YOU HAVE YOUR SAY
EVERY week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails. Here’s what you had to say about our story on cheap travel insurance policies that can leave families facing bills of hundreds of pounds:
AS A local insurance broker, I always tried to obtain the best deal for my client — which is not necessarily the cheapest deal.
As you rightly point out, the comparison sites push forward the cheapest deals. Because of this I no longer sell travel insurance. I cannot compete with what’s online. J. M., Hertfordshire.
THE solution is to read the small print and don’t just take the first policy you see. Take responsibility for your actions on holiday. When I go to the beach, I might take the equivalent of £5 in a waterproof pouch I wear round my neck. B. T., via email.
A GOOD insurer is essential. If you go to the bottom of the market, don’t be surprised if there are problems. My wife and I are OAPs and pay just £160 for an annual worldwide travel policy. This is despite having to make a claim for several thousand pounds when I was ill just before a trip to Australia. I. S., Southampton.
I DID the right thing and shopped around, ensuring that my cover suited my needs, but I lost a bag at Christmas and am still waiting for part of my claim to be settled.
I had taken out additional gadget cover for my phone which had to be dealt with by a different firm. I sent off all the documents, but it kept asking for more information. H. H., Norfolk.
WHEN I go away, I never wear jewellery. I always leave valuables in the safe, only take out enough cash for the day and take a cheap phone. We all know insurance companies will try to wriggle out of paying for anything. C. T., via email.
WITH travel insurance, like most things, you broadly get what you pay for. If it is cheap, it is for a reason and the cover invariably is restrictive. This obsession with choosing the cheapest premiums can result in a claim being rejected. R. Y., Oxford.
DOES any firm sell an insurance product with no exclusions? They should. I’m sick of small print. I would love insurance to just cover you no matter what — within clear boundaries for the product type, of course. There is a market here for simple, no-quibble insurance. M. B., Chatham, Kent.