I have had a Barclays Premier account for something like 10 years and recently spotted on the Barclays website that they have introduced a new product called Premier Life. The website doesn't give you a great deal of information about this new product but as I have now been accepted and received the bumf I thought it would be useful to share it with you.
I do not work for Barclays and am not on commission but have to say that it is the best thing to happen to banking in ages.
What do you get?:
Everything in the regular Premier account: ie :
£1000 free overdraft £750 withdrawal limit. And yes you can take £750 out of a cash machine, you just need a very big wallet ( I paid the electrician by cash recently) 24 hour freecall customer service 9.9% overdraft instead of regular account 15.9% Discounted mortgage and loan products Instant withdrawal of £2500 on cheques Premier Relationship Manager ( to try to sell you more products but is also very useful to get info and sort things when you dont have the time)
I have to say that I have been very impressed with Premier. Its great to be able to phone up anytime and have the phone answered by a human, in the UK and have them most of the time answer the query or carry out the international money transfer or swap funds around without having to put you through to someone else.
What does Premier cost? £10 per month, which Is a lot less than I have saved by having a discounted mortgage through Premier.
The mortgage is now paid off and I was considering finishing with Premier until I saw the additional Premier Life products:
Top level RAC coverage including European cover Worldwide family travel insurance including winter sports Mobile phone insurance Gadget insurance - PDA, Games, sat nav, laptop etc Extended warranties on all electrical goods over £25 Will writing service Membership of Priority Pass including 6 free VIP lounge visits per year, extras at reduced rate. 24 hour legal service Cardholder protection insurance Accidental death cover (£7500...) Domestic emergency cover Lifestyle manager to book tickets, events, electrician etc - "anything, try us"
all at no additional cost after the monthly fee of £17.50 per month if meet criteria, £25 per month if you dont.
PREMIER LIFE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA TO JOIN:
* UK resident * Earn £100,000+, OR * Have £50,000 to invest through Barclays
OK, so this isn't for everyone but I have to say that when I added up my travel insurance, breakdown cover etc it comes out a lot more than the £17.50 per month and so was a no brainer for me.
Downside: since Premier Life started I have noticed that I have had to hold on the phone which never happened before with Premier and am also greeted with a push button menu choice. Not happy about this but I reckon it's still a great deal.
Update March 30th 2009:
The waiting time to get through to a human being seems to be getting longer. It has now got to the length where the 'why am I paying for this?' thought goes through my head.
Priority Pass has now been replaced with Airport Angels which seems to have fewer lounges than Priority Pass had.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Efficient, Good Variety of products, Best offered Cash ISA 2 years running Disadvantages: Try and sell you products that are not always beneficial to you.
BTreyo 18.04.2008 (18.04.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of BarclaysBank Accounts
Are you the manufacturer / provider of Barclays Bank? Click here
Mar 20th, 2008
(Mar 31st, 2009)
very helpful by (95%):
helpful by (5%):
