MSE’s Money Tips New tax-year checks, Ikea 50% off, Motoring MoneySavers, 100GB Sim £5/mth, cheap pet insurance

Falling prices might make for happy reading, but the devil's in the detail. While car insurance premiums have fallen, millions are at risk of overpaying by £100s at renewal. And though fuel prices have also fallen, those savings often aren't passed to you at the pump, with retailer margins at historic highs. Of course, less time behind the wheel is best for your pocket (and the planet) but that's not an option for many. So let's drive down those costs...

1. Are you one of 2.3 million whose driving licence will expire this year? Check NOW. You risk a fine of up to £1,000 if yours is out of date, so see how to quickly check your photocard's expiry date & how to renew.

2. Find a cheaper place to fill up. While the average price of petrol is down 4p a litre since Feb, the Competition and Markets Authority last week said that retailers' fuel margins remain at historic highs. Fuel prices also vary significantly across the country, and even across towns and cities. To avoid paying over the odds, it's essential to compare prices...

Find the cheapest forecourt near you with this handy fuel price tool. For example, for a postcode in Durham today (Tue), we found prices ranging from 132p/L to 159p/L within just five miles, a £15 difference when filling up a typical family car.

3. Car insurance DOWN 18% so if your renewal stays the same, don't accept it... put yourself in the driver's seat and save £100s

The cost of car insurance has been put in reverse with an 18% year-on-year drop (source: pricing consultancy Pearson Ham). So even if your renewal price is 10% cheaper, you can probably still beat it. The golden rule is to always check how it compares against the market - and the easy route to do this is via our Compare+ Car Insurance tool.

As Mike emailed last month: "Unbelievable! My existing car insurer quoted over £600 for renewal - up 7% this year - when we know insurance quotes are actually dropping significantly. I got a quote through Martin Lewis's MoneySavingExpert insurance tool for £370, saving £230! Thank you soooo much Martin & the MSE elves." Here's how it works...

You fill in one form. We borrowed a traditional comparison questionnaire from MoneySupermarket (so if you've used it before, your answers can be auto-filled). Then...
Get MSE cost-cutting tips as you answer. Such as our Job Picker tool or best time to buy car insurance analysis.
See your cheapest insurers as a benchmark. But of course, we want you to beat the comparison results, so we add...
Personalised tips to try for an even bigger saving. These include whether you should look to add an additional driver or pay annually, not monthly - and some have one-click checks, so you can easily find out whether they work for you.
See whether other sites can further slice down costs. We give you our latest comparison site order of others to try, as MoneySupermarket may not be your cheapest. Plus, if you've time, we suggest you look at Direct Line too, as it's not on most comparisons.
More than one car at home? Comparison sites don't check multicar cover, so you'll need to check manually whether it saves you cash. Martin's rule of thumb is: "If you're on a multicar policy, check separate policies to see if you can save; if you're on separate, check multicar."

- Multicar (one policy for all): Probably the best known is Admiral*, but LV*, Aviva, Elephant* and Diamond also offer these policies. Don't worry if your renewals are at different dates, their systems work with that.

- Discounts on separate policies: Axa, Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege all offer discounts for multiple cars - so check, especially if they're cheapest for one of your vehicles.

Not at renewal? It's still worth a quick check now to see whether you can save with a mid-year switch. If not, bookmark the tool for nearer the time.

4. MOT due? Check for common fails first. When your motor's 3+ years old (4+ in Northern Ireland), a yearly MOT is a legal requirement. Around a third of vehicles fail first time, usually for simple reasons, such as blown bulbs and worn tyres. You can swerve these without any mechanical know-how using our nine pre-MOT DIY must-dos. Then see which type of test centre to choose (there's more to it than you might think).

5. Get full breakdown cover from £57/yr (including home start & onward travel). AutoAid* covers you plus, often, a live-in partner in any car, for £57.28/yr if you're a newbie (including a 10% discount via this link). And that's for full service - breakdown, home start and onward travel. Eversure* at £57.50/yr is similar, though unlike AutoAid, which has been a top pick for years, it's newer to us so we've less feedback. For comparison, a similar AA policy can be £300/yr.

For cars 10+ years old, AutoAid charges a £25 call-out fee, so Eversure looks better here, though it only covers cars up to 15 years old. For cars over 15 years old, AutoAid will cover you but for £20 more.

Also see how to get RAC or AA cover from £62/yr, plus far more help, in Cheap breakdown cover.

6. Had a clash with a pothole? Check whether you can claim for repairs. The AA estimates that fixing pothole damage cost drivers a whopping £579 million in 2024, with the average repair costing £300. If your motor's been mangled by one, see whether you're due compensation in our guide to pothole claims.

As Forumite Graeme1978uk posted last year: "Hit a deep pothole and submitted a claim. Followed all of the guidance given on the MSE website for a fast claim. I'd claimed £357 for two tyres, and they've offered £300 in settlement based on the age of the tyres and I think that's reasonable. All in all, a fairly quick and easy process."

7. Think of your brakes as a money burner, and the accelerator as a money pump. The faster you accelerate, the more fuel you use. The more you brake, the more you burn off the acceleration you paid to create. Being aware of your road position, speeding up and slowing down more gently, and shifting up gears sooner can all have a big impact on fuel efficiency. See eight ways to drive more effectively.

8. Get cashback on your fuel with the right DEBIT card

For those who drive a lot, fuel is a big expenditure - a £50/wk top-up is £2,600/yr. So you may as well get a little return via cashback on these two debit cards...

1% cashback on fuel, groceries & transport (up to £15/mth). With the free app-only Chase* bank account you get 1% cashback up to £15/mth, usually within days. There's no need to switch or pass a hard credit-check to get the account.

While cashback used to be paid on all normal spending, from yesterday (7 Apr) this was downgraded to just groceries, transport & fuel. That still includes petrol, diesel, and electric vehicle charging (if you pay via card, not home chargers) - so it's still worth having for these. For full info and eligibility criteria, see our Chase review.
1% cashback on supermarket & travel spending (including fuel) + bills (including energy) + a £30 Amazon voucher. New and existing Santander customers who open the Santander Edge* bank account via our link get a £30 Amazon voucher - great if you don't want to switch (if you do, you may want to hold off for a bigger free cash switching bonus from Santander).

The account costs £3/mth and you must pay in £500/mth, but you get two lots of cashback, both up to a max £10/mth (so £20/mth in total):

- 1% cashback on supermarket, fuel, train & bus travel spending.
- 1% cashback on bills paid via it, including energy (so get cashback on electric vehicle charging), water, Council Tax & telecoms.

For households with average bills, we'd expect the gain to be around £80/yr to £100/yr. You also get a linked 6% easy-access saver (max £4,000, can't be opened jointly). For full info and eligibility criteria, see our Santander review.

There are also other top cashback debit & credit cards, which can give cashback and rewards on spending, but as with Santander above, these require a full credit check.

9. If your banger's a bit too back-heavy, lighten the load. There are some easy ways to cut your car's fuel consumption, including removing roof racks, keeping tyres at the right pressure and clearing any junk from your trunk (or elsewhere). It can have a bigger impact than you might think. See our fuel-efficiency tips.

10. Got an electric vehicle (EV)? Check out the top EV tariffs. A handful of energy suppliers offer special tariffs for charging EVs at home. You typically get a few hours of cheap rates (7p/kWh to 10p/kWh), usually overnight - used correctly, they could save you £100s/yr. Others offer 'add-on' tariffs that let you charge your car for cheap but all other usage is charged at your existing tariff rates - decent if you can find one alongside a cheap fix. See EV tariffs for full analysis.

- Can you charge EVs for free? It's limited, but see our free EV charging info.
- Considering an EV? See Electric vehicles - right for you?
- New EV tax rules came in on 1 Apr. See EV owners now pay car tax.

11. Could you scrap your car? (Not literally.) It's not for everyone, but if you don't drive too often and live in or near a city or larger town, you could switch to catching the occasional taxi or using a car club and cut out the many costs of owning a car entirely.

If you're looking to reduce pollution as well as spend less, check out our MoneySaving tips for cyclists and Cheap train ticket guides. And if walking is your way, see how Martin averaged 24,703 steps a day in 2024.

12. We've many more quick tips to cut driving costs... This is just the start line - race over to 50+ Motoring MoneySavers for our complete checklist.

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads
Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

Take our Spring Clean Challenge - can you cut the clutter and make big money? Eg, 'I made £1,500 on Vinted'

Tips for eBay, Vinted, car boot sales & more. Plus online selling tax rules explained

Spring is here, Easter's around the corner, so it's time for a personal stock clearance. Look around your home and ask yourself: "Have I used it since last April?" Our usual rule is to consider flogging anything unused in a year.

You DON'T have to pay tax if you're simply selling old, unwanted stuff - despite media reports leading people to believe there is a new tax law on this. (For full help, see Do I pay tax on online earnings?, which includes Martin's quick video explainer.) Now, read our seven top ways to declutter and make £100s...

Can you get minted with Vinted? It helps you declutter at speed, with no fees. This online marketplace is best for clothes, it's quick to upload, and you can tempt buyers by offering discounts for buying multiple items. Take our crash course in how to earn £100s via Vinted, including algorithm tricks and how DMs can boost sales. Roanna told us on Facebook: "I've made nearly £1,500 in 18 months on Vinted. Happy with it. My tips are good photos, good language, full post on each item, sensible prices."
Turn unwanted clothes into CASH via specialist sites, eg, Vestiaire Collective, Depop & Shpock. Vinted's not the only game in town, so whether it's Gucci, Gap or George, our 10 ways to sell clothes blog shows how to max the amount you get - as buyers are sometimes willing to pay more on these clothing-specific sites for designer or vintage clobber.
40+ eBay sellers' tricks, eg, the 'How much can I get for it?' tool. "Just eBay it" - the site's so ubiquitous its name is now a verb. Use our 40+ eBay-selling secrets guide, which includes how to quickly check what stuff could fetch using your phone's camera, and what to watch out for with this week's eBay delivery changes.
Sell for free on Facebook. With no fees for buyers and fast sales, local Facebook selling groups are fab for bulkier items. Our 29 Facebook selling tips include what sells best. Forumite Exodi says: "Sold (and bought) heaps of stuff on Facebook Marketplace. As an example we sold all the stuff we bought from China for our wedding and basically made our money back on everything (we made a profit on some items!). It's a fantastic way to sell."
Trade in old mobiles for £100s + get paid for other gadgets, plus CDs, DVDs & computer games. While eBay often nets max cash, for speed and ease, try specialist gadget trade-in sites. With mobiles, we found one site paying £177 for a 64GB iPhone 12 - see Sell old mobiles. Also see how to sell old games, CDs, DVDs & books.
Make money (and have fun) selling unwanted stuff at car boot sales. From bumbag planning to holding your haggling nerve, see MSE Jenny H's car boot tips and tricks. Lorna emailed us after reading them: "Recently I followed the car boot tips when selling items cleared from my mother-in-law's house, and made £100... double my usual earnings. Thanks!"
Flog your RUBBISH for cash - loo rolls, jam jars, corks & more. You can typically make 35p per jam jar, 4p per loo roll and 99p per perfume bottle. Sell your junk.

PS: Of course, being a MoneySaving site, we've focused on ways to make money from stuff you don't use. But if you'd prefer to support a worthy cause, donate to a charity shop instead (it's best to call first, to see what they will and won't accept right now).

Check your new 2025/26 tax year take-home pay with our updated Income Tax Calc. Tax thresholds are frozen in England, Wales & Northern Ireland (changing a bit in Scotland), but if your pay's changed, what you get each week or month might now be different. Use the Income Tax Calc. Related: Check your 2025/26 tax code's correct.

£120 Instant Pot air fryer £50 via code. MSE Blagged. Six functions including roast & grill. 3,700 available. Instant Pot

New tax year, new £20,000 ISA allowance - get up to '5.92%'. Easy-access cash ISA rates climbed before the tax-year end on Sunday as providers scrapped to head our tables. Top rates are higher than normal savings, too, so they're winners even if you don't need the tax benefits... Top straight rate: Tembo 4.8% (min £10). Top big name: Post Office 4.4%* (min £100). Top rate with short-term bonus: Plum '5.92%' (3.54% + 2.38% 3mth newbie bonus)* (max 3 withdrawals/yr, min £100). Rates change fast, so see Top cash ISAs for the latest, plus we'll have a full rundown in next week's email.

MSE mini eggs taste test - did the dupes beat Cadbury? See what our MoneySavingEggspert testers thought.

New Martin Q&A Pod Special: Beat bill rises, ISAs, pension tax, Premium Bonds, Child Trust Funds, pension contracting out, car finance & far more. A must-listen at this crucial time of year. All in the new Martin Lewis Podcast. Listen via BBC Sounds | Apple Podcasts | Spotify or wherever you get your Martin fix.

Ikea 'up to 50% off' sale, eg, £20 duvet set for £10. In stores & online. See full Ikea sale analysis.

New. Top 4.7% 1yr fix + £100 cashback (if saving £10k+). Newbies to savings marketplace Raisin - which lets you save and move money via different banks after filling in just one form - can get £100 cashback with code MSE100 if saving £10,000+ with any of the banks on its platform. The top 1yr fix on Raisin is QIB UK's 4.7%, which is the best rate on the market. Its top easy-access account is QIB UK's 4.4% - though this can be beaten by top ISAs. Full info's in Raisin £100 cashback.

Holland & Barrett 25% off £25+ spend. MSE Blagged. Online only, works on most items. Holland & Barrett

Ends Fri. Cheapest 100GB+ data Sim '£4.84/mth'. With unlimited mins & texts, this 108GB iD Mobile Sim (on Three's network) is £9/mth, but you can claim (don't forget) a £50 Amazon/Currys voucher. If you'd have spent there anyway, factor it in and the cost's equivalent to £4.84/mth over the 12mth contract. Want different data? See Cheap Mobile Finder.

BLAGGED FOR MSE

- £120 Instant Pot 5.7L air fryer £50 3,700 available
- Holland & Barrett 25% off £25 online spend Ends Sat 12 Apr
- £198 of Elemis, Medik8 & more beauty £54 1,000s available
- Puma 30% off code Ends Tue 15 Apr

DID YOU MISS?

- Do you qualify for a water social tariff? Some save £800/yr
- Last chance. Beat up to £15 passport fee hikes
- Achoo! 180 hay fever tablets for £5.99
- 30% off glasses & prescription sunnies, including Gucci & Prada
- Off-peak eats: Discounts at Greggs, Burger King & more

Cheap pet insurance... you'd be barking not to check
Plus hot deals comparison sites miss, eg, £75 Amazon voucher

As if the food, treats and toys didn't cost enough, pet insurance can add serious cash to the upkeep of your furry, scaly or feathered companions. Yet there's no NHS for pets, and with vet costs sky-high - so much so that the industry's being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority, with findings due in Nov - you could face tough decisions without cover. Our Cheap pet insurance guide has full info to drive down the cost of insurance, but in brief...

CATS & DOGS. Prices are bespoke, so the key's to get as many quotes as possible in the shortest time...

1. Combine comparison sites. Try as many as you've time for, as they search different insurers and sometimes have different prices, and most let you get multi-pet quotes. In order of how many insurers they compare, try MoneySupermarket* | Compare The Market* (single pet quotes only) | Confused.com* | Gocompare.

2. Check deals not on comparison sites. Big providers Petplan* and Direct Line don't appear on comparisons for pet insurance, plus there are promo deals that comparisons don't list (some as we've blagged exclusive extras). So check them and compare with the comparison site winners (though we've limited feedback on these):

- Animal Friends* via this link gives a £75 Amazon voucher for a cat or dog policy, paid after around 100 days.
- Waggel* via this link (ends Thursday) offers a £55 Amazon voucher per cat or dog insured, paid after 90 days of cover.
- Agria* via this link offers a £75 (dog) or £40 (cat) Amazon voucher, paid within 120 days (up to max £155 for three dogs).
- And check cashback sites too to see whether you can get cashback on the comparisons' winner.

3. Cats are seen as free spirits, dogs aren't. So you're liable for your dog if it causes damage or injury to other people or property. Always check your insurance offers third-party cover (as a minimum, get it standalone from Dogs Trust).
HORSES, RABBITS, PARROTS, REPTILES & OTHER PETS. As comparison sites don't usually work for these, you'll need to manually compare quotes directly with specialist insurers.
- For horses and ponies: Try SEIB, Petplan Equine and NFU Mutual.
- For rabbits, budgies, guinea pigs, parrots, lizards and more: Try Exotic Direct* and British Pet Insurance (+ Sainsbury's and Petplan* for rabbits).
Warning: Beware switching provider if your pet has an existing condition. Most new policies won't cover past issues, whether you've claimed for them or not. But stay with your old insurer and you're likely to pay more to cover that condition in future. So it's usually a hard choice between switching to a cheaper policy with no cover for that specific condition, or sticking and likely paying more. Full help in existing problems.
Pet insurance NEED-TO-KNOWS...
1. It generally covers big issues (such as broken bones and tumours), not check-ups. See what's covered.
2. Need cover but can't afford it? If you're on certain benefits, charities such as the PDSA may help with vet bills.
3. Could you self-insure? For smaller animals, you could put cash in savings to cover fees. See self-insuring help.
4. Keep your pet's routine jabs up to date. Or it may invalidate your insurance.
5. Always check the policy is right for you. It's not easy, as insurance is about protection from the unknown, but do check the policy details, what's excluded, and that the firm's regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
6. If your claim's unfairly rejected, take the firm to the Financial Ombudsman. Once you've complained to your provider, you've then a right to go to the free, independent Financial Ombudsman Service for its help to settle the claim.

£198 of beauty for £54: Elemis, Sol de Janeiro, Medik8 & more. MSE Blagged. Seven-item Lookfantastic set.

Kids eat 'free or for £1' at Pizza Express, Bill's, Burger King & more. Usually with a paying adult - see the full list of offers. Related: Totally FREE Kellogg's cereal & portion of fruit at Morrisons.

Blocked from boosting your State Pension on Saturday? You'll get another chance. Some requests to buy voluntary National Insurance contributions online were wrongly denied ahead of the crucial 5 April deadline - but you should be contacted if affected. See State Pension boost error.

Puma 30% off code, eg, £40 T-shirt £17. MSE Blagged. On full-price & sale items. Puma

Act NOW. Some 'multi-rate' (eg, Economy 7) electric meters are set to stop working in June. If you've an old 'Radio Teleswitch Service' meter, you need to get it replaced ASAP. See how to check whether you have one & what to do next.

How do you rate your bank's app? If you access your current account through your bank's app, we want to know how you rate it and its features - the app that is, not the bank overall. Please vote in this week's poll.

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS

Longest 0%: Tesco (check eligibility) 32mths 0%, 3.19% fee, 24.9% rep APR interest
No-fee 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility) up to 14mths 0%, 24.9% rep APR interest

Free £175 + TOP service: First Direct 1st Account
Free £150 + £36/yr cashback: NatWest Reward

Fast fibre (100Mb+): Sky '£20.67/mth'
Superfast fibre (500Mb+): Sky '£28.67/mth'

On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs

Car: Use our Compare+ Car Insurance tool

Home: Try our new Compare+ Home Insurance tool

£5,000 to £7,499: People's Choice (check eligibility), 7% rep APR interest (6.5% rep APR interest on £7,000 to £7,499)
£7,500 to £25,000: People's Choice (check eligibility), 5.8% rep APR interest

Highest easy-access cash ISA: Plum up to 5.92%, min £100
Highest easy-access savings: Chip 4.76%, min £1
Highest one-year fix: Cynergy 4.65%, min £1,000

Use our whole-of-market Cheap Energy Club

Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£2.83/mth' for 3GB
4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.05/mth' for 5GB
10GB to 30GB data: Lebara, '£3.10/mth' for 10GB
31GB+ data: iD Mobile, '£3.42/mth' for 50GB

THIS WEEK'S POLL

How do you rate your bank's app? We want to know which apps are easy to use, and whether you think your bank's app has all the features you need (or think it should have). So if you access your current account in-app, please rate it (the app and its features, not the bank itself). Vote in this week's poll.

MSE NEWS

- Top story: Ban on fake reviews and drip-pricing to take force
- Rebel Energy customers to be transferred to British Gas
- Full list of TSB branches closing in 2025/26, plus alternatives

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA

Should I stop lending money to my daughter? Of my four adult kids, three handle money well. But the youngest's money disappears at a startling rate. In the past she's borrowed from her siblings, but they got fed up and now it's me who lends her money. We agreed she'll pay me back when she's earning enough to do so. She's working occasional low-paid jobs, but over the last year has built up a debt to me of over £4,000. I'm self-employed and it's made a noticeable dent in my income. I'm also concerned that by lending her money, I'm reinforcing her debt habit. But what drives me to do so is my wish to keep her safe, and out of the hands of commercial lenders (or worse). What should I do? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I stop lending money to my daughter? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

MSE TEAM BLOG

- MSE Forum highlights: Garden makeovers, leftover cream & London short breaks

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 8 APR ONWARDS)

Tue 15 Apr - This Morning, phone-in, ITV1, 10.20am

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This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service.

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Founded in February 2003, it is now the UK's biggest consumer help website, with more than 12 million users each month and about 8.5 million receiving this email. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple - saving cash and fighting for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 80 full-time staff, more than a third of whom are editorial - researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE.

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Martin Lewis CBE is the founder and executive chair of MSE, as well as the founder of the MMHPI charity. He's an ultra-focused MoneySaving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own prime-time ITV programme The Martin Lewis Money Show, Radio 5 Live Wednesday show Ask Martin Lewis and weekly slot on This Morning, among others. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography.

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MSE’s Money Tips New tax-year checks, Ikea 50% off, Motoring MoneySavers, 100GB Sim £5/mth, cheap pet insurance

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