I lost my wallet at Birmingham airport. It had Debit Cards for 2 natwest a/c's 4 Natwest credit cards of various types, including 2 Premier Gold, split between the 2 a/c's and an Amex card.( I know they should not all have been in the same wallet, normally I split them into two lots some in my wallet and some with my travel docs. I always do it before I leave home now) Natwest insisted that all cards had to be sent to my home address and that took 7 days before they arrived and my daughter could then send them on to me in NZ. Luckily I was staying with friends so did not have the problem of checking into a hotel without cards. My saviour was Amex, card arrived in NZ 48 hours later having been sent I believe from Australia. If I had been on the road and did not carry an Amex card I would have really been in trouble.

I have banked with Natwest for 15 years and have for many years paid annually for their Premier Banking facilities. To be honest I joined initially for the Air Miles, but use my card for all purchases, believing that the card offered a 'purchase protection facility' if purchases were lost or stolen soon after purchase. I recently bought a new mobile phone which was subsequently lost / stolen and when I enquired about the protection was told it only applied to people who did not have home insurance. I cannot imagine there is anyone with a Gold Premier card who does not have home insurance, thereby invalidating the offer of purchase protection made when I first took out my card ! I will not be renewing my card's fee this year. I wonder if all credit cards 'purchase protection' offers are similar ?