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Emma Gilbert

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All reviews (5)

Review of the Halifax, Help to Buy ISA:

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Good, but used to be better

I first spotted this ISA when it appeared at a 4% interest rate. Unfortunately I thought I'd leave it till I had saved the max for a first month deposit, by which time it was only 2% interest! Disappointing, but on the other hand, Brexit happened in between and I can't blame Halifax for that. Other than that, service is good, I like their online system and you always get through to someone in the UK when you call them. Customer service is very good. Reviewed on: 6th February 2017

Review of the Barclaycard, Platinum Credit Card:

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Good solid everyday credit card

I picked this card for my first credit card for no real reason except that my parents use this company, but by sheer luck, it turned out to be a very good bet. Their APR has stayed pretty low (9%) the whole time I've had this card, which has been several years. They happily change credit limit based on your requests if you are a good and regular customer who keeps up with payments. There are no scary sudden changes, communication is brilliant and the website is really helpful and easy to use. Also I'm a fan of the occasional offers they extend to regular customers as well as to try and attract new ones -- every so often you will get a balance transfer or money transfer offer. I'm very happy with this card. Reviewed on: 9th August 2015

Review of the Endsleigh, Car Insurance:

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Cheap, Solid, Not Fast!

Endsleigh offered the cheapest policy for me by far this year, which is why I went with them. However, I did actually have to make a claim against my insurance for the first time ever, and while the initial claim was processed quickly and the call centres were UK based with good service, the actual process of the garage fixing my car took forever -- about 2 weeks. I don't know how far this is Endsleigh's fault since the garage were the ones being slow (once they had my car in there, mind!) but I kept seeing adverts at this time for DirectLine, saying how they'd pay £10 a day for every day the car was out of use and in the garage, and I did think...hmm. This is a bit annoying. On the plus side, they did give me a courtesy car included in the excess, and for an excess of £150 they quite happily replaced basically half my car. So I can't complain about the quality of the service or speed of claim processing, but they weren't anxious to hurry the process along with the garage. Reviewed on: 9th August 2015

Review of the Halifax, Ultimate Reward Current Account:

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Fair Fees and Amazing Extras

I switched to the Ultimate Reward Current Account on the advice of a Halifax sales person about a year ago. The sales person actually suggested I change for the most mundane reason -- I usually spent about 20 days out of 30 overdrawn by up to £200, and with the Ultimate Reward Current account, for a £15 fee you can be up to £300 overdrawn for no additional charge. So, for the sake of a few quid savings, I changed. I didn't even know at this time what extras came with this account, but -- wow. The one that's been most useful to me is the AA membership. This is FREE, and it's not even just the most basic membership -- it's the slightly more advanced type where if your car battery dies in your driveway, they'll come and sort that for you too. I've used this twice in the past year and it's made the switch worth it all by itself. On top of that, there's also free holiday insurance, free mobile phone insurance, and a whole load of regular cashback extras. For a £15 a month fee that in my case is actually less than I was paying in bank fees before, this is actually a massive saving all round. Apart from this, Halifax are very easy to deal with, have UK based call centres in friendly northern cities and try hard to get you the best deals they can. I highly recommend this account even just if you're someone who has need of the AA. Getting that for basically free is a brilliant perk. Reviewed on: 9th August 2015

Review of the Halifax, Ultimate Reward Current Account:

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So very worth it!

This account and its benefits are a godsend. If you are often a little bit, but not too far, into your overdraft, you save, as it's free up to 300 quid. More importantly still, you Get free AA membership and holiday insurance, both things you could have been spending a lot on. This is a great account benefits wise. Reviewed on: 8th April 2015

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