Actor Mark Ruffalo has always stepped up to voice his opinions on issues that actually matter. And he’s done that once again with his social media platform to draw attention to a troubling global crisis—one that much of Hollywood has completely ignored. This time, the Oscar-nominated actor is advocating for answers regarding the disappearance of […]
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NETFLIX has given a free picture quality boost to millions of Samsung TVs, phones and tablets.
A simple check will show you if you’re eligible to receive it.
Netflix’s highest definition picture setting is Dolby Vision – which is available through the streamer’s Premium packages.
But Samsung TVs don’t support Dolby Vision, and instead sport HDR10+.
HDR10+ isn’t as common as Dolby Vision, but it works in a similar way to provide deep colours and more realistic picture.
And support for the lesser-known picture settings appears to be improving.
Apple has supported HDR10+ for Apple TV+ and iTunes video content for several years now.
Earlier this year, Disney+ also announced support for HDR10+ videos on its platform.
Now Netflix has joined the fold, saying HDR10+ now accounts for half of all eligible viewing hours.
The streaming giant has pledged to make all HDR titles available in HDR10+ by the end of this year.
HDR10+ content will only be available on devices with the AV1 codec and HDR10+ certification.
All Samsung smart TVs released in 2020 and later support AV1 and HDR10+.
Simply make sure the HDR toggle is enabled in your Netflix app settings.
Although be wary.
Even if your gadget is eligible, your package might not be up to scratch.
Viewers must have a Netflix Premium plan subscription to enjoy HDR10+ – just like customers with Dolby Vision-enabled TVs.
Here's what you need to know...
Netflix Standard with Ads
Price: £5.99 (up £1 from £4.99)
Netflix Standard
Price: £12.99 (Up £2 from £10.99)
Netflix Premium
Price: £18.99 (Up £1 from £17.99)
Picture Credit: Netflix
MORE than a million households are set to see a big jump in mortgage bills this year but there are plenty of ways you can act.
A whopping 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages are set to come to an end, according to data from trade body UK Finance, and many of these bill payers face a big jump in rates.
We’ve spoken to mortgage expert Nicholas Mendes, from top broker John Charcol, who has given out millions of pounds in mortgages.
He shares his must-read tips to help YOU avoid a mortgage bill shock this year.
Taking notes of these tips could help shave off £100s off your mortgage.
Mortgage bills are jumping – here’s why.
People who are coming to the end of a fixed-rate mortgage from two or five years ago will have taken out a deal when rates were much lower.
Since then the Bank of England base rate has increased which impacts mortgage rates.
Currently, the average two-year fixed rate mortgage stands at 5.35% while the typical five-year rate is 5.19%, according to data from moneyfacts.co.uk.
By comparison, anyone who took out their deal five years ago enjoyed an average two-year rate of 2.43% and a five-year fix of 2.74%.
For someone with a £300,000 mortgage who took out a five-year fix in 2020 could have expected an average repayment of £1,382 a month.
By comparison, a £300,000 mortgage on a typical five-year fix today is now £1,787 per month.
That’s a whopping increase of £405 a month or £4,860 over a year.
For many this is a worrying rise – but there are ways to take control and manage costs.
Nicholas said: “With 1.8 million homeowners set to reach the end of their fixed-rate mortgage deals in 2025, many of whom secured ultra-low rates below 2% during the post-pandemic years, navigating the mortgage market this year will be more critical than ever.
“The UK mortgage landscape has shifted significantly over the past few years.
“Now in 2025, mortgage rates have stabilised, with expectations of further rate reductions depending on economic performance.
“Despite this, those coming off fixed deals below 2% will likely face a steep increase in repayments, even with the slightly improved rates now available. This makes early preparation essential.”
Here Nicholas explains step-by-step what you should do.
When you apply for a new mortgage, repayments are calculated over a set time period which can be anywhere between 20-40 years.
If you are struggling with an increase in bills, one way to lower repayments is to stretch the mortgage term – meaning you are paying off the debt over a longer period of time.
Opting for the longest possible mortgage term will reduce your bills making them more manageable in the short term.
On a £250,000 mortgage and a 5% rate, you’d pay £1,461 a month on a 25-year term.
However, if you increased the term to 35 years you’d pay £1,261 a month if all other factors remained the same. That works out at £200 less a month.
It’s important to note that repaying your mortgage over a longer time frame means that you ultimately pay more in interest on the debt.
If you do increase your mortgage term, it’s a good idea to bring it back down as and when you can to avoid paying considerably more interest.
Most major lenders have a mortgage overpayment calculator on their websites, including HSBC and Santander.
The tools show the difference between regular overpayments as well as a lump sum.
You can see how much earlier you’ll pay off your mortgage and how much you’ll save in interest.
If you’re coming to the end of your mortgage term and are looking to get the lowest possible repayment, it could be worth fixing for longer.
As mentioned above, the two-year is 5.35% compared to 5.19% for a five-year deal, according Moneyfacts.co.uk.
The risk you take is that in two years time, rates could be significantly cheaper leading you to miss out.
However, no one knows what will happen for certain. And taking out a longer fix can help you plan your finances and budgets over a longer term.
A broker should be able to help work out if it’s a good idea to fix on a deal for longer.
A part-and-part mortgage, combining fixed and tracker rates, is one way of enjoying the best of both worlds, according to Nicholas.
He said: “This type of mortgage divides the loan into two portions: a fixed rate portion and a tracker rate portion.
“The fixed rate ensures consistent monthly payments, protecting borrowers from interest rate fluctuations for a set period, which helps with budgeting and financial planning.
“The tracker rate, on the other hand, varies according to the Bank of England base rate. When interest rates reduce, this portion can significantly reduce monthly payments.
“This combination can lead to substantial savings over the mortgage term, as it balances the predictability of fixed rates with the potential cost savings of tracker rates.”
If you have spare cash, putting it towards paying more off your mortgage can bring down monthly costs ahead of locking into a new rate.
Over payments go towards eroding the underlying debt of the loan, which is what is used to calculate interest.
A lower outstanding debt means lower interest payments.
In most cases, lenders will let you pay off up to 10% of your total mortgage in one year.
Overpaying could be a good idea if you come into a lump sum of cash.
Or if you can pay even £20 extra a month it will make a difference in the long term.
However, it’s important to follow your lender’s rules on over payments or you could be hit with an ‘early repayment charge’ which can be very costly.
Just ask your lender if you aren’t sure as they should be able to tell you.
KIERAN Rossi, 46, and his wife Chantal, from Redhill, Surrey overpay their mortgage each month using cashback and are set to save thousands in interest, as a result.
Dad-of-four, Kieran uses the free app Sprive to get cashback on spending worth around £40 each month, including with delivery apps Just Eat and Deliveroo, as well as Sainsbury’s and Boots.
The cashback automatically links to their mortgage account to pay off their debt, on top of their usual monthly repayments.
Kieran has worked out they are on track to save £11,902 in interest payments and pay the mortgage off one-and-a-half years early, as a result.
The safety engineer started using Sprive in January 2024 and has since earned cashabck worth £542, which has gone toward his mortgage .
Kieran said: “I have always wanted to pay down the mortgage with overpayments but never had the spare funds or an easy way to do it – this apps provides a quick and easy solution to both issues.”
Searching for a mortgage deal is not always easy but a good broker can help you.
Sometimes opting for a lower mortgage rate is not always the best option if it comes with a sizeable fee or charge.
In these circumstances, it can be hard to compare the overall true cost of two different deals.
Often it comes down to your individual borrowing amount and a big product fee can sometimes be worthwhile to get a lower rate.
However, a good mortgage broker should be able to help with the sums and work out the best deal.
Some mortgage brokers charge a fee but not all, you want a broker who can search the whole market.
Ask friends or family for recommendations and then look online for reviews. You can see recommendations for advisers at unbiased.co.uk.
When you come to the end of a mortgage deal, your existing lender will usually offer you a fresh rate for you to switch on to.
This is what’s known as a ‘product transfer’ and your lender typically makes it fairly easy to move on to this new rate.
However, by searching the market and going through a full remortgage process you could find a much better deal – even though it may mean more upfront paperwork, the savings could well be worth it.
Even what seems like a small rate difference of 0.2%, for example, impacts your bills – all the more so if you have a larger mortgage.
For example, a 4.5% rate on a £350,000 mortgage would mean a monthly repayment of £1,945.
A rate of 4.7% means the bill rises to £1,985, that’s an extra £40 a month and a hefty £480 over a year.
A good mortgage broker can help find the best remortgage deal for your circumstances and compare it to a product transfer rate offered by your lender.
Nicholas says: “While a product transfer with your current lender is convenient, switching to another lender could save you thousands over the course of your mortgage.
“Reviewing your options at the end of every fixed term ensures you’re always getting the most cost-effective deal.”
There are different factors that go into getting the best mortgage rate. Chris Sykes, technical director at broker Private Finance explains what you need to know.
The larger the deposit you have the lower the rates you’ll have access to.
The different deposit tiers offered by lenders are generally 0-1% deposit, 5%, 10%, 15%, then generally it skips to 25% and finally cash or equity of 40% or more.
There are some exceptions in between but these are usually the bands.
Lenders then set different rates for each of these tiers, rather than having one rate for a 12% deposit and another for 14%, for example.
With a deposit above 40% there is usually no price fluctuation, which means you’d get the same rate with a 50% deposit to a 40% deposit.
A better credit score doesn’t necessarily mean more competitive deals, but a negative credit could mean worse deals.
For example, there may be some people with not a lot of credit as they’ve never had a credit card, or loan, will get the exact some deal as someone who has more credit history and a better credit score.
However, a bad credit history or score starts to limit your lenders and means you may need to move off high street to a more specialist lender which tends to offer higher rates.
If you have poor credit, look for easy ways to improve it.
It’s best to look at deals six months before a current rate ends. This might be to just have a chat with a broker and get things moving.
It might be that you can get a deal lined up and locked in that protects against movements in interest rates – for example if rates were to go up over the following six months. And you can also then improve the rate within that six months if rates were to go down.
A good mortgage broker is invaluable for navigating the options available to you.
The best way to find a good adviser is through personal recommendations, everyone has a friend or family member who will have recently bought or refinanced – ask them who they used and if they were happy with the service.
You can also lookup reviews of that person online to find other customer experiences too. Unbiased.co.uk is one place where people can offer their reviews.
IF you are looking to buy or remortgage, contact a broker nice and early, as they can then guide you through what the expectations are from lenders.
This gives you plenty of time to make sure your accounts are up to date if you’re self-employed and you can see if it is worth filing tax returns early.
An energy-efficient home can unlock lower mortgage rates, especially if you’ve had work done since you last took out a mortgage fix.
When a home goes on the market or is rented out it needs to have a Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which grade the energy efficiency of your home.
This EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) lasts for ten years.
If you’ve had loft insulation or made other improvements to lower energy bills, it may be worth finding out the latest EPC rating, Nicholas said.
This is because a better EPC rating can mean better rates, as more lenders offer better ‘green mortgages’ or preferential rates for homes that have an EPC of C or higher.
He added: “Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are now playing a role in mortgage pricing.
“If you’ve made energy efficiency improvements, getting an updated EPC before remortgaging could help you access better mortgage deals. Many lenders are keen to support environmentally friendly homes.”
We break down all you need to know about mortgages and what categories they fall into.
A fixed rate mortgage provides an interest rate that remains the same for an agreed period such as two, five or even 10 years.
Your monthly repayments would remain the same for the whole deal period.
There are a few different types of variable mortgages and, as the name suggests, the rates can change.
A tracker mortgage sets your rate a certain percentage above or below an external benchmark.
This is usually the Bank of England base rate or a bank may have its figure.
If the base rate rises, so will your mortgage but if it drops then your monthly repayments will be reduced.
A standard variable rate (SVR) is a default rate offered by banks. You usually revert to this at the end of a fixed deal term, unless you get a new one.
SVRs are generally higher than other types of mortgage, so if you’re on one then you’re likely to be paying more than you need to.
Variable rate mortgages often don’t have exit fees while a fixed rate could do.
SHOCKING video shows a drunk Brit holidaymaker attacking cops after downing Jägermeister on her flight to Turkey.
The blonde woman was filmed screaming and lashing out at police officers while being escorted through Antalya Airport.
Stunned onlookers watched as she left a smashed bottle of the 35% German spirit in her trail of destruction through passport control.
Passengers claim she was drinking with her partner and encouraging others to “get with the party” before locking herself in the toilet.
Cabin crew onboard the easyJet flight from Luton Airport tried to deal with her mid-air antics on Friday March 14.
One witness told The Sun: “It was horrific – I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Young families were left terrified by her behaviour.
“The woman drank a whole bottle of Jäger with her partner. She was disrupting people saying come on get with the party and eventually locked herself in the toilet.
“The passenger appeared to punch two police officers and left a smashed bottle of Jäger, a couple of vapes and tobacco in passport control.”
In an email to complaining passengers, the airline apologised.
EasyJet admitted the incident is being reviewed after it “escalated more than it should have”.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Flight EZY255 from Luton Airport to Antalya on March 14 was met by police on arrival due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard.
“EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and acted quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers was not compromised at any time.
“Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.”
The Foreign Office was approached for comment.
When Modern Family launched in 2009, the kids on the show were not just young, they were undeniably adorable and packed with humor. With their unique wits, naughty antics, and heartwarming portrayals, they captured the audience’s hearts and dominated the spotlight. However, as the show progressed, many fans began to notice a troubling trend. The […]
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Former WWE chairman Vince McMahon was known to be a bit of a “control freak”. The man was a workaholic and expected everyone to be the same. He controlled every part of the WWE from the business to the creative. McMahon even controlled what the commentators would say. He used to shout at them if […]
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