 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
In the past I have recommended Snowcard Insurance due to its wide coverage of most types of winter sports and other adventures’ on holiday eg scuba diving within your qualifications and that you can opt out of baggage and other to me trivial cover, just want cover for if stuff goes wrong when away if I’m doing something fun
Total cancellation cover for the year is limited to £5000, always knew and was ok with that
BUT with the caveat that I never have had to claim
I had to cancel the Gnarly and contacted snowcard which can only be done by email, did get a prompt response and sensible advice
BUT all claims are direct with Allianz
Very inflexible
Had a consultants letter
NOT good enough had to have him fill out their form, signed and stamped AT MY EXPENSE, the mandatory form to claim is not a claimable expense
Had an invoice for the bash stating dates of payment
NOT good enough had to get a 2nd letter stating I had cancelled
Had BA cancellation costs of £25
THEY deducted £13 APD from my eventual settlement and told me BA should pay me this
Did raise a formal complaint about the 1st point, partially upheld and settled for a bit more dosh to go away and not take it to the ombudsman
Been with snowcard many years, maybe it was a smaller specialist company that understood their customer needs but now to me simply a sales website
In addition
1. You take out an annual policy
2. During the year you get a medical condition
3. No cover for that new condition from the date of diagnosis is available wether the cause of a potential claim or in any way connected with a potential claim in the opinion of Allianz.
4. They simply state, ‘find a specialist insurer for this’
5. No cover for any pre existing conditions that have not been stated as cured for at least 1year again any letters to prove this at your expense
So won’t be recommending or renew with Snowcard
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Useful to have your experience - likewise always been impressed with Snowcard's cover levels and pricing, but less so on your claim experience. Worse than other insurers? I only ask as all seem to be pretty awful. But maybe that's because we only talk about the bad times?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Had a claim with snow card 18 months ago - not ski related. Claim was dealt with quickly even accepted a picture of scale of charges from a unsophisticated carrier (water taxi) that did not issue receipts.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I had to make a cancellation claim with Snowcard/Allianz this year. First ever travel claim. They accepted the medical documents and a 'no show' letter as proof of cancellation. However they did try and only pay a third of my claim amount, which was a already a third of the total holiday cost (three person holiday, each insured individually.) They later paid the remaining two thirds after more documentation showing the total had been paid. They also deducted the APD. This was all by Allianz and their agent Campbell Irvine Ltd.
This all seems par for the course really. They do need proof of cancellation, that you did not, take the holiday and then claimed for it as well. You can reclaim APD on unused flights, whether this is more than the admin fees may determine if you bother. So fair enough to deduct it.
Medical condition terms seem common to most policies I've seen.
I did get away later on another trip and used LV for insurance, who are underwritten by..... Allianz (don't know who handles their claims.)
So whoever you use it looks like it is all done by the same big underwriters. The claims handlers may be the big difference whose job is to minimize the underwriters losses not yours. Snowcard are really just 'resellers' who I would use again because of their customisation options.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I have annual family travel insurance through the bank which I use to cover cancellations, loss/theft, medicals, missing luggage etc but I always also use snowcard when skiing (or riding bikes) in the alps for a bit of extra reassurance. I set all the levels to zero and ramp excess up to max. Costs £30 for the week. If I have to get airlifted off I don’t want to foot the bill (again!!)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I had a very positive experience with snowcard.
Tore my ACL in January, and incurred several material medical expenses. On calling up to enquire on the claims process, advised to call Allianz… who initially wanted all the details over the phone there and then. I didn’t have everything to hand, so they collected what they could, and emailed a summary with the request for supporting material.
This was duly provided, the only complex part was numbering the evidence items and mapping to the bits of the claim. Didn’t think everything would get paid, but submitted all the costs i’d incurred (doctors assessment, physio, knee brace etc)… and it was all paid without further challenge within a week.
Compared to other claims assessors, (Gallagher Bassett!), Allianz were a breath of fresh air.
I guess ymmv…
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