Money Guide Ireland

Euro Sterling Exchange Rate

Moneymate — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:05:38 +0000

The underlying trend in sterling remains positive.
At close of business yesterday (June 22nd) the Pound was worth €1.1755 Euro. There seems to be a correction to the over-selling of sterling in winter 2008/09. Also the rising price of oil has boosted the UK currency in relation to the currencies of major oil importers, notably the US, eurozone and Japan.

To enquire about getting good exchange rates on larger amounts of currencies - you should try one of our currency broker partners. They will always giveyou a betterexchange rate than your bank - and lower (or zero) transaction fees.

Check out Currency Solutions or Currency UK for good deals on large currency transactions. Euros , Sterling or any other currency.

EBS Family Saver Interest Rate Reduced

Moneymate — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:18:11 +0000

The Family Saver account from EBS which is a fixed rate regular savings account - has had it’s rate reduced from 5.1% to 4.5%. It is still one of the better regular savings accounts in Ireland - but AIB and Anglo Irish still have better rates. The fact that the EBS rate is fixed for a year might just give it a slight advantage - although the falling interest rates seem to have come to a halt at the moment.

See all the best regular saver accounts in Ireland

Best 10 Year Fixed Mortgages

Moneymate — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:45:17 +0000

It looks like fixed rate mortgages are starting to rise again. EBS, AIB, NIB have all increased fixed rate mortgages in recent days. If you are thinking of fixing - there are not many lenders offering 10 year fixes in Ireland. Of those that do - Haven mortgages offer the lowest (as at June 18th) with 4.49% (Max LTV 80%). It is likely this rate will rise soon.
Visit our page of the Lowest 10 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages

Tesco Money Off Voucher

Moneymate — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:24:58 +0000

Get Ten Euro discount on your online shopping from Tesco Ireland with this voucher valid until 21st June on spends over €80

Travel Insurance Price Comparison

Moneymate — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:22:04 +0000

Travel Insurance - is one of those last minute purchases that we don’t do too much research on. Is there really that much difference in the cost of travel insurance in Ireland? Is it worth shopping around to save money?
We obtained some online quotes for a 9 day trip in Europe for a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children aged 6, 15 and 19). Some sites allowed us to treat the 19 year old as a child if they are in full time education. Other sites made us treat them as adults.

Quotes for the single trip travel insurance cover ranged from €30 at Aceinsure.ie up to €69.20 at CoverMe.ie (They wouldn’t treat the 19 yearold as a child).
These are the prices we were quoted for single trip travel insurance. (No cover for winter sports or golf ). The most expensive we found was more than twice the price of the cheapest policy.

Aceinsure.ie €30
Justcover €34.24
Insurancebookers.ie €35.80
Hibernian Aviva €36
AIB €38
Getcover.com €60.59
Quoteme.ie €69.20

If you think you will be going abroad more than once in the next 12 months - it is worth taking out a multitrip anual travel cover instead of buying separate insurance cover for the two trips. It will almost always work out cheaper.
We were quoted the following prices for annual travel cover.

Justcover.ie €69.50
Allianz €71.70
Aceinsure.ie €73
Hibernian €80
Getcover.com €91.89
AIB €92
Insurancebookers.ie €154.80

None of the party being insured had existing health insurance. The prices may have been lower if we had private health insurance because that would cover most of the medical costs.

Electricity Price Comparison

Moneymate — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:12:57 +0000

Take a look at our Electricity price comparison table - which we will keep updated with any changes as they happen.
Switching electricity supplier from ESB could save someone using 600 units a month as much as €166 Euro a year. The lowest priced electricity is from Bord Gais - but you have to be also a gas customer and pay by Direct Debi to get that rate. This option isn’t available to non gas users - so the cheapest option for them is to move to Airtricity with their level payment plan paying by direct debit.
If you are not a fan of direct debits - the lowest price is available from Bord Gais.
A quick phone call or filling in of an online form could save you over a a hundred euro a year - not bad for a few minutes effort. See the full list of Electricity Prices compared here

Free Phone Line Connection until August 31st 2009

Moneymate — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:44:00 +0000

Eircom are offering free phone line connections again until August 31st 2009.
Type your text here" target="_blank">See Here for more details

If you want a landline connection in Ireland - Eircom are the only company that can do the connection. Prices of connection vary - depending on the circumstances. The most expensive connection charge would be for a property that has never had a landline connection previously - i.e a new house. The charge for that is currently €121.93. The lowest charge would be €25.09
This free offer is for residential customers only.

Get Your Free Landline connection Here

ECB Interest Rate Unchanged at 1%

Moneymate — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:58:36 +0000

The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged today - still at a record low of 1.0 percent .

Most economists had forecast that the ECB would to leave rates on hold. Euro zone inflation is low and the economy is shrinking fast, although some data have shown signs of improvement. The markets will be keen to see whether Trichet gives any signals that the ECB plans to keep rates low for a lengthy period, or alternatively, whether they could be reduced further.

IVA - Individual Voluntary Arrangements

Moneymate — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:38:06 +0000

With the large audiences in Ireland for UK television - it is possible you may have seen the ads for IVA’s - Individual Voluntary Arrangements. These are for people in trouble with debts.
An IVA is a formal process available in the UK (including Northern Ireland) that is carried out via the county courts and has to be arranged through an Insolvency Practitioner (IP). The IP submits a proposal for an IVA to the court and to the creditors. The proposal must be approved by 75% (by value) of the creditors. Providing it is approved, it is binding on them all. Typically payments are made under the terms of an IVA for 5 years , at the end of that period the person is free of all the debts that the IVA covers. (Even if the full amount was not paid back!)
There is a fee charged by the Insolvency Practitioners for arranging and supervising the IVA. (These fees are usually taken from the repayments and have been known to be as much as £8000 ) It must be a profitable business judging by the amount of companies offering to do it. An IVA stays on the UK credit file for 6 years.

In Ireland there is not an equivalent to the IVA - If your debts get to the stage where you are issued with a summons - the initial summons will give you a number of options, which give you the chance to either admit you owe the money, or to defend the claim because you feel you do not owe all or some of the amount claimed.
The Irish legal system does not provide the chance for you to agree that you owe the money and to ask the court to consider an affordable offer of payments that suit your means. You have to try and do this informally outside of the court process.
Before your debts get to the stage of a court case you should try and contact your creditors to let them know you are in difficulty. Work out a budget and how much you can afford to pay back a month. Reputable lenders will normally be reasonable if they know the circumstances.
If you have come to an agreement with creditors to pay off a certain amount each week or month - make sure you keep up the payments . If a creditor does not accept a reasonable offer of repayment, seek advice from Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) . The MABS web site has plenty of information about debt problems and how to deal with them.

Oil Prices Rising Again

Moneymate — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:15:51 +0000

The price of Brent crude (1 month forward) has risen to about $68/ barrel. A few weeks ago it was as low as $45 dollars a barrel. It is possibly a good sign that prices are rising - it may be a hint of more demand caused by some economic global recovery. On the other hand - it could just be that OPEC are looking for a target price of $85 a barrel and may not increase production until oil prices are in the $80/ barrel region. If your oil tank is low - it may be a good time to order some heating oil before price rises are passed on. It might also be a good time to look into those grants for insulation and new boilers.