Travel insurance and the morons that review it
Just a bit of a rant.
I'm heading to the US shortly and I wanted to make sure I feel confident in my travel insurance. I'm with Natwest and they offer worldwide as a "benefit" on my account, but I thought that's probably not going to be a great idea. Sure enough, looking at the reviews, it seems pointless even having it. I know we often don't hear good reports on the internet, but when there's not one positive report, that usually says something in itself.
So I started looking around. At first glance, if you google-search "(Insert travel insurance company name) travel insurance reviews", you see plenty of 4-5 star results. However when you start to actually read them, they're mostly from the likes of Becky or John Smith who've reviewed them purely on the purchase process. "Steve was so helpful when supplying us with our travel insurance", "...they even emailed us after our dates saying they hoped we had a nice trip... so helpful". Automated email more like Becky!
Then you hit "filter" on the reviews, and run a search for the word "claim" and boy do things change. 1 star after 1 star review in general stating zero f***s were given and the payout hasn't appeared after 8 weeks, if at all etc.
Am I wrong for just not trusting any of this stuff these days? I know they've always been bad, but all these companies I've never heard of are fighting for business on comparison sites with the cheapest pricing and not offering any level of service when they're actually needed. It's almost like purchasing Travel Insurance is just ticking a box to say "yeah we've got insurance". Have things gotten so cheap that it doesn't even make sense anymore?
Anyway, rant over. If anyone has any good recommendations, I'm all ears, thanks!
I go through one of the comparison sites (moneysomethingorother.com) and then filter by price and defaqto rating, usually picking the lowest price with highest defaqto rating for my needs.
https://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings
Defaqto ratings are shown for all products on the travel insurance comparison websites I use.
Don’t forget Quidco or TopCashback for further savings.
Thanks, I'll give that a go. Sounds better than the reviews lolOriginally Posted by noTAGlove
I think your wrong about the bank’s travel insurance,I’ve got it through Hsbc with one of my accounts and covers the whole family.
I’ve claimed twice on travel insurance,once I had to go doctors abroad,it only cost around £150,but when I got home and claimed money was paid that day back to me.
Second time Ryanair cancelled a flight on me at last minute,so I got another flight from a different airline and different airport,this cost me more money,and the insurance sent me my costs .
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We had great support from Virgin Money when my wife ended up in hospital having an emergency operation first day we were in Tenerife. Spoke to the same.person each time which made it much easier. Payment to the hospital to carry out the operation went smoothly, as well as payment for our extended stay in the hotel (wife wasn't allowed to fly back on our original return date). Also paid for all medication swiftly and an allowance for each extra day we had to stay (for food, drink etc). The guy even phoned us once we were back home just to ask how she was getting on. Very professional and excellent service.
I always take reviews on insurance with a pinch of salt. People only seem to leave a bad review once a claim has been rejected. The reviews usually miss out the points of detail that result in their claim being rejected.
Ultimately I just make sure i take time to read the policy wording and ensure it matches my needs and what I plan on doing.
So our insurance!,Wife calls to update medical details.
Ah so it will have to go up because you've said your Husband is now taking Statins!.
So prior to the Statins presumably I was an "unknown" health risk,and yet now Im in better health........surely it should be a lower premium having told them that!....No!.
A Friend had a triple heart bypass op,his insurance is now much higher!,why, He is now in far better health than prior to His op.
I can't understand this,surely anyone having a Op or meds to put you in better health why the increase?.....anyone know,or is it just another rip off by the insurer's.
I’ve claimed on RBSI, which is the same group as NatWest - no issues whatsoever.
Im guessing most people like me don’t post a review when everything goes as expected.
It's just a matter of time...
Standard actuarial process? I am guessing anyone taking medications or had procedures is higher risk than others. My travel insurance won’t let me claim if related to a declared pre-existing condition.
(I’m not an actuary btw)
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Admittedly only a small claim but I had to claim on Lloyds Bank travel insurance about 7 years ago and they paid out without question, very quickly.
Had two claims with Lloyds Bank. When their insurer was AXA the service was good. It’s now Allianz and whilst our claim was paid it did take longer and more “evidence” required.
Try Trailfinders - very experienced in travel insurance:
https://www.trailfinders.com/insurance#/
Having recently moved back to the UK, my wife has found that she can't currently get travel insurance unless she goes through a specialist broker due to the 6 month UK residency rules.
She's off on the "dream" holiday in May with her Sis and niece (I'm not allowed to fly due to a medical condition). Fortunately she'll have been back in the uk for 6 months in late March, so we'll have to arrange insurance then. However, in the meantime she is currently uninsured.
The other ridiculous thing is that her 3 week trip will cost her less if she takes out an annual policy.
So if any other expats are reading this - make sure you read the small print before you sign up, and make sure you also look at the excluded countries. Most of the time you have the option of worldwide travel excluding the usa, carribean, canada and mexico....... but some companies also include Thailand for some reason best known to them, and Thailand is one of the countries they'll be visiting.
Last edited by catflem; 26th December 2023 at 19:41.
Similar issue here, recently had a heart valve issue, open heart surgery ensued , all repaired, obviously on medication. I've been told I have a long life ahead of me. My worldwide travel multi trip insurance quote has gone from £54 PA to just over £2000 PA!
That was my exact point,you are now in a much better place health wise than you were paying £54.Makes no logical sense to me when you were clearly an higher risk before the op,the only thing is no one knows those risks until youve been to the Doctors to find any problems.
And once its all logged up your insurance goes even tho your all good!.
Last edited by P9CLY; 27th December 2023 at 10:30.
Be careful with freebie insurance offered by banks - many have more holes in the T & C than a colander.
Gone are the days of your friendly ‘pru’ man offering claims advice. Now it’s just a battle of wits between them and you. And if you have medical conditions you could end up paying more for the insurance than the holiday.
So using your argument Paul, if you have a clean driving licence but end up being convicted of a motoring offence through a lapse of concentration etc. do you expect the insurance company to see you as a safer risk due to the 'education' of the error of your ways?.
Travel insurance (like all insurance) is a risk (for profit) based business, if they assess a person at a different level of risk at renewal then premiums go up - it's not complicated.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
But god forbid you need any kind of hospital attention on your holidays doesn't having the valve in place now likely raise the risk/ complexity thus cost of any potential procedure...so the insurers are understandably covering themselves.
Have to agree with Paul's point, even though the insurance business doesn't see it that way. The driving analogy is debatable, someone who's been caught speeding is likely to be far more careful in the future and arguably is a lower risk than before.
It's valid point, but insurance will never work that way. My father worked for many years in the insurance business, I had endless debates with him on topics like this.
Yes.....because you may go on a driver aware course and so become a much safer driver.......in theory.
Unless sending people on the course isn't to have them safer more aware drivers!.So yes in theory you are a better driver.
But having said all ive said,I do see why they do it......MONEY.
Last edited by P9CLY; 27th December 2023 at 11:25.
Does this equally apply to migrants and immigrants?
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