Sentinel card protection

Crabman

These companies (CPP & Sentinel) don't offer any additional fraud protection over that of the card issuers/banks, so in my view anyway, it's a waste of money.

sicker

Keep your money in your pocket and keep a note of all your details yourself.

taless

About 2 years ago when I was applying for the NatWest Student Mastercard, the introducer introduced me to NW's 'Sentinel'. Back then, I asked him, I thought if my card is stolen and I report it, I will not have any liability whatsoever if someone were to take my card and use it? He said no, I still have to pay for it (I believe this is false info). I signed up as a result.

But I dont think I will ever sign up to it again - no real point really, I guess. Those overseas lost cover could be better covered by travel insurance, in my opinion.

kitchen_buff

I have had Sentinal for years now. Peace of mind. Does'nt just cover cards, Covers importan docs, I.E driving license, birth certs, marriage certs, keys, you get a post it back key fob.
If something changes just send in update on their sheet and it is all done.

moneyquestions_2

I recently discovered that Sentinel doesn't cover cards if you're living in another country.

I was living abroad for most of the time I had the policy so I wrote to them to ask for my payments back.

They replied to say that the policy conditions changed in 2005, when I returned to the UK. As this seems rather convenient I am trying to find out if this is true. Does anyone know if then conditions changed then or if they're not telling the truth?

womomo

My handbag was stolen the other week and I have to say that I was very glad to have the Sentinel Gold protection. It meant that it only took one phone call to cancel the important cards rather than having to trawl around finding numbers for all the different banks etc. They also sent a locksmith out that same evening to have our locks changed at no additional charge.

I appreciate doing your bit as well by keeping notes of numbers etc but they do offer additional peace of mind. Having been rather frantically running around like a headless chicken on the day my bag was taken it was good to know that a lot of the urgent work was done with one phone call.

edsrose

Sentinel Gold is one of the best card protection companies on the market. The majority of high street banks use it as it covers a wide variety of things for members. It covers everyone in the household for cards, keys (inc. work keys if you have responsibilty for them and also vehicle keys again inc motorcycle keys) and covers you for "emergency service abroad up to the value of £11,750. All of this for £30 a year or £70 for 3 years. If you lose your cards or if they are stolen, when you report it to Sentinel they will tell your bank(s), and can also reissue you the cards for you. It also covers a lot more. My dad pays a lot more than that for his card protection and it only covers him, he is now looking into changing his policy to Sentinel for all of the reasons mentioned! It is all very well making a note of card numbers and bank tel numbers and carrying it around with you but if you lose any of those details what will you do?

akacheesy

They're a bunch of sharks, they've been charging me every year for about 5 years for cover I don't want on cards I don't even have.

Just tried to cancel it & they wouldn't refund me for this years cover because its outside their 14 day period.

Man! I'm so angry

Taks

akacheesy wrote: »

They're a bunch of sharks, they've been charging me every year for about 5 years for cover I don't want on cards I don't even have.

Just tried to cancel it & they wouldn't refund me for this years cover because its outside their 14 day period.

Man! I'm so angry

Sounds like you just got screwed by CPP, they are a bit lacking on the customer support side.

Just wanted to expand on Edrose's post

Sentinel Gold IS the best product out there with regards to Payment Card Protection (PCP) due to the services they offer in addition to the standard Cancel card->Reissue->Recoup any fraud that the typical PCP company might provide.
Also, with Sentinel Gold, you are also supplied with a limited version of Sentinel Lock and Key. This will allow Sentinel to provide you with access to a locksmith to regain acces too your car/workplace (Assuming you are responsible for it eg. you own the comapany)/home but is only covered by the insurance IF YOUR HOME IS AT THREAT. this is defined as losing any form of ID containing addresses or similar that could lead a potential theif back to your home/car/workplace. They get all the locks changed out within 3 hours of reporting, thoug hthis is likey to be closer to 2 hours.

One final thing, With Sentinal Gold, you also get free CIFAS registeration if ID is lost alongside your cards. CIFAS is the uk fraud prevention agency, and if someone were to try and take out credit using your identity they would be prompted for a password that on you would know. this registration lasts for a year, but is a nice addittion.

In comparison, if you were to take out all these services individually, then the price for a year would be...

£20.00 for Sentinal
£10.99 for CIFAS registration (humor me, assume its needed)
£42.00 Sentinal lock and key.
£72.99 for the year.

As a regualr Sentinal gold customer, its £30 a year, and £70 for 3, so as you can see, for what you get, its minimal price
Dont forget, its not an INDIVIDUAL policy, but a policy that covers your HOUSEHOLD. so anyone living at the same address can be covered by the policy at no extra cost.

PCP is something that personally I feel that everyone should get because in this day and age, we can never be fully sure what will happen. Better to be safe than sorry

Taks

moneyquestions wrote: »

I recently discovered that Sentinel doesn't cover cards if you're living in another country.

I was living abroad for most of the time I had the policy so I wrote to them to ask for my payments back.

They replied to say that the policy conditions changed in 2005, when I returned to the UK. As this seems rather convenient I am trying to find out if this is true. Does anyone know if then conditions changed then or if they're not telling the truth?

Sadly, this is true. Due to some changes in british law, Companies like sentinel are unable to provide insurance to people living outside of the UK. Your policy would be that of Sentinel international, meaning that you can still cancel the cards with ease using the service, but further to that, no insurance is avaliable. Sentinel were allowed to let current polices continue, however when renewal dates arrived they are unable to renew the policy and instead would (or should) be offered sentinel international instead