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March 2, 2025   |   Deals

Times Plus trial offers – get 2-4-1 Everyman cinema tickets & free e-books

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Get 2-4-1 cinema tickets, free e-books and more from The Times’s digital membership, Times+.

When you subscribe to The Times you not only get to read the digital version of the newspaper (which is usually behind a paywall), but also access to its reward programme Times+.

At full price I think it’s too much, but if you can take advantage of the special trial offers that run throughout the year you’ll be able to get access to some great savings.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Times+ and be clever with your cash logo on an orange background

Times subscription deals and trials

The standard trial is one month free, but throughout the year there’s often a three months for £3 deal which is far better waiting for. Occasionally you can also get a month free trial. I’ll share the best deal below.

Times+: one month free trial

The usual offer is a one month free trial. Start the offer in the middle of a month and you’ll be able to claim the monthly freebies twice! Just remember to cancel (more on this below).

Sign up to Times+

Times+: three months for £3

This deal appeared via a pop up, so I’m not sure how long it’ll last! You’ll pay just £1 a month for the first thee months. Make sure you check the offer is showing when you click the link, in case it has changed.

Sign up to Times+

Times Plus offers

Two for one Everyman tickets each week

It’s rare to see discounts for Everyman cinemas, so this offer is a winner. You’ll be able to claim a code each week that’s valid for Wednesday only.

> More cinema deals

Free ebook every month

Every month a select title is available to download, sometimes two. This used to be Kindle books via Amazon but has now moved to a different service called Glose. You can read the titles via apps for iOS and Android.

Fee audio book every month

You also get a selected audio book for free from Glose.

Cancelling Times Plus

This can be a bit of a pain as you have to phone up to cancel your trial and they will try very hard to persuade you to stay. The last time I did this it took 15 minutes! But if you have your phone on speakerphone you can do this while you’re doing something else! 

Also, it’s important to do this early. I call up at least two weeks before the trial ends to make sure no early charges are made.

February 26, 2025   |   Deals

Apple discounts & deals

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Save when you buy tech, apps, music or anything else from Apple

Apple gift cards can be used in the Apple Store (online or on the high street), on Apple Music, the App Store for iCloud or anything else paid for via your Apple account.

This article might contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund the blog. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or the blog’s independence. Read more here.

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Apple gift card sales and deals

Apple: 10% back on gift cards at Asda (ended)

Until 5 March 2025, Asda Rewards customers (it’s free to sign up) will get 10% back to their Asda Rewards Cashpot on Apple gift cards over £50.

You can buy in store at Asda or online. If it’s the latter, make sure you use the same email address that’s used for your Asda Reward account.

Get Apple Gift cards at Asda

Apple: £10 bonus with £100 gift card (ended)

If you buy a £100 Apple gift card at Amazon, you get a £10 Amazon bonus. Use the discount code APPLELSPRI24 at checkout.

This will end on 25 March 2024.

Get a boosted Apple gift card at Amazon

February 17, 2025   |   Articles

Will you miss out on the full State Pension?

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Here’s how the State Pension works and how to get the full amount

Your State Pension is a regular payment paid out by the Government once you’ve hit your State Pension age (which is currently 66 but is slowly increasing). It could allow you to stop working earlier or wind down the amount you work in later years.

You might think that it’s pointless to care about it until you’re approaching retirement, but there are important questions you should ask, such as how much you’ll get, what age you’d be getting it, and whether you’re even eligible.

a screenshot from the State Pension website

When can you get the State Pension?

To start, let’s go back to basics. The State Pension is a guaranteed weekly income paid to you when you reach the State Pension age. You can, of course, retire earlier if you have other income sources or other pensions, but you don’t get this cash until you hit the State Pension age.

The State Pension age is 66 and it’ll keep rising — first to 67 between 2026 and 2028, impacting those born after 1960 and then to 68 years old. This latter change is meant to happen around 2044 (adding a year for those born around 1977) but could occur up to 10 years earlier between 2035 and 2039 (meaning those born after 1968).

Though of course, these ages could – and probably will – change again. I imagine I’ll be 69 when my time comes. And, it’s anticipated that anyone currently under 30 will have to wait until 70 years old to get the payments. Indeed, in 30 years there might not even be a State Pension at all anymore!

How to find out your State Pension age

The way to find out what the date will be (as things stand now) is for you is to use the State Pension age tool on the Gov.UK website.

You simply enter your date of birth and whether you’re male or female (gender only makes a difference to people already in their mid-60s) and ta-da, you’ll see your State Pension age.

Quick note – as the earlier increase to 68 is just a proposal it’s not been factored into the calculator, so add a year if you were born after 1968 to be on the safe side.

Why you should care about your State Pension now

So you now know when you’ll get it, and it could well be a long time until you reach State Pension age. Hey, for me it’s at least another 25 years! So we can forget about it until then, right?

No – there are important reasons I care now, and you should too.

It reduces how much you’ll need in your other pensions

The full amount from the State Pension might not seem much – currently just £221.20* a week and going up to £230.30 per week in April 2025.

That’s £11,502.40 per year until you die (or £11,975.60 after April 2025). If you live for 20 years after your State Pension age then it’s worth more than £230,000.

Say you’ve worked out you need £30,000 a year to live when you retire, the full State Pension means you’ll only actually need to save enough to cover £18,000 a year from your State Pension Age. That’s a much easier (and less scary) total to target.

* How much you get can get a little complicated so this is the most. I won’t go into detail here but you’ll get less if you ever “contracted out”. Or if you would have been better off under the older system, it’s possible you might get small top-ups when you retire. 

You’re not automatically entitled to it

But, you don’t automatically qualify for the State Pension. You might think it just starts when you hit the State Pension age, but you’re wrong. You need to make at least 10 years of National Insurance contributions to qualify. Less than this and you won’t get anything.

You generally make National Insurance contributions through your pay, or you might get National Insurance credits through things like child benefit, jobseekers allowance, carers allowance and maternity leave.

You might not get the full amount

That 10-year figure is the minimum. You’ll need as many as 35 years of National Insurance contributions to get the full amount. But, depending on your age, it could be a little less – more on this later. It’s well worth making sure you have made or will make enough contributions to reach this number.

If you only qualify for two-thirds of the full amount (roughly what you’d get if you only made 24 out of 35 years of full contributions) then you’d be around £3,900 worse off a year. That will make a difference.

I’ve detailed further down the article how you can check your current status and how much you’d get (at current figures).

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You might have missed some years

If you’ve been working or on certain benefits each year since school or University (or even before) then it’s likely you’ll have each year so far marked on your record as full. But if for any reason you took time out – a gap year perhaps – you’ll have a missing year.

And the closer you get to retirement, the bigger the impact any missed year will have on how much you get. But if the missed year is within the last six years you can voluntarily pay to top it up.

Of course, if you’ve got plenty of years to catch up you might not need to do this, but it’s worth thinking about if you’re approaching the time you’d like to stop working.

You won’t want to be making future contributions if you retire early

Do you want to keep working until you actually reach the State Pension age? If you can afford to retire earlier it makes sense to ensure you don’t have to keep making (voluntary) contributions when your income is low, in order to get the max State Pension available to you.

Say you’re aiming to quit in 10 years at 55 years old but have 23 years of contributions so far. You’ll either need to change your goal to 57 years old, or you’ll need to make voluntary contributions for another 2 years to reach the magic number of 35 years of contributions.

How many qualifying years do you need?

Under the new system (introduced in April 2016), you qualify for the State Pension after 10 years of contributions and will get the full rate after 35 years of contributions (this is for men born after 1951 and women born after 1953).

But as I mentioned above, it’s not going to be 35 years for everyone – it could actually be less. This is despite pretty much every major newspaper and personal finance website stating it’s now 35 years for everyone. It’s not! And I’m proof of this.

If you started making contributions before April 2016, which is going to be most people in their late 20s and some younger – the total number of years is based on a mix of the new and old systems.

For me, I only need to make a total of 30 years of full National Insurance contributions. For my wife, it’s 32 years. This is despite the fact we’ve both already contributed the same number of years so far.

A few years ago I called up the HMRC helpline to find out why this was and why so many sources reported a blanket 35 years. The answer wasn’t massively clear, but it might be down to me being a little older than her, or me earning more in some of those years. Whatever the reason, we’re both examples of people who need to pay less than 35 years – so it could well be the same for you.

How to check your State Pension record

There’s a way to check how much State Pension you’ll get when you retire, based on your current record and also if you continue paying in. You’ll also be able to see if there are any gaps.

It’s a five-minute job well worth doing so you know if you’re on track, or whether you need to take action now – and if you’re over 40 you may well need to fill in any missing gaps.

You need to request a State Pension forecast. It’s easy and doesn’t take long. You need a Government Gateway ID, and it might take five to 10 minutes to set this up. You need to validate your identity using your passport or a recent payslip, but once sorted you can find out how many years you still need to contribute to get the full amount.

In the same system, you can check your National Insurance record. You’ll see how many years you’ve already made full contributions. Add those figures and you’ll get the total number of years that you need to pay.

This page will also tell you how many more years you have left to make contributions – i.e. before you reach the State Pension age.

See if you can top-up your State Pension

Though you’ll keep gaining qualifying years when you work or claim certain benefits, you can also pay money now to fill in some gaps. This is meant to be limited to the past six years, but an increased time frame has been extended a few times.

You’ve got until 05 April 2025 (extended from the original 5 April 2023 deadline) to make back payments. This extension is for men born since April 1951 and women after April 1953. If that’s you, you can top up as far back as April 2006.

There’s a cost to any top-up – roughly £824 per full year if you do it in 2025. This is a sizeable amount, but for each year you add now, you’ll break even if you claim the State Pension for at least three years. So claim it for four years and you’ll be better off.

If you’re self-employed, then you’ll need to pay less per missing year to make it a qualifying credit. There are different rates for this.

Broadly, this isn’t going to be worth it for those under the age of 45, and probably a good few years after that. But the closer you get to state retirement age, the more likely it is you could benefit from a top-up rather than missing out on the full amount or having to keep working for longer.

Of course, those who are able to get free credits from things like missing child benefit or other benefits, should make sure they claim those to help fill any gaps.

You’ll probably want to contact the Future Pension Service on 0800 731 0175 before making any overpayments as they can advise on whether you need to. There have been huge backlogs and delays getting through (hence the extensions), so keep trying.

Alternatively, if you’re sure you want to go ahead, some might be able to make the payments via their government gateway account – it’ll show as an option when you check your current NI record.

Read next

February 12, 2025   |   ArticlesReview

Barclays Blue Rewards review: is it worth it?

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Is it worth adding the fee-paying extra to your Barclays current account?

Barclays customers generally get a poor deal for bonuses and freebies, and the Blue Rewards scheme has been pretty poor compared to other banks.

You get a 4.87% AER rate on savings and free Apple TV+. I’ve taken a look at whether it’s worth signing up.

What are Barclays Blue Rewards?

Barclays Blue Rewards is an add-on you can choose to put on your Barclays current account. You’ll need to pay a monthly fee, which is currently £5 a month. This makes it one of the most expensive add-ons for current accounts.

For the monthly amount, you get an exclusive 4.87% savings account and free Apple TV+ streaming, and other benefits come along every now and then.

Barclays Blue Rewards requirements

First, you have to have a Barclays current account. You can’t get Blue Rewards if you already have Barclays Avios Rewards, though you can change over.

Barclays Premier current account holders can no longer add this to their account, though they’ll get the Rainy Day Saver and Apple TV+.

To get the rewards you need to:

  • Deposit £800 into the current account every month
  • Pay £5 a month fee
  • Register for online banking or app banking (app only for new customers from 4 September 2024)
  • Be over 18 years old

It’s worth noting that the £800 doesn’t need to stay in the account, so you can withdraw it to a different current or savings account (or spend it), straight away.

What you get with Barclays Blue Rewards

Rainy Day Saver: 4.87% on up to £5,000

This Rainy Day Saver offers an exclusive rate of 4.76% gross / 4.87% AER for Blue Rewards members. Though you can hold up to £10 million there, you’ll only earn the rate on the first £5,000.

At the time of writing, it’s a decent rate but it can be beaten with other savings accounts. Here are some examples of what you’d make over a year:

  • Save £500 for 12 months to earn £24.35
  • Save £1,000 for 12 months to earn £48.70
  • Save £2,500 for 12 months to earn £121.75
  • Save £5,000 for 12 months to earn £243.50

It’s fully easy access, so you can take out and deposit the money as and when you want. There’s only one account per person, whether that’s in sole or joint names.

To find and open the account in the app, go to the Products tab at the bottom of the screen, click savings, then “see all accounts”. You’ll then see the Rainy Day Saver account to open. You can also open it online, over the phone or in branch.

Interest from savings is paid straight into the savings account, so if you have the full £5,000 saved you’ll want to withdraw the extra on top each month and move it to a better paying account.

Note this is different from the Blue Rewards Saver which pays far less.

Apple TV+ & MLS season pass

A new offer since June 2024 is free Apple TV+, worth £8.99 a month. This alone is worth £107.88 a year, so even with the £60 annual fee, you’re in profit.

However, there are regular free passes for Apple TV+, even for previous customers. I’ve had 25 months free in the last 41 months, and have never paid a penny! And even if you’re happy to pay full price for it, there’s really not enough content on there to justify a whole year.

You can also add on Apple’s Major League Soccer (MLS) season pass for free, which if you would pay for normally could represent a decent saving as it costs £99 for a year.

1% cashback

From September to November 2024 there was 1% cashback on spending with your Barclays debit card. This may return again this year. It was a decent offering but since it was only temporary and can be matched or beaten elsewhere it’s not a reason to sign up for or stick with Blue Rewards.

Exclusive offers

From time to time there are other offers and competitions. The main one to check is up to 15% cashback at selected brands via the Barclays Cashback Rewards feature – though you can also get this for free via a Barclaycard.

Are Barclays Blue Rewards worth it?

Andy’s Analysis

Blue Rewards have always been the poor cousin to better schemes from Halifax and Lloyds, and even NatWest/RBS.

The changes in 2024 and the rate drop in 2025 put not just Blue Rewards, but also Barclays, right at the bottom of the pile. When you look at everything you get, you need to decide if £60 a year is worth it.

I think not.

Yes, the savings account could be worth up to £243.50 per year, but you can get similar or better rates elsewhere, especially when you factor in that monthly fee, which brings the effective interest rate down to 3.56% if you save the full £5,000.

I also don’t think signing up for the Apple TV+ perk is worth it. You’ll save money versus full price, but could pay less by deal hunting and only signing up for the streamer in the months there’s something you want to watch.

How to sign up for Barclays Blue Rewards

First, you need to have a Barclays current account. Once you’ve got this, you need to sign up for Blue Rewards from your online banking or the app.

How to cancel Barclays Blue Rewards

If you decide you don’t want to continue with Blue Rewards you can easily cancel it in your online or app banking. I did in on the app in just a few seconds.

  • Open up your app and choose Blue Rewards from the home screen
  • Scroll down to the bottom of the screen
  • Select “Leave Barclays Blue Rewards”
  • Tick the box at the bottom of the screen
  • Press the “Confirm” button

Any money you have left or pending in the Blue Rewards wallet will be moved to your current account. If you want to re-join, you’ll have to wait at least two days.

Alternatives to Blue Rewards

Barclays isn’t the only bank to offer extras, and many have benefits without having to save any money. You could choose to switch your account to a different bank (and maybe nab a switching bonus) or you can simply open up extra current accounts.

I’ve gone into detail on the best reward current accounts here, though here are my picks and links to reviews with further details:

Read next

January 1, 2025   |   Articles

The best reward current accounts

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How to earn rewards & freebies from your bank

There are a number of reasons to change your bank, with switching bonuses, cashback and interest often a big draw. However, the easiest ones are often ‘reward’ accounts as they usually require very little effort to make something extra every month – and you don’t even need to switch to get them.

From free cinema tickets to a fiver paid to your account each month, they’re certainly better than the accounts we’re all used to which give nothing in return.

But they aren’t without some drawbacks, including fees and requirements that you set up direct debits or deposit money each month.

So whether you’re just after one account or are happy to game the system for a handful, here’s how they work and my picks of the ones to go for.

** Update – the Halifax Reward Extra perks will end for new customers in June 2025, and for all in September. Here’s what we know so far**

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

Rather watch than read? Here’s my video review of reward current accounts

What is a reward bank account?

Here’s how reward accounts work:

You can earn monthly cash or freebies

Some accounts offer cash, some offer a freebies and others give you the choice between cash and freebies.

Reward accounts come with a fee

These benefits aren’t actually free! All the accounts charge a monthly fee. Some you can avoid by paying in a certain amount of money each month. Others you’ll need to take into account when working out how much you’ll make.

You might have to ‘claim’ the reward

Though some will pay the reward into your account, others (NatWest or RBS) put the money in a separate rewards wallet which you have to manually withdraw. It’s a bit pointless really.

And if you’re claiming a non-cash reward then you will have to select it, though you shouldn’t have to do anything else each month.

There will be additional requirements

Some reward account require you to either set up direct debits or pay in a minimum amount each month.

Here are the typical ones. You’re unlikely to be required to do all of them, probably just one or two.

Set up direct debits

Often banks require one or two direct debits, sometimes with a minimum value. Though ‘active’ usually means the money has to have been paid in the last year, the banks that use this only pay you the months a direct debit is paid.

It’s not such a huge issue as if you pay bills you’ve all got direct debits you could use – though they might be better suited to a cashback current account.

If that’s the case direct debits can easily be set up for other things too, such as credit card bills, memberships, subscriptions and charity donations. Here’s our guide to where to find additional and cheap direct debits.

Pay money in each month

Reward accounts often require a minimum deposit each month. This is to encourage you to pay your salary there. You can do that easily if you want – just tell your HR department of the new details.

But you don’t have to. It’s easy to transfer money in from a different current account via a standing order. You can do this as one lump sum or break it into smaller amounts over the month if that’s better for you.

And it doesn’t have to stay there either. You can transfer it back out straight away.

Spend on your debit card

A couple of accounts require you to spend on the debit card too. You can do this as part of your regular spending but it does mean you’ll miss out on cashback from a different card. Once again there are ways to get around this, as explained in this Halifax Reward hack article.

Use your internet banking or the app

You might also need to log in to your banking app or online account once a month to qualify for the reward. It’s worth setting a reminder in your calendar to do this if it’s not an account you’re using regularly.

My top reward bank accounts

Here’s my opinion on the different reward accounts.

Club Lloyds account

  • What you get: six free cinema tickets (Vue or Odeon), a year of Disney+ with Ads, a magazine subscription OR a dining membership
  • Exclusive savings: 6.25% regular saver
  • Monthly fee: £3, though refunded if you pay in £2,000 a month
  • What it’s really worth each year: between £40 (magazine subscription) to £60 (equivalent value of six £10 cinema tickets)
  • Requirements: none
  • Maximum number of accounts: one individual and one joint

The Club Lloyd account is my top pick as it’s the easiest one to get. There’s no reason why you can’t just open this up (ideally via a switching bonus), set up a standing order to pay the £2,000 in (and out) each month, and keep claiming your reward.

You can have one personal and one joint account and claim the rewards on both, so that’s potentially three between a couple.

Here’s my full review of the account, where I break down which freebie “Lifestyle Benefit” I feel gives the best value.

Read customer reviews at Smart Money People

The best bank switch bonuses

Check out our list of all the bank switch offers you can get when opening a new current account

the best bank switch offers on a blue background

Halifax Reward account

  • What you get: £5 a month, one Vue ticket a month, OR 3 digital magazines a month subscription
  • Monthly fee: £3, though refunded if you pay in £1,500 a month
  • What it’s really worth each year: £60 (if you go for the cash option) to up to £120 (if a cinema ticket costs £10)
  • Requirements: £500 spend on your debit card or £5,000 held in the account
  • Maximum number of accounts: three per person

You get more from the Halifax Reward account so it was a close call between the two accounts for my top spot – you just need to jump through an extra hoop to get this one.

To get your choice of reward (more on how the account works and what you can get in my review here) you need to spend £500 a month on your debit card or save £5,000 every month.

To start I wasn’t a fan of this as it meant missing out on interest elsewhere or on cashback from my cashback debit and credit cards.

But I’ve since found a workaround where you use your Halifax debit card for other payments, such as paying off your credit card or adding money into an NS&I or Chip saving account.

So with this in mind it should be an easy reward to claim and well worth having it alongside the Club Lloyds account.

In fact, you can have three individual accounts and earn three lots of rewards, meaning you can earn £180 a year in total. I’ve explained all – and how to get around the requirements – in this Halifax Rewards hack article.

Read customer reviews at Smart Money People

Monzo Perks account

  • What you get: an annual railcard, one free Vue ticket a month, a free Greggs treat a week
  • Monthly fee: £7 (£84 a year)
  • What it’s really worth each year:
  • Requirements: £500 spend on your debit card or £5,000 held in the account
  • Maximum number of accounts: three per person

If you need a railcard (worth £35), go to a Vue each month (let’s say 12 times £6, so £72) and pick up a £2 Greggs treat twice a month (£52 a year), you’d be well in profit versus the £7 monthly fee. Of course, that’s only good if you actually need those things!

We’ve written up a full review of the Monzo Perks account so you can decide if it’s for you or not.

Other reward accounts

For completion, here are the other main reward current accounts. It might be worth looking at these if you already bank with them, or if there’s a switching offer on top.

NatWest or RBS Reward account

  • What you get: £5 a month reward
  • Exclusive savings: 6.17% Digital Regular Saver (available to all current account holders)
  • Monthly fee: £2
  • What it’s really worth each after the fee: £36
  • Requirements: two direct debits of at least £2 each and log into your account once a month, deposit £1,250 a month
  • Maximum number of accounts: one personal and one joint from NatWest and one personal and one joint from RBS

This account used to be a favourite of mine, but since its revamp a few years ago it’s not really worth it unless you have direct debits to spare or open it up when a switching offer is running.

The Rewards account is one where you have to log in to a separate ‘MyRewards’ account to claim your bonus. You can send it as cash to your account, donate it to charity, or top it up as an e-gift card payment.

Here’s more on how the account works. It’s the same for the Reward account offered by RBS.

Read customer reviews at Smart Money People

Barclays Blue Rewards

  • What you get: free Apple TV+
  • Exclusive savings: 4.87% Rainy Day Saver on up to £5,000
  • Monthly fee: £5 (£60 a year)
  • What it’s really worth each year after the fee: £57.88
  • Requirements: pay in £800 each month
  • Maximum number of accounts: one

This one is no longer worth it in my opinion, though if you are committed to paying for Apple TV+ every month (which costs £8.99) then this will save you close to £58 over the year. However I think most people are better off just paying full price for Apple one or two months a year and binging the content.

If you decide you want to do that, then you’ll also get access to a 4.87% paying savings account on balances worth up to £5,000.

Here’s my Blue Rewards review.

Read customer reviews at Smart Money People

The best savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular, easy-access, fixed and ethical savings accounts

TSB Spend and Save Account

  • What you get: £5 cashback for the first six months
  • Exclusive savings: 6 Monthly Saver (available to all current account holders)
  • Monthly fee: £0
  • What you’ll really get each year: £30
  • Requirements: make 20 payments a month
  • Maximum number of accounts: at least one personal and one joint

TSB Spend and Save Plus Account

  • What you get: £5 cashback
  • Monthly fee: £3
  • What you’ll really get each year after the fee: £24
  • Requirements: make 20 payments a month
  • Maximum number of accounts: at least one personal and one joint

I’m not a fan of these accounts either as you’ve got to make 20 debit card payments each month to get a fiver. And the reward only lasts for the first six months. Once for completists only. You can however get an extra £30 cashback from Quidco for switching.

Like the free TSB Spend and Save account you’ll earn £5 a month, but you won’t be limited to the first six months. After the £3 monthly fee you’ll make £24 a year. However, you still have to make 3-20 card payments which I think is a stretch when there are better paying cashback cards out there.

Read customer reviews at Smart Money People

Should you get a reward current account?

Andy’s Analysis

If you’re comfortable with multiple current accounts then I’d definitely look at getting the Lloyds and Halifax accounts.

After this I’d only bother with the NatWest and RBS accounts if I already had one, or get one via a switching bonus.

Even I can’t be bothered with the TSB rewards due to the faff, while the fee for Barclays just doesn’t add up for most.

Having multiple reward accounts

As I’ve said many times, there’s no reason why you only have to have one current account – and that means you can have multiple reward accounts too.

You’ll usually only be allowed one personal reward account with each bank, though it does vary, and most let you can have an extra one as a joint account too. That means you could potentially have three accounts in a household, and three times the rewards.

But the more you have, the more you have to do to be eligible. Some are easy to overcome, others might make it less worthwhile.

Recirculating your inbound payments

Most people should be able to cover the minimum deposit payments for one reward current account. And if you have more than one then it’s easy to repeat for the others by moving the same money between each account.

I actually do this via a standing order where the money automatically goes from bank to bank to hit the eligibility threshold, with it eventually coming full circle back to my original account.

Covering the fees

This is a bit of faff, but manageable. Since some of the accounts charge a fee but don’t pay the reward directly into your account, you’ll have to make sure there’s enough in there each month to cover this charge. You’ll also need to remember to transfer the reward over each month too.

Running out of direct debits

If you have multiple reward accounts then you might quickly run out of direct debits. It used to be you could set up a couple of £1 ones for charities, but the banks have cottoned on to this and made it pretty pointless.

For example, NatWest give you £2 back for each direct debit, but the DD needs to be at least £2. So if you’re setting up a new payment just to get the reward, you won’t actually be any better off.

Of course you could see it as free cash for charity – which is great – but it does require a bit of effort.

Alternatives to reward accounts

Of course, there could be a better bank out there which should be your priority. Things like overdraft fees or savings account rates might be more important to you. Digital banks like Starling and Monzo have great features to help you budget, or perhaps you want to make sure you have access to a branch.

And of course it might work out more profitable to go for switching bonuses or cashback on your bills via Santander or on spending via Chase.

Read next

January 1, 2025   |   Articles

Refer-a-friend: get paid when your friends use your financial referral

Written by

Some banks and other financial companies offer you a cash payout for referring a friend

Word of mouth is a pretty good way of finding great financial companies, and some companies will even give you a freebie for referring a friend. From bank accounts to investment platforms, here are some of the financial companies that pay for your referral.

Latest bank switch offers (A-Z)

As of 03/02/2026

Click links for further details and analysis

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

investengine refer a friend on a yellow background

Bank refer-a-friend schemes

Very simply, the banks are asking you to recommend them to your friends and family. In return they’ll give you a sweetener that is paid into your account. In the past, both TSB and Nationwide have offered £100 for referring friends, however sadly neither bank offers it anymore. 

To be able to get the referral money, you need to have an account with the bank in order to play matchmaker, but once you do it’s a nice way to earn a little extra. And often your friends will get something in return too. Here’s what you need to know for each scheme.

Monzo refer-a-friend offer

Monzo offers a referral offer that changes from time to time. At the moment, this is £10 for you and a friend. Your friend needs to accept your invite and make their first card payment within 30 days.

Revolut refer-a-friend offer

Revolut routinely offers referral offers that change fairly often. These can range between getting £10 per referred friend to £60, so it’s worth trying to time it when there’s the best offer available.

Monese refer-a-friend bonus

Monese offers £10 via its invite and earn program. You’ll get £5 when you use the card for the first time and the rest after you’ve spent £500 with the card.

Bank switch offers 

If you don’t have any friends to refer you, then you can try a bank switch offer. For these, you’ll need to close your old account completely. However, as part of the Current Account Switch Guarantee, all your Direct Debits and standing orders will be transferred, and any payments in (such as your salary) and out will be forwarded. We have a separate guide with all of the current best bank switch offers if you’re up for one of these, but here are the top ones.

Bank Switches
Our top pick

TSB up to £230 switch offer

Customer rating 3.5/5
  • Switch bonus
    £150
  • Offer ends
    Unknown
  • Additional bonus
    £50 + £30
  • FSCS Protected? Yes
  • Bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service, close the old account, use the debit card 5 times and log in to online or app banking by 20 March 2026.
  • Existing customers? Yes
  • Extra bonus Extra £50 when you deposit at least £1,000 in April
  • Extra bonus requirements For monthly £5 cashback, make 20 debit card transactions per calendar month
  • Bonus paid £150 paid by 7 April 2026 and £50 paid by 31 May 2026
  • Restrictions You can't have already have received a TSB switching bonus since 1 October 2022. Offer limited to once per person and account
  • Extra cashback You can get up to £40 via Quidco (rates may change)
  • Cashback requirements When going via a cashback site, you also need to make two debit payments in three of the four months from opening and pay in £500 a month in three of the four months from opening
Our top pick

Santander £200 switch offer + £25 Amazon Gift Card

Customer rating 3.8/5
  • Switch bonus
    £200
  • Offer ends
    Unknown
  • Extra bonus
    £25 Amazon Gift Card
  • FSCS Protected? Yes
  • Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
  • Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
  • Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
  • Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
  • Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
  • Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account
  • £25 Amazon Gift Card requirements To qualify for the gift card, you need to complete a full switch using CASS, and make five debit card transactions within 30 days of opening the account
View Deal
Our top pick

Nationwide £175 switch offer

Customer rating 4.3/5
  • Switch bonus
    £175
  • Offer ends
    Unknown
  • FSCS Protected? Yes
  • Bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 28 days of starting the switch and make one debit card transaction within 31 days. The old account must be from a different bank.
  • Deposit requirements Deposit £1,000 within 31 days
  • Direct debits transferred over Transfer two direct debits
  • Existing customers? Yes
  • Restrictions You can't have received a bonus from a switching offer since 18 August 2021. Offer limited to once per person per account type, but you can get it on both personal and joint.
  • Eligible accounts FlexPlus, FlexDirect or FlexAccount
  • Bonus paid Within 10 days of the switch completing
Our top pick

first direct £175 switch offer

Customer rating 4.7/5
  • Switch bonus
    £175
  • Offer ends
    Unknown
  • FSCS Protected? Yes
  • Bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service, close the old account and use your debit card five times and log into online banking in the first 45 days
  • Deposit requirements Pay in £1,000 within 30 days of opening the account (and leave it there for 24 hours)
  • Direct debits transferred over Move two direct debits or standing orders from your old bank
  • Existing customers? No
  • Restrictions You can't have or have ever had a First Direct account or have opened an HSBC account since 1 January 2018. Offer limited to once per person
  • Cashback requirements Extra £35 if you apply via cashback site Quidco or TopCashback (rates vary)
Our top pick

The Co-operative Bank up to £175 switch offer

Customer rating 3.4/5
  • Switch bonus
    £100
  • Offer ends
    Unknown
  • Additional bonus
    £75
  • FSCS Protected? Yes
  • Bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close old account within 8 weeks of requesting. Plus, make at least 10 debit card payments and register for online banking or mobile banking within 30 days of the switch.
  • Deposit requirements Deposit £1,000 in the first 30 days of completing the switch
  • Direct debits transferred over Have two active direct debits within 30 days of completing the switch
  • Restrictions Can't have already have a bonus from Co-operative Bank since 1 November 2022. Offer limited to one welcome offer per person and account
  • Eligible accounts New or existing Standard or Everyday Extra current account
  • Extra bonus £75
  • Extra bonus requirements Make 10 debit card transactions a month for three months. Payout 2 direct debits every month for three months. Deposit £1,000 every month for three months. Extra bonus paid within 7 days of each "month" ending.
  • Bonus paid Within 7 days of meeting the criteria

HSBC Premier £750 switch offer

Customer rating 3.5/5
  • Switch bonus
    up to £750
  • Offer ends
    23 February 2026
  • Extra perk
    Worldwide travel insurance and private GP for the family
  • Requirements
    Income or savings of £100k
This is a Premier Bank account, so not everyone will qualify for it
  • FSCS Protected? Yes
  • Offer details Open a Premier account by 23 February 2026 and switch using the Current Account Switch Service by 30 April 2026 with a salary of £100k+ for £250; and/or transfer £100k+ of savings/investments, and maintain your balance for 3 months for £500
  • Eligibility Meet one of the following criteria: Have an individual annual income of at least £100,000, and pay it into your HSBC Premier Bank Account, have savings or investments of at least £100,000 with HSBC in the UK, or already qualify for HSBC Premier in another country.
  • Travel insurance HSBC Premier gets you Worldwide Travel Insurance for your whole family.
  • Mortgage benefit Preferential mortgage rates, and some higher-net-worth customers can get additional international support.
  • Healthcare benefits Includes digital GP access, a second medical opinion, specialist advice, remote physiotherapy, mental health support and a health check kit to test over 20 key markers. This is for the whole family, including you, your partner and any dependents under 23. It’s also got Cancer Bereavement Cover, which pays out £2,000 if you pass away from a cancer related cause.

Credit card referral schemes

While there are quite a number of credit card referral schemes out there, you need to think carefully before recommending a credit card to someone as you’d want to be confident that they can manage the payments. 

American Express refer-a-friend offer

If you refer a friend for the  American Express Cashback Credit Card and they successfully apply then you’ll get £30 (up to £150 per calendar year) and they get £25, which makes it fee-free. 

They’ll also get the normal introductory offer, currently 5% cashback for three months up to £125. Other Amex cards have similar schemes though the rate might vary. It’s also possible for your friend to get a similar bonus via cashback sites but you’ll miss out. We have a full guide on the best American Express cards. 

Vanquis credit card refer-a-friend offer

Vanquis also offers £25 to you and your friend if you recommend someone to their credit card, but this isn’t a cashback credit card so there’s probably a better reward out there for your friend – even if it means you don’t get your referral bonus.

Savings account refer-a-friend offers

Plum refer a friend offer

Savings app Plum sometimes has referral schemes that let you refer a friend for a savings account. Your referred friend usually needs to deposit a certain amount to get the payout, but this’ll depend on the T&Cs at the time. 

Investing refer-a-friend offers

Investment accounts also tend to have refer-a-friend offers. If you don’t already have an account with some of them, you can sign up with our link to get free shares or cashback. Here are some of the offers.

Here at Be Clever With Your Cash, we’re not regulated to give you financial advice. We aim to give you the facts about a provider or investment but it’s up to you to decide if it’s suitable for you. If you’re looking for more personalised guidance, find a financial adviser who can give you specific advice. Remember that your capital is at risk when investing — don’t invest more than you are prepared to lose. 

Trading 212 refer-a-friend offer

Trading 212 routinely offers a refer-a-fried promotion that can get both you and your friend free fractional shares when they sign up using your link. You can check if this is running by going into the Menu – if there’s an option called ‘Get free shares’, then it’s currently running. You then choose ‘invite friends’.

Hit ‘share link’ to share your referral link, which you can then send to your friends. They need to sign up and deposit £1 within 10 days.  Within three working days of your friend signing up and depositing at least £1. 

If you’re not already a Trading 212 customer, you can get a free fractional share using our referral. 

InvestEngine refer-a-friend offer

InvestEngine’s refer-a-friend offer can get you and your friend a bonus between £20 & £100 when your friend invests at least £100.

To get it, you need to send your friend your referral link. They then need to sign up, choose investments and fund the account with at least £100. You’ll both then get a notification to generate your welcome bonus. 

It’ll land in your accounts within five business days. 

You can refer up to 25 friends but you have to keep your bonus invested for at least 12 months before you can withdraw it.

If you don’t have InvestEngine yet, you can still get a welcome bonus via our link.

Expired refer-a-friend deals

Nationwide referral bonus

This was one of the best refer-a-fiend offers when it ran, but it’s sadly ended. Both you and your friend could get £100 when you referred them. However, higher paying bank switch offers regularly run.

TSB refer a friend bonus

This was another refer-a-friend offer that ended on 28 February 2020. You and your friend could get £100 each as long as they completed a full switch that included two active direct debits and paid £500 into the account. 

First Direct referral bonus

First Direct used to offer a  referral scheme, but this was put on hold and never returned. When it ran, you could get between £50 and £100.

Santander refer a friend bonus

The Santander referral offer ended in June 2019. It got you and your friend a £50 Amazon voucher for a full switch. 

Read next

December 16, 2024   |   Articles

Gift cards: should you ever use or buy them?

Written by

Gift cards are a popular present option, but they have some major downsides.

From birthday and Christmas through to leaving and wedding gifts, at some point, we’ve all received and purchased gift cards. It makes sense – they’re an easy choice when you don’t know what to buy someone. The issue is that every time you buy a gift card you risk losing the cash on it.

The majority of the time you’ll be fine, but there are a few risks of gift cards, many of which can be reduced or avoided. Still, to be safe you need to know the good and bad of gift cards.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

When gift cards are bad

I’ll lead with the dangers of gift cards – the reasons you could find your gift card is wasted cash.

Gift cards prevent you shopping around

One of the key tenets of Being Clever With Your Cash is getting the best deal. The easiest way to do this is very simple – shop around for the best price.

Yet if you have a gift card to use at Shop A, but the best price for what you want is at Shop B, you’ve no choice but to buy it from Shop A.

Ok, so it’s not the end of the world if we’re talking about a few quid, but you won’t want to miss out on larger savings.

And what if the shop you have a gift card for doesn’t have anything you want? You’ll end up using it to buy something you don’t need and probably won’t use. It’s a waste of money.

Refunds go back to a gift card

Another big risk of buying with a gift card becomes apparent if you need to return your purchase.

The money will go back to a gift card for the same shop. This is less of an issue if you shop frequently at the retailer, but what if it’s a one-off purchase?

It’s particularly bad if it’s a large purchase leaving hundreds of quid on a gift card rather than in your bank account.

This is why I never purchase discounted gift cards for anything I’m not certain about.

You also need to be careful here that you don’t chuck out your gift cards once you’ve used them. While most retailers will issue a new gift card, some will require the funds to go back to the original card.

Be aware that online purchases could also be refunded to credit that can only be used online. John Lewis is one worth highlighting here.

Say you’ve got a paper or plastic gift card you can use at both John Lewis & Waitrose shops and websites. Use it on the John Lewis website and any refunds are in credit just to use online only at John Lewis – but not Waitrose.

They often have hidden expiration dates

Most gift cards will have an expiration date. If you don’t use them before this date you lose the cash. That’s fine with paper vouchers, and most sent by email, where you can see this date in black and white.

But you need to be particularly careful with plastic gift cards. These can be loaded with different amounts at purchase, which means the details printed on them are often generic.

This makes it hard to see when the card expires, or how much is left on them. This means that a huge number will expire unused.

There are also different rules for different cards. Sometimes they’ll be valid for a set period, perhaps one or two years. Others will be valid for a certain time since they were last used. But it’s not always clear which is which.

Some, such as the One4All card will start charging you a monthly fee after a certain time (with One4All it’s 90p per month after 18 months).

The best way to prevent them from expiring (other than using them straight away) is to make a note of when you bought/received the card and its value. Then each time you use it, make a note of the date and new value, or keep your receipts with it, they typically have details of what’s left on the card.

It can be hard to spend the full amount

Often you’ll find that if you don’t use the gift card in one go you’ll be left with a few quid, or even pennies, left over. They’re not enough to buy something outright, so you keep hold of the card until you next go to that retailer.

And then you forget. And that money sits there until the card expires. More wasted money.

There can be limits on using multiple cards

If you’re asking multiple people to give you cards to go towards a purchase, check if there’s a limit to how many cards you can use in a single transaction.

Marks & Spencer and Curry’s, for example, will only allow 10 to be used at once.

There’s no protection with a gift card

Spending with a credit or debit card can give you some advantages over gift cards. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act protects credit card purchases over £100, while the Chargeback scheme for credit and debit cards is a route if you’ve problems with purchases under £100. 

If you pay with gift cards, or cash for that matter, you lose this protection.

And much like cash, if you lose your gift card there’s no way of getting it back. So try not to carry too many gift cards around with you.

They can be worthless if the shop goes bust

We’ve seen a succession of high street staples shut their doors over the last few years, and when this happens the administrators don’t have to honour any gift cards. 

A few years ago Arcadia only allowed gift cards to be used for half the total purchase, with the rest covered by another form of payment – forcing people to spend extra money so they didn’t lose the value of the cards.

Often shops closing down just stop accepting outstanding cards. Jessops, HMV and Peacocks all made gift cards and vouchers worthless overnight when they entered administration.

It’s also unlikely that buying gift cards on a credit card and using Section 75 would help you get your money back in these situations as gift card balances are usually far less than £100.

If, despite this, you still want to give a card, it would be wise to avoid any retailer which appears to be struggling.

When gift cards are good

That’s one long list of negatives when it comes to gift cards… but there are a handful of times when they can be worth the risk.

When you get an extra discount

You don’t have to buy them as gifts – you can buy them for yourself for your own shopping. And that can be a good thing when you’re able to buy discounted gift cards.


It could mean you pay less for your everyday shopping, including at places where it’s hard to find offers. For instance, though small you could get 2% back at Amazon or 4% at the supermarket – better than the rate you’ll get from a cashback credit or debit card.

And since the gift cards are like cash, you can stack them with other promotions and savings, such as in tandem with Meerkat Movies at the cinema, or with BOGOF offers.

The top places to look for these are:

For example, I often get an extra 6% off John Lewis gift vouchers via my Scottish Friendly ISA perks. It comes as an email but I print it out and I’m able to use it both online and in-person at the department store and in Waitrose.

Supermarkets often run promotions on selected gift cards, such as Spotify, Pizza Express, Cineworld and Footlocker. If we spot decent deals we’ll share them on our gift card deals page.

When you spend them straight away

The main way to avoid the bulk of risks outlined above is to spend your gift card as soon as you get it! That way they can’t expire, be lost or lose their value of the shop goes bust.

When you can use them on lots of things

If you’re set on buying a gift card for someone then you could look at one you can use at multiple retailers.

Though there’s always the risk that the companies selling these could go out of business themselves, you’ve got a choice where you shop. The main ones are One4All and Love2Shop.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-at-Large Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Thursday.

Listen now
Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

Alternatives to gift cards

Really you’re better off giving cash, sending a cheque or transferring money to a bank account. Yes these can feel lazy and seem impersonal. But really, is that very different from a gift card?

I know people worry that the money will just disappear from a bank account on everyday spending than buy something special. That certainly is a risk, but you can steer someone to use the gifted money in a certain way.

Perhaps you can say “use this for a nice meal out”. Or to “put it towards a new winter coat”. Hopefully if you suggest this you’ll get a nice text or email sharing when and where it is spent.

And don’t be put off sending a cheque (if you’re still got a chequebook). There are a number of banks now that let you pay in a cheque via the app.

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December 13, 2024   |   Articles

What are inflation and deflation?

Written by
CPI, RPI and core inflation explained

Prices are changing all the time, usually upwards, and the rate these changes are measured is generally called inflation. However there are a few different options here, so we’ve broken down what they all mean, and why they matter.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

What is inflation?

Inflation is a measurement that helps us track the price increase of goods and services over time. 

It compares the cost of things today with how much they cost a year ago. And the average increase in prices is what we call the inflation rate. 

Let’s take a loaf of bread as an example. If it costs £1 to buy a loaf today and next year it costs £1.10, the annual inflation for that loaf of bread is 10%. 

And falling inflation doesn’t mean prices will go down. If a rate moves from 5% to 4% month on month prices are still increasing, they’re just doing so at a slightly slower rate.

What is deflation?

Deflation works the opposite way and tracks the rate that prices decrease for goods and services over time. 

So looking at that loaf of bread again. If it costs £1 to buy a loaf today but that falls to 90p next year, then the deflation rate would be -10%.

What’s the latest inflation rate?

Inflation is measured over a 12 month period, with the latest figures announced in the middle of each month. You can find out current rates in our UK Inflation: what is the current rate? article.

How is UK inflation measured?

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is in charge of measuring inflation in the UK and publishes figures each month to show how prices have changed. 

There are three common measures of inflation; Consumer Prices Index (CPI), Consumer Prices Index with Housing (CPIH) and the Retail Price Index (RPI). 

This can get a little confusing at first with all of the different figures, but the breakdown below shows how each one works and how relevant it is to you. 

CPI inflation

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the UK’s official measure of inflation and the rate you’re likely to see make headlines. 

For CPI, the ONS tracks around 180,000 prices of 700 hundred everyday items in an imaginary shopping basket (called the basket of goods) to work out the inflation rate. 

These everyday items and services fall into one of the following categories: 

  • Food & non-alcoholic beverages
  • Alcohol & tobacco
  • Clothing & footwear
  • Housing & household services
  • Furniture & household goods
  • Health
  • Transport
  • Communication
  • Recreation & culture
  • Education
  • Restaurants & hotels
  • Miscellaneous goods & services

The basket of goods gets reviewed each year to make sure that it gives an accurate picture of how price rises relate to our spending habits and patterns.

This means that products and services might get added to the basket each month, while others are taken out.  

What is core inflation?

Another measurement for inflation you may have come across is “core inflation.” Core inflation tracks the same goods and services as CPI but doesn’t include food, energy, alcohol and tobacco. 

These are taken out as they’re generally seen as the most volatile, so core inflation should give us a better understanding of how prices are changing outside of the everyday essentials.

What’s in the basket of goods?

Inflation in the UK is measured by looking at the price changes for an imaginary shopping basket, known as the “basket of goods.”

The basket includes lots of products and services that we use and tends to change to reflect our spending habits to make sure that the inflation rate is relevant.

The contents are refreshed each year, and in March 2024, 16 were added to the basket including air fryers, vinyl music and gluten free bread. Items that have been taken out of the basket include hand gel, rotisserie chicken and bakeware.

You can see how prices have changed for individual items in this ONS calculator.

CPIH Inflation

CPIH is a measure of UK inflation that takes into account housing costs, as well as everyday goods and services. 

It uses the same basket of goods as CPI but also includes prices for things like the cost of owning, renting or maintaining your home. It also takes into account expenses like council tax.  

CPIH is the newest measure of inflation and was introduced in 2013 to plug some of the gaps left by CPI (mainly the lack of tracking of housing costs.) 

RPI inflation

RPI used to be the main measure of inflation in the UK until it was replaced by CPI in 2011. 

It tracks the same basket of goods currently used for CPI but also includes things like estate agent fees, buildings insurance, TV licence and mortgage interest payments (which aren’t included anymore!) And, it tends to be higher than the CPI and CPIH measure of inflation. 

Although RPI isn’t the main inflation figure anymore, it’s still used to set the price of things like interest on student loan repayments and rail fare increases we get each year – though there is the flexibility from the government to pick a lower rate if RPI is significantly high.

RPI also plays a big role in the level of retirement income people get from final salary pensions and annuities. 

Do we really need RPI?

So you might be wondering why we still use RPI if it’s technically been replaced. Well, there’s an ongoing debate about its purpose and relevance. 

On one hand, final salary pension schemes and annuities may see less of an income boost if RPI was scrapped altogether. 

However, the government’s use of RPI compared to CPI, in particular, has also come under fire. 

Usually, the government links its own spending – which includes things like the state pension, statutory sick pay and benefits – to the CPI rate of inflation, which is lower. 

However, it uses RPI (which is higher) when it comes to the costs we pay such as train tickets, car tax and student loan interest to name a few. 

At this stage, it remains to be seen what will happen with RPI and whether it is replaced completely by one of the other inflation measures. 

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-at-Large Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Thursday.

Listen now
Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

How does inflation affect me?

Inflation shows how much the cost of living is rising and gives you an idea of your spending power. So, the higher the rate of inflation, the more expensive everyday expenses tend to be. 

With the current cost of living crisis, we’ve all seen how sharply prices have risen over recent years. From eye-watering grocery bills to the cost of heating and powering our homes, prices have risen across the board. 

High inflation has also caused significant increases to the interest base rate by the BoE. That’s because the BoE raises interest rates in an attempt to bring down inflation to its 2% target. And changes to interest rates can impact both borrowing (especially mortgage) and savings.

Inflation also increases the risk of your money losing value in real terms. One area is wages. If they don’t increase in line with inflation you’ll need to use a higher proportion of your income to buy the same goods and services.

Similarly, your savings could lose value as well because, if your money is earning less interest than the rate of inflation – you won’t be able to buy as much with it.

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December 10, 2024   |   Articles

How to get a refund for delayed trains

Written by

Not only can you claim back money if your train is delayed, you can get cash rather than those annoying train travel vouchers.

I hate being late. I’ll always try to leave early, if not bang on time, so any kind of delay is the kind of thing that really annoys me. And trains are among the worst for getting me somewhere later than I planned.

Just a few weeks ago my train down to London from Yorkshire was cancelled. Though my ticket was valid on the next train it would mean I’d arrive back 30 minutes later than planned – and this meant I could get a partial refund!

With that cash arriving in my account this week, I thought it was time to share my Be Clever Basics Q&A for getting a refund when your train is delayed or cancelled.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

When can you claim a refund for a train delay?

The main requirement is your train has to be delayed by at least 15 minutes, though a handful will only pay out after a 30 or 60-minute delays.

The rules also say the delay has to be the train company’s fault in order to get a payout. However, most of the operators have signed up to the “Delay Repay” scheme which will pay out for any delay.

How do you claim?

You can do this online with most rail companies. If you’d rather do it on a form you should be able to pick up one at the station or print one out from the different websites.

Make sure you keep your train tickets as you’ll need to send them in with your claim if it’s via the post, or take a photo if you’re doing it online.

A handful, including Northern and C2C, will automatically issue a refund if you meet certain criteria such as holding a smartcard or booked in advance via their website or app.

How much can you claim?

Again, how big a refund you’ll get depends on the different operators.  The length of the delay will also have an impact.

With Delay Repay, the minimum is 25% of a single delayed journey that’s delayed between 15 and 29 minutes. It jumps up to 50% back for delays between 30 and 59 minutes, and the full single fare back if you are delayed by more than an hour. Some will refund your whole ticket, including the return leg, if the delay is longer than 60 minutes.

If the train company isn’t part of Delay Repay you’re looking at 50% back for delays of an hour or more.

When do you need to claim a refund by?

You need to submit your claim within 28 days of the journey.

Can I get a refund if the train is cancelled?

If you don’t travel due to cancellation you can get a full refund from where you bought the ticket.

If you travel on a different train (check with platform staff first that it’s ok to do this), you’ll only be able to get a refund if you arrive more than 30-minutes later than the original booked train.

How can you receive the refund?

You no longer have to get your refund as one of those annoying train travel vouchers. Instead, you should be able to pick one form of payment such as a refund to your card, payment to bank account or even via cheque. For example, LNER lets you choose to have a payment made to your bank account or your PayPal account.

What if I have a season ticket?

You’ll be entitled to compensation equivalent to a single journey. Some train providers will also offer discounts on future season tickets if the service is consistently delayed.

What if you used pay as you go Oyster or Contactless in London?

You can claim for tube and TFL Rail journeys delayed over 15 minutes. It’s a bit of a faff and you need to use your Oyster account for this, but it’s worth doing.

Hacks when claiming for train delays

Here are a few more tricks to boost your claim when you’re on the train, when you arrive at the station and when you get home.

On the train

Track the length your delay

With most train operators you’ll only be able to claim a refund (usually 50%) if you’re delayed by more than 30 minutes. So if a delay had been 29 mins, I’d not only have been inconvenienced, I wouldn’t be able to claim!

On some journeys, the conductor actually informed us that we could get a refund, though this often doesn’t happen – so it’s usually down to you to track the length of your delay.

The rules do change – more will refund you if the delay is 15 mins, while some require at least 60 minutes.

Ask why you’ve been delayed

The cause of the delay doesn’t matter if the train operator has signed up to the Delay Repay scheme. But if it hasn’t, you might be only to claim if the delay could have been avoided (so bad weather or strike action don’t count).

To help your claim, ask the guard if the company has signed up to Delay Repay, and if not what was the cause of the delay

Take a photo of your ticket

You’ll need proof of your journey to claim a refund, so if you have a physical ticket, take a snap with your phone just in case you lose it.

At the station

Don’t use the electronic gates

This one has caught me out a few times. Most automatic gates will eat your ticket, and no ticket means it’s harder to claim your compensation. So even if you’ve taken a photo it’s best to find the manual gate with a guard so you can keep hold of your ticket for the claim. Of course, with more and more tickets now digital when booked online, you can scan and go without worry.

Take a screenshot of live information or the arrivals board

Once you’ve arrived, take a photo of the arrivals board or the live tracking information on an app. You might not need it, but it’s extra proof if your delay time is close to one of the compensation brackets (normally 15, 30, 60 or 120 minutes).

Get a form at the station

You’ll be able to apply online for most if not all train firms now, but if you want to be sure or prefer doing it via post, you can pick up a compensation form at the station. Though it’d be nice if these were easy to find, I imagine you’ll need to ask for one at the ticket or information desk.

It’s not the end of the world if you can’t get one as you can usually print a form from the website.

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When you get home

Find out how long a train was delayed

If you didn’t make a note at the time, then check out the Recent Train Times website. It’s not the most user-friendly, but it shouldn’t take you long to find out exactly how long a delay was.

Work out where to apply

You’ll need to apply directly with the rail company where the delay occurred. So if you’ve changed lines during the journey, then it’ll be the one responsible for the delay who should pay you for the full ticket (assuming it wasn’t a split ticket).

Find the form online

If the train provider allows online claims this is usually quicker. You can upload a picture of your phone, which means it’s often easier to do this from your phone rather than a desktop. Here’s a list of all the different rail firms.

Ask for a bank transfer

It’s not always clear but you are legally entitled to a bank transfer or cheque refund. If you don’t ask for this you could be sent an annoying rail voucher than can only be used at ticket desks.

Take a copy of your ticket and form

If you’re posting your compensation claim form and ticket, make sure you have a copy (just take a photo if you don’t have a scanner). If you’re filling it in online you should be able to save a copy.

And make a note of to chase if you haven’t heard back within the time stated on the form.

Put the refund claim in before 28 days pass

Remember, you’ve only got four weeks to request your refund, so don’t leave it too late.

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