Packaged accounts

Bloomberg

Ordinarily I am adverse to the idea of paying for a current accounts, in the main the benefits do not warrant the fee which is charged. In my limited experience the HSBC packaged accounts represent particularly poor value for money.


I notice that Barclays have a packaged account (Additions) for which they charge fifteen pounds per month. Having looked through what the account actually offers I am starting to think that it is really good value for money. I have listed the features below, it would be interesting to know if anyone has had any experience or opinions of this account.

Worldwide multi-trip travel insurance

Mobile phone insurance including cover against loss, theft and accidental damage

Comprehensive RAC Breakdown Cover in the UK and Europe

Extended warranty cover for your domestic appliances

Cardholder protection, covering you against loss or theft of your cards or passport

Will-Writing service (Link opens in a new window) and inheritance tax brochure

Barclays loyalty mortgages – get a better deal (subject to status and availability) 3

24/7 ID theft advice helpline

Legal and tax helpline

Gadget insurance for things like your mp3 player (subject to registration)
Contactless debit card to make payments easier and faster (subject to status)

£300 interest free overdraft.

pinkdalek

Bloomberg wrote: »

Ordinarily I am adverse to the idea of paying for a current accounts.

Good job you don't bank abroad as many countries outside the UK do anyway!

But packaged current accounts can be advantageous to some and not to others.

For example if you take alone the Travel Insurance, Mobile phone insurance and breakdown cover. Those three items alone would cost you more than £180 a year if you were to buy them individually.

So if you drive a car, own a swanky mobile and tend to go on holiday every year and either rent or mortgage then it seems to be a good offer.

welshlovebiscuit

I have a Lloyds Premium account. For £12 a month we both get breakdown cover, travel insurance, phone insurance, household emergency insurance and a personal banker which means we rarely have to queue in the bank . Have used the breakdown cover this year and saved ourselves £100s and today it has been a god send as hubbie had his house keys stolen last night; as soon as we realised this morning we rang the helpline and there was a locksmith here changing front and back door locks within the hour...at no cost to us on a Sunday morning - phew!

rb10

Ok, so there's an impressive list there. But cut it down to those that you'll actually use. Personally I'd be unlikely to phone Barclays' tax helpline if I had a question about tax, and since I don't drive I have no need for RAC cover. Personally I think that card protection is a nonsense at any price.

Then check - is it competitive? Is £15/month cheaper than you could get the products separately? (obviously depends on how often you go on holiday, what sort of phone you have etc). And can you get the same from a different bank for less? A quick look at the big banks shows that Santander, Halifax and Lloyds TSB/Bank of Scotland offer a fairly comparable account for £10/month (Halifax's is £15 but with £5/month cashback). But then you can get annual European travel insurance free from Nationwide.

My personal view is that these types of accounts get a bad press (largely from places like this site!). For some people, they do offer great value for money. Unfortunately, there are other people who waste money by having them.

Bloomberg

welshlovebiscuit wrote: »

I have a Lloyds Premium account. For £12 a month we both get breakdown cover, travel insurance, phone insurance, household emergency insurance and a personal banker which means we rarely have to queue in the bank . Have used the breakdown cover this year and saved ourselves £100s and today it has been a god send as hubbie had his house keys stolen last night; as soon as we realised this morning we rang the helpline and there was a locksmith here changing front and back door locks within the hour...at no cost to us on a Sunday morning - phew!

That sounds like a really good service to me

jonesMUFCforever

welshlovebiscuit wrote: »

I have a Lloyds Premium account. For £12 a month we both get breakdown cover, travel insurance, phone insurance, household emergency insurance and a personal banker which means we rarely have to queue in the bank . Have used the breakdown cover this year and saved ourselves £100s and today it has been a god send as hubbie had his house keys stolen last night; as soon as we realised this morning we rang the helpline and there was a locksmith here changing front and back door locks within the hour...at no cost to us on a Sunday morning - phew!

If you mean the Premier account the monthly charge is £25.
For £12 you get the Gold account.

welshlovebiscuit

No, I have a Premier Account - possibly get a staff rate as hubbie works for them (indirectly but we do get some staff benefits), but it's definately a Premier

chambta

Bloomberg wrote: »

Ordinarily I am adverse to the idea of paying for a current accounts, in the main the benefits do not warrant the fee which is charged. In my limited experience the HSBC packaged accounts represent particularly poor value for money.


I notice that Barclays have a packaged account (Additions) for which they charge fifteen pounds per month. Having looked through what the account actually offers I am starting to think that it is really good value for money. I have listed the features below, it would be interesting to know if anyone has had any experience or opinions of this account.

Worldwide multi-trip travel insurance

Mobile phone insurance including cover against loss, theft and accidental damage

Comprehensive RAC Breakdown Cover in the UK and Europe

Extended warranty cover for your domestic appliances

Cardholder protection, covering you against loss or theft of your cards or passport

Will-Writing service (Link opens in a new window) and inheritance tax brochure

Barclays loyalty mortgages – get a better deal (subject to status and availability) 3

24/7 ID theft advice helpline

Legal and tax helpline

Gadget insurance for things like your mp3 player (subject to registration)
Contactless debit card to make payments easier and faster (subject to status)

£300 interest free overdraft.

For homeowners RBS/Natwest's Gold accounts appear better value adding as they do Home Emergency Cover and the account costs less too.

davidlizard

Concerning the breakdown cover, many packaged accounts only offer the very basic cover - that is if you break down they will attempt a repair then tow you to the nearest garage - i.e. not home. This can work out very expensive.

My Brother in Law had a packaged account with Lloyds - he broke down and assumed the car would be recovered to his house. Wrong - they towed him to a rather dodgy garage. They did not attempt the repair for almost a week as they had to wait for the bits, then charged him well over the odds, and to rub salt in charged him £18/day storage.

Phone insurance - many contents insurance policies provide adequate cover.

Will Writing - anything beyond a simple will, for example you want a tax efficient one that leaves things in trust for kids etc - which many charities will do for free anyway - there is a hefty charge.

ihateyes

pinkdalek wrote: »

Good job you don't bank abroad as many countries outside the UK do anyway!

But packaged current accounts can be advantageous to some and not to others.

For example if you take alone the Travel Insurance, Mobile phone insurance and breakdown cover. Those three items alone would cost you more than £180 a year if you were to buy them individually.

So if you drive a car, own a swanky mobile and tend to go on holiday every year and either rent or mortgage then it seems to be a good offer.

And if you can be bothered comparing the t&c's of the freebie an the t&c's of a policy you would buy, you'll notice a big difference. the freebie cover isnt over comprehensive.

pwuk

davidlizard wrote: »

Concerning the breakdown cover, many packaged accounts only offer the very basic cover - that is if you break down they will attempt a repair then tow you to the nearest garage - i.e. not home. This can work out very expensive.

My Brother in Law had a packaged account with Lloyds - he broke down and assumed the car would be recovered to his house. Wrong - they towed him to a rather dodgy garage. They did not attempt the repair for almost a week as they had to wait for the bits, then charged him well over the odds, and to rub salt in charged him £18/day storage.

Phone insurance - many contents insurance policies provide adequate cover.

Will Writing - anything beyond a simple will, for example you want a tax efficient one that leaves things in trust for kids etc - which many charities will do for free anyway - there is a hefty charge.

Whilst I note your comments, the cover depends on the type of account you hold, for example a private premier plus account with Lloyds offers AA Breakdown Cover, providing breakdown assistance 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Also includes Stay Mobile, Home Start and Accident Management.

Other accounts offer varying degrees of cover as per this link.

Other banks generally offer similar products and provide different levels of cover depending on the grade of account. It's not all bad....