Travel Insurance / Staysure

[pussycatwillow]

I have seen a few posts mentioning travel insurance.

Staysure are frequently recommended. A word of caution as I had a very poor experience with Staysure.

I had the misfortune to be hospitalised in the Far East with acute bronchitis. I had to stay in for 7 days. Hospital bill was around £8000 that I had to pay.

Staysure policies are administered by a company called Ergo Travel and claims dealt with by Davies Group. This is who you have to deal with. Staysure pass the buck to them. It took 4 months before the claim was settled and paid.

I was fortunate to have a higher credit limit on my card to pay the bill. Some people are not in this position.

I reported Staysure to the Financial Ombudsman and was awarded some compensation.

[Chris1802p]

Oh dear, sorry your trip was ruined by illness. Can’t say I’m surprised about Staysure. Can I ask- had you declared your lung issues to them prior to travelling? If so did they increase the cost or….?

[pussycatwillow in reply to Chris1802p]

I did not have a diagnosed lung condition then. I have subsequently been diagnosed with late onset asthma, almost certainly caused by previous Covid infection and the subsequent bacterial bronchitis. The helpline number that you call from abroad connects you to some European Assistance Office. They were not very helpful and not once did i get any follow up call the whole time I was in hospital. from anyone associated with Staysure/Ergo Travel. All I got was a copy of the bill going up daily.

I think a lot of people choose Staysure as they cover medical conditions and their rates are not as expensive as some other companies. However, it is only when you have to make a claim you find out how good your provider is.

I would not recommend Staysure or Avanti Travel to anyone.

Both have policies administered by Ergo Travel Ltd.

My advise is to check who actually administers the policy.

[pussycatwillow in reply to Chris1802p]

Needless to say I changed travel insurance companies. I have declared asthma but it has not caused a huge increase in premium.

[HungryHufflepuff]

That is worrying. I'm currently away visiting family and got my insurance with Staysure. I used to go with AllClear but they were even more expensive. I've never yet had to claim on any insurance and have wondered how well it would actually work in reality. I'm sorry to know you were ill and had such a problem with the insurance.

[pussycatwillow in reply to HungryHufflepuff]

I am sure you will be fine. I did not expect to get ill on holiday as I did not have a diagnosed lung condition then! Subsequently diagnosed with asthma as a result of the bronchitis.

I was just unlucky.

I met a Lloyds underwriter when I was in hospital. He gave me a lot of advice when I was chasing the claim and the subsequent complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.

He suggested a company called Good to Go Travel Insurance.

May be worth a try.

[soppysokes]

We also had to use ombudsman against Staysure, they completely agreed our claim was legit and valid and we,via ombudsman involvement got paid out by staysure, in full. Our bill was £6500. full medical issues were disclosed and they still were reluctant to stick to the policy. Found them very unhelpful(it was a weekend) when we needed advice and help. Do read the small print - which we did-followed it all and still they tried to renage on it. Ombudsman soon changed their minds!

[pussycatwillow]

When Davies Group finally agreed to uphold my complaint, they offered me £75.00.

Naturally I declined and took it the FOB and received a substantial amount more.

I was lucky that I had a higher amount on my credit card was able to pay the £8000 bill. A lot of people are not in that position and I dread to think how they would cope. Its bad enough being very ill in hospital without having to worry about money. Staysure are appalling and I sincereley hope that no one ever has to go through what I did.

[Troilus]

Thank you for this. We used to use Saga, but swapped to Staysure as it was a lot cheaper for the same cover. Plus it was 5 star de whatever rated. Won’t be doing it again………just in case.

[Jaybird19 in reply to Troilus]

I have used saga too without problem but not to claim except when i was with them on cruise and then was treated by cruise doctor and even got the actual antibiotic that I requested . Not the one usually given as first line but one that i knew would cure me ! Too many resistant bacteria around these days( knowledge gained in microbiology in my working life many years ago ).

[Troilus in reply to Jaybird19]

Yes. We had good service from saga. We got stuck in Spain when the volcano erupted. I rang them and they told us we were covered under flight delay and to make a claim when we got back. Lots of other people there were scrabbling around looking for buses and boats because they weren’t covered. Saga paid out without quibbling.

[Welshcatlady]

Thanks for the information about Staysure, I had to get insurance from them a couple of years ago because of age and existing health conditions they were the only company that would insure us, but was lucky I didn't have to claim. What an awful experience you went through.

[pussycatwillow in reply to Welshcatlady]

It seems to me that Staysure offer very competitive rates for existing medical conditions, and that may be why they are so popular. There are other insurance companies who cover medical conditions but generally charge a lot more.

As the saying goes “you get what you pay for” sadly.

[Welshcatlady]

I've found that Staysure are expensive when looking for annual multitrip insurance for me and my husband. I have COPD and other conditions, my husband has quite a few conditions too, and now we are both in our 70's. At the moment we have travel insurance with Sainsburys, cheaper than Staysure. We have never made a claim.

[Patk1]

Hope u r feeling better.awful carry on especially away frm home & ill x

[Mooka]

That’s interesting. I steer clear of them because they refused to cover me many years ago. Probably when I was waiting for a diagnosis. Glad you got sorted in the end.

[Izb1]

Thanks for the warning, it is helpful for all of us when deciding on insurance x

[Stratos20]

Thanks for sharing this pussycat. We used to be with stay sure but premiums were too high. And the davis group took almost 12 months to settle a small claim (after excess deducted)

We’re currently with Insurefor.com but as annual is due to expire shortly, I will be looking for a better price.

Someone on this forum suggested couples have separate policies that could work out to be cheaper. Watch this space! Diane 😊

[pussycatwillow]

12 months! That is outrageous.

Goodtogo Insurance was recommended to me.

[happytulip]

Good grief!! I have used Staysure a number of times but will now reconsider, thank you.

[Maximonkey]

Hi Pussycatwillow, Good for you. So many people have bad experiences and forget the Ombudsman. I have used this service in the past and found the Ombudsman really very fair and quick to come to a resolution. Hope you do not have a recurrence of this on future hols. Take care. Maximonkey