Virgin Money Travel Insurance review
By
Ronny Lavie
Key policy benefits:
- Four levels of cover to choose from
- Up to 3 kids covered free with each paying adult
- 88 sports and leisure activities covered
Summary
Virgin Money offers a range of different products, including insurance, current accounts, saving accounts, mortgages and pensions.
Founded by Richard Branson in 1995 (as Virgin Direct), it now has over 4 million customers in the UK, and operations in Australia and South Africa.
Virgin Money offers single-trip, multi-trip and backpacking travel insurance with optional extras to include things like winter sports and golf cover.
Get a personalised quote from Virgin Money's travel insurance website.
See how Virgin Money compares with the companies in our list of the 10 best travel insurers.
Overview of Virgin Money travel insurance
Virgin Money's travel insurance is underwritten by Spanish firm Mapfre Assistance, which also underwrites other well-known providers such as InsureandGo.
Out of the 88 sporting and leisure activities included as standard in Virgin Money's cover, more than 40 are sports and adventure activities, including bungee jumping, surfing and cycling.
However, some of the activities exclude personal accident and personal liability cover. That means if you caused an accident while taking part in one of those activities your insurance would not cover a compensation claims against you.
There is no age limit on Virgin Money's travel policies but there are restrictions on different age groups. For example, if you're aged 66 to 75 the maximum single trip length is 31 days and if you're over 76 you're limited to 17 days for a single trip.
For those interested in travel cover for older people, read our guide to finding travel insurance for over 70s, 80s and 90s.
Cover for winter sports, business, golf and travel disruption can be added as an optional extra for an added premium. Customers can also double or waive their excess, which will lower or raise the price of the premium respectively.
As with all travel insurance, there are a number of exclusions, which can be found in the policy wording. For example, you will not be covered for items left in plain sight in an unattended car.
There is no mention of terrorism as an exclusion in Virgin Money's policy documents. There may be other clauses that apply to terrorism so it's worth checking with them to see if it is covered. Find out more with our guide to travel insurance with terrorism cover.
Virgin Money customers have access to a 24/7 emergency medical assistance helpline.
Visit the Virgin Money website to get a quote tailored to your needs.
Virgin Money offers four levels of travel insurance.
Red cover includes:
- £1,250 cover for baggage
- £2,000 cancellation cover
- £10,000,000 for medical expenses
- £200 for delayed departure
- £500 for missed departure
- £350 personal money cover
- £200 winter sports cover (annual policy only)
- Max days per trip: 31 days for annual cover and 365 for single trip (17 days per trip for those aged 76 or over)
- A £100 excess applies
Red cover has a single item and valuable item limit of £200. That means the policy will not cover individual items, like a mobile phone, worth more than £200.
Also, on all its policies, Virgin Money will charge 10% of a claim for any item worth more than £100.
That means if you had Red cover and claimed for a £200 tablet you'd receive less than £100.
Silver cover includes:
- £1,500 cover for baggage
- £3,000 cancellation cover
- £12,500,000 for medical expenses
- £300 for delayed departure
- £500 for missed departure
- £500 personal money cover
- £500 winter sports cover (annual policy only)
- Max days per trip: 45 days for annual cover and 365 for single trip (31 days per trip for those aged 66 or over)
- A £60 excess applies
Virgin Money's Silver cover also has a single item and valuable item limit of £200.
Gold cover includes:
- £2,000 cover for baggage
- £5,000 cancellation cover
- £15,000,000 for medical expenses
- £400 for delayed departure
- £1,000 for missed departure
- £500 personal money cover
- £1,000 winter sports cover (annual policy only)
- Max days per trip: 90 days for annual cover and 365 for single trip (31 days per trip for those aged 66 or over)
- A £50 excess applies
There is a single item limit of £300 and valuable item limit of £400 with Gold cover.
Black cover includes:
- £2,500 cover for baggage
- £7,500 cancellation cover
- Unlimited cover for medical expenses
- Unlimited cover for repatriation
- £3,000,000 for personal liability
- £75,000 personal accident cover
- £60,000 for legal expenses
- £7,500 curtailment cover
- £7,500 for scheduled airline failure
- £500 for delayed departure
- £2,000 hospital benefits
- £7,500 holiday abandonment cover
- £1,500 for missed departure
- £1,000 hijack cover
- £1,000 pet care cover
- £750 personal money cover
- £1,500 winter sports cover (annual policy only)
- Max days per trip: 90 days (31 days per trip for those aged 66 or over)
- No excess applies to this policy
There is a single item limit of £500 and valuable item limit of £600 with Black cover, which compares well with other travel insurance policies.
Does Virgin Money travel insurance cover pre-existing medical conditions?
Virgin Money covers some pre-existing conditions. All medical conditions must be declared during the quote process and you should be told whether you will be covered before you buy.
Virgin Money will not provide cover if:
- You’re receiving or waiting for medical tests or treatment for any medical condition or symptoms that have not been diagnosed
- You’re travelling against the advice of a doctor or travelling to get medical treatment abroad
- You have a terminal condition
How much does travel insurance cover from Virgin Money cost?
The cost of travel insurance is affected by many different factors, such as the age and existing medical conditions of the persons travelling, as well as the length of the trip, the destination and activities planned.
However, to give you an indication of cost, we have obtained the following quotes from the Virgin Money website in October 2016:
- Single trip, a woman in her 30s, travelling within Europe for a week: Red - £12.07, Silver - £15.52, Gold - £19.60, Black – £30.01.
- Annual policy, couple in their 50s, worldwide (excluding the USA, Canada and the Caribbean): Red - £67.93, Silver - £76.78, Gold - £98.43, Black - £151.41.
Up to 3 children are covered for free with each paying adult.
Visit the Virgin Money website to get a personalised quote.
What do Virgin Money Travel Insurance reviews by customer say?
On Reviewcentre.com, Virgin Money travel insurance has 1.6 out of 5 stars from 112 customer reviews.
On Which?, Virgin Money’s travel insurance has 69% for customer satisfaction and scores 19th out of 37 insurers.
What do Virgin Money Travel Insurance reviews from the experts say?
Independent financial researcher Defaqto has rated both Virgin Money’s Black and Gold Travel Insurance policies as 5 Star, the company’s Silver policy as 4 Star and its Red policy as 3 Star.
A Star Rating indicates where a product or proposition sits in the market based on the quality and comprehensiveness of the features it offers.
A 5 Star rated policy has “a comprehensive range of features and benefits”, a 4 Star rated policy has “a good level of features and benefits” and a 3 Star rated policy has “an average level of features and benefits”.
