Anyone pay for bank account perks?

Tachyon

Tachyon

Tachyon

Associate
Joined
26 Dec 2003
Posts
2,154
Location
Same oul' town
I currently have a Nationwide current account which offers a few perks however yesterday it was brought to my attention that if I pay £10pm I can upgrade my account to get the following perks/benefits.


•3.00% AER (2.96% gross p.a.) variable in-credit interest on balances up to £2,500
•Worldwide travel insurance for myself and family.
•Mobile phone insurance for family if living in same house.
•UK & European breakdown cover.
•12 month extended warranty on certain household electrical items.
•Identity theft and emergency card assistance.
•3 month fee-free overdraft and a £100 fee-free limit after 3 months.
•Commission-free cash withdrawals abroad.
•Flexclusive product offers and rewards (conditions apply)

Quite tempted by this, mostly by the mobile phone insurance which I don't currently have and the extra 12 month extended warranty on household electricals. The overdraft doesn't really appeal as I would want to keep £2500 sitting in the account to get the maximum interest which I could then use to effectively subsidise the £10pm, maybe bringing it down to as little as a fiver at a guess.

Identity theft protection I'd need to look into more, not really sure what it does over anything banks or building societies currently do anyway.

Breakdown cover seems pretty decent, no excess, loss of keys etc.., better than whatever comes with my current car insurance which is only roadside assistance.

Anyone else take any offers up with their banks, taking the extra interest into account it's probably working out at about £60-£70 a year for various insurances which seems pretty good. Of course they're only good if you ever need to use them but for that money for family cover I think it seems fairly decent.
 
I do with Halifax. I get a fee free OD up to £200 and it costs me £10 a month as they credit a fiver back. I have used the AA cover twice and never felt that I was a lower priority than one of their own customers. I get household damage cover that coves me as a tenant, mobile insurance and some other perks including travel insurance but have never used it. I'm happy enough.
 
Yep I pay for mine so i can get mobile phone insurance, travel insurance and breakdown cover. Works out much cheaper than buying them individually!
 
XeNoN89 said:
Yep I pay for mine so i can get mobile phone insurance, travel insurance and breakdown cover. Works out much cheaper than buying them individually!
Click to expand...

Exactly this for me. Plus a better rate on currency, and I get free entry to national trust places with my natwest advantage gold account.
 
I used to work for RBS Insurance, I got a Natwest Advantage Gold account with them and they don't charge me still as it is down as a staff account, I left about a year ago.

:p
 
I did about 8 years ago, I needed a bigger overdraft, I hadn't used any of my current overdraft but the situation I was in meant that I may well end up quite a bit overdrawn, at the time it was something like £7p/m for £200 overdraft, phone insurance, basic AA cover and a few other things.

I never needed the overdraft in the end but kept the same account, the cost went up every year, a couple of years ago it went up to something like £12p/m and they kept asking me to make an appointment to "see if they could do me a better deal" which turned out to mean they wanted me to upgrade again, I told them I didn't even need what I had and wanted a free account again, which they did there and then, after trying to talk me into all sorts of other deals! I've been on the free account ever since but still have the £200 overdraft limit somehow!!
 
I have a Natwest Advantage Gold account which has recently gone up to £15/month, but the main benefits are easily covered by the cost:

Travel insurance
Mobile phone insurance
Breakdown cover

May well have a look around though just to see if there are any better accounts out there.
 
Will probably go for the flexplus in December, it's worth it for the breakdown and mobile phone insurance. At the moment I use flexdirect (5% interest) but I have two accounts so will upgrade the other one :)
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
I work for Nationwide so get the FlexPlus in the OP for £5 a month. Beats paying £80 for RAC as well as the other insurances. Good product imho.
Click to expand...

Nice one, £5 a month is hard to beat for that lot. Something I was wondering, maybe you'd know. If I upgrade my account it isn't like taking a new account out, is it? Will the details remain the same as my current flex account or will I have to notify the likes of my work that my account details have changed?

Edit: Just thinking about that they'll hardly change if it's classed as an upgrade, just add the benefits on once I start paying I'd imagine.
 
Last edited:
I have a HSBC Premier account but never really used anything other than the FOC transfers to other international HSBC accounts

Thinking of getting rid of it, but not sure which other bank to go with :confused:
 
Sounds good. :)

I've got a basic Nationwide account that comes with free European travel insurance. It's a complete waste of time though as the excess/limits are pitiful. I assume that FlexPlus insurance is better.
 
Tunney said:
Sounds good. :)

I've got a basic Nationwide account that comes with free European travel insurance. It's a complete waste of time though as the excess/limits are pitiful. I assume that FlexPlus insurance is better.
Click to expand...

Yes as with all things devil is in the detail

The Halifax does look good on the face of it. Just gone to the 123 santander personally and gave up an annual travel policy as I calculated the benefits back from the 123 xceeded the value I could buy the annual insurance for, including far lower excesses and better benefits should I need it.

I believe soon all packaged accounts will have to reviewed, individually, to ensure that you qualify for what your paying for.
Stuff like breakdown is likely to be identicle to what you would buy on the high street yourself, ie you are just a normal member. Although like with everything its possible to get stuff like breakdown very cheap via things like cashback deals, people often forget this and compare the "normal" price to justify their value added account.
I believe it was which who found that 8/10 value added account holders could buy the same benefits cheaper elsewhere. Of course that would take some effort and was based on a limited sample as with all these things.
 
Went for the FlexDirect due to the higher rate and the fact I had also just renewed my breakdown cover. Will switch to the one in the OP when it's due for renewal.
 
Clydesdale bank for me - £12.50 a month

Worldwide Travel insurance
Breakdown Cover
Gadget Insurance
A few other bits and bobs.

Claimed a family holiday on the travel insurance when we had to cancel due to little lad having pneumonia - sorted and paid out in under 2 weeks. Also worldwide cover for the family is WAY more than £150 for an annual policy.

Claimed 3 or 4 times on breakdown cover - a bit limited but does the job for the cost.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom