Section:GDN 1N PaGe:52 Edition Date:190907 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/9/2019 11:37 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Saturday 7 September 2019
(^52) Money
Banks
Is there still value in
a packaged account?
As Nationwide downgrades
its popular FlexPlus account,
Miles Brignall asks whether
the added insurance is still
worth the £13-a-month fee
N
ationwide has
announced a major
downgrade to its
popular £13-a-month
FlexPlus current
account, leaving
thousands of customers wondering
whether it is still worth paying £156 a
year for what it provides.
The building society started
sending out letters this week to
customers with the “best buy”
packaged account , which comes
with decent travel and breakdown
insurance, and off ers monthly credit
interest payments.
However, from 1 November,
customers will no longer be paid
the 3% interest on credit balances
of up to £2,500, which was worth
up to £75 a year or £6.25 a month for
those who maintained that amount
and was, for many, one of the main
attractions of the account.
Also being withdrawn is the fee-
free £250 overdraft buff er. Instead,
those going overdrawn will pay a
39.9% APR interest rate. Gone too is
the £5-a-day fee for those straying
outside their agreed overdraft limit.
Nationwide says the interest
withdrawal refl ects the higher
cost of maintaining the account, in
particular providing family travel
insurance, which includes winter
sports and golf cover up until the
account holder’s 70th birthday. Thispopular insurance, which could
easily cost £120 a year to buy on its
own, off ers good cover that will help
customers in the event that their
airline collapses or they miss a fl ight
for reasons beyond their control.
Account holders will continue
to receive UK and European car
breakdown cover, which provides
for two cars for joint account holders
and comes with home recovery. To
replace this would cost at least £110
a year if bought from the RAC/AA, or
£60 a year from AutoAid.
Nationwide, which has nearly 8
million current account holders, has
also downgraded its mobile phone
insurance by upping the excess
paid in the event of a claim. The
excess on claims for damaged or
broken phones will be £75 for Apple
handsets and £50 for other handsets,
up from £50 and £25 respectively. If
the phone is lost or stolen, the excess
will be £125 for Apple handsets and
£100 for the rest. In many cases, this
makes the cover pointless.
So is FlexPlus still worth it?
The short answer is yes, in certain
circumstances. If you are a family
with dependent children still in
school or university, who regularly
go on holidays abroad – and in
particular head outside Europe or go▲ Carers can help elderly people
remain in their own homes
PHOTOGRAPH: IAN ALLENDEN/ALAMY▼ Nationwide has cut the benefi ts
from its FlexPlus current account
PHOTOGRAPH: STEPHEN BARNES/FINANCE/ALAMYYo u ’r e t h e ex p e r t
My parents, in
their late 80s, are
struggling with
life on their own.
How do we fi nd
independent carers?
My dad is 90. After a really bad
chest infection in January he was
left with increased health issues
and frightened the life out of us.
We decided to get more care for
him, using a recommended private
agency. It started with two visits –
morning and night – over fi ve days
now extended to seven days.
He absolutely loves it. The carers
are brilliant, his primary carer really
goes the extra mile, getting his
papers, sometimes having tea with
him and they all spend time chatting
every time they visit.
It’s not cheap, but it was the only
way of keeping him safely in his own
home as I and my brother work.
We are really lucky that dad’s
pension covers his costs but I know
of three elderly people who left
hospital and were given the usual
care package via the local health
authority consisting of very short
visits by diff erent carers. In all three
cases, they told them not to come
any more.
One friend told me that her
mother’s 15-minute visit consisted
of the carer writing in the care log
and that was it, with no actual care
appearing to have taken place.
solentviewThe lesson I have learned is: don’t
wait until disaster strikes. When
parents reach 80 talk about what
they would do in a number of
possible scenarios and try to get
them to take action. It gets a lot
harder to get them to make any
changes once they get past 85.
One constant source of irritation
is being told of perky 90-year-olds
who still drive and do everything for
themselves. This does happen, but
it’s far better to assume it won’t and
be prepared. KTteacherI can’t read this question and many
of the comments without a frissonof anxiety. I’m approaching old age
with dread as I live alone and the
only family I have are overseas. So
far, I’ve been lucky with my health.
Bristol_FashionCould I advise making occasional
unannounced visits while the carers
are there? Just to get a feel of what
they are like and how the process
is functioning. Carers are brilliant
in most cases. But it is as well to be
sure. And if all is going swimmingly,
you can add your thanks to those of
your parents. AnniegygThere can be downsides to relying
upon single carers, because of limits
to how often they can work and it
can be more diffi cult to deal with
any problems that arise. Dealing
with an agency can lead to a more
professional relationship and avoids
the problem of gaps in availability.
But do ask them to limit the
number of carers. Which? publishes
a really helpful guide to agencies
and costs so that you can get better
insight to the going rates in your
area. Good luck; this is all more
diffi cult than we anticipate when we
get started. thomas2703We have the same carer fi ve days a
week – because we told the home
care company that it was important
to us. Speak to your council and get
a social care assessment. You can
chose if you want to use any care
awarded by council-approved carers
or your own. jackofraserA personal assistant can be a good
idea so long as you are prepared
to be an employer and also have a
back-up for when they are on annual
leave or off sick. With regard to being
an employer, there are services that
help out with at least the fi nancial
aspect of this and, should you be
eligible for a PA, then social services
will be able to give you the necessary
info regarding this.
Any PA should be properly trained
in moving and handling, fi rst aid
and so on. They will also need to
have had an enhanced Disclosure &
Barring Service check (previously
CRC: Criminal Records Check). ViccWe found a great live-in carer for my
dad. The costs were £4,000 a month,
which were similar to a care home.
The advantage is that if a crisis
happens (and at this stage they can
be frequent) someone is at hand to
deal with it and you aren’t left trying
to manage things remotely.
However, it is very expensive and
attendance allowance helped.
Have you got power of attorney?
If you haven’t I would make that a
priority so you can manage their
fi nances if they ever become unable
to. ID3969344Email your sugg estions to money@
theguardian.com or write to us at
Money, The Guardian, Kings Place,
90 York Way, London N1 9GU. And
do you have a problem readers could
solve? Let us know.Next week
I have a friend who is streaming the Ashes for free online, and another who
says they get cheap Netfl ix by pretending to subscribe in Turkey. I presume
this is all completely illegal. But are there legal ways to use virtual private
networks to stream stuff at lower cost, or free?skii ng – then the travel insurance is
almost worth it on its own. If you all
own expensive mobiles and drive a
car then it is doubly so.
However, if you only take holidays
once or twice a year – always at home
or in Europe – and rarely if ever use
your car abroad, there is a case for
downgrading to a basic, fee-free
Flex Account instead.
Decent Europe-only travel
insurance for a family can be bought
cheaply enough at about £60 for an
annual policy, or £16 by the week.
If you have no children or they
have long fl own the nest, or you are
about to turn 70 , or you regularly go
overdrawn, there is a strong case to
drop the account.
It is a similar story if you have a
newish car that includes breakdown
cover as part of the warranty.
Account holders should also ask
if they are ever likely to claim on
the mobile insurance. If you have a
basic £100-£150 Android handset, it
will probably not be worth claiming,
particularly when you fi nd out the
insur er will not pay out in cash. If
you claim, you will soon discover
the insurer insists on repairing your
handset itself, or sending you a
replacement – which can take weeks
to arrive – and by which time many
people will simply have gone out
and bought another phone.
On the plus side, FlexPlus account
holders will continue to be able to
make fee-free cash withdrawals
worldwide, which could be worth
£40 a year to frequent travellers.
Those ditching the account could
buy a Caxton FX pre paid card
instead and retain the same benefi t.
Chris Rhodes, an executive
director at Nationwide, defended
the changes. “As a mutual,
Nationwide is not driven by profi t.
However, we are not immune to
infl ationary pressures and we need
to make some essential changes to
our FlexPlus account,” he said.
“Members tell us that the quality
of the insurances and the monthly
fee are the most important aspects
of a packaged account, which is
why we have improved some of the
insurance benefi ts and maintain[ed]
the monthly fee, rather than retain
the interest rate.”3%
Interest paid on credit balances of up
to £2,500, worth up to £6.25 a month£250
The fee-free overdraft limit that is
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