Fraud is recorded every two minutes in the UK
Money Talk is intended to inform and educate; it's not financial advice. Affiliate links, including from Amazon, are used to help fund it. If you make a purchase via a link marked with an *, Money Talk might receive a commission at no cost to you. Find out more here.
What to read right now…
The International Monetary Fund has released its annual World Economic Outlook and it seems the UK is braced for a slow 2024.
Meanwhile, millions of Brits are still not coping financially, and lots of people are downsizing to save money.
The good news is that fraud has fallen since record highs of 2022 – but a new case is still recorded every two minutes.
Which makes this a good time to resurface this piece on what to do if you’ve fallen victim to a scam.
Finally, an interesting longer read on the broken council tax system.
The deal that’s a steal…
Thinking about booking a spa experience or getaway?
SpaSeekers* is currently offering up to 7% off all bookings.
To get the discount, use the code BDAYTREAT7 at checkout.
There are experiences that start from just £12, and you can even pay with your Tesco Clubcard points.
And an actual freebie…
Santander is giving away free four-year railcards again.
These travel discount cards work in the same way as the other railcards* offered by National Rail.
You get a third off your rail fare, with a minimum fare of £12 during peak travel periods.
However, the offer is only open to new customers aged 20 to 25 on 30 June 2024.
You have to open an Everyday, Santander Edge or Santander Edge Up current account by 30 April 2024, and pay in at least £500 by 14 May 2024.
Then you should receive a code to redeem for either a physical or digital railcard.
If you only do one thing…
Sign this petition to end service charge abuse.
The aim is to push the government to “create a new body that is empowered to monitor and regulate private, council, and housing association service charges, and impose meaningful penalties for unfair or unreasonable service charges.”
The goal ultimately is of course to stop the often extortionate and unreasonable service charges homeowners and renters have to pay.
Over 10,000 people have signed the petition already, which means it will get a response from the government.
However, 100,000 signatures are needed for the issue to be considered for debate in parliament.
