Purchasing travel insurance in the UK

Old May 27th, 2017, 06:41 AM
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Purchasing travel insurance in the UK

Hello:

I never remember to do this but am determined to do it for my trip to Spain in September,. Does anyone have any recommendations? Do you generally buy for the entire year (I usually do 2-3 trip each year) or on a trip by trip basis? Does the insurance generally cover apartment rentals?

My house insurance is with Direct Line - has anyone used them?

Many thanks ... Ger
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Old May 27th, 2017, 06:50 AM
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Depends what sort of travel you're buying it for, as well as the specifics you want covered. I went to moneysavingexpert.com and ended up with an annual policy with EHICPlus, because I'm only likely to travel within Europe.

If you're already with DirectLine, you could try them, but IME UK-based insurance companies have this annoying habit of paying for promotional rates for new customers by squeezing more out of renewing customers who don't realise that inertia costs.

Otherwise try any or all of the comparison sites.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 06:59 AM
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I have a joint principal bank account with Nationwide. Very little goes through the account but they give us free travel insurance to say thanks.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 07:01 AM
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We have an annual world wide policy with Direct line but will not renew as with DH's health problems they wouldn't cover him, nor me if I had to cancel due to his condition worsening. We will therefore be travelling only to EU countries [another benefit we're going to lose] though we might risk Switzerland, if we go anywhere at all.

We have never had to claim so I can't tell you how good they are on claims.

The advantages of an annual policy seemed to us to be that you could travel spontaneously without thinking about it, there was no doubt that cancellation would be covered, and some policies even cover travel in the UK.

I don't see why it wouldn't cover apartments, if you had paid up front for example, so long as it was a real commercial transaction and not just a friend. We had guests in our [self-catering] barn who had to cancel due to ill-health and the rental cost was covered by their travel insurance.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 07:39 AM
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The Moneysavingexpert site PatrickLondon linked above is the best site for any Brit to use to look for answers. It has 2 important features to know about. First, it is totally unbiased in its listings. Second, it is constantly updated (not just once or twice a year) which gets you the latest information.

Regarding apartments being covered, I take it you mean covered if you had to cancel the booking and lose your deposit/full cost.

The answer to that I believe would be MAYBE. You have actually raised a point that a lot of people renting apartments should think about and most don't.

Many rentals on sites like Airbnb are ILLEGAL rentals. So what does an insurance policy have to say about someone who is participating in an illegal activity? No surprise in the the answer to that question. It voids the policy entirely.

So slip and break a leg while staying in an illegal rental and you have no medical coverage. As for a cancellation cost being covered, same thing. Why would they cover an illegal rental?

That leaves the onus on YOU to make sure that any apartment you rent is a LEGAL rental.

Regarding your not usually remembering to get insurance OReilly, anyone who travels without medical coverage is just asking for trouble.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 07:58 AM
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Thanks guys. I will review your recommendations.

Dogeared, I have FULL private medical insurance (personally paid), don't worry! My sister broke her femur in California two years ago in a freak accident on the first day of her holiday. She had private insurance in Ireland PLUS took out additional trip insurance. She did not have to pay a penny for the approximate gazillion dollars it cost for the five-hour operation with a top surgeon, the private hospital stay, the nurse to bring her home in First Class ....etc. etc. An accountant by trade, she went through the itemized bills and was gobsmaked.

I don't know what would have happened if she did not have the private insurance - frightening! She could have lost her house, and more!

BTW, one of the things I also need to look after is getting the EU card for medical when traveling in Europe (Irish Citizen resident in the UK and a UK taxpayer). Can anyone provide me a link?

Best regards ... Ger
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Old May 27th, 2017, 08:16 AM
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your wish, Ger:

https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/startApplication.do

[actually you've done me a favour as I need to get one for DH before we go anywhere as we seem to have lost his]
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Old May 27th, 2017, 08:17 AM
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O'Reilly have a look at he UK Government link www.nhs.uk/ehic this is the free link.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 08:26 AM
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Thanks Ann and tipsygus (great name )
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Old May 27th, 2017, 08:46 AM
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Some single trip insurance will only cover things booked within a certain time frame. So if it is a trip you have already booked you may not get insurance.
Annual insurance doesn't normally cover trips already booked. at the time of taking it out.
Morbid as it may seem make sure it includes repatriation of a body. Good insurance will deal with all the paperwork involved in such an event, and trust me there is tonnes of the stuff as I know from experience.

AirBnB is legal in most countries, within restrictions. I doubt the insurance would care where you fell and broke your leg.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 09:22 AM
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I seriously doubt if any travel insurance is going to hire detectives to find out if a particular person you rented a vacation home from was legally allowed to do that in that city, or that such an issue would even occur to them. I think they care about your documented contracts as to what you paid and conditions of refund. If you book a hotel room, I'm sure they don't hire detectives to find out if that hotel is paying its taxes or violating some other local regulations or not, for example.

And breaking your leg would have nothing to do with the costs of the rental itself, that scenario is bogus, that any insurance company wold reject a claim if you fell in an illegal apt rental.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 10:26 AM
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> Mine does.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 11:56 AM
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General reminder for any other Britain-based people looking for the EHIC - always go through the NHS or GOV.UK sites, don't rely on Google, in case you're tempted to some commercial site that will charge you for "administration" that isn't necessary anyway.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 02:17 PM
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Some people seem to be pretty naive when it comes to insurance companies.

Every insurance company has a department which does not show up on any organizational chart, but through which all claims go before going to any other department. That non-existant department is the 'deny claims department'.

Some things they will overlook as not worth their time but some things they will not. Never think they are not aware of what tourists do when they travel.

For example, if I had a dollar for every UK tourist I met who said they lost their jewellery in the sea while swimming, I'd be a rich man as the saying goes. Do the UK insurance companies know that they are often lying, of course they do. that's why they limit the amount they will pay out and simply add a percentage onto everyone else's travel insurance cost, they don't pursue it. Every loser who makes a fraudulent claim on their travel insurance is stealing money from the pocket of every other traveller, not the insurance company's pocket.

However, have anything happen that is likely to result in an extensive claim ie. big bucks and you will find it is a different story. If there is any indication that they may be able to get out of paying, you can be sure they will be looking at doing that.

Nor do they have to hire an investigator. They simply deny the claim and then the onus is on you to prove they should pay out. Read your policy. They can deny any claim they wish and do so every day. Giving them an actual legally defensible reason to deny your claim is just asking for trouble.

Read here: https://www.canstar.com.au/travel-in...ngs-not-to-do/

You can see how people who for example drink and then get on a moped, fall off and break a leg, can be denied coverage. How a woman who hangs her purse on the back of a chair in a restaurant and it is stolen, can be denied coverage. And yes, how doing something illegal can get you denied coverage. There are plenty of ways an insurance company can deny you coverage if they chose to and it happens every day.

Now do you think they send an investigator to check on all those claims? Obviously not, but they know how to read between the lines (they do it every day) while you are a mere amateur at making a claim.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 04:05 PM
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With most UK insurance companies, they use another company, loss adjuster as they are called, to handle claims. So you deal with them rather than the insurance company. If your claim is turned down by loss adjuster (euphemistically called claim handling agent or something, but they act for the insurance company to reduce the amount claimed to save them money). On a big claim, such as serious medical, it may be worth employing your own agent - called loss assessor - to act on your behalf. If the claim handler turns down your claim or only offers to pay part of it, you can always go to your insurance company, which sometimes allows your claim on ex-gratia basis. Threatening to take the case to the insurance ombudsman sometimes works if the case is on a borderline.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 06:36 PM
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Given all the above re claims being denied, I only take medical insurance. Things like lost baggage or having to cancel, I can "self insure", as the loss might be painfull but not life altering. We don't use hire cars when travelling in Europe, so that's a risk thta is removed.

It makes sense to insure against eventualities that I cannot afford to cover myself.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 09:42 PM
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Dogeared, the link you provide is a useful summary but surely just commonsense. I work for a travel insurer and I have never heard of a claim being denied because the insured booked through airbnb or any other agency. Perhaps, however, this is different in other countries? In fact, some airlines are now affiliating with airbnb, offering accommodation vouchers when you book flights.

Waay back when, pre-internet, people rented out their spare room, underutilised holiday home, etc. to people who lobbed in town. Now they are advertising it via agency sites but they've always existed. Problems arise however when the balance of accommodation for tourists is out of kilter with that available for residents - and that seems to be happening in more locations than before. This needs to be managed by local authorities but I don't understand how the traveller unwittingly reserving from a non-compliant host is breaching the terms of their travel policy (unless of course there are specific clauses in their policy wording).
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Old May 28th, 2017, 12:50 AM
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Peter - S _Aus- I have tried recently to find a firm that will just give me medical travel insurance and can't find one. Can you give me a name?
Any Venice trips planned???
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Old May 28th, 2017, 12:54 AM
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BTW - I have friends who had a large payout - then the investigation began . The spouse broke his ribs in a fall at his sons wedding and they were unable to fly home from UK to Australia for 6 weeks - punctured lung. After some weeks of questioning , being asked for photos , wanting for witnesses in Uk , friend said enough is enough . She's a tough high powered person . Insurers were obviously trying to get money back in some other way . The firm backed off.
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Old May 28th, 2017, 01:21 AM
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interesting point; that insurance companies try to avoid pay outs, I assume that has stimulated people to engorge their claims to compensate, bit of a win:win then as DT would say
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