Problem extending travel insurance with ABTA

fudgeandsqueak

My family have all insured with ABTA for a trip ti France this year, which was fine.  My daughter then used them for a 2 week trip to Spain.  She enjoyed it so much that she decided to stay a week longer, and rebooked her flight for a reasonable fee.

However the problem arose when she tried to extend her ABTA travel insurance.  I emailed on her behalf on Sunday and phoned as well on Monday [which was the day her insurance would expire], and asked how to obtain an extension and what it would cost  They phoned my daughter to get confirmation that I could act on her behalf and said that they would be checking what to do. They said that she 'probably wouldn't be covered on Tuesday'.  Since then I have sent them several messages.  I was told that they had 'emailed the underwriter' to check what could be done and that it would take a few days to get a reply.  Yesterday I emailed again to say it's now urgent and could they phone the underwriter rather than just send an email,  I phoned today and was told that since the underwirter had not replied my daughter was not insured and they couldn't do anything.  They told me that 'they are not in telephone contact with the underwriter, who is apparently a different company.

ABTA's website says that they are 'backed by AXA, which is a very big insurance company, but the actual insurance came from a company called Rock Insurance, which I have never heard of.  They clearly don't have adequate administrative systems in place to manage their business, and no-one in my family will be insuring via ABTA again.

Has anyone else had problems with this company [Rock Insurance/ ABTA].

My daughter now has the stress of travelling across Spain to Almeira, staying in a hotel for a day then getting a flight with no insurance.  It has made her feel very unsafe

eskbanker

Sounds like poor service, but did she/you price up a separate standalone policy to cover the extra week, as these are often available pretty much instantaneously via 'new sale' channels?  Not saying that this ought to be necessary, but perhaps pragmatic?

Neil49

The quickest option is to go online and buy a fresh travel insurance policy starting today. 

Alan_Bowen

ABTA only got involved in insurance earlier this year and upset many of their travel agents who saw them as competing with their own members! Having said that, Rock are a big name in travel insurance and even if this policy hadn't been sold before, they really should have thought of policies on extending cover before now. It is perhaps strange that the branch of AXA they are using appears to be the Belgium office in Brussels not a UK branch. It certainly isn't a good sign that an insurer who should be used to dealing with emergencies cannot answer a simple question in 72 hours and I am sure others will take heed and act accordingly

fudgeandsqueak

She did try just getting a new insurance policy for the extra days, but was told you can't do that if you are already there.

sheramber

Not a recommendtion but, I think World Nomads allow you to buy when not in UK.

Alan_Bowen

Queuing in Tesco yesterday I noticed they appear to offer the same policy as ABTA so this issue must be one that arises on a weekly basis and therefore deserves a formal complaint to Rock and, if necessary, perhaps to the Financial Ombudsman scheme if you do not get an adequate answer. 

Annemos

Would the Association of Brokers, BIBA be able to help? Set new one up through a Broker? It might be more expensive, I suppose, but would take away the risk. 

Many policies will not start if you are already abroad. My friend had this issue. Changed to a new annual policy with a different provider, in the middle of a 2 month trip abroad. Second new policy does not cover that latter part of the trip, because already abroad. (And they were not covering her when the trip started, either.) 

sheramber

If the policy document states that one of the requirements when taking out the policy is that you are resident in UK, then you have bought the policy on these terms.

You would  need to search for a policy that allows you to take it out once you are abroad.


Whether you can extend the cover once you are abroad will also depend on the terms of the policy that you buy.

That is why you should read the policy document carefully to know what cover you have and that it meets your requirements.

fudgeandsqueak

In this day and age many people have friends and relatives abroad who they will visit.  For those who can work from online, or who are retired etc., it will be very easy to decide to stay a bit longer, and insurance companies should be able to deal with this without a fuss.

sheramber

There are companies thst do  deal with it. You just need to buy from the appropriate company.

It may cost you more than the cheapest company that does not include it in their cover.