A: When you don’t have to pay anything for it. Nationwide customers can get 12 months free additional cover on electrical goods purchased with their credit card, and the building society has recently increased the range of products customers can insure.
Extended warranties insure against damage once the manufacturer’s guarantee expires, but they are one of the worst value for money financial products around. They are obscenely expensive - costing anywhere up to 50% of the product you’re covering – and with most products already covered for up to two years by the manufacturer anyway, the benefits are minimal (read more about it here).
But if you’re in the market for any new electrical or white goods anyway, then adding an extra year’s cover to it for free can be appealing - especially considering high risk devices like portable DVD and music players can now be covered too. Just make sure you can pay off any purchases quickly.
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Interest outweighs benefits
This is because the Nationwide credit card only offers three months interest free on new expenditure. If you can’t pay it off within that time frame, simply avoid Nationwide altogether as the interest you rack up (the card has a high 17.9% APR) will more than outweigh the minimal benefits of a free extended warranty. Opt instead for an HSBC credit card, which will give you a whole year to pay off your new purchases.
If you can clear your debt in three months, then simply register your electrical or white good with Nationwide within 60 days of purchase. Note that there is no limit to the number of purchases you can cover, but the goods must each be worth more than £50 and less than £5,000. While Nationwide has expanded the range of goods it will cover, the following still didn’t make the list:
- Computers and home office equipment (whether in a home office or not); PCs, laptops, hand held computing devices, computer peripherals, printers, scanners, all in ones (combined printer scanner copier), webcams, external hard drivers, routers, fax machines and photocopiers;
- Sat Nav systems;
- Central heating components;
- Home security components;
- Personal communications equipment (mobile phones, Blackberries and other personal communications equipment);
- Powered garden equipment;
- Powered garage equipment;
- Any goods under £50 and over £5,000.
If you aren't in the market for one of these, don’t bother with a Nationwide card. As we mentioned before, there are far more competitive new purchase offers out there.
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