Free travel insurance?

Lurker

Wasn't there a current account offering interest AND free (worldwide?) travel insurance? Or am I imagining it?

A pointer in the right direction (or to tell me the offer has expired so I don't have to keep looking) would be appreciated!

I couldn't find anything on a search of this section, so apologies if I'm duplicating.

Thanks!

bylromarha

I think you're talking about Alliance and Leicester Premier account?

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/plus-section/index.asp?page=premier

Be warned though, we found it wasn't worth it. The CS we recieved from them was nigh on appalling. One of many examples of their incompetence is that they, without our authorisation, moved some of our current account money into the linked A+L savings account. This left us overdrawn, and then the mortgage payment came. This was bounced back to the lender, who charged us for it. A+L also charged us for being overdrawn. It took 4 months to get a full refund for mortgage charges and A +L charges. They obviously couldn't do much about the fact it was recorded with our mortgage provider. Best bit was, they didn't even send us a letter of apology. Grrr grrr grrr.

It's worth paying extra for peace of mind when it comes to A + L.

greenwich

I think most banks offer accounts that provide free travel insurance. I know that First Direct and Barclays do. The catch is that you have to pay a monthly fee for the account, so if you just want it for the free insurance you'd be better off just buying a policy.

tobyjug

We.ve been with Alliance and Leicester for 5 years and no hicups yet and they do offer free insurance. A yearly policy that is for the named customer only. However we have 2 children and we would have to pay a yearly additional fee to cover them and that does not make it worth while. Its a yearly top up that runs from account date opening. Online services and customer care has been effective for us.

grumbler

Lurker wrote:

Wasn't there a current account offering interest AND free (worldwide?) travel insurance? Or am I imagining it?

bylromarha wrote:

I think you're talking about Alliance and Leicester Premier account?

The other day A&L had Premier Plus accont that offered both high interest rate (on first £2500) and free travel insurance. Old customers still have this after the acount had been changed to Premier Direct. New customers now must chose either Premier Direct with high interest rate (no insurance) or Premium with free insurance (low interest rate) ...

Mark7799

There's been a few accounts or packages offering travel insurance policies as a deal but as bylrohmara says, make sure if gives you the cover you need - usually you have to use a certain credit card to get the cover.
I relied on NatWest's Advantage Gold travel policy a few years ago but when I saw the criteria for medical assistance I thought it was better to buy a 'proper' one.

klondyke

I recently opened A&L Premier (mainly for the incentive!) so have the free Travel Insurance. Doesn't appear to have any restrictions about how to pay for travel; just need to keep the account open with the requisite amount of dosh per month.

However, as with most travel insurance plicies, the crunch comes when going through medical screening to see how much extra you wil be charged for 'pre existing conditions'. As I have a holiday booked (yippee), I am about to do this exercise - anyone know how reasonable (or not) they are on charges - or how quickly they drop you altogether if you had a cold x years ago?

asandwhen

Lloyds TSB gold account do.

bylromarha

I think there are quite a few where you pay a monthly charge for your current account, but travel insurance is part of that additional package.

If you want the additional benefits to the current account, it may be worth paying for, but for my first direct account...it wasn't worth the extra money!

Lurker

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Yes, I must have been thinking of the A&L Premier, but they're not offering the free travel insurance AND the higher interest anymore. However I'm going to phone them up and ask for both. Can but try! I can't find details of what the travel insurance covers, so will ask them for details before I sign up.

The Lloyds Gold account costs £10 per month, but does give annual travel cover for a couple. However that works out more expensive than taking out their Classic account and putting the £50 'cashback' towards my own insurance, as it's only the travel insurance that I'm after.

Decisions, decisions :rolleyes:

grumbler

Lurker wrote:

...I can't find details of what the travel insurance covers, so will ask them for details before I sign up....

travel insurance summary of cover
Travel Insurance Policy (pdf**)