Has anyone used 1 Cover Travel Insurance?

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Has anyone used 1 Cover Travel Insurance?

WyleECoyoteNZ

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# 251717 8-Jul-2019 12:25

As per the subject line, has anyone used 1 Cover travel insurance?

Cover would be for 2 Adults (low forties) and 2 children under 10 for a week in Australia.

Their online quote has 1 Cover significantly cheaper than AA Travel Insurance or Southern cross.

No pre-existing conditions.

Thanks.

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# 2271804 8-Jul-2019 12:25

Allow me to introduce you folks to our new travel community: TravelTalk NZ.

We hope to see you there!

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jfanning

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# 2271821 8-Jul-2019 13:14

Yes I have several times, but never had to claim off them

sbiddle

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# 2271832 8-Jul-2019 13:40

I've had my annual worldwide policy with them for probably 3-4 years now but never claimed so can't offer any advice on that aspect.

I have an affiliate code if you want to use it, I know in the old days it used to give you a discount as well but I'm not sure it it does now or just gives me something. 😀 https://www.1cover.co.nz/?raf=151147

Rikkitic

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# 2271846 8-Jul-2019 14:01

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Also never claimed but was very happy with the service and they would be my first choice for next time. Their manner and style seem very professional, not excessively formal and no BS. I have always liked dealing with them.

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lNomNoml

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# 2271849 8-Jul-2019 14:06

Only used Southern Cross and have been happy with them, check them for a quote might be cheaper for you?

t0ny

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# 2271850 8-Jul-2019 14:09

I used them a while ago and they rejected my claim when the car i was travelling in got rammed from behind damaged my possessions. They told me that since the driver had insurance, we wont be covered

steve2222

383 posts

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# 2272711 9-Jul-2019 23:23

I am afraid I cannot recommend them.

Suggest you also check: https://www.comparetravelinsurance.co.nz/ for alternatives.

On our last big (2 years) overseas trip we needed to put in place travel insurance for the 2nd year while still outside of NZ. Potentially no issue as 1Cover offer that exact product (certainly they did 3 years ago).

The problem was they would not cover my wife's (read expensive) watch she bought while we were overseas (not even an option to pay an extra premium). Their argument was that a watch was jewelry and the policy did not cover jewelry of this value. Fullstop. End of story as far as they were concerned.

We were not convinced a watch could be fairly described as jewelry. So we contracted Allianz who at the time were 1Cover's underwriters. They agreed with us and said the watch could be covered. 1Cover argued with us and still refused so we had to get Allianz to tell 1Cover to sort their s%#t out.

Finally 1Cover agreed, but by then we had already taken out the cover with them. So we said just amend existing policy and we will pay the extra premium for the watch. But no they said they could not amend an existing policy (had only been going 3 days), even though it was their fault. They said we would have to cancel this new policy and replace it with a new policy with the watch extension. But for policies written while you are overseas they have a 3 day stand down period of no claims, so doing this would have left us with no insurance for 3 days, or paying for 2 policies.

To top it all off, when they refunded us the canceled policy they charged us a 3 day premium which was huge compared to the total cost of the new policy which was an annual one. Reluctantly they agreed to a more reasonable charge, even though our view was it should have been an exact 3/365 pro rata given the whole issue was caused by their intransigence.

So in summary their senior customer service sucks, no acknowledgement of being wrong and then when finally accepting our position, just putting road blocks in the way to make life difficult. When I say senior staff - I mean it: the most senior customer service manager and the CEO. Since this experience I see Allianz are no longer their underwriters. I wonder why! Allianz did everything right and their appointed broker let them down.

rscole86

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# 2272712 9-Jul-2019 23:36

We've used them for every overseas holiday we've taken.
We've only had to claim once for damage to a rental vehicle, it was our mistake for not doing a proper inspection before pick up in a dark car parking garage. But they accepted the claim, and paid out very quickly.

timmmay

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# 2272730 10-Jul-2019 06:54

When it comes to insurance cheaper usually isn't better. If you're really in trouble and need something like medical evacuation you really want good service. I'd go for a well known name brand like AA / Southern Cross.

sbiddle

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# 2272742 10-Jul-2019 07:50

timmmay:

When it comes to insurance cheaper usually isn't better. If you're really in trouble and need something like medical evacuation you really want good service. I'd go for a well known name brand like AA / Southern Cross.

AA or Southern Cross means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. Many would argue the retail brand isn't important at all, it's the underwriter actually providing the service that is.

1cover are significantly bigger players in the market than both AA and Southern Cross (and potentially bigger than both of them put together since they operate in NZ and AU and are huge in Australia). AA in particular simply resell an Allianz product who underwrite the policy, but SCTI do underwrite their own policy since they are actually an insurance provider. 1cover are underwritten by Lloyds.

The one catch with travel insurance is that many people still have no understanding of what it does and doesn't cover particularly when it comes to irrops. Even with travel insurance typically you're still at the mercy of airlines if significanty delays or disruptions occur, and travel insurance may not offer you anything above what airlines are already required to offer. Airline status potentially makes more of a difference such as having *G where there are clear rules about what they have to provide you with.

timmmay

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# 2272772 10-Jul-2019 09:16

Known brands have something to lose if they end up in the newspaper for unreasonably declining a claim. Do the underwriters evaluate every claim, or is that done by the insurance company you pay?

sbiddle

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# 2273813 10-Jul-2019 11:07

timmmay:

Known brands have something to lose if they end up in the newspaper for unreasonably declining a claim. Do the underwriters evaluate every claim, or is that done by the insurance company you pay?

But that's the thing - 1cover is a far bigger known brand in the travel insurance space than either AA or SCTI

esawers

325 posts

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# 2273931 10-Jul-2019 12:29

Used them regularly (but never claimed) after reading this article

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/kiwi-traveller/77841304/where-to-find-the-best-travel-insurance

However, we have recently changed to Southern Cross, as their policy includes nieces and nephews as children (free), whereas 1-cover only includes immediate children.

Southern Cross actually worked out cheaper for the latest trip.

Amosnz

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# 2273956 10-Jul-2019 12:56

I usually use Allianz via the Marsh Insurance portal, as it gives me an intermediary to sort stuff out on my behalf (never required yet).

https://www.marsh.com/nz/services/private-client-services/travel-insurance.html

sen8or

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# 2273978 10-Jul-2019 13:50

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not used 1 cover but did use Southern Cross for a trip to the US about 2 years ago. Unforeseen happened, trapped in NY for 4 extra nights, so had to book last minute accommodation in NY just after new years, got charged for LA accommodation non cancel-able, got charged no show for pre-booked Universal Tours and a few other ancillary charges like taxis to/from JFK airport. Southern cross were great to deal with and paid our claim in full with minimal fuss. Our accommodation in LA included breakfast, so we only claimed 1 meal per day whilst stuck in NY (even though the agent on the ph told us to retain all food receipts). Got queried about food when we claimed, proved that we had a meal included with LA accommodation and all was good.

Any insurers service can be good when they are taking your money, but its the service level when they have to pay money back that really counts.

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