Question Time: Is it time to become a stoozer? I halved my car insurance by timing quotes! Rights if buying secondhand?

In our Question Time podcast, Martin Lewis gives you answers on anything and everything, including: if I haven’t filled up my ISA from last year, can I add the remainder now? What rights do I have when I buy goods secondhand if they’re faulty? My bank has done a strange thing; can you work out why? We hear from Fran, who’s become a huge money saving convert, saving thousands, and wants to know if it’s time to step up and become a stoozer (which is where you create a false 0% debt in order to save the cash at high interest). We’ve got a ‘sweet spot’ car insurance success, where Cath halved her costs by getting quotes at just the right time, and Martin tells you how you can too! Plus, has Martin’s wife ever brought home a piece of tech that he just had to go and buy for himself? If you want to ask Martin a question, you now can! His Question Time podcast lets you ask Martin absolutely anything and everything (within reason!). So, if you’ve always wanted to know how he likes his eggs cooked, what his dream car is, or you have a very complicated question about your finances, email it to [email protected] mailto:[email protected].

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

• 0:06Speaker 01

  Cheers to fall savings at Whole Foods Market, home of higher ingredient standards. This Halloween, share chocolates and candies made without that spooky high fructose corn syrup. Throwing a party? Make it easy with a berry chantilly cake. Ready to cook pizza? No antibiotics ever chicken wings. And sushi made fresh daily. Fall gatherings never tasted better. Save through November 3rd at Whole Foods Market.

• 0:33Speaker 02

  Sometimes we all need an extra helping hand, especially with the tricky business problem you've been putting off. Claude is an AI for just that. It's a collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you, not for you. And Claude isn't just for quick questions. Hand it a whole task like turning a folder or scattered notes into a report, and it does the work and hands back something finished that you can open and edit. Claude can now draft a doc or deck right in front of you. And Claude Design now lives right inside Claude. Describe the website or prototype you're picturing, attach your design system, and it comes back in your own design language, ready to edit right on the canvas. It works with your files and the tools you already use, like Gmail and Slack.

• 1:16Speaker 02

  And whether you're debugging code at midnight, building a financial model, or strategising your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at claude.ai/solve. That's claude.ai/solve. And check out Claude Pro, which includes access to all of the features mentioned in today's episode. Claude.ai/solve.

• 1:46Martin Lewis?

  Can you do sad fart for me? What does sad fart stand for?

• 1:49Speaker 04

  I knew you were going to ask me this. I should have written that down.

• 1:50Martin Lewis?

  You should have. What a very interesting question.

• 1:53Speaker 05

  Everyone at work always takes the mick out of me for what's Martin told you to do now?

• 1:58Martin Lewis?

  Very, very not good at change, Matthew. The doo.

• 2:02Speaker 04

  I know.

• 2:03Martin Lewis?

  You get you, Dan. Hello and welcome to the cunningly named The Martin Lewis Podcast. I do wonder what that's going to be about. And this is our Question Time episode where you are Esquires, extremely savvy questioners, don't you know? Get to ask me your questions on absolutely anything and everything, open brackets, within reason, close brackets. This week, if I haven't filled up my ISA last year, can I add the remainder now? Are my rights different if I buy secondhand goods and they turn out to be faulty? My bank's done a strange thing. Can you work out why? Well, we'll see, won't we? Then Fran gets on the line. She's become a huge money-saving convert and saved thousands. She tells us about that, but wants to know, is it time to step up and become a stewzer,

• 2:49Martin Lewis?

  where you make money from 0% debt? Or should she stick to paying off her cards in full? And finally, a sweet spot car insurance success. She halved her cost by getting her quotes at exactly the right time. Oh, it's almost too exciting. Play the theme tune.

• 3:21Martin Lewis?

  Hello and welcome to our Question Time podcast, where you get to ask me questions on anything and everything, all set together, open brackets, within reason, close brackets. And joining me, of course, who else could it be? The custodian of questions himself, yes, the COQ. I haven't said that for a while.

• 3:41Speaker 06

  No, you haven't.

• 3:42Martin Lewis?

  I haven't, but there we go. It is Professor Dr Sir Matthew Burnham Esquire. And of course, for regular listeners, you'll know that all of those titles are completely legitimate within the canon of the podcast, but not outside. However, Matthew, before we go anywhere.

• 3:58Speaker 06

  Uh huh.

• 4:00Martin Lewis?

  I have had an official request to doc you one of your titles.

• 4:04Speaker 06

  Oh, no.

• 4:04Martin Lewis?

  Before I tell you why, which title would you lose? The Professor, Sir, Doctor or the Esquire?

• 4:10Speaker 06

  I would lose the Professor.

• 4:14Martin Lewis?

  So you'd be Sir Dr Matthew Burnham Esquire?

• 4:17Speaker 06

  Yes, yes.

• 4:17Martin Lewis?

  Okay, and this is because she must be obeyed.

• 4:22Speaker 06

  GDPR.

• 4:22Martin Lewis?

  GDPR, Google Docs professional Rosie, who is here live fact checking. I'm actually doubling up today because I've got Isabel, who is soon going to be taking over from GDPR. They're both in the room today, so it is like a powerhouse. I mean, the intellect is flowing off them. You can see waves in the air coming off the mega brains that I've got in the rooms with me. It's like, I think it's almost like a sheen of colour has changed. But GDPR wasn't here last week. And last week, you said she had deleted all of the funny questions and you blamed her.

• 4:54Speaker 06

  Yes, because she had.

• 4:55Martin Lewis?

  And she, she is not happy because she says she only deleted the questions that had been rejected. And this is her argument. And emerge the super brainwaves and the blue that's flowing out in the colours. There's a, there's a little bit of red, of a rate and anger. So she has requested that you lose a title this week.

• 5:15Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 5:16Martin Lewis?

  I'm not going to re-record the intro, but I am now, from this point on, going to refer to you as Sir Dr Matthew Burnham Esquire.

• 5:22Speaker 06

  What?

• 5:22Martin Lewis?

  Because I'll be, I'll be honest, if I have to choose between annoying one of the two of you, I'm annoying you.

• 5:30Speaker 06

  So you're going to annoy the person who's up in Manchester and cannot actually do anything about it? Rather than the person who's sat next to you?

• 5:36Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, but you know, Rosie, Rosie's the one who protects me with the sort of live fact checking. She's got my back. And she's a bit scary at the moment.

• 5:45Speaker 06

  Is she laughing next to you?

• 5:46Martin Lewis?

  She's laughing at that. She's laughing at that. But it's that sort of laugh that says, it's funny, but it's true. She's got, that's exactly where she's going at this point. Emma, how are you? You well?

• 5:57Speaker 06

  Yeah, yeah, very good, thank you. Very happy to be on the podcast.

• 6:01Martin Lewis?

  Yes, it's nice, isn't it? We're all excited.

• 6:03Speaker 06

  It is.

• 6:03Martin Lewis?

  We should probably do some proper questions, shouldn't we?

• 6:05Speaker 06

  Yeah, I've got some good ones for you.

• 6:07Martin Lewis?

  Okay, let's do some. So what do you have for me?

• 6:09Speaker 06

  Question to start with from Martin, who has emailed in to [email protected].

• 6:16Martin Lewis?

  Okie dokes.

• 6:16Speaker 06

  I thought you were going to say, good name.

• 6:18Martin Lewis?

  It is, I was going to leave that to the end, but go.

• 6:19Speaker 06

  Oh, right, okay.

• 6:20Martin Lewis?

  I'm not doing it now.

• 6:21Speaker 06

  I've ruined it.

• 6:21Martin Lewis?

  I'm sulking.

• 6:23Speaker 06

  He started with, dear Brigadier Admiral, Wing Commander Burnham Esquire and Martin.

• 6:29Martin Lewis?

  Oh, I see. Okay.

• 6:30Speaker 06

  I like that.

• 6:31Martin Lewis?

  I don't know if this Martin's going to get a good answer. So he is giving you way more titles than we have subtracted from you from Rosie, but carry on.

• 6:37Speaker 06

  And they're all military ones, aren't they?

• 6:38Martin Lewis?

  They are, they are. I mean, he's so got you wrong.

• 6:40Speaker 06

  No, I used to be an air cadet, I'll have you know. Yeah.

• 6:43Martin Lewis?

  Did you? An airhead, maybe, but an air cadet? No, so I didn't mean it.

• 6:47Speaker 06

  He says, I wonder if you could settle an ISA question for me as I'm struggling to find a definitive answer. At the moment, I have £20,000 in an ISA from a previous tax year and around £5,500 in this year's ISA. I probably won't be able to use all of this year's £20,000 allowance, which made me wonder whether the following strategy is allowed.

• 7:07Martin Lewis?

  I'm intrigued to hear what this is. Do go on.

• 7:10Speaker 06

  Suppose that in the next tax year, I open a new ISA with just a pound and then do exactly the same the year after. When my pension lump sum arrives in 2028, could I then pay £20,000 into each of those existing ISAs, using the relevant tax year's allowance, plus whatever remains of my allowance for the current tax year? I'd really appreciate your guidance as I'm trying to plan well in advance and avoid making an expensive mistake. I hope this makes sense. Kind regards, Martin.

• 7:38Martin Lewis?

  Oh, Martin, I mean, it's a good idea. It's a clever idea. And obviously with that name, I'm not surprised that you came up with something like that. But the short answer is no, you can't do it. The ISA rules are really specific. It is about the amount of money that you put in, in the tax year. It's not an allowance that you can carry over. There are some things in the tax system that do work, that you can carry over allowances. This isn't. So you would have to get the money in, in the tax year. There is no real way around that without some quite sophisticated routes of doing something called stewzing and artificially building a balance on the credit card and putting that into a cash ISA. But I have to say, I think that's only for people who are really financially savvy

• 8:21Martin Lewis?

  and know exactly what they're doing, because the risks of it can be quite high if you get it wrong. So I'm afraid that the straight answer is no, you can't just open up an ISA with a pound and then a couple of years later, fill in what you haven't put in. It's all about what you put in, in the tax year itself. I'm so sorry.

• 8:38Martin Lewis?

  So Matt, it's caller time, I'm pretty sure.

• 8:41Speaker 06

  It is.

• 8:41Martin Lewis?

  Second question.

• 8:42Speaker 06

  Of course.

• 8:43Martin Lewis?

  So who've you got for me?

• 8:44Speaker 06

  Got a question from David. He's from Edinburgh, but him and his family, I think, are driving down the M6. So I don't actually know where he is exactly.

• 8:54Martin Lewis?

  So they are in transit.

• 8:56Speaker 06

  In transit somewhere. Hi, David.

• 8:58Speaker 04

  Hi there, how are you doing?

• 9:00Martin Lewis?

  Hello, David, nice to speak to you. You're not driving, are you?

• 9:04Speaker 04

  I am not driving at the moment. I am parked up in a motorway service area.

• 9:08Martin Lewis?

  Oh, how lovely. How wonderful for you. High prices, but they can be quite enjoyable. Are you, do you enjoy your motorway services?

• 9:16Speaker 04

  I try not to. No, I try to find little villages just a mile off the motorway to use the local, local services and put money back into local communities instead.

• 9:25Martin Lewis?

  Oh, that's very good of you. And there was a wonderful website that would actually direct you to some of the best places. I think it was called a mile off the motorway or something.

• 9:31Speaker 04

  A mile off the, yes, it is, yep.

• 9:33Martin Lewis?

  And that can be really useful on that level. Great, well, let's get on to your question. Let's go into your question, see if we can help you.

• 9:40Speaker 04

  Yep, so my question is around statutory consumer rights and your sad fart acronym. Does it apply to second hand purchases? And in particular, does it apply to second hand vehicles?

• 9:56Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so first of all, can you do sad fart for me? What does sad fart stand for?

• 10:02Speaker 04

  I knew you were going to ask me this, I should have written it down.

• 10:04Martin Lewis?

  You should have, you asked that question. I mean, it was pretty obvious. You've listened to the podcast, there's no way I'm letting you get away with it.

• 10:11Speaker 04

  I'm usually, I'm usually running when I'm listening to you, Martin.

• 10:13Martin Lewis?

  Oh, are you? Do you? Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I like listening to things when I run too. Yeah. Here you go, satisfactory quality, yeah, that's your S.

• 10:20Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 10:23Speaker 04

  Oh, this is going to kill me now.

• 10:25Martin Lewis?

  As?

• 10:29Speaker 04

  No, it's, I'm having, I'm having a mental block at the moment.

• 10:32Speaker 06

  It's too much pressure, Mark.

• 10:33Martin Lewis?

  Okay, but don't worry, we're not going to do that to you, David. Matt, yes, what does sad fart stand for?

• 10:40Speaker 06

  Satisfactory.

• 10:41Martin Lewis?

  Quality.

• 10:42Speaker 06

  Quality, as described.

• 10:43Martin Lewis?

  Correct.

• 10:44Speaker 06

  Last for a reasonable.

• 10:45Martin Lewis?

  Well, you've got an F, you've got an F. Come on, both, we're together, boys.

• 10:50Speaker 06

  As described.

• 10:51Martin Lewis?

  F is?

• 10:52Speaker 06

  Fit for purpose.

• 10:53Martin Lewis?

  Fit for purpose.

• 10:54Speaker 06

  And then last a reasonable length of time.

• 10:55Martin Lewis?

  Satisfactory quality as described, fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time. If an item isn't when you buy it, then if it's in a normal shop you got or, or online, then you've got 30 days to send it back and get a full refund. After that, it's a partial refund or repair or replacement. So your question, does it apply to second hand goods? Yes. If you're talking second hand goods bought from a trader, a retailer, you know, someone where we'd expect it. However, the fact that it is second hand and the price that you pay would be taken into account. So when we talk about satisfactory quality, if you were to buy a brand new television

• 11:39Martin Lewis?

  set for a thousand pounds, you would not, and you were to compare that to buying a used television set for a fiver, you would not be expecting the same quality level of the used television set for a fiver that you would off the thousand pound brand new telly. And that is implicit within the satisfactory quality as described, fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time. Now, you can hear all those subjective judgments that are within that phrasing, satisfactory, reasonable, the, the price and the fact that it's not, not new is incorporated within the definition of satisfactory and reasonable. Do you see what I mean by that?

• 12:23Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, that makes perfect sense.

• 12:24Martin Lewis?

  Now, where, where it gets more tricky, now, it's worth noting, if goods were cheap because there was a flaw and it was disclosed to you, so I've actually had this happen to me once, I went into a shop, I'm pretty sure it was a shirt, it might have been a jacket, it was quite a long time ago, but it definitely happened. And there was a fault on it that I'd spotted, I think it was a button, I think it was a button on a shirt, but if I've got it wrong, it doesn't change the big picture here. And I asked for a discount and I got a tenner off and the shop assistant said to me, but that means you can't bring it back. And I said, actually, that's not correct. They didn't know who I was, so I was fine to say this, I wasn't, it wasn't like I was bullying. I said, that's not correct. I can't bring it back for the button, but if there is another fault, then I still legally

• 13:09Martin Lewis?

  have rights to bring that item back. But I couldn't then say the button was faulty because I got a discount for the button. So that was as described because I got a discount within the description of it working in that way. So, or alternatively, if the flaw was obvious enough in a second hand good, you know, if you bought it and there was a picture and it had a big crack down the middle and that was a verted in the picture and you chose it and it, then you're not bringing it back for that. Your vehicle question, the same rules apply, but there is a really big thing you need to be aware of. If you're buying from a private seller, not from a trader, a trader would be defined as someone who is actually making an income by doing this and selling on a basis, whether it's a part time or full time income, then your rights are nowhere near as strong.

• 13:51Martin Lewis?

  Essentially, the car is sold as seen, it doesn't have to be a satisfactory quality or fit for purpose, as long as they haven't lied to you about what it is. So if you were told about the fault and it was fully explained, if you should have spotted the problem, like there was a dent, if you expected it and inspected it and you didn't. So really, there is quite a big difference between buying from a private seller and buying from a trader in these, in these rules. Does that make sense?

• 14:15Speaker 04

  Yeah, that makes total sense.

• 14:16Martin Lewis?

  So what are you looking to buy? I mean, you're a runner, surely you don't need a vehicle, you can just go everywhere on your two feet.

• 14:23Speaker 04

  No, it was a past experience when I actually bought a camper van that was second hand and it was during Covid, which is a terrible time to buy a camper van.

• 14:33Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, it makes everything difficult.

• 14:34Speaker 04

  And it got delivered to us and it was not what we expected.

• 14:37Martin Lewis?

  And was it by a company or was it by a private individual?

• 14:40Speaker 04

  It was, it was by a company.

• 14:42Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so you do have stronger rights. Yeah.

• 14:45Speaker 04

  It's slightly more complicated because they actually bought a second hand van and then did a brand new conversion of it into camper van.

• 14:52Martin Lewis?

  Wow.

• 14:53Speaker 04

  So therefore, part of it was new and part of it was second hand. And yeah, it wasn't what we expected when we got it, so.

• 14:59Martin Lewis?

  Now, the most important question, I'm going to ask you this, David. So how far do you run when you listen to the pod and what speed do you listen to us on?

• 15:08Speaker 04

  So I listen to you at normal speed.

• 15:10Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 15:10Speaker 04

  My brain can only cope with you at normal speed.

• 15:13Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 15:13Speaker 04

  And I'm normally running kind of four to eight miles, somewhere around there.

• 15:18Martin Lewis?

  Okay, yeah, so I would do 10Ks normally, so you're a little bit longer at the top end of that. Here's the question, when you get your badge, are you going to bear your badge when you're out running? Or is it going to, is there a risk of like a little bit of scraping? You know, it could go in the wrong place.

• 15:33Speaker 04

  I only have one other badge that I truly treasure and it's my Tuftie Club badge.

• 15:38Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 15:38Speaker 04

  And I think the two badges probably need to be mounted properly and hung up in the living room. I think that's the only appropriate thing to do.

• 15:45Martin Lewis?

  If you do that, we want a picture of the display board. Oh, yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

• 15:49Speaker 04

  I will send you a picture, I promise.

• 15:51Martin Lewis?

  All right, David, thanks so much for your call, really appreciate it.

• 15:53Speaker 04

  Thanks, Martin.

• 15:54Martin Lewis?

  Cheers, mate.

• 15:54Speaker 04

  Yeah, thanks for all you do. Cheers, bye now.

• 15:56Martin Lewis?

  Bye bye.

• 15:59Martin Lewis?

  Are you sitting there thinking, oh, I know what I wanted to ask him? Well, this is your opportunity. If you've got a question, then just send them in to [email protected]. And please do start them, Dear Martin.

• 16:13Speaker 06

  No, Dear Matt.

• 16:14Martin Lewis?

  Dear Martin.

• 16:15Speaker 06

  Dear Matt.

• 16:17Martin Lewis?

  Okay, we've done a read, we've done a caller, it's time for another read.

• 16:23Speaker 06

  Unless I break format, but I'm not going to, don't worry.

• 16:26Martin Lewis?

  You wouldn't break format, I mean, Matt, you know I don't like change.

• 16:28Speaker 06

  I know, don't worry. Question from Dan in Sheffield, he says, hi, Martin.

• 16:33Martin Lewis?

  Hi, Dan.

• 16:33Speaker 06

  I listened.

• 16:34Martin Lewis?

  And no Matt.

• 16:35Speaker 06

  No Matt, just, just you.

• 16:36Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, good, well done, mate.

• 16:37Speaker 06

  I know. I listened to your recent episode about bank account switching and I was wary of starting because my mortgage deal is ending within the next six months. So I need to apply for a new deal. And you'd mentioned that opening a new bank account puts a hard search on your credit file, which can affect your credit score.

• 16:53Martin Lewis?

  Correct.

• 16:53Speaker 06

  However, I have a very good credit score, so I decided that.

• 16:57Martin Lewis?

  Ooh, you'll get you, Dan.

• 16:58Speaker 06

  So I decided that one.

• 17:00Martin Lewis?

  Sorry, I think it's brilliant that you've got one. It was the way Matt read it, it was Matt's reading and intonation that made me do that, nothing to do with you, Dan.

• 17:07Speaker 06

  I like to put a bit of emphasis into it.

• 17:08Martin Lewis?

  It's good.

• 17:10Speaker 06

  He says, he has a very good credit score, so I decided that one switch might be an acceptable risk, so I opened a Chase account, set up a couple of charity direct debits and shortly after switched to the Barclays account that offers a £200 switching bonus.

• 17:24Martin Lewis?

  So just a quick interruption in there, just to explain to everyone, he opened the Chase account, I presume because he knows that the Chase account doesn't do a hard search, it only does a soft search. And he used that Chase account, so he had a bank account that he could then switch to get the switching bonus. So it was almost like the Chase account was a, was a burner account just to get the switching bonus, but the Barclays, because Barclays has an overdraft, does do a hard search. Carry on with the question.

• 17:48Speaker 06

  The thing is, when I check my credit score, which I can do via my main Monzo banking app, both bank account applications only show up as soft searches. The only thing showing as a hard search is a credit card application from a couple of months ago. Can you confirm whether opening a bank account results in a hard search or a soft search? Or does it depend on the account? Can I continue to switch willy nilly without fear of it affecting my mortgage application?

• 18:13Martin Lewis?

  What a very interesting question. And there is an unknown in here, and so I'm giving Rosie and Isabel a look.

• 18:22Martin Lewis?

  Look has been received because they're going to go and have to check this for me after the podcast and we will talk about it next week. So in general terms, most bank account applications will do a hard search because a bank account has an overdraft and an overdraft is a credit product. And when you apply for a credit product, in most cases, a hard search is used. They don't have to do, there is no obligation on them to do a hard search. They can do a soft search, but most do a hard search. Chase does a soft search because it is a bank account that doesn't have an overdraft. So it can do a soft search and that is just an ID check. Now, when you check your credit file, and remember, you're only looking at one credit reference agency's file, and it is possible it's different on others, they do separate into hard search and soft search. Soft search, as you can

• 19:06Martin Lewis?

  see, but doesn't tend to affect your creditworthiness, can't affect your creditworthiness. Hard search, as you can see, and does affect your creditworthiness. I would have assumed Barclays would have had a hard search. I do not know why it didn't have a hard search in this case. And that was what my look to Rosie and Isabel was for, because I'm going to get them to go and do some digging and speak to Barclays about it and see why it may not have had a hard search. But what I would strongly, in your mortgage position, advise you to do is to consider that all bank account applications, unless you know they do a soft search, will do a hard search and therefore could have an impact on your creditworthiness.

• 19:47Martin Lewis?

  And we will find out exactly what was going on there at some point in the future. And shall I be honest with the listeners, Matt? Always, I think is the right answer, isn't it?

• 19:56Speaker 06

  Yes, question mark?

• 19:58Martin Lewis?

  The honest thing is, I will bring you that answer back if it's interesting. Because to bring it back, I'm going to have to preamble and explain the whole thing and where we got to on it. So if it's interesting, I will bring it back to the podcast. If it's not interesting, I won't, but we'll let Dan know.

• 20:15Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 20:16Martin Lewis?

  That's my deal.

• 20:16Speaker 06

  Deal.

• 20:17Martin Lewis?

  I think that's fair.

• 20:17Speaker 06

  Deal with the listeners. I like it.

• 20:19Martin Lewis?

  And that's the truth of how it works. You don't really want to sit through a long explanation, another podcast of something that's not interesting. We try and keep everything interesting, or at least usable, one of the two things, or occasionally fun.

• 20:29Speaker 06

  Speaking of fun.

• 20:34Martin Lewis?

  So, Matt, the podcast called Question Time, and I think you probably have somebody to ask me a question.

• 20:38Speaker 06

  Imagine if I just said, no, no, I don't actually. This time, it's just Martin talking to himself time.

• 20:44Martin Lewis?

  I'm imagining it, but I'm thinking it might be a fail.

• 20:48Speaker 06

  It might.

• 20:49Martin Lewis?

  It just like, literally, you know, you're the curator of questions. If you don't have questions for me, then your entire essence is just, you know, disappears.

• 20:57Speaker 06

  When I get the sack.

• 20:57Martin Lewis?

  It's more than that. I've just, I mean, it's more, it's like Descartes, you know, if you don't have questions, are you? I mean, that's, it's a whole, maybe it's a new, whole new branch of philosophy.

• 21:08Speaker 06

  Well.

• 21:08Martin Lewis?

  Mattism.

• 21:09Speaker 06

  It's a good job. I do have a caller.

• 21:11Martin Lewis?

  Good.

• 21:11Speaker 06

  I've got Fran, and she is in Stoke-on-Trent. She tried to tell me she was in Cheshire, but it's actually Stoke-on-Trent, isn't it, Fran?

• 21:19Speaker 05

  It's both.

• 21:19Martin Lewis?

  How's it both? Because I'm a Cheshire boy originally, so I can adjudicate on this.

• 21:26Speaker 05

  So, very on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, kind of in between Stoke and Crewe.

• 21:33Martin Lewis?

  Okay. And you're just over the border, are you?

• 21:36Speaker 05

  Yeah. So I used to live near Congleton, actually, if you know where Congleton is.

• 21:40Martin Lewis?

  I do. I do. I know very much. So this is a bit like the discussion I had. I'm about to offend a lot of people, Matt. I need to warn you of that. So I have this thing that there are people who live in what I would call the conurbation of Manchester, who say they're from Cheshire. You know, you know what I'm talking about, your old Tringums, that type of stuff. And they say, yes, from Cheshire. Now, I grew up in mid-Cheshire. I'm Delamere Forest, school in Chester, that type of stuff, originally Manchester born, though, so I have all of this. And I say, that's not real Cheshire, that's Manchester Cheshire. And so I think that Fran here is, I think she's Stoke-Cheshire, like Manchester Cheshire.

• 22:22Speaker 05

  I am Stoke-Cheshire.

• 22:22Martin Lewis?

  You're Stoke-Cheshire. Whereas I am Cheshire-Cheshire.

• 22:27Speaker 05

  The real Cheshire.

• 22:28Martin Lewis?

  The real Cheshire. I think for most people listening outside of the North West of England or outside of, this is a really, really, what on earth are you all going on about? But I do have a thing with the people who go, I come from Cheshire. And they're like, hold on, you know, you're in Stockport. It's really part of sort of the conurbation of Greater Manchester. I mean, it's only geographically by a boundary in Cheshire. You're not, Cheshire's a rural country. Anyway, I have probably offended lots of people.

• 22:52Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 22:54Martin Lewis?

  And if I have offended you, sorry, not sorry. Sorry, but not sorry.

• 22:59Speaker 05

  I can say I'm from Cheshire, but you can definitely tell from my accent that I'm from Stoke-on-Trent.

• 23:03Martin Lewis?

  Exactly.

• 23:04Speaker 05

  I can't get away with it.

• 23:05Martin Lewis?

  Correct. Fran, what can we do for you?

• 23:09Speaker 05

  So I actually have both successes and questions for you.

• 23:13Martin Lewis?

  Greedy, but I like it.

• 23:15Speaker 05

  Yeah. Whichever you want me to say.

• 23:17Martin Lewis?

  Let's do the successes first. Let's start on a high.

• 23:20Speaker 05

  So I could tell you so many successes.

• 23:23Martin Lewis?

  Wonderful.

• 23:23Speaker 05

  I'm only 27, turning 28 next week.

• 23:27Martin Lewis?

  Happy birthday for next week.

• 23:28Speaker 05

  Thank you. Already, I've easily saved thousands of pounds because of your guidance. Me and my partner bought our first house last year. Thank you. When we finished uni in 2020, I saw your advice for young people to open a Liza, which I did, and encouraged my partner to do the same. And over the years, we saved and we actually managed to get over £10,000 from the government collectively towards our first home.

• 23:57Martin Lewis?

  Wonderful. Wonderful. I'm so glad. So many people have the frustration with lifetime isas of the 450,000 limit. Obviously, in the North West of England, that's much easier. I'm so glad it worked for you.

• 24:07Speaker 05

  Yeah, which is absolutely amazing. I also became a serial switcher in 2023 because of your guidance.

• 24:16Martin Lewis?

  Brilliant. Bank account switching, I presume?

• 24:18Speaker 05

  Yeah, bank account switching. I didn't keep track at the time, which I know isn't very savvy of me, but after looking through like a credit reporting app, I can see all the banks I opened and closed during the time. And I can see that I switched bank accounts at least 10 times, I think. And I'm pretty sure I got at least £100 to £300 each time. So I easily got over a grand from doing this.

• 24:44Martin Lewis?

  Just a quick question for you, because people, when they do that, they worry about the impact on their credit score. Did you find it was a problem at all?

• 24:51Speaker 05

  The only thing I regret doing was I closed my, like my long time bank account that I'd had since I was about 15, which did like have an impact because banks like it when you've got longevity, don't they?

• 25:06Martin Lewis?

  They do. You really are a listener. I love you. Keep going. Keep going.

• 25:12Speaker 05

  So that's the only thing I regret doing. But other than that, I did, like, I stopped. I mean, I probably stopped sooner than I would have done because they have the limits, don't they, where they say you can't have it again if you've had it before.

• 25:24Martin Lewis?

  You've been within 18 months, you can't, or you've had a bonus before, and they're getting tighter on that now, yes.

• 25:28Speaker 05

  Yeah. So, I mean, I probably can't do it anyway. But yeah, that's probably the main thing that impacted me. Yeah. But not so much anymore because I've had my other bank account for like five years now. So it's fine now. Yeah.

• 25:44Martin Lewis?

  Wonderful. I mean, those successes are amazing. I love it. I love it. I mean, it sounds like you live your life through the, through the mantras and getting it right and being on top of it.

• 25:53Speaker 05

  Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Everyone at work always takes the mick out of me for, blau, what's Martin told you to do now?

• 26:01Martin Lewis?

  However, I bet when they've got a question, they ask you, don't they?

• 26:06Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 26:07Martin Lewis?

  Exactly. Yeah. So they can take the mick all they like until the moment that they need you. And then there's something like, actually, we're really pleased that you know all about this stuff because we need some help. I understand. You, you're the mini-me in your office.

• 26:18Speaker 05

  Yeah, I am. Yeah. And I went in to them the other week and I was like, oh, guess where I'm going next week? And I'm going for free because of my Amex points. And I got an Amex Gold card because it was on your top card. So the joke's on them, really, isn't it?

• 26:32Martin Lewis?

  Exactly. So I'm feeling a little bit of pressure now because, you know, the easiest question's for the people who know nothing. I mean, you're a pro already. So let's ask me the question. I'm slightly worried about the difficulty level here, but let's go for it.

• 26:47Speaker 05

  So my question's about stewing.

• 26:50Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 26:52Speaker 05

  Because I'm always on the lookout for like the best current accounts and credit cards and things that have the best perks. And I've heard you talk about stewing a few times. And I think this is something I could manage. Like, I pay all my credit cards off in full.

• 27:09Martin Lewis?

  In full.

• 27:10Speaker 05

  In full. But I think that's what makes me apprehensive about stewing because is that an exception to the paying off in full? And do you think it would work better for me in the end to put the money I've spent in a high interest account rather than using my, like my rewards cards?

• 27:31Martin Lewis?

  So I think it's a really interesting question. And I actually, I, you have got it wrong, but in a really good way. So I'm really pleased that you've got it wrong in a good way. So if I just dissect the in full, and the reason, the reason it is, I do it as a catchphrase, and it's become something that people occasionally shout at me in the street and stuff like that, is if you are using a credit card for perks, so that, I mean, the main ones would be rewards, like you clearly do, or cheap spending overseas, then the way that you neuter the interest charging ability of a credit card is to pay off in full at the end of the month. And it has to be completely in full, as you'll know, that if you've got a thousand pound debt and you pay off a thousand pounds, there's

• 28:16Martin Lewis?

  no interest. You've got a thousand pound debt and you pay off £999.99, you're still charged interest that month on the entire thousand pounds. And that's why the in full, not most of it. It's not, I don't say pay as much as you can, it's pay off in full. But that is the rule for when you're not borrowing. If you're borrowing, by definition, paying off in full doesn't work because you can't borrow. So if you needed a loan and, you know, someone like you who's savvy and on topic of it all, would probably, if you could get, if you could pay it off within a year or so, you'd use a 0% credit card because there's no cheaper way to borrow than interest free. Now, you have to be controlled and know what you're doing and plan it and all that, that you're capable of doing that.

• 28:59Martin Lewis?

  So then you would get that and then you wouldn't want to pay it off in full. And stewing is effectively that. So the in full doesn't apply on stewing because what we do when we stew's, and for those people who are listening and be thinking, what did she say? Stewing? What's that? Stewing? We're going to define stewing now. Stusing is deliberately creating yourself a false debt on a 0% credit card. So you can take the debt, the money that you've built up in debt, and you can put it in a high interest savings account or cash ISA, and you can earn interest on it. And so because by definition, we're building up a debt, you don't want to pay off in full. The in full rule doesn't apply. And I'm delighted that I've brainwashed you to in full.

• 29:43Martin Lewis?

  But in full, in this case, is a tactical thing that you don't want to do it. So look, I mean, at the moment with savings accounts paying nearly 5%, if you could build up a £5,000 debt, and you would do it by doing your spending instead of rewards, and you build that up and you get two years interest free, and you go via an eligibility calculator to make sure which card you get. A £5,000 debt, a 5% interest, let's say for easy sums. Well, it's 250 quid a year. We'll, we'll take it off and say it took you some time to get the £5,000 on it. Because the way you get that, put that debt on is you do normal spending. So because you're doing normal spending on the credit card rather than from your debit card or your other credit card, the money is building up in your bank account, and you take your money from your bank account, and that's what you save.

• 30:28Martin Lewis?

  But I mean, it could be 500 quid over a couple of years, and you could build up an even bigger debt. And as long as you are keeping track of it, as long as you always have that money accessible that you could pay it off if you couldn't, you know, do a balance transfer and, and move it again at the end of the period, then, then it, and you've got to make the minimum payments as well, then it can work. What do you think? I mean, I'm always nervous about telling people to stews, but after your preamble, I'm not very nervous with you.

• 30:55Speaker 05

  So I would only have to pay off the minimum payment, and there would be no, no interest on the rest of it.

• 31:01Martin Lewis?

  Let's, let's just pretend for a second. So you've just got a card, it's 0% for two years. And but you want a 0% for spending card, there's no fee on those. So month number one, let's say, making it up, it could be more, it doesn't matter. Month number one, your normal spending that you put on the card is 500 quid. Yeah.

• 31:23Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 31:24Martin Lewis?

  So because, and you're someone who I can tell is balancing their budgets and everything, because you haven't spent that 500 quid from your debit account, your bank account, you've got 500 quid more in your bank account than you normally would. So you can put that 500 quid into a savings account.

• 31:38Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 31:39Martin Lewis?

  And you'll have to pay the minimum payment. You know, it might be 10, 20 quid on 500 pounds. So you'll pay that from your bank account. So you're probably putting 480 quid into the, into the savings account. Next month, you spend another 500 pounds. You put another 480 quid from your bank account into the savings accounts. So after 10 months, you've got five grand of debt, and you've gone up to your credit limit, you can't put any more on there. At that point, you would have already earned interest because you've had an average balance of 2,500 pounds in the savings account that's earning you money. And the credit card's not costing you anything because you've got to pay the minimum repayments. Otherwise, if you don't pay the minimum repayments, you can lose a 0% deal. So that's really important, you do that by direct debit, but only the minimum repayment.

• 32:23Martin Lewis?

  And then, so after 10 months, you've got 5,000 pounds in there. And then you've got a remaining 14 months that you're earning interest on the entire 5,000 pounds. So I mean, back of an envelope, that's probably 350 quid in profit that you are.

• 32:35Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 32:36Martin Lewis?

  And that's how it works.

• 32:37Speaker 05

  It's just the paying off in full that has made me apprehensive about it.

• 32:41Martin Lewis?

  Well, I've done a good job because I've brainwashed you, and that is my intent. But remember, the paying off in full rule is the rule for rewards where you're not trying to get into debt. Here you are trying to get into debt.

• 32:55Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 32:56Martin Lewis?

  But you're going to make money from it. And, and just for everybody else listening, this is not something to do unless you are a money nerd. And Fran, and I say this as a huge compliment, is a money nerd. And hopefully Fran, you're controlled on your budgeting, you're savvy, you understand it. You won't see this as an excuse to spend more than you earn or anything like that. All of those are danger signals, in which case you're a prime candidate for Stusing.

• 33:19Speaker 05

  Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give it a go then, thank you.

• 33:22Martin Lewis?

  Well, you know, you could dip your toe in the water, do it with a smaller amount to start with until you're comfortable with the way that it works. And all of that's good, there's no, there's no, you have to push the envelope. There are people out there who use this on their offset mortgages and make huge amounts, but you've got to feel comfortable that you understand it. And I can't say where, but you'll know there are some good guides online you can read that'll take you through it step by step.

• 33:43Speaker 05

  Yeah, okay, thank you.

• 33:45Martin Lewis?

  Thank you for calling Fran, I've loved it, I love you, you're brilliant.

• 33:48Speaker 05

  Thanks.

• 33:49Martin Lewis?

  In a purely avuncular way, I should, I should note for anyone listening.

• 33:55Martin Lewis?

  What's your next question for me, young Matthew?

• 33:57Speaker 06

  Right, so normally at the end, we have a success, don't we?

• 34:01Martin Lewis?

  We do.

• 34:01Speaker 06

  And I would normally read it out. But when I put it into a list, I thought, you know what? It'd be really nice to get this person on. So Kath is in Liverpool.

• 34:11Martin Lewis?

  What, third caller?

• 34:12Speaker 06

  She's our third caller, I'm breaking the format.

• 34:17Martin Lewis?

  Can't compute. Don't know how to cope.

• 34:20Speaker 06

  Meltdown.

• 34:21Martin Lewis?

  Do I talk to the third caller like they're a caller or like they're a reader? I just don't understand how it works.

• 34:26Speaker 06

  Let's figure it out as we go along, Martin.

• 34:28Martin Lewis?

  I'm very, very not good at change, Matthew. I don't know how to cope with this. You've thrown this on me out of the, I don't know what I'm doing.

• 34:37Speaker 06

  Kath, I think, I think it's just me and you. I think you're just gonna have to do it.

• 34:44Speaker 07

  What have I got to do?

• 34:47Martin Lewis?

  Hello Kath, it's lovely to have you on unexpectedly, unexchanged.

• 34:54Speaker 07

  I'm sorry about it, well, it's a bit unexpected for me as well.

• 34:56Martin Lewis?

  Okay, good. I'm, I'm staring daggers at Matt, even though he's in a different studio. I was actually, just, just, just for, we're in the ridiculous bit of the pod now. I'm sorry for taking this over and not doing that. But I was, I was staring daggers at the microphone. And for some reason, I've got this big blue microphone in front of me, and it's sort of got like a head shaped cover on it. And I was staring at that like it was Matt. And I was giving the microphone, not real daggers because I'm delighted to have you on board, of course Kath, but anyway. So Matt, in, because you can, Matt can see me, can't you?

• 35:28Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 35:29Martin Lewis?

  But I don't have a camera, I can't see Matt. So this microphone has become the personification of Matt in my eyes now.

• 35:35Speaker 07

  Yeah, you're viewing that microphone like his head, yeah.

• 35:38Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 35:39Speaker 06

  But I don't have blue hair.

• 35:40Speaker 07

  No.

• 35:41Martin Lewis?

  Not today.

• 35:41Speaker 06

  Not today.

• 35:42Martin Lewis?

  Right, Kath, you've got a success, how lovely. Sorry about all that.

• 35:48Speaker 07

  I actually just sent a little email in because we're so stunned by this success. And it was, it was, I actually followed your advice.

• 35:56Martin Lewis?

  Oh, good.

• 35:57Speaker 07

  Remember the thing you say about car insurance?

• 35:59Martin Lewis?

  Yes.

• 36:00Speaker 07

  About the sweet spot?

• 36:01Martin Lewis?

  Yes, 22, 23 days beforehand, yes.

• 36:04Speaker 07

  Yeah, so around that time, I got my renewal, you know, and I usually auto renew. And it's been going down sort of over the past couple of years, and I've stuck with the same people. And this year, it went up by over 300 pounds. And I thought, no, come on, just have a look, just have a look at the, what you could get. And they quoted me 1,226 pounds.

• 36:33Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 36:34Speaker 07

  For, for, from my car provider. Yes, for auto renewal. I did the thing that we're supposed to do, which is try and haggle with them, phone up. They'd knock me 100 pounds off.

• 36:45Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 36:46Speaker 07

  And I thought, no, that's no good. So I went on the comparison sites, and I couldn't actually believe how, how low. And I thought, there must be a catch here, this can't be right. And so I put all the things on, all the whistles and bells, you know, no claims protection, all that. So everything I've got now, and the final quote that I took, adding everything on, was 637.

• 37:12Martin Lewis?

  Half price.

• 37:12Speaker 07

  Half price.

• 37:13Martin Lewis?

  Wow. And so, okay, that's really, and this was at the 22 day spot?

• 37:18Speaker 07

  It is exactly at that.

• 37:20Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, it's unbelievable. And how, is that cheaper than you've been paying in recent? It must be because it went up 300, so you've been paying 800, 900 a year.

• 37:28Speaker 07

  Yeah, it had been, I mean, it, okay, it's fairly expensive. You know, I have to park on the street and all of those things. It had been 850, so it's actually more than 300, isn't it? It went up to 1,226. And I thought, what is it? And so it's cheaper than what I'd been paying before.

• 37:48Martin Lewis?

  The sweet spot is so important, I mean, it's so bonkers. I mean, it's proper bonkers, isn't it? The day that you get the quotes makes a difference. But for those who haven't heard me talk about this before, the logic behind this is, insurance pricing, pricing is based on actuarial risk. It's based on the risk of you doing different things. And the people who will get a quote in advance tend to be less risky than the people who do it the day before. And so this sweet spot, it makes it, I mean, people are always gobsmacked when they see it for the first time, but it's proper, it's an absolutely real thing to do. Yeah, it's wonderful, isn't it?

• 38:24Speaker 07

  And the, the interesting bit was that, I mean, I don't have to say really, but it was one of those insurance, they're in the umbrella of a well-known name, shall we say. And, and the insurer is different. And again, the quote I've, I've got, well, I've accepted, is again in the umbrella of another fairly well-known name.

• 38:46Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 38:46Speaker 07

  But the actual insurer is the same one.

• 38:50Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so it's the same.

• 38:51Speaker 07

  I'm actually being insured by the same company.

• 38:53Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, well, they rebadge, they rebrand, so again, really interesting on this. So you may, you may have heard that they, they got rid of the idea that existing customers could be charged more than new customers.

• 39:06Speaker 07

  Yes, they did.

• 39:07Martin Lewis?

  But the law on that is very specific. Existing customers can't be charged more than new customers going via the same channel. It's channel specific. So what that means is if you went by one comparison site, then the next year, a new customer going via that comparison site could not be given a cheaper price than you in exactly the same situation on the same comparison site. But they could be charged less on a different comparison site.

• 39:35Speaker 07

  Right.

• 39:35Martin Lewis?

  Or going direct, or buying through a different route. So there are a lot of, there are a lot of loopholes in that law.

• 39:41Speaker 07

  There are.

• 39:42Martin Lewis?

  Which is why the old rule, you know, and it was meant to get rid of the, you can auto renew and, you can't auto renew in safety. You should always be checking, insurance prices are going back up, car and home. If you're listening out there, there's a, the sweet spot works on home as well, it's not as powerful. Yeah, you want to be doing it 23, getting your new quotes 23 days before your renewal roughly, and combining across the market. Thanks so much, Kath, what a great way to end.

• 40:08Speaker 07

  Oh, and thanks, thanks for the advice.

• 40:10Martin Lewis?

  My pleasure, my pleasure, enjoy the saving.

• 40:13Speaker 07

  All right, thank you.

• 40:15Martin Lewis?

  Cheers.

• 40:17Martin Lewis?

  So now, we've done two reads. We've done three callers.

• 40:22Speaker 06

  Yeah, I know.

• 40:23Martin Lewis?

  It's an odd number. I don't understand. I enjoyed it, though. It was a very good caller. But still, it doesn't let you off. Have, we didn't have a funny or a scans one last week because you blamed GDPR for deleting them.

• 40:35Speaker 06

  And it was her fault, but yes, carry on.

• 40:37Martin Lewis?

  I am going to let the two of you have that, you know, you know. Who is your favourite child? I'm not getting involved in that debate between the two of you. I love you both equally. So do you have a funny in a scans this week?

• 40:50Speaker 06

  I do have a funny.

• 40:51Martin Lewis?

  I just did put myself in the pet, but I suppose I am the parent.

• 40:54Speaker 06

  Yeah, I suppose.

• 40:54Martin Lewis?

  In this relationship, you are both, you're both, yeah, you're, you're in your late twenties. Rosie's in her early thirties and I'm in my, I'm still claiming early fifties. Fifty-four, it's earlier than half, so it's, so it's early.

• 41:08Speaker 06

  It's nearly mid.

• 41:09Martin Lewis?

  It's, it's early half.

• 41:10Speaker 06

  When is your birthday?

• 41:11Martin Lewis?

  What's that?

• 41:12Speaker 06

  When is your birthday?

• 41:12Martin Lewis?

  No, I've just had, I'm May.

• 41:14Speaker 06

  Oh, right, okay.

• 41:14Martin Lewis?

  So I'm May, well, not just.

• 41:15Speaker 06

  I think I did, I think I texted you actually, so happy birthday, yeah.

• 41:18Martin Lewis?

  No, I still, fifty-four, I'm arguing is still early fifties because it's not mid-fifties.

• 41:22Speaker 06

  Okay. Shall I tell you of this question?

• 41:25Martin Lewis?

  Yes, I don't know what it is.

• 41:26Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 41:27Martin Lewis?

  Slightly concerning, carry on.

• 41:28Speaker 06

  Question from Neil, who emailed it in. I had to go digging for this one, so you know, we, we put out a request for people to send funny, funny questions in. And no one has sent a funny question in, so.

• 41:39Martin Lewis?

  Esquire listeners, what is happening? I mean, you, you understand that this is a symbiotic relationship. Matt and I come on here, answer your questions, make a slight fool of yourself and have no fun whatsoever doing this, as you can tell by listening. And it's just, we do it in a hardcore way and we ask, what do we ask of you? What do we ask people? We ask two things. You send us in your questions so that we can answer them and provide good financial information and education to the nation. And just to the end, to give us a lightness of touch, a frisson of joy, a fulfillment of fun. I quite like that.

• 42:18Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 42:19Martin Lewis?

  We ask you to send us funny or a scans questions and you have not held up your end of the bargain. Well, get better. So what we got?

• 42:29Speaker 06

  Neil says, dear, all the Matts who work for the BBC, there aren't quite a lot of us. Rosie, everyone else on Martin's team.

• 42:35Martin Lewis?

  He's included, he's included the director general in that.

• 42:37Speaker 06

  And the only one with a genuine title presented by royalty.

• 42:41Martin Lewis?

  Thank you.

• 42:42Speaker 06

  Obviously, I don't have one. As part of your job.

• 42:45Martin Lewis?

  Two, two, I was twice because I got no BE then an upgrade.

• 42:47Speaker 06

  Oh, yeah.

• 42:48Martin Lewis?

  So, yeah, Princess Anne the first time and then Prince Charles the second time. Yeah.

• 42:54Speaker 06

  Fancy. Anyway, he says, as, as part of her job, has your wife Lara ever bought home a piece of tech that's A, really annoyed you? Or B, you've loved so much, you immediately purchase one? He says, love the show. Thanks for everything you do with the voice you have. Us muggles live a better and more educated and financially rewarding life, thanks to you and your team.

• 43:15Martin Lewis?

  Oh, I like that. I'm having a think for a second.

• 43:19Speaker 06

  Okay. Has she ever bought home any weird tech as well?

• 43:23Martin Lewis?

  Oh, we've had loads of weird tech. We've even had weird tech that wouldn't be appropriate to talk about on here that we've not used, I have to say. Yeah, and she's had, she's covered some and it was, I do it on the side. It was, she was, when she was working on Click at the BBC and it was something she was going to put on her social media. It was about a type of toy, yeah, that could be operated and remote controlled via an app, via somebody else. And she was, did a piece on it on her social media. I've, I've phrased it in a way that is hopefully appropriate for all ages. Did a piece on it in her social media and then there was this big discussion of whether it's appropriate or not. And it was a massive multi-million pound launch at the big tech show in Las Vegas, the CES.

• 44:08Martin Lewis?

  And it, and I just thought, well, it is tech. It is tech and it is a development and you know, that industry, the adult entertainment industry, many of the things that we have in modern life. You know, whether it's video cam technology, the whole sort of payment system online, a lot of it, it all happens in that industry first. As it has to develop it first. So it is part of the tech world. And that was me filling when I'm trying to think of a piece to answer to the actual question. She, she did a report on a foldy phone, but not just a foldy phone, the foldiest of foldy phones. And it's not the new one that's just launched. I've had it for a while. And it has not, was not on sale in the UK.

• 44:52Martin Lewis?

  And she did a report and I saw that and I like a foldy phone. And I went, oh, that's very nice.

• 44:58Speaker 06

  Shiny.

• 44:59Martin Lewis?

  I would like that foldy phone. And you know, I tend not to be a first adopter of technology and it tends not to go, not to be something that really fits in with what I do. But then, somebody I know, a colleague who's worked with me for a long time, happened to go to one of the countries where it was being sold. And very lovely and wonderfully, he bought me the foldy phone as a gift. And it was, I was incredibly grateful. We've worked together a very long time and he is a wonderful, kind human being. And he bought me the very foldy, very special foldy phone that has never been on sale in the UK. And it's foldier than any phone that's on sale in the UK. And I have that foldy phone. So it was Lara's original report, but it was a wonderful man who I'm not going to name on here, but he knows who he is and he's an absolute superstar.

• 45:44Martin Lewis?

  And he, I've worked together for a long time. He bought me as a thank you for all the stuff that we've done. And it was absolutely delightful and I was in tears when he gave it to me. So there we go.

• 45:55Speaker 06

  Oh, that's very nice.

• 45:56Martin Lewis?

  I think it's fine to admit, and I don't normally say that, I don't tend to take gifts or stuff like that. But it's, it was, it was very appropriate and it was very nice and I liked it very much and he's an amazing man.

• 46:09Martin Lewis?

  And that is it for this week's Question Time. Don't forget to subscribe so you know when we release a new episode. We put out a new Question Time episode each Monday alongside the Big Topic Podcast with Adrian on Thursdays. Aren't you lucky? Two doses of money-saving tips and tricks a week. Make sure you send in your questions. Just email [email protected] and address it to Dear Martin.

• 46:33Speaker 06

  Dear Matt.

• 46:34Martin Lewis?

  Dear Martin.

• 46:34Speaker 06

  It's Dear Matt.

• 46:35Martin Lewis?

  It's not. And don't forget, if you come on the show, we'll send you an exclusive Martin Lewis Question Time ESQ badge.

• 46:43Speaker 06

  Ooh.

• 46:45Martin Lewis?

  Ooh. He can't even let me have the last two. He doesn't even let me have the last two.

• 47:05Speaker 05

  Martin Lewis is the founder of moneysavingexpert.com. But of course, other consumer and price comparison websites are available. You can get in touch with Martin's podcast production team by emailing [email protected]. The offers and rates mentioned in the podcast are correct at the time of recording. However, if you are listening on demand, it's worth double checking as details can date. Remember to subscribe on BBC Sounds and leave us a review however you listen.

• 47:38Speaker 06

  As you say that, I'm picturing Megamind.

• 47:40Martin Lewis?

  I don't know what that is, but go for it.

• 47:42Speaker 06

  Google it. Not a compliment.

• 47:45Martin Lewis?

  Is it not?

• 47:46Speaker 06

  No.

• 47:48Martin Lewis?

  Rosie's just generated a picture of Megamind that just popped up on the screen in front of me. Okay, it wasn't a compliment, you're right. Carry on, we weren't to be doing proper stuff. This is a grown up podcast, Matthew.

• 47:59Speaker 06

  Sensible, sensible. Right, okay.

• 48:04Speaker 02

  Sometimes we all need an extra helping hand, especially with a tricky business problem you've been putting off. Claude is an AI for just that. It's the collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you, not for you. And Claude isn't just for quick questions. Hand it a whole task like turning a folder or scattered notes into a report and it does the work and hands back something finished that you can open and edit. Claude can now draft a doc or deck right in front of you and Claude Design now lives right inside Claude. Describe the website or prototype you're picturing, attach your design system and it comes back in your own design language, ready to edit right on the canvas. It works with your files and the tools you already use, like Gmail and Slack.

• 48:47Speaker 02

  And whether you're debugging code at midnight, building a financial model or strategising your next business move. Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at claude.ai/solve. That's claude.ai/solve and check out Claude Pro, which includes access to all of the features mentioned in today's episode. Claude.ai/solve.

• 49:13Speaker 05

  This week on The Interface, millions of kids have grown up on camera with their childhoods turned into content. There's a new law in California that gives kinfluencers the right to be forgotten and it could impact adults too.

• 49:23Speaker 00

  And an attack on Russian data centres started a rumour that all the evil disinformation bots had been deleted from the internet. But the truth might actually be a lot scarier.

• 49:35Speaker 05

  For our take, join me, Jess Maddox.

• 49:37Speaker 00

  And me, Thomas Germain, for The Interface.

• 49:39Speaker 05

  Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.