13:22Now, what people say to me at this point,
13:24and Diane, you'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,
13:30my renewal dates aren't at the same time.
13:32Well, what actually tends to happen,
13:33they 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
13:56will save you money,
13:57and it's absolutely worth checking it.
13:59Does that help?
14:00I'll do that. Thank you.
14:01My pleasure.
14:02Thank you for asking.
14:03Great stuff.
14:03Thank 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.
14:23Welcome back, millions of you.
14:26Thank you so much.
14:27Millions of you are overpaying on your car and home insurance prices.
14:30So 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 of the details
14:43for 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.
14:53Hi, Martin.
14:54Why 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.
15:0321.
15:04So you won't remember back in 2012,
15:06but some of the other people in here will.
15:09Before 2012, male and female drivers
15:12could be charged different prices.
15:13Then the EU gender directive came in
15:15that said they had to be charged the same.
15:16Before 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
15:30that didn't work well for women, it all became the same.
15:33So 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
15:43and 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.
15:56Is it based on how you drive or the time you drive yours?
15:59It's how I drive.
15:59OK, 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,
16:09but 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,
16:17and I'll tell them what I do for work.
16:19And 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, but...
16:31I'd check comprehensive too. Here's why.
16:34By 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.
16:41And even though third party insurance is less a cover,
16:43the fact that you're perceived as a lower risk
16:45can in some cases make it cheaper.
16:46I'm not saying it always is.
16:47It's a trial and error.
16:49I'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.
16:55Well, 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,
17:01but I'll take my screen wife here.
17:02Sorry.
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 would 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, we 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.
17:27Not very often.
17:29Right.
17:30So, in your case especially, I 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, you might try auntie Flo,
17:41whoever 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.
17:52But a warning, never add someone falsely as the main driver.
17:56It's called fronting.
17:56It's illegal.
17:57It can invalidate your policy and be against the law.
17:59It's about adding someone who could legitimately drive your car
18:01and you'd want to give permission to.
18:02And the final thing, and it's a bit more trivial this one,
18:05what you do for work.
18:07So 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 than a beauty technician.
18:21So if there is something in your job,
18:24and the title of your job, artist 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, there are tools online,
18:32as long as it's legitimate, never lie,
18:34that you can choose what your job title is,
18:37may even affect the price.
18:38Isn't that weird and crackers?
18:41Yeah, it is.
18:41But that is how it works.
18:42Darren has been in touch.
18:44Listen to this.
18:45So Darren, I just helped my daughter renew her car insurance
18:48after her first year of driving,
18:49and it's gone from £450 a month to £93 a month with your advice.
18:56She saved a massive £4,284 a year.
19:04It's really gratifying to hear that, Darren.
19:06I should say, I mean, we picked the great savings
19:09because I want to enthuse you to 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, try everything.
19:18OK, we can go.
19:19Let me carry on, see where I'm going next.
19:21We're going to talk home insurance,
19:22a little bit of housekeeping on home insurance.
19:24So, two types of home insurance, buildings and contents.
19:27The easy way to define the difference is you just go home,
19:30you take your house, you bend, you squat, you pick it up
19:33and you turn it upside down, like this.
19:37There you go.
19:39If it falls, it's contents.
19:42If it doesn't fall, it's buildings.
19:44That'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.
19:53Usually, only freeholders need buildings cover.
19:56So, if you're renting a leasehold,
19:58you should check that your freeholder has that cover.
20:00News about leasehold today out there as well.
20:03Contents cover is for everyone.
20:04Now, with buildings,
20:05you need to ensure the rebuild value of your home.
20:08Literally, not how much it's worth,
20:10but how much it was cost if your home was knocked down
20:12and you would have to rebuild it.
20:13There's a calculator on the ABI website,
20:15but about 70% of people,
20:17this was from a vested interest survey,
20:19are potentially underinsured on that.
20:22Contents cover, beware underinsuring.
20:24Now, 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,
20:36even though I've got 40 grand's worth 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.
20:46You're two grand.
20:47We're only giving you half of it
20:48because you only insured half your contents.
20:50We're only going to pay out half.
20:50That's the problem with underinsuring.
20:52Did you know that?
20:53No.
20:54OK, so that's a good point.
20:55And then this is fascinating.
20:57This is based on 700,000 quotes
20:59that we worked on to get this.
21:01On home insurance,
21:03what 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,
21:12whether 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,
21:17lots of people think that does.
21:19Your lock type.
21:20When 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.
21:31Someone went, ooh.
21:33Get that over there.
21:35Medium.
21:35Number of inhabitants,
21:37number of bathrooms,
21:38your property age.
21:38Have a medium impact.
21:39High impact, the obvious ones.
21:42Past claims, convictions, bankruptcy, flooding, subsidence,
21:45the number of bedrooms,
21:46proxy for the size of your house.
21:47If you're currently having building work,
21:49that 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?
21:55That 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, that's really, really useful.
22:05We've got some audience questions for Deepal.
22:07You've got a question for Martin.
22:08Yes, hi Martin.
22:09Hello.
22:09Hiya.
22:10So I've added my partner's engagement ring,
22:12worth approximately 10k, to my content insurance
22:15for an additional £150.
22:17And I clearly explained at the time
22:19that 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
22:28because 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.
22:38Do you not believe that they need to honour the agreement?
22:40So they gave you the £150 because they had said
22:43that they shouldn't have told you in the first place
22:44that you were covered.
22:45Correct.
22:45But they haven't given you the £10,000 for that.
22:47I'm so sorry you've lost your ring.
22:48That's terrible.
22:49They haven't given you £10,000 for that.
22:51I'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.
23:04The reason I'm pulling a face is you have six months
23:06to go to the financial ombudsman.
23:07Yeah.
23:08Did you try that?
23:09No, I didn't.
23:10That would have been my first port of call,
23:12is to go to the financial ombudsman,
23:14which 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, I mean, look, if you have a legal case,
23:23you have a legal case.
23:24Yeah.
23:24And you may want to go and seek some legal advice
23:26to see if they think there's an opportunity.
23:27Just the fact that you get lawyers may push them
23:29into coming towards you with a settlement.
23:31Yeah.
23:31What a terrible case.
23:32Listen, most importantly, it's just a ring.
23:34I wish you a wonderful, happy lives together.
23:36That's it, don't you think?
23:37Yeah, definitely.
23:38Good luck for both of you.
23:39Definitely, definitely.
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.
23:46Look, 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.
24:02With a cheaper APR that will bring the total price
24:04you'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.
24:12Pay 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 ensure 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.
24:33Use 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.
24:49The numbers aren't huge of those voted,
24:52but over 80%, four in five people who try,
24:55succeed when it comes to haggling.
24:56Very, very quickly, we got a success on this one, Martin.
24:59Thank you, Martin, for mentioning.
25:01Retentions on your show had a renewal quote
25:03for my home insurance of £957,
25:06which was £270 more than last year.
25:09Following a conversation with Retentions,
25:10I was re-quoted £683,
25:13£18 less than I paid last year.
25:14Amazing.
25:15Well done.
25:16Well done.
25:19Retentions is where you say,
25:21I am going to leave because I can get a cheaper price elsewhere,
25:23and then you go through to customer retentions,
25:26or they call it disconnections,
25:27but internally customer retentions,
25:28they've got the power to keep you.
25:30Let me do my final two quickies here.
25:32Check sites like Quidco and Top Cashback,
25:34cashback sites where you can get up to £45 cashback on top,
25:37but don't let the cashback tail wag the dog.
25:39What do I mean by that?
25:40Get the right policy, then see if you can get cashback.
25:43Don't look at the best cashback and then choose the policy that way round.
25:46And important 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,
25:53put it into a large language model like ChatGPT and Gemini,
25:56ask it to read and then ask it questions,
25:58but get you to give your quotes from the policy
25:59so you're sure it's not hallucinating.
26:01Your insurer is FCA regulated,
26:03and Deepak, this is yours at the bottom,
26:05and you've got six months, you've just heard.
26:06If treated unfairly or claim is unfairly rejected,
26:09go 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
26:18overpaying for your NHS prescriptions?
26:20You can find out after the break.
26:32Hello, and welcome back.
26:33What a show on car and home insurance.
26:35We've had a lot of questions,
26:36but 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
26:42doesn't send my renewal price until day 14?
26:45Well, you still need to do the sweet spot anyway,
26:47but most insurers' quotes are valid for 30 days.
26:50Not all of them do check, but that's the quote
26:52from 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,
26:58make sure you get it from the actual insurer's website.
27:00It's normally valid for 30 days,
27:01so you can wait until the 14 days,
27:03and then hopefully, if you've saved money,
27:05you'll go to the new quote.
27:06Awesome.
27:06And this is coming from Tracy as well.
27:08Tracy's asking,
27:10last year another driver hit me.
27:11It was proven it was his fault
27:13and went through his insurance.
27:15Now, not only has my insurance gone up
27:17for the next five years,
27:19so has my husband's,
27:20as 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.
27:29Someone hitting you means they class you
27:32as someone who is more likely to be hit
27:33because they've got proof that you've been hit before
27:35even though it wasn't your fault.
27:36And therefore, the risk profile goes up.
27:39I said the whole way through,
27:41the insurance feels bonkers.
27:42I mean, there is, there's logic to it,
27:44but it feels bonkers.
27:45Well, it was bonkers when it was benefiting us,
27:47and it's also bonkers when it's not benefiting us.
27:50But there is at least some consistency in the madness.
27:53OK.
27:53No, it's terrible though.
27:55OK. Well, let's get some news you can use, Martin.
27:57Sure.
28:00OK, I've got four quickies for you.
28:02First of all, ending 10am Thursday,
28:03the 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,
28:10so you owe the new card at a cheaper rate.
28:11It's Barclay card.
28:13It's 36 months, 0%,
28:15with 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,
28:25which is why you should go through an eligibility calculator
28:27to see if you're likely to be accepted first.
28:29The key thing though is until Thursday,
28:30if you shift over two and a half grand of debt from other cards,
28:33you'll get 20 to 25 quid cash back,
28:35depending which site you go through,
28:36which 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.
28:45Repair at least the monthly minimum, or you can lose your 0%,
28:48so do that by direct debit preferably.
28:50Clear the card before the 0% ends,
28:52or it's 25% representative APR after the 36 months,
28:56so you've got three years to do it,
28:57and never spend on it or withdraw cash.
29:00Next, are you one of 900,000 people
29:02who last year effectively overpaid on your NHS prescriptions?
29:05This is England only, because the rest of the UK
29:07don't pay for prescriptions.
29:09NHS prescription prepayment certificates
29:11cover 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 is basically a tenner.
29:18A three-month PPC is 32 quid.
29:21A one-year PPC is £114.50.
29:24And just as an aside, if you're on HRT,
29:26it's way cheaper.
29:27All your HRT prescriptions for £19.18.
29:29For women who are taking that, it's a massive saving.
29:31You should look at that.
29:32So, but for the main ones,
29:34it's cheaper if you do four or more items in three months,
29:37or 12 or more items in a year.
29:39So if you get quite a few prescriptions,
29:40this will work for you.
29:41You get it, go online via nhs.uk,
29:44and it'll send you to the right site.
29:45But don't always trust Google on these things.
29:47Or at some pharmacies.
29:49Crucially too, you can backdate your application a month.
29:51So if you've just got five prescriptions,
29:53you might want to go and get one of these,
29:55as long as you've got the receipts.
29:56Backdate it for a month,
29:57as long as the five were in a month,
29:58and get the three-month one,
29:59and it'll be cheaper,
30:00just as simple as doing that.
30:02I haven't got much time,
30:03so I'm going to rush through.
30:04Finally, heat networks,
30:06district or communal heating,
30:07are today Ofgem regulated.
30:09That's just started.
30:10This is where you have...
30:11Your heating comes from a centralised source
30:13and everyone's paying.
30:15500,000 users being brought in line
30:17with traditional supply.
30:18There's no price cap, though.
30:19Ofgem has power for poor service
30:21and to look at if pricing is unfair.
30:23You have rights like no over a year back billing,
30:26yearly account statements and bill,
30:28choice of payment method
30:28and credit refunds if it's fair.
30:31Vulnerable customers have stronger protections.
30:33If you have a problem,
30:34complain to the firm first.
30:36Citizens Advice has a helpline
30:38that's the statutory helpline for heat networks.
30:40Talk to it.
30:40And then if you complain to the firm
30:42and it doesn't work,
30:42you can go to the energy ombudsman.
30:44And finally,
30:44have you got McDonald points on your app?
30:46If you do, use them by the 17th of March
30:48because it's milkshaking up.
30:50It's app loyalty scheme.
30:51So you need more points for the same item.
30:53Small fries currently need 1,500 points.
30:56Well, from the 17th of March,
30:57you need 2,000 points.
30:58So that's a 20 quid spend to get the points.
31:0015 pounds there.
31:01A Big Mac,
31:01you currently need to redeem 5,500 points.
31:04You'll need 6,500 points.
31:05They're counting in my ear.
31:06That's not long.
31:06We are back in two weeks
31:08because there's football next week.
31:10Marriage.
31:10We're celebrating marriage.
31:11Have you got married on the back of watching this show?
31:13Get in touch.
31:14We'd love to talk to you about it.
31:15All the tips you need,
31:16the benefits of marriage,
31:17the disbenefits of marriage.
31:18Thank you to the brilliant audience.
31:19Everyone here, save some money on your car
31:21and home insurance.
31:22Bye-bye.
31:22Good night.
31:30Thanks, Martin.
31:31And if you're looking for some tips
31:33on how to make your pay go further,
31:35Grace the Sustainable Spender
31:37is on This Morning with Kat and Ben tomorrow at 10.
31:40A.
31:41And Emerdale is up next year.
31:44A.
31:44A.
31:47A.
31:48A.
31:48A.
31:50A.
31:51A.
31:52A.
31:53A.
31:53A.
31:54A.
31:55A.
31:55A.
31:55C.
31:56A.
31:57A.
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