Halifax ultimate reward account

hillendale

Is the HFX ultimate reward account any good, I've considered in the past but already have a standard reward account which pays me £5 pm and a standard current account with no monthly bonus also have the HFX clarity card which gives you £5pm bonus if you spend £300 or more a month. The reason I'm considering the URCA is I have another trip planned to Canada plus my current RAC cover has just expired and both me and wife have a reasonably new Iphone each which we don't currently insure for loss or damage ( could be covered on house hold policy but its unlikely )
I understand you can switch to an existing HFX account to the URCA or open up a completely new account. I don't really want to close my existing standard reward account as this gives me an extra £5 pm so would like to keep this and have an URCA as well which I believe carries a charge of £15pm with a £5 bonus provide its serviced with £1000k pm. I also understand I wouldn't be tied into keeping the account if I was'nt happy with but is there as conditions if I were to use the RAC or make a genuine claim on any of the insurance that comes with the account that would tie me in.
Anybody with experience of this account I'd be grateful to hear from you.
many thanks

dixon-bainbridge

Hi,

Well you need to look at the benefits the ultimate reward account has and decide if it is worth the £15 per month (or £10 a month assuming you pay 1k in a month). Will you use all the benefits it gives? Will the yearly cost of the benefits (£180 / £120) be cheaper then obtaining these things individually? If the answer to both is yes then it might be worth switching.

Remember though to get your £5 reward from your current standard reward you need to pay in £1k a month, so if you open the ultimate you will need to pay £1k in to each account a month to get the £5 reward and £5 discount

opinions4u

As packaged accounts go, it seems to be decent.

But could you use your £5 a month rewards to buy the covers needed elsewhere for less?

Note too that iPhone cover has a £100 excess on URCA.

hillendale

opinions4u wrote: »

As packaged accounts go, it seems to be decent.

But could you use your £5 a month rewards to buy the covers needed elsewhere for less?

Note too that iPhone cover has a £100 excess on URCA.

Thanks for the heads up on the phone insurance excess.
I'll certainly think it over, I suppose I could always switch and use the travel insurance etc and if I'm not happy paying the monthly fee every month after at least I can cancel/switch back.

hillendale

dixon-bainbridge wrote: »

Hi,

Well you need to look at the benefits the ultimate reward account has and decide if it is worth the £15 per month (or £10 a month assuming you pay 1k in a month). Will you use all the benefits it gives? Will the yearly cost of the benefits (£180 / £120) be cheaper then obtaining these things individually? If the answer to both is yes then it might be worth switching.

Remember though to get your £5 reward from your current standard reward you need to pay in £1k a month, so if you open the ultimate you will need to pay £1k in to each account a month to get the £5 reward and £5 discount

I take it I could use the same £1k i transfer into my existing standard reward account simply move into the URCA and back out again.

Carl31

i had my phone nicked last year, it was brand new

within a week, i had a new one thanks to the halifax phone insurance, i hadnt even registered my phone with them and they accepted a claim

for that alone i think its worth the fee

hillendale

That's good to hear.
Thanks for the info

ScienceGrrl

Carl31 wrote: »

i had my phone nicked last year, it was brand new

within a week, i had a new one thanks to the halifax phone insurance, i hadnt even registered my phone with them and they accepted a claim

for that alone i think its worth the fee

how did you manage that? i've just tried to claim for my stolen iphone but i'd forgotten to register my new one that i got in november and they wont accept my claim

dixon-bainbridge

hillendale wrote: »

I take it I could use the same £1k i transfer into my existing standard reward account simply move into the URCA and back out again.

I'm not sure about the ultimate reward account you may want to just check the terms to ensure it doesn't require you to pay in your salary in order to get the £5, if not then yes you can transfer between your accounts.

hillendale

dixon-bainbridge wrote: »

I'm not sure about the ultimate reward account you may want to just check the terms to ensure it doesn't require you to pay in your salary in order to get the £5, if not then yes you can transfer between your accounts.

good point, will check
cheers

pinkdalek

dixon-bainbridge wrote: »

I'm not sure about the ultimate reward account you may want to just check the terms to ensure it doesn't require you to pay in your salary in order to get the £5, if not then yes you can transfer between your accounts.

You just need to fund £1000 into the account each month.

From May if you fund >£1000 each month the account will show a fee of £10 rather than currently show a £15 fee debited and a £5 reward credited.