Nationwide FlexPlus fee hiked to £18/month from December

Stargunner

M.A.S.H_2 said:

This has put me in a bit of a pickle; I am flying to Dubai at the end of September. I upgraded my FlexDirect to FlexPlus on the 2nd of September. I was debating with myself about what would be the best choice and decided to go with this instead of getting a single trip policy for me and my partner.

Can I downgrade back to FlexDirect after the trip? I was okay with the £13 a month, but not so much with £18. I know it has nothing to do with when I signed up, but it feels like the rug was pulled out from under me. I really hate monthly fees at the best of times.

You can downgrade at anytime. The payment doesnt increase until the 1st December.

chamelion

why are people closing accounts now? UNless you're moving to the cheaper virgin money account or the more restricted lloyds one, at £13 this is still great value until 1 December. Ditch in late November?

WillPS

chamelion said:

why are people closing accounts now? UNless you're moving to the cheaper virgin money account or the more restricted lloyds one, at £13 this is still great value until 1 December. Ditch in late November?

Even if you're moving to Virgin Club M (as I am), it's probably worth waiting to see if they give notice to put their own price up in sympathy in the next 2.5 months before jumping. It's not impossible that Nationwide will be running the show by then, after all!

moneyworrier2021

Not ideal a £5 hike but maybe worth staying with them.

We buy it for the travel insurance and breakdown cover. The AA have been amazing and got us out of a couple os sticky spots.

Could potentially look at Virgin but may wait and see whether they raise their prices too first

Archergirl

SevenOfNine said:

I did some research regarding alternative travel insurance as soon as N/W announced they were changing provider to Aviva. 

We have medical declarations so our policy wasn't going to run out until 1 October. Last year through N/W our declarations cost an additional £186 or so (inc age cost). As it's 'renewal' time for us I can finally access a N/W Aviva quote for the same medical additions & it is £232.

So £448 in total, up by £106 on last year.  I had quotes 5 months ago from Staysure, AllClear Ins & Insure & Go, worldwide, multi trip, all coming out at a  £700-£900+, & separately we'd have to purchase AA or RAC at about £100, not bothered about phone insurance.

I'd listed the 'MINUS' indications initially given by N/W, 12 that I needed to consider, plus 6 General Exclusions, can't say I'm massively bothered by any of the 12 negative changes, nor the General Exclusions & some of those were positives anyway.

All-in-all it's looking like even with N/W price hike, it's still a reasonable buy, but I'm going to redo quotes from others, probably sticking to the 3 I've mentioned as they've seemed popular with the oldies we mix with (we're 70 & 76).

Younger people probably should shop around now, but older with medical declarations, on multi trip worldwide might be a bit surprised at the costs elsewhere (as I was).  

We are on the old (UK) ins till October, but I called Aviva to see if we need to shop around, but their excess will be half the price we were paying with UK ins but the cruise cover isn't as good.

harz99

Like others have posted I've maintained the FP account for 12 years now and primarily for the Worldwide Travel Insurance, after much thought and many quotes I renewed my medical upgrade today with Aviva.

Last year with UKI cost circa £280 including the age upgrade, this year the Co-op only wanted £100 BUT wouldn't even give me cover for my most serious conditions and anything remotely related to them!

Three specialist insurers quoted a minimum of £2018 and pence!!!

Aviva covered the lot at £227; coupled with the FP monthly fees of around £207 for the next 13 months is the best deal, plus of course the mobile and breakdown insurances included. 

KFA34

An important advantage of the Flex plus account is that for joint accounts both account holders are covered for the current £13 a month in any car they are in whether as a passenger or driver in the U.K. and Europe.
 I agree that the telephone cover is of little value for those, like my wife and myself, who tend to use cheaper models. The surcharge on travel insurance for the over seventies with some medical problems to declare has, so far, been very competitive.

WillPS

KFA34 said:

An important advantage of the Flex plus account is that for joint accounts both account holders are covered for the current £13 a month in any car they are in whether as a passenger or driver in the U.K. and Europe.
 I agree that the telephone cover is of little value for those, like my wife and myself, who tend to use cheaper models. The surcharge on travel insurance for the over seventies with some medical problems to declare has, so far, been very competitive.

Every packaged bank account will cover all account holders. (Unfortunately Monzo Max is not available as a joint account, but the rule stands).

Nationwide's FlexPlus also protects your partner and dependent children, so it's not actually necessary to hold this as a joint account although it might make claiming easier if the account is set up that way.

2970sarah

At £18/month, that's £216 a year - I still think that's a good deal for travel insurance, breakdown cover and mobile cover.

Cheapest annual travel insurance policy for worldwide cover is £195.16
Cheapest breakdown cover with a reputable company is £28.25

That's already more at £223.41 and without the mobile cover!

Yes Nationwide are increasing their prices, but they're doing it because the benefits of the account have also increased!  Be grateful that you have had it so cheap for the last few years and be aware that its very unlikely you will get the same cover separately for less. 

WillPS

2970sarah said:

Yes Nationwide are increasing their prices, but they're doing it because the benefits of the account have also increased! 

I'm not sure this is true - they've switched suppliers for both travel insurance and roadside assistance, but I think actually one of the main benefits of the account (in credit interest) is no longer there.

Nationwide themselves don't point the finger at better benefits, but instead the rising cost of insurance in general.