Nationwide increases the monthly fee on its FlexPlus current account by 38% to £18 – should you ditch it now?

Nationwide Building Society has increased the monthly fee for its FlexPlus current account by £5 a month.

From this month, customers will pay a monthly fee of £18 up from £13 a month, representing a 38 per cent increase.

This means that over the course of a year, customers will pay £216 in fees to maintain the current account, up from £156, a jump of £60 a year.

Nationwide said the monthly rate increase was due to the “increased cost of insurance.” All customers were notified that the rate would increase in September.

In return for the monthly fee, customers receive family travel insurance, family telephone insurance, vehicle breakdown cover, commission-free overseas spending, exclusive savings rates and an organized overdraft with an interest rate of £50 .

We look at whether the benefits offered by the Nationwide FlexPlus account are worth the higher monthly fee of £18.

What does the FlexPlus account offer?

travel insurance

The FlexPlus account comes with global multi-trip insurance through Aviva.

Covers families for trips of up to 31 days and includes coverage for winter sports and trip interruptions. It covers all FlexPlus checking account holders, their partners and their children.

On its own, a plan like this with Aviva would cost around £300 or £460 through a different provider, according to price comparison website Compare the Market.

If you had several trips planned in a year, the benefit of travel insurance alone through the FlexPlus account would make the £216 fee worth it.

Andrew Hagger, founder of the MoneyComms website, said: ‘Aviva’s global multi-trip insurance offers a good level of cover.

“My wife and I had to claim this earlier this year and it was an excellent service – we received the refund into our account within five days of making the claim.”

Telephone insurance

The FlexPlus Checking Account also comes with Assurant Worldwide Family Mobile Phone Insurance.

It covers phone accessories, unauthorized network charges (if someone else uses your phone without your permission) and covers high value phones up to £2,000.

You can make up to four claims per FlexPlus account in any 12-month period. Excesses of between £30 and £100 will be applied when making a claim.

Vehicle breakdown cover

The FlexPlus account comes with vehicle coverage for any eligible vehicle you travel in (personal coverage) plus any vehicle you own (vehicle coverage), even if someone else is driving. It applies within the UK and Europe. Coverage is provided by the AA.

You do not need to pay any excess when claiming.

Annual vehicle cover costs around £90, while personal cover costs £112 if purchased directly through AA.

Hagger added: “AA comprehensive breakdown recovery (European cover too) will cover you and your family members for any car you travel in.”

Exclusive savings rates

The best savings rates offered through Nationwide’s FlexPlus account are a regular saver, which pays up to 6.5 per cent on deposits of up to £200 a month, and an easy access account, which pays 3.5 per cent. 25 percent.

While it offers an attractive interest rate, the regular savings account has some disadvantages.

Customers can only make three free withdrawals in a 12-month period. On a fourth withdrawal, the rate drops to 2.15 percent.

Savers will find a better deal at First Direct’s regular saver, which offers 7 per cent on deposits up to £300 a month.

Customers can find easy access offers that pay up to 4.85 percent right now, so the FlexPlus easy access account that pays 3.25 percent is not one of the main attractions of the FlexPlus account.

Additionally, customers on your free account can also access these loyalty rates.

Hagger said: ‘The price increase for FlexPlus is a bit steep, but it hasn’t been increased for some time.

‘The level of coverage obtained through the account is very complete. Even at £216 per year, I still think this account offers excellent value for money.’

A Nationwide spokesperson said: “We have held back the FlexPlus rate increase since 2017. However, the rising cost of insurance means we now need to make changes, which will come into effect from December.”

‘Even after this change, which was notified to customers in September, FlexPlus will remain one of the most competitive packaged current accounts in the UK, both in price and quality of cover.

“Nationwide continues to reward current account customers with access to exclusive products, such as the Flex Regular Saver, which pays 6.5 per cent, and earlier this year returned £385 million to eligible members through a payment of £ 100 Fairer Share”.