Travellers buying insurance from a travel agent risk being sold an unsuitable policy or overpaying for their cover, warns a new report published today.
Which?, the consumer group, said 17 out of 29 travel agents it visited during a recent mystery shopping exercise failed to provide the most basic details about the insurance policies they sold.
Few of the 29 travel agents visited during the mystery shop checked that the cover available under the policy would be sufficient for the customer, other than to cover the cost of the holiday itself if the individual was too ill to travel.
Nearly a quarter of the travel agents also failed to about pre-existing medical conditions. A failure to declare these conditions could mean that a claim will be denied.
Less than half of the travel agents gave researchers a copy of the insurance policy to take home to read.
Only six of the business told the customer they had a 14-day “cooling off” period within which they could cancel their cover and claim a refund.
Travel agents were also uncompetitive on price, found the Which? survey, with one travel agent quoting £80 for insurance on a two-week trip to Spain, which could have cost as little as £20 elsewhere.
“The recent disruption to flights has shown how important it is to have adequate cover,” says Rochelle Turner, head of research for Which?, the consumer group.
“If travel agents want to sell insurance, they must train their staff properly so customers can feel confident they’ve bought the right policy. Otherwise they should stop selling it altogether and leave it to the experts.”
Which? conducted its mystery shopping in March and April 2010, at the same time as hundreds of thousands of travellers were left stranded by the closure of UK airspace due to volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.
The sale of travel insurance – sold alongside a holiday – has been regulated by the Financial Services Authority since the beginning of 2009.
A spokesperson for the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) said:
“If there is evidence of genuine mis-selling then the FSA should do something about it.” said the spokesperson.
“Also, the vast majority of these agents are appointed representatives of insurers so it is up to these providers to ensure those selling their products are properly trained.”
Many travellers now face paying for their own costs for delay or abandonment, as some insurers are refusing to consider ash-cloud related claims.
Independent travel agents fared better than branch based services, with nine out of 14 meeting the Which benchmark set out below:
● Explain what the policy covers and what it excludes
● Provide customers with a copy of the policy
● Ask whether the customer has any pre-existing medical conditions as these
are often excluded from the cover
● Make sure the policy is suitable as some policies have an upper age limit
ABTA said it was still important for a consumer to take out insurance when they arranged their holiday so they would be covered if they were unable to travel, for example due to accident or illness.
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