Holiday Insurance

[Andrewcook]

Here's this question about Holiday Insurances is it cheaper to get it through your own Bank  or on your House hold policy? Or when you book your Holiday on the Broads The other point is the Small print  clause about this Coronsvirus at this time

[ChrisB]

The last insurance I bought was via "Holiday Extras" ( normally use the Post Office ).

Holiday Extras are now doing a Coronavirus policy.

For what it is worth the Meerkats compare the market is good for holiday insurance.

[DAVIDH]

That's a difficult question. Generally, travel insurance provided by a bank as part of an account package, tends to be better than one off or annual policies, which are bought on-line and pared down as much as possible to be competitive. Of course, you still have to pay the bank's account package cost. Another thing to watch out for is pre-existing illnesses. Most competitive policies will cover no or few pre-existing illnesses. In all cases, you will have to go through the process of telling them what pre-existing illnesses you have, which you need to do in detail to avoid a claim being excluded in the future. Again, the bank insurance polices often cover much more than the "off the peg" policies. 

Hoseasons actually includes the insurance premium in the boat hire price (between £30 and £60 depending on the boat)  - it's not an extra.  Pre-existing illness conditions also apply. They also sell Personal Insurance cover, which covers things other than cancellation. 

So which is best, depends on the overall cost to you, taking into account your bank's fees, whether you have a pre-existing illness which might exclude a claim - (if in doubt, call the insurer or Hoseasons), and whether you need cover for personal effects etc, (household policy?) which is not provided by Hoseasons. 

 

[oldgregg]

19 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:

 Generally, travel insurance provided by a bank as part of an account package, tends to be better than one off or annual policies, which are bought on-line and pared down as much as possible to be competitive. 

I'd disagree with that, having formerly worked in the insurance industry. Any insurance policy which is being 'chucked in' as a value-add with something is usually pretty worthless and will have a list of limits and conditions as long as your arm.

Those 'monthly fee' bank accounts are a nice little earner for the ailing retail banking sector, and they don't achieve that by providing good quality cover, just something that looks like it is a benefit. When you consider what the bank will be paying the insurer for the policy after they've taken their commission, you can see why it just cannot stack up.

Remember the PPI scandal? They had to stop selling that to anyone and everyone so needed to switch to something else...

With any insurance, I'd say always do a bit of research and go to a reputable and recommended provider and then make sure you read carefully what the policy covers. It won't be as cheap (how could it), but it might actually cover you should you need to claim.

[DAVIDH]

1 hour ago, oldgregg said:

With any insurance, I'd say always do a bit of research and go to a reputable and recommended provider and then make sure you read carefully what the policy covers. It won't be as cheap (how could it), but it might actually cover you should you need to claim.

Absolutely. I did say "generally", and it's borne out of experience with customers over may years. We had many aged clients who had previously cancelled holidays due to pre-existing illnesses, who couldn't get cover, but their bank policies were far less restrictive and allowed them to continue travelling. I should clarify, I was talking about Gold credit card accounts. But yes, always check the cover offered. I was trying to write a general piece of advice, pointing out the sort of restrictions you come up against, depending on the policy. Those policy documents are not thousands and thousands of words long for no reason. 

[Hylander]

Putting the Cat Amongst the Pigeons.   I am with Staysure and have been with them for a few years now.    As long as you are honest about all of your pre-existing complaints you will be fine but dont hide anything as that is an excuse not to pay out.   Better to pay a higher premium (and they are not cheap) than find out you are not insured.

 

 

[CambridgeCabby]

When booking a holiday , ensure the payment is made on a credit card , this offers an extra tier of “insurance” as if your goods or services are not provided you can also claim on the cards inherent cover if other insurances taken out fail to pay out .