Nationwide FlexPlus - Travel Insurance Cost WARNING!

jeallen01

Today's Martins Money Saving tips recommends the NW FlexPlus a/c for its travel insurance, especially for older people - well, we certainly do NOT! Why?

To actually make use of the travel insurance you have to do telephone health checks with their appointed medical screening agency - which is probably OK for very healthy young/middle-aged people as you are likely to get accepted but maybe with a small extra premium.

HOWEVER, if you are older/pensioner-aged and have any sorts of medical conditions, and especially a "collection" of non-serious/life-threatening conditions that are well under control condition with the appropriate medications - as most older people often do - then the additional premiums can be astronomic!

The two of us (I was 67 and my wife was 64 at the time) went to Portugal for a basic 10-day "non-activity" holiday last September, but we checked out the health insurance side of things before we booked as we have had problems getting it before. NW's agency did the screening, and quoted astronomic prices to cover us - IIRC it was something around £280 for me and not much less for my wife! Not a chance of us accepting those numbers.


We then finally got cover through Ageis (AGE UK) for about 1/2 those numbers - still not cheap but a lot better than those quoted by NW's agency!


BTW - I don't think we have EVER claimed for medical treatment abroad in the 25 yrs we have been together - but that counts for absolutely nothing, as you can't get a medical insurance "no-claims discount" for never having made a claim!

Yorkshire_Pud

I think it is a problem of 'free' or included travel insurance cover that the customer is already in the bag/a sitting duck and then more likely to accept disproportionately high premium hikes. Hence pre existing medical conditions more £££, trip over 31 days? Oh dear more ££££!

Better to look elsewhere in those scenarios which then largely negates the value of having the plus package.

One way of reducing any possible premium hike is to have specific pre existing conditions excluded from cover.

Always worth shopping around because different companies use different criteria for which customers they want and at what price, its not personal, just 'business'.

No claims discount not really relevant. As people get older they get more ill more often!

jeallen01

YP


You've pretty much got it - especially the first para - and that's why the MSE "recommendation" itself really needs a health check!

Yorkshire_Pud

I've thought about getting this account. I thinkofnitnin thirds of £120 annual cost, £40 offset for getting more interest at 3% than a 1.5% interest account, £40 car breakdown as AutoAid is £42, and that leaves £40 for the worldwide travel cover value to me.

The fee free cash withdrawals are also a bonus.

Don't need the mobile insurance.

Account will work for some but as illustrated not for all

jeallen01

YP


I take a somewhat similar line in respect of the other offsets
- Interest - think I'm similar
- I do use the breakdown service for myself as it's done by LV Britannia Rescue which I and my wife used for many years previously. I still pay about £90 for her cover (and, yes, I think I will look around for cheaper cover for her when the renewal comes round again!) but it saves me about £35 for my own cover.
- my current mobile is so old/cheap that it's not even worth mentioning, but I will extend to cover that when I buy a new one
- worldwide travel cover, as I said, is probably worthless for me as I doubt we'll travel much outside Europe (and, btw, the medical insurance screening quote was for w/wide as they don't appear to offer a Europe-only cover option! )

callum9999

How did you open the account? I know the online system specifically asks if you have any medical conditions and, if you do, says you may not be covered and that you should call them (before opening the account).

While obviously a bad deal for you, if a policy specifically designed for older people and endorsed by AgeUK is still £140 each, a quote for £280 doesn't seem overly outrageous - especially if it provides better cover?

jeallen01

callum9999 wrote: »

How did you open the account? I know the online system specifically asks if you have any medical conditions and, if you do, says you may not be covered and that you should call them (before opening the account).

While obviously a bad deal for you, if a policy specifically designed for older people and endorsed by AgeUK is still £140 each, a quote for £280 doesn't seem overly outrageous - especially if it provides better cover?

Ref para 1: I originally took out a FlexDirect a/c and then transferred to FlexDirect when the first deal "expired" after 12 months - and I don't remember either of those asking for medical conditions, although they may well have!


Ref para 2: Not quite correct - it was around £280 for ME PLUS about another £140 for my wife, i.e. a total over £400, not £280 for both of us (for 10 days in a hotel in Portugal!!)

Lou85

I have the basic Flex Account and I don't recall ever having to fill in any documents re travel insurance but to be fair I've never used it as I am a bit suspicious. However I decided to check the Nationwide website just now just in case I have forgotten to fill something in...no mention of any telephone medical consultations or asking for extra premiums for pre-existing conditions. Seems strange that the basic cover would allow ANYONE free travel cover but the fee paying account would have conditions?

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/flexaccount/travel-insurance#xtab:twistyitem-1-eligibility-criteria

roddydogs

Did you miss the bit about "Travel cover elegabiliy declaration"?...you have to tell them about any medical condition, tests etc, just the same as any travel insurance. and you have to update them on any further visit to the doc or tests in order for the insurance to continue.

Lou85

roddydogs wrote: »

Did you miss the bit about "Travel cover elegabiliy declaration"?...you have to tell them about any medical condition, tests etc, just the same as any travel insurance. and you have to update them on any further visit to the doc or tests in order for the insurance to continue.

Haha ah yes - this bit

Your cover will not start until you receive your Certificate of Insurance - we’ll send this to you within two weeks of receiving your completed FlexAccount Travel Cover Eligibility Declaration.


Mmm I must have filled something in then because I've been receiving the form annually to say I'm still covered. It was 9 years ago I opened my account so that's perhaps why I can't remember - sorry!

jeallen01

With great respect to those highlighting the medical conditions questions, I would like to repeat the following:
1) It's nearly a year since I moved across to the FlexPlus a/c and I don't remember the details of the on-line questions I had to answer.
2) Both I and my wife DO expect to pay for additional medical cover because we have had most of the same conditions for quite a few years - so additional premiums are expected!
3) BUT the levels of premiums that the NW medical screening agency appear to be levying are extremely high compared with other sources of insurance (as we definitely found out), and there is no indication on the NW documentation that this might well be the case.
4) Having a Worldwide cover, but not a "Europe-only" option, inflates the cost of cover for the latter (just do checks for yourself and find out how much extra Worldwide cover generally costs over and above that for just Europe!)
5) Because of Nos. 3) & 4) the MSE "recommendation" very much needs a "health warning" in its own right since, as I said earlier, the apparent "good deal on offer" might well lead to people buying something that they cannot then realistically and economically use - especially as the MSE recommendation specifically mentions the benefits for older people. However, only those who do "globe trot" would actually benefit from this part of the package deal