Travel insurance via Travel Supermarket

Five_Pound_Note

Last July, we bought a couples annual travel insurance policy by getting quotes from Travel Supermarket. We chose a policy with Admiral, went through to the Admiral website and purchased the policy.

Yesterday, I called Admiral to let them know that my husband has a (small) newly diagnosed medical condition - our document gave us the phone number to do so.

Admiral then informed me that we have a 'non medical travel insurance policy' !?!  All because we bought via Travel Supermarket.  Had I clicked directly on the Admiral website, our policy could have been updated with his medical condition.  As it was, we have had to cancel that policy (obtaining a partial refund, which is fine) and take out a completely new annual policy.

This seems completely unfair and I said, but our policy information says to inform you of any 'changes in health' so this is really misleading ... I would never have taken out the policy had I known.  I was told (and I phoned back a second time to confirm) that it is ONLY policies taken out via Travel Supermarket that are the issue, no other websites.  

I was also told that Admiral can't produce different documents just because I came through Travel Supermarket.

This seems so misleading.  Has anyone else had the same issue?

DullGreyGuy

It is common for insurers to sell cut down/budget versions of their policies via aggregators because customers that buy via that channel 99% of the time care about little than the price and analysis has shown people will choose an unknown offshore insurer -v- a household UK brand to save less little more than £1. 

They certainly could produce other docs for aggregator sales -v- phone -v- web as plenty of other companies do but most will try and make the wording universal. For example the RAC offer breakdown with an excess via confused.com whereas there is no excess for sales from their website or phone. The wording states you must pay an excess if the policy schedule states there is one which is able to cover both direct and aggregator sales. 

Ultimately register a complaint that you were not informed that they'd not consider new conditions post purchase. I would leave out the argument of the fact you have to tell them of changes made it seem like cover was possible as there is no such promise there and plenty of insurances require the insured to tell them even though there is no possibility of cover once declared (eg if you lose your driving license you must tell your motor insurers)

Five_Pound_Note

Thanks for the advice @DullGreyGuy!  
I wouldn't say that people are only concerned with price if they use a comparison website; it's good to see lots of companies in one place rather than trawling individual websites.  
Good point about policies not always accepting a medical condition, however small!  I get that. 
Their documents should reflect what they offer, however, and if it is not possible to phone and update the policy, then it should clearly state, 'This is a non-medical policy and any medical changes will involve the policy being cancelled and a new one sought'.  I think many people - including us - would then not take out such a policy.

DullGreyGuy

Five_Pound_Note said:

Thanks for the advice DullGreyGuy!  
I wouldn't say that people are only concerned with price if they use a comparison website; it's good to see lots of companies in one place rather than trawling individual websites.  
Good point about policies not always accepting a medical condition, however small!  I get that. 
Their documents should reflect what they offer, however, and if it is not possible to phone and update the policy, then it should clearly state, 'This is a non-medical policy and any medical changes will involve the policy being cancelled and a new one sought'.  I think many people - including us - would then not take out such a policy.

The comment comes from a well respected household brand that at the time people would have said was a customer focused and ethical brand. They analysed the data from the aggregators and found that 80% of the time if they were something like £1.10 or more than the cheapest insurer they wouldn't be picked. Even at 50p difference it was something like 40% of the time they weren't selected. 

No doubt some aggregator users aren't interested purely in price, I'm not when doing Motor quotes, but for the majority it seems to be one of the largest considerations. 


There is often another options... keep with the existing policy and just not have the new condition insured until renewal time when you can declare it at inception. Just checking and Admiral do accept declared pre-existing conditions via Travel/Money Supermarket. If its a minor condition it may be worth the risk but remember that most policies its the condition and "related conditions" and thats what could be more concerning depending on what the condition is. 

sheramber

Five_Pound_Note said:

Last July, we bought a couples annual travel insurance policy by getting quotes from Travel Supermarket. We chose a policy with Admiral, went through to the Admiral website and purchased the policy.

Yesterday, I called Admiral to let them know that my husband has a (small) newly diagnosed medical condition - our document gave us the phone number to do so.

Admiral then informed me that we have a 'non medical travel insurance policy' !?!  All because we bought via Travel Supermarket.  Had I clicked directly on the Admiral website, our policy could have been updated with his medical condition.  As it was, we have had to cancel that policy (obtaining a partial refund, which is fine) and take out a completely new annual policy.

This seems completely unfair and I said, but our policy information says to inform you of any 'changes in health' so this is really misleading ... I would never have taken out the policy had I known.  I was told (and I phoned back a second time to confirm) that it is ONLY policies taken out via Travel Supermarket that are the issue, no other websites.  

I was also told that Admiral can't produce different documents just because I came through Travel Supermarket.

This seems so misleading.  Has anyone else had the same issue?

Did your  questionaire on Travel Supermarket ask for any medical information?

If not, that would have implied that there was no medical cover.

DullGreyGuy

sheramber said:

Five_Pound_Note said:

Last July, we bought a couples annual travel insurance policy by getting quotes from Travel Supermarket. We chose a policy with Admiral, went through to the Admiral website and purchased the policy.

Yesterday, I called Admiral to let them know that my husband has a (small) newly diagnosed medical condition - our document gave us the phone number to do so.

Admiral then informed me that we have a 'non medical travel insurance policy' !?!  All because we bought via Travel Supermarket.  Had I clicked directly on the Admiral website, our policy could have been updated with his medical condition.  As it was, we have had to cancel that policy (obtaining a partial refund, which is fine) and take out a completely new annual policy.

This seems completely unfair and I said, but our policy information says to inform you of any 'changes in health' so this is really misleading ... I would never have taken out the policy had I known.  I was told (and I phoned back a second time to confirm) that it is ONLY policies taken out via Travel Supermarket that are the issue, no other websites.  

I was also told that Admiral can't produce different documents just because I came through Travel Supermarket.

This seems so misleading.  Has anyone else had the same issue?

Did your  questionaire on Travel Supermarket ask for any medical information?

If not, that would have implied that there was no medical cover.

Travel Supermarket is the Money Supermarket comparison site in different clothes for the purposes of travel insurance. It does have the ability to declare pre-existing conditions and Admiral will cover those declared during the process. 

Five_Pound_Note

@sheramber - yes, the policy we bought was an Admiral travel policy via Travel Supermarket which included medical cover, absolutely.  What Admiral CANNOT do is 'update' this policy with a new medical issue.  It is just not possible.  That is what is meant by 'non-medical travel insurance policy', so I was told.  It means any pre-existing conditions you mention when you complete the original medical information form are fine, but if you want to add something, the policy itself does not allow this.
But if you by direct with Admiral (the same policy), then you can do so!
That is what is misleading about it and what I feel is being missold, as even the Admiral documents that you receive tell you to contact them to update your policy if you have a new medical condition to declare.  Then when you do, Admiral say, well actually because you bought this policy through Travel Supermarket and not direct via our website, we can't do that.  We can do it with ANY OTHER affiliate website, just not that one.

And when you say, well why does your documentation not state this, and in fact it states the opposite - contact us to update your policy - you are told that they cannot produce a different policy document just for people buying through Travel Supermarket.  That is misleading.