Finally, some good news as we (slowly) shake off the shackles of austerity
Farewell 2015. You weren’t such a bad year from a financial point of view. We’ve a long way to go yet but at least we started to reverse the impact of austerity. Taxes were cut and wages at last are starting to rise. There were also some good personal finance deals highlighted on this page over the year that’ll help speed up your financial recovery. Here are a few that brightened up 2015 – and can still help make 2016 a more prosperous year
CREDIT CARDS
AIB’s Switch card deserves credit for offering the cheapest standard rate over a couple of years – at 13.6%.
But it won’t suit you if you want to burn off Christmas debt by switching to one with a 0% finance deal for newbies. Balance transfers at 0% over six or seven months are offered by KBC, Tesco, Bank of Ireland and PTSB. Make sure to clear overhanging debt in the interest free period or you’ll be hit with rates from 17.9% (KBC) up to 22.1% (BoI).
MORTGAGES
KBC consistently offered cheap deals for mortgages last year – and it still does with a 3.65% rate for 90% loan to value homeloans (with a KBC current account – otherwise it’s 3.85%). You also get 50% off home insurance and €2,000 towards legal fees.
EBS got more competitive during the year and now offers the second cheapest deal for new customers at 3.7%. It’s followed by parent AIB on 3.75%. However, there are no freebies.
INSOLVENCY OPTIONS
Personal insolvency arrangements are proving the most commonly used options by the debt-stressed. This is where a plan is drawn up to manage your money that may include debt-write offs. Although a PIA can last up to six years, some people are getting debts written off to make their mortgage sustainable and are emerging in good shape after a period of months.
HEALTH INSURANCE
With hundreds of plans on the market, it can get very confusing. You can just get the cheapest plan for around €400-€500 a year which gives hardly any cover apart from the basics.
But a mid-range plan can cost the same as the inferior ones (in the end) if you play your cards right.
For example, Laya’s Flex 250 Choice costs €1022 but you could end up claiming a lot of that. This is because you can claim back a wide range of routine expenses such as GP visits (€30 per visit), consultants (€60 per visit) physiotherapy, chiropody, A&E and more.
So in the end, it can ascost efficient as the cheapie plan – but with far superior cover, including semi-private in private hospitals.
PERSONAL LOANS
The plaudits here go to Bank of Ireland with a 7.5% rate (see lead question opposite for details).
INTEREST RATES
KBC, RaboDirect and Nationwide (UK) dominated our best buy tables for deposit interest rates, with an occasional appearance by PTSB and EBS. But don’t get too excited – it’s not hard to offer the highest interest rate. Anything over 1% will get you on the best buy list, even for money locked away for a year.
The regular savings rate came down dramatically during the year but it’s still good at around 3% with KBC and EBS.
But where are the Big Two – AIB and BoI? Neither made much of an appearance on our best buy list during the year for savings. Can they really rely on their large branch networks and customer inertia so they don’t have to compete for your nestegg?
Meanwhile, An Post’s inertia is good news for savers. The Savings Certificate rate has remained at 7% over 5.5 years. That didn’t sound great when it came out over a year ago but bank rates have fallen since and it’s tax free, so that’s probably as good as you’ll get without locking money away for even longer.