Insurance Coup; Triumph for AFF

[Flashback]

I need to try and work out what travel insurance policy to get. I currently have an annual one that is valid till the beginning of November, 2010 that I took out last year.

However things will be a little different this time. While I will be travelling all around Europe, my 'home' will then be London rather than back here in Perth.

Not really sure on the best way to go, and a lot of the info I've had from TI providers has been conflicting.

Is another option to wait till I get to the UK and take out TI with a provider there?

 

[lvabarg]

To help me evaluate things further it would be great if you could provide a few general (non-personal) details of the complications you encountered.

We have a platinum credit card. the claim went through AXA, at their office in St Leonards.
It consisted claiming for a damaged suitcase, loss of money, and a refund of part of airfare due to illness.
It involved a lot of red tape, much running around to get letters, certificates, and at first refusal to acknowledge loss of money because we had made a police report "too late". (We had not realised the money was lost)
They then took 3 months to assess and pay the claim, and when they did, they only paid a small portion of it. My phone calls and emails to them were not returned, and at one stage one of the AXA supervisors told me he could not return all emails and phone calls, as he was too busy.
It was not until I wrote a letter of complaint to the ombudsman, that the claim was settled.
My suggestion is if you do go with this insurance, read all the fineprint carefully, and report any problems to the police quick smart, otherwise your claim will be denied.
Maybe my experience was a one off bad one, as other people seem to have been very happy with this option
We now have a yearly policy which gives us peace of mind, and no hassles.

 

[Dougo]

I used to rely on our Gold CC insurance but not any more. When I started to look more closely at the policy, after speaking to the medical unit I was stunned as I had assumed that we were fully covered for a couple of minor medical issues that are covered automatically by some other insurance companies ... how wrong I was ! It just doesn't give that depth of cover we need and apparently classifies pre-existing as anything we've seen the Doctor for with no specific time frame that I could get out of the medical assessment area. So unless we jumped through through their hoops to try and get our "pre-existing" covered, we would not be covered. Fo me, it was not worth doing that when other insurance companies would cover us automatically.

So we got many quotes - on line, over the phone, face to face. Somne on-line quotes accepted us and when I rang to query them, they said that they wouldn't cover us, so I always made enqiries directly after that. I wondered how many people got their travel insurance on line without speaking to anyone to clarify anything and if they subsequently had a claim, would it be accepted or knocked back.

After obtaining many quotes for our trip to Sth America and a cruise to Antarctica (about 6-7 weeks) were rediculously high, partly because one of the insured is 60+ and partly because it was the "Americas" and partly because we would be in Antarctic waters for more than 24 hours !

So more digging and we finally settled on QBE for about a third of our highest quote ...we hope that we've made the right choice, but the proof is in the claim - lets hope we don't need to claim.

 

[Quando Quando]

Just noticed in this thread that people are paying $650+ for QBE annual policy....

I have been charged $350 for an annual multi-trip policy (up to 60 days for each trip) for two people in their 40's. (excel USA / snow ) The excess is $200..

I assume QBE only have the one travel policy... so why are the others so much more expensive?

 

[serfty]

...
I assume QBE only have the one travel policy... so why are the others so much more expensive?

Generally commission forms a large part of it.

TI has traditionally been a nice little earner for TAs over the years.

 

[Fifa]

Just noticed in this thread that people are paying $650+ for QBE annual policy....

I have been charged $350 for an annual multi-trip policy (up to 60 days for each trip) for two people in their 40's. (excel USA / snow ) The excess is $200..

I assume QBE only have the one travel policy... so why are the others so much more expensive?

I chose the "addVANTAGE+ option" which includes a snowsports package and higher benefits including new for old on luggage and personal effects. Plus I reduced the excess to $0.
And this was with a 33% discount purchased online!

There is no way I will be renewing with QBE next year though with the increased prices!!! :shock:

 

[Quando Quando]

What increased prices... I took this policy out on 1 August....

 

[JohnK]

I have been charged $350 for an annual multi-trip policy (up to 60 days for each trip) for two people in their 40's. (excel USA / snow ) The excess is $200..

Where did you get the policy? I just looked on the QBE website and it was $650 for a yearly multi-trip policy for a single person. Did not bother to look at the excess.

Think I will stick Travel Insurance Direct annual policy for ~$345 including $25 to reduce the excess down $0. Or I could even go for the Budget Direct annual policy for around the same price. Essentially the same policy underwritten by the same company.

 

[oz_mark]

travelinsurance.com.au sell QBE policies, including one that excludes the various countries America way. Such a policy for singles can be <$200.

(NB I have not used the site, but I do have a discount code for it)

 

[JohnK]

travelinsurance.com.au sell QBE policies, including one that excludes the various countries America way. Such a policy for singles can be <$200.

I have just had a quick look and the annual policy is $193. I have tried looking but cannot find out the excess per claim although it costs $68 to buyout the excess.

(NB I have not used the site, but I do have a discount code for it)

They mention that the normal cost is $227 and they have applied a discount of $34. Is this the same as your discount or can the price come down below $193?

My annual policy has just expired and I need a new one in ~4 weeks time. May give them a go.

 

[oz_mark]

I have just had a quick look and the annual policy is $193. I have tried looking but cannot find out the excess per claim although it costs $68 to buyout the excess.


They mention that the normal cost is $227 and they have applied a discount of $34. Is this the same as your discount or can the price come down below $193?

My annual policy has just expired and I need a new one in ~4 weeks time. May give them a go.

Bit less than that - I'll PM you my code.

 

[JohnK]

Bit less than that - I'll PM you my code.

Thanks I shall try that code.

So does anyone know what excess applies to this policy? I have tried looking in the PDS but could not see anything.

 

[RB]

I notice the travelinsurance.com.au also earns qf points-spot to put in qf membership on application

 

[jsd]

I have a Discount card for travelinsurance.com.au

It doesn't seem to be tied to my name, if anyone wants the code just shoot me a PM.

Just did a dummy purchase to check the discount rate (used the QBE annual plan as my test)

Original Price: $320

Price with code: $288

Saving: $32.00 (Not a horrible lot, but it could be a ticket on TT, or $32 back in your pocket)


Cheers,

Josh

 

[JohnK]

I notice the travelinsurance.com.au also earns qf points-spot to put in qf membership on application

Apparently you earn QFF points at 1 QFF points per $2 spent.

Original Price: $320

Price with code: $288

Saving: $32.00 (Not a horrible lot, but it could be a ticket on TT, or $32 back in your pocket)

Is this including the USA? My quote I posted earlier was a lot less.

Still don't know the excess but not that it is a showstopper....

 

[jsd]

Is this including the USA? My quote I posted earlier was a lot less.

Still don't know the excess but not that it is a showstopper....

Yep, I'm 99.9% sure it was the worldwide plan inc. USA