Travel Insurance: Claims Handlers
Discussion
Morning - I want to gain your insight if possible on claims made on travel insurance.
This year our family travelled across Europe and visited 7 countries in 2 weeks all of which were of rail journeys and a final flight back. During all this we had various issues, one of which was almost missing our first overnight sleeper (as it left an 45 mins early with no warning) and also losing a phone in country 4 of 7. We did contact the travel insurance abroad to report the lost phone, and had little success getting any sense out of the insurer so decided to wait until we got home. Having returned, we have been going through the process of claiming. This has been going on since July, with the insurer seemingly passing us on to a "claims handler". The claims handler, who online have around 1200 1 star reviews, appear to have one job and one job only - to obstruct, prevent and do everything they can to stop a pay out.
This has resulted in me getting really annoyed, and now it is purely the principle of it all, not the the fact we need a replacement phone. Also it has made me realise that had we encountered any serious issues abroad such as genuinely being stranded due to missed connections, or health issues, we would likely have been screwed. Luckily nothing happened but it seems we were exposed to that risk despite not knowing about it. The insurer was a budget company that I suspects comes up in the search engine quotes, we will never use them again but I want to understand if they are all like this. The claims handler is not a name anyone will know, it is a "group".
The issue with them is they are not contactable, everything is done via email and replies are delayed and infrequent. We have sent what has been requested, and each time we send something we get an email back saying it is rejected for reason x, y or z. They said they needed immobilise reference number, blacklisting confirmation from phone provider, and proof of travel. All have been done, however they continue to reject our proof of travel or different reasons such as "doesn't show the entire journey" or "not on headed paper" or "unclear at what point in time entry / exit to county was made". We have had to send proof of travel to ALL 7 countries - not just the one that the phone went missing in. The blacklisting was done on the day of phone going missing back in July, and the phone provider have been contacted around3 - 4 times since to request and confirm this, as the claims handler keeps saying it is not done. It is done, and phone company are saying it is done - claims handler saying it isn't. We ae caught in the middle and have this constant back and forth over the same issue.
So far we have spent in the region of 3 months trying to resolve, as well as probably 5 to 6 hours of phone time queueing and trying to speak to agents to progress. This week we have re sent everything again - and I am now at the end of my tether with it all. My wife sorted all of this, and this relates to her phone, but I am of the view we need to start looking at contacting the ombudsman, seeking legal advice or both. In terms of what is fair and reasonable I feel this has gone way beyond acceptable parameters, I absolutely hate insurance, and this is one of the first times we have ever had to approach a company to claim - and all it has done is confirm my worst fears which is that the industry is just a money making exercise.
Is this the norm - and are the better known companies or banks better at dealing with things than the budget brands?
This year our family travelled across Europe and visited 7 countries in 2 weeks all of which were of rail journeys and a final flight back. During all this we had various issues, one of which was almost missing our first overnight sleeper (as it left an 45 mins early with no warning) and also losing a phone in country 4 of 7. We did contact the travel insurance abroad to report the lost phone, and had little success getting any sense out of the insurer so decided to wait until we got home. Having returned, we have been going through the process of claiming. This has been going on since July, with the insurer seemingly passing us on to a "claims handler". The claims handler, who online have around 1200 1 star reviews, appear to have one job and one job only - to obstruct, prevent and do everything they can to stop a pay out.
This has resulted in me getting really annoyed, and now it is purely the principle of it all, not the the fact we need a replacement phone. Also it has made me realise that had we encountered any serious issues abroad such as genuinely being stranded due to missed connections, or health issues, we would likely have been screwed. Luckily nothing happened but it seems we were exposed to that risk despite not knowing about it. The insurer was a budget company that I suspects comes up in the search engine quotes, we will never use them again but I want to understand if they are all like this. The claims handler is not a name anyone will know, it is a "group".
The issue with them is they are not contactable, everything is done via email and replies are delayed and infrequent. We have sent what has been requested, and each time we send something we get an email back saying it is rejected for reason x, y or z. They said they needed immobilise reference number, blacklisting confirmation from phone provider, and proof of travel. All have been done, however they continue to reject our proof of travel or different reasons such as "doesn't show the entire journey" or "not on headed paper" or "unclear at what point in time entry / exit to county was made". We have had to send proof of travel to ALL 7 countries - not just the one that the phone went missing in. The blacklisting was done on the day of phone going missing back in July, and the phone provider have been contacted around3 - 4 times since to request and confirm this, as the claims handler keeps saying it is not done. It is done, and phone company are saying it is done - claims handler saying it isn't. We ae caught in the middle and have this constant back and forth over the same issue.
So far we have spent in the region of 3 months trying to resolve, as well as probably 5 to 6 hours of phone time queueing and trying to speak to agents to progress. This week we have re sent everything again - and I am now at the end of my tether with it all. My wife sorted all of this, and this relates to her phone, but I am of the view we need to start looking at contacting the ombudsman, seeking legal advice or both. In terms of what is fair and reasonable I feel this has gone way beyond acceptable parameters, I absolutely hate insurance, and this is one of the first times we have ever had to approach a company to claim - and all it has done is confirm my worst fears which is that the industry is just a money making exercise.
Is this the norm - and are the better known companies or banks better at dealing with things than the budget brands?
Just to clarify the policy does cover a full replacement phone lost or stolen. When I spoke to them abroad I tried to ascertain whether, had we missed any connections we would have been covered (some of the trains were 1 every 2 days and we were getting onward connections that relied on the previous connections running to plan). I was basically told no, but with no explanation. The agent was unclear, hard to understand and didn't seem to have any answers to any questions. In terms of the phone we were told to "send an email" when we got back which is what the started the process above.
If we or are kids were taken ill I would dread to think what would have happened. Makes me feel really uncomfortable to be honest.
If we or are kids were taken ill I would dread to think what would have happened. Makes me feel really uncomfortable to be honest.
Ubiquitous2024 said:
Is this the norm - and are the better known companies or banks better at dealing with things than the budget brands?
I have only used the budget firms when having to 'prove' we have valid insurance in order to get a visa for Europe (Schengen visa requires this and wont accept insurance from credit cards like Amex).When claiming we have always used our inclusive Amex insurance (which is provided by Axa) and it has been straight forwards - we have claimed a couple times for delayed luggage and a damaged suitcase - in each case, payments have been swift (within 2 weeks of claiming) and for the total claim which has been generous.
Have also claimed for the excess on a UK rental car (damage to alloys - which was questionable) and they paid up right away the full amount (less than seven days).
nikaiyo2 said:
Barclays bundled travel insurance is really good, never had any issues. Fell into the Mekong river in northern Thailand and my old Tag Heuer watch filled up with water, they paid out without issue for TH to do a full repair.
Yes it’s Aviva and I’ve never had an issue with them although they too use a claims handler for certain types of claims.We use Lloyds bundled travel insurance which is Allianz. Previously with AxA who were much better.
OP should complain to the insurer and if necessary use the Ombudsman route but the Ombudsman won’t entertain it until you’ve been through the insurers complaint process.
Edited by craig1912 on Monday 7th October 10:42
Edited by craig1912 on Monday 7th October 10:43
I travel insurance bundled with my NatWest bank account. Only had cause to use it once & was superb.
My wife developed a torn retina whilst in Jamaica. Whilst there over the phone they agreed everything was covered, asked if we needed help extending hotel stay or rebooking flights. All payments were processed onlne when we got back to the UK, everything was settled, with the money in my account before the charges needed paying on my credit card.
My wife developed a torn retina whilst in Jamaica. Whilst there over the phone they agreed everything was covered, asked if we needed help extending hotel stay or rebooking flights. All payments were processed onlne when we got back to the UK, everything was settled, with the money in my account before the charges needed paying on my credit card.
This still rumbles on. I have had numerous phone-calls with the claims handler.
Finally now they are offering £144 pounds. Apparently they will only look at the cost of a refurbished phone because at the point of it going missing it was second hand so they wouldn't arrange a new one. So a phone worth around - I don't even know but a new Samsung A54 so £800 ish?
To be honest we have given up now. Will just have to accept it and move on. I feel like we have been bent over and financially raped.
Finally now they are offering £144 pounds. Apparently they will only look at the cost of a refurbished phone because at the point of it going missing it was second hand so they wouldn't arrange a new one. So a phone worth around - I don't even know but a new Samsung A54 so £800 ish?
To be honest we have given up now. Will just have to accept it and move on. I feel like we have been bent over and financially raped.
Ubiquitous2024 said:
This still rumbles on. I have had numerous phone-calls with the claims handler.
Finally now they are offering £144 pounds. Apparently they will only look at the cost of a refurbished phone because at the point of it going missing it was second hand so they wouldn't arrange a new one. So a phone worth around - I don't even know but a new Samsung A54 so £800 ish?
To be honest we have given up now. Will just have to accept it and move on. I feel like we have been bent over and financially raped.
I sympathise with the hoops you have had to jump though to get here, but a Samsung A54 is around £250 brand new, so an offer of £144 doesn't sound a million miles off the value of a used one.Finally now they are offering £144 pounds. Apparently they will only look at the cost of a refurbished phone because at the point of it going missing it was second hand so they wouldn't arrange a new one. So a phone worth around - I don't even know but a new Samsung A54 so £800 ish?
To be honest we have given up now. Will just have to accept it and move on. I feel like we have been bent over and financially raped.
Had real problems with the Travel Insurance company that Nationwide used until last year (they have now changed to Aviva due to the high level of complaints). Paid the "age" and extra time top-up but had to make a claim when stuck in NZ due to Covid, we had to find new accommodation due to all the flights being cancelled and our rental on the bungalow we rented expired. We were not claiming for flights as that was being sorted by the airlines but it still took 18 months of almost monthly calls with the claims handlers where we had to explain everything all over again - every time to a different person - they just kept asking about the flights which was not relevant as we were only claiming for accommodation until we were repatriated by the UK Gov. I'm convinced that they were just trying to wear us down so that we would abandon the claim and it was only when my wife managed to get it escalated to someone senior that they eventually settled.
Yes, as with a lot of insurance it is all a huge scam / game. I started "testing" the next policy that I intend to buy yesterday but making a call and recceiing the experience (Aviva policy through my work union). Complete opposite experience, straight through to an intelligent human being who was more than willing to reassure me how it all worked and assured no passing to a third party claims handler who's sole job it is to block and prevent payment.
Here is a link to the reviews for said claims handler: https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/www.d...
Here is a link to the reviews for said claims handler: https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/www.d...
Looking at the reviews and history this just looks like a generic budget insurer who don't provide a proper service. A bit like the "warranties" advertised on cars that when you try and use them, either have no means of contact or terms and conditions that exclude every single fault or issue going.
Wifes fault for paying 40 quid on a policy from a search engine. Never again. You get what you pay for. But I still find it amazing looking back to think that if anything happened we would have been screwed.
Wifes fault for paying 40 quid on a policy from a search engine. Never again. You get what you pay for. But I still find it amazing looking back to think that if anything happened we would have been screwed.
Ubiquitous2024 said:
This still rumbles on. I have had numerous phone-calls with the claims handler.
Finally now they are offering £144 pounds. Apparently they will only look at the cost of a refurbished phone because at the point of it going missing it was second hand so they wouldn't arrange a new one. So a phone worth around - I don't even know but a new Samsung A54 so £800 ish?
To be honest we have given up now. Will just have to accept it and move on. I feel like we have been bent over and financially raped.
The whole experience sucks, but £144 isn’t too far under a reasonable amount. An A54 is a cheap phone and nowhere near £800 these days. Finally now they are offering £144 pounds. Apparently they will only look at the cost of a refurbished phone because at the point of it going missing it was second hand so they wouldn't arrange a new one. So a phone worth around - I don't even know but a new Samsung A54 so £800 ish?
To be honest we have given up now. Will just have to accept it and move on. I feel like we have been bent over and financially raped.
The G Kid said:
Have you considered getting in touch with The Sunday Times travel section (or similar) with your story and getting them to hassle the insurance company? These sort of things always seem to get resolved by the journalists.
Why, it has now been sorted and he has a reasonable offer for the phone. I would probably try and get a few quid out of them due to time and hassle but a journalist isn’t going to get anything more.Most travel insurers will handle medical emergencies really well. But travel insurance accounts for more fraudulent claims than all other types of insurance added together so the default position of lost stuff seems to be "it's dodgy, prove otherwise". Which can be a real ball ache when your claim is one of the rare genuine ones. For many people, travel insurance is taken out to pay for their holiday. They know in advance what claims they will make before they buy the policy.
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