Direct Travel insurance

NH2004

One of the recommended insurers in the MSE article for travel insurance is Direct Travel Insurance.

www.direct-travel.co.uk

Looking through their policy wording they seem to have less exclusions on things like personal possessions, which gives me hope that (unlike many other insurers who seem to cover most likely scenarios in their exclusions list) in the event of a genuine theft, or loss, they might actually pay out!

But I have read some bad reviews of them on other sites, so does anyone here have any personal experience with them?

Also, do people think the catastrophies add on for their policies is worth taking out?

luci

Do you have a link to the bad reviews you have read?

NH2004

Here's the link:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews10899.html

Sezzler

ive just seen the reviews given.. not sure which to believe.. martins recommendation or the bad reviews :eek:

NH2004

Me too!

I'd generally trust Martin's recommendations but these reviews really put me off.

I really need to take out an annual travel insurance soon, and on the face of it this company's policy seems to best I've seen, but those reviews make me think twice!

Quentin

MSE recommendations are usually based on cost!

lisyloo

Bear in mind that only disgruntled customers tend to write these reviews.

Hiscox (for example) who are generally regarded as exceptionally good, only get 2.5 for their home insurance.

I'd say that was quite a good score.

Another example is Carole Nash motorcycle insurance.
I know these are highly regarded, but they only get 1.6 out of 5 !!!

NH2004

Quentin wrote: »

MSE recommendations are usually based on cost!

Surely the recommendations for things like insurance are also based on good customer experience/feedback, rather than just cheapest price?

fimonkey

I have travel insurance with Direct Travel and recently suffered at the hands of the French and their industrial action which caused the cancellation of my flight from Limoge to Bristol on a Wednesday. The next flight the airline could offer me was not until Sat, the cheapo airline made no overt attempt to demonstrate they would pay my accomodation until Sat .

I had to be back sooner so I booked with another airline the next day at an extra cost of £220 which I paid out thinking I was covered by insurance for some/all of it. The cheapo airline gave me a refund for the return part of the flight from the airline for the full cost - all of £35! On reading my travel policy for cancellation it was something ridiculous like only £30 reimbursement for the cancellation and an excess of £150 - I can't remember the exact figures but it basically meant it wasn't worth claiming for the fact I had to get back sooner.

IMO travel cover is only worth it for medical expenses so check the list of exclusions for that and then forget about other cancellation/curtailment charges, lost luggage etc - the excess usually makes it not worth it.

As with all policies - read the wording carefully!

Quentin

NH2004 wrote: »

Surely the recommendations for things like insurance are also based on good customer experience/feedback, rather than just cheapest price?

No.

The recommendations given are for the "cheapest":

The best buys below are the cheapest policies...........

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-travel-insurance

bouncydog1

I would also add that on the customer reviews one lady is saying they wouldn't pay out for a medical expenses claim for her daughter overseas. She didn't say why though so we have no idea if there was no disclosure of medical condition or if the policy purchased even covered that area!

There is always more to every story. There is a gentlemen in hospital abroad at the moment (yesterday's papers) and his insurers are refusing to cover the cost of him being on a life support machine. Very unfortunate, but he didn't disclose he had angina.

Insurers will generally interpret policy terms strictly when dealing with a claim so if individuals want to check if something is covered, they should ask insurers in writing before cover commences.