Revolut travel insurance

A snowHead

Just a heads up for anyone who relies on Revolut travel insurance on a Premium account and not have monitored their boring sounding T&C's, exciting new benefits email. The sneaks are withdrawing the travel insurance and you'll have to upgrade to Metal to keep it after next month.

A snowHead

Also worth checking their T&Cs to see that their insurance is a load of bollox if you do anything in the Alps in the summer - unless it's been amended recently (or is different for the more expensive accounts) the altitude limits for cycling & hiking etc makes anything you do in the summer months above valley level outside the scope of the insurance.

When I spotted this I ditched their insurance and went back to the basic (free) Revolut account

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Yeah and I've just noticed the new insurance in Metal is conditional on you spending at least 75% of your prebooked costs on Revolut. Could be a problem where you're on a group booking.

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Looks like the policies had different altitude limits e.g. UK policy different from EU account ones.

But they've also tweaked ski cover from " not against advice" to " off piste with a guide" so that's devalued it for me.

Anyone know of any annual policies that still have a more generous coverage for off piste? Ideally bank account related.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Dave of the Marmottes, I use annual membership of the Austrian Alpine Club (AAC) to cover all off-piste/ski mountaineering etc activities which is really good value. Standard household cover for other holiday cost cover
https://www.alpenverein.at/britannia/membership/Member-Benefits/Alpenverein-Weltweit-Service-AWS.php

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@Dave of the Marmottes, Coverwise (AXA) have wording similar to the old Revolut wording.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

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Yeah it's worth not putting more in Revolut than you can afford to lose though they are trying to incentivise using it more like a current account. It's a real shame they've downgraded the insurance offer at the same time as limiting it only to a more expensive account but maybe it was too much of a good thing previously.

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@albob, well Revolu (misspelled intentionally as have no wish to promote it) are going hell for leather to attract new customers/deposits
, it could all end badly.

I have an EU Revolut account which is based out of Lithuania (believe they have an Irish set up too). The travel insurance is still there for me (though no intention of using it) including winter sports though cant be bothered to read the small print with regard to off piste etc (I have Alpenverein insurance for that). I am somewhat dubious as to the value of the guarantee but as I only use it for transfering money outside the Euro area and also when travelling there is little to no risk. I would not use it for any savings etc. They do have a sneaky habit of increasing fees and reducing "benefits" without advertising the fact. I know they are spending a good deal on marketing these days, we turned down a job building stuff for various Revolut displays at festivals around Europe this summer. Clearly looking to get more tech / social media savvy customers.

I also still have a UK Lloyds account which comes with travel insurance from Allianz including winter sports, maybe wrong but dont think includes the "off piste without a guide" exclusion

You know it makes sense.

@munich_irish, Your lloyds insurance is only valid if your trip starts and ends in the UK

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@holidayloverxx, That might well be but @Dave of the Marmottes, was looking for a UK bank travel insurance and perhaps the Lloyds one might work.

A snowHead

@munich_irish, it doesn't cover off piste without a guide. I had Lloyd's for many years and jumped ship to nationwide when they changed insurance provider

A snowHead

@holidayloverxx, @Dave of the Marmottes, Lloyds Platinum account appears to cover off-piste (within resort boundaries) without a guide. Worldwide. Up to age 80. But it costs £22.50 a month from 1 July and like most such accounts excludes any significant existing health conditions. (And the third-party liability limit is £2m, which might be pushing it a bit for the US).

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@ecureuil, ah, mine was gold which I had for many years and they discontinued it for new customers.

What is the maximum trip length and how many days per annum? You used to be able to buy a winter sports extension but not since they moved insurer, max number of days per annum was 31 but platinum may be more

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@holidayloverxx, Think it is 31 max per trip & 31 winter sports in total pa. But that's from memory so would need checking

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@holidayloverxx, I'm with Nationwide FlexPlus and they no longer cover off piste without a guide - I've just spoken to them re our February Canada trip and they confirmed that in-bounds off-piste is no longer covered unless with a resort-endorsed guide.

Given that I'm paying £13 a month it may be worth looking elsewhere for my current account now.

So the search begins....

After all it is free

It has always seemed a bit odd to me that folk want to get "cheap" insurance for something as specialised (and potentially risky) as off piste skiing. Whilst I have been fortunate in personally or someone else I have been skiing with never being in need of "rescuing" whilst skiing. I do have experience of a summer rescue in the middle of the Oberland glaciers a long way from even a hut let alone medical help. A companion (who was far fitter and a good deal better climber than I) simply tripped over on some glacier debris and broke his ankle (we werent even roped up as completely dry glacier), it was clear he couldn't walk and would need a heli. No phones then (mid 90s) so someone had to do the long walk to the nearest hut and call in mountain rescue. A few hours later a very efficient Swiss helicopter appeared (Rega?). Paramedic was lowered down and then the injured person was put on a stretcher and dangling on a long length of string and taken off to hospital (Visp I think). He was back walking pretty quickly, no harm done. I hate to think what to bill was but as far as I know his insurance picked up the tab.

Whilst I can see that standard insurance is fine for the normal sort of family / piste skiing holiday for anything out of the ordinary paying out for specialist insurance seems a no brainer. The last thing you want to be worrying about if you have a problem is the wording of your insurance policy!

@narbs, do they know what in bounds off piste is?

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@holidayloverxx, no - the guy on the phone just kept repeating the policy sentence. I've emailed them so will see what the response is.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@narbs, please report back

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@holidayloverxx, sorry for the delay!

Confirmation that in-bounds off piste is covered if deemed safe by the resort management BUT only if you ski with a guide/instructor.

I'm also no longer covered for injuries and treatment, and other costs, for running events at marathon and above length, or for triathlons or other multisport events.

So the search begins for something to cover all that, and then to decide whether remaining with Nationwide is worth it.

@narbs, I was under the impression that off-piste without a guide was already excluded with the old insurers? For us it is still worth it for the European-wide breakdown cover, although we haven't needed it since it changed to AA.

You know it makes sense.

@Hells Bells, I'm sure I had a conversation with the old provider about in-bounds off-piste in North America and that it was included - the 'off-piste' element to them meant outside the resort boundary or not avi controlled.

If not, we've been lucky for the past three years not to need it!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Just a thought, but the concept of "off piste" is clearly not the same in Europe and North America. There's zero cost difference, as far as I know, from a rescue from a " groomed run" or somewhere not groomed, inbounds in NA. That being the case, I can't see that you would even have to tell the insurer that you were not on a groomer.

I mean that they don't have a basis for using that as a cost driver in NA, and I can't see they could use it as their rule "asks a meaningless question".

A snowHead

@phil_w, thanks Phil - that’s my wife’s interpretation and as she pointed out yesterday ‘we had this conversation three years ago and I was right then as well’ Laughing

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@munich_irish, I totally agree with this. There is no way that an annual policy that comes "free" with a bank account or similar will have been priced to properly underwrite the risk. When you get a quote for a week from one of the mountaineering type providers you get an idea of how much travel insurance should cost. The only way the "free" policies make any money is by making sure they don't pay out on claims. I work in this sector and have been told that some companies have several levels of claims management with the first layer i.e. your first point of contact with the claims team, only authorised to decline claims so they dont even start to consider your claim until you've complained about the coverage being declined.

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@monkey, I'd assume there is a gap in price between properly worded and priced family holiday policy and a mountaineering policy which will have cover many levels above what an adventurous family may get up to on a resort holiday.

And even on the more specialist policies this crap wording exists. E.g. BCMs Alpine and Ski insurance policy would see me significantly over insured for skiing and is significantly more expensive than something aimed at a family holiday. It would remove any on/off piste nuance but creates a load of ambiguity around a terrain park. Wording says "Terrain Parks (excluding Freestyle)" is included, but "Freestyle (eg: aerials, big air, halfpipe, ski-cross and slopestyle)" is excluded. So where does that leave me racing my mates down the tame ski cross like course that exists in most resorts and would be a normal part of resort skiing?

So this isn't about trying to get a free ride, or expecting mountaineering level cover for a bank account price, but an ongoing search for a policy that adequately covers a resort skiing holiday.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@monkey, Indeed. I lost my glasses and went back the next day to look for them. the first claims handler said it wouldn't be covered because I went to look for them! I pointed out that if I had found them I wouldn't be making a claim and was in fact aiming to save them money. The next issue was did I report it to the police - no we didn't have a station nearby, did I report it to my holiday rep - no I'm on a self booked holiday, did I report it to hotel reception - no I'm in my own flat. It got paid with no delay after the calls. My only claim for a ski accident was well handled; they asked if MrHL had been off piste and I said no (true) and that was that.

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Perhaps someone is missing a business opportunity here; it seems these existing suppliers market to skiers, but do not understand the sport.

On the rejecting claims thing, I suspect that all companies at all costs do that same thing. Are there any data which show that paying more results in a lower successful claim rate? To me, you either have a legally enforceable claim, or you don't.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@phil_w, MPI should have understood skiers, that was their purpose originally, to provide insurance for skiers and chalet staff.

Help!!

Revolut travel insurance

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