Money expert Martin Lewis has met with Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch to talk about student loan repayment.
The meeting follows an incident earlier this which Ms Badenoch was ambushed live on air by Lewis during an interview about personal finance policy.
“If you want to help the middle-earning students, the most important thing is the repayment threshold should have been increased,” he said.
“Lowering the interest rate now will only help those who can clear [the debt] within the 30 years, which means lower and middle earning graduates won’t benefit from that change. If you have £1bn to help students, the most direct thing that would help all students would be not freezing the repayment threshold.”
His remark comes amidst increasing debate around plans for a three year freeze of the threshold salary at which a graduate starts repaying their student loan.
Here’s everything you need to know about the money expert, from his net worth, to which TV shows he’s appeared on, and whether he’s married and has kids.
Consumer champion Martin Lewis questioned the Chancellor (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
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Martin Lewis is a 53-year-old finance journalist, who was born in Witherington, Manchester, on May 9, 1972.
After school, he studied Government and Law at the London School of Economics, before branching out into broadcast journalism at the Univeristy of Cardiff.
After graduating, he landed a job as a producer for BBC Radio as well as Five Live.
The journalist was appointed an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 honours list, for his services to consumer rights as well as charitable services.
He was also made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2022 Honours List for services to consumer rights and broadcasting.
Martin tragically lost his mother to a car accident when he was young, and in later life made the move to become a patron of the child’s bereavment charity, Grief Encounter.
Martin Lewis’ exact net worth is unknown, but, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, he’s certainly put his money training to good use, with a projected value of £123million.
Martin established Moneysavingexpert.com for just £80 in 2003, and, since then, has sold it for £87 million in 2012.
What TV shows has Martin been on?
Martin has been on a number of TV shows throughout his career, and since 2012 he’s co-presented The Martin Lewis Show on ITV alongside Angelica Bell.
In 2020, he revealed that he was quitting Good Morning Britain after 17 years because he “can’t cope” with his busy workload.
The expert has also regularly appeared on shows such as It Pays To Watch!, Tonight, Watchdog, and Lorraine.
Is Martin married and does he have children?
Martin married Lara Lewington in 2009, who is a presenter, journalist and former weather girl.
Martin Lewis and Lara Lewington
PA
She’s also worked as a reporter on BBC’s Click which covers consumer technology news, since 2011. The couple welcomed their first child Sapphire Susan in 2012.
What is Lewis’ Cost of Living crisis advice?
Martin has a whole range of different pieces of advice for those struggling with the current cost of living crisis.
Here are a number of easy things to try.
- Check your phone contract
Money Saving Expert recommends using price comparison tools to assess whether you could save money on your phone contract, approximately £200 a year.
- Check your broadband deal
You may also be able to save money on your broadband deal, so it’s worth shopping around to check that you’re paying the minimum price for what you need.
Some companies provide social broadband tariffs for as little as £16 a month for those on lower incomes.
- Control your direct debits
‘Recurring payments are little known, and hidden,’ it reads on Money Saving Expert. ‘This is where you give firms permission to take a “payment” each month from your debit or credit card.’
- Sell what you don’t need
MSE recommends selling something if you haven’t used it for a year. Anything from old smartphones and devices, to clothes, books and furniture can be sold online these days. Try websites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Vinted, Gumtree and Shpock.
- Get a NHS prescription certificate
If you use more than one NHS prescription a month, it’s worthwhile investing in a certificate, which is a one-off fee that covers all prescriptions for a period of one month to a year.
- Use the weather to your advantage
If the weather is good, dry laundry outside, instead of using a tumble dryer. This could see you save approximately £28 a year.
- Squeeze all you can out of what you have
In very tough times, it might be necessary to cut corners wherever you can, whether that’s squeezing the last amount of toothpaste from a tube, or cutting dishwasher tablets in half – every little helps!
- Keep an eye out for price reductions
Get to know your local supermarket and when they’re most likely to put the little yellow stickers on content symbolising a sale. Make sure to shop at those times.
After the scrapping of the tampon tax, there are other ways to reduce the monthly costs, including reusable sanitary products.
- Get food, drink and more for free
Instead of throwing food away when there’s nothing wrong with it, share it among the community using Olio. Big retailers like Tesco, Pret and Planet Organic have teamed up with the app to give away their surplus food too.
- Switch your debt to a zero-interest credit card
Martin said: “Paying credit card interest? STOP. A balance transfer credit card can save you £1,000s by slashing the interest you pay.”
He added: “With a 0% balance transfer you get a new card to pay off debt on old credit and store cards, so you owe it instead, but at 0% interest. A card will have a 0% period, during which you pay no interest – for example, 28 months – and sometimes you’ll pay a small fee. It means you become debt-free quicker, as more of your repayments reduce the debt, rather than pay interest.”
Over a quarter of people (27 per cent) have had a payment taken from an account that they thought they had cancelled, recent data from Compare the Market had revealed.
It’s worth reviewing the direct debit and standing orders from your bank account, making sure to contact the company charging you if you want to cancel it.
Some companies will refund customers who have mistakenly kept paying despite not using the subscription.
- Consider a fixed-tariff energy deal
Households may want to consider a fixed-tariff energy deal, which may be as much as 14 per cent lower than the price cap rate.
- Challenge your council tax
Over 43,000 people challenged their council tax band in 2024, and close to 1,000 were able to lower their band by two places or more, according to The Independent.
Analysis indicates that approximately 400,000 households are in the wrong band, which means they’re paying too much council tax. A challenge could result in a backdated refund.
- Review your Tesco ClubCard
Take a look at your Tesco Clubcard vouchers because £11 million worth are due to expire on February 28 by midnight.