Testing your consumer rights and haggling skills

25:49So you're three pound a month up. So that's 36 quid a year. So that's 125 quid for switching, 50 pounds for the savings account, another 36 quid a year. That's over 200 quid. And existing nationwide customers can get a free 200 pounds for switching to it too. If you're an existing current account customer, you'll have to be moving in a bank account from elsewhere on top of that. But if you've got its personal savings account or a mortgage with it, you can bring in a current account and get paid for switching into it if you're an existing customer too. I mean, and I could go on. There are other types of offers you should be looking at, which is why I sort of don't just stick and be loyal.

26:21Let's take right now Club Lloyd Silver. It's a package bank account. That's one of those where you pay a monthly fee, but you get lots of insurance products. So it will pay you 185 quid for switching to it. you've got to be moving three plus direct debits over you then pay£11.50 a month you get European travel insurance for the whole family mobile phone cover for the account holder family UK breakdown cover now clearly if you were going to be paying for those anyway because the cover levels are pretty decent the fact you pay£11.50 a month but you get£185 free effectively means you get the first 16 months for free and you're getting all those insurance thrown in and there are lots of the similar deals Virgin Money Club M is worth looking at if you've got a family and for older travellers Nationwide Flex Plus is looking at.

27:04But my big point, and I probably should stop there Simon now, my big point on this is if you are telling us you've been loyal to your bank account and you don't know why, then maybe you should be protecting your pocket a bit more and going elsewhere. Martin says, not sure if this counts but the longest would be a couple of pounds in premium bonds purchased with pocket money at the end of 1956. Perhaps more on track would be a Fidelity European Trust investment from 1992. Anthony Bolton was the manager and a few years later as I dabbled with other providers I realised that he was an exceptionally good manager and started to invest in other funds he managed.

27:43A strategy that served me well over the years. Sheila has been with the AA since 2007 and last week called them out for the first time in three years. Partner broke down in a remote location, called at 5pm, said they would be there at 10pm. It's not the best, is it? Do you know what? I actually think that takes us very well into the next subject that we're going to do. I just can't go through the process. I've got too much shame of trying to haggle. One of our editors today, Ellie, put it very well. She said, I just can't bear to go through that am-dram. Oh, I'm thinking of moving away. I'm going to take my account away.

28:16What are you going to do about it? It's that I'm reluctant to do. And I No, I'm a fool. But go on, you tell us how to go about haggling. Look, I think there's certainly some legitimate arguments to what you're saying. In regulated industries, haggling probably shouldn't work. It's unfair to those who lack the skills or the education or the mental health or the capacity to do so. Yet it is allowed and it does work. And so I think you just have to accept that if you're not going to haggle and you're going to stick with a company, you are going to be penalized for not doing so especially in mature industries such as mobile phone firms where everyone already has the product so companies need to try and retain our existing custom so my rule is quite simple if you're at or past the end of your contract then you're holstering a huge weapon which is loyalty because they want to keep your business and you should make them pay for it now i was making a point about the rights are wrong of haggling and we've actually had quite a few comments on those haven't we Simon?

29:17I thought it'd be worth reading a few out. What have you got? Yeah Sue got in touch. She says the more confident and articulate you are the less you pay. Is this really how we want society to be? So there really is a justice issue I mean of course this goes right across society when you talk about complaints and you talk about problems and you talk about people who can effectively navigate a complaint system and get themselves justice in in a financial society. It tends to be people who are more professional and better educated who tend to be able to navigate their way through it and similar works in haggling i mean there are different crossover skills there is a real question i think which have recently actually raised this in one of their policy papers of the unfairness of haggling out there helen says more importantly why do we need to haggle i do usually phone insurance breakdown cover broadband etc but often have reasonable success but if the company can make a better a price why don't they because they're effectively allowed to do you know price differentiation is a holy grail of companies uh price differentiation says i want to charge each customer the maximum they're willing to pay i mean and ultimately if you can do that and you can retain a large customer base then you're going to be more profitable because as long as every customer is profitable to an extent if someone's willing to pay more you let them do more and many people pay more out of apathy and inertia from not haggling.

30:34So while it would all be nice for us to say in a fair, just world that everyone would get the perfect price and you don't have to haggle, I'm afraid that isn't capitalism. Philip says that he never gets why companies don't say, this is our best price and this is how you get it. The hours that must be wasted speaking to companies to haggle. Well, the hours are wasted by the customer. I mean, for companies, it is clearly a more lucrative system or they wouldn't do it. They want to retain customers. Many people do just auto renew year after year after year and pay the ever increased prices that is coming across i mean it's the same as the answer i've just given really people are willing to pay more so companies will take more money which is why all we can do as consumers and all i can do in my career because this is the actual practical reality of the situation we're in is suggest to you that you need to be aware that if you don't do this you're probably going to be paying more of course you have another choice leave go into comparison site you don't need to haggle go and find yourself the cheapest deal for the product that you want with another company, ditch and switch.

31:35And that's just as powerful in its own right. Really, haggling is where you're desperate to stay with the company that you're currently with. So let's start with what we're just talking about. I do a big poll on this. I do it on a regular basis. The last poll has just been done a couple of weeks ago of people who try and haggle on what their successes are. The top four haggling sectors fourth is mobile phones with an average 58 success rate so more than 50 percent of people who try succeed car and home insurance is a 62 success rate broadband and paid for tv is an average 69 success rate and breakdown cover is an average 81 success rate so four in five and let me take this up even further let me go into the top 10 the top 10 firms to haggle with based on those who try and whether they report they succeeded or not I'll do it my best pop voice in at 10 you've got now to broadband oh oh I think there's a catch I'll stop Adrian yes it is another wicket second wicket so very at two and one over from Nishish Kumar already bearing in mind England had withstood the challenges of Bumrah and Deep in the first hour.

32:53And Zach Crawley is out for 18, 44 for two. Olly Pope dropped first ball, incidentally, as well. So it's been an eventful over this. But, yeah, just a little brush at the outside edge and a simple catch from Richard Pant. Suddenly, England have lost both their openers and they're in a bit of trouble, 44 for two. And to be fair, speaking of a simple catch and an easy wicket, that's exactly what haggling should be with the top ten firms to haggle with. So I'm going to go straight back into it. In at 10 is Now Broadband and TV with a 72 % success rate. At 9, you've got Sky Mobile at 72 % success as well.

33:26Green Flag Breakdown is in at 8 at 73%. AA Insurance, 74 % success rate. TalkTalk Broadband and TV in at number 6, 75 % success rate. In at number 5, it's Admiral Insurance at 75%. Number 4, Hastings Direct, 77%. Now we get to the big three. Third place, RAC Breakdown cover. 54 % report to big success 30 % report to small success that's an 84 % success overall in at number 2 Virgin Media Broadband and TV 58 % report to big success 26 % to small success that's an 84 % success rate and the top firm to haggle with that we found in the UK that has a significant number of people who voted in the poll is the AA breakdown cover with 61 % of people who try reporting a big success, 26 % a small success.

34:20That is an 87 % success rate. It's absolutely massive. I'm afraid if you are not trying when you're at the end of your contract and you're with the AA, you are almost certainly overpaying because the huge majority who do try succeed and the savings can be substantial. So how do I do it then? I wait to the end of my contract and it's on direct debit with me. So with a particular breakdown company whose name may or may not have been mentioned. So I get a little note, it's happened. I think, oh, I must look at that. And then I forget for another year and then don't do it again. So what do I do? Ring them?

35:00Well, I would always say the first step, if you can, I mean, you don't have to do this. The first step, if you can, is go online and do a very quick search and find out what the cheapest one of their main competitors would charge you would be. Because new customer deals in these type of industries are almost certainly cheaper. So, you know, for broadband, you go onto a comparison site. Same for car and home insurance. Mobile's comparison. Breakdown, there are lists of cheapest breakdown cover out there. And they'll be very substantially cheaper than what you're paying on your renewal. Because what they do on renewals is they use a thing called price walking, which is where they walk your price up a little bit each year.

35:31So that once you've been with the firm three, four or five years, you're paying very substantially more than a new customer would in a similar situation. And then you go and take them that price and say, you know, I'm sorry I'm paying too much. I don't think this is fair. and I really would like you to improve the offer. I mean, there are lots of phrases that pay. I like your service, but you're putting the price up and it costs too much. Can you reduce it? Or I've worked out my budget and my absolute maximum is, or I've checked online and name your rival can do it for less. But you're effectively saying this isn't good enough.

36:03And remember, 87 % success rate at the AA, 84 % at the RAC. The money will come off. I mean, you're a competent communicator, Adrian. Would that really be that difficult? It shouldn't be, but I'm going to do it. I mean, just on... But remember, this is when you're nearly out of contract or out of contract. I know, I know. It's mad. Just on loyalty, just a Texas come in, which really makes you realise just how a good bit of customer service can last the company a lifetime. So it makes you wonder why customer service isn't always good when it can cause somebody to stay with you forever. I mean, somebody says, I've been with the, Colin says, I've been with the NatWest since 1979.

36:46Very helpful cashier called Dawn in the UEA branch in Norwich and a fantastic chap, even names him, Martin, who sorted me out in 1990 when I was going through some very difficult financial issues. I mean, this is, it's what, 35 years ago and, you know, it left such an imprint, it stayed with them forever. So every company should be absolutely all over you like a rash in terms of customer service. Well, not necessarily, I'm afraid. Customer service is a function of profitability. Some companies market themselves on their customer service, some market themselves on their price. Some people don't want to talk to anybody and just want a really easy option.

37:19But every company wants to retain. Every company wants to retain. It does, but many will retain. You know, many will give great customer service and charge three times over the odds. And those who are price sensitive won't stick with that. Jan emailed me last month. Well, how thrilled we are. Our Virgin bill has been creeping up, now£80 a month. So as we neared our contract end, we girded our loins for haggle time. We got two other quotes. Great. Good benchmarking. Well done, Jam. Then approached Virgin. And after turning three offers down, got our bill reduced to£51 a month. That's a saving of about£350 a year.

37:52A big win. We're now going away for a week on our savings. It can be done. Thanks for your advice. So my point, Adrian, is you're talking about someone who remembers customer service. Other people remember price. And other people feel, and quite rightly, If you're paying 80 quid a month on your broadband or your broadband and TV and you're not getting the service, that you should be paying less. And so there is a sort of sweet spot spectrum between the two. And it depends. So, you know, if you're looking for a savings account or a cash ISA, then just go for the top rate because you're hardly ever going to touch them in most cases.

38:21You only need to interact with the customer service once or twice a year with your day to day bank account. Then absolutely customer service has more impact. There's loads of banks willing to pay to switch at the moment, including First Direct is top rated for customer service. and that'll give people up to£200 if they switch to it. So there are lots of incentives for doing it. I think we've got lots of other successes and questions from people on haggling, haven't we? Yeah, a little furniture shop says, please don't try to haggle with small businesses. It's hard enough to try to earn a living without someone trying to knock money off at an already competitive price.

38:51Well, my rule on haggling is pretty simple. You should always be polite. You should always be charming. You should always work through it. And how would you phrase it? And you should always remember that just as you do have a right to ask if they can do it cheaper, and you have a right to take your customer elsewhere if you don't feel that the price is right, then equally the store also has a right to say no and say, I'm sorry, we don't do haggling in here. So while I understand that person's sensibility, to have some blanket rule that you can't haggle, when there are many independent retailers who will allow you to haggle, I'm afraid isn't something that could be done.

39:24But you should not take offense or be angry with someone for saying, no, you can't haggle with me. if they don't do so. And then if you want to support your small local businesses, which is something I'm in favour of, because otherwise we'd lose them, then you may be aware that you want to pay their price. But also, if it's available cheaper elsewhere, then it's a choice of the customer, isn't it? Okay, but in a situation like that, I'm always fascinated. I don't know how to form the words. I'm not worried about them offending me. I'm worried about me offending them. So if I say an item of an ornament is£50, what do I say?

39:54I think we're being taken off track here. Okay, sorry, go on. Because we're talking about mature industry call center haggling. We're not talking about ornaments. We're generally not talking face-to-face. We're talking on the phone and we're potentially talking on web chat. And basically, we're talking these industries which set up a differential pricing for people who haggle and people who don't haggle. And for new customers and don't companies. So I think it's slightly different. Look, you know the thing that really pays. We've talked about this before. The thing that really pays is you go to them, you've benchmarked your deal, you've been nice, you've been polite, which you should always be.

40:24And they say we're not going to do that deal. where the power comes and this is what your friend was talking about in amdram before is in asking to cancel because what is known as disconnections to us is internally known as customer retentions now that's what you have to get to because when you get to customer retentions workers there have far more deals authority power and discretion to get you to stay and so that's the point ultimately where the really big deals come on dave posted on x to me last month sky was going to be going up to 110 pounds i would offer 80 pounds after haggling i gave them 30 days notice that i was cancelling after two weeks i got a text ended up at 67 pounds 50 so even if you actually hold your guns and you stick and you do cancel you very often find they come up with the retention deal at the last minute to try and keep you even better is if you can do it on the phone.

41:19And remember, people who work in the call centres, they're human beings, so we should be nice. I go back to what I say, your aim isn't to be aggressive. Why aren't you giving me a cheap price? Your aim is, oh, I really can't afford this and I'd love to stick with you. I love your service. But, you know, it's getting expensive and there are others cheaper elsewhere. I don't want to have to leave. It's going to be really disappointing and my wife's going to be upset with me or my partner's going to be upset with me if I do leave. What can you do? Because it's frustrating for me. I know so many friends of mine are paying so much less than I am for the same thing and I just don't want to pay over the odds but if you're going to do that to me I'm so sorry I'm going to have to leave can you help at all please be charming and be funny when you talk to them be witty whatever you've got in you I mean I'm not talking to an individual it's tough to do it that's the concept you can do that Adrian you're a very charming man okay and if you say so I'll try my very best now I'm back in my corridor outside of the cricket talking afterwards I know we've had many questions in on haggling too shall we do those Simon yeah Kayleigh wants to know if there's any tips for e-broadband renewal due to end in mid-september i've seen a much better package but not paying 70 pounds a month currently it's 35 pounds a month and i have my phone contract with them for years well the first thing i would do when we're talking about mobile phone companies is i get onto a comparison site and see what's cheapest you'll say to me but i don't want martin i don't want to go there i don't know why you've got that voice but i'm doing it anyway i don't want to go there because i like my signal and i want to keep my mobile phone signal as it is at the moment which would be a very valid point so what you can do is i've talked about this before there are only actually four mobile networks in the uk ee o2 vodafone and three and vodafone and three are merging so although they'll keep separate signals so every other network is piggybacking on top of them and that means that you're talking to me about ee there are a host of networks that use the same signal that you currently have.

43:09So for example other networks that use the same signal as EE are 1P Mobile, EcoTalk, Leica Mobile, Mozilla, RWG Mobile, Spusu, Torque Home, Utility Warehouse and Your Co-op. So you can go onto a comparison site and some good comparison sites will let you filter by signal. So you can look and say what is the cheapest deal using the EE signal that I have at the moment. Of course check if you want 5G or you want Wi-Fi calling whether it has those facilities. But then take EE that price. Take EE that price at the end and speak to them and say, I can get this elsewhere on the same network. What are you going to offer me if I stick with your existing package now and see if they can match it?

43:50I mean, that would be the haggling route. Alternatively, you could see what they'd offer you when you're getting to the end of your contract. As soon as you're out of contract, just text PAC265075. And that is asking for your code that you can move to another network and you might find there and then they offer you a better deal. So there's lots of things that you could do in those circumstances. Wendy wants to know we're paying a lot for our Sky TV and broadband package. I'm okay with the TV part but the bill for broadband is way too high. Can I haggle to get this bit down or even change providers?

44:21Does the broadband and TV come as a package please? You can do both of those. You can stick with just having the Sky TV package by itself or you can have it as an all-in-one. You could go and get broadband elsewhere. It's absolutely worth doing your research. But what you'll tend to find is if you do have an all-in-one package, then you have more negotiating room to haggle. I wouldn't haggle on that broadband element alone. I would just be talking about the total price that you're paying because there's more room for it to be brought down at that point. But absolutely, you can do that. You can say the broadband element, you know, I'm paying 50 quid.

44:52I can get it for 20 quid elsewhere. The TV element's too much. What's the best deal that you're going to give me? Otherwise, I'm going to have to look at ditching in its entirety or at least ditching my broadband element. That's perfectly legitimate and I suspect you'll do quite well with that. Two final thoughts I just wanted to bring in on Hagling. First of all, if you fail, try again. Wait a couple of days, go again. Two reasons. One, the call centre may have hit its quota of discounts for that day or that week. That's perfectly possible. It does happen. There are quotas. Or the agent may have hit their quota.

45:23I mean, I've heard anecdotally that agents have a certain number of discounts that they can give in a day. Now, they may not have liked you, so you might want to find another agent that you're better able to financially flirt with and persuade to win to your side. Or maybe they've just run out of your quota. So in both of those occasions, waiting a few days, trying again, with a smile on your face, using that chutzpah and that charm may just work. And the final point, you know, we talked about getting through to disconnections and talking about leaving, but if none of this does work, why not ditch and switch if you're overpaying and you can get it cheaper elsewhere after doing your benchmarking it is time to consider ditching and switching and trying somewhere else you never know it may just be the start of a beautiful new contractual relationship

46:16i know um martin ellie that the crowd are very focused on the cricket i wonder they've actually tuned their earphones to listen to Martin, because he said something earlier, and it elicited an extraordinary reaction from the crowd. Can we just play back a little bit of Martin earlier? Yes, it is allowed, and it does work, right? Oh, did you hear that? Oh, I couldn't believe you'd said that. That was not Ollie Pope getting dropped or anything like that. They rose in acclaim for that bit of wisdom. Well done, Martin. Speaking of rising acclaim, Adrian, I think, you know, we're getting round. You know what we normally do at this time.

46:56It's Mastermind. But today we're doing a Tested by Martid special, or TMS for short.

47:21I like, I can see what you're doing here, Martin. Go on, then. OK, so, listen, as people will know in the normal money mastermind, it is 10. Adrian has got 10 right and 19 wrong in this three-option multiple-choice question, so he's only just ahead of random chance. But today, Adrian, because cricket is a team sport, you have a team. Ellie is with me. Hello, Ellie. Hello, Martin. Steve Finn is with me. Hello, Steve. Hello, Martin. And they are going to work with you, Adrian, to see if collectively you can all get the answer right on this special version tested by Martin Special. Here we go. It's a glorious day at Lord's.

47:55So who's facing here and who's at the bowler's end? All three of you have bats. There's a very large wicket behind and I have a ball the size of something that would knock a house over. Are you confident with this finish? I feel like we might be in trouble. You might feel more confident. Yeah, that sounds intimidating. What's your high score on this, Grant? Not enough. the questions are always simple it's the answers that are difficult great so it's a glorious day at lords last time adrian was here he was in a west brom shirt and crocs he confused the long room for the gents it wasn't much fun but to make up for it he headed to the bar with phil tofnell to buy a round some tepid lagers in a pims in a paper cup salt vinegar crisps that was for me and more total 30 pounds and in a move not seen since ben stokes last said let's focus on the forward defensive shot he whipped out a scottish 50 pound note the barman eyed it like he'd been offered a five over spell from jasbit bumrah or steve here himself equally i know who i'd rather face and said sorry mate we don't take those toughers sharp as a googly pipes up oi it's legal tender you have to accept it so drs time what is the correct decision here is it a scottish bank notes are legal tender in England and by law they have to accept it.

49:14B Scottish bank notes are legal tender in England but they still don't have to accept it. Or C Scottish bank notes are not legal tender in England and they don't have to accept it. I'm thinking that they are legal tender and they have to accept it but is there something about about the size of the bank note because £50. £50 is quite a big note. So Ellie's making the amateur mistake there, Adrian, of looking at me in an inquiring way and assuming that I'm going to come in and step in and help me. She's a master of body language. I'm looking at Finney. What do you think? I would say option B. I think it's legal tender, but I don't think the vendor is necessarily obliged to take it.

49:57So I'm just going to repeat the options before we go, Adrian. So you've got they are legal tender and they have to accept it. Scottish bank notes. They are legal tender. they don't have to accept it, or they're not legal tender in England, and they don't have to accept it. I'm going with Steve Finn, but would you be prepared to tell us whether the denomination, is that the right word? But is it different for a 50 or a 20 as a 10? Does that make any... That's my caveat. That's Ellie's caveat. Now, normally, I wouldn't give you anything, but Ellie's body language is very warm here, and they're letting me sit in their commentary box at Lord's.

50:33so as a special gift as a one-off I will tell you this is not specific to the denomination of notes Ellie might want to change your answer then or are you sticking with it I'm sticking with it I think it's legal tender and you have to accept it okay I think Steve Steve where are you sticking with me I'm sticking with my agent your team captain because ultimately it's your score sheet it's going on not there okay I'm going I'm going with Steve I think I don't think they've got to accept anything. I think they could turn down a nice, crisp English£10 note. You know, or Edward Elgar on the £20 note.

51:06I just don't think it's... I think they can turn down what they like if they're daft enough to do it. They don't want your money. But, anyway, I'm going with Steve. OK. So, in England and Wales, all£5,£10 and£20 Bank of England notes are legal tender. As are all coins, although it depends up to a certain amount. So for example 1P coins are only legal tender up to 20 pence use of them. Now what's very interesting here in Scotland or Northern Ireland no banknotes are legal tender whatsoever and all of this is because of a fundamental misunderstanding of what legal tender is. Legal tender simply means what you must accept for a court ordered debt.

51:56What we generally refer to as legal tender is common parlours for is it a legal currency. A legal currency means is it a legally accepted currency in the country of which Scottish banknotes, English banknotes, all Northern Irish banknotes are all legal currency. But no store is ever obligated to take any form of payment unless it's breach of discrimination act. So if it's not taking it because of you and the colour of your skin, that would be discriminatory. But if it says we don't take cash, we only take card payment. if it says we only take payments in cricket balls. That is perfectly legal for it to do.

52:30There's no enforced way of you paying. So I'm afraid to say we need to play the noise, a bit of a different one for this week, for incorrect. Nasty short ball. He's caught behind. It was a terrific delivery. It really was. So we're all the correct answer. Scottish banknotes are not legal tender in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, and they don't have to accept them. But I would encourage any retail staff, Scottish banknotes are a legal currency, as are Bank of England banknotes. And while you don't have to accept any of them, I would encourage you to do so and make sure you educate yourself on what Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes look like.

53:04We are a United Kingdom where they are all legal currency right across the UK. I just want to know what the winning noise is. Can we just pretend I've won and go, I think... OK, so let's play it for me. So for me, for setting a question that you all got wrong, I get this. Hit that miles. Oh, it's still going. It'll keep going. Gone for six. There you go. That's very good. Very, very good. Have you asked them about their haggling? I could imagine Ellie being really good at haggling. Steve Finn just seems too... He's just too polite somehow, too nice and correct somehow to sully himself like that.

53:40I can be quite persuasive if I need to be with situations like this. He worked on me in massive mind. Look at that. That's true. That's very bad. I know. I was trying to use my Jedi mind tricks at Martin. Didn't work. No, I mean, I have done that with kind of broadband providers. I have gone and said look I mean but actually you know your advice Martin is very good you know be nice pour on the charm say look I really want to but you know but money's tight and so on so I have I have said that I said look it's quite this is quite expensive you know and and I can get it cheaper elsewhere but I really want to stay with you so I have I have done that with broadband providers I find it frustrating the hoops that you have to jump through in order to actually speak to someone to get something done so I find myself halfway through the process and sometimes and And then I don't have two hours to sit on a live chat or to sit waiting to have a phone answer.

54:27If you tell them you're leaving, Steve, then they'll call you. If you can get that across, then you will go straight to the front of the queue. And it's worth saying, people do often say to me, what if I tell them they leave and then they say, OK, I'm going to disconnect you, which scares the pants off people. Well, my answer to that is say, well, I just need to check with the husband, the wife, the girlfriend, the budgie, the parrot, whatever it is, before I do that. But also do remember, you know, as we talked about in previous weeks, if you ask for your PAC code, which is the code for leaving, which you do, you text for free to 65075 to get your PAC code from your mobile phone firm.

54:54And that's the code you need to switch number. Often when you do that, they'll send you a better deal than you're currently on because they'll try and retain you at that point. In these mature industries, we're trying to tweak their retention nipples, which seems a good way for me to stop. I have Owen Morgan, former England captain, sets reminders in his phone for the day that he gets to ring someone up and argue with them about cutting his Sky Bill by£5 or something. That's exactly what he relishes it. But, you know, the savings that we are talking about here, they're just monumental. We're talking hundreds of pounds a year for many people.

55:26And it just shows you that the firms are expecting you to haggle because, you know, I've been talking about this for the last 10 and 15 years. And if you don't, then either you're voluntarily penalising yourself or, unfortunately, some people are being penalised by a lack of confidence or mental health or mental capacity or education that means they can't do so. So there are some real moral questions whether this is right or wrong. OK, listen, I've got a little bit of brotherly advice for you, Martin. Enjoy your day at Lord's now, but during the tea interval, keep a very low profile or wear a mask because you will get a lot of very, very well-refreshed cricket fans coming up to you and asking you for all sorts of financial advice.

56:04It's going to get even worse, Adrian, because I'm just going to put it on so they can see in here. as I was leaving the house I couldn't find a hat so I had to get my wife's hat so I've got a cap it's my wife's cap I'm not sure does it look like my wife's cap or could you what do you think no I think that's a very very suitably unisex cap okay she's got a little cricketer on the front or is it no I didn't and it's a golfer I think oh a golfer a golfer I don't know why she must have been giving it for free at some point it looks good over the top of your headphones I must say okay yeah I couldn't get it on the headphones you noticed that thank you for having me here thanks to Fightfly for letting me come and not have to leave lords to go and do the podcast and come back and do the show and come back thank you very much have a great day and that's it for this week if you've enjoyed it please tell your friends you've been listening to the martin lewis podcast we tend to put a new episode out every thursday do subscribe to keep up to date then your pockets will be pleased with you and i am off to actually go and watch the cricket take care

57:05I gotta pay, so I'm gonna work, work, work, work, never let. I gotta mouth, I gotta feed, so I'm gonna make sure everybody eats. 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 martinlewispodcast at bbc.co.uk. 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.