Direct Travel Claims experience

A snowHead

Direct Travel Insurance Claim Experience

Ok guys, I promised when JulesB was injured that I would post about our insurance claim experiences, once the claim had been settled. We’ve been insured with Direct Travel for several years, but this is the first claim we have had to make.

Medical Assistance Service
The service we received from them was fantastic. From my first call to them in the middle of the night from the emergency ambulance to Grenoble, they were courteous, sympathetic and helpful.
They arranged a taxi back from Grenoble to Serre Chevalier for me after Julian’s operation, and liased with the hospital to organise his return back to the UK. They called us each day to make sure everything was OK, and to see if there was anything they could assist us with.

UK Claims Department
I wish my experiences here had been as straightforward. However, it wasn’t really a straightforward claim, and was complicated further by Julian being in hospital in Grenoble, a long drive from our holiday accommodation. If he had broken his neck in the UK and my sons and myself were in France, it would have been more straightforward.
All of Julian’s expenses that weren’t covered by our EHIC card were paid without argument or discussion, including his lift pass for 9 days. They returned the season pass to us afterwards, although we did have to request it’s return.
Initially they refused to pay our for the ski packs for myself and our sons who are included on the policy as dependent students. I believed we had curtailed our trip, and so qualified for the claim as we had only been able to ski for one day, but they insisted this wasn’t the case, despite us having to move to Grenoble, and them paying our hotel bill there.
They also refused to pay for the ferry crossing I had to arrange to get me back to the UK. I couldn’t rearrange the Eurotunnel for the earlier date as all trains were full. I had informed them of this before I booked it, and eventually they found the telephone call and agreed to pay.
After several letters, phone calls and finally initiating a complaint, both of the above have now been settled.
Despite signing the claim form, and being a claimant , on several occasions they refused to speak to me, citing the Data Protection act, despite Julian being unable to talk to them due to his voice problems after the surgery. They eventually realised, and have apologised.

Medical assistance 9/10, my only complaint would be that they were often slow in calling me back, but that could have been my own impatience under stress.

Claims department 5/10 –we had to speak to several different people, and were given different information by all of them.

Customer Care Department 10/10 for listening to our complaints and dealing with them promptly and to our satisfaction., although I would rather not have had to get in touch with them in the first place.

And would we insure with them again? Well our policy is up for renewal today. Due to Julian’s accident and plate in his neck, the premium has increased, but I haven’t yet found anyone offering similar cover. Our student sons are covered on the policy, even if they travel without us, and they offer unlimited ski trips of up to 17 days at a time. So despite our claims difficulties, I would have to say yes, I will be renewing.

A snowHead

Helen Beaumont, thanks, that's good feedback. I switched to Direct Travel this year, but I hope that I don't ever have to go through what you've been through!

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

Helen Beaumont, thanks, very helpful post. We're insured with them too.

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Helen Beaumont, We've been with them for about 7 years, have had a couple of minor medical claims all sorted with no problem. Very glad to hear that big problems are as well. We have used the lone children benefit several times.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I also need to add our thanks to snobunni. Without her help, I would probably have given up on the unpaid items, but she helped me compose a letter of complaint, outlining things clearly. It is so easy to rant when you are stressed out, and put in loads off irrelevant comments.

rob@rar, I sincerely hope you don't have to.

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Helen Beaumont, thanks for taking the time to write that up, most reassuring as i too have switched to direct travel..

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skimottaret, I could have posted regular updates, but would probably have ranted a bit at times. Claiming was quite stressful. I thought it was only fair to make a judgement once the claim had been settled.

After all it is free

Helen Beaumont, thanks for sharing, very useful.

Helen Beaumont, What a worrying time and I'm sorry you had to have a bit of a fight with your claim. I experienced excellent service with Direct Travel. My purse was stolen in Hong Kong in Jan 08 and then in Jan 09 I had to claim for a ski holiday I had booked but had to cancel because my husband had a heart attack (he doesn't ski so I was going on my own in a group). Both times there was absolutely no problem at all, they paid promptly and the staff were very reassuring when I rang them to request the forms.

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tillywhim, I suspect the claim problems were simply because it wasn't straightforward due to julesb being transferred to a hospital a long journey away. If he had the accident in the UK while we were on holiday, and we had to return home because of it, I am sure it wouldn't have casued them any problem. Claims handlers can only deal with things if they are simple and straightforward. I have been arguing all along that is wasn't possible to continue with our holiday in the circumstances, and it should be treated as curtailment due to the serious accident of a close family member, but it has taken a more senior member of the team to look at the case before I could get agreement.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Despite my good experience I'm always suspicious that insurance companies will suddenly come up with some piece of small print to throw a claim. They make me angry when cases such as yours are quite clear and yet put up barriers when obviously they shouldn't have. So pleased you got it sorted in the end but with all the health worries concerning Julesb it is a fight you shouldn't have had to be involved in.

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Helen Beaumont,
All this information is so useful, thank you. I have a family policy with Direct Travel too and it is reassuring to read your 9/10 for the medical assistance. To be honest, from bitter experience, I never really expect a lot from insurance companies and expect to have to argue to get a claim past them anyway, so the fact that they did so well on stage one, dealing with the medical side, is probably better than I would expect. Hope Julian is on the recovery route now, there is that silly saying about "there by the grace of god go I......... "

Helen Beaumont, glad you got it sorted out OK - I'm about to go through the claims process with Direct Travel for the OH who ended up in the medical clinic and then hospital last week. Nowhere near as complicated as yours though - he was knocked unconscious and hurt his back badly in a fall. So far my experience of dealing with them has been good - I rang them up as soon as we got to the medical clinic and the guy dealing with me was very helpful and rang me back constantly. I know its in their interest to keep on top of things and know what's going on but it was reassuring. We had to pay up front at the medical clinic for his expenses - my credit card wasn't accepted for some reason so the OH was wheeled out to sign his credit card slip......hopefully the hospital expenses will be taken care of by the EHIC card.

It really is a lesson though to always make sure we have credit cards on us when out skiing - the costs really mount up quickly. A couple of hours in the medical clinic with some x-rays, drugs and drips came to 730 Euros and then the ambulance to the hospital for further tests was 260 Euros. But he did get rescued off the mountain with no quibble at all by piste rescue.

You know it makes sense.

cathy, there will probably be some hospital expenses that aren't covered, there's a daily hospital charge of about 16€,, and a contribution of 18€ if the bill is more than 90€. I think charges were about 250€ worth for hubby's 7 days in Grenoble, and 160€ approx for MRI scans etc at Briancon,but Direct Travel should cover them all. They dealt directly with the ambulance service, and Grenoble and the bills were forwarded to them. Briancon's bill came to our UK address a week or so after we got home. Apart from that the only money I had to fork out in advance for medical expenses was the 30€ at the doctors.
I hope your hubby recovers quickly.

skitow, I didn't expect it to go smoothly either, but can't fault the medical assistance. However, in Julians case there was no question that it was a real emergency, so surgery needed carried out regardless, and after that it was simply a case of them liasing with the hospital for a date to fly him home safely.

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

Helen Beaumont,
Just as an aside to this, I had problem with my car last week in Grenoble, a completely failed battery that would'nt even give out enough power to switch off the immobilise and let you bump start the engine. We have European Recovery insurance with More Than and they were absolutely spot on. They got a garage out within 45 minutes who, anticipating the problem, brought out the correct battery and fitted it after testing the old one. (And he did test it properly by jump starting the car and letting it run for 10 minutes etc.). The guy at MoreThan's control centre sent me texts to tell me what was happening and then called me later to check that the problem was solved to my satisfaction.
So I am not completely anti insurance company.
I think I will post this in a new thread actually.
It's here now http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=50699&highlight=

A snowHead

Helen Beaumont, good to read your feedback.
We are also insured with Direct Travel and although they were not the swiftest or most efficient, after a bit of chasing they have paid up in full.
We expect to renew our insurance with them when it comes up in July.

A snowHead

Nick L, I am having to renew now, and have had to declare Julian's metal plate and injury, but despite the only questions being 'does he need a ventilator' and 'does he suffer from urinary tract infections' , both answers being no, they have almost doubled the premium, but perhaps that is becasue he is still having treatment.

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

Thanks Helen! I was a bit peeved with the medical centre's attitude at the resort. First of all refusing to deal with the insurance company and insisting I hand over my credit card before they would register us. And then looking at the itemised bill afterwards we were charged for such things as the x-rays being put on CD to give to the hospital - and then the hospital saying they couldn't see anything from them and doing their own. They asked Joe if he would like an ice-pack for his back - charge for that. I'd rather he were given things as a medical necessity not given the choice. They said he would have to go to the hospital for further checks & an over night stay. So 260 Euros for the ambulance, the hospital had to repeat all the x-rays done in the clinic, checked there was no bleeding in the kidneys and then discharged him. Just seems like a nice earner for the medical centre - you have no choice but to pay up & they don't have to deal with the insurance company. We were of course pleased that he didn't have to stay!

Of course, different resorts/doctors/country, different system. It was a shock to me when we were out skiing to turn round and see him lying motionless on the ground. People are so nice - 2 guys stopped and helped whilst I side-stepped back up as fast as I've ever done! We were just a bit below a lift and they must have seen us from there & piste rescue came out on skidoo. But it took him a long time to come round and even when he did, he wasn't with it at all & couldn't get up or register what was going on. And that was wearing a helmet.....

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cathy, where were you at?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Just to report back on my experience of claiming back medical expenses with Direct Travel.

Claim form posted off on 20 March, cheque arrived back in the post on 1 April, for the full amount claimed (minus excess) Very Happy

. Never thought it would be that quick! Although they have deducted the £50 excess yet we had an EHIC card for the hospital expenses so I thought we wouldn't be deducted that. I'm ringing up to query it today but to be honest I'm just glad we got our £1,000 back - or rather £950! 10/10 for Direct Travel Very Happy

Sorry Helen, didn't see your question above. We were in Serfaus, Austria.

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cathy,Pleased that your claim turned out to be settle dso fsat. My hubby's medical expenses for surgery on a broken neck, ambulance tranfer to hospital and then to airport, and a weeks stay in hospital in France were far less than that, and the hospital at Grenoble dealt with the insurers,once we had informed them of his accident, the insurers called the hospital for a medical report, and aven updated me on what had been said. The amount they paid out to us for hotel expenses, refund of unused lift passes, and my rebooked journey home was about £1200. One excess of£50 was deducted, but I think that was from our hotel bill in Grenoble.

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

Helen Beaumont, bearing in mind the unusual circumstances of the accident, I doubt if many companies would have shown better. Very frustrating for you - particularly when you have the concern for Jules B as well as straightening out the insurance hassle. In a nutshell,: great care on site, unusual circumstances flumoxed staff without experience to cope with the unusual, problem sorted by Customer Services. A pain for you, but Direct Travel not disgraced, I think.

After all it is free

achilles, which is why I was happy to reinsure with them again. As they cover our student sons free of charge, even for trips they take without us, I really couldn't get better value, and the cover is good. Claims handlers have set list of rules and regs to follow, and can't cope with anything that varies from the norm. BUT I do think they could have passed us on to Customer Cre much sooner. We asked on a couple of occasions to speak to someone more senior. I pursued the matter, (with the asisstance of snobunni) until it came to a conclusion with which we were satisfied but many wouldn't have done. Having said that, it was still a hassle we really could have done without.

Rang them up this morning about the excess. They rang back at mid-day to say they would be refunding the excess.

So, lose 1/3 point for deducting it in the first place - but then full marks again for responding so quickly, and with the right answer Very Happy

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Helen Beaumont,

We have an annual policy with Direct Travel. Fortunately we haven't needed to make a claim, but it's very reassuring to receive positive reviews like thiThanks for posting the details of your experience.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Buying travel insurance is a complete lottery, none of us know if the claims experience will be a positive one.

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Helen Beaumont, I changed to Direct Travel for this season after hearing how good you said they were at the time of the accident.

Having read your update, I'm still happy to be with them. I think you will always get a bit of brinkmanship with them but as long as they pay after a call or two to "clear" the problem up.

As you said you never know how good a company is until you claim. After reading the comments here it sounds like they are good.

I'm with Direct Travel too, started a policy with them in February 2008 and just renewed it again this February and had 10% off. Thanks for the updates Helen Beaumont and cathy, puts my mind at rest knowing that they are good on the claims/medical assitance side.

One thing I'd just like to check is, with Direct Travel, say you need to be airlifted off the mountain or ambulanced off when you get to the bottom on the stretcher, do they want to see sight of a credit card first or the DT policy card that you get with the policy number on before they do this? I've had a Carte Neige card in my lift pass pocket this season anyway because Carte Neige was better value for me than Carre Neige this year, so there would have been no quibble with anything and I just had it as an extra precaution in case I was knocked unconscious, I know with Carte Neige/Carre Neige there is no problem with airlifting you off, they can just check in your lift pass pocket and there it is.

I know a lot of other people have Carre Neige/Carte Neige as well just as an extra because it is quite cheap.

What I'm getting at is, can I get away with not having Carre Neige/Carte Neige next year and just use my DT policy? By the way I'm on Premier Plus with DT which is the top of the range one of theirs anyway.

You know it makes sense.

VolklAttivaS5, Julian wasn't stretchered off the mountain so I really couldn't say. It's got nothing to do with the insurer anyway, it's the piste rescue that would decide that. However, the ambulance company were happy to deal with them directly.

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

VolklAttivaS5, as Helen says, it would be totally down to the piste resue, and of course carre/carte neige is only in France. The OH got taken by piste patrol to the top of the gondola where he could get all the way down to the resort. That was free of charge (so far!)

Our first port of medical help was a private medical centre where we had to leave our credit card with reception in order to receive medical attention, they wanted nothing to do with the insurance company.

In France as I understand it, according to individual policies the insurance may reimburse the cost of piste rescue but unless you have carre/carte neige you would probably have to pay up front first and then claim it back on insurance. Piste rescue may not accept your travel insurance details as payment. If you have carte/carre neige that saves you having to pay up front.

As I understand it people have carre/carte neige not because it's cheap but because it saves you having to pay in cash on the spot for the rescue.

A snowHead

VolklAttivaS5, as Cathy says, it seems to depend on the resort. A chum of ours wasblood wagoned down at Flaine this year and no mention was made of cash until he was down. I imagine that without Carre/Carte Neige you'll usually be expected to settle up yourself for rescue (that's what CCs are for), although hospitals my be prepared to deal direct with your insurance co.

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VolklAttivaS5, I am with DT. Got airlifted off the hill in Avoriaz six weeks ago. A patroller came down to assess me and asked how I was paying and I showed him the DT insurance certificate, just took a note of it and was more than happy. I have been well and truly looked after them and claim settled already, still haven't had the heli bill but if I do get it DT asked me just to forward to them and they will settle it direct.

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

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VolklAttivaS5, what's the problem with having to pay on the spot (assuming that you get it back from the insurance co., of course)? You'll have to fill in a claim form anyway.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

richmond, nothing really, I carry credit cards and have nothing on them anyway with big enough credit limits so that's not a worry. Just means with Carte Neige that you don't have to even get that far (for the rescue bit anyway) and you don't have to then get it back from the insurance company.

Think I remember Rob saying he does Carte/Carre Neige as well on top of his policy, I wonder if that's for simplicity for mountain rescue as well.

I travel alone a lot and I guess say if I was knocked unconscious in a fall and at that time I was skiing by myself (normally I am with others but not always) then I guess the Carte Neige would be found in my pocket and it would be sorted.

I don't mind a bit of extra peace of mind for the small additional extra cost in the grand scheme of things when you consider how much skiing costs as a hobby on the whole.

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richmond, if they deal directly with the insurers, there isn't any need for a claim form. We only needed to complete a form for the things we personally needed reimbursing for. Now my kids are old enough to head off by themselves, I always get them Carre Neige, as they are both students and wouldn't have the means to pay up front. Neither of them have a credit card.

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

Been with Direct Travel for years. Only had one claim which was last year. Although ski related wasn't for injury but for ski equipment. The claim went in and they then requested 'further' information which I had already included on the claim form! Anyway after phoning them to put them right the claim was settled within a month. They deducted the excess and a depreciation cost. However when we got the cheque and went to replace the equipment it was all in a sale! So in the end we had a few quid left for a beer or two! Well done DTS!

After all it is free

richmond, there will usually be a copy of the medical report faxed to the insurance company, as they need to liase with the hospital regarding return to the UK. The hospital required a guarantee of payment from the insurer too. They have a dedicated office in Grenoble hospital for foreign patients.
We received a claim form on our return to UK without asking for it, to claim back things that I had to pay for, such as doctors fee, hotel expenses, etc.

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