CHESTER, England, November 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

• Basic rate taxpayers need a rate of 3.39 per cent to gain benefit in real terms, increasing to 4.50 per cent for higher rate taxpayers

Today's announcement by the Bank of England that The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has soared from 2.2 per cent - its lowest level in almost three years - to 2.7 per cent means consumers should be checking their savings rates even more to ensure they are maximising their returns, according to MoneySupermarket.com.

To beat inflation, basic rate tax payers will need an account paying at least 3.39 per cent to gain benefit in real terms from their savings, increasing to 4.51 per cent for higher rate tax payers, and 5.41 per cent for 50 per cent tax payers.

For basic rate tax payers there are only 11 accounts that beat inflation, all of them being fixed rate bonds.  For higher rate tax payers no accounts that beat inflation.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking, at MoneySupermarket.com, said: "Today's news that inflation has risen by to 2.7 per cent after last month's decrease is a blow to savers and struggling UK households, with the impact of the price increases on energy combined with rising food and petrol costs pushing the cost of living upwards.

"It is as ever vitally important savers check their rates and be prepared to switch if they are not currently on the most competitive deal. The difference between the average and top paying rates can be significant, so moving to a better deal can go a long way to help savers limit the impact of inflation on their pots.

"Only a handful of savings accounts currently beat inflation, and all of them are fixed rate products. However, even if you cannot find an account that beats inflation, consumers need to make sure they are on the best deals possible to limit the impact of inflation and using products such as Cash ISAs to take advantage of the tax free benefits is a must. Savers should also consider looking at alternative products such as offsetting savings against mortgage borrowing, peer-to-peer lending, or structured savings products."

MoneySupermarket.com compares (at 30^th August 2012)

• 107 car insurance providers and 82 home insurance providers
• 12 broadband providers and 18 energy providers   
• 32 unsecured loan and 6 secured loan providers
• 62 mortgage lenders and 28 credit card providers
• 66 savings providers and 37 current account providers.
• Over 1,200,000 mobile phone deals

Our customers

We help our customers to save money on all of their household bills by providing a free, easy to use online service so they can compare a wide range of products in one place and find the product most suited to their needs. Our size means we are able to offer our customers exclusive, market-leading deals, including some they can't even get direct from providers.

Our providers

By having considerable volumes of informed customers actively looking for products and ready to purchase, we offer our providers an efficient and cost effective customer acquisition solution across all of our channels. This enables our providers to target their marketing spend in an effective and completely measurable way.

Our revenue comes predominantly from fees paid to us by product providers when a customer clicks through to their website and actually applies for or purchases a product. It is a success based marketing fee.

Our customer commitment

• We make it easy to find the brands you expect to see
• We strive to ensure a product cannot be found cheaper by going direct
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• We are independent and impartial
• We make it easy to switch and save
• We strive to always show the most competitive product available

Notes to Editors
Paul Lawler/ Nicki Parry
MoneySupermarket.com
+44(0)787-237-9545 / +44(0)1244-370-318
Paul.lawler@moneysupermarket.com / nicki.parry@moneysupermarket.com

SOURCE MoneySupermarket.com