Review: Post Office Travel Insurance
By
Ronny Lavie
Summary
The Post Office hardly needs an introduction – it is the UK’s largest retail network and largest financial services chain and has been serving Britons for over 370 years.
However, while everyone is aware of the postal services provided, as well as travel money and help with various government procedures, not many people know the Post Office actually offers over 170 products and services. Included in these is insurance – with a variety of categories available, such as travel, pet and home.
The Post Office travel insurance cover was voted the ‘Best Travel Insurance Provider’ by the British Travel Awards every year from 2006 to 2014. It is underwritten by Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC and Europäische Reiseversicherung A.G. (ERV), and administered by Collinson Insurance Services Limited.
Get a Post Office travel insurance quote on the Post Office website.
Overview of Post Office insurance travel cover
The Post Office offers three types of travel insurance policies – single trip, annual multi-trip and backpacker travel cover.
For both their single trip and multi-trip categories, there are five levels of cover to choose from:
Super economy cover includes - £1,000 cancellation cover, £150 excess, £1,000 baggage cover and £2,000,000 for emergency medical and other expenses.
Economy cover includes - £1,500 cancellation cover, £125 excess, £1,500 baggage cover and £2,000,000 for emergency medical and other expenses.
Standard cover includes - £2,000 cancellation cover, £100 excess, £1,500 baggage cover and £5,000,000 for emergency medical and other expenses.
Premier cover includes - £5,000 cancellation cover, £50 excess, £2,000 baggage cover and £10,000,000 for emergency medical and other expenses.
Premier Plus cover includes - £10,000 cancellation cover, no excess, £3,000 baggage cover and £10,000,000 for emergency medical and other expenses.
All policies include personal liability cover (from £1,000,000 to £3,000,000) and all but the Super Economy cover include a variety of extras, such as personal accident, death, hospital benefits, personal money and passport cover.
Post Office backpacker insurance is available to those aged 18-60.
Additional cover for winter sports, golf, cruise and business can be added on to any of the above policies, for an additional cost.
Full details of each policy can be found on the Post Office website.
Does the Post Office provide travel insurance for people over 65?
Yes, travel insurance cover can be purchased from the Post Office up to the age of 85. However, those over 70 will only be covered for 90 days of the year, while those over 76 will only be covered for 31 days.
Additionally, not all medical conditions are covered. Customers are asked to fill out a questionnaire during the quote process and, depending on the results, are either asked to contact the Post Office by phone, or, in some cases, refused cover altogether.
Click here to find out whether you are eligible for Post Office travel insurance.
How much does travel insurance from the Post Office cost?
The cost of travel insurance varies according to the length of the trip, age and medical conditions of the people travelling and the destination.
However, with such a wide variety of cover options to choose from, the Post Office is committed to offering policies to suit every budget. Kids under 18 travel for free when under a family policy.
Get a Post Office travel insurance quote tailored to you.
What do Post Office travel insurance reviews from customer say?
On reviewcentre.com Post Office travel insurance has 2.3 stars, out of a possible 5, for its travel insurance, with 33% of the 57 customers who reviewed the service saying they would recommend it.
What do Post Office travel insurance reviews from the experts say?
Which? – the financial comparison site – gave the Post Office a score of 70% for its travel insurance, which was made up of – 77% customer satisfaction, 62% for its annual policy and 62% for its single-trip policy.
Defaqto, the independent reviewer of financial products, rates the Post Office’s travel insurance service as follows:
Premier Plus and Premier – 5 out of 5 stars, making it "an excellent product with a comprehensive range of features and benefits".
Packaged Account Multi-Trip Family Travel – 3 out of 5 stars, making it "a standard product providing an average level of features and benefits".
Economy, Superiur,
Super Economy – 2 out of 5 stars, making them "products typically offering a below average range of features and benefits".
