Ever claimed on your travel insurance? Did you like your insurer?

[LisaJohnsonsFacebookMole]

Like not quite the right word!

For those who buy travel insurance rather than relying on a bank account package etc, have you had to make a claim and how was the experience? Would you recommend your provider? Of course, I'll compare policy details and look at online reviews but I wanted to hear experiences from MNers too.

They did their job and that's all that mattered to me. I always look for insurers with a 5 star defaqto rating

I’ve claimed with Columbus.
I’ve also claimed with Aviva via Barclays with no problem.

I recently claimed with Aviva via Barclays too and can only praise them. The friend I was planning to travel with fell and couldn’t travel and they reimbursed me with very little questioning. Her insurance company were a lot more difficult to deal with.

Aa minor claim fine
InsureandGo Terrible would never use again.

We used AXA travel and I was very impressed with the service. All dealt with via email and one phone call going through the GP/hospital notes. We were paid out in full with little effort. Considering how ill I was, it was very welcome.

I claimed on a couple during Covid and all were easy

Dd had a skiing accident at the beginning of the year, and AIG (bought via a local broker) were great. Very helpful, contacted me daily to see if anything was needed, covered x rays/ initial medical care, airport assistance (wheelchairs, airport buggies, transport and lift up to plane etc), extra seats on the plane etc.

Aside from the excess they paid for everything- we didn’t have to pay and claim back

Anyone claimed on Avanti?

We made two claims on "Get Going" travel insurance for cancellation due to my OH's cancer diagnosis. Both were paid out in full, not quibbles, within days of submitting our claim forms and "evidence". We expected a bit of to and fro, but they never queried anything and just sent payment(s) covering all our costs/losses.

Just check the t and c.

A relative of mine was involved in a yacht sinking last year. Freak accident, the engine caught on fire and it sank within 10 min or so. They were very lucky to survive (picked up by another boat which saw the smoke plumes).

They had to jump into the water in what they were stood in. Lost all their belongings… laptop/phone/iPad/passport/driving licence etc.

The insurance co wouldn’t pay out… because the devices were more than 18m old.

Useful thread.
It's one of my bugbears that travel insurers invite reviews from people who have just bought their product and there are pages of glowing reviews .... about the purchase process. It's extremely difficult to find reviews of claims. Only people with a very bad experience tend to review.
Plus all companies outsource their clims handling to a few specialist medical claim handling firms.
I have a lot of pre-existing medical conditions and my annual policy is usually around £450 for me and DH. I find the specialist insurers like Staysure are often more expensive. I'd be happy to pay a bit more if I was confident of the claims service but I've seen a lot of bad experiences with them on MN alone.

Only claimed once, years ago when a DC was ill and it was a nightmare. That policy was with Virgin Money but was handled by some company in Ireland.

I have had to claim twice. The first time was awful and I gave up in the end

The second time was with Aviva via Barclays and they couldn’t have been more helpful, even pointing out things that I could claim for but hadn’t.

AA breakdown insurance in France was superb.

I once lost a 500euro note in Greece, it literally blew away. My insurance with American Express didn't even question it just had me go to the nearest office and get a replacement. They had the best travel insurance. Sighs

@Pirri

Only claimed once, years ago when a DC was ill and it was a nightmare. That policy was with Virgin Money but was handled by some company in Ireland.

Like a lot of "brands", they're just fronts for a small number of "real" insurers who do all the back office work like admin, claims, underwriting, etc. There are remarkably few real insurance firms who do the back office work - they usually have several "brands" who do the front end marketing and selling only working often on a commission only basis!

@taxguru Like a lot of "brands", they're just fronts for a small number of "real" insurers who do all the back office work like admin, claims, underwriting, etc. There are remarkably few real insurance firms who do the back office work

I think I said that in my post. It would be useful to know which companies do their own.

@User19876536484 was this via a packaged bank account?
I'm thinking of looking at this for next year. You still pay extra for pre-existing conditions but I think a few banks use Aviva which has had some positive mentions.
Added complication is that DH will be 75 soon and so that excludes some policies.

Thank you for the replies!

Our travel insurance is included with our Barclays Bank account, the actual insurer is Aviva. We had to make a claim when we couldn't go away when my father died and it was all dealt with within a few days, money in our account within the week. We were so impressed with the service.

I've claimed through Axa, it's been a shitshow. I had to pay the hospital I was treated by a deposit. Axa has agreed to my claim and also now paid the hospital, I'm struggling to get my money back.

It's really hard to contact Axa. They want everything by email, but then ignore those emails.

It's been going on for over a year and I'm still about £3k down.

@Pirri Yes, it was. You do have to ring them up and inform them of any health conditions. I have had to a couple of times but luckily they didn’t regard it as a significant extra risk so didn’t charge any more or restrict the cover.

Yes, Post Office. There were beyond shit. The person on the phone agreed with me when I pointed out they had moved the goalposts from the point of me taking out the policy and trying to make a claim. Will never take out any form of insurance with them again.

Had to claim in USA for a medical emergency- appendicitis. Admiral insurance took over and paid everything direct... even dealt with moving the travel date and all the stuff that came after the trip was over. Cost over $230k. Their agent was very proactive and "How can we make this easier for you? What do you need?" Would wholeheartedly recommend.

Just to add, I asked the relative, the insurer in the post above was Puffin.

As well as all the devices it was an absolute (expensive and time consuming) shit show trying to get emergency travel documents to get repatriated home, which they also contested.

It is still ongoing.

That was my experience as well. I was very impressed.

I had to make a reasonably substantial claim with Columbus this summer (I think the underwriter was Collinson). Very happy with the process - it did help that I had everything ready to go as I read the policy and also made sure I got what I needed from my consultant when I had my op.