On a holiday to Madeira in November I unfortunately broke my ankle and ended up in the Casulty dept. in Funchal hospital. I opted to return home for the surgery so they put a half plaster on and we returned to the hotel and contacted the assistance company for Insure and Go. Over the next couple of days (the accident occured on a Sunday and we eventually flew home on the Wednesday) we were either promised phone calls from the company which never happened or we got messages to call them. Because of this we ended up with a £100 phone bill. We also as you will appreciate had to call a neighbour to get our house ready as there was no way I would be able to get upstairs and also had to contact our GP to arrange an appointment with the fracture clinic. Calls also had to be made to the Portuguese travel co. arranging the transfer to the airport in Madeira.
We have received a letter from Insure and Go who say that they will only pay out for the first call to the assistance company and no other calls. My husband has written a firm but polite letter pointing out that had the assistance company been more efficient most of the calls would not have been necessary. Indeed the assistance company telephone number (an 0870 number) was on the Monday permenantly engaged (this is supposed to be a 24 hour helpline) - thankfully we were able to get another number from the Portuguese repatriation company.
We did find the assistance company in this country quite unhelpful at times. Although we had a car at Gatwick airport they insisted on sending a car to pick us up - they suggested a People Mover which I said I would not be able to get into as I could not put any weight on my leg. Yes you've guessed it that is exactly what they sent!! In the end my husband went and got our car (a small hatchback) and I managed the 2 hour journey home.
Our congratulations go the Portuguese assistance company - especially the taxi driver who was very helpful and to BA who helped make the flight home as comfortable as possible - my husband and myself had 6 seats between us.
Your thoughts on the matter of the telephone calls would be most appreciated - we have also put in claims for a certificate to fly and an anti-clotting injection and also taxi fares - will keep you posted on the outcome.
In closing - I had the surgery just over a week ago (almost 2 weeks after breaking the ankle) the delay was due to infection and blistering possibly due to the fact it was not cleaned up at Funchal hospital. It is now a long slow road to recovery and mobility.
We love Madeira but it now holds some painful (literally) memories for us.
Pippa
Pippa
Sounds like you went through quite an ordeal and glad to hear you are now on the road to recovery.
Please update this topic as I use Insure and Go (but never needed their services yet) so I am interested to see how they eventually resolve you issues.
Sounds like you went through quite an ordeal and glad to hear you are now on the road to recovery.
Please update this topic as I use Insure and Go (but never needed their services yet) so I am interested to see how they eventually resolve you issues.
Many thanks, I will keep this topic updated.
We did have to make a claim last January when one of our cases failed to turn up until 5 days into the holiday - they paid up no problem but it was only a small claim.
I think the thing that annoyed us was that if I had elected to have the surgery in Madeira it would have cost them considerably more.
Pippa
We did have to make a claim last January when one of our cases failed to turn up until 5 days into the holiday - they paid up no problem but it was only a small claim.
I think the thing that annoyed us was that if I had elected to have the surgery in Madeira it would have cost them considerably more.
Pippa
We will never use Insure and Go again!! They have had the audacity to send us a cheque for £27.22. They have deducted the £60 excess per person for every section of the policy applicable. We have probably lost out somewhere in the region of £180.
We have flights booked with BA for January which will have to be cancelled but as they only cost us £170 for the 2 and we will have to pay £120 excess is it really worth claiming? I don't think BA will be able to help as they were not fully flexible tickets.
Beware Insure and Go!!!
Pippa
We have flights booked with BA for January which will have to be cancelled but as they only cost us £170 for the 2 and we will have to pay £120 excess is it really worth claiming? I don't think BA will be able to help as they were not fully flexible tickets.
Beware Insure and Go!!!
Pippa
Hi Pippa,
I've been following your distressing story in both threads and I would suggest that you don't just give up on the BA tickets. In slightly different circumstances BA transferred me to another flight at no extra cost even though I had a really cheap non-flexible ticket. My situation was both more minor than yours and less likely to elicit any sympathy but they still did it on the grounds that they had plenty of room on the alternative flight and were fully booked on the one I should have gone on - yes, that's right this was done after I should have already used the ticket! My brother, in circumstances more comparable to yours found them just as helpful when he needed to reschedule a family trip due to one of the children being too ill to travel. They simply tranferred the tickets for flights for the Christmas holidays to the Easter school holiday and he had no need to get involved in making an insurance claim at all.
Compared to companies like EasyJet, BA seems to give its staff a lot more room to use their own discretion and commonsense when dealing with these sort of issues. So, rather than losing the money completely I would take the chance on contacting them and, even if they won't give you a refund, asking whether they will transfer the booking to another flight later on in the year for when hopefully you'll be back on your feet again. They can only say no and it has to be worth the try.
SM
I've been following your distressing story in both threads and I would suggest that you don't just give up on the BA tickets. In slightly different circumstances BA transferred me to another flight at no extra cost even though I had a really cheap non-flexible ticket. My situation was both more minor than yours and less likely to elicit any sympathy but they still did it on the grounds that they had plenty of room on the alternative flight and were fully booked on the one I should have gone on - yes, that's right this was done after I should have already used the ticket! My brother, in circumstances more comparable to yours found them just as helpful when he needed to reschedule a family trip due to one of the children being too ill to travel. They simply tranferred the tickets for flights for the Christmas holidays to the Easter school holiday and he had no need to get involved in making an insurance claim at all.
Compared to companies like EasyJet, BA seems to give its staff a lot more room to use their own discretion and commonsense when dealing with these sort of issues. So, rather than losing the money completely I would take the chance on contacting them and, even if they won't give you a refund, asking whether they will transfer the booking to another flight later on in the year for when hopefully you'll be back on your feet again. They can only say no and it has to be worth the try.
SM
Many thanks,
I contacted BA (again) but they can do nothing for me. I enquired about getting the taxes back but they then add an administration fee of £25 per person which is more than the taxes.
This is just going to have to go down as being a lost cause I think. It makes me think that perhaps booking a package with a charter airline is not such a bad thing after all - there is certainly more flexibility with a charter airline. It's a shame because BA were great getting us home from Madeira.
Pippa
I contacted BA (again) but they can do nothing for me. I enquired about getting the taxes back but they then add an administration fee of £25 per person which is more than the taxes.
This is just going to have to go down as being a lost cause I think. It makes me think that perhaps booking a package with a charter airline is not such a bad thing after all - there is certainly more flexibility with a charter airline. It's a shame because BA were great getting us home from Madeira.
Pippa
Hi Pippa,
am really sorry for what you have been going through...noth the hassle and the pain!
As for insure and go...well, my partner, little boy and I flew to Crete in September of last year and were insured with insure and go. About 7 days into the holiday my partner had an accident and fell on the main road while trying to get the little ones buggy out from the bottom of a coach.
As it is, he was taken to hospital and operated on for a dislocated shoulder and arm that was broken in several places. We were also told that we could not claim anything other than the cost of the medical treatment, no costs for telephone calls, no taxi fares back to the hotel when he was discharged on the day of the flight, no bus fares for me and the little one going back and forth. In fact they paid for nothing...and only 4 weeks ago we had a threatening letter from the private medical centre that treated him because the insurance company had failed to even pay for the medical treatment and they were looking for about £4000!
Needless to say I had some choice words to say, and although that has now been sorted I wouldnt use insure and go again just out of the unhelpfulness that they have shown, when told to keep receipts etc, everything was in fact worthless because they didnt pay out for anything other than the medical care!
I hope that you manage to get sorted, and I think BA are being a bit mean...know its not much help, but if you aren't going see if you can sell the flights on....
Wishing you a speedy recovery
Karen x
am really sorry for what you have been going through...noth the hassle and the pain!
As for insure and go...well, my partner, little boy and I flew to Crete in September of last year and were insured with insure and go. About 7 days into the holiday my partner had an accident and fell on the main road while trying to get the little ones buggy out from the bottom of a coach.
As it is, he was taken to hospital and operated on for a dislocated shoulder and arm that was broken in several places. We were also told that we could not claim anything other than the cost of the medical treatment, no costs for telephone calls, no taxi fares back to the hotel when he was discharged on the day of the flight, no bus fares for me and the little one going back and forth. In fact they paid for nothing...and only 4 weeks ago we had a threatening letter from the private medical centre that treated him because the insurance company had failed to even pay for the medical treatment and they were looking for about £4000!
Needless to say I had some choice words to say, and although that has now been sorted I wouldnt use insure and go again just out of the unhelpfulness that they have shown, when told to keep receipts etc, everything was in fact worthless because they didnt pay out for anything other than the medical care!
I hope that you manage to get sorted, and I think BA are being a bit mean...know its not much help, but if you aren't going see if you can sell the flights on....
Wishing you a speedy recovery
Karen x
The Insurance Ombudsman is now incorporated into the Financial Ombudsman services according to the website. I would suggest contacting them.Link below:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
fwh
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
fwh
Insure and Go are (supposedly) one of the better companies - I would hate to be with one of the worst! We have an annual policy which does not expire until August but as we are holidaying in this country next year I am not too worried.
Hope your partner is ok now - long slow process isn't it?
Many thanks,
Pippa
ps. forgot to add that I can't sell the tickets on a name change is not allowed either!
Hope your partner is ok now - long slow process isn't it?
Many thanks,
Pippa
ps. forgot to add that I can't sell the tickets on a name change is not allowed either!
I am also insured through Insure & Go - Not too impressed in what i have heard?!?!
Am i right in saying that AIG is the assistance company used by I&G??
Am i right in saying that AIG is the assistance company used by I&G??
Hello Pippa
Firstly, I am sorry that your holiday ended in such a disastrous way for you.
May I clarify your situation with you, when you received treatment at Funchal hospital, you say, you opted to return home for surgery, who gave you this option to return home, was it Insure & Go, or their nominated assistance Co., and was it whilst you were still in hospital?
Reading you post, it reads as though you received treatment in hospital, and only contacted Insure & Go, once back in your hotel.
If this were correct, then I would assume you are in breach of your terms and conditions of the policy, as they would clearly state, The Medical Doctor in attendance, together with the Assistance Service MUST give permission 1st for you to travel.
This is not a criticism of you by any means; it's only for future HT members who are reading this thread to follow the T&C's of the policy.
I trust you are now on the road to recovery.
Driver02
Firstly, I am sorry that your holiday ended in such a disastrous way for you.
May I clarify your situation with you, when you received treatment at Funchal hospital, you say, you opted to return home for surgery, who gave you this option to return home, was it Insure & Go, or their nominated assistance Co., and was it whilst you were still in hospital?
Reading you post, it reads as though you received treatment in hospital, and only contacted Insure & Go, once back in your hotel.
If this were correct, then I would assume you are in breach of your terms and conditions of the policy, as they would clearly state, The Medical Doctor in attendance, together with the Assistance Service MUST give permission 1st for you to travel.
This is not a criticism of you by any means; it's only for future HT members who are reading this thread to follow the T&C's of the policy.
I trust you are now on the road to recovery.
Driver02
With respect, we were never in breach of the terms and conditions. I was never actually admitted to Funchal hospital - just treated in the A&E dept. The doctor gave his permission for me to return home and at the earliest opportunity we contacted the assistance company - you will appreciate that this was difficult to do in the hospital and because I was not having surgery there the doctor did not need to contact them himself. Both Insure and Go and the assistance co. were quite happy for me to return home as long as I had a certificate to fly (which I had). There was never the suggestion of us having broken the terms and conditions - the only reason we had to wait 3 days to fly home is that I needed 3 seats.
We are not going to pay in the cheque for £27 until we have written another letter asking them to itemise the amount so that we know what they are paying out for. We still believe that they should at least pay for the calls to the assistance company. Our whole claim did not amount to much more than £250 - peanuts to an insurance company I would have thought.
Pippa
We are not going to pay in the cheque for £27 until we have written another letter asking them to itemise the amount so that we know what they are paying out for. We still believe that they should at least pay for the calls to the assistance company. Our whole claim did not amount to much more than £250 - peanuts to an insurance company I would have thought.
Pippa
Pippa
When reading your post, it read as though you only contacted Insure & Go once you had left the hospital, so forgive me if I misread it.
Regardless of whether or not you were admitted, the fact is, you received medical treatment, in a foreign country, for which you had insurance for, in the event of something happening.
I do fully appreciate the position you were in at the time, in a foreign hospital, foreign Dr's etc, but the purpose of having medical insurance is, in the event of needing assistance, for the insurance Company to take ownership of your situation, also any decision making that needs to be made regarding your condition, treatment, transportation etc, that is why, in your earlier post you said, Insure & Go have only agreed to pay for one telephone call to the assistance company..
Suppose, in the event that the hospital submit a bill for xxxx amount of £'s, for treatment to you, what proof do you have to confirm that you received all the treatment they are claiming for, this is one of the reasons they insist on visiting or talking to a doctor at the time of treatment.
One question you could ask the insurance company:
If the aeroplane was full and the airline had to offload passengers to accommodate you on 3 seats, those seats will need paying for, who is paying for them? If the insurance company are paying for them, then why are they not honouring your claim in full?
Believe me Pippa, I do fully sympathise with you & the position you are in, but I am speaking from personal experience, having been through this nightmare ourselves, although, not in relation to Insure & Go, but in relation to a medical claim, although now settled.
Driver02
When reading your post, it read as though you only contacted Insure & Go once you had left the hospital, so forgive me if I misread it.
Regardless of whether or not you were admitted, the fact is, you received medical treatment, in a foreign country, for which you had insurance for, in the event of something happening.
I do fully appreciate the position you were in at the time, in a foreign hospital, foreign Dr's etc, but the purpose of having medical insurance is, in the event of needing assistance, for the insurance Company to take ownership of your situation, also any decision making that needs to be made regarding your condition, treatment, transportation etc, that is why, in your earlier post you said, Insure & Go have only agreed to pay for one telephone call to the assistance company..
Suppose, in the event that the hospital submit a bill for xxxx amount of £'s, for treatment to you, what proof do you have to confirm that you received all the treatment they are claiming for, this is one of the reasons they insist on visiting or talking to a doctor at the time of treatment.
One question you could ask the insurance company:
If the aeroplane was full and the airline had to offload passengers to accommodate you on 3 seats, those seats will need paying for, who is paying for them? If the insurance company are paying for them, then why are they not honouring your claim in full?
Believe me Pippa, I do fully sympathise with you & the position you are in, but I am speaking from personal experience, having been through this nightmare ourselves, although, not in relation to Insure & Go, but in relation to a medical claim, although now settled.
Driver02
Hi there,
Thanks for your reply. The aeroplane was certainly not full - not only did I have 3 seats but my husband also did and there were many other spare seats.
What we were most dissapointed in was the 'efficiency' of the assistance company. Apart from going to the local clinic twice we were in the hotel for 3 days so there was no need for them to leave a message for us to call them. We always told the hotel staff where we were going to be and they were constantly checking we were ok so would have I'm sure called us to the phone. We were also disgusted that for hours on end the help line number was engaged. This was upsetting enough for us but could have been more so if we were 20 years older.
We have written once again to Insure and Go asking them to send us a breakdown of how they reached the wonderful figure of £27. Watch this space!!
Pippa
Thanks for your reply. The aeroplane was certainly not full - not only did I have 3 seats but my husband also did and there were many other spare seats.
What we were most dissapointed in was the 'efficiency' of the assistance company. Apart from going to the local clinic twice we were in the hotel for 3 days so there was no need for them to leave a message for us to call them. We always told the hotel staff where we were going to be and they were constantly checking we were ok so would have I'm sure called us to the phone. We were also disgusted that for hours on end the help line number was engaged. This was upsetting enough for us but could have been more so if we were 20 years older.
We have written once again to Insure and Go asking them to send us a breakdown of how they reached the wonderful figure of £27. Watch this space!!
Pippa
Insure and Go have taken 3 weeks to reply to our letter asking for a breakdown of how they reached the wonderful figure of £27. It seems that all they are prepared to pay for is the injection that I needed to fly, the certificate to fly and the first phone call to the assistance company amounting to a total of £87 - deduct the excess of £60 and we are left with £27. Whilst we realise that an excess has to be deducted what we are most unhappy with is the assistance company that they use - infact it certainly does seem that they preferred to make the briefest of phone calls to the hotel leaving a message for us to phone them - thus of course leaving us to pay for the call. It would appear that they are not paying for the taxis to the clinic or the 2 days lost car hire because they amount to less than the excess. Why do travel insurance companies deduct excesses for every section of a policy when over insurance companies only deduct the excess once?
Also, we thought we were doing them a favour in going to the clinic ourselves to have the injection rather than call the doctor to the hotel at a cost of 200+ euros.
We have written another letter saying that although we will now be banking the cheque we are not at all happy with the way we have been treated - my husband has written many letters of complaint as part of his job in a bank so this was not difficult.
We will certainly not use Insure and Go Again.
Pippa
Also, we thought we were doing them a favour in going to the clinic ourselves to have the injection rather than call the doctor to the hotel at a cost of 200+ euros.
We have written another letter saying that although we will now be banking the cheque we are not at all happy with the way we have been treated - my husband has written many letters of complaint as part of his job in a bank so this was not difficult.
We will certainly not use Insure and Go Again.
Pippa
Hi there
I have been reading comments on this subject.
I am now a little worried I have just taken out insurance policy with this company for my 15 year old daughter who is going to Cyprus in March for a holiday with her friend and friends mother. I did a lot of ringing around to try and find a travel insurance provider that offered cover for her as she is under 16 and they seemed to be the only one that did, in fact I first called Norwich Union and they recommended Insure and Go as they will deal with unusual circumstances (they are also part of Norwich Union). Reading these comments now is making me very unsure of them. God forbid if my daughter needs their assistance on holiday, what should I do?
I have been reading comments on this subject.
I am now a little worried I have just taken out insurance policy with this company for my 15 year old daughter who is going to Cyprus in March for a holiday with her friend and friends mother. I did a lot of ringing around to try and find a travel insurance provider that offered cover for her as she is under 16 and they seemed to be the only one that did, in fact I first called Norwich Union and they recommended Insure and Go as they will deal with unusual circumstances (they are also part of Norwich Union). Reading these comments now is making me very unsure of them. God forbid if my daughter needs their assistance on holiday, what should I do?
Hi there,
I have held an annual travel policy with Insure & Go for the past 2 years and am pleased with it. I had to make a claim for an overnight hotel at Heathrow in Jan 03 when my flight to Canada was cancelled due to snowfall and this was paid quickly (minus the x/s of course!). In May 03 we went to Menorca and I had to be admitted to hospital for an emergency operation. I was taken to a private hospital and a quick telephone call to the assistance company meant the op went ahead immediately (once the hospital had seen the insurance certificate - always carry it with you wherever you are as if you need medical treatment the last thing you want is to have to go back to your accommodation and retrieve it!) Amazingly, the same evening when I returned to the hotel, my daughter managed to trap her fingers in the balcony door and we had to return to the hospital for stitches. Again, the assistance company were very good and treatment was promptly received. My only grudge was having to pay two £50 x/s on one day! Despite my run of bad luck, Insure & Go renewed the policy, though I now opt for paying a slightly higher premium to waive the x/s! I have found I&G to be superior in their claims handling than previous insurers.
Cazz
I have held an annual travel policy with Insure & Go for the past 2 years and am pleased with it. I had to make a claim for an overnight hotel at Heathrow in Jan 03 when my flight to Canada was cancelled due to snowfall and this was paid quickly (minus the x/s of course!). In May 03 we went to Menorca and I had to be admitted to hospital for an emergency operation. I was taken to a private hospital and a quick telephone call to the assistance company meant the op went ahead immediately (once the hospital had seen the insurance certificate - always carry it with you wherever you are as if you need medical treatment the last thing you want is to have to go back to your accommodation and retrieve it!) Amazingly, the same evening when I returned to the hotel, my daughter managed to trap her fingers in the balcony door and we had to return to the hospital for stitches. Again, the assistance company were very good and treatment was promptly received. My only grudge was having to pay two £50 x/s on one day! Despite my run of bad luck, Insure & Go renewed the policy, though I now opt for paying a slightly higher premium to waive the x/s! I have found I&G to be superior in their claims handling than previous insurers.
Cazz
Either you were very fortunate or we were very unfortunate. If you consider the fact that had I opted to have the surgery in Madeira it would have cost them far more than the miniscule amount of approx £200 that we were claiming. Yes, we managed a first quick telephone call to the assistance company but that is where their 'assistance' ended.
Pippa
Pippa
I bought a policy from I&G for a week in Lloret last August. Nothing went wrong on our holiday, and we didn't need to make a claim, but what concerned me was the inabilty of the company to send a policy document and certificate in the post. I bought the policy online, and there was an option to either print it out yourself or pay an extra £1 to have it all sent in the post. My printer was broke at the time, so I paid the extra £1, but never received any documents or certificates. About 3 days before our holiday I phoned the company to ask about this and they said that these things take time to process and it should arrive in the next couple of days - it never arrived, not even after we came home from our holiday! As it was, I had to ask a friend to print it out for me the day before we went!
I was thinking of using I&G again this year, simply because their prices are very competitive, even if you pay the extra to waive the excess (which sounds well worth it, from what I've read on here), but I'm not sure what to do. I've had lots of quotes from lots of different companies and I&G were the cheapest by far. Their 'Gold' policy came to £25.11 (including excess waiver and baggage & money cover) for myself and 2 teenagers for 2 weeks in Lanzarote. Other companies were quoting anything from £35 - £55
I was thinking of using I&G again this year, simply because their prices are very competitive, even if you pay the extra to waive the excess (which sounds well worth it, from what I've read on here), but I'm not sure what to do. I've had lots of quotes from lots of different companies and I&G were the cheapest by far. Their 'Gold' policy came to £25.11 (including excess waiver and baggage & money cover) for myself and 2 teenagers for 2 weeks in Lanzarote. Other companies were quoting anything from £35 - £55
Post a Reply
Please sign in or register an account to reply to this post.
Similar Topics
-
insure & go holiday insurance- has anyone else had this?
Posted by bellybally in General Holiday Enquiries, Hints and Tips
-
Breakdown Cover - Rescue My Car / Insure & Go
Posted by steve99 in France and Channel Hopping Discussion
-
help and assistance
Posted by GRANNY R in Help And Assistance
-
Goa itinerary assistance
Posted by jtownson in Goa Discussion Forum
-
Accommodation Assistance please
Posted by Nerbie in Algarve/Portugal/Madeira/Azores Discussion Forum