Essential Travel Insurance

...to is:-

Essential Travel
Princess Caroline House
1 High Street
Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1JE.



Note: I have waited over three months for this product to be included and now that it has it has been put in the wrong category, I have asked Ciao to move the review to the right category, so please disregard the criteria below and I will update when it is moved.



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I trawled the internet for this insurance and it is so good I had to recommend it.

Both my husband and myself have pre-exisiting medical conditions and it was becoming a nightmare to find an insurance company that didnt highly inflate the premiums because of these. This company did not charge any extra premium for our conditions, all we had to do was phone a medical screening telephone number and go through a few questions, e.g. What medication you take and how your condition is managed, they then give you a reference to use when you are booking the insurance (which can all be done online) and job finished.

We managed to get an annual standard multi-trip worldwide family policy for myself (44) my husband (47) and two kids 15 and 17 for just £73.21. This covered our medical conditions too and up to 21 days holiday at one time.

The benefits were as follows:-

BENEFIT LIMIT EXCESS

Standard baggage cover (per person)

Baggage and personal effects £1,500 £50
Single article limit £250
Valuables limit £250

Loss of passport documents £300 £50

Delayed baggage £100 nil

Personal money £300
Cash limit £200 £50
Cash limit (under 18) £100

Standard cover per person

Medical expenses £5,000,000 £50

Cancellation/curtailment & £3,000 £50/£20
Abandonment loss of deposit

Hospital benefit £20 per day up to £500 Nil

Travel delay up to £100 nil

Personal accident £20,000
Permanent disablement £20,000
Loss of limbs £20,000 nil
Death £10,000
Death (under 18) £1,500

Missed departure £600 £50

Hijack and mugging £500 nil

Personal liability £2,000,000 £50

Legal advice and expenses £15,000 £50

Assistance services unlimited n/a

Domestic pet cover £200 nil

Catastrophe cover £300 nil

Sports equipment £1,000 £50

You can also save 5% on airport parking if you are driving to the airport (we weren't).

I even recommended this insurance to my in-laws who are in their 60's and 70's and were struggling to find an insurance that didnt cost as much or more than the cost of their trip to the USA, and they arranged insurance although because of their age was slighly higher but still only about £20-25 more than ours. I really believe that you would be hard pushed to find a better deal than this. The only drawback for us is that the kids are only covered if they travel with us - if they travel alone they would have to have insurance of their own. As I said it can all be done online and you can print the policy as soon as you receive the confirmation e-mail so it can be left right until the last minute if you are not very organised. This insurance is very good value and I would recommend it to anyone considering travel insurance, which is a must have when travelling especially to the USA where medical expenses are very costly.

Fortunately we never had to make a claim, so I can't comment on the claims proceedure.

They have a website to purchase on online, which is www.essentialtravel.co.uk but if you prefer to phone or have any questions their telephone number is 0870 343 0014.

Their call centre opening hours are as follows:

Monday:- 8am to 8pm
Tuesday:- 8am to 8pm
Wednesday:- 8am to 8pm
Thursday:- 8am to 8pm
Friday:- 8am to 8pm
Saturdays:- 9am to 4pm
Sunday:- 10am to 4pm

or the address to write to is:-

Essential Travel
Princess Caroline House
1 High Street
Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1JE.

Note: I have waited over three months for this product to be included and now that it has it has been put in the wrong category, I have asked Ciao to move the review to the right category, so please disregard the criteria below and I will update when it is moved.

 

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