They often come with travel insurance and mobile and card cover, but are the 'perks' of a packaged current account worth the monthly outlay, asks Hilary Osborne

Whenever I bank online it asks me if I want to "upgrade" my current account. To upgrade would, of course, cost me. If I chose to move from the standard Lloyds TSB account to its Silver account I would be charged £7.95 a month (although the first two months each cost £3); if I wanted a Gold account it would be £12 a month; and if I fancied going Platinum it would set me back £17. Stepping up again, and assuming I was allowed one, a Premier account would be £25 a month.

That seems quite a lot to spend on running a current account, but the bank assures me the benefits attached to these packaged accounts more than cover it. On the Silver account I would get travel insurance, AA breakdown cover and mobile phone and card cover – worth up to £249 a year, says Lloyds. On the Premier Account I get all of that plus home emergency and ID insurance, and an interest-free overdraft. On that account the value of the extras is put at £1,127.

Now I like a bargain. But I firmly believe if I shop around for all of those things as and when I need them – which is quite possibly never in the case of the Save My Numbers service offered to Premier customers – then I will probably not end up out of pocket. Even if I do end up spending slightly more, I know I am buying the best policy or service for my needs rather than the one that just happens to come with the....Read more Here ----> Suspect packages: is it worth paying for a current account? | Money | guardian.co.uk