Travel Insurance Reviews – Update

At Travel Insurance Insider, we are continually casting an independent eye over providers and the best deals on offer. But what customers also need to know, is how cooperatively their insurer performs when dealing with a claim. See our thorough reviews of the major insurers, below.


Questions for consideration:

• If there is a parent company, who owns the insurer?
  

• Is the insurance policy provided by another company?
  

• What kinds of travel insurance are covered in the review?
  

• Are there any medical travel insurance requirements or restrictions?
  

• What kind of customer feedback has the insurer received recently?
  

We look at these issues raised and give a helpful guide through the specific policy small print, informing readers of some pertinent clauses. Useful research which is important for differentiating one insurer from the next, and helping consumers to judge the level of travel insurance cover being provided.

Here are some major insurers, already reviewed:


Post Office Travel Insurance Review - Find out about this popular insurer, winner of the British travel awards, and provider of travel documents. But is it good value for money?


Tesco Travel Insurance Review - Tesco are gaining a reputation among some of their customers; discover if it is a good one or not. Travel Insurance Insider exposes Tesco's small print regarding sports activities cover, and required medical criteria.

Columbus Direct Travel Insurance Review - Gain clarity defining: What is a valuable? Columbus Direct also has a peculiar cut-off age for children, but do offer insurance cover for many extra activities, in addition to their backpacker, business, single and annual trip policies.


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Tesco Travel Insurance Review

Review of Tesco Travel Insurance, looking at noteworthy policy clauses, the level of cover insured, previous customers’ experiences with Tesco Personal Finance, and specifics regarding individual medical conditions.

Contents:

1. What type of travel insurance does Tesco offer?
2. Customers’ experiences with Tesco’s travel insurance?
3. Tesco travel insurance: Quote specifics
4. Tesco medical conditions
5. Ownership of Tesco travel insurance

What Type of Travel Insurance Does Tesco Offer?

• Single trip from £6.00 and upwards.


• Annual Trip from £50.00 and upwards.

Tesco are not specialist insurers, for example if customers have particular sports in mind with a hint of risk, they are most likely not covered; read on!

The standard Tesco travel insurance policy is aimed at those without pre-existing medical conditions. Those with existing health conditions will find good advice on this page about medical travel insurance.

Customers’ Experiences with Tesco’s Travel Insurance

The Tesco travel insurance micro site allows users to retrieve previously saved quotes, which is a feature not found on all sites.

However, when it comes to actually making successful insurance claims, the overwhelming story of customers’ experiences continues to stress the obstructive and uncooperative attitude of Tesco’s unwillingness to pay out.

“A total and utter disgrace. I would advise anyone against taking out a policy with Tesco, I choose them as they were one of the more expensive quotes and therefore expected a good policy. How wrong I was.”

Source: Customer Review

Tesco Travel Insurance: Quote Specifics

Tesco, as they did last year, are again offering “free” winter sports cover for travel policies bought up to the 7th of January 2009. However this is not available for existing customers.

Conventional sports covered by the policy (excluding winter-sports) are listed in Section 12 of the single trip insurance policy, under “Insured Pursuits” As follows:

• Aerobics
• Archery,
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Beach Games
• Bowls
• Cricket
• Cruises (up to 16 consecutive days)
• Cycling (excluding BMX and Mountain)
• Fell Walking/Rambling/Trekking
• Fishing
• Horse Riding (excluding jumping)+
• Ice-skating (rink only)
• Parascending (towed by boat)
• Rafting/Canoeing/Kayaking (including white water up to grade 3)
• Roller Skating
• Safaris (up to 16 consecutive days)
• Scuba Diving to 18 metres
• Skateboarding
• Snooker/Pool/Billiards
• Snorkelling
• Squash
• Surfing
• Swimming (in pool or *)
• Table Tennis
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Water-skiing *
• Windsurfing *
• Yachting/Boating/Sailing/Rowing *+

*Only on inland or coastal waters within a 12 mile limit.
+ Excludes cover under section 7.

It sounds great, but in the terms and conditions, it stipulates “The insured activities must be supervised by a qualified person or arranged through a recognised provider of the service”. So insured policy holders can’t just go and have a game of squash or go surfing (as many do), if an an injury occurred (as sometimes does), it appears Tesco have wriggle room here, for not paying out.

Loss, theft, or breakage of possessions is limited to £200 per item, to a total of £1,250 and incurs an excess where a £50 fee is due to Tesco for “each and every incident giving rise to a claim”

Tesco only payout £200 for any cash lost if mugged or robbed while travelling. This is also subject to a deduction of £50 excess, and requires the incident to be reported to the Police within 24 hours, a Police report, and documentary evidence that the cash existed.

If the cash is stolen from a hotel room, Tesco will not cover the amount unless the cash was stolen from a locked safe in a locked room. Neither are Traveller’s cheques covered by Tesco’s travel insurance policy.

Tesco Medical Conditions

Tesco’s medical cover is for accidents or emergencies while on a journey which is not related directly or indirectly to a pre-existing medical condition.

Before issuing cover, Tesco want to know of any completed or scheduled hospital treatment in the last three months. In addition, they require informing about any medication the customer may be on, and any record of a heart or cancer related medical condition.

If any of the above applies, Tesco consider this as a “pre-existing medical condition” which will require specific analysis of the health risks to be insured while travelling, and a resultant increase in price.

Further, written acceptance must be received from Tesco regarding the medical specifics involved in the policy, by the date the policy is issued.

As demonstrated, when delving further in to the insurance small print, there are plenty of clauses which benefit Tesco more than the consumer.

After taking out a policy, if subsequently diagnosed with any of the following, the policy will be void, unless the policy holder informed Tesco of the development.

• Heart or circulatory conditions
• Breathing conditions
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Conditions pertaining to joints and bones
• Gastrointestinal (stomach issues)

Ownership of Tesco Personal Finance

Tesco Travel Insurance is underwritten by “UK Insurance Limited” based in Leeds. The parent of UK Insurance Limited is a company called “Tesco Personal Finance Limited”.
Further up the chain, the major stakeholders in this joint venture initially were Tesco and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, with a 50% / 50% share.


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Columbus Direct Review

Article index:

1. Columbus Direct - Company background
2. Travel insurance products available
3. Customer experiences with Columbus Direct
4. Columbus Direct policy small-print analysis

1. The background of Columbus Direct

Since 1988, Columbus Direct have provided travel insurance cover for over one million customers.

Columbus were one of the first to help take travel insurance out of the hands of travel agents, and offered their products direct to the consumer, which usually worked out cheaper than using a travel agent. The brand carries favourable status because of its pioneering history and this extends to being one of the first insurers using the internet to sell travel insurance online, in 1999.

In 2001 Columbus Direct begun offering travel insurance in more than 40 countries via its multi-country online booking system.

Further to this business, parent company The Collinson Group also owns Club Direct; an insurer offering similar cover to Columbus Direct, but with much less brand awareness.

The Collinson Group subesquently employ ~ 500 staff from over forty nationalities, in seven countries. The group has customers in 120 countries around the world, and focuses on travel related businesses and these are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

2. What kinds of travel insurance does Columbus Direct offer?

Columbus travel insurance gains popularity amongst consumers for its multitude of products, ranging from insuring the over 65's, to covering dangerous sports. The actual price depends on the particular circumstances and nature of each trip. Quotes are relevant to travellers in a wide variety of circumstances, choosing from:

• Single trip travel insurance,
• Annual travel insurance,
• Backpacker insurance,
• Ski trip insurance,
• Business travellers,
• Adventure travel insurance,
• Policies for those aged 64 to 88,
• Policies for those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Columbus Direct also offer an executive policy, whereby specific items of business equipment up to £1000 in value can be insured.

Additional sporting activities and injury insurance for extreme sports would conventionally be handled by calling an insurer direct. But on their website, they offer cover for the following extra activities:

Abseiling, american football, bmx riding, bungee jumping, camel trekking, skiing, climbing, cycling, deep sea fishing, dry slope skiing, elephant trekking, fan boating, fencing, fishing, go karting, gorge walking, heliskiing, heptathlon, hockey, hydro-speeding, ice skating, jungle trekking, kayaking, kite surfing, korfball, lacrosse, land yachting, motor boating, mountain biking, mountaineering, overland expedition, parachuting, paragliding, paragliding / parapenting, parasailing, parascending (behind boats), quad biking, reverse bungee, river sledding, river tubing, rock climbing, roller blading, roller skating, rowing, safari, sand duning, sand surfing, scuba diving, sea canoeing, sea kayaking, skate boarding, small bore target shooting, via ferrata,walking high altitude, white water rafting, windsurfing, zip lining, and zorbing.

The final price will vary depending on which of the above sporting activities you chose.

3. Customer’s experiences with Columbus travel insurance

As with all insurance companies, the reviews offer a mix of customers' experiences with very different situations and expectations. However the overwhelming theme is of Columbus Direct providing efficient and thorough responses to customers' emergency situations abroad. This is especially true for frequently occurring incidents, for example; on-piste skiing injuries.

Reviewcentre.com - Columbus Direct review

Dooyoo.co.uk - Columbus Direct review

4. Columbus Direct insurance quote specifics

Investigating closely the insurance policy small-print indicates that leaving valuables in a hotel room will not be covered under this policy if the items are not secured in the hotel safe.

What is a valuable? Currently, cameras, photographic apparatus, video equipment, stamps, documents, dentures, hearing aids, furs, binoculars, tape recorders, cassettes and players, radios, compact discs and players, computers and accessories, mobile phones, video games and TV sets are listed as valuables, according to Columbus Direct.

There is an interesting definition between adults and children; a person age 18 and under, is categorised as a child. Age 19 and over; an adult. This may have an impact regarding the holiday conduct of insured teenagers.

One benefit of buying a family policy with Columbus Direct, is all individual family members are still covered if travelling alone, but only if each individual is named on the policy taken out.

In their policy, medical insurance cover is a very thorough £10 million. MoneySupermarket.com suggest that £2 million in cover is sufficient for a typical traveller who has no pre-existing medical conditions.

For annual cover, the maximum trip length insured, depends on the level of insurance chosen with Columbus Direct. This can be 21 days, 31 days and 60 days.



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Post Office Review

What makes the Post Office unique compared to other travel insurance providers? Well, consumers can also get official travel documents and currency exchanged too.

Although, the main focus of this review is the Post Office's travel insurance product. Investigating why this nationally popular product achieves the reach it does, what experiences consumers have reported, and specifically what the policy insures.

Post Office Travel Insurance

Looking in-depth at the crucial elements of the product on offer; listed below are the maximum values for which the policy insures:

Medical expenses - £10 million (£10,000 in UK)
Personal liability - £2 million
Personal accident - £30,000
Legal expenses - £25,000
Cancellation / curtailment - £5,000
Personal belongings - £1,500 (single item limit £300)
Missing departure - £1,000
Delayed departure - £300
Money - £500 (£250 cash)
Lost passport - £250
Baggage delays - £250

The Post Office spends huge amounts on mainstream advertising, and this is both a pro and a con, because the brand awareness is high, however the cost of running such campaigns is ultimately served by the consumer, and this is reflected in their pricing.

Many competitors point out this pricing position in the current travel insurance market:

• Insure and Go
  
  
• Travel-Insurance.net
  
  
• Easyjet 4 Insurance
  

When comparing the above headline grabbing quotes, do ensure the comparison is like for like. As always; caveat emptor. Time invested acquainting with the small print will result in useful knowledge gained.

Customer’s Experiences with The Post Office’s Travel Insurance

• Review Centre - Post Office
  
  
• Ciao - Post Office
  
  
• DooYoo - Post Office
  

Firstly, do take in to account the date of some published reviews. For example, the underwriter in 2001 was Aon Risk Services Ltd, but today it is actually Fortis Insurance Limited. Consider such changes in context.

Customers seem content with the level of service they have received from purchasing the Post Office’s travel insurance. Often with fast claim procedures, customers report swift conclusions if they have had to claim.

However a minority of customers are unhappy with situations where the Post Office has refused their claim, and investigating further, this is often actually the result of the customer not understanding precisely the terms and conditions of the insurance policy they have taken out. In which case the Post Office are absolutely right to refuse customer’s over-zealous claims.

British Travel Awards

Travel Mole.tv ran this video about the integrity of the British Travel Awards. It is an acclaimed award which the Post Office has received several times, in a number of different categories:

• In 2007 it was selected for its foreign exchange and travel insurance.

There follows a PR response to that, here.

• It also won the award for travel insurance in 2006.

Review Summary

To summarise this review, the Post Office offers a decent travel insurance product with a strong brand association, resulting in a higher price to the consumer than other competitors mentioned in this article. The Post Office is a popular choice and continues to demonstrate consistent levels of award-winning performance.


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