That letter offering money might not be a scam!
Don’t bin a letter worth £100s, Amazon £10 trick, free holiday photo prints, free Lancôme, and Scottish Will Relief month. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ Deals of the Week.
Remember, deals can change quickly, even while I’m on the programme. So always double-check the terms and conditions before spending. Plus, while I hope these deals will save you cash, don’t spend if you can’t afford it, don’t need it, or won’t use it.
Web exclusive: £10 off £25 spend at The Body Shop, plus free delivery
Spend a minimum £25 at The Body Shop and enter the code 19806 at the checkout online or show it in-store to get £10 off your purchase until 9am Tuesday 8 September. You can’t use the code with any other discount offer and if you order online you’ll get free delivery too.
Don’t bin a letter worth £100s
Two million people are currently being sent letters telling them they're entitled to money back on past card protection plans (usually branded Sentinel or AI scheme), which they paid for, that were virtually worthless. Sadly, many will bin theirs thinking it's spam, and could end up missing out on anything between £25- £250. So keep an eye on the post and don't accidentally bin the letter!
If you haven’t already got it, you should receive the letter by mid- September. You then have until 18 March 2016 to send the form back. But the sooner you send it, the sooner you'll get your money. Use Martin’s Sentinel (AI Scheme) compensation help guide with free template statements to help fill the form in.
Amazon ‘free’ £10 spend
Check your Amazon account now as you may have been sent an offer for a 'free' £10 code. But not everyone is being sent the code. Those who are eligible will either see a big orange banner saying: "Buy £40 in New Amazon.co.uk Gift Cards, Get a £10 promo code to spend at Amazon.co.uk." when they login, or for others the offer might be on the right-hand side of the homepage when logged in.
Those who aren’t eligible are told in black when logged in: "Thank you for your interest in Amazon.co.uk Gift Cards. Unfortunately, you are not eligible for this offer."
If you're eligible to get it you'll need to buy £40 of Amazon gift cards by Saturday 12 September. Then again, the T&C’s say these gift cards last 10 years, so if you’ll ever buy anything there it’s worth doing – the £10 code must be used by Wednesday 11 November.
Martin’s quickies
- Free photo prints for when you’re back from your summer holidays. Come back with a camera full of unforgettable pics? If you want to print them out, you can do it dirt cheap simply by taking advantage of online deals. Walk into a high street print shop and 50 pics can cost you £27.Yet most online firms have “print for free” trials, where you only pay package and posting. Register with Boots Photo and you’ll get 20 ‘free’ 6"x4" prints for 99p delivery, or Snapfish newbies can get 200 free for £2 (plus £1.99 delivery) through Livingsocial. Certain websites also have exclusives to get you even more of these.
- Free Lancôme samples: Head to a Lancôme counter in Boots, pharmacies or department stores and you can ask for a free 5ml sample of one of four moisturisers. There's no voucher or purchase needed, and based on the full-sized 50ml versions, the freebie is worth between £3.55 and £6. There were 300,000 left when I checked on Wednesday (2 September) evening.
- Will Relief in Scotland: September is Will Relief Scotland where 78 solicitors participate in a scheme to get a solicitor drafted will written for you – they ask you to make a donation to their partner charities in return. Suggested donations are £80 for a single will, £120 for a joint one and £40 to update your will.