P&O Customer Service

[Denarius]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

This is correct. Either card as long as in date does the job.  My point was to ensure that if your EHIC expired or you though you didn't need a card now to ensure you obtain one.

 

I would also suggest you keep it on your person when ashore, eg if you have a misfortune and your card is onboard and the ship sails leaving you ashore. I know many who leave the card in the safe with their passport.

Too true, as I found out to my cost. I tripped and cut my head badly in Vienna a few years ago, whilst on a land tour. Passers by insisted that it needed stitches and I was whisked off to hospital. It did not, but the wound was dressed and I was given a routine head x-ray. Then I was virtually marched to the office to settle the bill. If I had had my EHIC on my person this would have been accepted, but it was in my hotel safe. So I had to pay there and then myself, luckily I had my credit card. Since then I have always carried the card at all times when in relevant countries.

[Megabear2]

More on this salutory tale, I'm afraid!  As you will know by now I am a total stickler for declarations to insurance companies covering everything from a sneeze to a heart attack and constantly bang on about the essential need to include absolutely everything.

 

Well it appears my own family have not been so diligent and have broken my golden rule.  Good to Go have informed my BIL that following the latest hospital report they believe the illness is a result of a non declared medical condition and as such they may be declining the claim.  This results from my aunt having undergone an ECG after a "funny turn" at home a month after purchasing the policy, something resulting in nothing being found wrong at that point.  GTG have stated this incident is marked on her medical records and as such should have been notified to them even though happening after the purchase of the policy.  The debate on liability is now commenced.

 

Meanwhile the doctors in Rome are having a meeting to discuss whether they believe she can survive a flight home - currently a mute point as if the insurance will not pay out it will be impossible to pay for a special medical flight, apparently costs for that alone would exceed £80,000 plus required nursing staff etc.  Clearly there is no way she can at this stage travel on a commercial flight.

 

My cousin is flying to Rome tomorrow to relieve my aunt's sister who at 80 years old is now worn out.

 

The hospital is costing £1,500 a night for room and board alone.  Present running costs up to £50,000!  We should get 70% of medical bill paid once the GHIC is received but the rest is on the family.

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Megabear2

[Peggy and Mossey]

14 minutes ago, Denarius said:

Too true, as I found out to my cost. I tripped and cut my head badly in Vienna a few years ago, whilst on a land tour. Passers by insisted that it needed stitches and I was whisked off to hospital. It did not, but the wound was dressed and I was given a routine head x-ray. Then I was virtually marched to the office to settle the bill. If I had had my EHIC on my person this would have been accepted, but it was in my hotel safe. So I had to pay there and then myself, luckily I had my credit card. Since then I have always carried the card at all times when in relevant countries.

 

I am glad that you were not seriously hurt Denarius.

You have shared a story that is a lesson for us all regarding keeping the EHIC card in person and not in the safe.

 

 

[kruzseeka]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

More on this salutory tale, I'm afraid!  As you will know by now I am a total stickler for declarations to insurance companies covering everything from a sneeze to a heart attack and constantly bang on about the essential need to include absolutely everything.

 

Well it appears my own family have not been so diligent and have broken my golden rule.  Good to Go have informed my BIL that following the latest hospital report they believe the illness is a result of a non declared medical condition and as such they may be declining the claim.  This results from my aunt having undergone an ECG after a "funny turn" at home a month after purchasing the policy, something resulting in nothing being found wrong at that point.  GTG have stated this incident is marked on her medical records and as such should have been notified to them even though happening after the purchase of the policy.  The debate on liability is now commenced.

 

Meanwhile the doctors in Rome are having a meeting to discuss whether they believe she can survive a flight home - currently a mute point as if the insurance will not pay out it will be impossible to pay for a special medical flight, apparently costs for that alone would exceed £80,000 plus required nursing staff etc.  Clearly there is no way she can at this stage travel on a commercial flight.

 

My cousin is flying to Rome tomorrow to relieve my aunt's sister who at 80 years old is now worn out.

 

The hospital is costing £1,500 a night for room and board alone.  Presentbrunning costs up to £50,000!  We should get 70% of medical bill paid once the GHIC is received but the rest is on the family.

 

OMG - so very sorry to hear of the continuing distressing situation for you and your family.  My very best wishes for your aunt and also for a more hopeful insurance outcome.  

 

(Many, many thanks for your continued posts with such important underlying messages Re EHIC/GHIC and the pitfalls of insurance cover.  I'm sure many like me will be checking more carefully and making sure we keep the insurers fully informed.) 

[Megabear2]

50 minutes ago, kruzseeka said:

OMG - so very sorry to hear of the continuing distressing situation for you and your family.  My very best wishes for your aunt and also for a more hopeful insurance outcome.  

 

(Many, many thanks for your continued posts with such important underlying messages Re EHIC/GHIC and the pitfalls of insurance cover.  I'm sure many like me will be checking more carefully and making sure we keep the insurers fully informed.) 

Thanks for your good wishes.

 

This insurance was purchased in January this year to cover our Aurora cruise in April, the cruise I've just accompanied her on, a wedding abroad later this month and a P&O cruise in October.  The first was cancelled when we all caught covid so was just allowed to run.  My aunt lives 150 miles from me and no one had mentioned this "funny turn" to me as she as found to be medically well and I was oblivious.  As explained elsewhere I was pencilled in as her replacement companion the day before I left on my own cruise.  As I resit I was never involved in the insurance purchase or the declarations. Normally I would have checked everything in March for the Aurora cruise but as it was covid cancelled never thought to look.

 

As I say a salutory lesson.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Megabear2

[janny444]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

More on this salutory tale, I'm afraid!  As you will know by now I am a total stickler for declarations to insurance companies covering everything from a sneeze to a heart attack and constantly bang on about the essential need to include absolutely everything.

 

Well it appears my own family have not been so diligent and have broken my golden rule.  Good to Go have informed my BIL that following the latest hospital report they believe the illness is a result of a non declared medical condition and as such they may be declining the claim.  This results from my aunt having undergone an ECG after a "funny turn" at home a month after purchasing the policy, something resulting in nothing being found wrong at that point.  GTG have stated this incident is marked on her medical records and as such should have been notified to them even though happening after the purchase of the policy.  The debate on liability is now commenced.

 

Meanwhile the doctors in Rome are having a meeting to discuss whether they believe she can survive a flight home - currently a mute point as if the insurance will not pay out it will be impossible to pay for a special medical flight, apparently costs for that alone would exceed £80,000 plus required nursing staff etc.  Clearly there is no way she can at this stage travel on a commercial flight.

 

My cousin is flying to Rome tomorrow to relieve my aunt's sister who at 80 years old is now worn out.

 

The hospital is costing £1,500 a night for room and board alone.  Present running costs up to £50,000!  We should get 70% of medical bill paid once the GHIC is received but the rest is on the family.

 

Oh no....after all of your thorough investigating of all Insurance companies and on top of everything else that is happening. I am sure most people on here will feel " pig sick" for you.

 

To me it shows what I have always thought....they are very very good at taking your money but when you want the support from them that you thought you had in place they will dig and dig until the find the slightest of hairline chinks and pursue that stance relentlessly. Why does everything have to become confrontational....it becomes a battle of wills....they hope that they will wear you down and you go away and you have to be like a dog with a bone....which I think you are. 🙂

 

Good luck and I shall follow this thread with my fingers crossed for you....you could really do without this added stress

[P&O SUE]

I’m so sorry to hear all this mega bear.

Add me to the list who had the old card but didn’t realise there was a replacement.

I hope your Aunt recovers, how scandalous that an ECG that showed there was no problem should be used against her. It’s sickening.

Wishing you and your family well.

[kalos]

1 hour ago, janny444 said:

To me it shows what I have always thought....they are very very good at taking your money but when you want the support from them that you thought you had in place they will dig and dig until the find the slightest of hairline chinks and pursue that stance relentlessly. Why does everything have to become confrontational....it becomes a battle of wills....they hope that they will wear you down and you go away and you have to be like a dog with a bone....which I think you are. 🙂

 

When I has to claim for my heart issue to start a claim I rang the number on my policy which 

was with a well known car breakdown company ,the number was for travel insurance claims.

Once through to them I had to tell them everything and they said "Right we will post your

paperwork out to you ."

A few days later the paperwork came and the insurer was nothing to do with the breakdown

company at all, they were just simply agents for this insurance company .

I thought "here we go" I'm as weak as a kitten, head all over the place , I don't need this!

Lucky for me after telling them what had gone off and sending them the relevant papers 

back . The lady phoned me back and said "All is now sorted and your money will be in the

bank in the next few days . They were great with me .

 

The thing I took away from this was ,if I think they are not a travel insurer ,chances are 

they are not and are just an agent . 

Now I stick with the well known Travel insurance brands who have their own 24 hour 

dedicated helpline. Sure it costs a bit more  but one near miss was enough for me .

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, kalos said:

 

When I has to claim for my heart issue to start a claim I rang the number on my policy which 

was with a well known car breakdown company ,the number was for travel insurance claims.

Once through to them I had to tell them everything and they said "Right we will post your

paperwork out to you ."

A few days later the paperwork came and the insurer was nothing to do with the breakdown

company at all, they were just simply agents for this insurance company .

I thought "here we go" I'm as weak as a kitten, head all over the place , I don't need this!

Lucky for me after telling them what had gone off and sending them the relevant papers 

back . The lady phoned me back and said "All is now sorted and your money will be in the

bank in the next few days . They were great with me .

 

The thing I took away from this was ,if I think they are not a travel insurer ,chances are 

they are not and are just an agent . 

Now I stick with the well known Travel insurance brands who have their own 24 hour 

dedicated helpline. Sure it costs a bit more  but one near miss was enough for me .

Megabear is obviously the expert on this, but aren't the majority of supposed insurance companies, even travel insurance companies,  just middlemen ?

They all use the same insurance underwriters.

Moreover, many do not even handle your claim, but factor claims out to a specialised loss adjustor, who handles claims from multiple companies.  

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Megabear is obviously the expert on this, but aren't the majority of supposed insurance companies, even travel insurance companies,  just middlemen ?

They all use the same insurance underwriters.

Moreover, many do not even handle your claim, but factor claims out to a specialised loss adjustor, who handles claims from multiple companies.  

Such an expert I can't even get my own family to do it right ... but yes Wowzz you are correct. 95% of insurances sold are by middlemen, very few actually have their own assistance company and even less underwrite the policies themselves which is why there's always someone on an emergency number to call that you won't recognise and why I always say look at the reviews for the claims company when buying a policy not the name on the insurance policy which is worth zilch if you need to claim.

 

FYI Good to Go are the insurance contractor in this case but all the paperwork is headed Paying Too Much (a price comparison site).  The actual emergency assistance is a company called Global Response.  The latter are used by a very large number of companies, including most of the well knowns such as Staysure, Avanti, Holiday Extras - all of these three are underwritten by Great Lakes who are a German company. Our underwriting team are Spanish.

 

Being over 80 precludes a huge number of people from the higher grade insurers and indeed an awful lot of companies say no insurance over 70. A few of the bank insurances, M&S and LV do cover until 80. My own two insurance policies are with The Post Office (emergency cover Collinsons) and Allianz who do provide their own emergency and underwriting team.  I have the former purely because it has the very best covid cover policy on the market and as I frequently travel to areas where testing is required before boarding a ship wanted it purely in case of quarantine abroad before or after a fly cruise.  Because I'm relatively healthy with no meds or health conditions a worldwide all singing all dancing policy with them cost me £297 for the year which I think is a good investment. My Allianz policy is attached to my bank account so costs me very little.  It's actually an excellent policy but the covid cover in 14 days before departure isn't covered.

 

Hope that helps ...

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Such an expert I can't even get my own family to do it right ... but yes Wowzz you are correct. 95% of insurances sold are by middlemen, very few actually have their own assistance company and even less underwrite the policies themselves which is why there's always someone on an emergency number to call that you won't recognise and why I always say look at the reviews for the claims company when buying a policy not the name on the insurance policy which is worth zilch if you need to claim.

 

FYI Good to Go are the insurance contractor in this case but all the paperwork is headed Paying Too Much (a price comparison site).  The actual emergency assistance is a company called Global Response.  The latter are used by a very large number of companies, including most of the well knowns such as Staysure, Avanti, Holiday Extras - all of these three are underwritten by Great Lakes who are a German company. Our underwriting team are Spanish.

 

Being over 80 precludes a huge number of people from the higher grade insurers and indeed an awful lot of companies say no insurance over 70. A few of the bank insurances, M&S and LV do cover until 80. My own two insurance policies are with The Post Office (emergency cover Collinsons) and Allianz who do provide their own emergency and underwriting team.  I have the former purely because it has the very best covid cover policy on the market and as I frequently travel to areas where testing is required before boarding a ship wanted it purely in case of quarantine abroad before or after a fly cruise.  Because I'm relatively healthy with no meds or health conditions a worldwide all singing all dancing policy with them cost me £297 for the year which I think is a good investment. My Allianz policy is attached to my bank account so costs me very little.  It's actually an excellent policy but the covid cover in 14 days before departure isn't covered.

 

Hope that helps ...

It certainly does.

Thank you.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, kalos said:

 

When I has to claim for my heart issue to start a claim I rang the number on my policy which 

was with a well known car breakdown company ,the number was for travel insurance claims.

Once through to them I had to tell them everything and they said "Right we will post your

paperwork out to you ."

A few days later the paperwork came and the insurer was nothing to do with the breakdown

company at all, they were just simply agents for this insurance company .

I thought "here we go" I'm as weak as a kitten, head all over the place , I don't need this!

Lucky for me after telling them what had gone off and sending them the relevant papers 

back . The lady phoned me back and said "All is now sorted and your money will be in the

bank in the next few days . They were great with me .

 

The thing I took away from this was ,if I think they are not a travel insurer ,chances are 

they are not and are just an agent . 

Now I stick with the well known Travel insurance brands who have their own 24 hour 

dedicated helpline. Sure it costs a bit more  but one near miss was enough for me .

You may recall I emphasised a while ago to check out the underwriter/claims company not the name on the insurance policy.

 

There are some extremely expensive policies with big names out there still using the same claims companies- last time I checked there were only 7 operating in the whole UK market.

 

The lesson is check absolutely every minor detail. An excellent way to ensure you catch even the tinest medical event to declare is to get your NHS app to give you full access to your medical records to check dates/-events when declaring.

 

For instance some insurers expect you to declare if you've had covid, others don't. Always try to type absolutely everything no matter how ridiculous it seems. I declared a boil on my latest application, it came up with 7 related questions!

[kalos]

8 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

You may recall I emphasised a while ago to check out the underwriter/claims company not the name on the insurance policy.

 

There are some extremely expensive policies with big names out there still using the same claims companies- last time I checked there were only 7 operating in the whole UK market.

 

The lesson is check absolutely every minor detail. An excellent way to ensure you catch even the tinest medical event to declare is to get your NHS app to give you full access to your medical records to check dates/-events when declaring.

 

For instance some insurers expect you to declare if you've had covid, others don't. Always try to type absolutely everything no matter how ridiculous it seems. I declared a boil on my latest application, it came up with 7 related questions!

 

Yes let them know everything, as you say you assume nothing is OK .

A few weeks back a pensioner who was running a vlog on YouTube about his everyday life 

with his wife and their travels ,had been ill for a while .

He took us viewers along with him to his tests at his medical centre and one day told us 

proudly he was going on a cruise . He told us he had a bank insurance and what a cheap

bargain it was . Wanting to make sure he was safe ,I told him to OK it with his doctor and 

ensure his insurance was informed of everything ,which he said he would do.

Sad to say he went but never came back, as he peacefully passed away whilst on his 

cruise. The family thanked us who had supported him and closed the site down .

Never ,ever should we take anything for granted ,least of all our travel insurance .

[molecrochip]

@Megabear2I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt. I hope she is comfortable and manages to improve over time.

 

The service that you've received from Princess is awful and I'm so sorry you had to deal with that on top of your aunt's situation.

[zap99]

7 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

I’m so sorry to hear all this mega bear.

Add me to the list who had the old card but didn’t realise there was a replacement.

I hope your Aunt recovers, how scandalous that an ECG that showed there was no problem should be used against her. It’s sickening.

Wishing you and your family well.

This is a lesson to us all. I checked ours, they expired at the end of June. They are not accepted in Norway, so not an issue, but I applied for replacements straight away. 

[Megabear2]

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

The latter are used by a very large number of companies, including most of the well knowns such as Staysure, Avanti, Holiday Extras - all of these three are underwritten by Great Lakes who are a German company.

Just to correct myself to avoid confusion please note these companies no longer use Global Response or TIF having changed their policies last year.  They now use companies with a much better reputation thankfully.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Megabear2

[Jill85]

Ours is Avanti, we both have health conditions and it's hard work trying to get a reasonable priced policy. Just for Europe yearly is £430! I think a world cruise will be out of the question!

[Gettingwarmer]

20 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

It's actually an excellent policy but the covid cover in 14 days before departure isn't covered.

 

I’ve checked my bank Allianz policy for cancellation and can’t see this 14 day restriction. 

[ohnonotmeagain]

Nothing to do with P&O but insurance....I recently had to cancel my cruise 5 days before departure due to FIL having a stroke. Contacted  insurance company- Staysure. Long story short, paid out, in full,within 2 weeks.

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I’ve checked my bank Allianz policy for cancellation and can’t see this 14 day restriction. 

I spoke to them regarding their covid cover.  They stated they do not cover cancellation if you catch covid in the 14 days before your holiday.  They state that as most holiday/cruise companies will give you a credit note or FCC for a booking they do not offer this as part of the covid insurance cover.  This is pretty common with insurers, Which and MSE have highlighted it as something to check.

 

Currently with the rebooking and cruise with confidence clause it is maybe not a problem. With Celebrity ending their cancellation in 10 days before sailing cover in April I did not want to take the risk on what was a very expensive cruise.

 

It may well be that the policies will have to change but quite a few currently put the onus on the holiday company.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Megabear2

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

I spoke to them regarding their covid cover.  They stated they do not cover cancellation if you catch covid in the 14 days before your holiday.  They state that as most holiday/cruise companies will give you a credit note or FCC for a booking they do not offer this as part of the covid insurance cover.  This is pretty common with insurers, Which and MSE have highlighted it as something to check.

 

Currently with the rebooking and cruise with confidence clause it is maybe not a problem. With Celebrity ending their cancellation in 10 days before sailing cover in April I did not want to take the risk on what was a very expensive cruise.

 

It may well be that the policies will have to change but quite a few currently put the onus on the holiday company.

This is from my policy. 

 

[Megabear2]

18 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

This is from my policy. 

 

Hello. I recall we had a discussion on the boards on the subject of bank insurance some months ago.  Whilst Allianz is the provider/underwriter for quite a large number of UK banks - we even had a correspondent from the Isle of Man at the time - every policy is not identical and dependent on the bank may have different terms and conditions.  My own policy is with Halifax and transferred to Allianz towards the end of November.  At that time and again in April this year when I renewed an add on I had correspondence with them regarding this issue with cruises.  They confirmed that the policy does cover cruising but not things like missed ports, cabin confinement etc and if I required this cover I might need a different policy as they do not offer such an add on.  They also confirmed no claim could be made if I was tracked and traced or could not answer the health questionnaire question about 14 day contact.  This they stated was due to the cruise lines offering future cruise credit for another cruise and the purpose of insurance was to cover a loss.  In this scenario there would be no loss as I would be able to travel later.

 

This clearly made sense but in April Celebrity started to wind down their cruising with confidence programme and as my next cruise was with them I chose to purchase an insurance policy which did cover the 14 days prior cancellation.

 

It is a purely personal choice by me.  If you are happy with your insurance cover that's great. I'm certainly not suggesting that every policy is the same as mine and always advice travellers to check things with their insurers if they want clarification.

 

I'm not intending to go back discussing insurance policies as with the greatest of respect I have some very pressing issues elsewhere to deal with at this time. Thanks for your support.

[jeanlyon]

Interesting topic.  I was looking at getting cover for the 2 of us for next year.  So I declared our 2 conditions each, but husband had to go to hospital as he was dizzy.  They did all sorts of tests, CT scan etc.  He has Labrynthitis.  So I put in that condition and it said "there are no questions to ask about this condition".  So  what worries me is, say he lost his balance, hurt himself and had to have treatment, would the travel insurance refuse to pay up as I had not mentioned him going to hospital.  There is nowhere on the quote to do that.

[Gettingwarmer]

Really really sorry to have troubled you. I thought it may have resolved the issue with your policy as the cruise lines are considering no longer offering FCCs. I wish you and family a good recovery. 

[Gettingwarmer]

7 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Interesting topic.  I was looking at getting cover for the 2 of us for next year.  So I declared our 2 conditions each, but husband had to go to hospital as he was dizzy.  They did all sorts of tests, CT scan etc.  He has Labrynthitis.  So I put in that condition and it said "there are no questions to ask about this condition".  So  what worries me is, say he lost his balance, hurt himself and had to have treatment, would the travel insurance refuse to pay up as I had not mentioned him going to hospital.  There is nowhere on the quote to do that.

Surely it ask you somewhere if you have attended hospital or a clinic under another question 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Gettingwarmer