cheap but reliable travel insurance???

asquiths_2

Hi all just checking before i get travel insurance for me and the family.

Can anyone recommend a company for single trip travel insurance this would be
traveling to disneyland paris on 18th december - 22nd december
for 8 people aged -- 63, 58, 28, 25, 17, 5, 4, 14mths

have got a few quotes but a company by recommendation i would prefer.

Thanks in advance xx

trisontana

I always use this company :-
http://www.direct-travel.co.uk///Index.asp

Excellent service. When looking for a quote from them, if you click the "family" option you will get a discount for your party.

Because I had to change my travel plans I rang up Direct Travel to see if I could move my one week's insurance cover by one day. This was no trouble for them, and no cost to me.

sloppychops

We always use
https://www.insureandgo.co.uk

terrierlady

www. insure and go were ideal we used them we went to floida and some banks do insurance with their gold accounts.

SampleX

Beware InsureandGo.

They've just done me up like a kipper.

And it's tragic, because I've used them about 6 other times now. 5 times I didn't need to claim. One I did, due to lost luggage, and got a great allowance, and once I submitted the proof of the incident, I had no quibbles and prompt payment. By contrast, the folks I was travelling with relied on their free travel insurance with a business bank account at Barclays, and though they got paid out, they got half the allowance I did. I laughed at them for not using IAG.

Then on this latest trip, they laughed at me FOR using IAG.

To cut a long story short we all booked a train for our return journey to take us to CDG Airport Paris, and a rare thing (in my experience) happened - the train broke. This was the TGV, and we basically got bumped trains twice and then got a delayed train which basically meant we were 80 minutes late on the train, and arrived at the airport JUST as the plane took off. BMI instantly declared our tickets invalid and switched into profit mode, insisting that we must pay to get on the next flight, an amount of £150 per person (even though the ticket had cost less than that RETURN). Adding insult to injury, when we got on the flight 4 hours later, there were only 11 people on a 60 seater plane, even though the Paris ticket desk guy for BMI absolutely convinced us that the plane was packed and he was doing us a huge favour. Anyway, during the lag in flight times I went and got all the documents from SNCF to give to insurance, and like an efficient company, they had already mass printed the supporting declarations for all their passengers travel insurance claims, and just gave us them and apologised.

So I filed my claim. Delay in journey prompted a missed flight.

Boy, it took longer than the free insurance...

And interestingly, all of us sent SAE's and asked for our original documents back for our records. My companions got theirs in mere days, and their cheques followed a couple of days later.

I just got 'sorry, we're busy' letters. Two, in fact, before finally getting a letter that blew me off my feet.

The claim was declined because in the small print it states that this portion of the travel insurance is valid ONLY on the outbound flight. If you get delayed leaving to go on your holiday, you're covered. If you get delayed coming back from your holiday, tough luck.

Of course, it doesn't say this ANYWHERE on (Un)Insure and Go(Away)'s website except in the downloadable 'policy' document.

The average consumer, and lets face it, most of these caveats in insurance demand that the consumer be more 'gen' on insurance terminology and law than the brokers who vend it, will be met with a lovely chart showing what levels of cover they can expect for their different 'levels' of insurance. I chose Silver, to make sure I was well covered, and having covered the same ground again as a tester, I cannot find anywhere that says 'if your flight to go on holiday is at 4am, then this part of our great insurance cover for your two week trip is valid for only four hours on the date of departure, and we just assume you'll make it home without a hitch either.' This part of the policy coverage is valid for literally a fraction of the trip in question. And lets face it... you've got more chance of having a travel delay than you have of needing the two million pounds for falling off a cliff and landing on someone who sues you for injury. It's not exactly an unimportant part of the travel insurance package.

There is a small link to the 'policy wording' from the first page of the travel insurance setup page on IAG, but most will not go looking for it first, expecting it, actually to be tailored to their needs, and assuming that it does everything that the online summary says it does. You're offered a download of your policy booklet at the end of the transaction, but again, you've bought it, and think you're getting what you paid for. You only realise its an unspeakable scam once you need to make your claim.

Can you imagine it... bought and paid for a silver policy from one of the UK's favourite online travel insurers, and had to make the exact same claim in the exact same circumstances as two people who relied on a free travel insurance policy with Barclays... and I was the one that got stiffed.

You don't always get what you pay for... sometimes you get far, far less.

I'm gutted. I'm going through a terrible time with business failure, and this was a trip to calm my nerves after a long battle with depression. Can't afford the loss of another £150, but heigh ho... financial institutions just target me for nasty stuff, it seems.

So I just committ myself to doing everything I can to hurt them where it hurts them the most... in their wallet.

So, beware Insure and Go - use them at your own risk. And make sure you read their very sneaky small print before you take a policy out. Once you've had a claim denied, its too late. Naturally I can tell you where I won't be going for insurance again, scam merchants.

Can anyone actually explain the practical application for only partial coverage on holiday travel in relation to delay and missed flights, when even the bog standard freebie that the banks give away covers it adequately?

Cumbrian_Male

I reccommend direct travel also.

herman2811

Yes, I too would recommend direct travel, but I'd also use moneysupermarket to find the best deal.

trisontana

The thing I like about Direct Travel is that you actually get "proper" paperwork posted to you. With some other companies you book on-line, you have to download a multi page PDF document and then print it all out.

silvercar

I just hunted around for single trip insurance and found norwich union direct to be the cheapest for decent cover.