Newsletter - 1
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
To receive regular updates on the Whatprice website and the consumer information that we uncover please subbscribe to our newsletter
Welcome to the Whatprice Newsletter
In this edition we are going to take a look at some pricing research, with our main article looking at how you can save money on your mortgage protection plan. Simple, don’t get one!
But before then just a few interesting facts:
Travel Insurance
Not all travel insurance policies are the same, there is certainly a huge difference in the price you pay! Travel insurance for a 2 week holiday to Europe can cost between £20 and £50 depending on where you buy your policy from. Don’t forget that the level of cover can vary greatly, however it is worth shopping around to find the best deal.
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/shopper/online-travel-insurance.html
Cinema Prices
Going to the Cinema in the North of the UK is, unsurprisingly, far cheaper than in the South!
The most expensive area is the south east, with cinema tickets costing on average £6.74 in the evening. Go to the Cinema in the North East and you’ll have plenty of spare change for popcorn; the average ticket price is only £4.74.
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/entertainment/compare-cinema-tickets-prices.php
Dentist Prices
Everyone know that using a Private Dentist is far more expensive than going to the NHS, but just how much cheaper? After extensive feedback from our readers we are thoroughly shocked at the price difference.
For example having a wisdom tooth extract by a private dentist will cost you over twice as much as the NHS, £134 compared to £286. Tooth fillings are slightly better, but the Private sector is still over 75% more expensive, £72 compared to £128.
Don’t forget that with an NHS dentist you could always qualify for free treatment. But good luck in being able to sign up to an NHS dentist, I cant find any in my area that are accepting new clients.
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/health/dentist.php
Energy Saving
If your walls and loft aren't properly insulated you could be paying far to much to heat your home. Likewise if you don’t have double glazing your heating bill could be paying to heat the outside.
Some simply energy efficiency improvements can help the environment AND your wallet. For example insulating a 3 bedroom house could cost around £120 (with government grants) but will reduce your heating bill by £90 a year. In a similar fashion Cavity Wall Insulation could cost around £175 to install, but would save a further £75 a year.
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/energy.html
MAIN ARTICLE
Mortgage Payment Protection
Everyone should get mortgage protection right? I mean that is what all the banks tell you anyway. Well I decided to look into it in a bit more detail; after all I do want to avoid the nightmare of house repossessions. I found this policy, which I think is fairly typical.
- If you’re off work due to incapacity caused by accidental bodily injury or illness for more than 30 consecutive days we will pay the mortgage payment for every month you’re off work, or part of your payment for every day you’re off, for up to 12 months
- If you’re involuntarily unemployed for more than 30 consecutive days, we’ll pay the mortgage payment for up to 12 months
- If you die as a result of accidental death, we will pay a sum equal to £20,000."
All sounds quite good, but wait a minute...
I already have an insurance policy that provides my salary for life if I get injured, and it was a lot cheaper that this insurance, so point one isn't needed. The second point seems quite good, but it is only for 12 months? And after the first 30 days? What about for the first payment? And point 3? Well that is what life insurance is for, and again it is a lot cheaper than this policy!
So this policy doesn't seem 'quite' as great as I first thought, but there is more, the cost of the policy is 5.45% of each mortgage payment, which for me would be around £800 a month, on a £120,000 mortgage. So I pay an extra £43.20 a month for the plan; that is £13,000 over the entire mortgage (25 years)! More importantly the protection will only pay out up to 12 months of repayments, meaning a maximum payout of £8400. So if I take out the protection policy I am guaranteed to pay more in insurance premiums than I will EVER get out of the policy. This does not sound like a good deal to me.
How do you protect yourself against mortgage payment problems?
First off all you shouldn’t take on a mortgage unless you are financially secure, but you can never predict the future completely.
However what you can do is take out a further £10K on the mortgage and (here is the important bit) put 7,000 in a tax free cash ISA and the rest in a high interest savings account. DO NOT touch this money, unless you are unemployed or unable to work. The £10,000 gives you as much protection as the mortgage payment protection scheme would do.
The interest payments on this extra money on your mortgage will come to around £24,000 pounds over 25 years; which sounds like an awful lot, but don’t forget that you have put the £10,000 in the high interest savings account. That should grow to around £34,000 if you seek out a good rate of interest, which more than covers the extra interest payments.
So taking out an extra £10,000 on your mortgage can give you some peace of mind as well as saving you a lot of money.
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/financial/housing-market/house-buying-guide.html
Whatprice Newsletter
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Next months will focus more on DIY projects with some practical hints and tips to help your home improvement go more smoothly.
The Whatprice site relies on viewer feedback to improve the quality of its information. If you have any comments then please email webmaster@whatprice.co.uk and if you feel that anyone else would find this newsletter interesting then please forward this email on to them!
