Martin's guide to free wills, DIY Power of Attorney & Inheritance Tax; Chase cuts rewards; 33mths 0% ending; teachers' discounts

Car insurance prices are DOWN 19%! So as it's a busy renewal time, a crucial reminder - if your insurer's price stays the same, you're likely OVERPAYING. Don't just accept it
Our Compare+ tool has all the tricks in one place. Pete saved £450!

The golden rule with car insurance is to always check how your renewal price compares against the market. The easy route to do this is through our Compare+ Car Insurance tool. In fact, it's still worth doing even if you're not at renewal (also try our new Compare+ Home Insurance tool).

And that's important right now because March tends to be busy for car insurance renewals, as it's a new car registrations month. Remind yourself of Martin's key car insurance message this year... yes, prices have turned a corner, down 19% year-on-year (source: pricing consultancy Pearson Ham). But when you get your renewal, if the price is the same as it was last year, don't be complacent and just accept it - even if it's 10% cheaper, you can probably still do better. After all, while it's down year-on-year, that follows huge previous rises, leaving it still nearly 60% more than it was in 2021 and averaging over £800/yr.

1. Use Compare+ which, as the name suggests, does far more than just compare...

- Fill in a questionnaire. Answer our Compare+ Car Insurance question set (we borrow MoneySupermarket's. If you've used it before, your answers are auto-filled).
- Get MSE cost-cutting tips as you answer. Such as whether you can legitimately tweak your job title to reduce the cost.
- See your cheapest insurers from the comparison as a benchmark. But, of course, we want you to beat them.
- Follow our personalised tips to try for a bigger saving. Including whether you should look to add an additional driver or pay annually, not monthly. Some have one-click checks, so you can easily find out whether they work for you.
- Find out whether you're asking at the right time. The tool will let you know if you're too early (and suggest coming back later) or too late (and ask if you want a reminder next year). Timing it right can, at the extreme, save you 50%.
- Try other sites to see whether you can slice down costs further. We assess whether Direct Line - which isn't on most comparison sites - is worth trying, and give you the order of other sites to try to see if you can cut the price further.

This email from Pete last month may motivate you: "A huge thank you for your Compare+ Car Insurance tool. I used it, following your tip to get quotes 25 days ahead. Direct price £1,046 vs £605 for like-for-like cover via MSE. Saved £441. RESULT!"

2. How to compare mid-year (and how to switch if doing so saves you money). Many wrongly assume you can't change insurer mid-year. You can, and with prices dropping, it's worth checking (especially if the risk has changed, eg, you've changed car or moved address). The first thing to do is check using Compare+, set a policy start date about three weeks ahead, as that's usually the sweet spot for lower premiums. If the new quote is significantly cheaper than what you're paying, it's worth considering - as long as you've not made, or plan to make, a claim for this insurance year.

If you can save big, sign up for your new policy, then cancel your old one. You should get a pro-rata refund for the rest of the year (minus a £50ish admin fee - check the amount before doing this). Yet you usually won't earn the year's no-claims bonus.

3. More than one car at home? Check whether you can save with a multicar policy. Comparison sites don't check multicar cover, so you'll need to check manually whether it saves you money. Martin's rule of thumb is: "If you're on a multicar policy, check separate policies to see if you can save. If you're on separate, check multicar." This is because insurers use marketing discounts to suck people in, but these can then disappear at renewal.

- Multicar (one policy for all): Probably the best known is Admiral*, but LV*, Aviva, Elephant* and Diamond also offer these policies. Don't worry if your renewals are at different dates, their systems work with that.
- Discounts on separate policies: Axa, Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege all offer discounts for multiple cars - so check, especially if they're cheapest for one of your vehicles.
- Got home or other insurance with another firm? Direct Line offers discounts of usually 10% if you get more than one policy type with it. Keep an eye on Direct Line in your comparison result, and check with it.

4. Make sure the policy is right for you and complain if you're unfairly treated. As with any insurance, check the policy details to ensure it's the cover you want, and that the insurer's regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority before you buy (all those available via Compare+ are). If a claim's unfairly rejected, you can take 'em to the free Financial Ombudsman.

Bad news. Chase customer? It's slashing its cashback and ending it on spending abroad. So we've new top picks...
- Earn up to 5% cashback on a credit card
- New top card for spending abroad
- Earn up to 5% on easy-access savings

When the Chase* app-only bank account burst on to the scene in 2021, it was a triple threat - the best cashback card, best for overseas spending, and the top savings rate. It's since slowly scaled its perks back, and the latest downgrade that'll hit on 7 April is a big one, shifting it from best buy to 'pretty good'. It's still worth considering, as it's easy to get (you needn't switch banks to get it, and it doesn't credit-score you) and remains competitive in multiple categories, yet those who like to be atop the best deals may want to find something new. So let us tell you the top payers in each category and how Chase now compares...

1) TOP CASHBACK CARDS: Earn 5% short-term, or 1% for longer including on bills. American Express newbies getting the Amex Everyday card can get an unbeatable 5% cashback for 5mths (normally 3mths) up to a max of £125 (normally £100). The cashback's paid after a year, provided you spend £3,000+/yr on it. As it's a credit card, only do this if you'll repay IN FULL each month, or the 30.4% rep APR interest dwarfs the cashback gain. After the 5mths, it's 0.5% on spending up to £10,000/yr and 1% above. Overall, it's a strong option for bigger spenders. See Top rewards cards for full options.

2) TOP CARDS FOR SPENDING ABROAD: Get near-perfect exchange rates and 0.25% cashback. Spend abroad and most plastic adds a 'non-sterling exchange rate charge' of around 3%, so you pay £103 for £100 worth of euros. Yet a few specialist cards don't charge this, meaning you get the same near-perfect exchange rate that the banks do.

Barclaycard Rewards will be the only top overseas debit/credit card that still gives cashback - it pays 0.25%. Unlike some credit cards, ATM withdrawals are fee-free and - as long as you repay IN FULL each month (28.9% rep APR if not) - interest-free too. Plus, as it's a credit card, you get the stronger Section 75 spending protection abroad. See Top travel cards for full options.

3) TOP EASY-ACCESS SAVINGS: Earn up to 5%. Cash ISAs are just savings you never pay tax on & current top payers beat top normal savings, so are winners if you haven't used this year's £20,000 ISA allowance. Top is Chip's 5% AER (min £1; 4.32% standard variable + 0.68% 6mth bonus), followed via our link by Trading 212's 4.78% AER* (min £1; 4.5% standard variable + 0.28% 1yr bonus). Both are newbies-only & have slightly complex structures. See Top cash ISAs for info.

The top normal easy-access rates are Monument's 4.75% AER (max 3 withdrawals/year, min £25k) and Chip's 4.6% AER (3.5% standard variable + 1.1% 6mth bonus), though it has a slightly complex structure. Prefer a more well-known name? There's Post Office's 4.4% AER* (min £1; made up of a 1.25% standard variable + a 3.15% 1yr bonus) and also Post Office's 4.4% cash ISA* (min £100; with the same bonus structure). More in Top savings.