Be wary of Direct Line, after many years as a customer they automatically cancelled our Insurance when we became 65 and refused to Insure over 65s.
M&S had the best deal and even beat Direct Lines last year price for under 65s.
M&S were also far more helpfull on the phone.
Sorry DL but my Car & House Insurance is now going the same way.

We have an annual insurance with Ace, due for renewal at the end of February. We have a holiday, booked last November for June this year. Over Christmas my partner developed a minor problem and needed to see the doctor, who referred him to a consultant, saying it may need a minor operation. He has an appointment early February for this. It's nothing life-threatening , more a matter of discomfort that needs sorting and if he needs an op, if should be a simple and minor thing.

Question is, should we tell the insurance and if so when? Do we wait 'til he's seen the consultant, as he may suggest treatment other than surgery? Unless something entirely unforseen happens this should not affect our holiday plans at all - the op should be done and dusted by then or could even be postponed, if necessary. I'm worried that if we don't tell them and something else happens our insurance will be invalidated - but I'm also worried that if we well them, they won't renew us. Any advice?

Hi Mariah ... you need to tell your insurer about any pre-existing illnesses, any conditions requiring hospital visits, consultations or treatment, whether you are on the waiting list for surgery, etc. Failure to do so could render your policy invalid for any medical or cancellation claims, even if not directly related to the problem which required that hospital consultation or treatment.

As the next visit to the consultant is only a few weeks away, you could perhaps wait until the outcome of that is known. However, you should then tell the insurer, irrespective of whether any follow up treatment or surgery is required.

If it's not a serious condition, or one which is considered to be a potential risk whilst on holiday, it is perhaps unlikely that they will refuse to renew your policy. They may however increase the premium, or just impose an excess for any claims specifically in relation to that condition. If that happens, you should just shop around to compare quotes, as some insurers are more lenient with pre-existing conditions than others.

David

Hi
I sure others have already asked this queustion, but I cant decide if to take annual cover or single cover.Going away without my partner in March, he is on dog duty.........
We hope to go away together for two weeks in June.
We are used to paying reasonable price for insurance, but I have had breast cancer and the cost of travel insurance has rocketed. The lowest price I have got is £143 for annual policy for both of us from direct line. What do others members think?
PS a single trip policy just for me is £59, if my partner is added it is £65
Thanks M

Hi all, my partner and I have annual insurance cover free with A&L but need to insure the kids as well! I've searched the net and their are a few companies who do separate policies for kids, but has anyone actually done this before?

Are you sure your kids aren't covered on your free policy.? I have free travel insurance with my Nat West account and that covers dependant children. Just check first - if it doesn't cover your kids i'm sure you would be able to buy it through A&l. Denny

Thanks Denny.53 they definitely aren't covered.

I called A&L who told me it'd cost £45 to add them onto the policy, which renews in May this year. It'd be cheaper to just take out a policy for the kids alone! We don't travel that often.

Cheers for replying.

not sure if it has been posted on here, (and sorry if it is in the wrong section mods) my partner as just told me that some one had hurt themselves badly at a waterpark, they had taken the exursion through there own rep aswell, and now been told they can not claim through there own insurance for there injury as going down waterslides is classed as a EXTREME SPORT and no cover was taken out for this, so please people be aware and inquire with who ever you take insurance cover out with

I use Insure and Go and they have a full list of what is included and what isn't when it comes to activities on holiday. It's not something you have to search for or read the small print for - they have it easily accessible on the website. Very handy to know exactly what they class as uninsured risks.

I've taken out insurance with Direct Line and included my mother on it (she's 73) with no problems.

I do have a query though - my holiday to Kenya was cancelled by the tour operator. The insurance company (Zurich /Thomson Gold) refused to transfer the one trip policy to another holiday. I have written to try to get the premium back (via a claim form that didn't accept this as a possibility) but advice on the phone was that they wouldn't. Presumably force majeure (not in either party's control that the contract/cover isn't carried out) makes the premium returnable as they don't have to now cover the major risks of the policy (actual travel, lost bags, illness on holiday etc) and we clearly had no need to claim prior to the trip. If their terms don't allow for a refund in this event I'll challenge them as an unfair contract term. I'll let you know how I get on though I think this will be another slow business.

I'm not sure it's that clear cut - just because you no longer need something isn't necessarily grounds for a refund under consumer law. Most shops will give a no questions asked refund on 'returns' as long as the goods are returned unused and in their original condition but they are not required by law to do this. The law only compels them to do this if the goods are faulty or 'not fit for purpose'. Yes, it's unfortunate and other insurers possibly would have let you transfer the cover to another holiday, especially if the transfer was made before the date the original holiday was due to take place, but I'm not sure that it constitutes an unfair contract term - you contracted them to provide a service which they did. The fact that you didn't need that service in the end, for whatever reason, is no concern of theirs.

SM

With travel insurance you are covered from the moment you take out that insurance. i.e. before you even get on the plane. For instance if you or a close family member were taken ill before your trip and couldn't go. Therefore the insurance has been 'used' even if there was no claim. That is why the insurance company quite rightly will not transfer the insurance to another holiday. Denny

I have just got 29 days fully comp travel insurance for my holiday to Australia from Atlas Insurance, for £23.oo. Asda wanted £60!!!!!! for the same cover

No, sorry I don't agree insurance is "used" from the moment it is taken out. The cancellation was not done by either party to the contract. It is therefore frustration of the contract, a wholly different situation to a family member dying or becoming seriously ill - that is something that is covered by the insurance terms and part of the contract.

When you take out holiday insurance the 'cover' is activated from the moment the premium is received and the risk accepted by the insurer. The fact that you didn't need to claim against that cover before you cancelled is not relevant - you could have done if the need had arisen. Nor would the insurers regard the reason for the holiday being cancelled and hence the need for continuing cover as relevant as long it was for reasons that were not covered by the policy.

What it boils down to is that you did have cover from the moment the insurance was taken out until the moment you no longer needed it. The holiday was cancelled and you then cancelled the cover. The fact that this was for reasons outwith your control and for reasons that meant there was no valid calim agains the insurance cover doesn't affect the fact that you did have cover and did use it for as long as was necessary.

I note that you refer to the insurers as Zurich/Thomson Gold - was the cover arranged through Thomson as the TO? In which case you might have fared better by dealing with the TO, rather than Zurich as the insurer, because in my experience TAs and TOs are often prepared to arange to transfer the cover to another holiday booked through/with them as a goodwill gesture but I doubt that they would have ever refunded the premium either.

SM

No SMA
What I am referring to is contract law. Zurich agreed to cover me for a holiday. They can no longer provide that - I have NOT cancelled their cover. The contract is frustrated from the point that the holiday was cancelled by the third party. You are merely looking at policy (not contract) terms. This is not relevant here. If I agree to buy your car and it is burnt out by vandals I do not have to go ahead and pay you for nothing. The fact that I agreed to buy what I can no longer have is no longer binding and the fact that it isn't your fault is irrelevant. The contract is frustrated - you cannot provide your part of the bargin. The fact that a minor part of the contract can be carried out (you still have the hoodcaps and the part you clip onto the radio to make it work) does not mean anything.
Do you work in insurance? I assume you are not qualified in law.

Your contract with Zurich began the moment you paid the premium and they accepted the risk - holiday insurance doesn't begin when the holiday starts, it begins the moment you purchase the cover. Using your own example of the purchase of car, the car had already been delivered to your drive and was in your ownership when the damage happened. No car dealer would regard would regard the fact that you hadn't yet had a chance to drive it your self as a grounds for refunding the cost of the purchase.

No, I'm not legally qualified nor do I work in insurance but I have taken out many insurance policies of all sorts over the years and everyone of them has made it clear in the terms and conditions that the cover starts from the moment they accept the risk. If your insurance policy states otherwise I'd be very interested to know about it - I know of no other holiday insurance policy that only begins from the moment you actually take the holiday. If yours does say this then presumably it wouldn't have covered you for any illness that prevented you taking the holiday, the sudden death of close relative that necessitated you cancelling etc and it's one I would want to avoid.

Are you qualified in insurance law and is this why you are so convinced that you have a case? When you take it to court let us know how you get on - I'm sure that should you win then a lot of us will be looking forward to claiming refunds for all the insurance premiums we've paid for policies we never needed to claim against. If you are right then I look forward to claiming back the premium at the end of this year on my life insurance policy on the grounds that it wasn't needed because I didn't die. And I'll be hoping that nothing happens to my house in the next month or two either because I could then ask for a refund of the insurance premium when it comes up for renewal in April on the grounds that I never needed it after all because nothing happened that I needed to claim for.

SM

my first time that i have claim for insurance and it is turned down

while coming back from prague to newcastle a couple of weeks ago on a friday night some items were stolen from my baggage surly stolen by airport workers. lucky only stolen was some cigs 2 footy shirts, 1 camera 4 years old, and a electric tooth brush.

i relised the items were stolen once i got home and unpacked

so on the saturday i rang easyjet to report this they said i would have to email them so i did

i reported this to the police too

anyway i filled in my travel insurance claim ,, sent them the reciepts from my stolen items

also i got a letter back from easyjet saying that they do not issue propery irregularity reports unless reported at the airport at the time but they said in the letter this should provide evidence that it has been reported

got a letter back from my insurance today saying

we very uch advise you that your claim cannot proceed as your insurance policy excludes claims as follows...

9 Theft, loss or damage to valuables not carried in your hand baggage while you are travelling

15 Theft, loss or damage to baggage or personal belongings during a journey unless you report this to the carrier and get a property irregularity report at the time of the loss.

17 Valuables whilst they are out of your immediate control and supervision unless locked in a safe or security box.

they are also saying the camera and tooth brush and considered valuable items so are not covered ?

is there anythink i can do?

I don't think there is - these are pretty standard T&Cs for most travel insurance policies and so there's not much you can do about it. Presumably your case didn't look as if it had been tampered with or you'd have noticed immediately so in the circumstances it's pretty hard for you to prove how and when the items were stolen. Personally I never pack anything into checked in baggage that I would be especially upset to lose - things like a camera always stay with me.

It might be worth checking whether you might be covered by your house contents insurance - they often have less restrictive T&Cs and so you might be covered if your policy includes any cover for possessions whilst outside of the house.

SM