Users of the UK's biggest credit card are about to lose valuable insurance benefits. However, Barclaycard has come up a few replacement bells and whistles. How do they stack up?
In response to customer research and a change to industry regulation of general insurance policies from 14 January 2005, Barclaycard has decided to withdraw several of its free insurance policies.
On 1 January 2005, Barclaycard is withdrawing its price promise, extended warranty and travel accident insurance. For existing cardholders, this protection is being extended until 31 January. It's a shame that these policies are being withdrawn, because they provided protection against falling prices/sales discounts, one- or two-year extensions to manufacturer warranties for household goods, plus lump-sum payouts if you were to be involved in an accident while travelling.
On the other hand, Barclaycard is introducing a few new add-ons, including:
- Identity Protection Service, which gives advice on the prevention and detection of identify theft, together with help to resolve the problem and repair the credit status of victims.
- Fraud Protection, which protects cardholders from any fraudulent spending on their Barclaycard and alerts cardholders to any unusual spending patterns. However, this is only a slight improvement on your legal rights.
- Purchase Delivery Promise, which covers goods against loss or damage until they arrive at your door.
- Emergency Card Replacement and Cash Advance, which means a temporary replacement card will be sent to cardholders within three working days, anywhere in the world. An emergency cash advance of up to £1,000 a week is available, and Barclaycard will refund the 2% cash-advance fee. Again, this is little improvement on current practice.
- Travel Service, which offers an extra 5% discount on tour operators' prices, including any late deals, plus a refund of the 2% booking fee that many travel companies charge for paying by credit card.
- Home Emergency Helpline, which will provide an approved contractor to tackle emergency home repairs within two hours of your call. Fixed repair costs mean that customers know the price in advance and won't be stung by any unexpected charges.
By all means, use your Barclaycard to buy your Christmas presents, but be aware that items purchased on or before 31 January must be registered with the extended warranty scheme by 1 April. All Fools' Day is also the last day for price promise claims (for goods bought before 1 February), and no new travel accident insurance claims will be accepted after 31 January.
So, do these changes make Barclaycard's 10.8 million customers better off or worse off? On the whole, I suspect it's the latter. One clue is the fact that price promise and extended warranty cover are being re-launched in February, but users will be charged a fee.
In any event, most of this stuff is pure puff and frill. When comparing credit cards, the most important thing to consider is interest rates. After all, you can have a credit card that charges no interest on new purchases for up to a year, or one that charges no interest on transferred debts for up to twelve months. When all's said and done, you stand to make far more money from these 0% deals than from any add-ons!
More: Check out the cracking cards in our Credit Card centre | The Pros And Cons of Credit Cards.
