Alliance & Leicester Travel Insurance with Fortis

jatclarke999

Today I contacted Fortis to upgrade both my own and my son's European travel policy that is free with Alliance and Leicester Premier current account holders to a world travel coverage.

Imagine the suprise when I was quoted £32 more than my son because my European policy renewal date was before November 2008 but my son's was after that date. Apparently anyone who has a policy with a renewal date before November will be charged at the higher tarif until their policy expires.

I can get the new rate by closing my bank account and re-opening a new one. How much would that cost the bank to do that in admin charges?

Unbelievable!!! - Dropped a line to A&L about it as the salesman said that this was the A&L who insisted on these conditions - yeah, yeah. Of course he was going to say that.

Needless to say I didn't proceed with it, time to search the web.

Interested to hear comments on this.

John C

dacouch

How much extra have they quoted you to increase the policy to world wide cover?

jatclarke999

The European travel policy element is free. For my son to upgrade to world was £67 but for me it was £99.

I have looked around on the search sites and I can get coverage for about £30 - one criteria being I want £5000 cancellation coverage as this was the cost of the holiday.

dacouch

The difference is probably because Fortis Charge more for people aged over 50, I guess if you have a son and he has an A&L account with free travel insurance then you are 50 or over.

The A&L policy is a good policy as its backed by Fortis and they have a very good reputation for travel insurance.

Make sure you declare any existing medical conditions to whoever you take cover with including things like blood pressure as otherwise the insurer can decline any claims as a direct result of the condition.

Read the small print on the policy as cheapest is not always best, this applies especially with travel policies which is renowned for small print and not paying claims

MarkyMarkD

I don't quite understand how the OP was calling to amend his/her son's policy. You shouldn't be able to do that.

The November 2008 switchover date may be something to do with the Santander/A&L takeover. Possibly this affected the terms of the deal with Fortis, but only for policies renewed after that date. It's not that unbelievable!

dacouch

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

I don't quite understand how the OP was calling to amend his/her son's policy. You shouldn't be able to do that.

The November 2008 switchover date may be something to do with the Santander/A&L takeover. Possibly this affected the terms of the deal with Fortis, but only for policies renewed after that date. It's not that unbelievable!

She gets "Free" European cover, when she asked to increase it to worldwide cover there is an extra amount to pay (Her son would have also had to pay extra). However Fortis charge more for policy holders aged 50 and over which is almost certainly why the poster has had to pay more than her son.

Travel Insurance Schemes are generally (Not all) changed around April or May time when they Insurers renegoiate their own reinsurance.

jatclarke999

dacouch wrote: »

The difference is probably because Fortis Charge more for people aged over 50, I guess if you have a son and he has an A&L account with free travel insurance then you are 50 or over.

No - I confirmed that if I had the same start date for my existing Europe only policy as my son's then the difference between his and mine would have been a couple of pounds. - Very bearable

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

I don't quite understand how the OP was calling to amend his/her son's policy. You shouldn't be able to do that.

The November 2008 switchover date may be something to do with the Santander/A&L takeover. Possibly this affected the terms of the deal with Fortis, but only for policies renewed after that date. It's not that unbelievable!

I was sat with my son - he gave them the details of his account that he wanted the world cover on. I paid his premium - cause he's always broke - hence I know how much his was.

dacouch

I pretty certain its your age thats affecting the difference, here click on this link and run a quote through for an annual trip for worldwide, put your correct age and then change your age to 49. The start date might have meant the difference was a different amount but Fortis have been charging a high premium for over 50s for a few years (I think they may have changed it from 55 in the last 18 months)

http://www.alliance-leicestertravelinsurance.co.uk/

tobiascurious

dacouch wrote: »

Make sure you declare any existing medical conditions to whoever you take cover with including things like blood pressure as otherwise the insurer can decline any claims as a direct result of the condition.

I got a one-page letter and a schedule, re renewal of my free travel insurance with A&L/Fortis. For medical screening it says refer to page 3 of the policy but there isn't a page 3?

Also it doesn't make it clear whether you have to take action to renew or whether it auto-renews. Does anyone know anything about this? (I'm surprised there aren't more threads on this insurance given how Martin has been pushing these accounts)

dacouch

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/customer-service/pdfs/Standalone-Travel-Insurance-Policy.pdf