Research by the AA suggests that the average British driver is now paying £921 per year for car insurance.

Premium increases have been blamed on the increased number of fraudulent claims being made by motorists on the back of the credit crunch which the ABI (Association of British Insurers) believes is costing the UK insurance industry £16 million every single week. This additional expense has to be recouped from somewhere, and the most obvious thing for the insurance companies to do is to simply charge higher premiums to customers.

It might seem unfair that law abiding motorists are being forced to cover the costs of fraudsters, but there are five things that can be done to fight back and obtain cheaper car insurance prices:

1.  Compare
According to the ABI, the average motorist would pay 30% less for their car insurance if they compare deals available through five different insurers rather than just accepting their existing providers initial renewal price.

A lot of people are put off doing this despite the potential £276 saving which would be experienced by the time that is required in order to enter this information in each individual insurer’s website. However, you need only do this once if you use a price comparison website such as MoneySupermarket.com which compares deals available through over 100 different providers; increasing your chances of finding the best deals out there for your specific situation.

However, one mistake which is often made when utilising such websites is assuming that the cheapest deal is the best one. This often isn’t the case as the cheapest deal will not necessarily be the best value for money; potentially omitting features such as breakdown cover and windscreen protection which you may consider to be of significance.

You can even do this on the move now that the company has launched their very own iPhone app which conducts the same search in any place at any time. It also features a clever number plate detection system, where vehicle details are automatically retrieved from the DVLA database upon a picture of the vehicle number plate being taken; saving motorists even more time in their search for competitive quotes.

2. Named drivers
Car insurance premiums are calculated based on statistics and you are the most influential factor in their determination. As far as insurers are concerned, motorists who are young and male are statistically the most likely to be involved in accidents and hence make claims on their insurance policies. They will therefore be on the receiving end of the most expensive car insurance quotes.

One way of reducing the statistical likelihood in the eyes of insurers of you making a claim is to complete an advanced driving course such as Pass Plus which is available through most driving instructors. This is particularly beneficial with younger motorists as it enables them to experience certain aspects of driving such as motorway usage for the first time with expert guidance from an instructor.

Another tactic which is commonly employed is the addition of older and/or more experienced motorists as named drivers on the policy. Insurers will assume that driving duties are going to be shared between all the motorists named on the policy and this will ultimately reduce the total cost of premiums due to the reduced statistical likelihood of the other named drivers being involved in accidents.

3. Car choice
The next most influential factor in the calculation of insurance premiums is the car itself. Every vehicle is classified in a car insurance group numbered between one and fifty; with cars classed in car insurance group one generally attracting the cheapest premiums. These groups are decided upon based on the performance levels of the vehicle and its overall security features.

Cars with less potential for high speed and greater security protection will obviously be inclined to go into one of the lower group levels. It is therefore advised that you opt for a car in one of the lower car insurance groups if the overall cost of premiums is a concern.

4. Mileage limits
The more time you spend on the road, the more likely it is that you will be involved in an accident. This statistic is recognised by car insurance companies who will offer cheaper premiums to motorists who set a smaller mileage allocation at the start of their policy.

However, remember not to lie to insurers as your policy could be rendered void if you make any claims after you have surpassed that mileage limit initially stated.

5. Parking
Cars parked on a public road are statistically more likely to be vandalised or stolen than those parked securely in a locked private garage.

This is another fact which will have a bearing on premiums, and it is therefore advised that you park your vehicle as securely as possible in order to benefit from the cheapest possible premiums available to you.

Many debtors looking for help decide to file for bankruptcy straight away. This is a mistake, as there are many excellent alternatives available. Debt consolidation, for example, is a strikingly effective process offering a plethora of benefits for those in debt. Simply put, debt consolidation combines your credit card debt, loans or other personal debt into a single monthly payment, managed by a debt consolidation company. This may initially seem somewhat superfluous on paper. After all, why should it make sense to pay a debt consolidation company merely for dealing with your creditors and renegotiating your loans? Still, it cannot be denied that there are various immediately tangible benefits to the procedure. And if you’re serious about paying back your debts and avoiding serious consequences, you should know about them.

A debt consolidation company can help you simplify your finances

One thing even financial expert occasionally confuse when they’re talking about debt consolidation and debt consolidation agencies is that you’re not actually taking out a new loan. Instead, you’re merely restructuring your debt: Rather than having to deal directly with a multitude of creditors, who may all potentially hassle you for their money, you’re from now on working with a single financial advisor who will act as your partner and protect your interests. Not only will this provide you with the necessary peace of mind. It will also save you a lot of time. So although debt consolidation may look strange on paper – and is regularly criticised for allegedly being useless – it will allow you to focus on what’s essential: Earning the money required to pay back your debt and getting back to your pre-debt life again.

A debt consolidation company can help you save you money

Generally speaking, the main task of a debt consolidation agency will be to bring down your monthly loan payments. This is useful, as it may make the decisive difference between being able to pay back your debts or having to forfeit on them. In some select instances, however, debt consolidation can even save you money. As part of the debt consolidation procedure, your financial advisor will speak to your creditors and work out a solution on your behalf. He or she will convince them that you are more than willing to meet your obligations, but that you’re unable to do so under the current contract. As part of these negotiations, the debt consolidation company will also make a case for your debts to be reduced to arrive at a realistic new plan – both you and your creditor have something to gain from reliable planning, after all. If all goes well, this will mean that you will end up having to pay less than originally agreed upon.

A debt consolidation company can help you fight bankruptcy

To be able to pay back your loan, your incomings and outgoings will need to be brought into a sensible balance. This is why debt consolidation is such a helpful procedure: Instead of making empty promises or taking out a new loan to pay for the old ones, it acknowledges your responsibility and then sets about finding ways to meet it. Although debt consolidation can, in some cases, affect your credit rating, it does not have the same severe consequences as a bankruptcy and is therefore always to be preferred.

All of the above means that debt consolidation may not be a panacea – but that it is definitely an effective tool that can play an important part in simplifying your finances, sorting out your debts and avoiding bankruptcy.

In life there are often lots of things that need saving for. Whether you are saving for your retirement, for a child's education, for a wedding, for a deposit on a home or for something else it is always advisable to plan as much as possible for these occasions in life that are often foreseen long before they happen. If you are looking for a way to plan your finances with minimal effort and fuss then MoneyVista.com is the website for you.

On MoneyVista you are able to work out a financial plan for all of your future requirements in one place and quite simply too. You will be able to see at a glance how future financial decisions may impact on your retirement fund or on the amount of interest that you can expect to make on your money. As the sole aim of MoneyVista is to help you plan for the future you will not have to worry about unnecessary advertising or about somebody trying to sell you products that do you not require.

By providing details of your savings, investments, properties owned, pensions, wages and household personal finances you will be able to build a financial plan that will show you clearly and concisely what your current financial situation is and what that will look in the future.

The financial plan on MoneyVista is very sophisticated and when you process your information, either all in one sitting or at your convenience, you will be able to see, after tax and national insurance, what your finances are predicted to look like. You will be able to see figures for your projected government pension, your savings now and in the future, the expected rise of any investments or properties in your portfolio and much more. As all of this information is provided in one place you will be able to see what increasing or decreasing a payment can do for your financial future. When providing your information you can rest easy that MoneyVista will never ask for passwords or account details. If you feel that you are not quite happy with the figures detailed then you can even change these to reflect the ones that you feel are best for you.

MoneyVista is updated regularly and if there are changes in tax or national insurance the website will quickly reflect these and update your financial plan accordingly. Regardless of the financial decision that you need to make MoneyVista will be able to help you see, at a glance, what is best for you and your finances in the long term or short term. MoneyVista has a detailed group of assumptions that help build your financial plan and give you an idea of the growth that you can expect on equity investments, savings and even property prices.

If you decide to sign up to a free trial of the website, to access some additional features, then you will not have to provide any billing information or bank details until you decide to take out a subscription at the end of your 30 day free trial. Subscription plans are very reasonable and you can have full access to all of the sites features for less than £7 per month, depending on the subscription package that you choose. With a 30 day free trial you are able to access all of the special features of the website including the forums, budget planning, goal planning, details on how to take advantage of tax breaks and much more. Once your 30 day free trial is up you are able to continue using selected features of the site or sign up to a subscription and with three different plans (monthly, quarterly and yearly) currently available you are able to sign up for the one that is most convenient for you and start financial planning today.

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With Christmas creeping up on us and the need for extra funds being extra pressing we all want to get the shopping done, wrap the presents, buy some lovely food & drink and relax with the family this Christmas.

Christmas is always going to be a time of year that costs more, particularly if you have lots of family and friends that you want to spread the joy to, and even if you have been savvy all year and squirrelled away a little money here and there you may find yourself stretched a little and if this sounds familiar then a payday loan may be ideal for you. Here are some of the top reasons why a payday loan is ideal if you are needing some extra cash for the short-term and have the means to pay it back when you receive your next pay cheque or next few pay cheques.

Variable repayments:

A loan, even a short-term loan can sometimes be a worry. It is only natural to worry about the payments but with a payday loan the terms of the loan are laid out before you process your application and
receive the money. You need not worry about being left with unexpected additional charges as you will be clear about what you need to pay back, and when, before the money has even hit your bank account.

Many instant payday loans have differing payment options meaning you can negotiate the length of time it takes to repay the loan.

You should be able to find a repayment option that is suitable for you and as your outgoings and expenditure is usually questioned by the lender you will not be lent more money than you can afford to pay back comfortably.

Fast payment:

Many companies offer payday loans which are approved and paid to your bank account on the same day that you process your request. If you have found that ideal present and need the money fast to ensure that you do not miss out on that one off item or fantastic special offer then you can rely on a payday loan to get the cash in your bank account fast!

At this time of year there a number of different issues that couldarise whether it is your boiler breaking down, your pipes bursting or your car breaking down. A payday loan can give you the funds needed in a hurry and really get you out of a jam.

Poor credit scores accepted:

While holding a bad or low credit score will usually stop you from receiving a loan from a bank or building society a payday loan will usually be approved because of the low amount being offered. As long
as you are in a full time job or receiving a regular wage then credit checks will usually not even be necessary. As many payday loan lenders are just worried about being certain that you can repay the loan
rather than you normal credit status you will be able to receive a payday loan even with bad or poor credit, furthermore, if you pay back the loan on time, as arranged, then you credit score can actually be
boosted.

Applying is simple and straightforward:

Waiting around for banks and building societies and having to provide additional information can be a real pain, particularly if you are short of time or busy. A payday loan can usually be applied for online
with basic information about your wages and current employmentnormally being all that is needed to process your application.

All in all if you are short of time and short of cash a payday loan may be just the thing for you. Repayment options are available and all charges will usually be laid out before you process your application meaning you are never in the dark about how much you are going to repay. Cash arrives fast and with just a few minutes spent on a website you can be able to complete your Christmas shopping and pay
for it in January.

Despite fuel prices going up steeply over the last few years, Once again, fuel taxes are due to go up again in January 2012 by 3p per litre. Although many of us are crossing our fingers that the parliamentary debate last week where MP’s urged ministers to scrap plans for fuel tax rises in 2012 and 2013 will stop this, the motion passed without a vote so it looks likely that the increase will take place despite strong public opposition.

We did receive a small break back in March when the fuel duty was reduced by 1p in March and the Chancellor halted the fuel-duty escalator which meant that duty rose by 1p per litre above inflation every year. However, with prices as high as they are (they’ve tripled since 1991!), many of us are now struggling to keep our tanks filled.
So what can we do?

Compare pump prices
By this we don’t mean drive around town and look at all the petrol stations to see what they’re charging – that would be a waste of fuel and cost more than the savings you’d make finding the cheapest. Instead, sign up to PetrolPrices.com where over 11,000 petrol stations around the country are listed showing their prices so you can see instantly who are cheapest locally. It covers petrol, diesel and LPG too.

Supermarket Savings
Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsburys all have offers on reasonably regularly where you get money off your petrol or diesel when you’ve bought over a certain amount in store. These can save quite substantial amounts meaning that if you’re filling up a 70 litre tank and have a 5p off per litre coupon you’d save £3.50 which is a worthwhile saving if you’re going to be doing your shopping there anyway.

Loyalty cards
Loyalty programs are designed to encourage you to keep coming back and spending your money with the one place, many of these offer points on your petrol and diesel too – Nectar gives points on BP fuel and Tesco on their own brand petrol stations. Shell have a drivers club and there are Morrisons Miles and Texaco Star rewards too. The value of the points varies, but are often between 0.5 and 1% of your spend value. Not worth going out of your way for perhaps, but worth opting for if the choice is between somewhere that does points and somewhere that doesn’t and the prices are the same.

How you Pay
Cashback credit cards can earn you a rebate on what you spend IF you pay them off regularly and don’t get into debt. Some are more generous than others and you can get between 1 and 5% of your spend back for a few months at least. Use a comparison site to work out which is best for you if you go down this route.

Efficient Driving & Driving Less
Of course the best way to spend less, is to use less fuel. You can reduce your consumption by upto 25% by driving carefully and looking after your vehicle properly. Gentle acceleration, driving in higher gears, keeping your tyres properly inflated, and making less short journeys will all help lower fuel consumption per mile as will avoiding keeping things in your car you don’t need and using air conditioning.

Many people think that they can’t afford to save money and certainly with the cost of living rocketing, wages stagnating and the general economic prospects looking fairly grey, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that savings are beyond your reach.

However, for the large majority of people, savings are possible by employing a range of basic strategies and ‘tweaks’ to the monthly budget.

Firstly, do a budget and see where you are spending money unnecessarily. This means getting down to the nitty gritty. It may be a forgotten direct debit, a magazine subscription that you never read, take aways when you’ve got no food in the fridge, or odd sums of cash here and there for sundries.

An expensive coffee every morning from a branded coffee shop can easily set you back £3 a day. Multiply this over a month and you’re looking at nearly £100 and that’s before you factor in extra treats. Substitute this alone for a good blend made in the office and you’re well on the way to saving already.

Even if you can put away a few pounds a week into a high interest regular saving account, you’ll start to notice the difference. Look at specific saving schemes too for things like Christmas food. Many supermarkets offer special savings schemes for food and presents, so you can put away a little at each shop without noticing.

Start finding ways of enjoying yourself without spending. Shopping isn’t the answer to a bad day but a glass of wine and a home cooked meal with friends and family may well be.

Rather than spending on gym subscriptions, start riding your bike to work. Rather than buying media, see what’s available at the local public library.

Look for free cinema screenings, gallery exhibitions, sign up for a group buying scheme and get offers on meals and other services.

Start going to car boot sales or shopping on Ebay. Rummage through your existing belongings and see what you could sell to raise some funds. Chances are you will have lost track of what you even own!

Start volunteering your time to help people with less than you. It will quickly put your situation into context and help you establish your priorities. This can be fun, rewarding and even teach you new skills and you’ll start to feel part of a community, something which money will never buy.

Just remember to keep some money aside for treats so that the savings process feels like a challenge rather than something to be borne! Go for a manicure at a training college or attend a department store beauty evening to get your fix of the good life without spending a fortune.

Set yourself new goals, make it fun and remind yourself that your future is being secured. Think about buying experiences too with your allocated fund, rather than goods. Scientists have proven that experiences have longer-term beneficial effects on our feelings of well being, rather than simple goods.

When you have started to save money, make sure the taxman won’t automatically get his hands on your hard earned interest. An ISA should always be your first port of call and you can find the best rates on an ISA at moneysupermarket.

Aim to fill up your annual ISA and check the terms and conditions carefully around withdrawals, as some only allow a limited number of withdrawals per year before you sacrifice interest payments.

It may be worth viewing your ISA as a longer-term savings vehicle and using an easy access savings account for short-term savings and for emergencies.

Spread Betting is a form of gambling which is high risk. It can be used to bet on virtually anything from sports to house prices, politics and more. The potential profit and loss from it are much higher than with traditional gambling.

The first rule you want to remember is that if you don’t understand exactly what you’re doing DON’T DO IT! Spread betting bookmakers are regulated in the same way as any other company selling financial services – by the Financial Services Authority, but if you really do need to know what you’re doing before you try spread betting. If you want to learn more about it and how to spread bet read on.

How it works

Lets imagine we’re going to place a spread bet on an election. I decide that I think that Labour will do better than the opinion polls and the bookies think they will, so I choose to place an ‘up-bet’ on them winning. A spread bookie is listing that they will win 200-210 seats, so by placing an up-bet from 210 I am betting that they will get more than the top figure that the bookie has listed. I place a bet with a stake of £1 per point. What this means, is that if Labour get 210 seats I come out even – I win nothing, and I lose nothing.

If however they win 225 seats, then I would make a profit of £1 per seat that they won above that. I.e. I’d win £15. If they got less seats – say 185, then I would lose £35 i.e. 210-185 x my £1 bet.

With spread betting the trade can be closed at any point – so if the bookmaker changed its mind part way through the campaign and decided that it thought labour would win more seats, it could re-set its spread to say 240-250. If we’ve placed an up-bet at the lower figures we’d then have a choice to make. We could either stick with our bet and see what the outcome is at the election, or we could close the bet early which would mean we’d guarantee a win of £30 this being £1 (our stake) x the difference between 210 the original base line we’d bet on it to be above, and 240 the new low end of the spread that the bookie is now betting on.

Spread betting by gambling on politics or sports as shown above is quite a simple bet. There is another form of spread betting however which is backing shares. In this form, it can be a tax free way of day-trading shares, or making short term investments that last just a few weeks or months.

There are clear benefits to backing shares. Share trading incurs both stockbrokers commission and a 0.5% stamp duty, and if you exceed your annual allowance you’re also subject to capital gains tax. Making an ‘up-bet’ on a share using a spread betting process, will give the same exposure as buying the shares would, but you don’t have any stamp duty or stockbrokers commission to pay. You’ll find that the bookmakers costs are included in the spread by it being a little wider than the difference between bid price and offer price on a share if bought through a stockbroker, but the cost of spread betting on a share are still competitive with buying the stock in the traditional way if you were planning to keep it for less than 6 months. For longer time frames, the traditional method of trading shares will generally be cheaper.

The biggest advantage to spread betting is the ability to go short on stock and make money if the price drops cashing in on the decline of a stock.

Many people do quite well from spread betting this way, but the biggest ever gain was in 1997 by someone who traded on the exchange

If your restaurant meal is spoilt by poor quality food, what are your legal rights?

With just a few weeks left till Christmas, many of us are going out with friends and family to catch up and enjoy a meal out at this time of year, but this should be a fun event and it isn’t always. So what’s the score if your food isn’t up to scratch? Do you have any recourse and can you refuse to pay?

When you book a meal in a restaurant, or even when you just turn up to eat, you are actually entering into a legal contract with the venue. You are being provided with a service and therefore, under the supply of goods and services act 1982, you automatically have rights.

Under the details of this act, any eatery has various obligations to its customers – these include:
The service must be carried out:

with reasonable care and skill (this covers food preparation and serving it)
within a reasonable time and for a reasonable charge (this would be the time you wait for your meal)

The product must:

correspond with any description given – verbally, in writing or in illustration
be of satisfactory quality
be fit for its purpose

(These latter three relate to it being as it’s described on the menu, and being – well, edible!)
The problem comes in knowing what words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘satisfactory’ mean. It’s not really a very obvious term, but generally speaking it means, would a regular level headed person agree with you that the meat was tough and over cooked, or that the potato wasn’t cooked enough. i.e. are the standards you are setting appropriate considering the venue – For example you wouldn’t expect to receive a gourmet style meal and service in a fast food burger bar, but you would in a 5 star restaurant, and in both you’d expect the food to be cooked properly. It takes into account venue and price etc.

The first rule of thumb is, if the food’s not up to scratch then don’t eat it! If it’s cold, burnt, not cooked properly, etc. you might taste it before realising this and then complain, but if you eat the meal then you will be interpreted as accepting the food and its standard and would lose your rights to make a fuss. So if it arrives and there’s a problem with the food – this is the moment to report the problem – when it’s served, or after you’ve first tried it. At this point, the venue has breached its contract with you, and you have a right to reject the food and either expect re placement or have the cost deducted from your bill. Some places will go beyond what they have to and replace the food as well as deducting money from your bill, or offering you an extra at no further cost, but this is not something you should expect.

If on complaint your food is not replaced and a reduction to the bill is not made, you will need to pay but state that you are ‘paying under protest’ and write to the relevant company afterwards to complain and request a refund.
What about if I get sick after eating out somewhere? – This one is often hard to prove, but if you do get sick, then you may want to talk to a lawyer. If several of you get ill, then the case will be stronger of course, but otherwise, proving that the venue caused you to be ill could be very difficult. It is a criminal offence however to serve food that causes people to get sick, and so if you observe poor food hygiene or other issues which could cause sickness, then you should report this to your local environmental health department.

You want your small business to be associated with high-energy results, but not when it comes to your electricity and gas bills. As they make up a significant portion of overhead costs, it is critical to any company to get its energy consumption under control, especially with the rising cost of energy.

How can I shrink my small business’s energy bill?
Making your business energy efficient doesn’t have to mean a drastic change in the way you and your employees carry out your day-to-day tasks. Here are a few small changes you can make to save on energy costs.

Do your energy research.
Before you get started, investigate ways to make your energy bill lower. Get a smart meter that will give more accurate readings of your energy consumption or switch energy providers if you can find one that offers lower rates. Use a Web site that compares energy rates and helps you get the most from business electricity.

Hold a company meeting.
No matter how many energy-saving measures you try to implement, they won’t be effective unless you can get your work team to cooperate. Try to offer yearly incentives for staff if they agree to help reduce the company’s energy bill.

Get a lighting makeover.
In addition to turning off all lighting in use, there are other more creative ways to make sure that your lights aren’t draining the company’s profits. Take out all incandescent lights, and replace them with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs. If you are in the beginning stages of establishing your business, search for a building with floor-to ceiling windows or sky lights that will flood your offices with natural light.

Get rid of the desk top computers.
Most businesses go through technology and systems upgrades from time to time, so why not take advantage of the change to save more energy? Desktop computers and the monitors they use can consume more energy than compact laptops, so consider getting portable computers.

Be power conscious.
In order to save on electricity, equip each desk in your office with a power strip that employees can use to plug in computers, printers, etc. Remind them to turn off their power switches at the end of each day to prevent these items from using power while they are on standby at night.

Be vigilant with heating and cooling maintenance.
Make sure you change air conditioning filters at least once a month to keep your HVAC system from working harder than it has to. If your office has a kitchen, check your refrigerator coils and gaskets every six months to make sure they are not a source of wasted energy.

After you achieve energy efficiency in the work place, make sure to stay up-to-date on the newest and most effective ways to save energy by checking uSwitchforbusiness.

For many of us moving home can be a very daunting and stressful operation, particularly if this is the first time you have moved for a long time. Hopefully this article will attempt to make the whole process as stress free as possible but as always it requires forward planning and organization on your part.

Below is a simple guide to give you an idea of the time scale involved.

The key to a stress free removal is to plan ahead! As this gives you plenty of time to deal with any unexpected complications. If you have chosen to do a DIY removal make a start as soon as possible. (The removal company I used said that the most difficult removal jobs are the ones where the clients attempt to pack the day before)

1. Quotations.  I would advise you obtain quotations at least 3 to 4 weeks before your move. If you are obtaining several quotations for your move, be sure that each firm is quoting for the same type of service for a fair comparison. A good site I used to obtain quotes was uShip; you can often save yourself a lot money using their system.
2. Important, ensure the company quoting for your removal have the relevant goods in transit insurance, and check that the limit for the insurance is sufficient to cover your goods. Your quotation should include your insurance requirements. If it does not, you may not be insured at all.
3. Confirming a date.  2 to 3 weeks prior – Most house sales become part of a completion chain. The longer the chain, the more difficult it becomes to get everyone to agree to a date.
4. Conformation.  When you decide on one of your preferred removal companies. Inform them immediately, they can then book you a provisional date for your removal. When the date is confirmed on the signing of contracts. You will be then guaranteed your removal company is available for you. Note. If you leave your decision to choose your removal company too late. You may find they will be fully booked on the day you require, and be unable to move you. Keep your chosen company up to date, and inform them of any changes.
5. Packing prior to removal.  If you have chosen to self-pack, it is a good idea to commence packing of non-essential items 14 days before your removal day. It is surprising how much you can achieve by packing a couple of boxes a day. Also it is very easy to under-estimate the amount of packing you will have to do. Cupboards can contain a surprising amount of items.
6. Check, Check, Check! Count the boxes before they are moved and check when they are delivered to your new address that you have them all. Its good to make the checks with the removal company just so you both have the same figure on the amount of boxes that are to be moved!
7. Important Documents, Computers and Data. It is very good course of action to keep important documents i.e. passports, birth certificate, bank statements and driving licenses etc. with you at all times. If possible take desktop computers and laptops with you when making the move, and to be really safe make backups of important computer data, and move them separately (you can never be too safe!)
8. Utilities.  Your gas, electric, water and telephone/broadband companies will all need to be informed of your move, it may also be worth telling your satellite/cable provider when you will be moving into your new house, as most providers can send an engineer to your new house to set-up broadband and television services.

It is a good idea to inform them of your removal day at least a week prior. They will then advise you as to taking relevant meter readings, or send a meter reader to your address on removal day.

These are just a few basic removal tips that helped me when I moved, and I hope they can help you. Even if everything is in order and has run smoothly, the chances are by the end of the move day you’ll be too shattered to move, so collapse on the sofa, order a takeaway and crack open a bottle of champagne and enjoy your first night in your new home!!