Nationwide scraps travel insurance perk for package bank account customers
Swathes of banks and building societies are axing interest rates and perk on savings accounts
NATIONWIDE is scrapping its free annual European travel insurance perk for new FlexAccount switchers from next week.
New customers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday December 14 to apply for a new FlexAccount if they want to get the travel insurance perk before it disappears, .
Since the Bank of England cut UK interest rates from 0.5 per cent to 0.25 per cent in August, a host of banks and building societies have been axing rates and perks on their accounts.
Existing Nationwide customers who already have a FlexAccount will continue to get their free travel insurance cover, provided they continue to meet the building society’s eligibility criteria.
A spokesperson for Nationwide told The Sun Online the travel insurance perk was being axed in order to “simplify our current account range.”
The building society’s spokesperson added: “Although the FlexAccount current account remains popular, only a very small number of new customers go on to take the benefit.”
Helen Saxon, MoneySavingExpert’s chief product analyst, said: “The Nationwide free travel insurance offer has been around as long as I can remember.
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“But from next week it’ll be added to the long casualty list of banks cut or canned in 2016.
“Completely free travel insurance is a rare perk, and it’s an especially good deal for older account holders between 65 and 75, when travel insurance starts to get expensive.
“But, if you’re paying Natiownide to upgrade the insurance to family or worldwide insurance or you’re paying the 75-and-over premium, it’s always best to compare if you could get separate travel insurance more cheaply.
“It’s also a good idea to look at other bank account perks that give you £100 to switch to them, and ongoing rewards - that could pay for several years’ travel insurance. Decide what’s most important to you.”
New customers looking to open a FlexAccount with the travel insurance perk will need to activate the travel insurance by sending back a form from Nationwide detailing any medical conditions, even if they don’t have any.
Anyone using the official current account switching service will be able to send the medical declaration form back to Nationwide straight away.
Customers who don’t use the official switching service have to send the medical form back to Nationwide after paying in at least £750 a month into the account for three months.
To continue getting the free travel insurance perk, FlexAccount customers have to pay in at least £750 into their account every month and send in a medical declaration form every year.
Nationwide FlexAccount customers aged 75 or over will need to purchase an ‘age upgrade’ policy every year to continue getting travel insurance cover.
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