Travel Insurance - Do NOT use Leisure Guard!!

Leisure_Guard

bardenp said:

I purchased my standard cover travel insurance with Leisure Guard on the 3rd March, following the advice from Money Saving Expert that I'd be covered in the event of  Covid-19 FCO advisories. I've put in a claim to Leisure Guard and received this response:

"As you will see, under the cancellation section there is no cover in respect of the Coronavirus and unfortunately, you will not be able to make a claim under your policy."

Does anyone know who's in error? Money Saving Expert or Leisure Guard? If it is Leisure Guards then I'll take this to the ombudsman if they don't change tact.

Many thanks

Pete

Thank you for your email.
I can confirm if your policy was purchased prior to the 13th March you are covered for Coronavirus. This information is clearly listed on the Leisure Guard website and stated under the FAQs. The same information was provided to MSE so there is no error.
Please would you kindly forward your email to
info@leisureguardsupport.com with your details addressing that your post was discussed with a representative of Leisure Guard and i will personally ensure your claim is reviewed immediately under the terms and conditions provided.
Thank you for raising this with us.

Leisure_Guard

Murphsmum said:

We had a holiday booked for June this year, obviously we are no longer going, which is very disappointing because it was for my 50th but never mind. We have moved our holiday to May 2021 and I can’t get travel insurance that far ahead. All you hear is book your insurance when you book your holiday but I can’t do this? I am trying to change the insurance I already had to next year but I don’t even know if this will be allowed

Thank you for raising this point.
We are currently addressing this with the insurer / underwriter.
We will revert once we have received a confirmed response. We appreciate your patience in this matter.

mummalove

Leisure_Guard said:

titontaz said:

Simply don’t use Leisure Guard. They are a mishmash of different legal entities with claims dealt with by Allianz Assistance (suspiciously like Allianz Insurance presumably to fool the unwary) and complaints via Rock Insurance. They are set up to take your premiums but not to pay out on any claims.

I have been unable to travel due to the FCO advice to avoid all but essential travel to Italy having rung the Allianz Assistance claim line on the day before the FCO changed their advice to cover the whole of Italy when I was told that I could claim for irrecoverable costs if the FCO changed to cover the whole country, I applied for a claim form the day the advice changed and received an email a week later stating that despite their own employees confirmation, I could not claim because the WHO had subsequently declared the Covid-19 outbreak an epidemic which was excluded in the policy terms (it is not).

MSE’s thread on here is also wrong because it states that Leisure Guard will pay out due to Covid-19 - they will not.

Please don’t think because their policies look good value compared to other more reputable companies that they are fit for purpose, they are not. If you are thinking of using them, pay a bit more for one of the larger providers or don’t have travel insurance because having a policy with Leisure Guard is equivalent to burning the money because in the event of a claim, you are on your own.

MSE should remove this company from their site.

Firstly I can confirm the insurer is Allianz and the claims handler for Allianz is indeed Allianz assistance. If your policy was purchased prior to the 13th March 11.59pm and there was no FCO advisory you would be covered. Any purchase after this would be void. I am sorry to hear that your claim has been refused. I would like to look into this for you as had the above been followed then coverage would be in place. May I please ask you to email your details to us at "info@leisureguardsupport.com" and I will raise this as a priority and have this investigated for you. Thank you

Hello.  I also wish to comment on this thread as have exactly the same issue today with Allianz regarding my Leisure Guard Travel Insurance.

I took out the premier plus insurance on 13th March (before 1159pm).  We were due to travel to Cyprus on 9th May and I wish to claim for our stay in the villa (which cannot be refunded by the villa owner).  Flights being refunded directly by easyJet.

At the time of booking and taking out the travel insurance there was no FCO advisory and I was confident I would be covered.  Also recommended by Martin Lewis on this site.

I do not even have a claim form.

My policy number is LGA16477***  My initials ER.  I will now email you on info@leisureguardsupport.com and please can you reply to this post so I can be assured I am covered.

It is a very anxious time.  Thank you.

Leisure_Guard

mummalove said:

Leisure_Guard said:

titontaz said:

Simply don’t use Leisure Guard. They are a mishmash of different legal entities with claims dealt with by Allianz Assistance (suspiciously like Allianz Insurance presumably to fool the unwary) and complaints via Rock Insurance. They are set up to take your premiums but not to pay out on any claims.

I have been unable to travel due to the FCO advice to avoid all but essential travel to Italy having rung the Allianz Assistance claim line on the day before the FCO changed their advice to cover the whole of Italy when I was told that I could claim for irrecoverable costs if the FCO changed to cover the whole country, I applied for a claim form the day the advice changed and received an email a week later stating that despite their own employees confirmation, I could not claim because the WHO had subsequently declared the Covid-19 outbreak an epidemic which was excluded in the policy terms (it is not).

MSE’s thread on here is also wrong because it states that Leisure Guard will pay out due to Covid-19 - they will not.

Please don’t think because their policies look good value compared to other more reputable companies that they are fit for purpose, they are not. If you are thinking of using them, pay a bit more for one of the larger providers or don’t have travel insurance because having a policy with Leisure Guard is equivalent to burning the money because in the event of a claim, you are on your own.

MSE should remove this company from their site.

Firstly I can confirm the insurer is Allianz and the claims handler for Allianz is indeed Allianz assistance. If your policy was purchased prior to the 13th March 11.59pm and there was no FCO advisory you would be covered. Any purchase after this would be void. I am sorry to hear that your claim has been refused. I would like to look into this for you as had the above been followed then coverage would be in place. May I please ask you to email your details to us at "info@leisureguardsupport.com" and I will raise this as a priority and have this investigated for you. Thank you

Hello.  I also wish to comment on this thread as have exactly the same issue today with Allianz regarding my Leisure Guard Travel Insurance.

I took out the premier plus insurance on 13th March (before 1159pm).  We were due to travel to Cyprus on 9th May and I wish to claim for our stay in the villa (which cannot be refunded by the villa owner).  Flights being refunded directly by easyJet.

At the time of booking and taking out the travel insurance there was no FCO advisory and I was confident I would be covered.  Also recommended by Martin Lewis on this sit.

I rang Allianz and they said I am not covered.  I do not even have a claim form.

My policy number is LGA16477***  My initials ER.  I will now email you on info@leisureguardsupport.com and please can you reply to this post so I can be assured I am covered.

It is a very anxious time.  Thank you.

Thank you for your post.
As soon as we receive your email I will duly get this raised with a Senior Manager in the Claims dept for review.

mummalove

Leisure_Guard said:

mummalove said:

Leisure_Guard said:

titontaz said:

Simply don’t use Leisure Guard. They are a mishmash of different legal entities with claims dealt with by Allianz Assistance (suspiciously like Allianz Insurance presumably to fool the unwary) and complaints via Rock Insurance. They are set up to take your premiums but not to pay out on any claims.

I have been unable to travel due to the FCO advice to avoid all but essential travel to Italy having rung the Allianz Assistance claim line on the day before the FCO changed their advice to cover the whole of Italy when I was told that I could claim for irrecoverable costs if the FCO changed to cover the whole country, I applied for a claim form the day the advice changed and received an email a week later stating that despite their own employees confirmation, I could not claim because the WHO had subsequently declared the Covid-19 outbreak an epidemic which was excluded in the policy terms (it is not).

MSE’s thread on here is also wrong because it states that Leisure Guard will pay out due to Covid-19 - they will not.

Please don’t think because their policies look good value compared to other more reputable companies that they are fit for purpose, they are not. If you are thinking of using them, pay a bit more for one of the larger providers or don’t have travel insurance because having a policy with Leisure Guard is equivalent to burning the money because in the event of a claim, you are on your own.

MSE should remove this company from their site.

Firstly I can confirm the insurer is Allianz and the claims handler for Allianz is indeed Allianz assistance. If your policy was purchased prior to the 13th March 11.59pm and there was no FCO advisory you would be covered. Any purchase after this would be void. I am sorry to hear that your claim has been refused. I would like to look into this for you as had the above been followed then coverage would be in place. May I please ask you to email your details to us at "info@leisureguardsupport.com" and I will raise this as a priority and have this investigated for you. Thank you

Hello.  I also wish to comment on this thread as have exactly the same issue today with Allianz regarding my Leisure Guard Travel Insurance.

I took out the premier plus insurance on 13th March (before 1159pm).  We were due to travel to Cyprus on 9th May and I wish to claim for our stay in the villa (which cannot be refunded by the villa owner).  Flights being refunded directly by easyJet.

At the time of booking and taking out the travel insurance there was no FCO advisory and I was confident I would be covered.  Also recommended by Martin Lewis on this sit.

I rang Allianz and they said I am not covered.  I do not even have a claim form.

My policy number is LGA16477***  My initials ER.  I will now email you on info@leisureguardsupport.com and please can you reply to this post so I can be assured I am covered.

It is a very anxious time.  Thank you.

Thank you for your post.
As soon as we receive your email I will duly get this raised with a Senior Manager in the Claims dept for review.

Thank you Leisure Guard, you have been most supportive in these difficult times.

I have now submitted my online claim with Allianz Assist and have emailed you today with the reference number for your information and to ensure my claim is indeed covered by your insurance.

geo_rge

Leisure Guard are refusing to pay out for a trip in April we had to cancel due to coronavirus/FCO advice. I took the annual policy out in May 2019 and assumed something like this would be covered as it was recommended by MSE. Despite LG and other insurers covering FCO advised cancellations they are wriggling out because this specific scenario is apparently not included in the policy. Very disappointing, this is why people don’t trust insurance companies. We take insurance out to cover unforeseen eventualities like this but you just don’t seem to be able to trust them. I've used Leisure Guard a few times in the past but would now never use them again.

Thrugelmir

geo_rge said:

 assumed something like this would be covered as it was recommended by MSE. 

Was cover against a global pandemic really on your radar in May 2019?  Hindsight is a wonderfull tool to use to pass the buck and not accept any personal responsibility. 

Leisure_Guard

geo_rge said:

Leisure Guard are refusing to pay out for a trip in April we had to cancel due to coronavirus/FCO advice. I took the annual policy out in May 2019 and assumed something like this would be covered as it was recommended by MSE. Despite LG and other insurers covering FCO advised cancellations they are wriggling out because this specific scenario is apparently not included in the policy. Very disappointing, this is why people don’t trust insurance companies. We take insurance out to cover unforeseen eventualities like this but you just don’t seem to be able to trust them. I've used Leisure Guard a few times in the past but would now never use them again.

Thrugelmir said:

geo_rge said:

 assumed something like this would be covered as it was recommended by MSE. 

Was cover against a global pandemic really on your radar in May 2019?  Hindsight is a wonderfull tool to use to pass the buck and not accept any personal responsibility. 

Thank you for your comments. I would be happy to investigate this further for you.
If you wish to email Info@leisureguardsupport.com
and include your name, policy number and contact details we will look into this for you.
 Thank you 

Leisure_Guard

mummalove said:

Leisure_Guard said:

mummalove said:

Leisure_Guard said:

titontaz said:

Simply don’t use Leisure Guard. They are a mishmash of different legal entities with claims dealt with by Allianz Assistance (suspiciously like Allianz Insurance presumably to fool the unwary) and complaints via Rock Insurance. They are set up to take your premiums but not to pay out on any claims.

I have been unable to travel due to the FCO advice to avoid all but essential travel to Italy having rung the Allianz Assistance claim line on the day before the FCO changed their advice to cover the whole of Italy when I was told that I could claim for irrecoverable costs if the FCO changed to cover the whole country, I applied for a claim form the day the advice changed and received an email a week later stating that despite their own employees confirmation, I could not claim because the WHO had subsequently declared the Covid-19 outbreak an epidemic which was excluded in the policy terms (it is not).

MSE’s thread on here is also wrong because it states that Leisure Guard will pay out due to Covid-19 - they will not.

Please don’t think because their policies look good value compared to other more reputable companies that they are fit for purpose, they are not. If you are thinking of using them, pay a bit more for one of the larger providers or don’t have travel insurance because having a policy with Leisure Guard is equivalent to burning the money because in the event of a claim, you are on your own.

MSE should remove this company from their site.

Firstly I can confirm the insurer is Allianz and the claims handler for Allianz is indeed Allianz assistance. If your policy was purchased prior to the 13th March 11.59pm and there was no FCO advisory you would be covered. Any purchase after this would be void. I am sorry to hear that your claim has been refused. I would like to look into this for you as had the above been followed then coverage would be in place. May I please ask you to email your details to us at "info@leisureguardsupport.com" and I will raise this as a priority and have this investigated for you. Thank you

Hello.  I also wish to comment on this thread as have exactly the same issue today with Allianz regarding my Leisure Guard Travel Insurance.

I took out the premier plus insurance on 13th March (before 1159pm).  We were due to travel to Cyprus on 9th May and I wish to claim for our stay in the villa (which cannot be refunded by the villa owner).  Flights being refunded directly by easyJet.

At the time of booking and taking out the travel insurance there was no FCO advisory and I was confident I would be covered.  Also recommended by Martin Lewis on this sit.

I rang Allianz and they said I am not covered.  I do not even have a claim form.

My policy number is LGA16477***  My initials ER.  I will now email you on info@leisureguardsupport.com and please can you reply to this post so I can be assured I am covered.

It is a very anxious time.  Thank you.

Thank you for your post.
As soon as we receive your email I will duly get this raised with a Senior Manager in the Claims dept for review.

Thank you Leisure Guard, you have been most supportive in these difficult times.

I have now submitted my online claim with Allianz Assist and have emailed you today with the reference number for your information and to ensure my claim is indeed covered by your insurance.

Thank you for sending the information through. We will duly review and come back to you ASAP.

Beltalowda

Exactly the same sort of situation as @mummalove - hopefully they've got some kind of resolution, and I'm posting here in the hope of the same!

I'd booked a trip to Indonesia to do a load of scuba diving on a liveaboard, well before the pandemic kicked off, and am now being refused a refund by the provider. Got my insurance from these characters (thanks to advice on this very site) before the cutoff date of the 13th of March, and now cannot get through to Leisureguard AT ALL, get bounced to Allianz (who claim that they definitely will NOT pay out), sometimes get flung over to Rock, from whom I have an email claiming that they definitely WILL pay out, and can't even manage to talk to anyone to get a refund on this seemingly useless policy. I've been passed from pillar to post, and am beyond tired of dealing with this.

This sort of endless chain of middlemen, providers, buck-passers and skimmers is exactly why people hate the insurance industry. I can safely say I'll never be using Leisureguard or Allianz again.