Travel insurance recommendations

Kotek Besar

Hi folks,

We're going away for three weeks in October, to the Far East.

I've never bothered with travel insurance before, but after having all our bags stolen from our hire car in Majorca last year, I shall not be without travel insurance this time.

Thing is, which company do I go with?

We are two adults and a three year old. Some companies are quoting €57, others are nearly €200.

My main priority is to go with a company who will actually pay out if things go wrong. I'm with FBD for my home insurance and they were brilliant when we needed to claim recently, paid out very quickly with no fuss. If they did travel insurance I'd be straight with them, but sadly they don't.

Any advice guys?

shocksy

Kotek Besar wrote: »

Hi folks,

We're going away for three weeks in October, to the Far East.

I've never bothered with travel insurance before, but after having all our bags stolen from our hire car in Majorca last year, I shall not be without travel insurance this time.

Thing is, which company do I go with?

We are two adults and a three year old. Some companies are quoting €57, others are nearly €200.

My main priority is to go with a company who will actually pay out if things go wrong. I'm with FBD for my home insurance and they were brilliant when we needed to claim recently, paid out very quickly with no fuss. If they did travel insurance I'd be straight with them, but sadly they don't.

Any advice guys?

I travelled abroad recently and i went with AIB Travel insurance in the end, wasnt gonna take any chances on someone who i never heard of or who i couldnt verify would make a payout if needed, just be careful who you pick, i went for the AIB as they would definitely be reliable, where as 123.ie an many like them is hard to know if they would pay. plus if i had any problem i could drop into any AIB an have my questions answered before i bought it.

Good luck with who you choose.

leahyl

rather than opening another thread can anyone tell me something - if i already have VHI health insurance do i need travel insurance also? I'm going to the West Coast of the states in two weeks time for 2 weeks and just wondering if i would be covered enough? I'm on plan b with my parents if that helps - thanks:)

shocksy

leahyl wrote: »

rather than opening another thread can anyone tell me something - if i already have VHI health insurance do i need travel insurance also? I'm going to the West Coast of the states in two weeks time for 2 weeks and just wondering if i would be covered enough? I'm on plan b with my parents if that helps - thanks:)

I think you should be ok, from searching the VHI website there now it seems there plans do cover health insurance when abroad, but thats all it would cover, it wouldn't cover you for actual travel insurance, such as delayed flights, lost baggage, lost passport, missed departures, legal fee's, personal liability etc etc and many other obstacles you could incure while travelling abroad, to put your mind at ease i would personally ring VHI an get them to verify what your covered for when you go abroad, but going to USA i would just take out travel insurance with them so your covered for all the other things that can go wrong while on holiday.

Hope this helps.

Kotek Besar

shocksy wrote: »

i went for the AIB as they would definitely be reliable

I'm just looking at AIB. AIB's travel insurance is provided by ACE Travel Insurance.

For family annual multi-trip cover, AIB want €136 (remember, it's actually provided by ACE Travel Insurance). Whereas ACE Travel Insurance direct want only €110 for - seemingly - the identical cover. :eek:

shocksy

Kotek Besar wrote: »

I'm just looking at AIB. AIB's travel insurance is provided by ACE Travel Insurance.

For family annual multi-trip cover, AIB want €136 (remember, it's actually provided by ACE Travel Insurance). Whereas ACE Travel Insurance direct want only €110 for - seemingly - the identical cover. :eek:

I'm not sure about that, i was getting single cover for USA and i got a discount at the time as i was an AIB customer so it worked out cheaper than the official website, so i cant comment on the rate your quoted or if you have a discount. :rolleyes:

Kotek Besar

There must be a company out there which provides no nonsense cover, tells you exactly what you're covered for up front and pays out without trying to wriggle.

Or is that too much to ask for from an insurance company?

leahyl

shocksy wrote: »

I think you should be ok, from searching the VHI website there now it seems there plans do cover health insurance when abroad, but thats all it would cover, it wouldn't cover you for actual travel insurance, such as delayed flights, lost baggage, lost passport, missed departures, legal fee's, personal liability etc etc and many other obstacles you could incure while travelling abroad, to put your mind at ease i would personally ring VHI an get them to verify what your covered for when you go abroad, but going to USA i would just take out travel insurance with them so your covered for all the other things that can go wrong while on holiday.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a mil Shocksy - yes i was thinking i might just call into them in town during the week and double check but you're right about not being covered for the baggage thing, lost passport etc. Although i never had travel insurance when i went to the States before - maybe i should have had it! It's only 49e for the multitrip one with VHI - that's not that bad is it?

shocksy

leahyl wrote: »

Thanks a mil Shocksy - yes i was thinking i might just call into them in town during the week and double check but you're right about not being covered for the baggage thing, lost passport etc. Although i never had travel insurance when i went to the States before - maybe i should have had it! It's only 49e for the multitrip one with VHI - that's not that bad is it?

Thats pretty good considering its a multi-trip option, my travel insurance to the USA for single trip was somewhere around €40, cant remember exactly to the euro what it was but close to €40 anyway... Yea i dont use travel insurance when going to the UK etc, but for the USA i definitely would, You never know when an airline might lose your bag or you lose something or got robbed etc etc, last thing you want is too be stranded the other side of the world with no help. That option you chose covers all the necessary hi-cups people could encounter while on holiday and as its VHI i'de say its a fair price....

Maybe as your a customer with them already you might be entitled to a small discount, but if not it still seems fair to me.

connundrum

Just as an update:

Couple, 10 days, Worldwide.

AIB = €67

ACE = €48

Same policy.