Is Martin Lewis really any good ?

[kingrollo]

TBH, a packaged bank account saves me a fortune. AA being included, as well as travel and phone insurance. The monthly fee is way below what AA Relay was for the same service. You may have to pay a premium to cover health conditions, but that's the norm.

Certainly a money saver for me and I didn't need Martin to tell me.

His most recent article was recommending a packaged bank account as a good move for older people. He made no mention that you may need to top this up if you have pre existing conditions - I mean you might not be covered if you take medication for HBP. I think it's borderline neglect not to at least mention this.

Indeed many years ago travel insurance was free with a basic nationwide account. However they wouldn't allow top ups for pre existing conditions - even for a higher premium.

 

[Drago]

Hes got the Chancellor on the back foot at the moment, so by default hes brilliant.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

I think his (Martin Lewis) problem is that different solutions suit different people but his format is not well suited to that consideration. Maybe even more so as his target audience maybe doesn't appreciate small print (eg as OP raised about pre-existing medical conditions).

Also there seems an aspect to "finding a bargain" where people get presented with "a bargain" and want it and often don't stop and think and ask themselves if they really want whatever if offered and if it will be used/useful.

I can see how he is trying to address or highlight poor levels of financial literacy but from what I've seen, information he presents is readily available without much searching. (I have seen some of his TV and have been disappointed expecting something deeper).

 

[fossyant]

His most recent article was recommending a packaged bank account as a good move for older people. He made no mention that you may need to top this up if you have pre existing conditions - I mean you might not be covered if you take medication for HBP. I think it's borderline neglect not to at least mention this.

Indeed many years ago travel insurance was free with a basic nationwide account. However they wouldn't allow top ups for pre existing conditions - even for a higher premium.

It's not borderline neglect as the insurance will ask you, like any other insurance. It bumps the price up. Maybe it should have said if you have pre-existing conditions they may not be covered, but that's a well known fact about travel insurance, hence the proliferation of 'go-fund me' when granny insisted on going to Benidorm having recently had a heart attack..

 

[wiggydiggy]

> Is Martin Lewis really any good ?

His advice is more useful as a guide to things you should look at yourself rather than blindly follow, I personally find him a bit annoying but I still read the moneysavingexpert website as my first stop when making decisions.

 

[kingrollo]

It's not borderline neglect as the insurance will ask you, like any other insurance. It bumps the price up. Maybe it should have said if you have pre-existing conditions they may not be covered, but that's a well known fact about travel insurance, hence the proliferation of 'go-fund me' when granny insisted on going to Benidorm having recently had a heart attack..

OK - Maybe it works differently now.
So when you sign up for a bank account with bundled travel insurance - you have to go through medical screening ? - I stand corrected if that's the case - but even then the quoted monthly fee may rise ?

Having suffered HA recently - I want to be pretty sure I was covered with a decent company - your looking at £30K min should you find yourself not covered for a cardiac event abroad.

 

[ianrauk]

> Is Martin Lewis really any good ?

His advice is more useful as a guide to things you should look at yourself rather than blindly follow, I personally find him a bit annoying but I still read the moneysavingexpert website as my first stop when making decisions.

This in spades.
And he seems to be one of the only people to call the government and utilities out of which they do listen because he is so high profile, though not necessarily act.

 

[teeonethousand]

> Is Martin Lewis really any good ?

His advice is more useful as a guide to things you should look at yourself rather than blindly follow, I personally find him a bit annoying but I still read the moneysavingexpert website as my first stop when making decisions.

I am of the same view.

I would add though that it amazing to me how many people have no idea about how financial products work so just go with the flow.

 

[Electric_Andy]

information he presents is readily available without much searching

That's the point though, some people just don't search at all. Or don't know how to search, or don't know that things can be searched for. If they're told on national TV by a trusted person, it might encourage them to open their eyes a bit. Even my Dad who is financially astute, has learned a lot from the ML TV programme. He's then told me things as if they're new, which I already knew about simply by being online a lot (like this forum)

 

[fossyant]

OK - Maybe it works differently now.
So when you sign up for a bank account with bundled travel insurance - you have to go through medical screening ? - I stand corrected if that's the case - but even then the quoted monthly fee may rise ?

Having suffered HA recently - I want to be pretty sure I was covered with a decent company - your looking at £30K min should you find yourself not covered for a cardiac event abroad.

Yes. I already had an account with my Bank, but when I was looking at travel insurance and the cost of the AA come renewal, I looked at the bank offer - you just apply for it. As you apply for the bank offer, you do have to state your health conditions as you go through the questions, so if you've had something serious it will bump up the fee, but it's going to do that with stand alone insurance. The savings are significant though.

 

[Fastpedaller]

One thing he did point out (I'd already worked it out) is the monthly saving accounts people enter into, thinking they are getting a great rate. As an example, deposit £200 into the account each month and receive 4% interest. If you then withdraw the total after one year you won't receive 2400 + 4%! The interest rate is actually closer to 2%, because you start off with zero, then 200 at 4% for 11 months then 400 at 4% for 10 months etc. It's easy for folk to fall into the 'trap'

 

[wiggydiggy]

One thing he did point out (I'd already worked it out) is the monthly saving accounts people enter into, thinking they are getting a great rate. As an example, deposit £200 into the account each month and receive 4% interest. If you then withdraw the total after one year you won't receive 2400 + 4%! The interest rate is actually closer to 2%, because you start off with zero, then 200 at 4% for 11 months then 400 at 4% for 10 months etc. It's easy for folk to fall into the 'trap'

Regular Saving accounts. Its not really a trap, as someone else pointed out its down to people not understanding the mechanics of how the account works.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

He sold moneysupermarket for 80 odd million so I guess he has his own finances sorted….

Gave £10 million to charities, various, including Citizens Advice, I note.

 

[wakemalcolm]

The frustrating thing for me is that he's providing an education that should be on the national curriculum; how religious education is considered to be more important to pupils than basic financial literacy is beyond me.

(No longer) His website is a decent resource and the fora are entertaining in a mildly hilarious way (50% well meaning 50% inadvertently running interference).

For a slightly deeper dive on the personal finance stuff, I enjoy Pete Matthews of Meaningful Money. Always guidance, never advice.

 

[presta]

My finances are relatively simple and straightforward, so I don't have much need for his work, but I think he's generally doing a good job and his heart is in the right place. He just cares about financial ignorance.

The frustrating thing for me is that he's providing an education that should be on the national curriculum; how religious education is considered to be more important to pupils than basic financial literacy is beyond me.

He's written a textbook for schools, with the proceeds going to charity, and when the DoE refused to stump up the cash for it, he paid for a copy to go into every school in Britain out of his own pocket. The last I heard is that he's trying to get the curriculum changed.

Those who don't frequent Twitter might be unaware that he's had a lot of aggro with scammers using his face to endorse their fake ads, so he regularly posts this: