Are packaged bank accounts really worth it?
As many elements of "free banking" start to disappear from the UK financial scene there are concerns that some packaged bank accounts are not worth the extra money. The vast majority of UK banks offer a service which, for a small payment per month, will give the customer access to a range of insurance policies and other services at "at no extra cost". These include amongst others, travel insurance, phone insurance and other similar useful services. But are they really worth anything to the traditional UK customer?
Slowly but surely a number of nightmare stories are starting to emerge from the "premium banking" sector where many of the insurance policies offered as part of a package end up being effectively useless. From travel policies which do not cover countries or areas of the world to you are looking to travel, to phone insurance policies which appear to be deliberately complex and difficult to activate in an emergency. While there have been cases of customers receiving better standards of service when they complain, should we really need to complain to collect the "offers" to hand?
The harsh fact is that as free banking continues to disappear from the UK, more and more of us will be charged a monthly fee for our banking arrangements. Whether we get better value for money remains to be seen.
Share this..
Related stories
Reality in the UK property market
A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research will this week show that UK property prices are forecast to fall by a further 10% during 2009, ruining hopes of a short-term recovery. However, the Labour government will be pleased to hear that the report will also forecast a recovery in 2010, possibly just in time for the next general election. Slowly but surely it appears that Gordon Br...
Read MoreU.K. economy hit by the big freeze
Despite the fact that other countries around the world live in subzero temperatures for many months of the year it seems yet again that the UK is nowhere near equipped to cope with the ongoing cold snap. We have news from postal services that post and parcels will be late because of the weather, local councils are running short of grit and in many places have stopped gritting roads and thousands o...
Read MoreSwapping expensive debt for cheap debt
There are many people in the UK who have mortgage debt, credit card debt and loan debts and appear unsure as to how they should attack these particular issues in the short to medium term. The simple solution is to pay down your most expensive debt as soon as possible because this will incur higher interest charges and will ultimately cost you more in the long run. However, you also need to appreci...
Read MoreUK public companies boosted by potential pension funding change
Shares in BT, British Airways and ITV were fairly buoyant towards the end of last week amid news that the Pensions Regulator may be taking a softer stance on pension deficits. The three companies mentioned above have particularly large pension fund deficits, due in the main to a fall in the value of property and the UK stock market, which had led to fears of financial problems in the short to medi...
Read MoreCoventry Building Society slashes mortgage rates
The Coventry Building Society has this week announced significant reductions on a number of fixed rate mortgage arrangements which are certainly catching the eye of property buyers. From the 31 August the Society has cut its two-year fixed rate to 2.99% with a three-year arrangement at 3.59% and a five-year deal currently on offer are 4.35%. These are very interesting and very attractive changes t...
Read More