Travel insurance claims - positive or negative experiences?

jonesMUFCforever

My thoughts on this.

If a company pays out most of what you claimed - they are good.

If they do not they are rubbish!

leylandsunaddict

No two claims are the same, so other peoples experiences with one company may not be yours. Just buy a policy that has the cover, the levels and the excesses that you need/want. Most importantly, make sure you read the policy and know what is and isn't covered. Most claims are declined purely because they weren't actually covered by the policy in the first place, or the person claiming hasn't disclosed something they should have done etc.

victor2

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

No two claims are the same, so other peoples experiences with one company may not be yours. Just buy a policy that has the cover, the levels and the excesses that you need/want. Most importantly, make sure you read the policy and know what is and isn't covered. Most claims are declined purely because they weren't actually covered by the policy in the first place, or the person claiming hasn't disclosed something they should have done etc.

Some good advice there, but the OP was asking for feedback regarding the claims process, which is something you cannot tell from reading a policy document.
I freely admit in our case where the death of an in-law cause the cancellation of a planned trip, I had no idea if the policy covered it, especially after the airline refused to help. Just one telephone call to the insurers sorted it all out to our satisfaction.
We have stayed with that insurer since then, confident that they have good customer support. Incidentally, the policy now says the death of a close relative with a pre-existing condition is not covered, so I assume we might not be so lucky if it happened again, but it highlights that you cannot consider every possibility when you take out a policy.

Voyager2002

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

No two claims are the same, so other peoples experiences with one company may not be yours. Just buy a policy that has the cover, the levels and the excesses that you need/want. Most importantly, make sure you read the policy and know what is and isn't covered. Most claims are declined purely because they weren't actually covered by the policy in the first place, or the person claiming hasn't disclosed something they should have done etc.

Very true...

However, some companies (or rather their out-sourced claims processors) are slow; decline a "genuine" claim on the basis of a minor technicality; make mistakes; and require unreasonable amounts of documentation to support relatively minor claims. Others are different: for example I once made a claim with Coop and knew that I had left it too late, but they paid out anyway.

nafe12

victor2 wrote: »

Some good advice there, but the OP was asking for feedback regarding the claims process, which is something you cannot tell from reading a policy document.

Thanks, yes that's right, really I'm just keen to avoid hassles should something happen. In the past (not a UK firm), I had loads of trouble with claims handling, where they required documents that certain organisations simply wouldn’t issue, etc.

Indeed, reading the wording, it becomes quite clear there are only a handful of claim handling firms and underwriters. Makes it harder given many travel insurance 'brands' frequently change both of these!!

leylandsunaddict

victor2 wrote: »

Some good advice there, but the OP was asking for feedback regarding the claims process, which is something you cannot tell from reading a policy document.
I freely admit in our case where the death of an in-law cause the cancellation of a planned trip, I had no idea if the policy covered it, especially after the airline refused to help. Just one telephone call to the insurers sorted it all out to our satisfaction.
We have stayed with that insurer since then, confident that they have good customer support. Incidentally, the policy now says the death of a close relative with a pre-existing condition is not covered, so I assume we might not be so lucky if it happened again, but it highlights that you cannot consider every possibility when you take out a policy.

You can't advise on the claims process though. How it works depends on the company/policy/type of claim etc.

I've cancelled because of impending death of father in law. I hadn't disclosed he had cancer, or that it had metastasized, so wasn't going to even bother claiming. The policy clearly stated that if the state of health of a non travelling relative might cause a decision to cancel or curtail it had to be declared but I'd was working, running both father in law and my mother to different hospitals for various appointments and treatments, or visiting twice a day when they were in hospital, and I just never got around to making the call to declare either. A few weeks later mother in law persuaded me to try, so I got a claim for. FIL GP completed the medical section and I sent it off with the other necessary documents. I was paid in full in just over a week from posting it. I guess I was very lucky!

I've also made a claim for hospitalisation, which included pulling in a CT scan team in the early hours, various tests and a 2 night stay. One phone call to the insurer was all it took and after that they liased with the hospital and paid them direct.

I'm still using the same insurer for the same reasons as you still use yours, but I'm not sure whether my annual policy will be renewed with them next month or not. After my own latest diagnosis they don't want to sell me one :eek:

pollypenny

Post Office - not a happy experience!

My 85year old aunt fell and broke her hip in Belgium. Treatment was great, but we were put through hoops on the claim.

We had to pay cash, in euros, for the ambulance which brought her back to hospital in Kent - luckily we just managed to scrape it up as we'd drawn out €200 to take friends for a meal and other bits.

Then we had to prove that we had an existing hotel booking. This was embarrassing, as we were there as guests. Stupidly we didn't claim for the extra nights we'd had to stay while we organised things.

Voyager2002

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

You can't advise on the claims process though. How it works depends on the company/policy/type of claim etc.

I've cancelled because of impending death of father in law. I hadn't disclosed he had cancer, or that it had metastasized, so wasn't going to even bother claiming. The policy clearly stated that if the state of health of a non travelling relative might cause a decision to cancel or curtail it had to be declared but I'd was working, running both father in law and my mother to different hospitals for various appointments and treatments, or visiting twice a day when they were in hospital, and I just never got around to making the call to declare either. A few weeks later mother in law persuaded me to try, so I got a claim for. FIL GP completed the medical section and I sent it off with the other necessary documents. I was paid in full in just over a week from posting it. I guess I was very lucky!

I've also made a claim for hospitalisation, which included pulling in a CT scan team in the early hours, various tests and a 2 night stay. One phone call to the insurer was all it took and after that they liased with the hospital and paid them direct.

I'm still using the same insurer for the same reasons as you still use yours, but I'm not sure whether my annual policy will be renewed with them next month or not. After my own latest diagnosis they don't want to sell me one :eek:

Sorry you have had some bad times...

Anyway, would you care to name the insurer? A company that behaves as well as that deserves to be recommended.