HolidaySafe Travel Insurance - Your Feedback

[MSE Tony]

Hi,

Thanks for visiting.

We have recently added the HolidaySafe Premier travel policy to our New Travel Insurance guide.

As this insurer is a new option - offering good cover levels - your feedback is important to us.

Please let us know what you think.

Have you used or contacted them, made a claim, is it is missing anything or just general feedback on the insurer.

Hit 'Reply' to discuss or ask a question.

Thanks.

MSE Tony

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[Littlepea]

I was attracted by the apparently low cost of the family travel insurance policy for Europe with holidaysafe.co.uk (which I saw on the Moneysavingexpert website). I tried to buy online but when I tried to complete the section on medical conditions to declare my son and I have controlled asthma and I had a c-section to deliver my baby 6 weeks ago, it wouldn't let me input the medication we are on for the asthma. So I had to call Holidaysafe on their 0845 number (which turned out to be a very expensive call). They eventually agreed to cover the asthma but would only cover my c-section if it was over 2 months ago, so they gave me a quote number and told me to call back when it was 2 months or more from the date of the c-section, and they would honour the £42 price and cover these conditions. I called back today as it's now over 2 months since the c-section only to be told my quote had expired, I had to go through everything again (another expensive call) and the final straw was when they told me that with the medical conditions the policy would now cost over £120, despite Holidaysafe confirming during the first call that there would be no extra charge. So if you have any medical conditions, DO NOT TOUCH THIS POLICY as it will cost you far more than the seemingly low price they advertise! Distinctly unimpressed.

[MSE Andrea]

Hi Littlepea

Holidaysafe has asked us to post a response. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

Hi Littlepea, my name is Amber Howard and I am the Brand Manager for Holidaysafe.

I have listened to both of the phone calls you made to our customer service centre, and I would like to apologise that you have had problems with Holidaysafe.

I would be happy to discuss this issue with you in more detail, if you could please send your contact details to website@infinityinsurance.co.uk (and mark the email for my personal attention), I will then contact you accordingly. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, Amber.

[projexe]

Check the FAQs and small print. As soon as any children hit 18 they won't be covered.
Oh They will quite happily sell you a policy for a 17 year old but beware - if you go on holiday once your child is 18 (whether still at school or not) then you'll not be covered.

And this is a best buy?????

(Direct Travel Insurance - another of your best buys - cover this eventuality so I've insured with them instead)

[MSE Andrea]

Holidaysafe has asked to reply. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

Hi Projexe, My name is Amber Howard and I am the Brand Manager for Holidaysafe. Firstly I would like to apologise that you have had problems with Holidaysafe, but this is simply not our policy.

We define a family as two adults over 18, and one or more children all under the age of 18. When you buy a Multi Trip policy, we take your age at the time of purchase, and cover you under that age for the duration of the policy, as we understand that your age will change at some point during the 12 month period. If you buy a Single Trip policy, we take each traveller’s age at the time of travel, so if you tried to buy a family policy with dates after your child has turned 18, this unfortunately will not work. We would never refuse to cover someone after they had purchased a policy simply because they had turned 18, our systems are set up to take this into account.

We are always looking to improve our products, and adding a student age group to the website is something we are strongly considering.

I’m very sorry we lost your business, but I would really appreciate it if you could tell me where you found this information? It is not in the FAQs or on our policy wordings as you stated in your comment.

Once again I would like to apologise for this misunderstanding. I would be more than happy to discuss this issue further, simply send your contact details to website@infinityinsurance.co.uk (and mark the email for my personal attention), I will then contact you accordingly. I look forward to hearing from you . Kind regards, Amber.

[MediMe Fairy]

To keep track of all family medicines and family health history travellers can use the simple Iphone app. MediMe. Covers all your info necessary during an emergency + add your travel insurance details and even your EC11 number......just in case.
Bye bye......MediMe Fairy

[Cheapisntalwaysbest]

Personally I would never use holiday safe ever again. I phoned up to let them know about a scan I had had on an existing condition which only had performed to be 100% sure that there was no reason to for me not to travel, I would have been much better just being in the dark. I was told that subject to the new information they would not ensure me for the condition despite my consultants assurance that the results showed nothing of concern and the money which I paid to specifically ensure this existing condition in its per scanned form would not be refunded. They did offer me to use the canellation cover on the policy which was mighty generous given it that it was the day before I was suppose to fly out. I ended up having to take out another policy with a different company to ensure I was fully ensured and cancelled my holiday safe one but I was only refunded a fraction of what I had paid.

[MSE Andrea]

Hi

The company's asked to post a response. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

Hi Cheapisntalwaysbest, my name is Amber Howard and I am the Brand Manager for Holidaysafe. Firstly I would like to apologise, I am sorry that you feel aggrieved by the medical decision following your declaration of a recent scan. There are varying reasons why this decision may have been made, and I would like to investigate so I may explain them to you and try to resolve the matter. In particular, I would like to look into the amount that was refunded to you.

To allow me to do this, I would need some more information, so I would really appreciate it if you could please send your contact details to website@infinityinsurance.co.uk (and mark the email for my personal attention), I will then contact you accordingly. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, Amber.

[Briatania]

As with others I put a low risk static condition into the website (hypothyroidism) which was not caused by other pathology. I had no complications, had not consulted a doctor, had not had medication changed etc. My premium very nearly doubled and the excess went up to £100. It was not clear whether the £100 was added to each of the quoted standard excesses. I was left wondering what would have happened to the premium if I had a risky condition.
Not as cheap as it looked and very irritating to think you are being exploited.

[peaksoft]

I took out annual insurance with Holidaysafe, following the recommendation by MSE, but immediately I downloaded the documents, I cancelled the policy and obtained a refund?
Why? Every telephone number supplied is an 084---- number, including the one for calling from abroad to report a problem or arrange help. They even advise storing the number in a mobile telephone.
Using one of these numbers to call from abroad would cost a small fortune - much to the glee of Holidaysafe, who get a substantial cut from the calls.
Any holiday insurance company that cares anything for its customers' interests supplies a UK geographic number for calls from abroad, and I feel this should be a prime requirement when policies are vetted by MSE.

[Fairy-Home]

I agree with the argument for having a UK geographic number, especially for an emergency contact from abroad.

However, a little self-help with a search on http://www.saynoto0870.com reveals:

01732 853350 - Claims Dept.
01732 853355 - Sales.

I'm sure that even if one of these were the wrong department that they would be able to put you through.

[t0d]

It seems if you have well controlled gout, high blood pressure and diabetes your premium increases by £50!

[All2008]

I called them several times to cancel my policy as it wasn't suitable for my needs. I was kept on hold for long periods of time and cut off when I got through. This happened several times. It made me wonder whether it was deliberate. Just as well I'm cancelling my policy. I'd hate to be in dire straits abroad and repeatedly cut off when I called.

[Holidaysafe Representative]

Hi All2008,

My name is Amber Howard and I am the Brand Manager for Holidaysafe. I just wanted to sincerely apologise that you had trouble contacting our customer service centre. While we have been experiencing high volumes of calls, I can assure you that this is not the high standard of customer service we strive to provide every Holidaysafe customer. I understand that you chose to cancel your policy with us because it did not meet your requirements, however I would still like to look into this matter to uncover any potential issues, therefore if you could email me the number you were calling from, and the date you tried to call us to website@infinityinsurance.co.uk, (and mark it for my personal attention,) I can investigate.

Even though you are no longer a customer, I would like to reassure you that if you had faced an emergency abroad we have a separate line for our medical emergency team, which is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Once again I would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused, and I hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip.

Kind regards, Amber.

[holistic49]

I have just purchased travel insurance from Holidaysafe and I am very annoyed at myself for leaving a box that was ticked ALREADY for the policy to be sent to me by post at the cost of £1.75. Of course I could have printed it out very easily myself doh!! So in future I will be VERY careful to check options. It's a shame that they use these low sort of tactics though, don't you think!!

[Holidaysafe Representative]

Hi holistic49, my name is Amber Howard and I am the Brand Manager for Holidaysafe. I'm sorry you feel disappointed that we automatically tick the box for postage, however we do this because many of our clients want their documents to be printed and posted.

I can assure you that the entire £1.75 is spent on printing and posting documents, therefore the choice is only there as part of our commitment to customer service. The option for postage is clearly displayed and you can easily opt out by un-ticking the box.

Once again I want to apologise, and I understand that the cost of postage has already been refunded to you. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip. Kind regards, Amber.

[LJH27]

I took out Annual Individual Worldwide Travel Insurance with Holiday Safe at the beginning of February after looking at MSE's best buys. Then unfortunately I had to cancel my holiday because I was travelling with my parents and my dad was taken ill the day before we were flying. I printed out the forms and sent them off with all the evidence and received a cheque for the full amount of my claim yesterday (minus £60 excess).

[chocolateeater]

This is not a user friendly site.

You need to watch out for premiums on activities eg walking vs rambling. They have 7 different levels of activity cover with eg fell walking, rambling and walking being covered for no cost. BUT if you want to ramble up to 2000m it'll cost £17 per person extra. Mountain walking up to 1000M costs an extra £34. Whereas there seems to be no height limit on just walking. I bet if you fell over while walking and it happened to be at over 2000M they'd claim it was excluded!

And once you get a quote and go away from the page, it's not possible to go back in and change information without going through the whole screening process again. I inadvertently added 30kg to my husband's weight which I'm sure would be a material factor as they probably use height and weight to calculate BMI. But to change it, I either have to flog through their questions again or ring their 0845 number. They need to learn from some of the comparison websites where they do retain information and let you tailor further.

I'll go elsewhere

[Holidaysafe Representative]

Hi chocolateeater, my name is Amber Howard and I am the Brand Manager for Holidaysafe.co.uk. Firstly I would like to apologise that you feel dissatisfied with our website, I understand that you have chosen to look elsewhere for travel insurance, however I wanted to take a moment to address some of your concerns.

All travel insurance policies (apart from specific adventure policies) charge additional premiums for activities, depending on the level of ‘hazard’ the activity presents. However, we are in the process of reviewing our activity packs to make sure there are no anomalies, and we will be reviewing your particular experience.

Regarding our quote process, because we allow customers to screen and declare their medical conditions online, unfortunately it is not possible to edit quotes once they have been completed or saved. This is to make sure that all information is declared and nothing is accidentally removed – we do warn customers that they will not be able to change their quote once it has been saved or completed. In addition, the Data Protection Act means that we do not store quote information on our servers for more than a short period of time.

Many comparison sites do allow you to change basic information on a quote, however this is because most do not allow you to declare medical conditions.

Our customer service centre is available 8am-8pm weekdays and 9am-5pm Saturdays, to help answer any customer queries and to edit quotes if necessary.

I hope this has answered some of your queries,and I hope you will consider us again in the future. Safe travels, Amber.