News

Money saving tips.

Health insurance

If you hold a health insurance policy, you could make substantial savings by reviewing your current plan this year. In a bid to win new customers, VHI, Quinn Healthcare and AVIVA Health have launched plans with reduced rates and, in some instances, even better benefits. You may not even need to switch insurer in order to save money. You can switch at any time – you don’t have to wait until your renewal date. If you decide to switch, your insurer can’t impose any additional waiting periods on you unless you are upgrading your cover.

Medicine and personal care goods

Save money by shopping for over-the-counter medicines and personal care goods in supermarkets rather than pharmacies. Recent research carried out by the National Consumer Agency revealed price differences of up to 160% between retailers.* Where possible, you should also ask for a generic drug when purchasing medicines, as these are usually a few Euro cheaper.

Tax

You can claim back for overpaid taxes for a period of up to four years. You could be entitled to a substantial amount of money. For example, if you are a full-time teacher paying tax at 41% and you haven’t been claiming for your flat rate expenses or Teaching Council allowances. There are many other tax allowances that you may also be missing out on, so you should check your entitlements..

Life cover

Have you reviewed your life cover policy lately? A lot of people don’t realise that there may be a better deal out there. For example, a review of a typical policy could save up to €412 in year one and in excess of €10,300 over the full term of the policy.** You should take the following steps when it comes to reviewing your cover:

1. Check what cover you already have in place and how much you are paying for it. 2. Don’t forget to check the cover you may have through your Salary Protection, Superannuation, and any other pension schemes. 3. Decide if this cover meets your individual/family needs. 4. If you think you don’t have enough cover or that you may be over insured, then take action now!

Electricity

Bord Gáis Energy and Airtricity are currently offering customers savings of up to 13% on their electricity bill by switching from ESB. You could save over €135 per annum on a bi-monthly bill of €200.*** So if you haven’t already done so, review your provider this year. To find out how much you could save on your bill, log on to www.bonkers.ie for a free comparison.

Travel

Book your train tickets online and, where possible, avoid booking in peak times, as it’s more expensive. By doing so you could save up to €31 on your return train ticket at weekends.**** If you are under age 25 then you can get a Faircard