Travel Insurance Article Discussion

katejo

Clawd said:

My post is of a more general nature. I recently had a painful experience trying to claim for medical expenses incurred by my son in the US. The claim was only for £160 but It took many months and hours worth of phone calls to get it resolved. I wondered how easy it would have been to get the money back if he had been admitted to hospital and run up a bill of 4 or 5 figures. But the company in question had thousands of 5-star reviews. This made me realise that the star ratings of insurance companies are worthless because the vast majority of reviews (well over 99% from my limited research) are from people who haven't made a claim. It's the equivalent of reviewing a TV set before you have switched it on. And these reviews are favourable because the reviewers have only dealt with the company's salesmen, who are very friendly and helpful because they want our money. But if you look at the reviews of those who have made a claim (you'll find them almost exclusively under 1-Star) you will see how the company really treats its customers and in most cases it's poorly. It was noticeable that this company asked for a review as soon as I had bought the cover (which I declined to provide) but made no such request after I finally received the payout. I am currently trying to arrange insurance for another trip and, depressingly, all the companies I have looked at broadly fit the profile described above. And it doesn't seem to depend much on the price of the cover. I have yet to find a company that I feel I can rely on. So it would be hugely helpful if the MSE team could do some research and provide ratings on insurance companies based on how quickly and efficiently they handle claims.

I agree with you and have made similar comments on another forum. I bought an annual policy this week from my usual insurer. They immediately asked my to review their policy. I replied to say no because I refuse to award merit solely on the ease of buying the policy. I will give feedback once I have had to make a claim. I have claimed with them before but only a minor claim and it was several years ago.