"Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" sung Cher .... Yes, well, the horrid man that stole my wallet and other personal possessions from my gym locker was all of these and more. He was certainly bold, I will give him that, but he was also lucky .... lucky, that I didn't return to the changing rooms whilst he was in the act of jamming open my locker to steal cards, money, watch and other items I have worked damn hard for, and give him the damned good beating he deserved ! I am not a particularly violent person, but the blood was boiling when I discovered the heinous crime that had been carried out against my person.
I think, to provide a truly useful review on this service, I need to give background on the hassle involved trying to sort it all out yourself when you have had your credit cards stolen.
If you really don't want to read the background on "The crime", and "Reporting credit cards as stolen", then you can skip down to the "Card Protection Plan" bit further down.... After all, I know some of you really won't be particularly arsed about the crime, but I am going to write about it, because some how I feel it helps!
~~~~~~~~~ The Crime ~~~~~~~~~
As some of you will know from my Fitness First review, this is the gym I am a member of and frequent on an average of 4 occasions a week.
I have been a member of the gym for several years and so am familiar with a lot of the "faces" down at the gym, particularly as I go after work, and most people tend to stick to the same times when attending.
It was on one such visit in 2005, a year that was the worst of my life, with personal tragedy after personal tragedy, that the latest disaster occurred.... Seriously, you know the
National Lottery advert with the big happy finger (I don't know how a finger can be happy ... just go with it yeah?!) pointing down at the lucky winner? Well, I must have had a big black arrow twice the bloody size pointed at me last year!!! Although, in truth, this particular incident paled in comparison to the rest, but the feeling you get when somebody has robbed you is not the most pleasant I have ever experienced, and I remember it taking me some time to get over my house being burgled a couple of years before.
Anyway, long story short... some waste of space gypsy, no doubt the product of borstal.... No, not the little village in Kent ... the young offenders institutes ... forced open my gym locker and stole my wallet and watch ... thankfully, leaving my car keys and mobile phone, which surprised me, but he was obviously only after the cold hard cash, watch and credit cards. Ha, that reminds me of when I got burgled ... the buggers took stereos, play stations, DVDs, CDs, left the TV and videos, yet took my quite well worn "gold" football boots!!! As I said.. "Gypsies, tramps...."!!
The first transaction on one of my cards was literally 5 minutes after my wallet had been stolen, at a petrol station around the corner! Cheeky sod!
So, you've had your wallet with bank and credit cards stolen ... what next?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reporting Credit Cards as lost or stolen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a painful process to go through.. Not only because you're upset about cards having been stolen, but also because the actual process is not straightforward and it takes some digging through your statements etc to actually find the correct number to call and make the report.
With some credit card companies, it is not very straightforward or even quick to dial a number and report the theft, which is most annoying. In fact, one of the phone calls I made took over 45 minutes, which I felt was horrendous!!
This theft actually taught me a valuable lesson about closing credit card accounts that are no longer used, as I had amassed 5 credit cards - due to swapping and changing every 6-9 months for 0% interest free offers - and not closed the accounts of those I didn't use. This may have been because I listened to an old wives tale about the more credit cards you have improving your credit rating. Yes, only if they are actually active, and having in excess of £60k spending power in your wallet really is a little scary, whilst also not be very sensible or indeed affordable! The Government really should put more stringent measures in place to eradicate the potential for huge debt, especially amongst youngsters.
This may sound obvious, but it is necessarily relevant in terms of the product I am reviewing and ultimately recommending, but if you have your wallet (or purse) stolen, contact the Police immediately to report the crime, gain a crime reference number, and then call the credit and debit card companies to put a stop on your cards. You will require that crime reference number when speaking to the credit card companies to ensure that you recoup any money spent on your cards..... That's provided it's investigated and proved to be a bona fide crime, unlike some scallies (not mentioning anyone in particular!!! Seriously, can't you lot just leave my Scouse heritage alone already!! haha)
The time taken for me to actually report my credit cards (x4), debit card, driving license, national insurance card, and certain other membership cards was well in excess of 6 hours
Pictures of Card Protection Plan
cpp1
in total and a hassle to boot.Thankfully, for future reference, I come across the Card Protection Plan, when I was reporting my Virgin credit card as stolen. The lovely lady I spoke to provided a right good selling job on me, and I made the purchase swifter than Arkwright could ask Nurse Gladys for a bit of you know what !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Card Protection Plan (CPP) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have always been sceptical of the added charges credit card companies add on for insurance should you lose a credit card. After all, I am not that bad at misplacing things and losing things. When something is stolen, that is a different matter and there is usually cover for such crimes, provided they are bona fida.
However, what I didn't bank on was the hassle and time caused in trying to report your cards as stolen, put a stop on them, and then have new ones posted out ~ especially if you have just moved house and have not quite informed all the relevant parties … an added issue! See, nothing ever simple and straightforward in the Newty household. That is one of the key services of the plan … if you move home, CPP will inform all your card issuers, ensuring there are several less things to think about.
Put simply, the ability to cancel all your cards with one phone call from anywhere in the world 24 hours a day, does give me much more peace of mind than the process I had to go through.
Plus, you will know that a team of people are ensuring that the cards are cancelled, causing no delay and ensuring the villains cannot do maximum damage. Unfortunately, because I was silly enough to have so many credit cards, and only one with a chip and pin facility, three of them were utilised over the space of 3 hours to the tune of over £3k. Whilst this was a bona fida crime, the process of recovering that money and having it re-credited to my accounts was a laboured process, which - once confirmed - also generated late payment fees and also needed redressing later on, so the inconvenience of the whole matter actually lasted over 3 months! Therefore, the quicker the loss or theft can be reported the better.
Whilst it is called the "Card Protection Plan", cover can go much further than that, with drivers' licenses, passports, mobiles (No, not Babies toys … phones), and keys all covered under the policy.
Keys? Ok, this one is a bit of a flimsy one, because you are simply provided with a key ring, informing the "finder" of the keys where to return them to, but this is very dependent upon an honest and decent person finding them! If the keys are returned to CPP, then they cover the cost then returning them back to you. They may even make you a cup of tea they're that nice … sent in a thermos to ensure it stays hot! Obviously I jest but wouldn't that be service!
If you are abroad when your wallet is stolen or lost, then advances and cash advances are provided for you to pay hotel bills, replace travel tickets, spare cash, lost luggage, and for replacing passports or driving licenses.
~~~~ Cost ~~~~
I have a plan that covers 3 years, which is the minimum period of cover, and cost me £45, which at £15 a year didn't seem a bad deal to me.
The longer the period of cover chosen, then the premium will decrease in cost.
I have the single classic cover, but the "Plus Protection" offers higher monetary values for both fraud cover and emergency cash advances.
Additional cards can be added at any time, up to a specified maximum.
~~~~~~~~ Summary ~~~~~~~~In summary the service provides;
Card protection
Travel assistance
Financial support
Cover for up to 5 people (additional tariff)
Lost key retrieval ~ key coded fob
Excellent security and privacy
I would highly recommend this, and whilst I have not had to use it for it's purpose as yet, my dealings so far have resulted in excellent adn friendly customer service.A full list of terms & conditions are supplied upon application, providing you with a whole list of definitions, and vital detail on what you can expect to claim for what, what you can expect to receive for what, and a run down on the service and emergency numbers.
Applications can be made via the website www.cpp.co.uk
Thanks for reading!
Newty :-D
PS Some of the ratings below don;t really mean too much, as there is no APR or reward scheme.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Brilliant review. I had a card stolen and somebody spent £500 with it, even after i'd stopped the card.
salem_witch 04.05.2006 00:21
What a damn nuisance! I've had my purse stole before but I was lucky and I had no credit cards back then. Having this would be very handy as there are a lot of buggers out there!
Jonesy160 26.04.2006 10:44
This is a good review about CPP. I had the misfortune of having my handbag stolen from a pub from under the table and called CPP and then the police. The whole thing took about 5 minutes. Luckily some honest person handed my bag in to the local police station so in the end although I had to wait for new cards I only had my ipod stolen and got everything else back. CPP are well worth investing in.
Apr 21st, 2006
exceptional by (22%):
very helpful by (78%):
