Premier bank accounts... are they worth it?

Premier bank accounts... are they worth it?

Author
Discussion

Sarah_W

Original Poster:

288 posts

188 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all
My bank balance continously fluctuates between a few thousand for a few months and then upto a small six figure sum for a few months (long story!). I currently bank with Cahoot although I'm considering getting a new premier style account which offer various benefits. I run my own busness and my income fluctuates a lot between approx 50k and 120k pretty randomly so not sure if I'd be excluded from certain accounts.

Have any of you folks found a premier bank account that you can recommend with a good "cost/benefit ratio" lol!

Your experiences please...

Edited by Sarah_W on Tuesday 19th May 22:46

Working Class

8,927 posts

195 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all
Worst i earn 50-120k a year thread ever

GreigM

6,739 posts

257 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all
Do you have a mortgage? With a high balance and fluctuation, unless you're going to invest the money an offset account may be a good option...

speedychrissie

2,994 posts

247 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all
My father has been banking with Coutts for quite a few years now with no complaints. I dont know what the income restrictions are, but it might be worth looking into.

grumbas

1,051 posts

199 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all
Most premier accounts don't seem to pay much (if any) interest whilst in credit. Personally I'd be seeking out an account that does, even if you don't get the fancy plastic with it!

My Barclays premier account doesn't give me any discernible 'benefits' at all - I've only got it as a mate works for them and set it up as part of a mortgage application and waived the monthly fee.

Where it does come in handy though is you're generally dealing with staff who aren't 100% reliant on what the computer tells them!

NDA

22,356 posts

233 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all

Private banks tend to require a fairly substantial income and/or assets. Those banking there are not generally looking to save on the cost of cashing a cheque - it's more the ability to be £150k overdrawn occasionally without being made to feel like some guilty schoolboy.

Adam B

27,985 posts

262 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all
first direct one is a no brainer

£10 per month for mobile phone insurance, multi trip travel insurance, (those two pay for it on won) + free cash withdrawals abroad, breakdown assistance

I used to pay it from a joint account and the same £10 covered both parties

PistonReg

339 posts

201 months

Tuesday 19th May 2009
quotequote all
Working Class said:
Worst i earn 50-120k a year thread ever
Worst "worst ever" thread EVER lol ;-)

ShadownINja

77,520 posts

290 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
Working Class said:
Worst i earn 50-120k a year thread ever
And a cunning way of finding all the rich guys who have cash (yes, you could look at our cars but an F430 on HP is hard to spot I'd have thought).

jamoor

14,506 posts

223 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
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Used to have one, they then suddenly decided they needed to make some money so began charging, naturally I told them to shove it as they offered zero benefits.

1JEB

254 posts

226 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
I use barclays premier for my day to day banking and its, well..ok. There's a 24hr tel # with a real person at the end (or very convincing robot) and they usually sort things out straight away. There have been a few occaisions where they've p1ssed me off with their inflexibility over moving larger sums of money around (ie when buying selling flats etc). 10 pounds a month i think.
Interest in basically 0 regardless of what the base rate is but its easy to use the online banking to keep money in an e-savings account. I think you get access to slightly better products too.

Their international banking and wealth management is limited with only USD and EUR accounts I think.

The missus uses HSBC premier and that seems good. I considered changing recently.

Have heard good things about Coutts and their card looks the best, which, in the end, is the most important thing.

HTH

Vee

3,101 posts

242 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
Natwest one (Advantage something) is good in my experience - the Green Flag recovery and travel insurance means it pays for itself.
They did try and send me a new credit card, which had pretty much the same benefits as the bank account, and wanted to charge me another £250 per year for it. Needless to say it got sent back immediately !

anonymous-user

62 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
swerni said:
NDA said:
Private banks tend to require a fairly substantial income and/or assets. Those banking there are not generally looking to save on the cost of cashing a cheque - it's more the ability to be £150k overdrawn occasionally without being made to feel like some guilty schoolboy.
Having said that, I used to be with the same bank as you.

Clearly they don't always get it right wink
May we ask which one this is?

tingymagig

310 posts

189 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
i have a lloyds premier account and do get use out of it i have home emergency cover, AA cover (everything bar euro cover), phone ins on 2 phones (mine an SWMBO),travel ins, regular experian credit reports, identity theft protection, somthing that cancels all my cards if i loose me wallet (rather then ringing loads of differant companys they do it for you) and some other stuff i dont use

but surely youd be better off with a buisness account?

Sarah_W

Original Poster:

288 posts

188 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
ShadownINja said:
Working Class said:
Worst i earn 50-120k a year thread ever
And a cunning way of finding all the rich guys who have cash (yes, you could look at our cars but an F430 on HP is hard to spot I'd have thought).
I don't think my long term boyfriend would be too happy about that :-O

Hey - maybe this is the worst "I've got a boyfriend" thread ever lol!

ShadownINja

77,520 posts

290 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
Sarah_W said:
ShadownINja said:
Working Class said:
Worst i earn 50-120k a year thread ever
And a cunning way of finding all the rich guys who have cash (yes, you could look at our cars but an F430 on HP is hard to spot I'd have thought).
I don't think my long term boyfriend would be too happy about that :-O

Hey - maybe this is the worst "I've got a boyfriend" thread ever lol!
Haha, yes, this is the worst "I've got a bf" thread ever. You've take a whole day to come out with it.

PS Damn, you've got a bf.

Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 20th May 10:27

Dave_ST220

10,341 posts

213 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
GreigM said:
Do you have a mortgage? With a high balance and fluctuation, unless you're going to invest the money an offset account may be a good option...
Just done that very thing, got approved today smile

Sick of seeing zero interest on a large sum while they ass rape me on a mortgage.

Sarah_W

Original Poster:

288 posts

188 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
ShadownINja said:
Sarah_W said:
ShadownINja said:
Working Class said:
Worst i earn 50-120k a year thread ever
And a cunning way of finding all the rich guys who have cash (yes, you could look at our cars but an F430 on HP is hard to spot I'd have thought).
I don't think my long term boyfriend would be too happy about that :-O

Hey - maybe this is the worst "I've got a boyfriend" thread ever lol!
Haha, yes, this is the worst "I've got a bf" thread ever. You've take a whole day to come out with it.

PS Damn, you've got a bf.

Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 20th May 10:27
Well, I might have a bf, but I'm very flattered ;-) So.. do you have an 430 lol!

ShadownINja

77,520 posts

290 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
Sarah_W said:
ShadownINja said:
Sarah_W said:
ShadownINja said:
Working Class said:
Worst i earn 50-120k a year thread ever
And a cunning way of finding all the rich guys who have cash (yes, you could look at our cars but an F430 on HP is hard to spot I'd have thought).
I don't think my long term boyfriend would be too happy about that :-O

Hey - maybe this is the worst "I've got a boyfriend" thread ever lol!
Haha, yes, this is the worst "I've got a bf" thread ever. You've take a whole day to come out with it.

PS Damn, you've got a bf.

Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 20th May 10:27
Well, I might have a bf, but I'm very flattered ;-) So.. do you have an 430 lol!
Not yet because I can't buy it with cash.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

253 months

Wednesday 20th May 2009
quotequote all
Vee said:
Natwest one (Advantage something) is good in my experience - the Green Flag recovery and travel insurance means it pays for itself.
I bank with NatWest and have a perfectly ordinary (free) account, but still have access to "Private Banking". As someone else mentioned, the key thing is that you get to speak to people who aren't complete muppets.

I looked at their Advantage account and at first thought it would be worth it just for the mobile phone insurance for the kids iPhones - but it only covers ordinary mobile phones.
The travel insurance had some holes in it too.


For someone with chunky amounts of money in their current account then,, assuming they have a mortgage, surely an offset account of some sort would be an absolute no-brainer?

Edited by Deva Link on Wednesday 20th May 13:28