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Save over €5000 per year...

  

Valid as of 1st Oct 2010 

	Product	Worst	Worst  p/m	Best	Best     p/m	Saving
Broadband	Home Broadband	Eircom 7  Meg	€61.73	UPC 5 Meg existing customer	€35.00	€320.76
Car Insurance	Skoda Octavia 2005; 5 yrs NCB; 3rd Party, Fire & Theft cover	Allianz	€633.00	Freetocompare (Sertus Standard)	€310.00	€323.00
Car Loan	Car Loan 20k over 5 years	AIB New  car	€5,139.24	PTSB new car	€4931.52	€207.72
Credit Card	€1,500 Credit Limit Assumed	Ulster Bank  Classic  17.9% APR	€1,629.86	MBNA interest free 10 months; 14.9% purchases thereafter	€1,519.39	€110.47
Current Account	Overdraft maintained at €3,000	Ulster Bank  13.55%	€3,212.42	NIB easy plus account 10.256%	€3,169.20	€43.22
Electricity	€1,400 per year electricity usage	ESB	€1,400.00	Bord Gais DD & Natural Gas	€1,204.00	€196.00
Health Insurance	2 Adults 2 Kids Semi Private	VHI Plan B	€ 2,252.16	Aviva We Plan Level 2 XS	€1,886.80	€365.36
House Insurance	450K build, 63k contents	AIB	€700.00	Freetocompare	€617.00	€83.00
Life Insurance	250k 40 year ld n/s	Caledonian	€2790.84	Zurich	€2,202.00	€588.84
Lump Sum Deposit	10,000 euro investment	PTSB 35    Day notice    Account    3.35% AER	€10,335.00	AIB Access 30 2.01% AER	€10,201.00	€134.00
Mortgage	350,000 over 20 years LTV >80%	PTSB   APR 4.6%	€2223.21 p/m	BOI      APR 3.1%	€1958.66 p/m	€3294.60
Motor Breakdown Insurance	Rescue & homestart	AA	€194.00	Freetocompare (Blue Insurance)	€69.00	€125.00
Personal Loan	15,000 over 3 years	BOI  Personal  loan  12.55%	€5,958.36	AIB Personal Loan 10.55%	€5,815.44	€142.92
Travel Insurance	Multi Trip Worldwide with Health insurance discount	AIB	€92.00	Blue Insurance	€77.60	€14.40
TOTAL SAVINGS						€5949.29

FREETOCOMPARE PROVIDES BEST QUOTES FOR NICK WEBB'S 'SURVIVING THE RECESSION' COLUMN IN SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

Sunday February 28 2010 

 

Sunday February 7 2010

 

Sunday January 24 2010 

 

Sunday December 20 2009

 

Sunday November 29 2009

 

Sunday February 28 1010

Credit cards Family health insurance Used car loans Apartment insurance Lecky bills

You'd need to be about as thick as Ashley Cole to have one of the dreadful Ulster Bank standard credit cards. They are rubbish. These useless bits of plastic have an interest rate double that of the cheapest card on the market. AIB's click card is an internet-only card; for those who can't use the interweb, try NIB's credit cards. Based on €5,000 credit card debt.

Best: AIB Click -- 8.5 per cent

Avoid: Ulster Bank standard Mastercard -- 17.9 per cent.

Saving: Up to €470 per year

contact www.aib.ie or your local branch

Family health insurance

Trying to figure out which health insurance policy fits your family best is ridiculously complicated. The insurers spend ages trying to muddy the waters between policies. Check out the www.freetocompare.ie website which crunches through the waffle. Health insurance for a family with two kids. Semi-private room plus basic day-to-day cover.

Best: VHI First Plan Level 1 -- €1,830

Avoid: Aviva Health Level 1 Everyday-- €1,960

Saving: €130

contact www.vhi.ie or 1850 444444

Used car loans

The scrappage deals are pretty good. There hasn't been a better time to buy a car for yonks. But can you get your bank to cough up? A loan of €20,000 repayable over five years for a used car. Figures from www.freetocompare.ie

Best: BoI Finance -- €409.28 per month

Avoid: Ulster Bank -- €437.38

Saving: €1,686 over term of loan.

contact www.bankofireland.ie or your local bank

Apartment insurance

Apartments are usually partially covered under annual maintenance fees. But contents aren't usually included. Contents cover of €60,000 for a 35-year-old couple in an apartment in Dublin's Docklands. Alarmed. No claims for five years, excess €200. Including accidental damage cover.

Best: Chrome Insurance -- €135.00

Avoid: Benchmark -- €358.00

Saving: €223.00

contact www.chromeinsurance.ie or 1890 247663.

Lecky bills

Switching your electricity away from the gold-plated, hyper expensive ESB is a no-brainer. It takes less than five minutes. All you need are your bank account details and an old ESB bill. Bord Gais is up to 14 per cent cheaper, with green energy provider Airtricity up to 13 per cent cheaper than ESB. The highest savings can be made if you are already a Bord Gais customer and agree to pay by direct debit. Based on a €1,000 annual bill for a three-bed semi.

Best: Bord Gais €875

Avoid: ESB: €1,000

Saving: €125

contact www.thebigswitch.ie or 1850 485868

 

Sunday February 7 2010

Mobile broadband Learner driver insurance Super-duper health cover Mortgage protection Pet insurance Life insurance Whoops, sorry...

 

OK, so it sponsors the rugby, the Point and a stack of GAA stuff -- but it's still not very good value. O2's dongley thing is the most expensive deal offered by the major players -- including Meteor, Vodafone and 3. Average monthly cost calculated by callcosts.ie

Best: Imagine Wimax 3mb €14.17

Avoid: O2 Clear 3Mb €21.48

Saving: €87.72 per year

contact www.imagine.ie or call 1890 9299007

Learner driver insurance

Not even Jim Corr could deny the irreversible damage caused by a learner driver to a shiny new clutch. Fully comp cover for a 50-year-old Carlow woman with no points or claims for five years, driving a 2007 Fiat Punto 1.2L worth €9k. Parked off road. Excess €200, and alarmed. And with an 18-year-old female named driver who has had her provisional licence for one year. No claims or points. No cover for death rays. Quotes from www.chromeinsurance.ie

Best: Quinn €813 per year

Avoid: AXA €1,320.00

Saving: €507 a year

contact www.quinn-direct.com or 1890 89 1890

Super-duper health cover

Gold-plated health cover gets you a private room in a top private hospital. All the nurses look like Amy Huberman and you'd almost be safe eating the food. Quinn has a sneaky 3 per cent surcharge if paying monthly (nearly €70 a year in this case). Quotes from www.freetocompare.ie

Best: Quinn Essential Gold €2,215

Avoid: VHI Plan E €2,832

Saving: €617

contact www.quinnhealth.ie

Mortgage protection

Only seven months to go until the new Lansdowne Road stadium reopens. Ever wondered how Aviva could spend so much on buying the naming rights? Here's a hint. Have a look at how much it charges for mortgage protection... double the price of the best deal on the market for decreasing cover on €75,000/15-year cover for two 40-year-old non-smokers. Quotes from www.freetocompare.ie.

Best: Zurich Life €10.12 per month

Avoid: Aviva €20

Saving: €118.56 per year

contact www.zurichlife.ie or 01-7992711

Pet insurance

Cover for a three-year-old male mongrel in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. The beast is untagged, and has no health problems. Excess €150. Online insurer www.123.ie has a dirt-cheap accident-only premium of €83.95 -- but doesn't Fido deserve the best?

Best: 123.ie premium €149.92

Avoid: Allianz €157.21

Saving: €7.29

contact www.123.ie or 1890 221123

Life insurance

Chances are that you won't get rubbed out unless you have a big policy. Probably not the best selling point for life cover. A policy worth €400,000 over 20 years for a 45-year- old male smoker. Chill.ie is offering a fairly chunky 60 per cent discount in the first year. Year two isn't quite so pleasant.

Best: Chill.ie €477.75 per year

Avoid: Canada Life €1,554.36

Saving: €1,076.61

contact www.chill.ie or 1890 30 20 20

Whoops, sorry...

Last week's figures for the interest paid on an €80,000 lump sum lodged with Investec, Permo or Ulster were plum bonkers and horribly wrong. Sorry. Sadly, 3.6 per cent is about as good as you'll get.

 

Sunday January 24 2010

Ski travel insurance Phone, TV and broadband combo Family health cover Flat insurance Car insurance Gas charges

Annual worldwide travel insurance including cover for a family heading off on the piste costs a proverbial arm or leg at VHI. The cheapest deal is from Multitrip, which also has a €3.50 handling fee, which you'll come across halfway through buying the policy online.

Best: multitrip.com €49.99

Avoid: VHI €160

Saving: €110.01

contact multitrip.com or call 0818-444 444

Phone, TV and broadband combo

Splat! That's the sound of Sky and Eircom crashing down. Chorus Ntl has kicked off a brutal price war and is absolutely crucifying Sky and Eircom on price. For a home phone, 5mb of broadband, calls and decent telly including Sky Sports and the somewhat rubbish ESPN.

Best: UPC Fibre Sports €960 per year

Avoid: Sky Mix 4 plus sports/Eircom Talktime chatter with 3mb broadband. €1,485

Saving: €525

contact upc.ie or call 1890-940 624

Family health cover

Fairly basic health cover for a family of four. Watch out for a particularly nasty and sneaky trick from Quinn. It lobs on an extra 3 per cent charge if you pay monthly. Cheap in more ways than one. Quotes from freetocompare.ie

Best: Quinn Essential starter €1,100 per year.

Avoid: Worst: VHI Plan A €1,520

Saving: €410

contact quinnhealth.ie or call 1890-221 123

Flat insurance

Annual management charges mean that you're generally covered if your apartment block is damaged. But you'll still need contents cover. Cover for €60,000-worth of gear in a €350,000 flat in Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2. No claims for yonks, usual alarms and excess of €200.

Best: Simply Mortgages €127

Avoid: Benchmark €302

Saving: €175

contact simplymortgages.ie or else call 1890-746 472

Car insurance

The big insurance companies are big for a reason. They absolutely fleece you with the cost of car insurance. We can't think of a time that Axa came in with the best car quote. Steer well clear if you want to save money. Fully comprehensive cover for a 2009 Toyota Avensis for a 30-year-old woman driver from Killarney, Co Kerry. Apart from two points, there's a spotless record. Parked off road, alarmed and with a nodding dog in the back window. Quotes from Chrome insurance.ie

Best: 123.ie €401.53

Avoid: AXA (broker) €839

Saving: €437.47 a year

contact 123.ie or call 1890-221 123

Gas charges

Bord Gais may the cheapest for electricity, but it's getting badly undercut in its core business of gas. Flogas is now miles cheaper. Cost for an average user of 20,000 thingummy gas units per year. Switch now.

Best: Flogas €880.30

Avoid: Bord Gais €960.66

Saving: €80.36

contact flogasnaturalgas.ie or call 1850-928 100

 

Sunday December 20 2009

Save €150 a month to pay for a trip to see Santa up in Lapland in December 2010... assuming there's still some snow after the Copenhagen summit. Ulster Bank's Easy Access account pays 0.01 per cent, which is just for stupid people.Bank of Ireland's Easy Saver is marginally less awful, but still pretty bad.

Best: AIB parent saver €48.75 in interest

Avoid: Bank of Ireland Easy Saver €31.69

Saving: €17.06 over a year

Car loan

The scrappage deal wasn't exactly gold-plated, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. With car tax topping out at €2,100 per year for something silly like a Hummer, it could be smart to switch to something smaller and greener with a €104 per year tax rate. Borrow €25,000 over three years to buy a new motor in January. New car loans are generally a wee bit cheaper than those for second-hand clunkers. Quotes from freetocompare.ie

Best: BOI Finance €777.66 per month

Avoid: Halifax €811.21

Saving: €1,207.80 over term of loan

Car insurance

Axa isn't exactly pulling up trees when it comes to providing cheap car insurance. In fact, it's never topped our best price list. Ever. Ever. Ever. Fully comp car insurance for a €15,000-valued 2007 Nissan Primera 1.8l for a 50-year-old Lucan woman with no points and eight-plus years no claims. Excess €200. Car alarmed and parked on a drive.

Best: Quinn Direct €335

Avoid: Axa Freedom First Basic €756

Saving: €421

Teenage mobile phones

Stumpy-fingered teenagers sending 600 texts per month plus 100 minutes of calls, split between other mobiles and landlines, would be worth hooking up with 3 Mobile, based on figures from www.callcosts.ie.

Best: 3 Best of both worlds €25 per month

Avoid: Vodafone Simply €45.58

Saving: €246.96 per year

Backpacker travel insurance

Grow a beard, get some dreadlocks together and spend the year backpacking in Australia. Smashing place except for the people. Or rather, the sports fans. And the spiders.

Best: Backpackercover.ie €129.99

Avoid: Usit €363

Saving: €234

Life cover

Loose carpet on the stairs, toasters perched at the edge of the bath, Christmas present of a savage pitbull? These could be signs that your family is after the big fat pay-out from your insurance company if you have a nasty accident. For €250,000 life cover over 25 years for a 40-year- old male non-smoker with no underlying health problems. Indexed with no conversion option. Serious illness cover whacks up the premium nearly five fold. It'd be about €40 per month for the life cover by itself with Zurich.

Best: Hibernian Aviva €178.41 per month

Avoid: Caledonian Life €219.99

Saving: €498.96

Home insurance

Cover for a €600,000 bijou residence in Dalkey, Co Dublin, €300,000 rebuild, 20 per cent contents. Usual locks and alarms. No claims for five years. For 65-year-old woman.

Best: Simply Mortgages €251

Avoid: RSA €642.99

Saving: €391.99

Sunday Independent 

 

Sunday November 29 2009

Mobile Phones

O2 will have the shirt off your back. And not in a good way. The Spanish-owned mobile phone company is just far too expensive.

Figures from the Telecoms regulator or callcosts.ie show that O2's best, best deal for the national average of 232 anytime minutes of calls -- half to other mobiles -- plus 150 texts per month is way out of whack with everyone else.

O2 is damn near double the price. In fact, they show that for 100 minutes and texts per month, all the way up to 1,000 minutes and texts per month, O2 is miles dearer than everyone else. Run away fast.

Best: Meteor Bill Pay €20, Connect €25.71

Avoid: O2 Clear Sim 175 €45.30

Saving: €218.40 per year

Mortgages

We don't believe them either. The banks say that they are open for business and lending lots of money. On what planet? First-time buyer mortgage of €350,000 over 25 years with a 90 per cent LTV. Quotes from Simply Mortgages and freetocompare.ie.

Variable

Best: AIB €1,596 per month

Avoid: Ulster Bank €1,837.78

Saving: €2,901.36 per year

Two-year fixed

Best: Bank of Ireland/ICS €1,596.72 per month

Avoid: Ulster €1,886.30

Saving: €3,474.96 per year

Five-year fixed

Best: AIB €1,819 per month

Avoid: Ulster €2,035.88

Saving: €2,592 per year

Personal loan

Borrow €8,000 over two years to clear your credit card debt. Or to do something nice... like buy a Yamaha VX deluxe jetski. You'll pay through the nose at Halifax. Quotes from Simply Mortgages.

Best: AIB €367.28

Avoid: Halifax €379.24

Saving: €287.04 over term of loan

Regular savings

The best "saving up for stuff" interest rate can be found in regular savings accounts. But you'll need to lob money in every month and read page upon page upon page of terms and conditions. Saving €100 per month for a year with quotes from freetocompare.ie

Best: AIB Parent saver €1,232.50

Avoid: Bank of Ireland Easysaver €1,206.50

Saving: €26

Electricity

Save a few polar bears and a big wodge of cash by switching your electricity away from the ESB. Green (or somewhat green) energy provider Airtricity is up to 13 per cent cheaper than the ESB. But Bord Gais Energy is up to 14 per cheaper in the first year, if you sign a direct debit and are a gas customer already. Switch to Bord Gais for a year and then over to Airtricity. On an average bill of €200 per month.

Best: Bord Gais €172 per month

Avoid: ESB €200

Saving: €336 per year

Car hire

You'll need a PhD in spoofery to get to the bottom of foreign holiday car rental costs, but there are big savings to be had by sniffing around online. Renting a cheapo economy motor for two weeks in Marbella next summer for a 35-year-old male with a full licence.

Best: freetocompare.ie €414.58

Avoid: Avis €571.79

Saving: €157.21

Sunday Independent

The Kingdom 9/7/09

KERRY consumers looking to cash in on a good deal in these recessionary times should check out ireland's newest online price comparison service, freetocompare.ie.

It enables consumers to compare Irish financial products, broadband, mobile phones, travel and shopping, free of charge.

Research shows that a huge percentage of Irish people do not compare more than three providers when they are making a purchase, and the main reason for this is the hassle and inconvenience of checking the prices from different sources. freetocompare.ie aims to simplify the process by allowing the consumer to compare all the products in a particular sector in the one place.

 

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Free energy survey

The ESB are now providing a free energy survey which will enable the consumer to save money on their energy costs.The reference name of the survey is called "HALO" and if you log on to www.esb.ie you will be able to get more info and apply and see if you qualify! There are a few questions that you need to answer and your house needs to have built before 1980.

The initial survey is free and will suggest the areas in your home where improvements can be made.The survey will look at how efficient your house is being insulated at the moment and your lighting costs and heating costs .You will be provided with a report on how savings can be made and also how to improve your energy use.www.freetocompare.ie