Best Travel Insurance Co, IF we need to claim!

Gatser

There are great reviews for good cover and good prices but most negative reviews relate to claiming… 😬 Yikes!!
Have you had a positive experience of a travel insurance claim? Who with please?  Thanks for your hints and tips 😎

NoodleDoodleMan

We have the Co-op Bank Everyday Extra current account - £15 a month, cover to age 79, ends at 80th birthday.

Cover is by AXA - they are major league providers.

https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/products/bank-accounts/packaged-bank-account/

Special offer until Friday - worth considering.

daveyjp

I've never had an issue claiming for cancellation before travel, evidence provided and money returned.

Claiming whilst abroad, especially for expensive medical matters is generally where problems arise.

My parents had passports stolen and their bank account insurance excluded costs incurred in securing documents to travel home.  This ran in to four figures, so an error on their part for not checking,

DullGreyGuy

Gatser said:

There are great reviews for good cover and good prices but most negative reviews relate to claiming… 😬 Yikes!!
Have you had a positive experience of a travel insurance claim? Who with please?  Thanks for your hints and tips 😎

The problem with the travel insurance industry is that there is a vast amount of layering and outsourcing so it can be difficult to be sure you are comparing apples and apples.

So for example we had a good experience with out claim with American Express however that policy is insured by Chubb but administered by a division of Axa. So you could argue the praise was really on Axa rather than AmEx or Chubb and there is nothing to say that next year AmEx will still be partnered in the same arrangement, they could swap out Axa for Davies Group or others. 

Secondly... with outsourcing and partnerships you can choose quality of service. So a former client had delegated underwriting authority from Axa and did deals with high street brands to provide them with white labelled travel insurance. The high street brand could choose the basic service where the letter of the policy is applied or they could pay a bit more wholesale price and if your flight was 11hrs 58 minutes delayed they'd payout the amount due if the flight was delayed over 12 hours. There was a very poor correlation between what you'd consider brand positioning and the level of service they choose to pay... indeed one budget brand chose all the upgrades and sold it at cost whereas a brand that sells on its customer focus chose none of the optional extras but was selling it at a higher price than the budget brand.

Always take complaints online with a pinch of salt... people with a "bad experience" are much more likely to post than a good experience. If your flight is delayed 11hrs 58mins is it really right to complain your claim was declined if the policy states the delay is over 12 hours? Whatever your answer, those people do complain online

mr_stripey

I know of two people who had major, significant crises whilst abroad requiring hospitalisation in one case and medivac from cruise ship in the other (ultimately resulting in the person dying). Both parties were insured with M&S Travel Insurance and they were in both cases, absolutely brilliant.