Best ISAs for 2013

Now that the new tax year is here, it’s time to grab yourself a new ISA: unfortunately, there aren’t really that many great deals. Here’s my pick of the best of the bunch:

You can only open one cash ISA each year, so make sure you make the right choice!

Instant Access for new money – Poppy ISA from Coventry BS:

2.6% until 5 April 2014, including 0.6% bonus. 0.1% donated to the Poppy Appeal

This is the best rate I can see at the moment: the only caveat is that it doesn’t accept old money from existing ISAs.

You can still transfer your existing funds (if the initial bonus rate has expired) to another top paying ISA.

Instant Access accepting transfers in – Online Bonus ISA from Leeds BS:

2.55% until 30 April 2014, including 1.3% bonus

This account accepts transfers in. If you put the full amount in the ISA, this would be equivalent to £28.80 less interest each year (and a £57.60 donation to the Poppy Appeal) over the Coventry BS one. Whether this is worth you opening two accounts is up to you.

Two Year Fixed Rate accepting transfers in – Major ISA from Santander:

2.8% (3% for Santander 123 Current Account/Credit Card holders) for 2 years.

Additionally, you’ll receive a one-off bonus of 0.1% if Rory McIlroy wins an eligible golf ‘Major’. I’m guessing they’re a sponsor of his. I’ve had a quick look at the odds at the bookies, and it does seem likely that he’ll win at least one of them.

If you take your money out early, you’ll lose 120 days interest.

Why put money in ISAs when you could have them in a 3% current account?

Whilst you can get 3% on your current account, this is taxed at 20%, leaving you with 2.4%, even less if you’re a higher rate tax payer. Additionally, these funds will remain tax free for as long as you don’t withdraw them: so you could be saving up to a handy tax-free nest egg.

Cash ISAs vs Stocks and Shares ISAs

You can invest up to £5,760 in a Cash ISA and another £5,760 in a Stocks and Shares ISA. Alternatively you can invest all of it (£11,520) in a Stocks and Shares ISA.

Got some better ISAs? Feel free to recommend them in the comments!

Have an O2 mobile? Get free coffee, popcorn and cookies!

If you’ve got a mobile from O2 (or have one of their SIM cards to register the application), you’re entitled to some free stuff, thanks to their Priority Moments program (available as an app for Android and iOS, and as a web app for Blackberry and Windows Phone).

O2 Priority Moments logo

Their deals aren’t usually that great (the last good one was from HMV before they went into administration…), but they seem to have quite a few good ones to celebrate Easter. There was another offer for some free chocolate from Hotel Chocolat (ended today, unfortunately), but there’s a few more available to use up this week.

Free Coffee from Caffé Nero (valid until 26th March, so be quick!)

You get a free regular coffee (or hot chocolate or tea) from Caffé Nero with this offer – there’s no minimum spend, so just go into branch and grab your free drink.

The codes appear to be unique, plus there’s an animation on the bottom of the screen, so taking a screenshot isn’t going to work (not that you’d try that, of course!)

Free Popcorn, Nachos or a Hot Dog at Odeon (valid until 1st May)

You can get a free large popcorn, hot dog or nachos at Odeon with this offer – whilst there’s no minimum spend, I’m going to assume you’re probably going to be buying a cinema ticket whilst you’re there (unless you really like cinema food).

Two free brownie cookies at Millie’s Cookies (unknown)

I got an email with an offer for free brownie cookies from Millie’s Cookies, but it doesn’t seem to have appeared in the app yet. Hopefully it’ll turn up soon!

Not on O2?

Even if you’re not on O2, you can still use the Priority Moments app if you’ve got a Pay and Go SIM card from them: just install the app and validate it using the number you get texted (you might need to put the O2 SIM card in and install it, or sideload it if you’re using an Android phone, they’ve restricted the download to phones on O2, but once it’s installed, you can install it on new phones through Google Play). I’m not sure if you’ve got to have topped up before activating.

You can get a free sim through Top CashBack, and get £5.05 cashback when you top up £10: or for an even better deal you can get a Nokia 100 (in pink, the black ones have sold out) for £1 when you top up £10 with PrePayMania (visit Top CashBack before you checkout to get £5.05 cashback on top!)

Getting a copy of your credit report

When you’re applying for credit: whether that be a mortgage, an overdraft, a credit card, or even a mobile phone contract, your credit report will be checked by the lender to make sure that you’re a good credit risk.

Your credit report includes a history of the accounts that you’ve used in the past: from credit cards to bank accounts, each of these is reported back to one (or more) of the three Credit Reference Agencies in the UK.

You should check your credit report at least annually, just to make sure that nothing untoward is on there: if you don’t recognise something on your report, you could be the victim of identity fraud.

How can I check my report?

There’s a free service called Noddle, run by CallCredit, the smallest of the three credit reference agencies. This allows you to get a free copy of your credit report, as well as a score out of five. There’s also a few paid add-ons, but the free service is the easiest way to get a copy of your file from CallCredit.

There’s two more credit reference agencies (Equifax and Experian), which may have slightly different information about you. Unfortunately, neither of these offer a free service, and whilst both Equifax and Experian offer online credit monitoring (Credit Watch and Credit Expert), they both charge a monthly fee after the free trial is up: plus you usually have to go through a sales pitch over the phone to cancel.

For a small fee of £2, you can get a copy of your credit report, but without a score. For Equifax, you can view it online instantly, but for Experian, they’ll send you a code in the post if you request to view your report online: so it’s probably best to just ask for the whole thing by post.

You might also want to check whether credit monitoring is included with your credit card – some Capital One credit cards includes a limited version of Equifax Credit Watch that doesn’t include your credit score, but does let you refresh your credit report twice a year, and sends you alerts when your account changes.

Underground tips and tricks – 15 minute delay? Claim your fare back!

Sticking with the theme of travel, I’ve picked something that’s a bit closer to home. If you’re in London, then there’s a fairly good chance that you’ll be taking the London Underground to get around the city. Here’s a few tips and tricks to help you save money, and get around easily.

London underground by doug88888

Delayed by 15 minutes? Get a refund

If you’re delayed on the underground for more than 15 minutes, you can claim back the single Oyster fare for that journey. You just need to keep track of where and when you were delayed, and fill out an easy online form. If you use a form filling tool in your browser, it only takes a few seconds, and you’ll get a voucher in the post valid for 13 months which you can apply towards your Oyster PrePay balance, or towards the cost of a travelcard.

There’s even a free website which claims to detect when your commute is late: mytubewaslate.com, although it doesn’t seem to have detected anything for me, it has an automatic form filler tool.

There are some exclusions, such as strikes and planned closures, but in general, I’ve gotten money back for every journey I’ve claimed for.

Similar schemes apply for National Rail, DLR and Overground (30 minutes) services (and even on the cable car!), but there’s no refund available if your bus is delayed.

Have an annual pass or a railcard? Get a third off on your off-peak fares

If you’ve got a 16-25 railcard, you probably know that you save 1/3 on your off-peak rail fares, but the discount is also valid on the Underground too.

If you’ve got an annual tube pass, then the ‘gold record card’ that comes with it acts as a railcard within the South East: and also enables you to get the railcard discount.

To get this enabled, pop down to your local underground station: I’ve found that not all of them seem to know about the annual pass (gold card) discount, but the main train stations should be able to help you out. It would be much easier for TfL to automatically load the discount when you buy an annual ticket, but sadly they don’t do this.

Auto top-up your Oyster

It’s a pain to have to top up your card every time it runs out of cash, and there’s often a queue at peak times. Plus, if you run out of money on the bus, you’re going to have to pay the cash fare (unless you use your contactless credit or debit card).

According to a TfL report, only a third of Oyster users are aware of this useful feature – and only 7% have it enabled. It’s easy enough to do on the website after you’ve registered your card online: just choose the station and your top up amount.

A few caveats: it tops up £20 or £40 when your balance falls below £10, which might be too high an amount for some people, and it doesn’t work on buses: you’ll only get the auto top up when you’re on the tube.

Cashback on your internet shopping

Whenever you’re shopping online, you might be missing out on some cashback (in addition to the 1% from your credit card!) if you’re not going through a cashback site. Cashback sites work by getting you to click through from a website before going through and making your purchase on the retailer you were originally going to go through. You then get the earnings a couple of weeks later.

Whilst the percentages seem small, it all adds up over time: I’ve earned around £250 a year just from making sure to click through before buying online.

There’s only really two ‘100%*’ cashback sites: and there’s only really minor differences between the two. Generally, both will offer the same companies and cashback, but there are exceptions, so make sure you check both before clicking through.

TopCashback: 1% bonus cashback, no annual fee, manual payments, ads

TopCashback is the main site I use for my cashback: it offers an additional 1% cashback versus Quidco, and there’s no £5 annual deduction from your earnings. You do need to request cashback payments manually though, but they do offer payment in Tesco Clubcard points, which you can redeem for 4x the value in restaurants (although in reality, this is probably more like 2x, since most of the restaurants in the offer have 50% off deals with Tastecard, and you can’t use the vouchers with any other offer). There are banner ads on each page – make sure not to click on these if you’re trying to get cashback.

Quidco: £5 annual fee, automatic payments

Quidco was the first cashback site I signed up with a couple of years back, but it’s since been replaced by TopCashback as my main site, mainly due to the annual fee which is deducted from your cashback.

Tips and tricks

Read the terms and conditions for the retailer – some companies will only pay out for new customers only (e.g. Skype)
Don’t make your purchases based on the cashback – it’s not guaranteed to be paid out (although I’ve had a pretty good success rate)
Not all retailers offer cashback. Amazon is a good example of this
Some retailers may charge more for users clicking through from a cashback site. I’ve only seen this on Vistaprint and Charles Tyrwitt
Make sure that you don’t click on a banner ad/other link to a website after you’ve clicked through: these will override your cashback provider, meaning that the other site gets your money instead of you – this includes sites such as Hot UK Deals, who make their money by taking the cashback
Turn off any ad-blocking extensions you use in your browser. These may cause your purchases not to track by blocking the site used to track your purchase
If you’re using Chrome, it’s probably safest to use “incognito” mode (Ctrl + Shift + N) to ensure that no tracking cookies remain in your browser. You’ll need to log in to the site again though.
Once you’ve made your purchase, and are through to the final page, wait a few seconds before clicking through elsewhere or closing the window: often the tracking sites are a bit slower to load and are doing so in the background once the purchase is made
It takes a couple of weeks for the payment to go through, but your purchase should track after a few hours/days. This is so you can’t return the item and get cashback

I earn £10 for TopCashback users who reach £10 earnings, and £2.50 for Quidco users who reach £5 earnings. A donation equal to this amount will be made to a charity.

* ‘100%’ cashback sites refer to the base level of cashback the retailers pay – the cashback sites make additional money from performance related incentives, in addition to the annual fee/advertising revenue from banner ads.

Free Travel Insurance from your Bank

I’m back from holiday now, but I’m still in the travel mood, so here’s a quick guide about free travel insurance with free bank accounts.

If you’re travelling abroad, you need travel insurance to cover you for medical expenses abroad, lost or delayed baggage, and trip cancellation, should you need to postpone your holiday due to illness. Hopefully none of these things will happen to you, but it’s always safer to be covered, particularly if the insurance is free!

Please ensure you read the policy documents – in particular the key facts boxes, in order to ensure that the insurance is right for you.

Free Worldwide Travel Insurance with Citibank Plus / Citigold

If you’ve got £1,800 to credit into your bank account each month (use your salary or a standing order), and have two direct debits paid out a month, the Citibank Plus account gives you free worldwide travel insurance, including winter sports cover. This covers your family (partner and children).

If you’ve got £5,000 to credit each month, then you can apply for a Citigold account, which gives you a concierge service and eight free SWIFT/CHAPS transfers a month to make payments abroad each month in addition to the travel insurance.

Free European Travel Insurance from Nationwide

If you aren’t travelling outside of Europe, Nationwide’s Flexaccount offers a lower monthly credit requirement: £750, and no need to transfer over direct debits. You do need to plan a bit in advance though, the money needs to be credited in for three consecutive months, and they’ll write you a letter when you’re eligible.

Dynamic Currency Conversion – a real world example

I’m writing this from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I’m currently on holiday with my family over the Lunar New Year period. Whilst here, I needed to get some local currency out – the Malaysian Ringgit – to pay for some bills (I’d use the credit card, but they don’t seem to have as wide an acceptance here!)

At the cashpoint, I was offered the choice in Pounds Sterling rather than Malaysian Ringgit – around £213.00 for RM1,000.00. Because I was using my Metro Bank Debit Card, I knew that being charged in the local currency would be the best option: fortunately it was possible to opt out. On getting back, I found out that my card had been charged £205.79: £7 less than if I’d opted to pay in pounds.

This isn’t restricted to cash machines, however: it can also be found at credit card terminals in shops – so, if you’re ever asked whether you’d like to pay in pounds abroad, you should always decline if you’re using one of the recommended cards.

Matched Payroll Giving – How a £75 donation could be worth £1,000 to charity

If you’re working in a big company, chances are that they’ll have a payroll giving scheme, which lets you donate part of your salary to a named charity (or into a charity giving account such as CAF or Charities Trust, who provide you with charity vouchers which you can pass on to a charity of your choice).

Additionally, many large companies participate in matched and fundraiser matched giving, in which they’ll double the amount you donate or fund-raise for charity, up to a set limit each year.

How could my £75 donation turn into £1,000

The headline title admittedly requires quite a unique circumstance: if you’re a higher rate taxpayer whose employer participates in a matched giving scheme, and you’re donating funds to someone who works at a company who matches fundraising donations, to a charity that’s part of the UK Aid Match scheme, your donation would be doubled three times, resulting in that £1,000 headline figure.

You start by donating £125 through your matched giving scheme. As a 40% taxpayer, this is the equivalent of donating £75 after tax.

Your employer then matches this £125, giving you a £250 donation which you pass on to the fundraiser. They then apply for another £250 from their own employer, making a total donation of £500. This total donation is then matched by the UK Government as part of the UK Aid Match scheme, making a grand total of £1,000 for that charity.

At the time of writing the only participant in the UK Aid Match scheme is Opportunity International UK – City AM Christmas Appeal 2012, but there should be more charities later in the year – Sport Relief was just one of the many charities supported last year.

Your everyday donations probably won’t be matched this many times, but there’s still some financial advantages in giving to charity via payroll giving rather than claiming gift aid later, particularly if your company participates in matched giving.

How does this compare Gift Aid?

If you’re a 40% higher rate tax payer, Gift Aid will only cover the basic rate of income tax of 20%. In order to claim the difference, you’ll need to send in the details on your tax return, or tax review form if you don’t normally fill in an annual return.

Additionally, most employers won’t match the gift aid element of your donation.

What if my company doesn’t participate in Matched Giving or Payroll Giving?

If you’re a lower rate tax payer, simply complete a gift aid form with your donation. If you’re paying 40%, you’ll need to send in the details on your tax return, or tax review form if you don’t normally fill in an annual return to claim your money back.

Can I donate to fundraisers using online donation sites such as Just Giving or Virgin Giving?

No. You can send the fundraiser the charity voucher directly, and they should be able to add this to an “offline” donated amount.

High interest current accounts – two 3% accounts

It might not be the most interesting item to tick off your financial checklist, but don’t overlook the importance of having a good current account. Since you’re likely to have a bit of money in there to cover your everyday expenses, it’s important that you select one with a good interest rate.

At a time in which savings accounts don’t often get above the 3% mark, it’s also a good place to put in your excess savings (after you’ve exhausted your tax free ISA allowance, of course!)

Santander 123 Account

If you’re paying for your phone contract, utilities and council tax, then the Santander 123 account could be right for you.

It comes with a rather unique features: cashback on your direct debit bills. With 3% cashback on phones, TV and broadband, 2% on gas and electricity, and 1% on your council tax and water (and Santander mortgage payments), it could work out as quite good value. The caveat is the £2 monthly fee – you need to do a few sums to work out whether the cashback will outweigh the charge.

If the account makes sense for you, then it pays 3% on balances above £3,000 up to £20,000 when you pay in £500 a month.

Plus, apply through TopCashback and you’ll earn £45.45*

Lloyds Classic Account with Vantage

Someone else paying the utility bills? Here’s an alternative account for you:

Lloyds TSB’s basic current account offers a great 3% on balances between £3,000 and £5,000: and if you’ve got more than £5,000, you can simply open up to two more. To be eligible, you need to pay in £1,000 a month and stay in credit.

Find out more at the Lloyds TSB website.

*I earn a commission from this click if you are a new TopCashback user. An amount equal to this commission will be donated to charity once it it paid to me.

UK Amex Deals – January/February 2013

Whilst it might not be as good as the Shop Small promo, there’s a couple of new offers from American Express and foursquare. Most of them start in February, but there’s a few that are good to go now.

It’s the same deal as the last foursquare promo: you need to register an account with foursquare, sync your foursquare account with Amex, check in at the location using a mobile app (it doesn’t seem to work on the Windows Phone app), and activate the offer by checking in and selecting the special, and tap “add to card”. Additionally, you can use these in conjunction with any other offer, so long as the spend on your Amex is over the threshold.

Here’s the deals that have been on so far. In my opinion, the best method of getting the most value is to get a gift card for the exact amount (e.g. £50), so you can spend your money in chunks, and you have a bit longer to spend your money! Make sure you read my top tips on gift vouchers if you’re going down this route though.

Spend £50 at Shell, get £15 back (until 18 Apr) – this is a great deal if you drive, since petrol is generally never discounted
Spend £30 at Pizza Hut, get £15 back (until 6 Mar)
Spend £10 at Starbucks, get £5 back (until 13 Feb)
Spend £25 at Carphone Warehouse*, get £10 back (1-28 Feb)
Spend £50 at Harrods, get £25 back (1-28 Feb)
Spend £50 at Gap, get £25 back (1-28 Feb)
Spend £50 at House of Fraser, get £25 back (1-28 Feb)
Spend £50 at Banana Republic, get £25 back (1-28 Feb)

* Special tip for Carphone Warehouse: Grab some topup cards for O2, then credit these towards your O2 PAYG sim. You get 5% bonus credit (going up to 10% after 6 months), and you can apply these towards your monthly bill if you transfer your PAYG phone over to contract.

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