Bank accounts including 'perks': Travel insurance, breakdown etc ...

[Minxy]

With the likelihood of people not being able to travel abroad anytime soon have those who have bank accounts with perks such as travel insurance, breakdown cover etc, included thought about changing them? Some of the monthly charges are quite high for these accounts so if you're not likely to use the 'perks' is it really worth keeping the account?

 

[Mickthemove]

Thought that the other day, then remembered my phone needs a repair so will save me most of the fee......

 

[Vipar]

Keeping mine as might not get them back once you leave and return. It will only be for 1 Year anyway

 

[Clickem]

I have wondered about cancelling our Nationwide account. We paid out over £250 in January to renew, to cover age and misery additions. We have travelled nowhere and we are adding £13/month to that total with very little sign that we will benefit before next January

 

[laurieash]

Canceled my nationwide account was ok when you got interest on it But £13 per month for breakdown cover is too much.
I will add cover to my comfort insurance when its due in June.

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[Minxy]

I have wondered about cancelling our Nationwide account. We paid out over £250 in January to renew, to cover age and misery additions. We have travelled nowhere and we are adding £13/month to that total with very little sign that we will benefit before next January

Have you thought of contacting them to see if they are looking into it as obviously people cannot make use of the 'perks' at the moment ...

 

[carolyn]

We are keeping ours as it’s a Lloyds Premier account which they no longer do and although it’s expensive it does include children in full time education up to the age of 24 travelling with another person and has very few exclusions so for us it’s worth it. If I was about to renew with Nationwide and was paying a significant top up then I’d be giving it some serious thought after Prof Chris Whitty’s words yesterday.

 

[The Wino]

We're lucky enough to have no top up to pay and will let it run at the moment. If we changed I think I would then arrange separate breakdown cover and Liz has a new phone I bet she'd drop it the next day!. We had 2 ski holidays this year being covered by their insurance so have had a bit of something back in effect recently. I know I could still end it now must admit I hadn't thought of it certainly if I had a loading on the travel insurance I would defer that at the moment.

 

[tomag]

I am stuck in Morocco and although I had 152 days travel insurance with Nationwide which run out two weeks ago ,got in touch with Nationwide and they said in these circumstances they will cover till end of policy which expires in July at no expense to me

 

[chaser]

I havnt got one of these accounts, but for anyone who has and might need the benefits in future I would be very careful of cancelling them as a lot of these are old accounts that can't be opened any more.
You might lose far more when you come to insure again than the bit you are going to save.

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[SpeedyDux]

Halifax Bank is changing the T&Cs for its Reward Current Account. Instead of them paying account customers £2 per month (was £5) they will have to pay monthly fees unless they meet certain minimum criteria. It isn't quite the same as a fee-charging bundled current account with insurance benefits, but somewhere along that spectrum. Many customers will revert to ordinary current accounts to avoid paying fees.

There is a clear trend towards UK Banks charging fees for the privilege of us lending them our current account balances to play with, and avoiding paying us any interest at all. Another step towards ending free current accounts. I smell a cartel.

There have been reports of customers closing current accounts and withdrawing all their cash. Martin Lewis is advising not to do this, but the Banks are hardly providing incentives not to close accounts while at the same time they keep closing branches. My nearest Nationwide branch is several miles from where I live. Likewise Lloyds.

How handy that due to Coronavirus the food retailers want to stop handling customers' cash payments. Just what the Banks also want.

 

[Spriddler]

I would be very careful of cancelling them as a lot of these are old accounts that can't be opened any more.

My £13.00 a month N/W a/c is highly convenient as it covers all my 5 vehicles for breakdown. I still use the car or a motorbike for food shopping. I don't want the hassle of dealing with 5 vehicles separately in the event that they or other banks don't provide the cover again after I've cancelled the a/c.
If the travel restrictions last for 12 months the saving of the total annual cost of £156 would be way down my list of priorities.

 

[Minxy]

Halifax Bank is changing the T&Cs for its Reward Current Account. Instead of them paying account customers £2 per month (was £5) they will have to pay monthly fees unless they meet certain minimum criteria. It isn't quite the same as a fee-charging bundled current account with insurance benefits, but somewhere along that spectrum. Many customers will revert to ordinary current accounts to avoid paying fees.

I suspect quite a lot more people will be moving their dosh before July when the changes come into effect:

Existing terms:

What you get with a Reward Current Account​

• Free everyday banking - no monthly fee for maintaining the account. Keep your balance above £0 and you won’t be charged any daily overdraft interest. Plus, earn £2 per month if you pay in at least £750, pay out two direct debits and stay in credit

New terms:

Upcoming Changes

We’re changing the Reward Current Account soon. This is what’s changing from 1 July 2020:​

• There’ll be a £3 monthly maintaining the account fee, with no fee if you pay in at least £1,500 in the previous month.
• We're removing the £2 reward payment.
• You'll get access to Reward Extras. Choose an offer and for 12 months you can earn either £5 or a lifestyle benefit for each month that you meet the conditions.

If you'd like to keep your Reward Current Account, call us on or before 12 June 2020 to let us know. If we don't hear from you, we’ll change you to a Current Account.
The Current Account has no monthly maintaining the account fee, but you won't get access to Reward Extras. Apart from the name there'll be no other changes to your account. For more information please read the Reward Current Account guide to changes.

​

 

[chaser]

Halifax Bank is changing the T&Cs for its Reward Current Account. Instead of them paying account customers £2 per month (was £5) they will have to pay monthly fees unless they meet certain minimum criteria. It isn't quite the same as a fee-charging bundled current account with insurance benefits, but somewhere along that spectrum. Many customers will revert to ordinary current accounts to avoid paying fees.

There is a clear trend towards UK Banks charging fees for the privilege of us lending them our current account balances to play with, and avoiding paying us any interest at all. Another step towards ending free current accounts. I smell a cartel.

There have been reports of customers closing current accounts and withdrawing all their cash. Martin Lewis is advising not to do this, but the Banks are hardly providing incentives not to close accounts while at the same time they keep closing branches. My nearest Nationwide branch is several miles from where I live. Likewise Lloyds.

How handy that due to Coronavirus the food retailers want to stop handling customers' cash payments. Just what the Banks also want.

Normally I am a big advocate of cash and still am, but I'm afraid in this day and age you can't really work without some form of banking for online purchases and card transactions, so get your spare cash out by all means, but don't close your account without some sort of backup.

 

[chaser]

What I do personally, is pay everything with a Tesco credit card, EVERYTHING, costs nothing and points on everything you buy from anywhere not just Tesco, you can either cash them in at Tesco or better still save them for three times there worth on tunnel tickets.
Then have pension going in to the Lloyds account, and pay off the Tesco account with that every month.
Works for us, you may have other plans but the theory is the same.

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[carolyn]

I’ve just noticed another bank account change. We have a variety like Minxy Girl including the santander321 , i was going to just keep one next month as the interest goes down to 1% and convert the other to Santander321 lite but that one was free but now has a £1 per month charge so I will close Nick’s completely, I do all the juggling to get the savings accounts.

 

[peterc10]

I have been with Lloyds since 1966, Angela since 1973 when we got married. When they asked us to change to a gold account many many years ago they promised it would always be free as long as we keep at least £2000 in the account. And fair play to them it still is.

At times they have really p****d me off, but I stuck with them because of the account. Now we are over 70 the free travel insurance is even better value than before. Not sure what we will do when we turn 80 and lose that insurance.

 

[chaser]

I have been with Lloyds since 1966, Angela since 1973 when we got married. When they asked us to change to a gold account many many years ago they promised it would always be free as long as we keep at least £2000 in the account. And fair play to them it still is.

At times they have really p****d me off, but I stuck with them because of the account. Now we are over 70 the free travel insurance is even better value than before. Not sure what we will do when we turn 80 and lose that insurance.

Spot on mate, I used to have one of them but didn't use any of the benifits so changed it to a normal account that paid interest, a couple of years later when we started traveling abroad tried to open it again but not there anymore, nor the interest on the one we had changed to, hense my previous post

 

[Minxy]

There are still some accounts paying interest on balances but nothing like they were previously. I have our accounts set up so they 'ping-pong' money between them (different institutions) to ensure the funding requirements are met to ally fees and/or get interest on the balances.

Our TSB CAs are currently paying 3% but that's gonna drop in May to 1.5% and as the max you get interest on is £1,500 we can't be bothered to hold on to them so will be closing them.

We also have a couple of Barclay's reward accounts which pay you for having 2 DDs with them, it's normally £3.50 per DD x 2 = £7 per month but for the last year we've been getting double due to a 'deal' when we opened them, so £7 per DD x 2 = £14 per month, less the fee of £4 = £10 clear each month however in August it will revert back to the £7 a month - £4 = £3 pcm and won't be worth the hassle so they will get closed too.

 

[Gaston aires]

HSBC. My travel insurance finished last week when I was 70. My wife’s still is operational, she’s only 23, just kiddin, I have just put in a claim for the stranded in America costs, flight, etc. They told me to claim but were non comital as to what they would pay out. I will have to find another insurance company for the travel insurance but just now nobody is even considering new policies.
Looks like UK for the foreseeable future.
Phil

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