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Money guides for UK households

Karl Johnson

Karl Johnson

Founder and editor, GetSmartSaver.Uk · Coventry, United Kingdom

Karl Johnson launched GetSmartSaver.Uk in 2026 to give UK households one honest place to compare savings accounts, household bills and everyday deals. He researches, writes and verifies every guide on the site personally.

His day job is operations management for a UK manufacturer and wholesaler, running multi-site P&L across more than 30 retail stores, negotiating supplier contracts, and owning the compliance side of the business — including acting as the named HMRC responsible person for a UK excise duty regime. That is where the method behind this site comes from: go to the primary source, check every figure against the provider's own documentation, and never publish a number you cannot evidence.

Karl is not a financial adviser and GetSmartSaver.Uk is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Everything here is written from the position of a household consumer doing the research properly — rates checked against each provider's own website, terms read in full, and the working shown so you can check it yourself. Where a guide is wrong or out of date, he wants to hear about it: team@getsmartsaver.co.uk.

Based in Coventry, West Midlands.

How the guides on this site are researched

  • Every rate, fee and eligibility rule is checked against the provider’s own website or the relevant regulator before publication, and re-checked on a rolling schedule.
  • Interest rates are checked against the Bank of England Bank Rate; deposit protection against the FSCS checker; firm authorisation against the FCA Register; energy caps against Ofgem; and tax and allowance rules against GOV.UK.
  • Claims that cannot be traced to a primary source are removed rather than hedged. Several have been.
  • Corrections are acted on the same week and the page’s verification date is updated. Report one at team@getsmartsaver.co.uk.

Independence

GetSmartSaver.Uk is published by a sole trader and is not owned by, or affiliated with, any bank, broker, comparison group or lead-generation network. Some links earn a commission — that never changes which products are recommended or how they are ranked. See how we make money.

Karl is not a financial adviser and this site is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Nothing here is personal financial advice. For free impartial guidance, see MoneyHelper.

Contact · LinkedIn

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Showing 188 guides
Family Finances 24 Aug 2026
Student Loans from September 2026: New Rates and Thresholds
Student loan interest is set at 4.1% from 1 September 2026, with Plan 2 and postgraduate loans capped at 6%. Here is which plan you are on, what leaves your pay each month, and why the balance matters far less than you think.
17 min read Read guide →
Cash ISA 23 Aug 2026
The Lifetime ISA Is Being Replaced: Meet the First Time Buyer ISA
The government has confirmed the Lifetime ISA will be replaced by a First Time Buyer ISA with no withdrawal charge and no upper age limit. But the bonus rate, annual limit and property price cap are still unannounced.
17 min read Read guide →
Savings 22 Aug 2026
Tax on Savings Interest Rises in April 2027: What It Costs You
From 6 April 2027 savings interest is taxed at 22%, 42% and 47% instead of 20%, 40% and 45%. Here is what the two-point rise costs at real balances, the maturity trap that costs more, and what to do before it lands.
16 min read Read guide →
Tax 21 Aug 2026
Budget 2026 on 28 October: What It Could Mean for Your Money
The Budget lands on Wednesday 28 October 2026. This is what is already decided and arriving regardless, what has been announced but not yet designed, what is still pure speculation, and the sensible things worth doing before the day.
16 min read Read guide →
Pensions 20 Aug 2026
Winter Fuel Payment 2026: Deadlines, Amounts and the £35,000 Clawback
The Winter Fuel Payment is worth £100 to £300 this winter, paid automatically in November or December to eligible people born on or before 27 June 1960 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Here are the September deadlines, the exact amounts and how HMRC claws it back above £35,000.
16 min read Read guide →
Credit Cards 19 Aug 2026
Car Finance Compensation 2026: The 31 August Deadline
The FCA's motor finance redress scheme covers 12.1 million agreements and averages about £830 each, and the deadline for pre-2014 deals is 31 August 2026. Here is who qualifies, why payments are paused, and how to claim for free.
15 min read Read guide →
Mortgages 11 Aug 2026
Shared Ownership 2026: How It Works, Costs and the Traps
Shared ownership lets you buy 10 to 75 per cent of a home and rent the rest, cutting the deposit sharply. Here is the full monthly cost stack, the repairs trap, staircasing fees and who should avoid it.
14 min read Read guide →
Cash ISA 10 Aug 2026
Flexible Cash ISA Rules 2026: Withdraw and Replace Money
A flexible Cash ISA lets you withdraw money and pay it back in the same tax year without using up any of your £20,000 allowance. Here is how the rule works, how to check whether your account has it, and the traps that quietly cost savers allowance.
15 min read Read guide →
Mortgages 9 Aug 2026
Equity Release UK 2026: How It Works and the Alternatives
A balanced look at equity release in 2026: how lifetime mortgages and home reversion work, what rolled-up interest really costs over 10, 15 and 20 years, the Equity Release Council safeguards, the benefit and inheritance effects, and six alternatives to weigh first.
15 min read Read guide →
Tax 8 Aug 2026
Dividend Tax UK 2026/27: Rates, Allowance and How to Pay Less
Dividend tax rose on 6 April 2026 to 10.75 and 35.75 per cent. Here is who pays, how the £500 allowance works, why dividends sit on top of your other income, when Self Assessment is required, and the legal ways to pay less.
14 min read Read guide →
Family Finances 7 Aug 2026
Universal Credit 2026: New Rates and the April Changes
Universal Credit changed on 6 April 2026: an above-inflation standard allowance, the two-child limit abolished, and a health element that pays £429.80 to protected claimants but £217.26 to most new ones. Here are the numbers.
15 min read Read guide →
Estate Planning 6 Aug 2026
Funeral Costs UK 2026: The Real Price and How to Cut It
What a UK funeral really costs in 2026, what every line on the bill is for, the help you can claim from the state, how to spend less without regret, and the honest case for and against a prepaid funeral plan.
15 min read Read guide →
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