A&L ageist policy on their accounts

clock24

According to the A&L website for opening a new account, they offer Free Travel insurance worth £80 - but ONLY if you are under 65yrs of age.

I understand, and accept, that they do not wish to insure people over 65 yrs for Travel, but surely to be non-discriminatory, they should offer an 'alternative bonus' worth the same £80. Even though we are over 65, our money being given to A&L is as good as the money of those less than 65 (for A&L to invest and make profit on!!), so why are we being discriminated against by virtue of our age??

I emailed to ask this question and was informed that no discussion was possible due to the new FSA Regulations!!!! Since when were the FSA dealing with Age Discrimination?

Oldies, fight back - avoid A&L.

ED

clock24 - have you thought of emailing BBC 'Working Lunch' finance programme about this? The show seems thorough in investigating unfairness.

On the other hand, perhaps you and yours may benefit in other ways from opening A+L account(s)? The 5.35% Online Saver interest rate seems to be the highest instant access savings account currently on the market.

Paul_Varjak

I think you also have to consider that A&L offer great deals at the moment. You get the highest paying current account avaiable, the highest paying savings account available plus a £25 sign-up bonus for opening a current account (increased to £50 if you take a credit card as well).

Other banks/buiding societies cannot match this. And, whereas other banks have current accounts with perks (and low interest rates) or have high interest current accounts (with no perks), A&L manage to combine both into one account!

Not only that, they have interest free overdrafts (for 12 months I think) and even when that period is up they have the lowest overdraft rates (7.9%) of most banks/buidling societies and the lowest rate personal loans (5.9%)

You may feel a little aggrieved because you cannot get the travel insurance, but, I guess, other banks/building societies will have similar restrictions on such policies!

And what of people that do not go on holiday? Or those people that have free car breakdown cover with their current account but no car? The list can go on and on!

If you do get an account and you find the service is not up to scratch (and from what I hear on this site customer service is not their strongest point), I would complain then. But don't complain just because you cannot make use of a free 'perk'!

MarkyMarkD

clock24 wrote:

According to the A&L website for opening a new account, they offer Free Travel insurance worth £80 - but ONLY if you are under 65yrs of age.

I understand, and accept, that they do not wish to insure people over 65 yrs for Travel, but surely to be non-discriminatory, they should offer an 'alternative bonus' worth the same £80. Even though we are over 65, our money being given to A&L is as good as the money of those less than 65 (for A&L to invest and make profit on!!), so why are we being discriminated against by virtue of our age??

Invest and make money on? At 5.0% interest? :rofl:

I agree with the other posters - many accounts, and many other contractual arrangements, incorporate benefits which are only used by some customers. Such is life.

clock24

My point was that something is being offered that is for ALL, EXCEPT if you are over 65.

This is blatant discrimination!!

Suppose I offered the same deal but said the Freebie could only be claimed by 'white' people?? See how long that would last. But as A&L say this 'Freebie' can only be claimed by 'under 65's' they get away with it. What is the difference??

I DO NOT want the Travel Insurance (already have long standing annual policy), but why should I not get something else? A&L are saving money by NOT offering it to me - purely because of MY AGE!!.

And , believe me A&L (and all other banks) do make a profit by 'investing' our money that we lend them at 5.4% - otherwise they are not in business. (Apologies Marky.., but your ,rorfl, or whatever, thing loses me).

Milky_Mocha

clock24 wrote:

My point was that something is being offered that is for ALL, EXCEPT if you are over 65.

This is blatant discrimination!!

Suppose I offered the same deal but said the Freebie could only be claimed by 'white' people?? See how long that would last. But as A&L say this 'Freebie' can only be claimed by 'under 65's' they get away with it. What is the difference??
.

Clock 24 I understand your pain. However your analogy is not applicable here because the difference is, insurance is about risk and age plays a big factor in this when it comes to insurance. Being white or non-white has no bearing on this risk.

However there is no harm in insisting on an alternative. You just might get offered something acceptable to you. I suppose if you don't ask you don't get. Good luck.

Paul_Varjak

clock24 wrote:

My point was that something is being offered that is for ALL, EXCEPT if you are over 65.

This is blatant discrimination!!

I would have a look on www.moneysupermarket.com to find an account with another bank that more suits your needs.

Alternatively, let us know what you are looking for in a current account and we can point you in the right direction.

Cagey

Most Insurance companys will not over over 65`s travel insurance. Concentrate your ire on them ,not a company that is jut offering an add-on to the best current account around.

MarkyMarkD

clock24 wrote:

My point was that something is being offered that is for ALL, EXCEPT if you are over 65.

This is blatant discrimination!!

Suppose I offered the same deal but said the Freebie could only be claimed by 'white' people?? See how long that would last. But as A&L say this 'Freebie' can only be claimed by 'under 65's' they get away with it. What is the difference??

I DO NOT want the Travel Insurance (already have long standing annual policy), but why should I not get something else? A&L are saving money by NOT offering it to me - purely because of MY AGE!!.

And , believe me A&L (and all other banks) do make a profit by 'investing' our money that we lend them at 5.4% - otherwise they are not in business. (Apologies Marky.., but your ,rorfl, or whatever, thing loses me).

Believe me, once more, NO reputable bank makes money on paying 5.4% on a savings or current account. They can get the money cheaper elsewhere at no risk and with no servicing costs. (The only bank which would find it economic to pay 5.4% on savings would be one with an absolutely awful credit rating meaning that other banks would not lend to it at 5.4%.) Honestly, 5.4% is a loss making current account interest rate.

:rofl: is "rolling on the floor laughing" which produces a smiley but obviously not in this version of the forum software.

I'm sure you realise that travel insurance risks for the insurer increase exponentially once you reach the age of 65. Hence many companies won't cover people over 65, and others charge significantly higher premiums. So it doesn't seem surprising that bundled insurance like this has terms and conditions such as excluding those over 65. It also excludes those with pre-existing conditions unless you declare them and pay an extra premium - but so does every insurer.

Like I said before, with any bundle of things there will be elements which aren't appropriate for all or aren't available for all - that's just life. If you don't like the package available to you, at the age of 65, don't buy it. If you do like it despite the lack of free insurance, do buy it.

cheerfulcat

clock24 wrote:

According to the A&L website for opening a new account, they offer Free Travel insurance worth £80 - but ONLY if you are under 65yrs of age.

I understand, and accept, that they do not wish to insure people over 65 yrs for Travel, but surely to be non-discriminatory, they should offer an 'alternative bonus' worth the same £80. Even though we are over 65, our money being given to A&L is as good as the money of those less than 65 (for A&L to invest and make profit on!!), so why are we being discriminated against by virtue of our age??

I emailed to ask this question and was informed that no discussion was possible due to the new FSA Regulations!!!! Since when were the FSA dealing with Age Discrimination?

Oldies, fight back - avoid A&L.

I know what you mean, but consider this; most "freebies" are worth as much as you paid for them. I'll bet that anyone who tried to claim on one of these policies is in for a hard time. Also, I doubt that it is " worth £80 ". What they probably mean ( check the small print ) is that a similar policy would *cost* £80 if you went with the most expensive quote...I like Milky Mocha's suggestion - why not ask them for an alternative? Probably best to go through Customer Relations rather than branch or call centre staff.

Cheerfulcat

clock24

See the original thread - I did email them - and received a one sentence reply which said that they could not discuss the matter because of FSA Regulations!!

I tried again to say it was nothing to do with FSA, simply an A&L offer, but got an even shorter sentence saying do not write to us again on this matter!!

Customer Service??? A&L are an awful lot to deal with.
(And the emails I sent were both very reasonable and not demanding - just asking if an 'alternative' for 'oldies' might be available.)