Direct Line Insurance plc

...Tesco Personal Finance Limited by Direct Line Insurance.

I phoned customer services, which was based in Glasgow. The lady I spoke to was very friendly and courteous. She asked me for my date of birth and my wife’s age and the first line of my address. As I had previously asked for a motor insurance quote my details were already on the computer. She then asked what medical conditions me and my wife had. I also said that personal ...
...UK Insurance and not by Direct Line. I am not sure at the ramifications of this.


SALIENT POINTS OF POLICY

1) If the plane is delayed up to 12 hours then compensation is paid out.
2) If the plane is delayed over 12 hours then free accommodation is provided per night.
3) All costs in reporting a lost passport and getting a new one are reimbursed.
4) If a flight connection is missed another ... more

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN February 2001

I must admit that I did not spend as much time looking for a travel insurance quote as I did for motor insurance.

Last year my father told me about Sterling Travel Insurance. This year the renewal policy from Sterling came to £118 for an annual multi-trip worldwide family policy.

The letter added that Sterling was prepared to beat any quote from another company by 10%. I thought that this was slightly suspect and decided to look elsewhere.

I received a mailshot from Nationwide Building Society. It quoted £108.26 for annual worldwide cover for a couple. You get £7 million worth of overseas emergency medical expenses cover. Winter sports cover is included free with annual policies.

My mother mentioned that Tesco did a cheap annual policy. So the next time I went to Tesco I picked a travel insurance leaflet at the till. Tesco Travel Insurance is underwritten for Tesco Personal Finance Limited by Direct Line Insurance.

I phoned customer services, which was based in Glasgow. The lady I spoke to was very friendly and courteous. She asked me for my date of birth and my wife’s age and the first line of my address. As I had previously asked for a motor insurance quote my details were already on the computer. She then asked what medical conditions me and my wife had. I also said that personal possessions were already insured by my Home Contents policy.

I was quoted £102 and paid immediately by debit card. The whole process was very quick and easy.

I phoned on a Friday, the documents were printed on Monday evening and dispatched on Tuesday morning by first class post. I received the documents on Wednesday morning. A neat wallet was given to store the documents.

Well what is covered? The excess charge per claim is £35.

You get:

Medical & emergency expenses up to £5 million per person,
Cancellation charges up to £5000 per person
Delayed Departure Up to £200 per person for delay
Up to £5000 for abandoned journey
Up to £600 for additional charges caused by delay
Curtailment Charges up to £5000 per person
Personal possessions up to £1500 per person if not covered by your Home Contents policy
Essential replacement items up to £100 per person
Personal Money up to £500 per person, cash limit £250
Personal liability up to £2 million
Loss of passport up to £250 per person
Legal assistance up to £25,000
Sports and activities. Cover for many activities is included as standard but winter sports cover is optional.

I am sure that cheaper travel insurance is available from other companies. But I feel that Tesco beats the likes of Lunn Poly, Thomas Cook etc that rake in 60% commission from premiums.

Thank you mother.

UPDATED February 2002

SHOPPING AROUND

I spent most of last October shopping around for motor insurance quotes on the Internet. Despite all my research I stayed with the same motor insurer.

I really did not want to go through the same tedious process for travel insurance quotes. I looked at some Ciao ops to help me out.

Rapidinsure got some good ratings. But as I am not a skier (and never will be) Rapidinsure would be unsuitable. Nationwide travel insurance got some poor reviews regarding being on hold for 10 minutes before speaking to customer services.

I read that Egg has brought out a new travel insurance policy. But I think you already had to have an Egg deposit account or be an Egg credit card holder to qualify.

RENEWAL MESS

I got a reminder from Tesco travel insurance that my policy was to expire within a couple of weeks. I was told to ring customer services for a renewal.

I phoned customer services and got through to what sounded like a 15-year-old girl. Anyway the call lasted about 10 minutes and everything seemed straightforward. I mentioned a couple of times that I wanted my new policy to start after the existing policy had expired.

I received the new travel insurance policy a couple of days later. But the policy started on the day I rang Tesco for the renewal.

RENEWAL 2ND TIME AROUND

So basically I had to cancel the new policy and get another one. The lady from customer services was more mature and was very pleasant to talk to.

She immediately cancelled the new policy and refunded the premium. The questions asked were the type of policy wanted, names of the insured, date of birth of the insured, any medical problems of the insured, whether cover was wanted for the USA or Canada etc.

The premium for an annual policy excluding USA and Canada came to £111. This was a saving of £12 as I had included USA and Canada on my previous policy.

Along with the new policy came a note for medical conditions not covered by the policy.

Interestingly the policy was underwritten by UK Insurance and not by Direct Line. I am not sure at the ramifications of this.

SALIENT POINTS OF POLICY

1) If the plane is delayed up to 12 hours then compensation is paid out.
2) If the plane is delayed over 12 hours then free accommodation is provided per night.
3) All costs in reporting a lost passport and getting a new one are reimbursed.
4) If a flight connection is missed another flight can be arranged at no extra cost.
5) Travel money is insured 72 hours before departure.
6) All medical bills are met abroad. In more serious cases a partner can be flown out at no extra cost.
7) Full refund if your cat, dog or leisure horse becomes seriously ill. (Nice)

I am sure some amendments have been made after the events of September 11th.

Unfortunately no Tesco ClubCard points are given for taking out a travel insurance policy unlike Tesco Home Insurance.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I did not take out travel insurance on most of my holidays in the past. This was despite going to Calcutta a few times to visit relatives. Every time I went to India I ended up with flu, stomach upsets, amoebic dysentery or some other nasty ailment.

Now I am married it is a necessity to have travel insurance. But if I were still single I would still travel without insurance to save money.

It may be cheaper to book travel insurance only for the duration of the holiday. But there are so many things to organise for a holiday that looking for travel insurance is one more hassle. I prefer to have an annual policy.

My father gets free travel insurance from one of his credit or charge cards.

I have always been ripped off by travel agents regarding insurance.

At the Lunn Poly store in Fulham I enquired about the price of a holiday package. The female travel advisor cheekily included insurance in the price. She should have asked me if I had existing insurance.

The British Airways Travel Store in Regent Street, London is another outlet which hard sells travel insurance.

My policy is to take a photocopy of the travel insurance policy and shove it down the nose of the travel agent the moment insurance is mentioned.

I am certain that travel agent staff get extra commission if they can sell travel insurance.

By reading this review you will know that I am a total novice regarding travel insurance. A couple of years ago my father fixed me up with Sterling Travel Insurance, which cost £70 for an annual policy. Last year my mother told me about Tesco.

One of the reasons I am sticking with Tesco Travel Insurance is that I do my weekly shopping at the supermarket. I like its food and became a shareholder. But the dividend returns from Tesco shares are pretty dire.

I am sure that better and cheaper travel insurance policies exist elsewhere. My advice is to shop around for the best deal.

Happy Holidays!

UPDATED April 2003

I got a renewal letter from Tesco a whole month before the policy was due to expire. I really did not want to obtain several quotes like shopping around for car and home insurance. So I stuck with Tesco.

The premium was about the same as last year. The policy documents came within 3 days of renewing the policy over the phone. The customers services people were very friendly.

The policy was almost similar to last year’s. There was a small note regarding terrorism, which fell under the exclusion section. You would have to pay the first GBP 35 of any claims made.

Given that the insurance industry has had a difficult year, it was good to see that the premium was kept at the same level as last year.

My only gripe was that there were no extra perks with this insurance e.g. complimentary Tesco Clubcard points, a discount for existing customers etc.

I did not take out travel insurance when I visited Majorca in 1987. I simply felt that it was unnecessary. Now I am more responsible than I used to be.

It may be cheaper to buy an annual multi-trip policy rather than several single trip policies.

I know very little about travel insurance. As I shop weekly at Tesco, it made sense to take out their travel insurance. I suppose that I was showing brand loyalty.

I am sure that there are many other competitive travel insurance policies on the market. I simply could not be bothered at shopping around for a better deal.

The war has just finished in time for the holiday season.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Holidays!

 

...less