MSE News: Sainsbury's £5 worldwide family travel insurance loophole

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"A new fee-charging credit card offers travel cover, yet you could ditch the plastic once you return from holiday ..."

Read the full story:
Sainsbury's £5 worldwide family travel insurance loophole

gt94sss2

Its not really a loophole though - most card/bank account insurances work similar to the way you describe.

This means if you plan in advance, you could grab the card before you go on holiday so you're flly covered, then cancel when you get back unless you need to make a claim. If you time it right, you may only have the card for a month, thus slamming down the cost.

Of course, if you do this a few times, it can really mess up your credit record..

Regards
Sunil

Former_MSE_Dan

Hi Sunil,

Yep, that's why we say

To get the Sainsbury's card, you must pass a credit score. Don't apply if you'll need cheap credit to cut the cost of debts in the near future, or have recently been turned down by other card providers.

Cheers

lord_donothing

what about existing medical conditions, most oldies have something wrong

Mk14:37

Original_Article wrote:

Sainsbury's has confirmed the travel insurance kicks in immediately and there is no minimum time you must hold the plastic for.

Lord Donothing has a valid concern, I was concerned on reading this that it could be slightly misleading - i.e. you will not be covered for issues already known at the time of purchase.

That is to say, if were due to go on holiday next month and have heard that there will be issues due to ash clouds / crew strikes / co-pilots being made redundant by arrogant, cost-shaving CEOs, you can take out a policy today and be covered immediately, but NOT for the existing issue.

Voyager2002

The article contains some potentially dangerous advice: it suggests that you could hold the card for as little as just a month, and then cancel if you don't need to claim. However, most people book their holidays months in advance, and so need cancellation cover from the time of booking. Anyone who relies on this card, and tries to "time it right" so that cover begins just before the holiday, will lose out on cancellation insurance, and so if anything goes wrong they might lose the total cost of their holiday!

A better approach would be to think of this card as offering a reasonably-priced annual travel insurance policy, along with some attractive extra benefits.

Former_MSE_Dan

Thanks voyager, have made that point clearer in the article

tbrown10

lord_donothing wrote: »

what about existing medical conditions, most oldies have something wrong

I just called them and they quoted a one off payment of £12 (for the year) on top of the £5 per month to cover my Type 2 Diabetes. Good deal if you ask me:D

richardw

FH Brit has made some excellent postings regarding travel insurance http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=88597097

imustbeperfect

So, it must cost at least £60 even if you hold the card for a month, go on holiday then cancel the card. £60 for travel insurance of less than a month is not cheap to me?

Harry2000

Trips must be booked on Sainsbury's credit card

Just phoned Sainsbury as I have a trip booked in October and thought this was great for travel insurance. You need to be aware, as I have just been told, that your trip needs to be booked with the Sainsbury credit card for it to be valid under the insurance, as wel as any future booking, they have to be paid by the Sainsbury's card. This is not the best deal if you have already booked any trips.