Holiday insurance

[blackthorn]

Has anyone got any good or bad experiences with online holiday insurances?
I`m getting some very cheap quotes from online companies, like £20 for 2 of us for the canaries, compared to £38-£40 from high street companies.

[altis]

We always use Snowcard (http://www.snowcard.co.uk/) and think they are excelent. However, since they specialise in covering 'activity' type holidays, this may not be what you want.

[basa]

Has anyone got any good or bad experiences with online holiday insurances?
I`m getting some very cheap quotes from online companies, like £20 for 2 of us for the canaries, compared to £38-£40 from high street companies.

Difficult to know really until you need to make a claim !!

I used elephant.co.uk (who are actually agents for Insure & Go) and saved about 30% over normal travel agent prices. But I reckon I could've got it for free (or nearly free) through my credit card provider. Check it out.

[SMHarman]

Has anyone got any good or bad experiences with online holiday insurances?
I`m getting some very cheap quotes from online companies, like £20 for 2 of us for the canaries, compared to £38-£40 from high street companies.

By the high street companies - do you mean the main travel agents, not high street insurance brokers?

High street travel agents are paid a commission of often up to 100% of the premium for selling travel insurance. Premium £20 commission 100% or another £20 total cost to you £40 paid to insurer £20 paid to agency your sitting in filling out the forms £20. Good money to be made.

This is why the package operators used to force compulsory insurance on you they may have cut the profit on the last minute package to 0 but by selling you insurance they still made a turn and kept thier volume discounts with the hotels.

So good or bad experiences. First compare the cover, are they like for like. £1M medical on the cheaper one and £2M on the more expensive say. Also look at policy exceses (the amount you pay on a claim), travel delay clauses, the point you get compensation for delay or the point you can throw in the towel, give up trying to get there and get your money back.

Have a look at the underwriter. Will be stated on the policy - usually a household name or at Lloyds of London. Even if not its not usually a cause to worry.

You will probably find you get the same cover for 1/2 the price. columbus and direct line may also be worth a look, but if you are buying direct then your not paying the sellers commission so save.

Enjoy your trip and remember your E111. Many policys reduce medical excesses to 0 if you wave an E111 at the doctor in the first place.

Also remember to buy the cover now. It does not just cover you for while you are away, but prior if you are too sick to travel, a family or home disaster forces cancellation, if you breakdown or get stuck on the way to the airport etc. All insured by the travel policy.

Oh, and look at annual polices, especially if you make the odd weekend break (UK or abroad). 2 1 week holidays and a weekend away is about the breakeven point for an annual travel policy.

[Chris]

Has anyone got any good or bad experiences with online holiday insurances?
I`m getting some very cheap quotes from online companies, like £20 for 2 of us for the canaries, compared to £38-£40 from high street companies.
We saved a packet last year by taking out holiday insurance on-line. We booked a cottage on Arran via a letting agent who insisted we took insurance ... they offered us an expensive policy but we went online and got something far cheaper, with the policy document emailed to us as a PDF within minutes.

Whether you buy online or in a shop, UK insurance companies are all bound by the same laws and arbitration rules in the event of a claims dispute, so you should be OK. And as basa points out, many e-insurers are just fronts for traditional high street providers anyway.

[blackthorn]

Thanks for that link. I tried them but I suspect you`re right in them dealing with specialist hols. They came back at £45 for 2 of us. Do these online companies send you the policy through the post or by email for printing off?

[SMHarman]

Thanks for that link. I tried them but I suspect you`re right in them dealing with specialist hols. They came back at £45 for 2 of us. Do these online companies send you the policy through the post or by email for printing off?

You should be able to find the policy documents on their on line site prior to purchasing. Bit difficult to enter into a valid contract if you cannot see the terms and conditions before you buy!

Your cover note will normally be printed in house and sent to you. They can ensure it is more securely printed that way.

[basa]

Thanks for that link. I tried them but I suspect you`re right in them dealing with specialist hols. They came back at £45 for 2 of us. Do these online companies send you the policy through the post or by email for printing off?

I got an immediate email confirming my payment and schedule. I downloaded and printed the policy off the website (.pdf) but they (Insure & Go) later sent me another anyway by email / link.

But I'd seriously consider checking if you pay for your holiday by credit card if you get free or cheap travel insurance.

[blackthorn]

Right, why i started all this is because I`m with the Halifax and I can get holiday insurance free but my wife cant. If I add her on to my "free" insurance, they want £37.50. I think I`ve got a solution. If I use my "Free" insurance for myself, I`ve got a quote of £10.37 for my wife through Manchester airport "online essentials". Can anyone see any problem with a couple travelling together with 2 separate insurance policies?

[spacedhopper]

I can't see any problems travelling with separate insurance policies. I always use moneysupermarket.com for anything like this, you enter your details and it will search 1000's of brokers to find you a good deal. Also useful for mortgages, credit cards, etc. Here: http://www.moneysupermarket.com/TravelInsurance/

[SMHarman]

Right, why i started all this is because I`m with the Halifax and I can get holiday insurance free but my wife cant. If I add her on to my "free" insurance, they want £37.50. I think I`ve got a solution. If I use my "Free" insurance for myself, I`ve got a quote of £10.37 for my wife through Manchester airport "online essentials". Can anyone see any problem with a couple travelling together with 2 separate insurance policies?

No not really - especially for the big stuff.

For the areas like possesions you could have a split liability. Was it your camera or hers. But saying that I would recommend getting your home cover extended to all risks away from home. This is also the only way to effectivly cover high value items, jewelry, digital cameras, expensive wet cameras, camcorders, sports equipment, laptop, etc.

[blackthorn]

I can't see any problems travelling with separate insurance policies. I always use moneysupermarket.com for anything like this, you enter your details and it will search 1000's of brokers to find you a good deal. Also useful for mortgages, credit cards, etc. Here: http://www.moneysupermarket.com/TravelInsurance/
Great link, thanks. Will be using this, £7.47 for cover for my wife, thats got to be the cheapest on the net.
Car parking next :)

[Atomic22]

i had a problem with car insurance over the net but not holiday insurance.....i filled the form in and phoned my client number to "insure.co.uk" then posted them some postal orders for the deposit of £40 (i dont use credit cards and i was waiting for a new cheque book) the day before i went on holiday for a fortnight...i got home to no documents , phoned them up and they said the preverbial "what postal orders"....realising i had gone 2 weeks with no car insurance i hot footed it to swinton to get some pronto
since then i have had to claim through the post office to trace the postalorders etc etc and i am still £40 out of pocket.......i now get my car/house/holiday/breakdown cover all from swinton

[blackthorn]

This is working out at not a bad price for a holiday to Tenerife. Got a limited budget, thats why I seem to be a bit stingy. £326 for the 2 of us + £7.47 for insurance+ £32 to park the car at the airport.

[SMHarman]

i had a problem with car insurance over the net but not holiday insurance.....i filled the form in and phoned my client number to "insure.co.uk" then posted them some postal orders for the deposit of £40 (i dont use credit cards and i was waiting for a new cheque book) the day before i went on holiday for a fortnight...i got home to no documents , phoned them up and they said the preverbial "what postal orders"....realising i had gone 2 weeks with no car insurance i hot footed it to swinton to get some pronto
since then i have had to claim through the post office to trace the postalorders etc etc and i am still £40 out of pocket.......i now get my car/house/holiday/breakdown cover all from swinton

Do you not use Switch/Maestro or Visa Delta either.
Web based stores work best with card payments, it fits in with their straight through processing systems.

[altis]

...£32 to park the car at the airport.

Park on the street in Heald Green and then go one stop on the train ;)

[Atomic22]

Do you not use Switch/Maestro or Visa Delta either.
Web based stores work best with card payments, it fits in with their straight through processing systems.
my other half uses them for everything but i use cheques or moolah...

[Dooby]

Can anyone see any problem with a couple travelling together with 2 separate insurance policies?

I would check with both insurance companies to find out if either would pay for the other person to stay abroad if the insured is ill.

The reason I say this is because we had that problem when my wife's grandmother was taken ill in france, she was in hospital for a while, past the end of our stay, and her insurance ( single person via help the aged or age concern, cant remember which ) wouldnt pay for my mother in law to stay behind because she wasnt on my wifes grandmothers policy ( it was single person ffs ), and my mother in laws insurance wouldnt pay because the person who was taken ill wasnt on her insurance.

basically, if your wife was ill, would either insurance companies pay for you to stay abroad, and if they say 'oh yes of course' get in IN WRITING

of course if you are just getting the insurance for delayed flights etc it probably isnt so much of a problem

[SMHarman]

I would check with both insurance companies to find out if either would pay for the other person to stay abroad if the insured is ill.

<snip>
basically, if your wife was ill, would either insurance companies pay for you to stay abroad, and if they say 'oh yes of course' get in IN WRITING

<snip>

Or get the name of the person you talked to, the time, the call centre and ask if their phone line is recorded.

Alternatly, you could always use a mobile with a recording facility. Tell them you are recording the conversation (for quality assurance and training purposes LOL) though.