Woman’s Weekly UK – 27 August 2019

Q

Mydaughter’ssuggestedI

switchtoherbank– it’sa new

online-onlyone,andtherates

ofinterestontheirsavingsaccountsare

good.I’mquitehappytomanagemy

accountsonline,butwillmymoney

beassafeasin a traditionalbank?

A

Thelastfewyearshaveseen

quitea fewso-called‘challenger

banks’startingupto compete

withthetraditionalhigh-streetnames.

If you’rehappybankingonline,they’re

veryconvenientand,asyousay,some

offergoodinterestrates.In termsof

protectionforyourmoney,manyof the

newbanksarecoveredbytheFinancial

ServicesCompensationScheme,which

meansthatshouldthebankgobust,

youwouldgetyourmoneyback,upto

a limitof £85,000.Thatmakesthemas

safeasanyhigh-streetbank.Butsome

havewhat’scalledan‘electronicmoney

licence’instead,whichmeansthey

haveto holdcustomer’smoneyin a

ring-fencedaccountwithanotherbank,

whichwouldbeprotectedif thedigital

bankwentbust– however,thatmoney

mightnotbeprotectedif thebankthe

moneywasdepositedwithwentbust.

That’snotverylikelyto happen,but

if you want to be sure of the highest

protection,check

whetherthebank

you’reconsidering

iscoveredby

theFSCSat

protected.fscs.org.

uk/tools/check-

your-money-

is-protected.

Q

Ilookaftermytwo

grandchildrenwhilemy

daughteris at work.Someone

at toldmeI couldgetmystatepension

increasedfordoingit – is thatright?

A

Yes,if youqualify.Grandparents,

orotherfamilymembers,who

arestatepensionageandlook

aftera childunder 12 whiletheirparent

is workingcanapplyforwhat’scalled

theSpecifiedAdultChildcareCredit.

ThishelpsbuildupyourNational

Insurancerecord,whichcountstowards

yourstatepension,andcouldincrease

yourpensionbyaround£230a year.

You’llneedto applyforthecredit,and

yourdaughterwillneedto signtheform

too.It canalsobebackdated,thoughno

furtherthan6 April2011.Youcanapply

onlineat gov.uk,orcalltheNational

Insurance helpline on 0300 200 3500.

Q

Weownaflatthatwerent

out.We’rehopingtomove

housesoon,butI’mworried

aboutstampduty.Willwepayextra

becauseweowntwoproperties?

A

Thestampdutyruleswere

changeda fewyearsago,

bringingin a higherratefor

peoplewhoalreadyownmorethanone

propertyandbuyanother,orwhobuy

a propertyin additionto theirmain

home.However,it doesn’tapplywhen

youbuya newpropertyto replaceyour

mainhome,soassumingyou’reselling

yourcurrenthousewhenyoubuythe

newone,you’lljustpaythestandard

rate.If youbuythenewhousebeforeyou

selltheoldone,youpaytheincreased

rate,butyoucanclaimit backaslongas

you sell the old one within three years.

2

WRITE

ALIST.

ot downwhat

ouneedbefor

oushop–

and stick to it.

SAVE &

prosper!

Three ways to save money this week...

Letourconsumerlifestyleteamhelp

make your money go much further

Your queries answered

1

AVOIDINSTANTGRATIFICATION.

Thisis oneof themost

importantrulesofpersonalfinance,

andwaiting 30 daysto decideon

a purchaseis anexcellent way to

implement that rule.

3

AREYOUPAYING

FEESATACLUB

YOUNEVERUSE?

Ifyou’reonthe

fenceaboutanyof

yourmemberships

orfindthatyou’re

notusingthemvery

often, cancel them.

womansweekly.com 47

WORDS: FRANCES QUINN. PHOTOS (POSED BY MODELS): GETTY