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By Claire Stevenson
Staff Writer
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
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HAVE you seen the new Barclaycard ad with the fellas from Green Wing? Julian Rhind-Tutt and Stephen Mangan trek across America and one of them gets handcuffed to a motel bed while their expensive techno gear is nicked.
Had the unfortunate who had his stuff stolen been in possession of a Platinum Barclaycard, he could have got six months’ free gadget insurance – that’s Barclaycard’s latest offering on its Platinum card range.
But is this new shiny offering any good, and who would benefit from it?
Barclaycard Platinum credit card comes with a catch
First off, only applicants with extremely good credit ratings can apply for this card so if your rating is poor, you’ll have a job getting one.
What’s more, you will have to be over 21 to apply for this card, which rules it out for students and a good proportion of the gadget-owning population!
 Apply for the Barclaycard Platinum card online now (and get six months' free gadget insurance)
What are the benefits of the free Barclaycard gadget insurance?
- You can cover up to a maximum of 3 gadgets up to a total value of £500. So if you want to cover 3 mid-range mp3 players, you’re fine, but you can forget registering that top-of-the-range laptop.
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There’s 0% interest on balance transfers for 14 months and 0% interest on purchases for 3 months.
- The gadget cover is free and lasts six months.
Any nasties lurking in the t&cs?
As with most terms and conditions, there are lots of clauses that make for disappointing reading.
Take out the gadget insurance and you’ll find that:
- You have to stump up the excess charge of £25 of each and every claim you make. What’s more, you’re not covered for theft from a commercial vehicle, making things tricky if you use your gadgets while driving for business purposes. It doesn’t cover theft from a soft-top or convertible either. And you can only claim up to £500 per incident.
- The insurance only covers gadgets bought in the UK. As for usage, it does cover use outside the UK, but this is limited to just 90 days.
- There’s a 14-day deferment period when you buy the insurance. So you’re not covered for a fortnight.
- Er, the insurance is only free for the first six months. After this honeymoon period, you’ll be charged a cheeky £8.99 for the service, until you put in a cancellation request.
What are the alternatives to Barclaycards free gadget insurance?
If you’re going to end up paying £8.99 per month (after the initial 6 months free period) for gadget insurance, you might as well look for alternative deals.
So what’s out there already?
- Gadget Cover (www.gadget-cover.com) offers low-cost mobile phone, laptop, sat-nav and mp3 player insurance. Economy laptop insurance costs from £5 a month and the cover limit is £1000.
- GizmoGuard (www.gizmoguard.co.uk) offers UK cover for sat-navs and PDAs from as little as £24, or £29 for gadget cover in a vehicle.
So is the Barclaycard credit card with free gadget insurance offer any good?
If you’re just going to use the Barclaycard Platinum option to buy items or for its lengthy balance transfer period (14 months with a 2.9% handling fee) and opt out of the gadget insurance offer, then why not look at alternatives?
For example, the Virgin Credit Card pips the Barclaycard to the post in a photo-finish with 0% on all balance transfers for 15 months and a balance transfer fee of 2.98%.
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