Last updated: 21 September 2026. I checked every Monzo figure and every comparison price on this page that day.
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.
This is not financial advice, and CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK's financial regulator. I pay for Perks and have never held Max. So the verdict below is arithmetic from Monzo's own plan pages, its three policy booklets and published prices, rather than a year of living with the plan.
Opening a Monzo account first?
Every Monzo plan sits on top of a Monzo current account. My referral page has the live offer and the steps to claim it.
Worth it if you would buy two of the three policies anyway
Is Monzo Max worth it? Only if you would otherwise pay for at least two of the three insurance policies it bundles. Max costs £10 a month more than Perks, which comes to £120 a year. For that, it adds worldwide travel insurance, worldwide phone insurance and UK and Europe breakdown cover. I priced standalone versions of all three and they came to £290.66 a year. A household that needs all three therefore comes out well ahead. By contrast, someone who needs only one of them does not.
Still weighing up the Monzo range? My Monzo guides hub collects the lot, including the price rise, the Perks verdict and the Perks vs Max comparison.
Monzo changed its plan prices in 2026. My Monzo Perks price increase breakdown has every tier, the key dates and the maths.
Where I stand: on Perks, never on Max
I pay for Perks. The Railcard and the weekly Greggs drink are the parts I actually use, and my verdict on whether Monzo Perks is worth it is written from that. Max, however, I have never held. That means I have never claimed on its travel policy, called out the RAC or sent a broken phone to Assurant. Everything below about the insurance therefore comes from Monzo's policy booklets. Likewise, every comparison price comes from a named provider's own page, and I link each one.
Section 01 / What the money buys
What Max adds for £120 a year
Max keeps every Perks benefit, so the only question is what the extra £10 a month pays for.
Max is £19 a month, so £228 over a year. Perks is £9 a month, so £108. The gap is therefore £10 a month, or £120 a year, and it buys exactly five things:
- Worldwide travel insurance, a multi-trip policy underwritten by Zurich.
- Worldwide phone insurance, covering loss, theft, damage and breakdown, underwritten by Assurant.
- UK and Europe breakdown cover from the RAC.
- Discounted airport lounge access through LoungeKey.
- A higher Instant Access savings rate: 3.50% AER variable on Max, against 3.25% on Perks. AER is the yearly rate once interest has compounded.
Three things Max does not add
Select Access savings. The rate is 3.65% AER variable on Perks and on Max, as long as you make two or fewer withdrawals a year. Monzo's plan page describes its paid-plan rates as a boost, but that boost is measured against the free account, not against Perks.
Fee-free cash abroad. Both plans let you take out up to £600 every 30 days outside the European Economic Area without a fee. Perks already has it, so Max adds nothing here.
Free lounge visits. Lounge access comes through LoungeKey at a reduced price shown in the Monzo app. It is never free, and each lounge can still turn guests away when it is busy. For that reason I leave it out of the sum below.
My Monzo Perks vs Max comparison sets the two plans side by side, line by line.
Section 02 / The sum
Is Monzo Max worth it against buying the three policies yourself?
I priced a standalone version of each policy from a named UK provider, then added them up.
| Policy | What I priced | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Travel insurance | The average price paid through MoneySuperMarket for worldwide annual multi-trip or backpacker cover in September 2026 | £68.90 |
| Phone insurance | Protect Your Bubble cover for an iPhone 17e 256GB, with damage, breakdown, theft and loss, at £8.49 a month | £101.88 |
| Breakdown cover | RAC personal breakdown cover at the Extra level, with roadside, at-home and national recovery, from £9.99 a month | £119.88 |
| All three | Against the £120 gap between Perks and Max | £290.66 |
On those three prices, someone who would buy all three policies pays £170.66 a year less on Max than on Perks plus the three policies. Even measured against the full £228 cost of Max, the three policies still come to £62.66 more. That second figure matters if you would use none of the Perks benefits at all.
Two of the three is enough, too. Travel plus phone comes to £170.78, travel plus breakdown to £188.78 and phone plus breakdown to £221.76. Every pairing therefore clears £120. One policy on its own, however, does not. Travel cover alone is £68.90 and phone cover alone is £101.88. Breakdown cover lands 12p under the gap, so on its own it only breaks even.
Any two of the three policies, bought separately, cost more than the £120 gap between Perks and Max.
Why each price is a floor rather than a like-for-like match
The travel figure. It is an average across everyone who bought through MoneySuperMarket, of every age. A healthy 30-year-old may pay less, while a 65-year-old will usually pay much more. Monzo's Zurich policy also excludes pre-existing medical conditions outright. A standalone policy can often cover a declared condition, for a higher premium. If you have one, the two products are not the same, and Max's version would not pay a claim linked to it.
The phone figure. I priced a cheaper handset on purpose. An iPhone 17 Pro, for example, costs more to insure. Max, meanwhile, covers phones worth up to £2,000 including VAT. For an expensive phone, then, the standalone price rises and Max looks better. Monzo's version carries a £75 excess on every successful claim and allows two claims in twelve months.
The breakdown figure. RAC says at least one in ten new customers pays £9.99 a month for that level, so many pay more. Max's RAC cover also includes European breakdown help and onward travel, which the Extra level does not. As a result, a true like-for-like RAC policy costs more than the figure in the table.
Section 03 / The savings rate
The savings boost will not pay for Max
A quarter of a percentage point needs a very large balance before it covers £120.
Max lifts Instant Access savings from 3.25% to 3.50% AER, both variable. On £10,000 that is £25 a year before any tax. To cover the whole £120 through interest alone, you would need about £48,000 sitting in an Instant Access pot. At that balance, check what other banks pay first. My guide to the best savings accounts in the UK compares them.
Deposit protection. Eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000 per eligible person per UK-authorised bank, building society or credit union by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), since 1 December 2025. The deposit-taker is Monzo Bank Limited, FRN 730427. That protection covers money in your account and pots. The insurance policies are a separate matter and have nothing to do with it.
Section 04 / Who it suits
Who Monzo Max is worth it for
The sum works for three kinds of household and falls apart for four others.
Drivers who travel abroad. If you run a car and take two or more trips a year, you probably already pay for breakdown cover and annual travel insurance. Max's breakdown cover is personal, so it follows you as a driver or a passenger in any vehicle. Add a phone you would insure anyway and the sum above applies in full.
Families. Max Family costs £4 a month more than Max, which is £48 a year for the household. For that, the travel and phone cover extend to a partner and children, and the RAC covers you plus up to four family members at the same address.
People with an expensive phone. The more your handset costs, the more standalone cover costs. Monzo's policy covers phones up to £2,000 for the same plan fee.
Who should stay on Perks
Anyone with a pre-existing medical condition. The Zurich policy will not cover claims arising from one. That includes anything that needed treatment or a check-up in the two years before booking, and any heart or circulation condition at any time. In that case a standalone policy with the condition declared is the cover that pays out.
Anyone who travels once a year or less. A single-trip policy for one short break costs far less than £120. Without the travel policy, the other two only break even at best.
Anyone already holding breakdown cover. Check your car insurance and any other bank account first, because paying for breakdown cover twice wipes out most of the gain.
Anyone aged 70 or over. You cannot apply for Max at all, and Perks has no upper age limit.
Section 05 / The limits
The limits to check before you sign up
Age, term, excesses and exclusions all narrow who Max works for.
The age limit. You must be 18 to 69 to apply. The travel cover then stops at the first plan anniversary after your 71st birthday.
The three-month minimum term. Max commits you for three months, so the least you can spend trying it is £57. You can cancel within 14 days for a refund, although Monzo charges fixed fees if you have already ordered the card, a cinema ticket or the Railcard.
The small print on each policy
The travel exclusions. Trips longer than 45 days are not covered at all, even for something that happens on day one. Trips inside the UK only count if they are more than 100km from home with at least two nights of pre-booked accommodation. Most sections carry a £50 excess on each claim. Finally, a trip you are already on when you join is not covered.
The phone limits. A successful claim costs £75, and you get two claims in any twelve months. Replacements come from refurbished stock and go only to a UK address.
The breakdown start date. Roadside, at-home and recovery cover start 24 hours after you take out the plan. European cover also has a 90-day limit on any one trip.
The October dates, and future changes
The October price change. Anyone who joined on or after 13 August 2026 already pays the new price, and no deadline applies to them. Subscribers who joined before 13 August move to the new price on their first billing date on or after 14 October 2026. Until the end of 13 October, those existing subscribers can cancel or downgrade even inside the minimum term, with a refund for the unused days.
The plan itself can change. Monzo can change partner benefits on 30 days' notice and the monthly price on two months' notice. It has done so before: PizzaExpress was a partner perk until Monzo ended it on 1 June 2025, after telling customers from 2 May.
Section 06 / The insurers
Who is behind Monzo Max insurance
Monzo sells the plan, while Zurich, Assurant and the RAC provide the cover.
Travel. Zurich Insurance Company Ltd, FRN 959113, underwrites the travel cover. FRN stands for firm reference number, the ID the FCA gives each firm on its register. Qover S.A./N.V., FRN 988985, handles non-emergency claims only. That is what Monzo's line "powered by Qover" refers to.
Phone. Assurant General Insurance Limited, FRN 202735, underwrites the phone cover.
Breakdown. The cover comes from RAC Motoring Services, FRN 310208, and RAC Insurance Limited, FRN 202737. The policy names both.
The intermediary. Monzo Bank Limited, FRN 730427, is the intermediary on all three. Its Max terms say it "won't give you advice or recommendations about the insurances available through Max". In practice, nobody checks whether the cover fits you, so read the booklets before relying on them.
Section 07 / The answer
The verdict: is Monzo Max worth it?
For a household that needs travel, phone and breakdown cover, yes, and by a wide margin. On the prices I found, two of the three policies already beat the £120 gap. However, for anyone who needs one policy, has a pre-existing medical condition or is close to the age limit, the answer is no. In those cases, Perks plus the one policy you need is the cheaper route.
Count how many of the three policies you would buy this year without Max. If the answer is two or three, Monzo Max is worth it on these numbers. If it is one or none, stay on Perks.
For the head-to-head of every feature, see my Monzo Perks vs Max comparison. For every plan price and the October dates, see the price increase breakdown. And my Monzo guides hub collects the rest.
Monzo Max: frequently asked questions
Is Monzo Max worth it?
It is if you would otherwise pay for at least two of its three insurance policies. Max costs £120 a year more than Perks. Standalone travel, phone and breakdown cover came to £290.66 a year on the prices I checked. Any two of them cost more than £120, while any one of them does not.
How much is Monzo Max?
Max is £19 a month, or £23 a month with Max Family. It has a three-month minimum term. My Monzo price increase breakdown has every plan and the dates the new prices apply.
What insurance does Monzo Max include?
Max includes worldwide multi-trip travel insurance, worldwide phone insurance and UK and Europe breakdown cover. The travel policy has a £50 excess per claim and the phone policy a £75 excess. Pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Who underwrites Monzo Max insurance?
Zurich Insurance Company Ltd underwrites the travel cover, with Qover handling non-emergency claims. Assurant General Insurance Limited underwrites the phone cover. RAC Motoring Services and RAC Insurance Limited provide the breakdown cover. Monzo Bank Limited acts as the intermediary and gives no advice on the cover.
Can I cancel Monzo Max?
You can cancel within 14 days for a refund, minus fixed fees for anything already ordered. After that, the three-month minimum term applies. Existing subscribers who joined before 13 August 2026 can cancel early until the end of 13 October 2026. If you ordered a Railcard, leaving before your plan anniversary costs £2.09 for each remaining month.
What is the age limit for Monzo Max?
You must be 18 to 69 to apply. The travel insurance ends at the first plan anniversary after your 71st birthday.
Is airport lounge access free with Monzo Max?
No. Lounge access comes through LoungeKey at a discounted price shown in the Monzo app, and each lounge can turn guests away when busy.
How does Monzo Max compare with Perks?
Max includes everything in Perks, then adds the three insurance policies, discounted lounge access and 3.50% on Instant Access savings against 3.25%. Select Access pays 3.65% on both. My Monzo Perks vs Max comparison goes through every line.
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Disclaimer. Prices, rates, insurance limits and terms change, and every savings rate here is variable. I checked every figure against Monzo's plan pages, its Max terms, the Zurich, Assurant and RAC policy documents and the comparison providers linked above on 21 September 2026. This article is not financial advice and CoolCuration is not authorised by the FCA. Insurance cover is subject to the exclusions and terms in each policy, not to anything written here. If you are unsure what suits you, consider speaking to a qualified financial adviser. This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.
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