Nationwide FlexPlus fee hiked to £18/month from December

Olinda99

will you able to downgrade to Flex online or did you have to call them? thanks

WillPS

Olinda99 said:

will you able to downgrade to Flex online or did you have to call them? thanks

Log in to "The Internet Bank" (online banking)
Browse to Product & Apply -> Products -> Current Accounts
Click Change your existing account

Space_Captain

WillPS said:

Space_Captain said:

I'm looking at the Halifax reward extra current account. £19 a month but £5 cashback and it also has home emergency cover as well as the same benefits as Nationwide.
Has anyone here considered this one? 

The lack of onward travel puts me off, to be honest. But maybe it's not a dealbreaker for you, and if it isn't then £14 net is a good deal. 

Both include European travel cover with the AA.

I've looked at the Halifax details and it says:

Mechanical breakdown - Assistance to deal with a breakdown on the road within the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

Whereas Nationwide says:

Assistance throughout Europe, all day, every day

• Support wherever you are
  No matter where you are, you'll be helped on your way with the AA's Roadside Assistance, At Home, National Recovery and Onward Travel covers.

We drive to France each year and it was reassuring knowing we have the AA cover. As it looks like Halifax doesn't cover European driving I would need to sort that out before travel.

And yes the Halifax AA cover will only take you to a local garage if you break down within the UK.

So the Nationwide £18 a month doesn't look so bad now.  I looked at an AA policy to cover 2 of us and the equivalent is about £12 a month.

WillPS

Space_Captain said:

WillPS said:

Space_Captain said:

I'm looking at the Halifax reward extra current account. £19 a month but £5 cashback and it also has home emergency cover as well as the same benefits as Nationwide.
Has anyone here considered this one? 

The lack of onward travel puts me off, to be honest. But maybe it's not a dealbreaker for you, and if it isn't then £14 net is a good deal. 

Both include European travel cover with the AA.

I've looked at the Halifax details and it says:

Mechanical breakdown - Assistance to deal with a breakdown on the road within the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

Whereas Nationwide says:

Assistance throughout Europe, all day, every day

• Support wherever you are
  No matter where you are, you'll be helped on your way with the AA's Roadside Assistance, At Home, National Recovery and Onward Travel covers.

We drive to France each year and it was reassuring knowing we have the AA cover. As it looks like Halifax doesn't cover European driving I would need to sort that out before travel.

And yes the Halifax AA cover will only take you to a local garage if you break down within the UK.

So the Nationwide £18 a month doesn't look so bad now.  I looked at an AA policy to cover 2 of us and the equivalent is about £12 a month.

Apologies, corrected upthread. 

I think the cheapest to include AA with onward travel, including reward rebate, will be Natwest/RBS Reward Platinum - £22/month with £5 reward. I'm not sure if having that account stops you having a 'normal' reward account £5 reward on top tho. The killer detail for me on this one is the maximum screen size for phones - which essentially means they won't cover my folding phone.

Monzo Max (£17) and Co-op Bank Everyday Extra (£15) include an equivalent to onward travel, but it's RAC.

Virgin Money Club M (£12.50) also has some hire car/accommodation coverage, although they'll only take you up to 10 miles.

I think I'm personally going to go for Co-op Bank while they have the '3 months free' offer going. Will sign up in the beginning of November.

VXman

King_Of_Fools said:

VXman said:

Fizicuk said:

This still is a good deal if you want the insurances. But the benefits are getting watered down over time too. For joint account holders the mobile phone insurance and travel insurance is worth it. The AA rescue is a good back up but not essential for us as our cars are covered by the manufacturer call out. Need to keep your eye on the costs though 

Why do people keep emphasising 'Joint Account holders'? The cover is for the account holder and their partner/family for Travel insurance and account holder/partner for the breakdown (i believe - i need the check that bit out). So no need to be a joint account.

edit - just checked the breakdown and it indeed covers your partner and any kids aswell as long as you own the vehicle so in some circumstances a partners car might not be covered - interesting to know how they would ascertain the owner. My wife's car was a present from me to her but the receipt is in my name and the V5 also as I purchased it originally.

Who is covered?

Our FlexPlus breakdown cover includes both:

• personal cover – FlexPlus account holders are covered in any eligible vehicle they're travelling in, whether as a driver or passenger; and
• vehicle cover – all eligible vehicles you own are covered, even if you're not travelling in them.

Your dependent children are only covered if they're driving an eligible vehicle that you own. 

But as you show, having a joint account does add the benefit of covering the joint account holder in any car they are in as a passenger, at no extra cost per month.

OK - a minor benefit to a joint account.

VXman

dipityseren70 said:

VXman said:

Fizicuk said:

This still is a good deal if you want the insurances. But the benefits are getting watered down over time too. For joint account holders the mobile phone insurance and travel insurance is worth it. The AA rescue is a good back up but not essential for us as our cars are covered by the manufacturer call out. Need to keep your eye on the costs though 

Why do people keep emphasising 'Joint Account holders'? The cover is for the account holder and their partner/family for Travel insurance and account holder/partner for the breakdown (i believe - i need the check that bit out). So no need to be a joint account.

edit - just checked the breakdown and it indeed covers your partner and any kids aswell as long as you own the vehicle so in some circumstances a partners car might not be covered - interesting to know how they would ascertain the owner. My wife's car was a present from me to her but the receipt is in my name and the V5 also as I purchased it originally.

Who is covered?

Our FlexPlus breakdown cover includes both:

• personal cover – FlexPlus account holders are covered in any eligible vehicle they're travelling in, whether as a driver or passenger; and
• vehicle cover – all eligible vehicles you own are covered, even if you're not travelling in them.

Your dependent children are only covered if they're driving an eligible vehicle that you own. 

A very poor and big assumption that a joint account has to be between husband/wife partner/partner. It can be friend and friend. Both get the benifits for them and their families and only pay once. 

A scenario I certainly hadn't considered. However, it doesn't impact my point that lots of people seem to think you have to have a joint account to have your partner covered.

35har1old

The cost of having this account will increase to £18 pound 
Have just discovered the Lloyds Platinum account when looking at the switch offer this has a charge of £21 you get the club Lloyds fee waived if you have £2000 being credited  but you would get a further £5 refund the next month if you
 where to have £4300 credited each month lf it was a sole account and £5500 for a joint.
The travel insurance has a substantial list of pre existing conditions and if yours are on the list there is no need to medical screen to have cover provided.
Cover is upto the age of 80

lr1277

I looked a bit further into the travel insurance.

If there is a pandemic declared anywhere and either you are told not to travel or choose not travel, then you are not covered.

If you are diagnosed with a condition that is not covered, then you are not covered at all even if your other conditions are in the covered list.

Also if you can't travel because of the condition of somebody not in the travelling party, but is part of your life, then you are not covered.

I haven't bought travel insurance in a long time so I don't know if these are now standard conditions.

Didn't look into the exclusions on the other types of insurance offered.

Nebulous2

lr1277 said:

I looked a bit further into the travel insurance.

If there is a pandemic declared anywhere and either you are told not to travel or choose not travel, then you are not covered.

If you are diagnosed with a condition that is not covered, then you are not covered at all even if your other conditions are in the covered list.

Also if you can't travel because of the condition of somebody not in the travelling party, but is part of your life, then you are not covered.

I haven't bought travel insurance in a long time so I don't know if these are now standard conditions.

Didn't look into the exclusions on the other types of insurance offered.

Can you confirm - are you referring to Nationwide, Lloyds, or both? 

Fingerbobs

35har1old said:

The cost of having this account will increase to £18 pound 

What account are you referring to? I've had a FlexAccount for 24 years and it has always been free.