Do Good Things Come in Packages?
- BetterAskAdam.com
- Feb 15
- 4 min read
For a monthly fee, some banks offer packaged accounts with lots of extras including weekly sausage rolls, travel insurance and breakdown cover for your car - so should you get one?
Q: Are they worth it?
Most of them cost between £120 and £200 a year - but the benefits can outweight the costs. So the two big questions to ask is would you have bought the extras anyway. If the answer is yet - then you really can save a fair amount of money.
The other big question to ask is how good is the insurance. That's a little more complex to work out - as comparing insurance isn't just about price. Pre-existing conditions are generally not included in these packaged accounts.
Also check if winter sports is covered in any insurance.
Check the maximum age for travel insurance
Q: So what is the cost of the usual extras if you bought them separately.
A Guardian review of the products claimed that: "A typical average annual worldwide travel insurance policy would cost about £140 for a family, according to Moneysupermarket.com, and the annual average premium for breakdown insurance bought through the site during the past 12 months was £39. A typical annual mobile phone insurance policy costs about £100 for just one top-of-the-range phone. This totals £279."
So in theory if it costs less than £279 you should be saving money
Q: So which account offers a free sausage roll?
That's Monzo Max Account which offers a free weekly Greggs treat, either a regular-sized hot drink, sausage roll or sweet treat, plus an annual railcard with Trainline and a free Vue cinema ticket each month and money off at Pizza Express.
I really like the physical treat - because you get the joy of holding a free drink or sausage roll each week - which somehow feels better than "free" insurance which is boring and intangible even if is is worth more than the meat/vegan treat.
Also included are:
Annual worldwide travel insurance for the account holder only, up to maximum age of 70, including car hire excess waiver insurance of up to £3,000.
Worldwide phone insurance, including coverage for cracked screens, for phones worth up to £2,000 and accessories (such as headphones) worth up to £300.
RAC UK and Europe breakdown cover including if you are a passenger.
20% off at Pizza Express
I really like the physical benefits and it genuinely offers something different from manyof the traditional banks.
There are other Monzo packaged accounts to choose from.
Cost: £204/year
Q: So what are the best accounts to look out for?
Despite it's fairly rebel-like brand qualities, I've generally been unhappy with Virgin brands, including Virgin Money and Virgin broadband. The drawback of the poor service, in my mind outweighs any financial benefits. They have been bought by Nationwide - sio we wilk have to see what happens to their service levels.
Virgin Money Club M has one of the lowest fees for any packaged account I could find at £150/year.
It is aimed at families as you get cover for all family phones and gadgets
Wrldwide family travel insurance .
You also also get UK & European breakdown cover for the account holder(s).
Cost: £150/year
The Co-op Bank Everyday Extra account provides travel insurance up to the age of 79 as standard. The mobile cover isn't for all the family, so is better suited to couples.
The most eye catching benefit I think is that you can also get up to £150 free cash if you switch in from an different bank. So that means the switching benefit covers the ,account fee for 10 months.
Cost £180/year
Nationwide's FlexPlus offers the whole family's phones are covered. The travel insurance includes cover for winter sports. According to Which? this Nationwide account "gets the top policy scores for mobile insurance and breakdown cover, the FlexPlus account is also one of only three accounts to offer fee-free cash withdrawals and spending abroad, along with the Virgin Money Club M account and Monzo, it limits your fee-free overseas cash withdrawals to £600 a month."
At the time of writing, Nationwide is offering £175 if you switch your current account banking to it with at least two active direct debits. This means that the fees on the account are covered for about 10 months.
So if I had to choose one account - I would go either the Which? best buy choice for this Nationwide account or the Monzo one as I am rather partial to Pizza Express. But this account is one of the more expensive ones.
Costs £216/year
The Club Lloyds Silver account offers more limited travel insurance than some of the other banks, You get to choose a lifestyle benefit so you can a subscription to either Disney+, a subscription to Good Housekeeping or tickets to Odeon or Vue. The cost of the account is reduced if you pay in at least £2,000 each month otherwise it costs £14.50/month. If you pay in the £2,000/month that fee is reduced to £11.50/ month.
Cost £138-£174/year
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