Travel Insurance Article Discussion Area

MrCrip

This is a really interesting thread. I had a few issues when looking for cover when I go away with holiday with the family.

The fact is you have to be upfront with the Travel Insurance company you are dealing with, or it will only come back and bite you on the backside.

When I last went to Disneyland Paris, the Travel Insurance I took covered me for everything bar one pre existing condition which was fine because I was fully in control with this and had arranged with my GP to have a course of antibiotics available should anything kick-off.

After doing a lot of research for Travel Insurance, I found a company that I could talk too and was not treated like a number. The cover available from Travel Insurance Direct worked for me, but you do have to read all of the detail and talk to the insurance company to ensure you are covered.

In my opinion cheap travel insurance is not always the best, the last thing you need is a policy that potentially leaves you without cover should anything go wrong. My message is this, if you have a pre-existing medical condition such as a spinal injury, pick up the phone and speak to someone, it is the only way to be sure.

MrCrip

Hi,

I had a look on Travel-Insurance.Net

Here are the quote details:
Policy Name: Travel Bond
Quote Reference: TBW008
Area of Travel: World Wide Inc USA / Canada
Departing: 07/06/2007
Returning: 12/06/2007
Duration: 6 days
Adults: 1
Children: 0
Infants: 0
Policy Price: £27.00

cazxx1

hi do all travel insurance have to be donr through email as i have no printer i would like it to come through the post cheers

hollydays

Dmg24 just pointed out if you apply for Amex insurance (annual for example)thru quidco,you get £20 cashback,making it £10 for a year!!Only has £150 personal possessions and £1000 cancellation.

bellaire

I am travelling to Australia for five months and the insurance quotes are very expensive. We are 69 and 73. Can anyone help?

lorraine6865

My partner has Crohn's disease & we are going to Turkey in mid July for one week, I am trying to get travel insurance sorted out but have been quoted various additional premiums because of this. It seems this disease is fairly common so just wondered if anybody else has any experience of obtaining travel insurance & if so was it at any additional premium.

Am I right in thinking that we can exclude this condition as he has no symptoms & has previously had sugery to sort it out.

Any help will be appreciated

Thanks

lorraine6865

This might save someone some time as I have been looking for a policy that will cover us all including some medical conditions at a decent price. I have just booked a policy with Travel Insurance Direct for 2 adults & 2 children, one being my son & the other my neice, they will only cover non-dependent children on a single trip policy.

They have covered mild asthma & skin cancer for me & also Crohn's disease for my partner with no additional cost, the guy on the phone was really helpful (rang as I wanted to check that we are covered for everything) then I booked it online at a cost of £28 for 9 days european cover for Turkey including baggage & cancelation cover. I have been looking all weekend for this so have trawled through all sorts of companies, some will not cover any pre-existing medical conditions at all & others will only cover family members & not neices, nephews etc. The cost of this with the Post Office was £40 & I'm not sure they would have covered my partners condition, so now I can just look forward to our holiday, after I've sorted out the car parking that is!

Kitty_Butler

janineo wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what would be reasonable cover limits for a 2 week trip to Kenya for 2 people?

I've looked at moneysupermarket and a few others and there seems to be loads of policies that only differ by the amounts they cover you for.

What Cancellation, Medical, Liability, Personal Accident, etc limits should I be looking for?
Should the cancellation limit be more than the total cost of the holiday for both of us, or per person?

If I have personal possessions cover through my home contents, is it worth taking it out in the travel as well?

Thanks,
Janine

Hi Janine,

I'll answer this one bit at a time:

---

Travel insurance vs. home contents - check if your home insurance provider covers your contents and personal money abroad, and which areas you're covered in (Europe, USA and worldwide, etc) If you're covered for where you want to go, don't bother with the baggage cover on your travel insurance if you want to take lots of valuables (e.g. phones, ipods, jewellery) with you.

If your bags get delayed or your suitcases get damaged on your outward journey, you may be able to claim from the airline. Further advice on this can be found on the website of the AUC, the watchdog for passenger airlines in the UK: http://www.caa.co.uk/auc

---

For cancellation limit, it all depends on the cost of your holiday. If your holiday cost £1500 per person, then you only need to get a cancellation limit of £3000 per person.

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Medical limit should be between 5 and 10 million pounds. Go for the 10 million if you're heading to the US or Japan, the most expensive places for medical treatment. Remember that medical limits can include prescriptions, doctors' fees, scans, physiotherapy, ambulances, the cost of bringing you home on an airline with extra legroom and a doctor to escort you, intensive care, or - God forbid - the cost of your burial abroad /cremation and bringing your remains back to the UK.

---

If you do decide to go for baggage cover, I'd recommend that you go for the following limits:

General baggage: £3000 (all figures are per person)
Limit for any single article: £300
Valuables limit: £500
Personal Money limit :£500
Cash limit: £350

In any case, it's really important to read the full policy wording before you buy to see exactly what you're covered for - most insurers worth their salt have the full policy wording available on their website. Most people's disappointment with insurance companies stem from them not reading the full terms and conditions.

---

Best of the cheaper insurers I've used is Direct Travel Insurance, followed by White Horse and Swinton. Direct Travel's Premier Plus policy is pretty nifty, (£6000 cancellation limit, £10m medical) and I paid a little extra in order to buy an 'excess waiver' -so if you need to claim, they don't take any excesses off you. I went with them because they agreed to cover my diabetes for free.

On the more expensive end, Greenbee Travel Insurance and More Th>n are good value for money.


Hope this helps,
K.

Kitty_Butler

Belfastbelle wrote: »

My wee son (18) going to China for 18 days in July.
Ive checked rec sites-
still confused.com!

Do I go for the cheapest? - forget about the baggage coverage? and make sure I get cancellation cover and
the best health/accident cover I can get?

I'd recommend: Swiftcover - all claims are managed online - no call centre mayhem, premium's only 20 quid and they're underwritten by AXA.

Direct Travel Insurance - also underwritten by AXA, but they do pre-existing medical conditions too.

Check excesses: Be warned that some places that charge you a lower premium will take more off if you need to claim. Avoid any policy with a £75 or £100 excess, because if, say, his wallet and his bag get stolen abroad, the insurance company may charge 2 excesses (claiming under 2 sections of the policy) and your son would be really out of pocket!

ouralan

bellaire wrote: »

I am travelling to Australia for five months and the insurance quotes are very expensive. We are 69 and 73. Can anyone help?

My parents are going to Oz in September and I am looking for them ,best quote so far is Marks and spencers