In brief: Base-rate bonanzas | Protect from rate rises | Medical insurance | Oz tax bill

In brief: Base-rate bonanzas | Protect from rate rises | Medical insurance | Oz tax bill

The base rate rise to 5.25 per cent last week will have been welcomed by savers, if not borrowers. But many will miss out on the boost to their savings because they have failed to shop around for the best rates and left their money in dormant or very low-paying accounts, says product comparison site www.find.co.uk

While it usually takes a few days for banks and building societies to consider how much they should raise their rates, the interest on some dormant accounts will remain unchanged.

The top instant or easy access accounts (Birmingham Midshires's Internet Easy Access and Icici bank's HiSave) are paying 5.45 per cent gross on a minimum investment of £1. These rates are likely to rise again, given the hike in the base rate. Birmingham Midshires says it intends to stay in the best-buy tables.

Regular savers can earn 7.25 per cent gross with Ipswich's Olympic Saver, or 12.5 per cent gross with Barclays' regular saver account (but need to pay £1,000 into a Barclays current account to open one). The worst-paying accounts (Darlington's Instant Access, First Direct's Everyday Savings and First Direct's Savings) offer a paltry 0.1 per cent.

Keep up to date with savings rates as they change by visiting www.find.co.uk

Ways to beat the borrowing blues

Even though the base rate has gone up for the third time in six months, borrowers.....continued below

Advertisement starts

Advertisement ends

For remortgages, Nationwide offers a two-year fix at 4.94 per cent with free legal and valuation work and a £799 arrangement fee. C&G has loans fixed for five years at 5.09 per cent with a £999 fee, plus free legal and valuation work.Alliance & Leicester has the lowest two-year tracker at 4.69 per cent (before last week's rate change).

Call Chase de Vere on 0800 358 5068.

Medical insurance at the supermarket

Tesco is selling private medical insurance without requiring applicants up to the age of 75 to reveal details of their medical history. The supermarket is offering two products: the core product covers you for treatment in hospital, providing 'extensive' cover for in-patient and day-patient treatment, comprehensive cover for MRI and VT scans, surgical procedures, radio and chemotherapy, while the premium product covers you from diagnosis to treatment, in and out of hospital, and includes £1,000 a year out-patient cover towards consultations and diagnostic tests. Both policies allow you to choose to be treated at one of more than 250 private hospitals, offer no-claims discounts of up to 55 per cent over four years and throw the first month's premium in for free for those who apply before 27 March.