George the Travel Monkey: 12,000 Avios for Tesco Life Insurance

Tesco Bank is offering 5,000 Clubcard points for new customers who take out a life insurance or critical illness cover before 29 October 2013. You must quote promotional code P4L5K to receive the Clubcard points. Full details of the offer can be found here.

As a word of warning, I will discuss this deal from the prospect of obtaining Avios. If you want/need life or critical illness cover then get a policy that meets your financial needs rather than one that earns you Avios. You can find independent financial advice at unbiased.co.uk.

5,000 Clubcard points can be exchanged for 12,000 Avios. However, Tesco have learnt from previous points and do not give you the Clubcard points easily.The 5,000 Clubcard points will be allocated as 1,250 points over 4 quarterly Clubcard Statements. The first 1250 points will be applied after three monthly premiums have been paid. If you cancel your policy or stop paying premiums within the first 12 months, we will not apply any outstanding Clubcard points.

So, you need to maintain the policy for 12 months to receive the full allowance of Clubcard points. The minimum premium is £5.00 per month. Therefore, 12 months premium will cost £60 to earn 12,000 Avios (1 Avios = 0.5 pence).

I value Avios at one pence per point so I consider this to be a very good deal to earn Avios. The only drawback is the significant time required to earn the full allocation of points.

If you actually want the Life insurance it is important to answer all questions fully, truthfully and accurately. If you want the Clubcard points then make yourself appear as healthy as possible to avoid any underwriting problems.

You can cancel your policy at any time, but if you do, you won’t receive any money back, and if you cancel before 12 months you won’t receive all of the bonus Clubcard points.

It is also worth remembering that you can also exchange Tesco Clubcard points for Virgin Flying Club points if you prefer to redeem for Virgin or Delta flights.