A mate of mine used to say that you’ll never know how good your doctor is until you’re really ill. It’s the same with insurance. The proof of the policy is in the claiming.
The Policy: We usually take out an annual multi-trip travel insurance and I looked at quite a few policies before settling on BIBA Protect, through Alder Broker Group. (ABG have now transferred all their insurance business to Woodstock Insurance Brokers Ltd) The policy looked very good, here’s a brief summary of the cover you get:
MEDICAL & OTHER EXPENSES a) Journeys outside of the UK £5,000,000 b) Journeys within the UK £10,000 c) Surgery following repatriation £5,000 PERSONAL LIABILITY £2,000,000 PERSONAL ACCIDENT £25,000 LEGAL EXPENSES £50,000 CANCELLATION/CURTAILMENT £5,000 UK HOSPITAL TRANSFER AND ADDITIONAL COSTS AND EXPENSES a) Hospital Transfer costs £5,000 b) Return Home Costs £2,500 c) Additional expenses i) Accompanying Travellers £500 ii) Visiting family £500 PERSONAL MONEY £500* LOSS OF PASSPORT £250 PERSONAL BAGGAGE £1,500** TRAVEL DELAY a) Compensation £250 b) Cancellation £5,000 MISSED DEPARTURE £1,000 DELAYED BAGGAGE £250 RESTRICTED ENJOYMENT BENEFIT (Hospitalisation/False Arrest/Hijack/Kidnap) £1,000*** CATASTROPHE £400 CONTINGENT LIABILITY (JET BIKES ETC) £2,000,000 SEATBUMPING £200 LOSS OF PETS DOCUMENTATION £500 OPTIONAL WINTER SPORTS EXTENSION:- SKI 1 - Ski equipment £750**** SKI 2 - Ski equipment hire charges £400 SKI 3 - Piste Closure £250 SKI 4 - Unused ski-pack £200
Loss of cash, currency and bank notes is limited to £300.
* A single article limit of £300 and a valuable limit of £300 apply.
** Benefit doubled if hospitalised as a result of malicious and unprovoked attack.
*** Includes up to £300 in respect of Hired Ski Equipment. A single article limit of £500 applies under this section.
Excess under each section is £30, with a limit of £30 per person per incident.
The Premium: For this cover, we paid £75.95 for the two of us. I just got a quote on the Internet, for the same cover today, you’d pay £79.95.
The Incident: We went on holiday to Cyprus after Christmas and hired a car as usual. I’m interested in history and archaeology, so we decided to go to the Palaipaphos Museum and parked the car in the museum car park. When we got back we were shocked (Shock number 1) to find that one of the windows had been smashed and my small hold-all had been stolen from underneath the drivers seat. In it, I’d left my mobile phone, varifocals, sunglasses, penknife and a small amount of money, worth well over £300 in total, I reckoned. "Never mind, at least we’re insured," I remember saying to the wife.
We spent most of the afternoon at the police station giving statements and getting the forms required by the insurance, then having the car window repaired, which cost another £40. This was all straightforward. When we got back to our villa, my wife got the insurance policy out and we started to read the policy schedule, especially the HOW TO MAKE A CLAIM section. I read it through twice to make sure, and found that we needed to report the incident to the police within 24 hours, which we’d done, and then contact the insurance company within 30 days of the incident. No problem so far, I thought.
I went off to get a beer, because quite frankly I needed one by this stage. In the meantime, the wife started reading the policy. Shock number 2! "Did you realise your phone is not covered ?" she said. Well, no I hadn’t. But it was there, in the small print, under that important Exclusions heading. Well, I swore a bit but there was nothing could be gained by dwelling on it, so I tried to put it out of my mind and enjoy the rest of the holiday.
The Claim: When we got home, I contacted the Helpline and they were very courteous. They took my details and sent me a claim form. I found what receipts I could and sent off the claim by return of post. After about a week I received a cheque for the princely sum of, wait for it, don’t break open the champagne yet,
£4.00p.
The accompanying letter explained that this sum was in settlement of my claim, after due deduction for wear and tear to the insured items and the policy excess. Now, Maths wasn’t my best subject at school but it doesn’t take Stephen Hawking to work out that from over £200 to £4 takes an awful lot of wear and tear, more than even my abused possessions get. But then I got shock number 3. The letter stated, ‘However, we would refer you to the personal baggage section of the policy and the exclusions which apply to sections 7,8 and 9 point 1B. As the sunglasses and specticles (sic) were stolen from an unattended vehicle we are unable to ..’ Eh? I checked the policy and it seemed to say that personal baggage was covered as long as it was hidden from view. Then I noticed that valuables left in an unattended vehicle are excluded. But surely they don’t class spectacles and sunglasses as valuables, do they? So I looked in General Definitions: ‘Valuables: personal jewellery watches golf or silver articles etc etc (I won’t bore you) SUNGLASSES OR SPECTACLES etc etc.’
The Conclusion: My reaction? Well, let’s say there was a bit more swearing, okay a lot more swearing. That had certainly turned out to be an expensive museum trip. It was stupid to leave my things in the car, but Cyprus (supposedly) has a very low crime rate and it’s not unknown to see cars outside shops with all windows open and the keys in the ignition. The wife, bless her, was very philosophical, as she always is. "Much worse things could have happened. It’s only THINGS! Forget it now," was her verdict. She bought me a new phone for my birthday and the kids got me a new penknife. I paid for the new varifocals myself, and I’ll be using them from now on to read the small print, that’s for sure! And I’d advise you to do the same. Don’t just skim through the T&Cs, like I did. Check the General Definitions and Exclusions to make sure you know what you’re stumping up for. You may still decide that BIBA Protect offers a good deal and I’ve got no complaints about their Helpline or the time it took to process my claim. I’d still argue about their definition of ‘valuables’, though, and for this reason, I give BIBA Protect 2 stars. The Value for Money rating is in the light of my experience!
All this typing has made me thirsty, so I’m off for a beer. Thanks for reading.
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