Bradford and Bingley: How it affects you

It’s been another week of turmoil in the financial markets with a major bank nationalised. Bradford & Bingley’s mortgage division was taken into Government hands, while its savings arm has been sold to giant Spanish bank Santander, which owns Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, after B&B ran into serious financial problems.

• What does this mean for B&B mortgage holders?
  

  
  Sadly, this is where it gets really worrying. When Northern Rock was nationalised, to help it repay its debts, it pushed mortgage rates for those coming off cheap deals to hideous penalty levels, to encourage them to switch to another lender.

  It's possible the same will happen with Bradford & Bingley. This wouldn’t be a problem normally, but right now, it's incredibly tough to get a new mortgage. The Government should be urged to take great care. If not, we could start to see nationalised repossessions.

External Link: For more info on remortgaging read Martin's full Cheap Mortgage Finding guide.

• And B&B savers?
  

  
  B&B savers are in a much better position now than they were at this stage last week. At that time there was a risk of drowning, now they’re in a lifeboat.

  Anyone who had savings with B&B now has them with Abbey, which means they should be safe.

  But remember; only the first £35,000 of savings in any financial institution is guaranteed. In the unlikely event Santander went bust, if you had money in Abbey and B&B, you’d only be protected up to £35,000 in total. A&L has a separate licence, so has its own protection.

  If you’ve over £35,000 stashed away, spreading savings helps mitigate any risk.

External Link: For a bank by bank explanation of the savings safety situation readMartin’s full Safe Savings guide

New top savings account

The credit crunch has pushed savings rates sky-high, as banks are desperate to suck cash in. And now there’s a new blockbuster top rate of 7.21% fixed for a year from the AA, which is the highest rate in quite a while.

External Link: For full details and more daily updated best buys, read Martin’s Top Savings Accounts guide.

Time to switch energy provider

British Gas, like all energy suppliers, upped its prices eight weeks ago, but its online Click Energy 5 tariff wasn’t increased. This was to make it look cheap when people did a comparison. Now, as predicted, the millions on it face gas price rises of up to 45% and electricity of up to 20%. Plus, smaller supplier Ebico’s upped gas by 32% and electricity by 24% too.

That means anyone who hasn’t yet should now do a comparison to check whether you’re paying over the odds.

External Link: Find out how to switch energy supplier in Martin’s Cheap Gas & Electricity guide.

Net a bargain

Footy fans can get an England shirt for a ridiculous £8.99 in-store at Sports Direct. These usually cost almost £50 so it's a serious bargain. You can also get the shirts online but you'll pay an extra £3.95 for delivery per order. This is the current kit, though it is due to be replaced in March, and as there aren’t many more England games until then, this is probably why they're being sold so cheaply.

Eat out on the cheap

Finally, there are a host of money-off deals for pizza lovers. Strada is doing a 2 for 1 deal voucher, via handbag.com while there’s a last chance to get 50% off at Pizza Hut, though you’ll need to filling out this form,

External Link: Find lots more eating out vouchers  in Martin’s Restaurant Vouchers guide.