INSIDE

April 2012

REGULARS 7 Welcome 17 Savings Watch The best deals on the market this month 18 Fight for Your Rights Got a financial problem? We take up the fight

COLUMNISTS 25 Editor’s letter Sort out your own 2012 budget 33 George Pitcher The banks have a rival in the greed stakes 53 Jeff Prestridge Join the Big Switch campaign 82 That’s Life with Esther Rantzen Financial and emotional support for the elderly UPFRONT8YourShout 11 Steal of the Month 16 Housing Market Round-Up SORTED! 26 Money Makeover 28 Your Finances Fixed COMPETITION 32 WIN a two-night family break in the Cheshire countryside 52 WIN £2,000 in an investment trust

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Rising car insurance premiums have attracted scammers’ attention. Beware ghost brokers

21 Steer clear of the brokers who don’t exist

Con artists are making a quick buck from unsuspecting motorists and leaving them unwittingly uninsured scam

35 Five-minute guide to social lending Could this alternative to the high street banks be the scam answer to savers’ prayers? 36 Long-term care: the ticking time bomb The final part of our Defending the British Family campaign reveals how the UK care system is failing. It’s time for action 40 The friendlier way to borrow money Credit unions are winning over customers looking for an alternative to what’s on offer from the high street banks

4 MONEYWISE | APRIL 2012

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How to put the house price indices to use when buying or selling

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