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How I saved £165 with the AA in 5 minutes…….

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Ok I know I’m always banging on about haggling, but you really can save big bucks simply by asking for a discount……

I’ve just saved £165 with 5 minutes on the phone to the AA. One quick chat later they slashed my renewal quote by nearly 50%.

How did I do it? Not as hard as you might think. In fact it really was super easy.

Here’s how I did it….

Our family breakdown policy was up for renewal and last year we paid £229.

Sounds pricey already, but to be fair this was for ‘all singing all dancing’ family cover for three of us, with cover for any car, plus Home Start, Relay and Onward Travel so we’re talking ‘the works’.

This year the renewal quote came through at £404. Ok, so yes we’d bagged a big discount last year: but a price hike of £175 seemed a bit steep.

Now I’d already spotted I could buy exactly the same cover; going direct through the AA’s website for £239. So I could save £165 buying the same policy, from the same company all over again, instead of taking its ‘renewal’ option.

But I wanted to see how low the AA would go when it came to a haggle. So I got on the phone, went for the ‘thinking of leaving us’ option and explained while I was happy with the service, (and I am as they’ve helped us out a few times over the years), I just didn’t like the price.

Five minutes later I was offered the same cover for just £239; exactly the same price you pay if you buy on the AA website. Yet if I’d paid the ‘renewal’ price I’d be £165 poorer.

And I snapped up £50 of vouchers

The £239 deal sounded good; and was already £165 down on the price they wanted five minutes before.

But I’d already spotted you could bag £50 of Tesco or Waitrose vouchers buying breakdown cover through the AA website

picture of AA breakdown deal

Did ask the AA man if he’d throw in the £50 vouchers; but he said he couldn’t do that.

So I thanked him for the offer of £239, said I’d think about it. And later jumped online; bought my family cover for the £239 website price and bagged £50 of vouchers too!

5 point breakdown buster

  • Renewal quote too high? Shop around for better deals. Lots of companies flag up introductory deals online; but hike the price in year two.
  • Call up and press the ‘thinking of leaving us’ option.
  • This is a hotline to the ‘power people’ who have the power to give big discounts.
  • Say you like the service; but not the price. Spill the beans on the best deal you’ve found and ask if they’ll match it.
  • And never ever set up insurance on ‘auto renewal’. Insurers love this as means you shell out year after year on overpriced policies.

Redundancy rights – where do you stand?

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Losing your job is something you hope won’t happen, but if it does, where do you stand when it comes to redundancy rights?

Nine million of us have been on ‘furlough’ during the Coronavirus pandemic. Officially known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Government has been picking up the tab for 80% of each employee’s wages, up to £2,500 a month. But despite the billions being spent in an attempt to save jobs, in the long term, it’s sadly inevitable that redundancy will be on the cards for some of us.

So here’s a run down of what you need to know if it happens to you.

First up, you should be told why you’re being made redundant, say the company is downsizing or shutting up shop for good.

How much notice will I get?

This all depends on how long you’ve been with the company.

You should get at least one week’s notice if you’ve been working for the same company from at least one month up to two years.

And it’s one week’s notice per year, from two years up to twelve years, with a limit of twelve weeks notice if you’ve been there beyond twelve years.

Statutory Redundancy Pay

If you’re an ’employee’, and worked continuously for the same company for two years or more, you can get Statutory Redundancy Pay. This is the basic minimum payout, as some companies may pay more. And how much you get depends on your age and how long you’ve been working for the company.

How much will I get?

  • You should get half a week’s pay for each full year of service if you’re under 22
  • It’s one week’s pay for each full year between the ages of 22 – 40
  • It’s one and a half week’s pay for each full year if you’re 41 and over.
  • Worth knowing that some companies are more generous and will pay a month’s salary for each full year of service.

There are limits on how much you can get. This includes a limit on weekly redundancy pay at £538 and a cap on the maximum statutory redundancy payout at £16,140.

You can work out how much you’ll get using the Government’s Redundancy Pay Calculator

5 fact checklist…….

  • If you’re being made redundant, you may be due paid time off to look for another job so ask your boss.
  • Any time spent on ‘furlough’ counts towards your years of service for redundancy pay.
  • Redundancy pay is tax free up to £30,000. Top this and you’ll only be liable for tax on anything over this limit.
  • You can get financial help in the form of mortgage payment holidays, credit card, loan and car finance freezes so speak to your bank or lender.
  • There’s more on your rights and and redundancy on the Government website and you can get free advice on redundancy issues from ACAS

My rundown of the Chancellor’s Summer Statement

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The Chancellor presented his Summer Statement today; basically a ‘mini budget’ with the aim of kick starting our struggling economy.

Here’s my quick run down of what it all means for the pound in your pocket.

Jobs, jobs, jobs…..

The new Job Retention Bonus will reward companies that bring back furloughed staff.

Companies can get £1,000 for every employee they bring back, (providing employees are paid at least £520 a month), and workers must be kept on to January to qualify. Companies get the cash from February.

Small print stuff: More details due by the end of July.

Stamp Duty holiday

Thinking about househunting or in the process of buying a place? This temporary Stamp Duty holiday could save you a few grand.

Until today, no Stamp Duty, (or Stamp Duty Land Tax, to give it the proper name), was payable on properties up to £125,000, (or £300,000 for first time buyers), but from today that limit goes up to £500,000.

Changes apply immediately, and according to the Chancellor’s sums, this means a saving of £4,500 based on the ‘average’ bill.

Small print stuff: This is a ‘temporary’ holiday and runs till 31st March 2021.

Eat Out To Help Out

In a bid to get us heading back to cafes, pubs and restaurants, this new scheme means you can get a 50% discount, (up to £10 a head), on food and soft drinks during August.

Will be available Monday to Wednesday at participating outlets and businesses can sign up on the Government website from Monday.

Small print stuff: Discount doesn’t apply to alcohol.

Kick Start Scheme

This one’s about creating new jobs for 16 – 24 year olds with a Government promise of paying their wages for the first six months.

Companies must create ‘new jobs’, for at least 25 hours a week, pay at least National Minimum Wage and offer training and support to qualify.

There’s also a Government bonus for firms who hire apprentices at £2,000 per apprentice. But the company gets this, not the apprentice.

Small print stuff: Companies can apply from next month for this with jobs available from the Autumn.

VAT cut for hospitality & tourism

VAT is currently charged at 20%, but will be slashed to 5% for six months until 12th January 2021.

Cut applies to food, accommodation and attractions so everywhere from theme parks, to cinemas and zoos so in theory should mean cheaper tickets and meals……

Green Homes Grant

Worth £2 billion; from September homeowners and landlords can apply for vouchers towards the cost of making homes more energy efficient.

Should mean more work for plumbers, tradespeople and builders and grants will cover up two thirds of the cost up to a maximum of £5,000 per household, and £10,000 for those on lower incomes.

Holidays abroad get the green light. Here’s how to protect your trip.

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Holidays abroad get the green light today as the Government says we can now visit a whole host of countries around the world. Since March it’s been advising against ‘all but essential’ international travel but it’s now published a list of countries that are exempt from this.

But our desperate dash to book a holiday could mean rich pickings for fraudsters, with a warning this week from the finance industry to be on our guard against booking scams.

Here’s how to protect your trip so you’re not out of pocket.

Check company credentials

Book a package holiday that includes a flight and you get ATOL protection.

This is a financial protection scheme backed the Civil Aviation Authority and pays out if your holiday company goes bust.

Companies offering ATOL protection should flag this up; but don’t just take their word for it. Always double check it stacks up. You can do this by checking the details on the Civil Aviation Authority website.

With cruise, coach or rail trips, check for ABTA protection. This covers UK travel agents and tour operators. Some companies do claim to be ABTA members when they’re not, so always check the company you book with is a genuine ABTA member by doing a search on the ABTA website.

Never ever pay by bank transfer

When it comes to booking villas and apartments, lots of us get caught out when we’re persuaded to pay by bank transfer.

It’s nothing short of handing a wad of cash to a complete stranger and offers zero protection so don’t do it; however convincing and plausible the reason or excuse you’re given.

Companies like Airbnb have secure payment methods which offer protection if things go wrong.

Pay by credit card

Credit cards are a great bit of kit as they come with built in legal protection.

This comes under ‘Section 75’ of the Consumer Credit Act, and paying by credit card makes both the supplier and your card company ‘jointly liable’.

So if there’s a problem with your trip, say the flight company disappear into the sunset; you can tap up your credit card company for a refund.

Couple of important things to know first. This protection only applies if what you’re buying costs between £100 and £30,000. But you don’t have to put the whole lot on your credit card; even just a small deposit, (can be less than £100), does the trick.

And you must buy ‘direct’ for this protection to kick in. So buying flights on an airline website is ok, but if you book through a third party, like a travel agent, you lose this protection.

Debit cards also offer protection; though rules aren’t laid down in law, like ‘section 75’. But if you have a problem, speak to your bank or card company and and ask them to ‘reverse’ the transaction by doing a ‘chargeback’.

Clever trick to bag ‘ATOL’ protection

Booking a ‘package’ deal, as I mentioned earlier, means extra protection on your holiday.

If the holiday company goes bust you get your money back, or can continue your holiday, or get flown home, if this happens while you’re away.

But there’s no need to buy an ‘off the peg’ package to bag this protection. Thanks to the ‘Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangement Regulations’; more trips now count as ‘packages’.

A ‘package’ counts as a flight, plus at least one other bit of your trip, that’s booked and paid for, (in one single payment), with the same company.

So you can turn a ‘flight only’ deal into ATOL protection simply by adding in a one night hotel stay.

Deals and discounts I’ve spotted this week……

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Here’s my run down of some of the deals, discounts and great buys I’ve spotted this week……

Save 25% off stays at Jurys Inn & Leonardo Hotels

You can save 25% on bookings at both Jurys Inn and Leonardo Hotels right now. No discount codes needed as discount is automatically applied to your online booking.

Plus you get free 48 hour cancellation; so if your plans change you don’t lose out. There’s 48 locations across the UK from Brighton to Edinburgh to choose from.

Save 30% at Moonpig

You can save 30% on your first card order when you download the Moonpig app and pop in code ‘APP30OFF’.

Savings depend on how much you spend. Email cards cost from around 99p with giant cards around £9.99 so you could stack up quite a saving with this.

Dump your basket at the checkout

Leaving your shopping basket at the online checkout overnight can be a fast track to a discount. I’ve often done this and saved some cash this week thanks to surf clothing company Saltrock.

Popped this t shirt and some sunglasses in my basket, but got sidetracked & didn’t check out. Next morning up popped an email offering me a 5% discount code as the folks at Saltrock spotted I didn’t check out…….

Ok so not a mega discount but worth having especially as I’d already searched for a voucher code and couldn’t find one this time round.

Summer mocktails – 3 for £3.99

Ok so they’re the candle version not the drink variety but you can snap up a set of three of these delicious smelling candles for £3.99 at Card Factory. They’re slightly smaller versions of the individual ones that sell for £2.99 each and set includes Summer Punch (above), Strawberry Fizz and Pink Lemonade. Great for gifts or just enjoy yourself!

How to have a mortgage payment holiday

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Think of holidays and right now bet it’s the beach one you’re dreaming of. But if you’re strapped for cash in the current climate, taking a ‘mortgage payment holiday’ can help ease the financial strain.

What is a ‘mortgage payment holiday’?

It’s like pressing the ‘pause’ button on your mortgage, so you can stop making monthly repayments. If you’ve got a good track record with paying on time; most mortgage lenders will let you do this for a limited time if you ask.

However with many people struggling financially due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Chancellor announced back in March that homeowners and ‘buy to let’ landlords can apply for a three month mortgage break.

How does it work?

You need to contact your lender to agree this; so don’t just stop making payments. Once your lender gives you the thumbs up; means you won’t need to make payments for three months.

But it’s not free cash with the slate wiped clean. You will need the repay the money, plus interest, further down the line.

In most cases, the chunk of cash you owe, can be added to your mortgage, which means future payments will go up a bit.

How can I get one?

Mortgage payment holidays are proving popular. Nearly two million of us are taking one; which works out at one in six mortgages.

Most lenders want you to apply online. You’ll find special ‘Coronavirus’ advice sections on their websites with details on how to apply.

If you’re already on one; and nearing the end; you can ask for a three month extension if you need it. And if you’re applying for the first time; you’ve got until 31st October to do so.

Quick 5 point recap

  1. It’s not free cash.
  2. It’s like pressing the ‘pause’ button on your mortgage.
  3. You will need to repay those ‘missed’ payments plus interest.
  4. Check how much this will add to future monthly payments.
  5. Don’t just stop paying. Speak to your lender first.