To think it's impossible to find reliable travel insurance?

Insure and go 🙂

Since medical issues are a large part of travel insurance, yes I would expect medical advice!

Er…it’s in the post!

All Clear left me stranded without travel insurance (I am an absolute stickler for always getting travel insurance). I had a policy for a stay in Ireland but because of very bad weather with flights delayed etc, decided to stay an extra day. I phoned All Clear to arrange for an extension - obviously would pay extra for it. But I got an idiot on the phone who was clearly clueless, and he refused to extend the insurance. He told me that they only deal with package holidays, as they have an end date. I pointed out that All Clear are travel insurers, and there is more to travel than only package holidays, and that they knew I was travelling independently, but he would not budge. I am sure he did not know what he was tallking about, but refused to let me speak to anyone else, So I spent a day uninsured. Will never use them again.

Which insurer was it?

I've claimed on insure and go for a broken ankle.
All hospital fees were covered, transport to the airport, we were met there by airport staff, put on a flight home with an extra seat for my leg, collected the other end, and I was delivered to the hospital nearest my home to have my foot bolted back on.

I was VERY impressed.

My parents use staysure who were brilliant when they claimed. You have to be very careful with declaring medical information, I call our insurance each year to add every appointment and whatever the dr has put me one, they accept me at no extra charge (through bank) but the onus is on you

When my DM was hospitalised after a bad accident in Spain, she was taken to a state hospital (equivalent of NHS) and we were advised by a doctor here not to even think of going private as the state hospitals are better. She received incredible, first-rate care that was a complete contrast to the appalling neglect and lack of treatment in a NHS hospital here when got back to the UK.

And that's been changed recently, it wasn't there when I bought it, either on the website, or the policy docs - have had quite extensive correspondence with their MD!

Yeah and its quite clear on their website this is just an app that helps you book an appointment with a local English speaking Dr, which is quite hard to find in the depths of the Belize jungle.

Worth looking at reviews into Collinsons and which companies use them.

24/7 worldwide emergency medical assistance is sold as part of the policy.

They're a travel insurance provider though not a medical service? I wouldn't expect my travel insurance to provide me with emergency medical advice

All clear. Expensive but paid out on a REALLY expensive holiday when I was too ill to travel. Won’t go with anyone else now.

That's very good.
My only experience of claiming abroad was in a Spanish hospital. I can't remember the insurance company but the claims handling company were appalling. Promise to return calls and never did. The hospital held the patient hostage by refusing to remove a cannula until the bill was paid, the claim company kept putting us off, I paid on credit card in the end. We got the money back but the process while we were abroad was dreadful.

The hospital was Hospiten in Tenerife. Since that experience I would avoid private hospitals at all costs. I needed hospital treatment last year in fuerteventura and used the Spanish NHS with my GHIC. Excellent treatment all free with only €4 for a prescription.

You'll probably find that most of those complaining would be told they were unreasonable if they'd posted about their claim on MN.

I've never claimed myself, but I've been on trips where people did need help and it's always been a godsend.

For elderly people who have changed surgeries over the years, and havemade many visits to their GPs, many investigations, tests etc it would be easy to miss out something . It’s good that Aviva limit your medical history time. Firms should limit history to say, last five years, and only current medical conditions taken into account.

We have it in our Nationwide Flex Plus account. We did an extensive claim last October and it was extremely straightforward. We also claim on the mobile phone insurance regularly and have no issues.

There is an edit feature- press 3 dots top right of post

Also had to claim on Post Office when one of the family was hospitalised with suspected sepsis. Called them, they gave us a code which we gave the hospital [Spain] and literally never heard another thing. I think we were out the private GP charge who immediately referred us to a hospital at E80.

Have renewed with them since and no change to the premium aside from a small inflationary rises. Will be renewing again in a month. I take out annual family cover as while we only have one main holiday usually, there are often short haul trips to see family or for DH's hobby.

I like the website, it's very clear on the cover you get and the value of each option so you can tier up if you want eg: £20million for loss of a limb rather than £1m which is often the case on headline "cheapest buy" options on moneysupermarket. It's cheapest for a reason.

I had Aviva and it was covered when my son ended up at A&E in the US. No problem making a claim.

Yes, they will always want to talk to you about the reasons for any tests or surgery and will decide on a case by case basis. So, I guess if you are waiting for a hip replacement, for example, they just won't cover anything to do with that, but they will cover everything else. However, if you are waiting for investigations for seizures, unexplained neurological symptoms, for example, they might well refuse to insure you at all, given that it could be anything and potentially very serious.

As a family we’ve claimed on a few different policies and never had an issue being paid out. I’ve also never left a review for any company so suspect all the bad reviews are from disgruntled people. As the saying goes, people are quick to give bad reviews less so good ones.
My policy is via my bank account with HSBC, I am not sure if they sell it to new customers anymore.
I have claimed for my parents twice though on ad hoc policies they have found on comparison sites. I unfortunately can’t remember which ones they were.
I think as long as you are 100% accurate with the information you give them, and you read and fully understand what cover you are buying then you should be fine.
My DB had an issue with his not paying out because he hadn’t updated them with a hospital admission for his asthma and had an asthma attach aboard.