The good news is that motor insurance premiums are cheaper on average than they were last year. But you cannot rely on insurance companies to offer you the best deals up front.

You need to prepare for the challenge and not allow yourself to be locked out of better rates by industry delays.

Make sure you get your renewal information at the earliest opportunity because the later you check the market, using price comparison websites, the higher the premium is likely to be.

Remember the insurers want to charge you more by selling additional protections, or offer an expensive instalment plan, but they do not want you to move to another company.

Start early. Check exactly what you are paying for. You can save hundreds of pounds for a few hours work.

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Train delays, cyber-attacks, bank fraud, flight delays all seem to be increasing and costing us dearly.

But too few of us get redress even though compensation is readily available.

It is estimated that around £100m available for delayed rail passengers was not claimed last year despite the number of delayed and cancelled trains increasing.

Every day we hear about cyber outages with bank customers unable to access their wages, pay direct debits and incurring penalties and interest charges into the bargain. Any additional costs should be covered by the banks involved and if the outage caused distress or embarrassment they should make that good as well.

Too many of us do not claim when we suffer poor service. And the companies get away with it and do not feel the need to improve their systems.

The more they pay out the more likely they are to invest in providing a better service or to avoid regulatory penalties and public scrutiny.

You can help them to offer better services.

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Bigger bills for energy, council tax, water, broadband, mobiles mean that for many of us our money runs out earlier each month and we have to use credit cards to buy essentials.

Credit card interest rates average a frightening 24.65%. And the debt can soon get out of control if you don't pay off credit card in full each month.

£71.5 billion is currently owed to UK credit card companies and it can literally take decades to pay back if you make minimum payments on credit cards.

It is time to break the debt cycle.

Interest-free credit cards are readily available to people who have a track record of paying credit cards and other bills on time. It is worth using an eligibility checker to find out if you can borrow and pay no interest.

Employers can also provide interest-free loans or salary advances.

Cutting interest can save hundreds of pounds a month, but interest-free deals can be dangerous if you don't adhere to the strict rules.

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