Monzo Premium travel insurance: worth getting?

[yorkie]

Does anyone here have Monzo Premium? Is the Travel insurance worth it?

There are some reasons why I'd like to upgrade to premium but most of these don't justify the cost. However I do a lot of travelling and currently pay for that separately, so if the travel insurance through Monzo is good, then that would detract a substantial part of the cost.

Is Monzo Premium worth it?

Yes! Monzo Premium customers can save on average £60 a year on worldwide travel & phone insurance. Find out more about Monzo Premium's benefits.

monzo.com

Our travel insurance is worth an average of £141 a year.​

Travel insurance by AXA gives you, your partner and family worldwide multi-trip cover. It covers cancellations up to £5,000, medical bills up to £10m, and lost valuables up to £750, winter sports and more. With a £50 excess per claim (exclusions apply).

Using our travel policy by AXA as a benchmark, Consumer Intelligence found pricing information on comparable travel insurance policies from the following comparison sites:

• Compare The Market
• Money Super Market
• Confused.com

They analysed over 60 quotes for comparable travel insurance. Consumer Intelligence found twelve providers who offer directly comparable policies. These are:

• Big Blue
• Puffin
• Planet Earth
• Post Office
• Leisure Guard Travel
• Getcover
• Insurefor
• Direct Travel
• Now
• The AA
• Insure & Escape

To select the most comparable policies on the three price comparison websites assessed, Consumer Intelligence collected quotes using a typical customer profile and key criteria for selection. In total, they selected 27 quotes that offered equivalent products and allowed a like-for-like comparison.

The average annual cover cost across the market was £141.08 (for a comparable product).

 

[Bletchleyite]

One thing that is particularly handy about it compared with some similar schemes is that it isn't invalidated by pre existing conditions, rather these are just excluded from cover. This makes getting cover much easier if you are OK with relying on EHIC/GHIC for cover of those conditions in emergency and are more wanting baggage cover etc.

 

[kristiang85]

It's run through Axa, so for that I'd say avoid, avoid, avoid.

My insurance over the summer was through Coverwise, which was actually using Axa insuracne, and I've yet to see any of my £6k. I've just had endless hours waiting on held phones and so much faff in submitting and resubmitting claims.

A 1.2/5 average rating on TrustPilot backs me up too... https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/axa-travel-insurance.com (sadly I only looked at Coverwise reviews, which were mostly to do with the purchasing rather than claiming).

 

[westv]

Insurance companies are only as good as their claims service.

 

[DelayRepay]

It's run through Axa, so for that I'd say avoid, avoid, avoid.

My insurance over the summer was through Coverwise, which was actually using Axa insuracne, and I've yet to see any of my £6k. I've just had endless hours waiting on held phones and so much faff in submitting and resubmitting claims.

A 1.2/5 average rating on TrustPilot backs me up too... https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/axa-travel-insurance.com (sadly I only looked at Coverwise reviews, which were mostly to do with the purchasing rather than claiming).

A few years ago my dad had a Coverwise policy, also underwritten by AXA. He was admitted to hospital while he was abroad. At first we did not know who his insurance was with, but once I found the details and called them, they could not have done more to help. They sorted out his medical care, found and paid for accommodation for me, arranged his medical repatriation flight back to the UK, arranged and paid for my flight back to the UK and arranged and paid for taxis to/from the airports. Aside from the costs, it was a weight off my mind to have the support of people who knew how to deal with all these things.

But when I returned to the UK I submitted a claim for about £1k of expenses which were fully covered under his policy and needed to be reimbursed to me. I was met with radio silence. Emails went unanswered, phone calls were not returned. A formal complaint was ignored. They paid out with an apology when I escalated my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

So a tale of two halves really, but @kristiang85's report suggests my experience was not unique.

 

[kristiang85]

A few years ago my dad had a Coverwise policy, also underwritten by AXA. He was admitted to hospital while he was abroad. At first we did not know who his insurance was with, but once I found the details and called them, they could not have done more to help. They sorted out his medical care, found and paid for accommodation for me, arranged his medical repatriation flight back to the UK, arranged and paid for my flight back to the UK and arranged and paid for taxis to/from the airports. Aside from the costs, it was a weight off my mind to have the support of people who knew how to deal with all these things.

But when I returned to the UK I submitted a claim for about £1k of expenses which were fully covered under his policy and needed to be reimbursed to me. I was met with radio silence. Emails went unanswered, phone calls were not returned. A formal complaint was ignored. They paid out with an apology when I escalated my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

So a tale of two halves really, but @kristiang85's report suggests my experience was not unique.

Yes when I was abroad they were pretty good, although I turned down their offers of transfer to another hospital (as I trusted my one and recovery depended on me staying as still as possible) and a medvac flight home (as I didn't see it necessary as I was away for a while, and had an upgraded business class flight home anyway). But ultimately I judge them on getting my six grand back after they told me to send all my invoices in when I got home, and that leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[DelayRepay]

Yes when I was abroad they were pretty good, although I turned down their offers of transfer to another hospital (as I trusted my one and recovery depended on me staying as still as possible) and a medvac flight home (as I didn't see it necessary as I was away for a while, and had an upgraded business class flight home anyway). But ultimately I judge them on getting my six grand back after they told me to send all my invoices in when I got home, and that leaves a lot to be desired.

Start the complaints process. If they don't resolve it within eight weeks you can take it to the Ombudsman. That's what seemed to trigger the payment in my case.

 

[dosxuk]

A 1.2/5 average rating on TrustPilot backs me up too... https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/axa-travel-insurance.com (sadly I only looked at Coverwise reviews, which were mostly to do with the purchasing rather than claiming).

I'd pay scant attention to the likes of TrustPilot with this sort of purchase. Literally nobody who a) doesn't have a problem and needs to use their travel insurance; or b) makes a claim and it's settled straightforwardly is ever going to think "oh, I need to leave a review". The figures will be so massively biased towards those who have got fed up with the company and want to make a statement that it completely devalues it as a measure.