Jet2Holidays Travel Insurance - What a Con?

Paul_O_4

Hi all,

Has anyone else been caught out by this...?

When booking a holiday with jet2holidays, they offer the chance to take out their insurance. In my case it was an additional £36. At the time of booking I thought this quote was probably a bit more expensive than if I purchased insurance independently, but likely only by a few pounds. So for convenience I ticked the box.

A week later, I get an email saying that any pre-existing conditions need to be declared before I travel. Fair enough. I purchased the holiday in January, and don't go away until June, so added it to the to-do list.

I finally got around to doing it last night, but when declaring the conditions, the insurance company want an additional £22 EACH, making the total insurance £80 for a single trip.

I went to Compare the Market, and my cheapest quote for the holiday for my family is £28 - including the declarations.

So I call Rockingham Insurance (who supplied this for Jet2) to cancel the insurance, but they've said that, because 14 days have lapsed since I took out the policy, I'm not entitled to any refund.

The insurance doesn't even start until June and I wasn't emailed to declare conditions until a week after purchase - an email which suggests a far longer timeframe than 7 days.... then they more than double the price... and yet I'm not entitled to a refund for something that takes place in the future. I've left a complaint with the insurance company, which I'm sure will go absolutely nowhere, but this feels so underhand that I'll never book with jet2holidays again on the back of this.

Has anyone else been caught by this, and is there any recourse? Seems hardly worth the argument for the sake of thirty quid, but I really feel like I've been scammed and wondered if there is anything that can be done, aside from taking my business elsewhere in the future?

Thanks,

SaverRate

I never go with the airline/travel agents insurer. Always compare prices elsewhere and you will likely have better cover for a lower price!

TELLIT01

It's not a con.  You chose to take out the easiest option, then did nothing about declaring pre-existing conditions until it was too late to cancel.  Travel insurance takes effect from the day you take it out to provide cover for illness or injury which prevents travel.

daveyjp

Its not a con, its upselling and you haven't been scammed.

You were offered something to buy and bought it.  It appears this was done before knowing if it was good value or understanding the terms.

The insurance starts the moment you buy it, cancellation cover in particular, certain elements don't apply until you are away.

Paul_O_4

TELLIT01 said:

It's not a con.  You chose to take out the easiest option, then did nothing about declaring pre-existing conditions until it was too late to cancel.  Travel insurance takes effect from the day you take it out to provide cover for illness or injury which prevents travel.

Agreed, I am absolutely in the wrong here and no doubt the somewhere in the small print it will gleefully tell me so. 

However, the way the process is designed to meander is such that it is very easy to get caught out by this I think:

Jet2: "Buy our great travel insurance for £36!"
Me: "OK, I'll buy that for £36!"
Jet2: 7 days later "Declare your conditions before you travel"
Me: "OK, I'll declare them before I travel". 
Also Me: Declares before I travel.
Jet2 "That'll be another 150% on the price please!"
Me: "That wasn't the price I signed up to. I'd like to cancel"
Jet2 "Nope! You actually only had 14 days to do that".

Again I'm sure its in the small print, and lesson learned to my cost. The insurance effective date is something that I wasn't aware of and needless to say I'll not be caught out by it again. But perhaps this post serve as a warning to others before they click the easy insurance button when buying a holiday, because the price it says is not actually the price you'll pay if you want fully effective cover.

TELLIT01

I'm not aware of any travel insurance which doesn't take effect from the day it is taken out unless there is a specific request for it not to do so.  It's been that way ever since I started travelling abroad in the 1970s.

melb

if it starts immediately, why are you asked for dates of travel for single trip travel insurance as opposed to an annual policy which obviously starts from the purchase date

TELLIT01

melb said:

if it starts immediately, why are you asked for dates of travel for single trip travel insurance as opposed to an annual policy which obviously starts from the purchase date

Because the travel bit is only valid for a single trip.  The sickness or other reason preventing travel is effective from the day the policy starts.

Sandtree

TELLIT01 said:

I'm not aware of any travel insurance which doesn't take effect from the day it is taken out unless there is a specific request for it not to do so.  It's been that way ever since I started travelling abroad in the 1970s.

Single trip, this is true... annual travel does have an explicit  start date as standard because of the fact you are generally wanting to align it to your previous years policy ending. 

As a rule of thumb, any company selling something that is relatively expensive and is then trying to cross sell secondary lower value products those are rarely good value for money. For anyone with any experience of buying travel insurance then clearly the price cannot be set until pre-existing conditions are declared unless there is a blanket exclusion for all pre-existing conditions.

twopenny

Nope, sorry I'm not with you on this.
You agreed a contract without reading it. 
They gave you a chance, 14 days to cancel.
They prompted you 7 days in and you didn't follow through.
A contract starts from the time you agree to it.
Ticking a box is the same as signing a paper contract........so many don't see this. You are not alone.

NoodleDoodleMan

Self inflicted problem, sadly.