New Travel Insurance discussion area

parcival

We just had to cancel an extended holiday to Australia due to illness. We had a single trip policy with Direct Travel insurance.

Although the claim form was detailed and extensive to fill in, once we had sent it off we had a cheque within 8 days - no queries or quibles.

FH_Brit

Well done parcival

luci

That's good to know as my annual policy is with Direct Travel and I hope that I never have to use it.

waspsforever

I am planning a holiday to Australia next summer for me and my wife for approximately 3 months, max stay is 3 months due to visa. I am 65 and my wife 63 when applying for the insurance. No real medical problems apart from high blood pressure for my wife. Can anyone suggest which companies to try.
Thanks
David

FH_Brit

David - Try Post Office insurance through Fortis (I am a big fan of theirs and have little trouble with claims service) - I just did a quick quote as I do not know all your details

Annual cover 2 Adults 64 years old (you may need to call and ask about 65 year old) world wide £99.00 not USA/Canada £129.00 with USA/Canada This is the standard 31 day trip but you can pay extra to extend (again you'll need to call) and as far as blood pressure is covered as long as you have not been hospitalized within (think) 12 or 24 months - again when you call ask, they'll tell you.

This may not be the cheapest cover but you do get what you pay for and with this policy it is excelent value for money - do investigate your policy purchases to make sure you have adequate cover for your travel needs.

Other recommended IC's - Tesco - Direct Line - Barclays Bank - Norwich Union (Aviva) - RBS

ONLY Average IC's - Europ Assistance - Inter-Group

AVOID (like the plague) - AXA - White Horse

PLEASE NOTE - As some peopleon here complain, thinking I am pushing certain IC's and assuming I have something to gain - These are my personal recommendations and opinions based solely on my experience as an International Travel/Health Insurance Specialist for a debt collector in Orlando, Florida. My opinions do not reflect any official view of my employer or MSE.

FH_Brit

yorkie8chocolate wrote: »

Cancellation cover

I'm looking to go to australia next year for 60 days, but my wife's mum in terminally ill and may need to cancel the trip at short notice.

Does anyone know of insurance that doesn't have this exclusion for a pre-known illness for a relation.

This is a clause in many policies that people miss - Even if a reative is not travelling then (in some policies) your claim would be declined if you had to cut short your trip to return home for family illness or death.

It is ALWAYS advisable to declare a sick relative and if in doubt call your insurers as if you made a claim you do not want to learn the hard way!

Your request for recommendations really can depend on age of travellers and destination/duration of trip etc. I actually work for a major Orlando Hospital group billing travel insurance all over the world (although most of my customers are Brits - Orlando very popular with Brits).

Anyway - here is some suggestions:-

Recommended IC's – Post Office (Fortis) - Tesco - Direct Line - Barclays Bank - Norwich Union (Aviva) - RBS

ONLY Average IC's - Europ Assistance - Inter-Group

AVOID (like the plague) - AXA - White Horse

PLEASE NOTE - As some people on here complain, thinking I am pushing certain IC's and assuming I have something to gain - These are my personal recommendations and opinions based solely on my experience as an International Travel/Health Insurance Specialist for a debt collector in Orlando, Florida. My opinions do not reflect any official view of my employer or MSE.

FH_Brit

Pedros143 wrote: »

Just signed up for Direct Line Home insurance (good price) and got free travel insurance.
Checked it out and it gives max 45 days worldwide with the usual exclusions for pre treated illness. saved me £90 on multi trip annual for two. It reads in plain english too and they answered my questions immediately i rang them.

Beware here (I 'm being Devils Advocate not just gloomy) I personally hate "free" policies - Do yourself a favour check the medical coverage especially that you are adequately covered, some (not all) of these "freebies" leave you very underinsured. Check the Foreign Office recommendations for your destination. - http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/

Don't learn the hard way - especially here in USA YOU are responsible for your medical bills NOT your insurer.

FH_Brit

tonymc wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knows of any travel insurance comparison websites that gives a more detailed overview of the benefits other than medical, cancellation and baggage limits?

The reason for asking is that on another forum, someone ended up having dental treatment in the US for a fairly simple problem, and the costs escalated to over $1,000 - their level of cover on the insurance policy they had was limited to £300.

What I would like to be able to see is a comparison of all the key benefits, or alternatively, be able to do a more advanced search which allows me to enter my own paramaters for level of cover. Using the above example, most of the policies I have looked at so far limit dental cover to £200 with an excess, so I may wish to increase this to £400 for example.

Many thanks.

This is a common problem, most policies will only cover dental for PAIN RELEIF only, and usually for £200.00/300.00 maximum, if you break teeth/dentures on holiday (again most) will not pay for the repair/cap/removal of tooth/dentures.

Your example above is typical, I hate insurance companies that say £200.00 for pain releif, if you have to go to the ER at one of our (Orlando) hospitals the VERY minimum ER bills (for anything not just dental) will be $250.00 for the ER doctor and $400.00 for the hospital MINIMUM!!!!

$650.00 = approx £395.00

Come on Insurers (FSA could make a ruling too) - Get real and at least cover pain releif at a reasonable level. You should cover pain releif at WHATEVER COST not limit it - as long as it is just pain management.

2108

Hi,

Just wondering what everyone thought of the AA Travel Insurance policy? The website gives an annual worldwide exc ski. (although does not state wheteher it includes USA, Canada, Caribbean etc) policy quote of £66.66 including excess waiver, plus 17% cashback from quidco would bring this down to £55.33

They have a reasonable maximum length per trip of 45 days, and decent amount of cover i.e. £10 million for medical cover, cancellation and curtailment both at £5,000 and up to £1,500 on personal possessions. Heres a link to their full policy summary: https://www.aatravelinsurance.com/policy-information/policysummary.asp

Just wondering if its recommended at this price and if anyone has any experiences with AA Travel Insurance and their level of service? I'm planning on a trip to Hong Kong next month and perhaps NY and other destinations during the year.

Many thanks.

FH_Brit

The AA's isurance is through Drakefield insurance in Essex and they have been pretty good when I've dealt with them. Above average for customer/after claims service. A generally good policy with adequate coverage (make sure you read the exclusions section - as with any policy) and as always if you are unsure of anything then call them never just assume!