Which "premier" account

[MagicMike]

As per title, seems there's a number of these accounts out there. Which banks have treated fellow Pistonheaders well, and would be recommended?

[Olf]

What's important to you? do you travel? ex-pat? what do you want from it?

[AdamFX]

A vote for HSBC Premier. Not sure who offers the best perks these days but they've always been very hot on security.

[Olf]

AdamFX said:

A vote for HSBC Premier. Not sure who offers the best perks these days but they've always been very hot on security.

But they treated me like st as an ex-pat. I'm two years back and they still owe me a lot of money in charges they promised they'd never charge. That said they've been great to me in the UK

So what is it the OP wants?

[kiethton]

I've got the nationwide premier thing with no issues...

£10pm for breakdown, phone insurance, travel insurance etc...

[Jockman]

AdamFX said:

A vote for HSBC Premier. Not sure who offers the best perks these days but they've always been very hot on security.

Agreed in so far as tremendous mortgage rates and free travel insurance. Depends on OP's situation.

[lbc]

A good place to start... http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-b...

[walm]

For a regular bank account the default is to say First Direct.
Not sure what sort of "premier" needs you have but they have always done me very well.
(And I have banked with Coutts before so I have had some experience of the "higher end" - it was just a rip off. And went rapidly downhill after they stopped handwriting your statements anyway )

[williaa68]

kiethton said:

I've got the nationwide premier thing with no issues...

£10pm for breakdown, phone insurance, travel insurance etc...

+1. My mortgage is an offset with first direct but I have this account for the perks alone. Daughter lost her phone recently and they replaced it with no fuss - that's four years of premiums paid.

[XJ75]

We have the Natwest Black Reward Account. One thing I would recommend is that if you have a joint account, upgrade that to a paid account and you will get 2 lots of the individual benefits for the same monthly cost.

Headline benefits for Natwest black are:

• Worldwide travel insurance for the whole family.
• Unlimited Priority Pass for airport lounges (2 of these as it's a joint account).
• Mobile phone insurance for the whole family (up to 4 phones).
• UK and Europe breakdown cover (covers all cars owned by me and my partner).
• 24/7 home emergency cover up to £750.
• 25% cashback on Ticketmaster tickets.
• Up to 3% cashback on household bills.

It's quite steep at £28 per month, but an unlimited Priority Pass costs £260 and we get 2 of these, so that's worth £520. So we have easily made our money back from that benefit alone.

[gibbon]

I have hsbc premier, its free, as noted travel insurance is great, and good mortgage deals. They are also pretty good when theres an issue and i never wait in any call centre queues etc, straight through to a uk call centre, that alone makes a difference to me.

[Craikeybaby]

I have been happy with my Natwest Premium account for years, although I will look at changing the joint account to a premium account and downgrading my Natwest account.

[Marc p]

A lot of people recommending HSBC Premier, which I agree is great(currently doing mortgage application with premier and the service is spot on), however, the criteria is out of reach/not feasible for most people, taken from website:

[i] HSBC Premier is available to you, as long as you pay your annual income into your HSBC Premier Bank Account and either:

1) Have savings or investments of at least £50,000 with HSBC in the UK; or
2) have an individual annual income of at least £100,000 and one of the following products with HSBC in the UK:

- a mortgage;
- an investment, life insurance or protection product; [/i]

[Moominho]

I have HSBC Premier, a colleague has the Natwest Black account and he gets many more perks (as stated above). I would change if I could be bothered, but my balance will be going under £50k soon so I'll probably lose it...

[Vixpy1]

Barclays Premier, not quite sure what i get tbh

[jimi]

I used to have HSBC Premier. The best thing was the account manager - she was very helpful, answered the phone whenever I called, knew my name and circumstances and made a difference.

Recommended.

[gibbon]

Marc p said:

A lot of people recommending HSBC Premier, which I agree is great(currently doing mortgage application with premier and the service is spot on), however, the criteria is out of reach/not feasible for most people, taken from website:

[i] HSBC Premier is available to you, as long as you pay your annual income into your HSBC Premier Bank Account and either:

1) Have savings or investments of at least £50,000 with HSBC in the UK; or
2) have an individual annual income of at least £100,000 and one of the following products with HSBC in the UK:

- a mortgage;
- an investment, life insurance or protection product; [/i]

Without wishing to sound facetious is that not the point? If it was available to the vast majority then it would dilute the service its able to give, the limited nature of it is kind of the point.

The personal adviser is ok, i wouldnt really call them an adviser in any kind of financial sense, but they do reply to an email directly, answer an individual mobile number etc and do seem to try to solve issues for you.

[FrankAbagnale]

Vixpy1 said:

Barclays Premier, not quite sure what i get tbh

A free coffee a day at Patisserve Valerie and 25% off your bill at Strada. That's about it I think...

[IIIRestorerIII]

Fortunate enough to have HSBC Premier. My balance changes quite often as I avoid credit so save up and then make larger purchases. This means it does drop below the requirements but it's never been an issue. I do have a business account with HSBC too.

My benefits from the account are the travel insurance (never used) and a regular supply of Amazon vouchers from the rewards on the card.

Dislike having to type in a\c no., dob and security code before speaking to someone in the uk call centre.

The Natwest one does look good but at least the HSBC isn't costing anything.

[Marc p]

gibbon said:

Marc p said:

A lot of people recommending HSBC Premier, which I agree is great(currently doing mortgage application with premier and the service is spot on), however, the criteria is out of reach/not feasible for most people, taken from website:

[i] HSBC Premier is available to you, as long as you pay your annual income into your HSBC Premier Bank Account and either:

1) Have savings or investments of at least £50,000 with HSBC in the UK; or
2) have an individual annual income of at least £100,000 and one of the following products with HSBC in the UK:

- a mortgage;
- an investment, life insurance or protection product; [/i]

Without wishing to sound facetious is that not the point? If it was available to the vast majority then it would dilute the service its able to give, the limited nature of it is kind of the point.

The personal adviser is ok, i wouldnt really call them an adviser in any kind of financial sense, but they do reply to an email directly, answer an individual mobile number etc and do seem to try to solve issues for you.

Think you may have misunderstood me slightly, I understand the restrictions and yes it would dilute it if everyone could have access, but I have a feeling the OP was asking for maybe one of the paid for accounts, where you may pay £150 a year for better rates/service/etc, not one where you have to have a good chunk of money at any one time in your account or earning over £100k a year.