The first item on today’s Working Lunch featured financial companies advertising in newspapers offering consumers the opportunity to wipe clean their credit card debt and become debt free in return for just a few hundred pounds. But are these offers too good to be true? Working Lunch concluded that in the main, they were.

The adverts in question on Working Lunch were the ones which read: Do you know that through brand new legislation 70% of credit agreements are unenforceable? from Unfair Credit Direct and: Credit cards and loans may not need to be repaid, that one from Loan-Free.co.uk.

The adverts refer to legislation from April 2007, when the Consumer Credit Act was updated. The interest rate calculations were changed, as were rules about the bundling together of fees with the loans themselves. Some cases have been successful against the lender, but this is not the case for the majority.

Thanks to Working Lunch, UnfairCreditDirect this morning changed their advert to highlight that credit agreements may be unenforceable. They also pointed out that they don’t charge upfront fees for their service.

The advice given by the Working Lunch reporter regarding the write-off of credit card debt or loans was to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau, where they will help you for free. Alternatively, other services recommended by Working Lunch were the National Debtline and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, or CCCS. All of these debt help services are free.

The best cash ISA rates were examined on Working Lunch today by Gillian Lacey-Solymar and presenter Naga Munchetty. It followed a discussion on NSI, National Savings & Investments Premium Bonds which have just cut one of their million pound prizes in favour of smaller prizes. NSI Premium Bonds offer an average 1% return on investment, but of course there is also the possibility of winning one of the big cash prizes.

Then cash ISAs were discussed as a more lucrative place for your savings than NSI Premium Bonds. An ISA, like Premium Bonds, are a tax-free savings account. The best ISA rates on the market according to Working Lunch offer very good interest rates. Here are the top three:

1) Barclays Golden ISA – 3.61% AER

Barclays Golden ISA is paying an impressive 3.61% on savings of up to £3,600 per tax year. Sign up for a Barclays Golden ISA by clicking here

2) Natwest Cash ISA Plus – 3.51% AER

The Natwest Cash ISA Plus pays an excellent 3.51% on savings of up to £3,600 per tax year. Sign up for a Natwest Cash ISA Plus by clicking here

3) M&S Money – 3.10% AER

Marks and Spencer or M&S cash ISA pays a very good 3.10% on savings of up to £3,600 per tax year. The M and S cash ISA does include a 1% bonus, however it does not revert back to 2.1% until April 2010. Sign up for a M&S cash ISA here

ISAs are probably the best place to put your money in today’s credit crunch climate in terms of the interest rate you can achieve, however there is a £3,600 annual limit on what you can add to a cash ISA account.

Wondering how best to keep hold of your cash during the credit crunch? Lawrence Gold appeared on The Wright Stuff to talk through the options and answer a few viewers’ questions.

First, Matthew Wright asked Lawrence Gold about deflation – what it meant, and was it something we should be afraid of? Lawrence replied that deflation is not good for the economy. Whereas inflation means pricing are moving upwards, deflation means prices are coming down. This delays people from buying everyday items, causing a build up of unsold stock in shops, leading to factory workers being laid off and unemployment rising.

First on the line was Lucy with a savings question for Lawrence Gold. When asked what to do with £15,000 in savings, Lawrence said that there were some building societies currently offering around 3% interest. Egg and ING were 2 examples of online banks paying 3% interest. Bonds could be more profitable, but with more of an element of risk in the investment. The other option would be an ISA, though there is a limit on how much you can put into a tax-free ISA, around £4,000 a year.

The second and third callers to The Wright Stuff asked whether now was a good time to pay off a mortgage. Lawrence Gold said this depends on the mortgage rate. For high rate taxpayers with a low mortgage rate, putting money into a pension may be a better option.

Lawrence didn’t think that the Government would allow Lloyds TSB to go under following reports of huge losses on the HBOS side of the business they acquired last year. He thought the government would nationalise Lloyds if they had to, meaning that savings in Lloyds and other huge British banks would probably be safe.

Working Lunch reported today that it’s a bad time for savers. No surprise here really, with the Bank of England continuing to lower its base rate of interest in an attempt to kick start the economy and allow people to borrow again. Savers are currently faced with the problem of a poor rate of interest on their money which is getting worse by the week, and with inflation higher than current interest rates, many savers are actually making a loss on the money they have in the bank. Not to mention the fact that the banks are hardly the safest places for a saver’s cash right now, being bailed out by the gobernment left right and centre.

David Braithwaite from Citrus Financial Management appeared on Working Lunch today to talk about the current savings account predicament. He urged savers to be ‘on the ball’ when it came to keeping an eye on savings rates, bonus rates and savings terms in order to get the very best return on savings in today’s difficult financial climate.

Cash ISAs were also mentioned. It’s important that as a saver you use up your cash ISA allowance if at all possible – it’s tax-free savings at a decent return compared to other investments you could make right now. The advice from David Braithwaite was to shop around for the best cash ISA and then fill your ISA if possible before April, when the tax year starts again.

Click here to save on your bills in the credit crunch

Martin Lewis and Ruth Liptrot from Five’s It Pays to Watch said that the Tesco Internet Saver savings account was now paying 6.5%, a great rate only a fraction under the savings accounts best buys. 1.5% of this interest is a bonus which only lasts for a year. However, there is a hidden ‘boom’:

Open a Tesco Internet Saver account now and have more than £1000 in the account by the 30th November, and next February Tesco will reward you with 500 Tesco clubcard points. If you have over £5000 in the savings account you will receive 1500 points which equates to £15 in store, but if you want to redeem them on weekend breaks, magazine subscriptions or other offers in Tesco’s Deals brochure, their value is quadrupled.

Click here to open a Tesco Internet Saver 6.5% savings account as seen on It Pays to Watch

Credit Card balance transfer best buys was the subject matter for moneysavingexpert Martin Lewis and his Minute Money Challenge on yesterday’s It Pays To Watch. In the current financial climate it is becoming increasingly difficult to get approved for a credit card and people also have to be on the lookout for the best deals around. This lowdown on the best credit card balance transfers is courtesy of Martin Lewis.

If you can clear your debts quickly, the Abbey Zero credit card lets you balance transfer to it at 0% for 6 months. The crucial benefit of the Abbey Zero credit card is that there is no fee.

If you need longer to pay off your debts, or if you are a dedicated ‘card tart’, ie someone who disloyally continually shifts 0% debts around from card to card, then the Barclaycard One Pulse credit card may be right for you. The Barclaycard One Pulse credit card offers 0% interest for 14 months, however there is a 2.5% transfer fee for this credit card.

Alternatively, Virgin have a credit card called the Virgin Card (by MBNA) which offers 0% interest for 15 months, but there is a 2.98% transfer fee, slightly higher than the Barclays One Pulse card.

Other longer 0% interest deals (all with fees) can be found from Halifax, Capital One and Tesco credit cards.

It Pays to Watch money saving expert Martin Lewis said that most people should actually forget the 0% interest credit card deals and lock in cheap interest rates for the long term. A good card for this is the Barclaycard Platinum credit card, which offers a rate of 6.5% interest for life, and the good news is that the Barclaycard Platinum card is free of fees. You need to earn over £10,000 a year to apply for a Barclaycard Platinum credit card.

Alternatively, and the final item featured on It Pays to Watch with Martin Lewis, the Citibank Platinum iTunes Mastercard offers a lower interest rate of just 4.9%, however this card comes with a 3% transfer fee.

If you are struggling with your debts, you may want to consider a number of solutions offered by 123 Debt Solutions. To take the first step on the road to becoming debt free, visit 123 Debt Solutions by clicking here

The credit crunch is affecting everybody right now, it’s a global phenomenon and it looks set to get worse before it gets better. Matthew Wright discussed the best ways to keep hold of your cash with The Wright Stuff’s financial expert Lawrence Gold.

Yesterday the proposed $700 billion bail-out of American financial institutions failed, and at the time of writing no settlement had been agreed. Lawrence and Matthew discussed how this would affect English financial institutions, and most importantly, how Wright Stuff viewers can keep hold of their cash in these turbulent times.

First on The Wright Stuff hotline was Jane from Birmingham. She had a cash ISA at Halifax, but wondered whether in the present climate it would be wise to pay off her mortgage with the money in the ISA. Lawrence Gold suggested that it is entirely up to her, but that it is a good idea to keep a little bit of a mortgage because the mortgage company will keep the deeds for free, it will help your credit rating to make regular payments to something like a mortgage and it will help you get a mortgage if you need another one.

Second caller was Susan from Newcastle with £200,000 in a building society bond. She wanted to know whether she should take the money out. Lawrence suggested that Susan and her partner would only be covered for £70,000 (£35,000 each) so she should think about moving some of the money to different institutions to minimise the risk.

Lawrence Gold thought that overall, savings were safe even over £35,000 covered by the Financial Services COmpensation Scheme. He felt that the government would step in and intervene if the bank was at risk of going under, as was the case with Northern Rock.

Is my building society money safe? was the question from next caller Ken in Birmingham. Lawrence’s gut feeling was that yes it was safe, for the same reason as mentioned above – the government would step in to save your savings if the building society was at risk of going down.

Where are the safest places to put money?

Lawrence Gold suggested that National Savings were always a pretty safe bet, being government owned. Also Northern Rock for the same reason. Also, spreading your money around means that you benefit from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme payout of £35,000 per institution, but be careful as this only applies once per institution, not once per bank or building society.

If you’re struggling financially in the credit crunch, you are certainly not alone. One thing you may want to think about to ease the financial strain is to save money by switching to the cheapest gas and electricity supplier. Using Save On Your Bills could save you up to £360 on your bills each year. It’s free, so you might as well try it out.

Click here to visit SaveOnYourBills.co.uk

In Martin’s Minute Challenge on this week’s It Pays to Watch, money saving expert Martin Lewis concentrated on savings accounts, more specifically how to get the best and highest interest savings account on the market. With the credit crunch in full swing the good news for savers is that banks are clambering over each other for your money to be invested with them, and the chance of getting a good savings rate is pretty high.

The top rate for new cash ISAs is 6.25% easy access from the Post Office and Barclays, yet they do include introductory bonuses which you unfortunately lose after a year, and according to Martin Lewis, Barclays has had poor feedback.

For those who have an existing HSBC current account, you should be able to get the same rate of 6.25% from their cash ISA with no introductory bonus to lose.

If you have an old cash ISA you should really check out Natwest’s latest ISA offering. Martin Lewis described the Natwest ISA as a ‘phenomenal deal’ on It Pays to Watch. Transfer your old cash ISAs to Natwest’s new cash ISA and you earn up to 7.32%. Click here for more details.

Martin Lewis suggested that if you save regularly, you can put up to £250 a month into Barclays Monthly Saver at 7.75%. Barclays Monthly Saver pays out 7.75% interest fixed for a year. Click here for more details and to apply for this high interest monthly savings account.

The best savings accounts after cash ISAs and high interest monthly savings accounts are normal savings accounts. Martin Lewis suggested that the top ‘clean, no tricks, easy access’ deal is currently 6.55% from Kaupthing Edge which pays out 0.3% above the Bank of England base rate and guarantees to beat the Bank of England base rate until 2012.

Paying slightly less than the Kaupthing Edge savings account at 6.55% which is obviously dependent on the BoE base rate are 6.5% savings accounts from Bradford and Bingley (the Bradford and Bingley Internet Saver account) and Birmingham Midshires (the Birmingham Midshires e-saver account). For those not on the internet, Anglo Irish bank has a savings account at 6.4%

Finally, people who are prepared to lock their cash away in a savings account for a year should consider ICICI. The ICICI savings account offers a rate of 7.2% fixed for 12 months. Click here for an ICICI savings account.

In today’s tough financial climate with the credit crunch in full swing, you should be thinking about switching your gas and electricity supplier to find the cheapest deal. Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert.com and presenter of Five’s It Pays To Watch, recommended that switching your gas and electricity really was the easiest bit of money saving possible.

On last week’s It Pays to Watch Martin Lewis suggested that NOW ie today is the best time to switch your gas and electricity provider – you could save yourself hundreds of pounds a year. There are six big energy providers in the UK and all six of them have put their prices up in the last two months. Martin Lewis said this means that if you do a comparison now, you are on a level playing field so you know which gas and electricity supplier is truly cheapest.

A studio guest of It Pays To Watch asked what was the easiest way to compare gas and electricity prices. Martin suggested phoning each one up, or the easiest way would be to do an online gas and electricity comparison, where you simply enter your details and view the results instantly showing you how much you can save.

There are various gas and electric comparison websites, SaveOnYourBills.co.uk being up there with the best. They claim you can save up to £360 a year on your Gas and Electricity bills simply by using their free service.

To visit SaveOnYourBills.co.uk, click here