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

[turquoiseshell]

People on Mumsnet love travel insurance and say that you're mad to travel without it. I followed advice on Mumsnet and went on an online comparison site and entered details. It came up with lots of suggestions, from cheap to expensive. I then went through the list of suggestions on Trustpilot. A lot of the companies came up with around 4.5 stars, so looked great. But when I filtered the reviews for "claims" it was a completely different story. Everyone said that when they had to claim they were then dealing with a separate company. Almost without exception, all the reviews about claiming said that the experience was absolutely terrible, caused huge stress and financial difficulties, etc etc. So - setting up what looks like good value insurance cover is one thing, but claiming under it is something else entirely. And it's the claiming part that actually matters.
Can I ask for recommendations from people who have actually had to claim under their insurance and had a good experience? I'm really struggling to find anything I feel I can place any reliance on.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

Which insurer was it?

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.

Er…it’s in the post!

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

Insure and go 🙂