Information:
From 1 December 2024, the FlexPlus monthly fee will go up from £13 a month to £18 a month.
Bad news, and stops this account being a ‘no brainer’, IMHO. Will have to carefully consider phone + roadside cover options now (travel insurance is an optional extra for us since we travel in the UK mostly, still has been useful but wouldn’t pay otherwise).
This is really bad news
That’s a big jump, but it’s the first increase in seven years, to be fair.
think it still works out cheaper and getting each separately
Still cheaper for me. We were looking at £300 in 2022 for a single three week holiday in Europe And you’re getting mobile and European breakdown cover thrown in with Nationwide.
Worth noting that there’s probably no point in comparing Virgin’s cover now as it will likely become Nationwide’s in a year or two.
£5.50 x 12 is £66
£5.50 x 24 is £132
The bigger concern is that Virgin Money put their price up, but they seem on a mission to lock in as many customers as possible presently tho (hence the 10% interest offers) - perhaps there’s a specific number needed as part of the takeover or something.
It’s also far from certain that the two products will be merged together; plenty of banks have packaged bank accounts which are no longer on sale but still maintained for existing customers. Club M could just become one of these.
I’ll be moving to Virgin as things stand.
Virgin wouldn’t currently work for me as Junior #1 and #2 wouldn’t be covered. Also, it seems to say on the breakdown cover that only named account holders are covered which doesn’t work for me either.
I do take your point though that we could potentially have both the Nationwide and Virgin offerings available, at least for a while.
Yeah, likely by aligning T&Cs (whilst keeping VM branding etc) as that is easier to do in the short-medium term.
The phasing out of VM also gives Nationwide the ability to become less competitive across the board.
Easier how? Virgin cover stuff Nationwide don’t and vice versa. I’ve known for packaged bank accounts to be adjusted as market conditions and suppliers of cover have changed, but not for the headline coverage to completely change.
The “easiest” solution would just be to close one account, for new applicants and/or completely.
LBG have many legacy packaged bank accounts, some of which haven’t been sold for over a decade. There must be a reason these accounts are maintained on their existing terms rather than rolled in to one of their other, similar, offerings - especially now the remaining fee waivers have all been finished.
I’ve still got my Nationwide Invest Direct account which hasn’t been on sale for decades, if memory serves. If that’s going to remain their approach, we could easily see the various current Virgin accounts knocking around for decades too, albeit rebadged as Nationwide and no longer open to new applications.
I haven’t had a communication from them, but if it’s going up to £18 then I think that’s me out.
Price standalone travel insurance. We paid £300 odd for three weeks in Europe for the four of us. Nationwide would be £216. Breakdown cover that they provide is around £95 last I checked.
AA personal cover (for one person) including home start, nationwide recovery and onward travel is over £200.
In the past I have paid over £360 for annual family travel insurance (including USA). A few months ago I went with a different provider and paid £60 for annual cover (Europe only) for 2 adults and 2 kids. It varies hugely. But with the price increase I am now even less likely to consider getting flexplus.
The mobile insurance is still compelling as it covers all the phones in the household, including expensive new handsets. However, I already have breakdown cover and the travel insurance would probably be cheaper to just buy per trip.
I’m not sure the point you’re trying to make
The InvestDirect is basically the old CashBuilder without branch access (for when postal accounts were a thing). It’s the same poor rate for the legacy CashBuilder/ InvestDirect as the on-sale Instant Access Saver.
Funny thing is I have received a letter today about my Flexplus insurance cover, there’s no mention of price changes. They still mentioned the £13/mo.
It is dated September 2024.
Just that they keep accounts available for existing customers decades after they’re closed to new ones. So, may well keep the existing Virgin accounts similarly, albeit rebranded Nationwide.
I’m paying 40eur a month for unlimited cover (up to 2y policy, taken monthly).
it’s also valid in UK when i come back, but only for a period of time (i think 6 weeks per 180 days or something) and has a limit on US/Canadian cover. also a higher excess on A&E fees in the states but they’re entirely waived if it’s an emergency
