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Sasenach

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Review of the Saga, Travel insurance:

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Great value for money- simple to arrange and good levels of cover

My wife and I went on holiday earlier this year with our two grown up children and we wanted a family travel insurance policy to cover us as a group. We used Saga and found the whole process very simple and quick. Underwriting is on line. Having seen a doctor within the past 12 months about something quite minor, I found other providers wanted to increase my premium by an amount I felt was unreasonable. However, with Saga, the underwriting was completed on line and the whole process was simple. Whilst there was a slight increase in premium it was significantly lower than other providers had quoted. The lower cost did ont come at the expense of cover. The policy provided good levels of cover for various situations and reasonable exclusions. The whole process was quick and simple from start to finish and I'll be using Saga to cover my next holiday. Reviewed on: 5th November 2015

Review of the Halifax, Clarity Credit Card:

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Halifax Clarity Rewards- Great for holiday money

I took out one of these cards (with my wife as an additional card holder) to go on holiday this year because of the benefits it offers for foreign currency transactions. · It offers a great exchange rate · Drawing cash as foreign currency from ATMs worked out cheaper than buying currency in the UK to take away with us · There’s no annual fee and no fee to use the card outside the UK Unlike many other credit cards, there’s no charge for cash advances. This means that you can go to an ATM and withdraw money without paying any fee (assuming that the ATM is free to use). It also offers a very competitive exchange rate- we found the rate offered was significantly better than the rate we were quoted for currency at all of the bureaus we contacted. You will pay interest from the date you draw money from the machine. However, if you clear the balance as soon as you get back to the UK, this should be quite low. On a recent week long holiday, we spent/ drew down around £800 which we paid back the day we returned to the UK and this cost us £0.14 interest. Having used this for the first time this summer, we found the card simple to use and very efficient and safer than carrying large amounts of money around with us. We’ll use the card to get money when we arrive rather than taking currency with us on future holiday. Reviewed on: 29th August 2015

Review of the RBS, Select Current Account:

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RBS Select Account

This is a straight forward, no frills account. You don’t pay a monthly fee, but you don’t get any adds ons like free travel insurance. I think this type of plan is the best value for money. OK, the accounts with monthly fees may offer a lower cost package and make things simple if you’re going to buy all the packaged products anyway. But, you may find that the package includes things you don’t need or won’t use, or that the cover/ features aren’t exactly what you want. Or, you may not use your preferred provider. I prefer the basic account and then choose separate providers for the elements I really want. It may not be the cheapest, but I think that it’s better value for money. So, apart from having no fee, what’s good about the account? The main benefits are: · Branch network- there’s a wide network of RBS branches. From my experience, the staffs are friendly, knowledgeable and keen to help. · Digital banking- the online application is simple to use. It gives real time values and makes it easy to pay bills and transfer money at any time of the day · Mobile app- as well as the same functions that you’d get from online banking, there’s a facility to draw emergency money from ATMs using your phone if you don’t have your debit card. I think that this is a great feature- I’ve used this twice whilst I’ve been out having left my wallet at home. So what’s not so good? If you go more than £10 overdrawn, there’s a £6PM fee plus interest. This applies even if you have an agreed overdraft facility. I don’t have a problem with the account having a fee. However, the way RBS apply direct debits and other withdrawals can leave the unwary out of pocket. There’s a text alert facility available, where RBS will send a text letting you know when your credit balance falls below a certain level. However, this is only sent in response to direct debit payment, not other cash withdrawals. My own experience has been that these aren’t always timely- I’ve received text alerts 24 hours after the direct debit payment has left my account. Overall I think the account is good value and I’ll continue to use it for the foreseeable future. However, if you’re likely to go close to a zero balance in your account, particularly on a regular basis, you’ll need to take responsibility for close monitoring your account and not rely on alerts, otherwise you may find you’re out of pocket. Reviewed on: 29th August 2015

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