TID Travel Insurance Direct - The Works (Comprehensive Overseas Insurance)

I think, like most people, I only write reviews when I’m unhappy with a product or service. And with insurance companies already having a poor reputation to begin with, I feel I owe it to TID to post this review. Due to a budget Vietnamese airline, my father and I missed our connection flight back to Perth and were told we would have to wait… Read more ·  1

three days to get on their next flight. We stayed in a hotel for the night and booked a much more expensive flight home the following day.

First, I had to call their customer support because I screwed up my account by using multiple emails. The woman, who was an Australian in the Eastern States, was prompt and friendly in fixing the matter, and I didn’t have to wait too long to speak to her.

I filled out a claim online, with no tiresome, pointless questions, just what you would expect they need to know to make a fair assessment.

I got an email back in a week saying I was approved for a refund for the more expensive flights and hotel, and the money was in my account that day.

I’ve used TID seven or eight times over five years, and this was my first claim. I will continue to use them on every trip.

Thanks, TID

Not what they were – Not what they were. I loved them so much I didn't shop around. Have had to claim whilst on overseas trips, sadly and they were brilliant. Like the time I broke my hand in Azerbaijan anI had to have urgent surgery so I returned to Australia and they funded me for all the losses for the remains of the trip that I now couldn't make. I did a… Read more

spreadsheet of the losses and that was enough. But not this time. The system has changed. The amount of info you now have to give them is beyond impossible. DH had his phone stolen from his pocket in Paris. We waited until we got to the UK and bought another. The evidence they required was huge, for example we needed to provide evidence that were were in Paris: boarding pass and hotel booking. That was just the start. Who keeps the boarding pass???!! Esp as the flight had been months and months before. We had a police report and the receipt for the new phone. I thought that would be enough. Nope. Eventually I gave up. Won't bother with them again. Sad, because they had been so very good.

10 yrs+ with TID, still happy with the customer service despite hiccups – I first used TID in 2008 on a holiday China. My phone was stolen, and as long as you read the terms and conditions and provide reasonable proof they request (they wanted a police report) TID will generally come through. I have made around 5-6 claims over the past 15 yrs with them and I believe they are reasonable and fair. Communications (via… Read more ·  1

phone) when I was questioning the policy coverage, was resolved in a prompt and amicable manner. My most recent claim for Europe was approved by TID after my Coach tour cancelled on us.

I would use TID again confidently. I recommend paying extra to avoid the excess, it's totally worth it in the event you must make a claim.

1 star off because: 1) uploading documents is glitchy. had to put my browser in incognito mode to get it accept simple pdfs and jpg files. (it has been glitchy for years!) TID, please fix. 2) coverage for 'Europe' did NOT include the UK, which shocked me and I had to call them up and argue my case, which was stressful. I suggest this is amended on their website to say 'Europe: UK not included' , similar to how there's 'Asia: EXCL nepal' and 'Asia: INCL nepal'.

I have never had to claim. this is more about admin. I wanted to extend, but that happened on a Saturday. they dont answer the phones on the weekends. I guess their medical emergency line would be different, but I dont know. I logged in to extend online, and it said, sorry this function is temporarily out of function, I called, but no one… Read more

working weekends. Pretty poor form for a travel company. on this alone, im never using again. why would I? get a company that cares enough to have someone available to fix stuff on the weekend, or to have their website up and running, or even have one of those question things on the website that is attended by a human that can help.

Absolutely amazing organisation. I actually have my health insurance with them as well as buying travel insurance for our recent trip around Europe. I find TID very proactive and and simple to interface with, either on the phone or online. The very last of our flights (out of Paris) got a little stuffed up and we have lodge a claim with TID for… Read more ·  1

the out of pocket expenses, so far they have been fantastic. My wife and I travel a lot and we will certainly use TID again, plus we recommend them to all our freinds, both retired like ourselves, and ouryounger friends.

Injured in Vietnam received medical treatment including scans and specialist consultations. The claim was processed within a week without any rigmarole. Claim process was straightforward and easy to navigate. I’ve been a repeat customer this is the first claim I’ve made and very satisfied with the result. I also like TID policies because they… Read more ·  1

don’t load the policy with volumes of unnecessary information making it easy to understand what is and isn’t covered.

Very Good Travel Insurance – Used TID for about 5 years now including making a couple of claims. Did switch to a cheaper company but got shafted over Covid period and happy to be back with TID. Prices are quite competitive and the process is easy. If a claim needs to be made they are quick to get it done online and finalised quickly as well. Highly recommended Show details ·  1

Value for Money – Customer service was very good, resolved query over the phone quickly. Making a claim was straight forward, clear instructions online and in my experience prompt payment of claim. Show details ·  1

Avoid at all costs! – This company will do anything to weasel out of paying resonable claims. They have no care for the consumer. We became very sick on our honeymoon and had to return home and they wouldn’t cover our flights. They went to the length of paying a external mediation company $1500 in fees to deal with our complaint rather than paying us the $1700 that was owed for the flights. Disgraceful! Show details

Forget about expecting them to pay a claim – My son's suitcase disappeared from the train we were travelling on in Germany. It simply wasn't there when we went to get off the train. We immediately informed the train company. All our toiletries, electronics, and my son's entire wardrobe was in that suitcase, so we arrived at our next destination without even a toothbrush, and my son only… Read more

had the clothes on his back. I could not get through on the phone to TID. As we were continuing on to go skiing, we had to purchase my son some clothes (including ski clothes which we found in an op shop! because new was too expensive). Right at the end of our trip, we were advised that our suitcase had turned up in Switzerland (soneone else had taken it by mistake), but could not be returned to us by the time we flew back to Australia. We opted to pay to have it freighted back to us. Our claim was rejected - apparently because the train company didn't lose it, and it eventually turned up, it was not "lost" and therefore we did not get a single cent back from TID. They did not even recognise that we needed to replace clothing and toiletries whilst the suitcase was "not lost". An appeal got us nowhere. Appalling service and policy. I have used this company in the past for all our regular trips, without having to make a claim. We travel ALOT, and I have never used this company again. I have also advised all my many travelling friends to avoid them also. Do not recommend this company at all.

Worst travel insurance company – I purchased the works travel insurance policy 12 months cover for peace o mind. Worst mistake i made. I unfortunately damaged my shoulder an put a claim in last September 2022. Claim was finally accepted 12 months later in September 2023. Policy ended in June 2023. I thought great, i can get further treatment on my shoulder only to find out i am… Read more

not covered as policy ended in June. This was due to this companies extremely poor performance in assessing my claim. 12 months is discusting. I got nowhere by lodging a complaint either. Do not take out a policy with this company. They will happily take your money but don't expect good results if making a claim. As a follow up to this review. After taking nearly 18 months to process my claim which was finally approved, i was told that i an no longer covered for this injury as policy has expired. I had to pay for further investigations as to the extent of the injury (MRI) which found there was a complete tear of the tendon in the right rotator cuff as well as a severe tear in the bicep muscle which required surgery to repair. This cost $10,000 to repair plus ongoing costs for medications on physioperapy. Total costs so far is around $11,000. This should have been covered by the insurance but due to their extremely poor performance, i had to pay this. What was the point of the insurance. Was not my fault that they took so long but i am the one who ended up suffering for it. Again, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Delays and denied! – I’ve used TID about 3 times now but unfortunately won’t be using again. It’s long wait and response times, they ask a hundred questions when putting a claim in, you try to be helpful and provide above and beyond details which in fact I actually think did a disservice because my claim was denied for my laptop smashing out of an over head luggage… Read more

that I was forced to put in there due to being a tiny plane and therefore was out of my control and something which is actually more careless such as a stolen laptop is completely replaceable and covered. WTH! I now have to pay for my own damaged goods that was out of my control on a policy I wish I never spent my money on because now I’m several hundreds of dollars MORE out of pocket. Such a scam and disheartening news when returning from a holiday. I know you can’t cover everything but genuinely don’t understand this one.

Online claim form is a joke. Cheaper and Better Options available elsewhere – The online claim process seems to be easy enough. File upload functionality doesn't work as stated, e.g max 5mb but uploading 2mb file doesn't work), can't email docs in. TID solution to this problem is a manual claim form. FAQs as part of the claim process only link to the generic assistance page. Why make me search for the FAQ when you sent me a… Read more

link? Absolute waste of time. This is the 3rd and last time I've used TID. Can get better and cheaper travel cover with other providers like Defence Health (the firm my family used).

Poor claim process and zero customer service – My daughter lodged a claim in November 2022. After raising a complaint 8 weeks ago she was finally told the claim had been approved and she paid the excess. Now she has received another email requesting payment the the excess. The US medical bill is now been given to a debt collector. Show details

The value of the policy only appears when you try to claim on it! – I was regrettably caught up in Jetstar’s fiasco in Hawaii in September, 2022. Jetstar cancelled my return flight to Sydney for 6 days. Hawaii is not a cheap location, which is fine, but an extra 6 days added an enormous expense. We claimed from TID which was promptly rejected as they don’t cover cancellations stemming from mechanical issues etc.… Read more

We are so annoyed we also cancelled our private health insurance with NiB. In short, travel insurance is only useful for extremely serious medical episodes. The policy is mid market price. I’ve used TiD several times over the preceding decade. The value of the policy is really only measurable when you actually claim on it. In this case it was worthless.

Hopeless – Trying to deal with this company is a nightmare. Placed a claim in January and after a confirmation email heard nothing back, followed up in early Feb and again no response. Placed a complaint a week later that was acknowledged via an email that said the complaint would be addressed within 30 days, then nothing. Honestly I would hate to think what… Read more

would happen if you were stranded or in need of urgent assistance from this insurance company as trying to get any response at all is like pulling teeth. You sit on hold for over an hour without ever speaking to a real person. It’s a no from me ever again.

They were there when we needed them – My daughter and I got the worst gastro on our last night in Fiji and we were unable to travel home as scheduled. TID paid out our medical expenses and additional accommodation quickly and without argument. Recommend Show details ·  1

AVOID!!! Loopholes galore!! – After using TID for years, we finally had to make a claim when Jetstar changed our flight until the next day due to "crewing issues". Despite the fact that the entire flight was the same people/plane as what was supposed to go a day earlier, instead of classing it as a delay, TID (who is actually NIB insurance we discovered) took it as a… Read more

cancellation and decided not to cover it because it wasn't due to a complete staff strike or natural disaster or some other random occurrence. The only satisfaction I get out of this is the amount of business they will lose out of us in the next decade.

Delays on claims, no response and misinformation when making claim – I paid over a thousand dollars for the works insurance for several months in Europe. I am a loyal customer of 6 years and paid for thousands of dollars in insurance to this company. 1. When submitting the claim on my phone (everything else was stolen), the website crashed so frequently I feel like TID has designed it this way so people give up.… Read more

This claim to days to submit and was so frustrating using their claims portal. For several days, my insurance wasn’t even connected to my account so I couldn’t start the claim! 2. I waited 10 business days from submitting and even gave them an extra few days before emailing as I received no response. We should at least get a general “we are experiencing delays” email. I’ve emailed again and no response. It’s been over 3 weeks now. 3. I am struggling with money as nearly everything I owned was stolen from me. This is why you get insurance and I’ve had to change travel plans and stay with friends to save as Im running out of money and feeling very stressed because I have no ETA on when my claim is approved. If I don’t receive a response soon, I will never go with TID again. I don’t mind the delays and understand short staffing after Covid, but the complete lack of communication is terrible. People are struggling!

Peace of mind ensured – The policy was easy to set up online and met my needs for travelling to Thailand. Covid restrictions including the need to have Covid related health cover were changing but the policy had ample cover for a very reasonable cost. I have used TID for many years and are happy to continue. Show details ·  1

Is anybody out there?? – Hi Good customer service on the phone initially, but no communication received > 3 weeks after submitting claim, not even an acknowledgment of “claim received”. We have a case no. and a contact (Alvin), and I’ve emailed the company 5 times but no reply. My latest: Dear Alvin, colleague Are we any closer, please, to receiving information from you… Read more

about our travel claim? I have heard nothing from you. TID call centre/customer support said we should at least receive acknowledgement of receipt of the paperwork within 2 weeks, but no communication has been received. I don’t want to, and shouldn’t have to, send everything again, but I’m wondering if the claim submission has been lost? Still no reply. Very discourteous and poor service. Greg

No response from Case Manager – My partner and I have used Travel Insurance Direct for three previous holidays but never had to claim. On this holiday our travel was delayed and we missed a night of accomodation and had to pay for an extra night in the location we got stuck in. When I got home I put our claim in almost straight away with all the requested documentation. On… Read more

Business day 10 I received a call asking to extend out the time for them to review and I accepted due to them being busy due to alot of claims. On business day 19 I called to speak to someone to find out what was happening and was advised I would get a call back and I did not. On Day 21 I rang again and was advised my case manager had scheduled to call me that day. I did not receive a call. I called on Day 22 again and was advised my case manager was still unavailable and at that point I asked for another case manager and wanted to submit a complaint. Five minutes later I was provided my case manager and she dealt with the case promptly and sent an email with instructions on the 15th July which I actioned that day and she advised me that she would follow up. On Tuesday the 2nd August I called back to again find out what was happening and was advised my case manager would get back to me ASAP. With still no reply I called again on the 5th of August and was advised again that my case manager was unavailable and would call me back. At this point I have asked for a different case manager - submitted a complaint and was advised I would hear from someone with an update in three business days. It's now five and have not been contacted. I have had to lodge a complaint with AFCA just to get someone to update me on my case. I submitted two months ago with barley any contact from TID - I will not purchase from them again and I suggest others dont either cause if you need to make a claim - they are to busy to deal with it.

Customer service went above and beyond – I've used TID for years. I have only had to make a claim once, and processing it went smoothly. This is about my most recent experience. Due to a death in the family I had to push my travel date forward and amend my policy. Unfortunately, it wasn't appearing in my online account at all, I could only see older policies. TID's customer support for… Read more ·  1

managing policies was not available on the weekend.

I contacted the emergency assistance line anyway and they managed to escalate my case. I received a call from someone who had the authority to amend my policy. It was a huge relief as insurance was a travel requirement for the country I was traveling to.

5 stars for the amazing customer service for the staff who helped me amend policy TIDAUS22504603 (I hope this reaches them somehow) and going above and beyond so I could make my trip.

Minus one star for not having a functional website that should've allowed me to amend my policy online, and not having customer support for managing policies during weekends.

Used to be good now they will try every venue to not pay any claim – Stranded overseas due to Covid 19 while covered by purchased TID travel insurance. In the policy it is stated clearly that the insured person will lose cover when he/she travels against media warning of a pandemic. So I abided by that rule. Now TID claims that this is not a good enough reason to claim anything against travel interruption. In a… Read more

trial to escape their obligations, they removed any access to historical purchased policies under my online account so every time I try to click on previously purchased policy, I get redirected to a new policy that has a different PDS. Luckily, I keep a backup of my purchased policies. I also received many contradicting confusing emails where they tried to trick me into bringing an old claim to discussion where they stated something that could affect the decision (and hence pay) of a more recent claim. All raised claims took forever to be examined and it seems that there is only 2 persons working in the claims department (or I should say claims and complains) the first person's name is [Name Removed] (claims) and the second person's name is [Name Removed] (complaints) as I always receive responses from these 2 persons. TID has also played the fine line game where my injury that affected my travel was not taken into consideration when the medical practitioner just didn't write the word "unfit to travel" in his report. A simple phone call to the medical practitioner could have cleared that but of course they will not exert any efforts in the insured person's favor.

Great value & Great insurance company – I have used TID for my travel insurance many times over a number of years. Due to the Covid 19 restrictions imposed on International travel I have had to cancel my European holiday. TID were very understanding of my claim for the none refundable sections of the trip being paid back to me under the terms of my insurance policy. I would recommend TID to anyone who requires travel insurance in the future. Great company and Great service.  Show details ·  1

Poor claims experience – Took out insurance with TID for a trip to America in August 2019. Was admitted to hospital and had to make a claim. It took 6 months before claim was paid with communication from the claims department being incredibly slow. Every time they asked for something and I responded, another 10 business days would restart. Now a year after the trip the… Read more

hospital is contacting me to chase payment that TID was meant to take care of. Now TID are again taking their time to get back to me. Never had these issues when making claims with other insurers. Would never use again

Excellent service – We have used TID for over 15 years. It is often said you only know how good the company is when you make a claim. We have claimed twice over the years and requested a refund this year due to being unable to travel. In each instance we have received prompt service and have been updated on the progress regularly. I would highly recommend TID. Show details