travel insurance

[twitcherwood]

Really struggling to find a company to cover my husband and I for long term motorhoming in Europe. All companies seem to have max duration per trip and max days per year restrictions which is no good to us. There must be some fellow motorhomers out there who can help with this sticky issue! It's possible to get motor home insurance 365 days/year UK/Europe cover why not travel insurance? Guidance would be welcome! :-(

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Can't give any guarantee that it will provide a solution, but may be worth a try, they say they cover for up to 18 months, or maybe other "gap year" or backpacker insurance even though your in a motorhome I'd be interested to know the difference if they make the distinction. I have in the past spoken to folk who just take a chance and just rely on the EHC though.

 

As for vehicle Insurers I'm not sure that you will not find similar problems for such a long duration, maybe someone will come along with more experience of that than me, good luck.

 

http://www.travelinsurance.co.uk/backpacker-travel-insurance.htm

[w1ntersun]

Just done 3 months in Spain and more and more people are just relying on the ehc.

 

While we were there. One camper had a boil that got infected with something and spent 10 days in Porta real hospital. They provided a bed for his wife and 3 good meals a day. As they were at the end of the holiday all they did was stay on site a bit longer and changed the ferry date.

 

If you can get to a public hospital and are prepared to wait till you are better why pay for insurance. The most talked about cost is re-patriation. The people I talked to said if I die bury me here.

 

Richard

[Mel B]

w1ntersun - 2012-04-07 12:48 PM

 

Just done 3 months in Spain and more and more people are just relying on the ehc.

 

While we were there. One camper had a boil that got infected with something and spent 10 days in Porta real hospital. They provided a bed for his wife and 3 good meals a day. As they were at the end of the holiday all they did was stay on site a bit longer and changed the ferry date.

 

If you can get to a public hospital and are prepared to wait till you are better why pay for insurance. The most talked about cost is re-patriation. The people I talked to said if I die bury me here.

 

Richard

 

... but if you have a more serious accident/illness which is a more likely scenario as you get older, the costs could mount up significantly. Taking the risk for a few weeks is one thing (not that I'm recommending you do it), but for a whole year .... IMO that is stupid. :-S

[twitcherwood]

We've come up trumps with the insurance/breakdown cover for UK/Europe for 365/days year through Safeguard - also for slightly more, Club Care also offered same policy - might be helpful for anyone else out there searching for such cover! Pretty reasonable cost too!

[maggyd]

twitcherwood - 2012-04-07 5:16 PM

 

We've come up trumps with the insurance/breakdown cover for UK/Europe for 365/days year through Safeguard - also for slightly more, Club Care also offered same policy - might be helpful for anyone else out there searching for such cover! Pretty reasonable cost too!

 

 

You are talking about Motorhome Insurance arent you? the question was about personal travel Insurance that is a completely different thing ! although health Insurance is all we Motorhomers need that covers any health treatment needed of a more serious nature than minor accident treatment. Were hoping to get ours from Nationwide I have yet to ring them, it only covers for 31days so I hope to be able to pay for the extra weeks and existing health problems.

All other claims are covered with Safeguard with us also.

[peterjl]

Hi

 

Google "long term travel insurance" - some options come up that will do 365 days!

 

I always check terms and conditions very very carefully, some of these policies have some weird restrictions eg not walking over 2000 nmetres, well I have wild camped overm 2000 metres so that policy was no good.

 

Also try Ageas, they cover, me for using my motor bike (over 125cc) abroad, plus during year I wanted covers for an overland trip in Africa, I emailed them the details and they gave me a quote. ( I originally went through broker but they were useless so I googled the insurance company and approached them direct and they were very helpful. The moral is don,t really on brokers!.

 

Good luck

 

Peter

[Bulletguy]

OP assuming you are residential here in UK something that hasn't been mentioned yet and does need checking is the period of time your property is covered for during a vacant period. I have read a few posts concerning this and it appears if you are not careful you could void your Buildings and Contents insurance if leaving the property empty for any length of time.

 

Well worth a phone call before departing! Better still, written confirmation if it's not stated in your Policy.

 

[Bulletguy]

maggyd - 2012-04-07 7:06 PM

 

Were hoping to get ours from Nationwide I have yet to ring them, it only covers for 31days so I hope to be able to pay for the extra weeks and existing health problems.

 

If you use Nationwide and are unfortunate enough to need to make a claim, be prepared for a very long wait. I was covered with Nationwide when I had to return to the UK after getting robbed in Spain in December 2011. I filed a claim on January 3rd 2012 and three months later they contacted me to ask for proof of my return.....which had already been sent back in January. I had to contact the UK Border Agency who went through their files and emailed me copy of the date and time I re-entered the UK.

 

I am still waiting for Nationwide to settle my claim.

[PJay]

maggyd - 2012-04-07 7:06 PM

 

twitcherwood - 2012-04-07 5:16 PM

 

We've come up trumps with the insurance/breakdown cover for UK/Europe for 365/days year through Safeguard - also for slightly more, Club Care also offered same policy - might be helpful for anyone else out there searching for such cover! Pretty reasonable cost too!

 

 

You are talking about Motorhome Insurance arent you? the question was about personal travel Insurance that is a completely different thing ! although health Insurance is all we Motorhomers need that covers any health treatment needed of a more serious nature than minor accident treatment. Were hoping to get ours from Nationwide I have yet to ring them, it only covers for 31days so I hope to be able to pay for the extra weeks and existing health problems.

All other claims are covered with Safeguard with us also.

Hi Maggy

We have annual travel ins with Nationwide, and ours has been extended to 90 days, I think you can get longer terms.

PJay

[Mel B]

We've just got personal travel insurance via Annual Travel Insurance, it's an annual 'Super policy' and it has cost us £42.99!!! It covers us for 60 days which is great and has an excess of £75. I did the quote via one of the comparison sites, if you do it direct on the ATI site it is a bit more expensive.

[chris]

After a lot of research lately, I will probably go with CCC as they do not limit the days you are away. They also cover our house insurance for that same reason. I have just retired but as husband is over 70 travel insurance is becoming more and more difficult to get the right policy for a good price. CCC will charge us annual policy for £490 but my husband has medical problems that we had to decalre.

We no longer want to be limited to 31, 45 or 60 days as we will want to stay away for longer.

CCC basic policy is about £120 each and you will then pay extra if you have to declare medical problems. If fit and well then it is a good buy

Chris

[PJay]

chris - 2012-04-07 11:47 PM

 

After a lot of research lately, I will probably go with CCC as they do not limit the days you are away. They also cover our house insurance for that same reason. I have just retired but as husband is over 70 travel insurance is becoming more and more difficult to get the right policy for a good price. CCC will charge us annual policy for £490 but my husband has medical problems that we had to decalre.

We no longer want to be limited to 31, 45 or 60 days as we will want to stay away for longer.

CCC basic policy is about £120 each and you will then pay extra if you have to declare medical problems. If fit and well then it is a good buy

Chris

 

Hi Chris

i guess your Husband does not need prescriptions then? This is the one problem we have. Can only get medicine for 2 months (in fact 56 days!). as we both have quiet a lot, would not want to buy them abroad, when we get them free here. We manage to giggle it so as to get 3 months. I nearly ran out once in Spain of just one tablet , asked at chemist and would have cost 95 euros!. The other thing is house insure, this can be a major problem, if house is left empty.

PJay

[maggyd]

PJay - 2012-04-07 10:26 PM

 

maggyd - 2012-04-07 7:06 PM

 

twitcherwood - 2012-04-07 5:16 PM

 

We've come up trumps with the insurance/breakdown cover for UK/Europe for 365/days year through Safeguard - also for slightly more, Club Care also offered same policy - might be helpful for anyone else out there searching for such cover! Pretty reasonable cost too!

 

 

You are talking about Motorhome Insurance arent you? the question was about personal travel Insurance that is a completely different thing ! although health Insurance is all we Motorhomers need that covers any health treatment needed of a more serious nature than minor accident treatment. Were hoping to get ours from Nationwide I have yet to ring them, it only covers for 31days so I hope to be able to pay for the extra weeks and existing health problems.

All other claims are covered with Safeguard with us also.

Hi Maggy

We have annual travel ins with Nationwide, and ours has been extended to 90 days, I think you can get longer terms.

PJay

 

Thanks Pjay Im certainly going to try them first

 

maggy

[terryW]

chris - 2012-04-07 11:47 PM

 

After a lot of research lately, I will probably go with CCC as they do not limit the days you are away. They also cover our house insurance for that same reason. I have just retired but as husband is over 70 travel insurance is becoming more and more difficult to get the right policy for a good price. CCC will charge us annual policy for £490 but my husband has medical problems that we had to decalre.

We no longer want to be limited to 31, 45 or 60 days as we will want to stay away for longer.

CCC basic policy is about £120 each and you will then pay extra if you have to declare medical problems. If fit and well then it is a good buy

Chris

 

As I understand it the CCC policy is issued by Europe Assistance, if you go direct the cost is £99.96. If you have medical conditions to be covered then the charge goes up. In the case I know having to inject insulin increases the cost by £10.00. However as far as I know they do not provide 365 day cover.

 

Edit: changed Europe Assist to Europe Assistance.

[twitcherwood]

Just wondering if you had any luck offering to pay more for extension of 31 days away?

thanks

[david lloyd]

chris - 2012-04-07 11:47 PM

 

After a lot of research lately, I will probably go with CCC as they do not limit the days you are away. They also cover our house insurance for that same reason. I have just retired but as husband is over 70 travel insurance is becoming more and more difficult to get the right policy for a good price. CCC will charge us annual policy for £490 but my husband has medical problems that we had to decalre.

We no longer want to be limited to 31, 45 or 60 days as we will want to stay away for longer.

CCC basic policy is about £120 each and you will then pay extra if you have to declare medical problems. If fit and well then it is a good buy

Chris

 

Are you sure Chris?

 

When I contacted them (see thread home/contents insurance) they quoted a maximum of 183 days away for the house/contents (was a good deal though) but 91 days maximum for health/travel and that was £102 EACH without any pre-existing conditions.

 

David

[chris]

Hi P Jay and Dave

 

P Jay

Hubbie has medical conditions and does need prescriptions. our doctor said he cant give more than 2 months at a time so wrote him an extra prescription for 2 months then said when tablets due agin at end of this month ask for double prescription again then normal after that as we are going away in July.

It pays to approach your doctor as long as you plan well in advance. If we went longer than 3 months away not sure what would happen then.

 

Dave

We had the basic quote of £102 too but by the time you phone up medical screening they then give you the supplement to add on. That is the stinger.

 

We are going away in July so hopefully I will have arranged something by then.

Thanks

Chris

[david lloyd]

Hi Chris

 

Yes we thought there would be additional charges for the pre-existing conditions but, in addition, they still limited the time away to 91 days on our quote. In the end we stuck with Comfort Insurance (who insure the van) and took out their travel/health bolt on with the home and contents.

 

We do a similar thing with prescriptions - just make sure we build up a stock before the long trip although last year the surgery were very good at giving extra prescriptions to cover the time away.

 

david

[hintza]

I agree with W1ntersun, in a past life as a Mountain leader i took many trips as a leader with kids and adults. Germany, Austria, France and other countries. always the best Insurance. You would not believe how many hospitals I had to visit with injured kids, as luck would have it we used public hospitals, always superb treatment and only billed for drugs, so now retired and a frequent traveler I don't bother with travel insurance. Most problems are scare stories put out by the insurance companies.

[chris]

Well I am glad I did not book a couple of weeks ago. The price with CCC was £490 then but with same info it is now £233.40. I asked them to double check and it was right so bought it. It gives 91 day trip maximum for 183 days of the year which is sufficient for us. They also have 365 day insurance but we do not require that

Chris

[Brian Kirby]

I'm resurrecting this string in preference to starting another. I have recently decided to change our travel insurance to Nationwide. When they first introduced the free travel cover with their Flex Account it was of no use to us due to age. They have now increased the standard age on which cover will end at 75, with the possibility it can be extended to 79. Unfortunately, we binned the original conditions as being of no use, but I have recently obtained the latest version.

 

It is well written and clear, which is a great start. Cover is better than average, with £10M limit on medical expenses. It has a number of flexibilities to add such as winter sports, golf, business, wedding, etc covers. Since Carole has recently developed problems that require declaration I phoned them, and also asked about extending the standard 31 days single trip limit.

 

Carole's complaints, that had resulted in a flat refusal of cover from Comfort via Aviva, were taken on board without additional premium. Extending the 31 days to 90 days was quoted at £90. So, all things being equal, we have multi trip travel insurance for a couple, subject to 90 day max trips, with declared pre-existing conditions, for an annual premium of £90. (Last renewal with Comfort, with one declared condition, was £145.53.)

 

At that rate, I'll almost forgive nationwide for dropping interest on the Flex account and introducing this instead! :-)

 

If it is of help to anyone else, I completed online quotes, with conditions declared, with Staysure, Saga, Medici, Cover my Travels, Essential Travel, It's so Easy, Insure and Go, and Travel Insurance Medical, all selected from Money Supermarket and Confused.

 

The resulting price comparisons are worthless for general comparison purposes, as some would offer more than 31 days while others would not, and the premium addition for the declared conditions ranged from £10 (Staysure) to Aviva's £115! Most expensive by a country mile was Saga, albeit with a single trip limit of 51 days, at £340.09!

 

Regarding Comfort's refusal to cover the conditions, this relates to a "bolt on" policy extension to our home insurance. I was unable to get a clear explanation as to what "not covering" a particular complaint meant. Since similar cover is available direct from Aviva, I completed an on-line quote to see whether they would give cover if the conditions were declared. Annual multi trip, for a couple of our ages, limited to 31 days per trip, without "conditions" was £120.76. Ditto with conditions declared was £235.18. Single trip for 66 days with conditions declared was £292.69. Can't understand why this flexibility is not available to Comfort, but Aviva do seem to be restricting what Comfort can offer rather more than Norwich Union used to.

 

I would repeat my previous caution regarding the Comfort travel pack. Anyone relying on this for their travel health insurance would be wise to check that they have, and have read, the latest conditions. They are on Comfort's website, but for whatever reason I was not sent updates as the conditions changed. My original conditions were dated 10/04, and I had assumed that I would be provided new when invited to renew if they had changed. They had, and I was not. Same true for both motorhome, car and household. Irritating, and not what one should expect.

 

Current (i.e. current for my contracts) policy documents are dated 01.2012 for Travel, 11.2011 for Household, 01.2011 for Motor Caravan, and 11.2011 for Car. All contain changes from those originally issued - and in all cases they are less clear than their earlier, Norwich Union, counterparts. So, if relying on any of these covers, do get, and read the latest versions, and then decide. I can only add that by comparison the Nationwide Travel policy (issued by UK Insurance Ltd), although complicated - but no more than any other - is a paragon of clarity as to what is, and is not, covered.