Reply to: Anyone used a GHIC card

[Snooky]

Shortly after when my autorenewal should have been I checked and they had cancelled my auto-renewal

Unless they notified you in advance via one of the methods you agreed to, this sounds very wrong, considering their default when you buy annual insurance is auto renewal and you have to explicitly opt out of it. It's completely reasonable to assume they'll do what you agreed with them.

In your position I'd make a complaint to Admiral and if I wasn't satisfied with their answer, ask them for their final response and then raise a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman. That'll cost them about £650 regardless of outcome so they'll probably offer you some compensation to make you go away.

[Andy2022]

I know someone who had problems with the Nationwide policy when they tried to claim on it.
Heart issues hit insurance premiums very hard - trust me I know!
There are specialist insurers out there who deal with people with "specialist medical histories" but the cover can still be quite expensive.

Cost of cover for the Mrs heart isn’t too bad… we’ve not tried cover for the US though but with Trump coming in the Mrs has no desire to go there

[northernladuk]

Allegedly the bundled insurance with the paid for Nationwide Flex account is pretty good, and they'll allow you to add pre-existing conditions for a fee too

Seriously considering it for our needs but got to find our how extra the much it would cost to cover the Mrs as she had a heart attack a few years back

(I have a separate abbuak policy just for business travel too)

No way would I personally pick a bundled insurance. You aren't in control of the offering and have no idea whether it's reassuringly expensive or a quick fix for cheap. You'd have to do a lot of work to check the backer, the T&C's, exclusions etc to see if it works and you've no choice if it does or doesn't if you are relying on it. There is then the selling scandal around bank offering packages that aren't valid, similar to PPI. Just too many unknowns which isn't the point of insurance. Sack the packaged option and go find exactly the one you want from a quality provider...

Totally IMO.

[courtg9000]

Allegedly the bundled insurance with the paid for Nationwide Flex account is pretty good, and they'll allow you to add pre-existing conditions for a fee too

Seriously considering it for our needs but got to find our how extra the much it would cost to cover the Mrs as she had a heart attack a few years back

(I have a separate abbuak policy just for business travel too)

I know someone who had problems with the Nationwide policy when they tried to claim on it.
Heart issues hit insurance premiums very hard - trust me I know!
There are specialist insurers out there who deal with people with "specialist medical histories" but the cover can still be quite expensive.

[Andy2022]

Taking out an annual policy will be considerably cheaper if you are doing more than one trip a year.
And as I said previously, check with your bank to see if they offer it as part of your account.

Allegedly the bundled insurance with the paid for Nationwide Flex account is pretty good, and they'll allow you to add pre-existing conditions for a fee too

Seriously considering it for our needs but got to find our how extra the much it would cost to cover the Mrs as she had a heart attack a few years back

(I have a separate abbuak policy just for business travel too)

[WTFH]

I wonder if there's any advantage in taking out the insurance provided by the tour operator/airline you're booking a holiday/flight with?
Eg. travelling with TUI, taking out their insurance.

Less likely to argue the toss perhaps?

Taking out an annual policy will be considerably cheaper if you are doing more than one trip a year.
And as I said previously, check with your bank to see if they offer it as part of your account.

[woody1]

I wonder if there's any advantage in taking out the insurance provided by the tour operator/airline you're booking a holiday/flight with?
Eg. travelling with TUI, taking out their insurance.

Less likely to argue the toss perhaps?

[northernladuk]

LOL, no. Good luck trying to claim for anything with your £5 a week cheapest on comparison sites insurance.

Get a decent policy with a reputable company, ideally defaqto 5* rated and make sure you meet the detailed requirements.

My annual multi-trip policy with pre-existing conditions and cover for £15k trip costs is about £300.

Why no? I never made any comment about what policy and how much. I just said paying for insurance is peanuts with the implication 'compared to what could happen'. I did read in to it the OP doesn't travel much so an annual policy might not be best for him.

Totally agree with not picking price comparison ones. Insurance is like anything else. You pay the cheapest then you are gonna get the company that's most likely going to try get out of paying which defeats the whole object. It's also going to have the most exclusions and complex T&Cs.

Back in the day (like 20+ years) Swinton insurance were the cheap boys on the block but also had the worst record for non paying so were to be avoided like the plague. My dad was very vocal about this and wouldn't often offer Swinton policies as he got lumbered with the headache when it wrong. Same applies to any insurance. Quality at a slightly higher prices is the way to go IMO.

[woody1]

That's for sure but that's true for all insurance. Car, home you name it. My dad was a car insurance broker a long time ago and even through they didn't go to the same lengths to invalidate claims as they do now he had some horror stories of cancelled claims. Insurance petrifies me, to the point I'll often speak to a company to clarify 'what ifs' and grey areas. Oddly enough that now works against you. As soon as you speak to your insurer nowadays it is likely to be a flag against you.
I was thinking about buying a Rolex I've always wanted for my 50th and rang Admiral to check what the score would be if I did. They pointed out it was more than their limit and may need specialist insurance. Decided not to bother getting one and went on my happy way. Shortly after when my autorenewal should have been I checked and they had cancelled my auto-renewal. Reason was I had made an enquiry about an expensive watch.. Am like WT actual F. I spent a week with no house insurance, no letters, nothing because I asked a question. It's a minefield.

Indeed, which is why I'm inclined to rely on the GHIC first, and only have insurance as a fall-back, belt and braces.

[Smartie]

Don't wanna be rude but why on earth would you go anywhere without insurance? It costs peanuts and you are covered for everything.

LOL, no. Good luck trying to claim for anything with your £5 a week cheapest on comparison sites insurance.

Get a decent policy with a reputable company, ideally defaqto 5* rated and make sure you meet the detailed requirements.

My annual multi-trip policy with pre-existing conditions and cover for £15k trip costs is about £300.

[WTFH]

Possibly not but, if you read other forums, they often do go out of their way to wriggle out of paying.

If you read this forum, people go out of their way to build garden sheds, buy coffee machines and cars all on a "company" that is just a one man band working at home.

Forums are echo chambers for strong views, either very positive or very negative. Someone won't go "yeah it was alright". It either has to be great or terrible. And if one person says it's great, the next one has to say it's terrible.
If you're unsure what I mean by that, ask your accountant.

[northernladuk]

Possibly not but, if you read other forums, they often do go out of their way to wriggle out of paying.

That's for sure but that's true for all insurance. Car, home you name it. My dad was a car insurance broker a long time ago and even through they didn't go to the same lengths to invalidate claims as they do now he had some horror stories of cancelled claims. Insurance petrifies me, to the point I'll often speak to a company to clarify 'what ifs' and grey areas. Oddly enough that now works against you. As soon as you speak to your insurer nowadays it is likely to be a flag against you.
I was thinking about buying a Rolex I've always wanted for my 50th and rang Admiral to check what the score would be if I did. They pointed out it was more than their limit and may need specialist insurance. Decided not to bother getting one and went on my happy way. Shortly after when my autorenewal should have been I checked and they had cancelled my auto-renewal. Reason was I had made an enquiry about an expensive watch.. Am like WT actual F. I spent a week with no house insurance, no letters, nothing because I asked a question. It's a minefield.

[woody1]

They aren't going out of their way to trick you.

Possibly not but, if you read other forums, they often do go out of their way to wriggle out of paying.

[northernladuk]

We only ever do short breaks (3 or 4 nts) to Spain/Canaries. We travel light, and take little of value with us (other than passports, cash, credit cards).

My wife has pre-existing conditions, which are either excluded or bump up the premiums. We usually book last minute(ish), so it's unlikely we'd ever make a claim for cancellation.

But that is what insurance is there for, to cover 'unlikely' situations and cancellation is just one of them.

As you know, when you take out insurance, you have to declare anything* in the past 12 months (or 24 with some companies).
In the period between taking out the insurance and travelling, if you see a doctor for any reason, watch out. I don't know if this is true or not but I've read that companies want access to your medical records if you make a claim.

What you need to declare is either covered in the questions on application or a side note. They aren't going out of their way to trick you. Follow the prompts and answer truthfully and you'll be OK.
Of course insurance may want to check your medical records but they can only do this if it is reasonably necessary to proceed with the assessment of the claim. Quite understandable in theory. They need to check if you've not declared something for a start. How it works in reality I don't know but understandable they'd want to check.

Best to check the small print, or else wriggle, wriggle.

You mean people buy insurances without checking?

You do know that everything you've been a bit woolly about like what GHIC covers, what the comparison between that and travel insurance, when insurance companies etc can check medical records is all easily findable on google. You have a nice new smart phone. Use it it to check, you'll learn a lot along the way.

[woody1]

Not knowing your circumstances or real reason for asking the question, there's not going to be a simple answer.

We only ever do short breaks (3 or 4 nts) to Spain/Canaries. We travel light, and take little of value with us (other than passports, cash, credit cards).

My wife has pre-existing conditions, which are either excluded or bump up the premiums. We usually book last minute(ish), so it's unlikely we'd ever make a claim for cancellation.
.

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As you know, when you take out insurance, you have to declare anything* in the past 12 months (or 24 with some companies).
In the period between taking out the insurance and travelling, if you see a doctor for any reason, watch out. I don't know if this is true or not but I've read that companies want access to your medical records if you make a claim.

Best to check the small print, or else wriggle, wriggle.

* treatment, seeing GP, hospital visits, tests