CPP or similar

ric777

Many moons ago I left my briefcase in a hotel and did not realise until I was on a ferry steaming away.  At that time CPP or it's equivalent was extremely useful to cancel the cards and get them replaced with one phone call.  It also provides other benefits of course and despite all the info on misselling etc I have kept the cover.  But it's due for renewal soon.  Is it worth having or are there similar freebies which will do the same job?   Cheers

born_again

How many cards do you have?
Only one or two. Then its not worth it.

jet01

I used to work for CPP the product is totally worthless. It amazed me then, in 2001, that anyone would pay £29 to £36 a year for something they could easily do themselves for free. I don’t know how much they charge these days but if I where you I would save yourself the money. Even if you have a few cards is it really worth paying for that service when you could probably cancel them all yourself in less than an hour?
CPP have been on the verge of bankruptcy for several years now because after the PPI scandal all the big banks and card companies realised that this could be the next scandal because the ‘service’ they provide is of such little value. So now the card companies don’t provide them with customer data to sell to anymore they are really struggling to keep in business. They sold one of their two large office buildings a few years ago and and rent half the other one out and are just about staying afloat. The founder has had to bail them out a couple of times already but I can’t see them being around for much longer because I don’t see how they could ever be profitable whilst that’s their core product. 

ric777

Thanks for the feedback, I will not be renewing.  But I still wonder if there is a free or low cost option in the event of losing my wallet or having stolen, containing several cards including EU i/d, health cards, driving licence, passport etc?

born_again

Store the details in several places. Suitcase etc.

nick74

Some packaged bank accounts include it, eg Lloyds Platinum, but clearly it's not worth paying £21 per month for an account you don't otherwise want just for card cover.

eddddy

Most card issuers now have smart phone apps that allow you to block a card and/or report it stolen - so if you've installed the relevant app for each card, it should just take a few minutes to cancel a bunch of cards.

Although, not so helpful if you get your cards and phone stolen at the same time.