Travel insurance that cost £799... for just ONE trip
Ms J.H. writes: I bought a multi-trip annual travel insurance policy from Staysure l ast October. We had a holiday last December, but when the Government advised against al l travel, I hoped Staysure would give a partial refund. I did explain that as we are elderly and my husband is losing his sight, 2020 would be the last year we could travel. However, the only option offered was to pay immediately for a new policy for next year and get 15 months of cover instead of one year.
LAST year, when you paid £799 for your Staysure policy, you had no idea that you would have just one holiday. You had planned more trips, including a cruise, before your husband’s eyesight fades further.
Instead, you have ended up paying a fortune for travel insurance but been unable to travel. When lockdowns began and the Government officially advised against all travel, the Financial Conduct Authority made clear to insurers they had to treat customers fairly and take the pandemic into account.
I do not think hanging on to this year’s premiums in full – while not being at risk of paying out – can be regarded as fair.
And suppose you did write off your £799 and fork out the same again for next year, with Staysure chucking in a bonus three months of cover to sweeten the pot? What would happen then, if the pandemic continued into 2021? Would Staysure pocket another year’s premiums for no risk, and then ask you to pay again for 2022?
Staysure has told me that it has offered a range of options to annual and single- trip policyholders, including for single-trip customers the option to postpone at no extra cost or accept a voucher to be used against a new policy at any time in the next three years.
And to give the insurer its due, it has included Covid cancellation cover and medical treatment, and repatriation if a policyholder catches the virus while on holiday.
What it did not offer, though, was a refund of any of your £799.
Well, that has changed, but only a little. Staysure told me: ‘We do review each case on an individual basis.’
It is going to refund £100 as a gesture of goodwill after learning of your husband’s failing eyesight. Of course, this still leaves you with a travel policy that has cost £699 for one holiday.
I do not think this is fair, so I asked t he FCA t o comment. Staff at the watchdog pointed me towards guidance they had issued to all insurers, saying: ‘Customers should expect value from the products they buy, and this is particularly important in the current period of economic uncertainty.’
You may have expected value from Staysure, but I cannot see that you got it.
Not surprisingly, you will not be stumping up the cash for a new policy. In your shoes, I would not be reaching for my cheque book either.
With no guarantee of holidays for the foreseeable future, it would be too much like pouring hundreds of pounds down a drain that had swallowed loads of cash already.