The HfP chat thread – Monday 1st March

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• Harry T says:

  1 Mar1 March 03:36

  There’s an offer on my Bonvoy amex and supp – £5 off a £10 spend anywhere.

  • Baji Nahid says:

    1 Mar1 March 03:38

    beautiful offer that. I got a £10 off a £13 spend at the telegraph lol

    • Harry T says:

      1 Mar1 March 05:19

      Me too, Baji

  • The Streets says:

    1 Mar1 March 03:50

    The gin club offers are back too! Spend £40 get £20 off

    • Tw33ty says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:36

      There’s also a code on thier Web site for 25% off. Wonder if you subscribe and buy extra from thier shop, it will go through on the same transaction so they stack

  • WaynedP says:

    1 Mar1 March 06:05

    +1

    Also 5% back (up to £300) on Brighton & Hove Albion 1901 Season Ticket, expires 31/08/21.

    In other news, finally prepared to declare Virgin Red Spin & Win wheel “loaded” after 7 consecutive daily spins only yielded “Entry to competition”, despite visual appearance of 50% chance of winning a daily prize of Virgin Points 😂

    • S879 says:

      1 Mar1 March 06:10

      Been trying for a week, no luck on my phone or OH’s.

      • SG says:

        1 Mar1 March 08:44

        Same here..no luck at all!

    • YC says:

      1 Mar1 March 06:23

      Agreed. Won on the first day and nothing since

      • Bee says:

        1 Mar1 March 07:55

        Same…got 200 on day 1 and after that nothing.

        • roberto says:

          1 Mar1 March 08:03

          7 spins , one win a lousy 200 pts echos your thoughts about “tight slots” considering its a 50-50 win/lose in the wheel. Typical virgin red fuff over substance cr@p.

      • Rob says:

        1 Mar1 March 09:46

        You actually won?! You are the first reader who has to my knowledge.

    • Toppcat says:

      1 Mar1 March 08:35

      Same here…

    • Tw33ty says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:38

      I got spend £300 and get £65 back at Brighton and Hove.
      Would have thought that would be the weekly taking for them 😂

    • Catman says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:46

      I won 1000 points today…..

  • YC says:

    1 Mar1 March 06:28

    Buyagift offer 20%. Potential to stack with other discounts. Similar to red letter days

  • Andrew says:

    1 Mar1 March 06:40

    And the hotel offers seem to be returning – first out of the blocks is Melia with spend £300, get £75.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      1 Mar1 March 07:18

      For the first time in a while only on a main card not supp

• Andrew says:

  1 Mar1 March 06:32

  Our annual travel insurance has finished and will need to buy a new one over the next few months – any recommendations? (We have Amex card but too many loopholes with the plan – have high blood pressure which they do not cover). New policy will be for a world wide cover including the USA.

  • Harry T says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:24

    I’ve been generally quite pleased with LV. They came highly recommended on MSE.

    • Pete M says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:05

      I’ve had LV= for about 5 years but, ever since I started paying their rather high premiums, I’ve, I suppose thankfully, had no reason to claim…!

  • Brighton Belle says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:34

    Nationwide Flexplus. 2 meds for high blood pressure adds annual supplement of £30 a year to my monthly fee. You need screening over the phone. The account monthly fee pays for my car breakdown and mobile phone cover. Amex Platinum cover was a very poor competitor.

    • Harry T says:

      1 Mar1 March 07:42

      @BB do they pay out for claims? I’m a nationwide customer and have been thinking of opening one of these accounts for the girlfriend and I.

      • Harry T says:

        1 Mar1 March 07:46

        I’m trying to figure out if you get breakdown cover for both account holders if you open a joint account!

        • Doogie says:

          1 Mar1 March 08:03

          You do, it’s the only one you need joint for, other insurances on it work for family with just sole account holder.

        • Fm says:

          1 Mar1 March 14:44

          You do in my experience

      • Brighton Belle says:

        1 Mar1 March 08:02

        Never needed to claim. Insurance always seems a waste until you need it.

      • Matt says:

        1 Mar1 March 08:45

        I’ve been paid out for a few travel claims by them – they’ve seemed reasonable so far. My claims haven’t been huge though (<£1k each).

      • Anuj says:

        1 Mar1 March 12:44

        They do for the mobile phone insurance at least. Was a very quick process.

      • Tony Soprano says:

        1 Mar1 March 13:32

        Have used for a small (<£500) travel claim after a cancelled flight and the process was simple with a quick payout. They didn't require me to send receipts either just asked me to hang on to them.
        Have also used mobile phone insurance a few times and the process was straightforward and devices repaired well.

    • will says:

      1 Mar1 March 10:15

      I’ve been paid out by them, complicated claim got stuck in Japan during the Typhoon over rugby world cup. By the letter of the wording they could have only paid half of the claim, but they were very reasonable and paid it in full after a few phone calls (I used a pre bought unlimited train ticket to bullet train down to an airport that was still open to get out of the country over 2 days. Requested 2 days of that ticket reimbursed on the understanding I’d waited 3 days at the start of holiday to activate it so I could use it for planned trips at the end of the holiday)

      Not a big claim though, think it was about £500 in total.

      Do look at their caps on reimbursement, I had a connection to HK for a business class flight from HK to UK. They would not have paid in full for the business class flight from HK in full had I missed it due to the Typhoon as it was above their reimbursement cap.

      • KBuffett says:

        1 Mar1 March 12:10

        I was stuck in Innsbruck a couple of years ago, it was too windy for planes to fly in or out for 48 hours.

        Both AmEx Plat & Barclays refused to assist with arranging or paying for alternative onward travel to get us home. I didn’t push too hard, but I’m interested to know what if they were correct in their stance. I would really want this type of cover.

        Thankfully, EasyJet did cover all expenses retrospectively, but I was surprised with the lack of assistance from both my insurers.

        @Rob – I think it would be really handy to have some in-depth articles on travel insurance and various scenarios. Such topics are covered daily in the comments.

        • Rob says:

          1 Mar1 March 12:34

          The gap between legal requirement to pay and willingness to pay makes insurance reviews worthless. That’s why the MSE recommended policy costs literally 4x as much as other policies with identical cover, because LV always pay out without a fuss.

    • Charlieface says:

      1 Mar1 March 18:32

      Flexplus is good at payouts, a relative claimed for USA hospital stay without getting it pre-authorized

  • Waddle says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:52

    If eligible, I’ve had success with HSBC Premier in getting my OH’s pre-existing medical conditions added in writing to my policy.

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:32

      Is that linked to ur WE card? What happens if u downgrade or cancel the credit card?

      • Craig says:

        1 Mar1 March 10:30

        Linked to the Premier current account not the card. Pretty good at underwriting existing conditions too.

  • Craig says:

    1 Mar1 March 09:02

    Something I may have to look into in more detail if a switch from HSBC to Barclays Premier becomes lucrative. It looks like the only pre-exisiting condition, migraine for Mrs S, is now covered by Amex.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    1 Mar1 March 09:32

    Trailfinders and Battleface have been recommended here before.

• Stuart Evans says:

  1 Mar1 March 07:14

  I also got £100 off £750 cumulative spend at Dell on my BAPP over the weekend

• Tanya says:

  1 Mar1 March 07:48

  Any one had any joy paying NS&I with bendy?

  • James. says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:00

    No issues here with Creation

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:03

    What have you got behind bendy?

    • Tanya says:

      1 Mar1 March 08:12

      Capital on tap. No issues over last year

      • gareth says:

        1 Mar1 March 08:22

        I had an issue this morning with HH

        • Ben says:

          1 Mar1 March 08:40

          Mine worked this morning.
          Out of interest what sort of volume are people putting through? (if its best not to say then fair enough)

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          1 Mar1 March 08:44

          NS had issues last week with deposits, might still be going on.

        • Algor says:

          1 Mar1 March 09:32

          50k per months for last 5 months, account blocked once but after 5 min phonecall unblocked (I think this was extremely lucky with new employee).

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    1 Mar1 March 09:33

    Rumours that chancellor might increase premium bonds limit

    • Lady London says:

      1 Mar1 March 13:35

      overdue. And I suppose the country needs something like War Bonds now.

      Could be interesting to use but not forever given what happened to those

• James. says:

  1 Mar1 March 07:52

  Anyone downgraded from Metal had future issue upgrading back to Metal at a later date?

• ee says:

  1 Mar1 March 08:03

  Here is something for any savvy savers who have been with Yorkshire Building Society since the start of last year…

  They have just introduced a Loyalty Regular Saver paying 3.5% on up to £500/month. The account lasts 1 year.

  • ee says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:04

    See here for more details:

    https://www.ybs.co.uk/savings/product.html?id=YB571317B

    • Dave B says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:01

      Thanks just sent for the postal application pack, online application not possible.

  • Kevin says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:25

    Thanks for the info. Wish Coventry will get such rate

  • Harry T says:

    1 Mar1 March 11:41

    That’s very competitive. Guess I’m a fool for not being with them.

  • Wally1976 says:

    1 Mar1 March 22:34

    Thanks for the heads-up on this; application form and £500 cheque (haven’t written one of those for a while!) in the post!

• Dave Barron says:

  1 Mar1 March 08:20

  Advice please. I’ve just moved into a new build home and provided final meter readings to EDF from old house. To my amazement they simply close account rather than automatically transfer and I now need to shop around for a new supplier (could be them again if I choose). I liked the fact I could make top up payments via the EDF App using my Amex. Can anyone advise which other energy supplier accept Amex in this way? I’m getting close to hitting my Amex bonus of 10k MR points (anniversary in 2-3 weeks time) so potentially may need to build a credit with new supplier in this way. Thanks in advance.

  • BLT says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:35

    Octopus energy take Amex, as do bulb. Both are “green” energy suppliers.

    • Dave Barron says:

      1 Mar1 March 08:45

      Thanks will look into it

  • Toby says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:40

    Octopus do Dave, they don’t have an app but you just do it via the website. I’ve set our direct debit to very low and top up using amex in big chunks. They’re fine with it.
    I’ve found their customer service speedy and good too.

    Top tip, their tariffs are usually competitive but if you happen to notice they have brought out a better tariff you can just email in and they’ll match it. I found a better one via uSwitch and they switched it over same day.

    • Dave Barron says:

      1 Mar1 March 08:45

      Thanks will look into it

      • The real John says:

        1 Mar1 March 08:56

        If you choose Octopus check the tariffs going directly to their site octopus.energy first (not via a referral link, or a comparison site, or a Google ad).

        I found that while you get £50 credit from being referred, the offered rates were higher and the credit was offset by the higher rates after 4 months.

        • Dave Barron says:

          1 Mar1 March 08:59

          Many thanks

        • TGLoyalty says:

          1 Mar1 March 11:41

          Check uswitch exclusive was cheaper than both.

  • The real John says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:53

    Energy suppliers are linked to a meter, not a person.

    When you move into a new property, you are automatically on a deemed contract with the existing supplier. The builder should have told you who the existing supplier is. They will probably send you an invitation to register with them. Normally this is addressed to “the occupier” but the builder will probably have passed your name on.

    You can switch supplier to EDF or someone else, but it will take at least 21 days from the date you start the switch. You must pay the existing supplier for your usage during these 21 days. If you switch away, the existing supplier will likely just send you a bill in the post.

    • Dave Barron says:

      1 Mar1 March 08:59

      Many thanks

  • Amar Dattani says:

    1 Mar1 March 09:29

    A little known trick is to topup Igloo energy with your Amex (and they give you 3% interest on deposits up to £1,000) and if you have an excess balance, they will refund it to you by bank transfer . . . . 😉

    I actually signed up because it was the cheapest at the time (Jan20) but they did send me a letter a week after I signed up saying the rates are going up. To be honest, I haven’t actually checked how much they’ve gone up, but I would DYOR and compare suppliers.

    • Mr. AC says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:40

      +1 for igloo. Only issue with them is that they won’t reduce DD to 1 or 0 like many other providers (at least I wasn’t able to). However I might just try and cancel it on the bank side and see what happens, I’m already 1000+ in credit…

      • Amar Dattani says:

        1 Mar1 March 09:47

        Me too – over £1k+ credit and they won’t reduce my DD. Having said that, my bills are double my direct debit so my balance will actually decrease over time . . .

      • BuildBackBetter says:

        1 Mar1 March 10:55

        Be very careful in cancelling direct debits. Some utilities are notorious in damaging your credit standing in case the credit runs out

        • Andrew says:

          1 Mar1 March 12:34

          Which companies are “notorious” for this?

          My parents have paid their quarterly bill by cheque on receipt for 60 years without issue. I’ve never had a Direct Debit on my energy accounts.

      • Optimus Prime says:

        1 Mar1 March 11:33

        Have you guys compared Igloo and Octopus with others? For my electricity usage they’re both about £100 per year more expensive than Neo Energy.

  • Harry T says:

    1 Mar1 March 12:19

    Octopus customer service seems good so far and they do take Amex.

    • Anuj says:

      1 Mar1 March 12:47

      Try M&S energy. Sometimes they’re cheaper than octopus but run by them so have the same web setup and accept Amex

  • Sam says:

    1 Mar1 March 15:05

    Avro Energy is also good (in terms of price) but don’t accept Amex but do accept MC…

  • Charlieface says:

    1 Mar1 March 18:34

    You are supposed to tell your current energy supplier that you want to take your contract with you, there is usually a separate process for that.

    Call them up and see if they will reopen your account on your old contract, tell them you misunderstood the website or something

• Mike says:

  1 Mar1 March 08:45

  It looks good, 700 avios a month just for having mortgage with them, a British Airways cabin upgrade voucher every 12 months valid for 24 months 25000 bonus if you don’t have the account already £12 a month charge for which you also get 1500 avios a month – full details are on the Barclays premier web site-

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