whatsupdoc Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Does anyone have any info regarding the cost of an extension upgrade from 31 days to 90 (we are over 70 so would already be paying the age upgrade)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevec176 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Might be a silly question but why not ask Nationwide then you'll have the correct figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatsupdoc Posted September 2, 2021 Author Share Posted September 2, 2021 stevec176 - 2021-09-02 9:46 PM Might be a silly question but why not ask Nationwide then you'll have the correct figure. I don't have an account with them and I'm pretty sure they won't give out such info to outsiders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJB Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 FWIW...We have always used the Caravan Clubs (CAMC) Red Pennant multi trip insurance and the age 'penalty' is not applied until the age of 80. Eg:- £300 to £900 8-) *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 whatsupdoc - 2021-09-02 10:54 PM stevec176 - 2021-09-02 9:46 PM Might be a silly question but why not ask Nationwide then you'll have the correct figure. I don't have an account with them and I'm pretty sure they won't give out such info to outsiders. Current details of Nationwide’s FlexPlus travel insurance are here https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/flexplus/travel-insurance#upgrades-heading and the policy documents can be downloaded. Buying a 'trip extension upgrade' prior to a trip longer than 31 days is mentioned, but the cost is not given. There are some online comments from people who have done this, but none I can find that are recent. A cost of £90 for an extension to 90-days was quoted in 2016, but it may well be the case that the cost of an extension is on a pro-rata basis (eg. £90 for a 90-days extension, £50 for a 50-days extension, etc.) Obviously ir would help if you had a FlexPlus account with Nationwide (and, of course, you’d need one to be able to extend the travel insurance beyond 31 days) but I don’t see why Nationwide should refuse to provide you with cost details. There appears to be a Nationwide branch in Poole https://locations.nationwidebranches.co.uk/poole/128/130-high-street but you should be able to progress this matter with Nationwide without a personal visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatsupdoc Posted September 3, 2021 Author Share Posted September 3, 2021 Thanks, Derek. We're no longer in Poole and the nearest Nationwide... isn't! (profile now updated). I'll try giving them a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 Nationwide outsource the insurance cover provided under their Flex Plus account cover so that although the documentation is all badged as Nationwide the policies are administered and underwritten by UK Insurance Ltd which is part of the Direct Line group. There is a special phone number (on the Nationwide website) for enquiries about age and duration extension and I see no reward on why you couldn’t ring up for a quote before commuting yourself to using that sort of cover. We have a Nationwide Flex Plus account for this purpose and the extra we have to pay for 60 days duration of foreign touring and being aged over 75 is around £250 per year. We’ve had this cover for many years and made two claims, neither of which went well. UK Insurance’s Claims Department are very hard nosed and when we cancelled a World Cruise at the start of COVID they were clearly determined to avoid paying out at all, making silly interpretations ( eg Shanghai is not part of mainland China”) and introducing a mechanism of prorata settlement (for losing one port of call, of which there was no mention in the policy). Their own Complaints Department found against them and paid us compensation and Nationwide also told them to consider claims properly but they still played very hard ball indeed. We concluded that UK Insurance for any big claim would be very hard to get settled fairly. I also had to ask for recovery of our car to a garage from home when it was stuck in park. The first thing they said when I rang up was that they would only cover 10 miles and anything more would be chargeable at £2.50 per mile each way. There would also be a charge for the non-standard equipment required at £25 per wheel dolly to get the car out of the garage. To get to the nearest suitable garage (30 miles away) was looking like £150 which I would have to pay. I solved the problem another way. Nationwide uses Britannia for recoveries (which used to use by direct subscription) but Nationwide puts miserly limits on the cover actually provided so it’s nothing like as good as Brittania’s normal cover has been in the past. The 10 miles limit is not mentioned in the policy document either. So I will be dumping Nationwide for travel and breakdown cover when renewal comes around. (I have also been moving our savings out of Nationwide too because the interest rates are uncompetitive.) Nationwide is still a mutual but they are behaving much more like hard nosed profiteers these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 The insurance is actually provided via UK Insurance Ltd, Direct Line House, The Headrow, Leeds LS1 8HZ, tel: 0800 051 0154. Nationwide includes the basic premium in the account "overheads", so you don't see the premium, but any conditions that need to be declared, or age/trip duration extensions are dealt with direct by UK Insurance. The usual arrangement is for an annual premium to be charged per item. So, over 70 for example would incur one premium charge, and extending trip durations to 90 days would incur another. Notifiable medical conditions may incur further charges depending on medical assessment of the perceived added risk. I am not aware if they cover single trip extensions as the policy is on an annual premium basis - but you could always ask. All payments for supplements/extensions are made direct to UK Insurance, not paid through Nationwide. I have always found them helpful, flexible, and straightforward to deal with although, to date (no doubt tempting fate! :-)) we haven't needed to claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 ‘Upgrades’ are mentioned on the 1st link I provided in my posting above. The cost of the trip extension upgrade is stated as "Variable depending on the length of your trip”. Contact details are as Brian has said. I don’t know if the insurer would provide cost details to someone who does not have a Nationwide FlexiPlus account, but it does no harm to enquire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatsupdoc Posted September 3, 2021 Author Share Posted September 3, 2021 Thanks to Stuart for the detailed response and, like Brian, I would be happy in the knowledge that I am fully covered, but.. I did raise this issue about a year ago and mentioned the rating given on https://smartmoneypeople.com/nationwide-reviews/product/FlexPlus as being 1 star out of 5, with some extremely unfavourable reviews (and Robert Parker actually reported that he had involved the ombudsman regarding a claim) although that rating is now 3.94, so, it seems, things have improved. But there are still many 1 star ratings regarding claims, the general consensus being "great product until you need to claim" So I'm still a little nervous. And Stuart's comments about recovery has put a bit of a damper on things. But if I do find out any costs, I'll certainly report them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickB Posted September 3, 2021 Share Posted September 3, 2021 Just had an email from the Nationwide saying that they will not provide travel insurance as of now. It is dubious if one is getting value for the £13 monthly. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 I'm not sure how Nationwide's Ts&Cs compare to a policy bought direct from Britannia, but they are every bit as comprehensive as any I have had in the past and better than most. I have never had to claim on the travel insurance but have claimed twice on the breakdown cover - once at home with a car and once in France with the motorhome - and could not fault the service on either occasion. I rarely take notice of online reviews as few contain the sort of detail that Stuart has given about his experience and so it is rarely possible to determine whether the grievance might be justified. This is particularly so with insurance, where the most common complaint seems to be that the insurer refused to pay out for something not covered under the policy or expected the insured to abide by the terms he or she had signed up to. Having looked at some of Nationwide's one star reviews many fall into that category, while a good number are directed at more general dissatisfaction with Nationwide, not relating to insurance. While I agree with some of those criticisms, they do muddy the waters for anyone interested only in insurance. There are also a lot concerning covid cancellations, which is perhaps to be expected when there is a huge and unforeseeable increase in claims. With the overall rating having gone from one to almost four out of five it would be interesting to know what it was two years ago, before covid. Might the low rating have been a blip caused by the unprecedented surge in claims? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatsupdoc Posted September 4, 2021 Author Share Posted September 4, 2021 Well... I think Dick's email has now made up my mind on Nationwide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 DickB - 2021-09-03 8:15 PM Just had an email from the Nationwide saying that they will not provide travel insurance as of now. It is dubious if one is getting value for the £13 monthly. Dick Did the email elaborate? I've not had any such notification, there's nothing about it on their app (which usually flags significant changes), and the website is still advertising travel insurance as a benefit of their flexplus account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceM Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 If you look at Nationwide’s web site then they do not directly act as a broker for Travel Insurance. They do however for Home, Life, Critical Illness, and Income Protection. However, their Flex Plus account is a separate product that includes, amongst other things, Travel Insurance as standard. So if you have a Flex Plus account, Travel Insurance remains included as standard – nothing has changed. It's possible that Dick fails to satisfy Flex Plus's travel insurance criteria although that seems unlikely. Perhaps DickB would care to elaborate including whether he is currently a Flex Plus account subscriber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 There may be confusion between the “FlexAccount” European travel insurance and the “FlexPlus” version. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/09/free-european-travel-insurance-perk-for-existing-nationwide-flex/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 As I understand the Nationwide Flex plus travel insurance , it is not available to.NEW account holders over 70, but existing customers can extend beyond reaching 70. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickB Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 The email from Nationwide (3 Sep) said that travel cover provided by the Flexplus account will end on 31 December unless upgrades such as age and extension are in place before then. However, they suggest looking at their website to find another account which offers travel insurance ; there are none. Currently the website is still saying that travel insurance is available with Flexplus, so there is a huge discrepancy in the information provided on lin and their email. It seems that mobile phone cover and vehicle breakdown are still covered which for £13/month doesn't look such a good deal. It still offers commission free currency withdrawal overseas if that is needed. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 DickB - 2021-09-06 11:19 PM The email from Nationwide (3 Sep) said that travel cover provided by the Flexplus account will end on 31 December unless upgrades such as age and extension are in place before then. However, they suggest looking at their website to find another account which offers travel insurance ; there are none. Currently the website is still saying that travel insurance is available with Flexplus, so there is a huge discrepancy in the information provided on lin and their email. It seems that mobile phone cover and vehicle breakdown are still covered which for £13/month doesn't look such a good deal. It still offers commission free currency withdrawal overseas if that is needed. Dick I may be missing something, but that suggests to me that they are saying you don't (or soon won't) meet the criteria for the standard package, not that it is being withdrawn or changed for everyone. As I said previously, I have a Flexplus account and have had no such notification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 aandy - 2021-09-07 8:23 AM DickB - 2021-09-06 11:19 PM The email from Nationwide (3 Sep) said that travel cover provided by the Flexplus account will end on 31 December unless upgrades such as age and extension are in place before then. However, they suggest looking at their website to find another account which offers travel insurance ; there are none. Currently the website is still saying that travel insurance is available with Flexplus, so there is a huge discrepancy in the information provided on lin and their email. It seems that mobile phone cover and vehicle breakdown are still covered which for £13/month doesn't look such a good deal. It still offers commission free currency withdrawal overseas if that is needed. Dick I may be missing something, but that suggests to me that they are saying you don't (or soon won't) meet the criteria for the standard package, not that it is being withdrawn or changed for everyone. As I said previously, I have a Flexplus account and have had no such notification. I agree - I have a flexplus and have not received any such Email. I was going to have to pay an additional amount to go overseas because I'm over 70, but it wasn't much. In the event Covid interrupted that trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 I have had no emails either, my year is up in december so will check Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted September 7, 2021 Share Posted September 7, 2021 It’s all very well being happy with what Nationwide say about their insurance but if there is gathering evidence that people have difficulties and come up against unreasonable obstacle, refusals and attempts to minimise payouts by inventing spurious reasons for reductions, you have to consider whether Nationwide can still be regarded as a trustworthy insurer at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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