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There’s no better publicity than word of mouth. Companies know this and so they’re willing to stump up a load of cash to give you the incentive to refer their products and services to your friends. You can take advantage of £100s of cash rewards available by getting your friends to sign up for things you think are good – or even things you don’t like so much.

The Moneymagpie team is here to take you through the best ‘refer-a-friend’ deals and we’ve found some extra ones today to make you even more money.

• Get great deals at refermehappy.com
• More ‘tell a friend’ deals…
• Breakdown assistance
• Broadband
• Food
• Health and beauty
• Insurance
• Holidays
• Mobile phones
• TV
• Cashback sites

1. Get great deals at refermehappy.com

Our top tip is to head to refermehappy.com, an online matching service where ‘referrers’ and ‘friends’ are matched up to get referral bonuses from companies like Sky, Virgin and Direct Line. There are loads of rewards to be had in all sorts of areas:

• Broadband – rewards from BE, IDNet and Plusnet
• Food – rewards from Ocado
• Health and beauty – rewards from Harpers Fitness, Red Door Spas and Yogamatters.com
• Insurance – rewards from Halifax, Standard Life, Simply Health, Columbus Direct, Direct Line, and Tesco Insurance
• Holidays – rewards from holidaylettings.co.uk and Expedia
• Mobile phones – rewards from 3 Mobile
• TV – rewards from Sky and Virgin Media
• Cashback sites – rewards from, well, pretty much all of them

We’ve tried this out here at Moneymagpie and our verdict is a resounding thumbs up! Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Register

You need to register at refermehappy.com before you can start referring ‘friends’ for deals, or they can start referring you. This only takes a minute and it’s free (the cost of the site is covered by advertising). You’ll be sent an e-mail asking you to confirm your e-mail address. When this is done, you’re ready to go.

Step 2: Get referring

If you click on ‘Deals’ on the homepage you can search for companies you’re already signed up to. For example, if you’re a Sky member, go to ‘TV’, click on the Sky deal (£75 M&S, John Lewis, Boots or Tesco voucher when you refer a friend) and select ‘I want to refer someone for this offer’. Then submit your confirmation. You are now registered as a ‘referrer’ and refermehappy.com will send you an e-mail when they find a match for you.

With some companies you can refer as many friends as you like – think of all the cash you could make!

If your company offers a ‘refer-a-friend’ deal but it is not listed on refermehappy.com, you can tell them about it by clicking on ‘Submit a company or new offer’ under the appropriate category. As a reward you’ll be the first to be notified about new friends for this deal.

Step 3: Clinch the deal

For security purposes all communication from third parties is sent via a new e-mail address that refermehappy.com sets up for you. Never disclose personal information to individual referrers, especially not your bank details. Generally all you need is the name of the friend or referrer and their e-mail address when applying for these deals; all other information goes through the company itself.

If, having registered as a ‘referrer’, you are matched up with a ‘friend’ then the ball is in your court to secure the deal through the company. For example if you want to refer someone to sign up to Sky, go to the Sky ‘introduce a friend’ page and fill in the online application form. If the ‘friend’ joins up, £75 in vouchers should be on its way!

Step 4: Be a friend

Most of the companies on the website offer a cash reward for the ‘friend’ as well. If you’re thinking of switching your current account or your broadband providers for example, then it might be worth switching to a company that does referral deals. In some cases (for example with the gym and spa memberships) you can try out the new company before you switch.

If you do decide to join any company after being referred, refermehappy.com will give you priority for your own future referrals for that company.

2. More ‘tell a friend’ deals

Picturenation

Online image library Picturenation will pay you if you successfully refer buyers. Simply register to the site, and you will be provided with banners and links that you can paste onto any outgoing emails, your website or blog, or any forums or messageboards you use. You will make a 5% commission for a whole year for each person that visits the site via one of your links and makes a purchase, so if one of your recommendations buys £500 worth of pictures, you will net a cool £25! You can refer individuals or companies, and you can manage your account and track your referrals on your personal Picturenation page. Payments are made via PayPal so you will need to create an account with them, and the commission is paid every two months after your total commission reaches £5.

Breakdown assistance

RAC – £15 M&S gift card reward

Are you an RAC customer? Recommend a friend here, and get a £25 Marks & Spencer gift card for every friend that joins up (they’ll get one too).

Broadband

BE – up to £280 credit

The broadband provider BE will give you as much as £280 credit if you recommend six of your friends to sign up.  For every friend you sign up you’ll both get £40 credit, and for a sixth person BE will add an extra £40.  Therefore, you could make a whopping £280 in credits in one enrolment year.  To refer your friends, log in to the BE member centre and enter the names and email addresses of up to six people.

All ‘refer-a-friend’ credits will appear as a credit on your next invoice, providing BE have received cleared funds from you and the friend.

If you’re thinking of joining do look at BE’s website first to check the coverage and speed in your area.

Other broadband providers

Plusnet is currently running a ‘refer-a-friend’ promotion, offering three months’ free broadband.

This is well worth doing if you’re already a customer.

Food

Ocado – up to 20 vouchers

A goodie!  Invite a friend to Ocado and you’ll receive up to 20 vouchers by e-mail when your recommended friends join and receives their third Ocado delivery. A minimum spend may be required to use the ‘Invite A Friend’ voucher, so make sure you wait until you need a big shop. You can recommend up to 20 friends.

To get your vouchers visit the Ocado ‘invite a friend’ page and fill in the form.

Health and Beauty

Local gyms often offer ‘refer-a-friend’ deals so do ask a member of staff or check their website.

Harpers Fitness – free gift

Harpers Fitness members can choose from a wide range of great free gifts from the Harpers Reward Range when referring a friend who joins the gym. Complete this form to refer your friend. If they join you’ll be sent a voucher with a unique code which you can redeem here.

Red Door Spas – 20% off

Red Door Spas members receive a 20% savings reward for each new guest who visits a Red Door Spa on their referral. Just create or log in to a My Red Door account and enter the details of your friends on the refer-a-friend form. Your friends will receive an e-mail inviting them to visit Red Door, along with a ‘Welcome Savings’ coupon for 20% off their first visit.

Yogamatters – £5 online voucher

Yoga bunnies get £5 to spend online at Yogamatters.com when they refer a friend who spends over £20 in one order. You have to log in to your account and fill in the form here. When your friend joins and spends £20 you’ll be e-mailed a thank you voucher containing a special code. You can enter the code at the online checkout and £5 will be deducted from your invoice.

Insurance

Simplyhealth – £30 Boots voucher

If you have health insurance with Simplyhealth you could bag a £40 Love2shop voucher when you refer a friend and they join and they will get 2 months free. Complete this Simplyhealth form online.

Tesco Insurance – free gift cards and clubcard points

Tesco offers ‘refer-a-friend’ deals on Tesco Travel Insurance and Tesco Pet Insurance. Tell a friend about Tesco Travel Insurance and Tesco will say thank you with a £5 Tesco Gift Card or 500 Clubcard Points when your friend takes out an annual Tesco Travel Insurance policy. The friend will also receive their choice of £5 Gift Card or 500 points. To claim the rewards download a PDF copy of the Recommend a Friend form (on this page), print it out, fill in your own details, then give the form to your friend who can fill in their details and send it off. You can recommend as many people as you like, so there’s no limit to how many points or gift cards you can claim!

The Tesco Pet Insurance referral deal is even better – simply get a friend to take out a pet insurance policy with Tesco and they’ll reward you both with a £10 Tesco Gift Card or 1,000 Clubcard Points. Download the PDF application form on this page and fill in as above. Again, you can recommend as many people as you’d like.

Holidays

Voyage Privé – 70% off

Voyage Privé is a members-only site offering up to 70% off exclusive 4 and 5* holidays.  After registering for free, you’ll have access to incredible deals on luxury holidays, from romantic city breaks to exotic cruises.  The holidays are available on a limited time only basis which means there are wonderful offers being added all the time.

Holidaylettings.co.uk – free gifts

If you advertise on home rental website holidaylettings.co.uk and recommend a friend or family member to put an ad up on the site you’ll get a free gift as a reward. Gifts include £50 worth of Amazon vouchers. Just click ‘Refer Now’ on this page and enter your friend’s details. You can refer as many friends as you’d like – just make sure they mention your name or Advertiser ID when registering.

Mobile phones

3 Mobile – share up to £90 with a friend

Recommend a friend to 3 Mobile and as a thank you they’ll credit each of your accounts. If your friend goes for a phone you both get £30. If they go for Mobile Broadband you both get £15. If they choose both, that’s £45 each.

You can recommend a maximum of three friends – if they all go for the combined package, that’s £135 for you.

Just enter your details here and 3 will send you an e-mail. Forward this to your mate and if they sign up you’ll both get credited in 60 days’ time. The referred friend must quote your mobile number at the time of ordering.

Mobile credits are only available if the new customer signs up to an 18-month minimum term contract. Broadband credits are available with the Pay Monthly Mobile Broadband price plan on an 18- or 24-month minimum term contract.

TV

Sky – get £75 M&S vouchers each

Get £75 M&S vouchers each when you introduce a friend to Sky TV. Once your friend has joined and paid their first monthly subscription, you’ll both receive your vouchers. Introduce a friend now by following this link.

Virgin media – £50 credit per friend

Just as with Sky, if you refer a friend to Virgin Media cable services, both you and the friend get a bonus. In Virgin’s case this is £50 off your bill and free installation for your friend. Just give your friend’s name and e-mail address by clicking on ‘Connect your friends now!’ on this page. Once the friend has paid their first bill Virgin will credit the referrer’s accounts with £50. You can connect as many friends as you like.

Cashback sites

Most cashback sites pay bonuses when you get a friend to sign up. If you’re into cashback sites, this is an easy way to earn some cash while also helping your friends to save on purchases.

GreasyPalm pays £7 per friend;

Free Fivers pays £5 once the friend has earned £25;

Froggybank pays £5 for every two friends you recruit;

Useful links

• Voyage Prive
• Plusnet
• refermehappy.com
• Sky TV
• Virgin Media
• Columbus Direct
• Direct Line