Kate Hughes

Insurance and finance expert

As an award-winning journalist, author and broadcast commentator, Kate has been writing about personal finance for more than 20 years. She’s the former Money Editor for The Independent.

Her work has appeared across the UK broadsheets as well as a number of international titles. Kate brings her financial expertise to inform her readers on ways to save money.

She’s also written a book. ‘Going Zero: One Family’s Journey to Zero Waste and a Greener Lifestyle’ is available now.

Kate’s experience

Kate at The Independent

During her first spell at the publication as Deputy Money Editor, Kate covered financial affairs at the time of the 2008 ‘credit crunch’.

Returning to the Independent in 2015 as Money Editor, Kate’s led their financial coverage through Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

Since 2020, she’s also written a regular sustainability column.

Kate as a bestselling author

In 2022 Kate published her book: ‘Going Zero’. It documents her family’s journey to achieving zero waste and living a greener lifestyle. The only thing thrown out was the bin…

Kate at Financial Times Business

Beginning as a Features Writer, Kate quickly became the Deputy Features Editor during her three years at Financial Times Business. Kate used her extensive knowledge in personal finance to discuss and report on money topics for a famously well-informed audience.

Kate Hughes commenting on...

How to cut the cost of being single for everything, including car insurance

”If you're not married and want to cut the cost of your insurance, consider adding a friend or flatmate who is a low-risk named driver – typically someone who is older, more experienced and free of recent claims or convictions – to your car insurance policy.

However, resist the temptation to say the low-risk motorist is the main driver as this is known as “fronting” and is against the law.”

Will an electric vehicle break the bank or save a fortune?

”There’s often an assumption that it is more expensive to own and insure an EV than conventionally powered petrol or diesel cars.

It’s true that the upfront purchase price of a new electric model can often be higher – and the bigger the battery and range, typically the more expensive the car.

In the long term, however, electric vehicles can work out cheaper as they have lower fuel and maintenance bills.”

Loopholes that could mean your insurer won’t pay out

”Finding out that your insurance has been invalidated could be a disaster if you need to make a claim. That's why it's important to provide the right information and keep following the rules carefully.
Anyone can make an honest mistake, but the law holds that if you

“deliberately or carelessly withhold information or mislead your insurers”, they can hold that your policy is invalid.

Here are ten ways that you could be invalidating your insurance without even knowing it.”

Would your savings survive a 100-year life?

The Independent

”As government and employer-sponsored retirement plans around the world come under strain, individuals have found themselves increasingly responsible for their retirement savings.

But those savings aren’t accelerating fast enough to make up for the deterioration of traditional retirement plans, the heavyweight not-for-profit group warned.”

Cost of living crisis: How families are being hit hardest with 13% inflation

The Independent

”Families with children are grappling with price rises of £400 a month for basic items including food, rent and heating, experts have warned, as social security rates fall to a 40-year low. New research from the poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and Loughborough University shows inflation being felt soonest and hardest by those on the lowest incomes, who spend a higher proportion of their incomes on essential items.”

Two-thirds of first time buyers have had mortgage application rejected

Yahoo! Finance

“First-time buyers are being warned to brace themselves for rejection following reports that 65 per cent of housing hopefuls have been unsuccessful in securing a mortgage.

Data seen exclusively by The Independent shows only a third of first-time buyers were able to get a mortgage on their first attempt, down significantly from almost half pre-Covid 19.”

Kate Hughes in the press...

Book extract: Meet the zero-waste family who threw away nothing — except their bin.

The Times

“It started one afternoon in our small Somerset garden. Five years ago I stepped off the kids’ trampoline onto a large outdoor beanbag. The once sturdy canvas gave way with a satisfying rip. For a moment, while the family giggled helpfully, the tiny polystyrene balls swirled and eddied around my leg. Within seconds they started to whisper and whirl around, settling on plants, pots, the children’s hair, before scuttling across the gravel, over the wall, into the drain.”

Are packaged bank accounts worth paying for?

moneyweek.com

“Before you opt for a packaged bank account, "think long and hard", says Kate Hughes in The Independent. "Question whether the fees are affordable, if you'd use the benefits and check for any cover or benefits you already have that do the same job."