The Nationwide packaged account includes added insurance for a monthly fee
Nationwide FlexPlus is a packaged bank account, so it’s a paid alternative to the Nationwide Flex Account, costing £13 a month (although this is rising to £18 per month on 1 December 2024). I won’t go into any detail on the nitty gritty of the bank account. I’ve instead focused on the additional aspects of the account you’re paying for, including the travel insurance, mobile phone cover and breakdown cover.
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What do you get with Nationwide FlexPlus?
Here are some details of the benefits of the Nationwide FlexPlus account. In some cases, we’ve added an “estimated value”. For these, we’ve looked broadly at how much similar cover would cost for a family of four using a comparison site, but the actual figures will depend on the makeup of your family and what cover you want.
Worldwide family travel insurance
- Provided by: Aviva
- Estimated value: £130
- This is based on quotes we found for a family of four getting a worldwide multi-trip annual insurance policy
The worldwide travel insurance offered with the Nationwide Flex account is pretty decent — it’s got cover for winter sports and you’re covered for travel disruptions. So if your trip is cancelled, you miss your departure, you’re delayed or you need to make alternative arrangements then you’re covered.
You can also upgrade the insurance if you need it. This might include cover for pre-existing conditions, longer trip cover (you’re covered up to 31 days abroad), extended cruise cover or choosing to go home early.
The cover is for your entire family whether you’re travelling alone or together, including children up to 23 years old as long as they live at your address (being away at university is fine) and aren’t married. To compare, the Virgin Money Club M account only covers up to four dependants and they must be under the age of 18, so this one can get you family cover when they’re a little older.
Cover for pre-existing conditions
If you have pre-existing conditions then Aviva might cover them at no additional charge. You may have to pay a fee to include some conditions.
Family mobile phone insurance
- Provided by: Assurant
- Estimated value: £140
- This is based on quotes we found for four of the latest mobile phones, assuming they were bought in the last year for broadly the same cover as below.
You also get insurance for your phone, your partner’s phone, and any dependent children’s phones. You’ll be covered for loss, theft, damage and any faults.
The cover is worldwide, it also covers accessories that were lost or damaged at the same time as your phone, and it includes high-value phones so you can get up to £2,000 back per claim.
Your children’s phones are covered if they are under 19 (or 22 in full-time education) and aren’t married.
UK and European breakdown cover
- Provided by: the AA
- Estimated value: £110
- This is based on quotes we found for personal breakdown cover for one person for a year with the AA.
You also get UK and European breakdown cover. This covers any vehicle you’re travelling in and any that you own, even when someone else is driving it. This means it could cover your partner if you owned the car.
Your partner wouldn’t be covered as a passenger or when driving someone else’s car, including hire cars. You can get around this one by getting Nationwide FlexPlus as a joint account. It doesn’t cost anything extra.
None of the other insurances would be impacted by this decision, as they all cover the whole family, however, you’d both benefit from the waived fees when using your card abroad, detailed below.
Waived fees when using your card abroad
You won’t be charged when using your debit card abroad, which could save you up to 2.99% on the transaction amount.
This is more of a bonus to the account and shouldn’t be a decision-maker, as there are plenty of debit and credit cards available to use abroad without extra fees.
| FlexPlus | FlexAccount or FlexDirect | |
| Purchases made in a foreign currency | No fee | 2.99% of the transaction amount |
| Cash withdrawals in a foreign currency outside the UK | No fee | 2.99% of the transaction amount |
| Cash withdrawals in a foreign currency within the UK | No fee | No Fee at LINK ATMs or over-the-counter2.99% of the transaction amount at non-LINK ATMs |
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How Nationwide FlexPlus differs from other packaged accounts
✅ You get European breakdown cover and UK cover. Most other packaged accounts only offer UK breakdown cover — others with this benefit include Co-operative Bank Everyday Extra and Lloyds Silver
✅ Phone insurance is for the entire family. Again, a lot of the other packaged bank accounts don’t have family cover as standard — the Virgin Club M account includes phones and other gadgets, including laptops for the entire family, making it a contender in this area
❌ Breakdown cover only covers the account holder
Nationwide FlexPlus customer reviews
Customers of Nationwide FlexPlus have given Nationwide FlexPlus 3.89/5 over at our sister site, Smart Money People. Customers love the insurance benefits and feel like it’s great value for money. One customer even referred to it as “magic”.
Some customers feel that the mobile phone insurance isn’t good enough, with some claiming their phones weren’t repaired or came back more damaged than when they were sent off.
Is Nationwide FlexPlus worth it?
Zoe’s analysis
At the moment, the Nationwide FlexPlus packaged account is one of the cheapest packaged accounts available for the benefits you get. Before the price rise, this was the account I would have likely moved to once Monzo Premium is pulled. However, the price rise in December will make this one of the most expensive packaged accounts, so I’d be more likely to lean towards the Virgin Money Club M account instead.
You can get travel insurance for your whole family worldwide, cover all of your family’s phones and get breakdown cover in the UK and Europe.
The estimated value of the three main benefits combined is £380 per year, for a family while this account costs £156 for the year (£216 from 1 December). If you think you’d pay for all three features, the FlexPlus account could save you as much as £224. However, this will drop to £164 from December.
At the moment, even if you just use two of the benefits, you’d save more than £100 per year., But once the fee goes up, your potential savings will reduce to around £50.
If you’re not looking to cover more people than yourself, then it might not work out any cheaper, especially if you don’t need all three benefits.
The main drawback to the account is that breakdown cover only technically covers the account holder, but as we mentioned above, you can work around this.
Nationwide FlexPlus
| Account name | Nationwide FlexPlus |
| Cost | £13 per month (£18 from 1 December) |
| Annual cost | £156 (£216 from 1 December) |
| Minimum term | No minimum term |
| Benefits | Worldwide family travel insurance |
| Family mobile phone insurance | |
| UK and European breakdown cover | |
| Use your card for free abroad | |
| Drawbacks | Breakdown cover only covers the account holder |
| Joint account available? | Yes, at no extra cost |
I no longer think the FlexPlus account will be good value when the fee rises. Nationwide has constantly reduced the benefits over the years and now a large price hike. You used to get interest on the account, now Nationwide pocket it. They used to provide extended warranty free afte guarantees expired. Aviva has just taken over their travel insurance, we will have to see what they charge for existing medical conditions. This is the important fee. Car recovery insurance can be obtained for around £60 if you change companies each year. If you have a joint account then the Car recovery covers both people and 2 cars.