Virgin Money Travel Insurance

Never again – Many phone calls to various people and nobody is able to help me with my claim for cancellation of a flight which I’m covered for. A very complicated and tiring process and I have not been refunded and claim is lost. I will be using my health fund next time I think that will be reliable and easy. Show details

Trip Cancellation Due to Medical Issue – My wife and I booked a trip to the Maldivies/Singapore but a week before the trip my wife had a medical issue and we had to cancel the trip. I have to say after reading reviews after cancelling the trip I was really concerned with my claim but Virgin Money Travel Insurance was excellent. Once I submitted my claim I received an email saying I will… Read more

be contacted within 10 business days which was exactly 10 days asking for a GP medical report. I submitted the report and received another email saying they would get back to me in 10 business days which was a phone call exactly 10 days confirming my refund was approved and I would receive it in 2 business days which was received as stated. The entire process was very professional. I would definately use Virgin Money again.

Take out insurance before you purchase flight and accomodation – I had to cancel my trip to USA due to medical reasons. I submitted my claim only to find out that anything I purchased prior to taking out insurance was not covered. Getting my money back after the date of insurance was easy however the case manager never answered my calls or emails. Communication is poor. Show details

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, VIRGIN/ ALLIANZ GLOBAL SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT – The policy pricing was very competitive, even when adding a pre existing medical condition. The online policy was user friendly, questions were straightforward and easily answered. Telephone Customer Service was also friendly and helpful for any follow up questions. We were devastated when due to a health issue we had to cancel our holiday 9… Read more

days before we were to leave for Canada . The service we received from Allianz Global was impeccable. We received a text message acknowledging receipt of our claim 2 business days after mailing. We received a very friendly and courteous telephone call 3 days later advising us that our claim had been approved in full. This was followed by a letter and Statement of Account giving us full details of Allianz assessment. The money was paid into our bank 5 days following. We had heard so many horror stories leading up to making our claim, we were surprised and delighted at their excellent personal and friendly service and efficiency. From our experience ***** stars to Allianz Global

Stay away from Allianz – Bought this Insurance to travel to Europe and the US in 2015. Due to Delta flight delays in Las Vegas, we missed our connecting flights from Los Angeles to OZ, We were re-booked on another flight the next day out of L.A. but due to the delays we also missed our flight from Melbourne to Townsville. It was a very painful and stressful process that… Read more

went on for about 3months (we kept persisting) before they reimbursed our flight from Melbourne to Townsville. Basically, the work that Allianz should be doing (contacting Delta for confirmations and delay reasons) - we had to do ourselves, as Allianz steadily refused to reimburse us. We had to contact Delta in the US several times and get them to actually put down in writing what the flight delays were caused by and that none of it was our fault. Even the staff at Delta found the requests ridiculous.

We travel extensively around the world (6 times in the last 7 years). It was our first claim. NEVER again Allianz AND please read your policy before you commit to buy travel insurance. Virgin Money should look for another underwriter.

Amazing Service! – Bought the Virgin Travel Insurance for myself and my 6-month-old when travelling to Canada in September. Unfortunately bub had an accident and fell off the bed one morning. After speaking to a nurse they recommended to take him to the hospital for assessment as he was so young. After a 680$ CAD emergency visit I contacted the Virgin Travel… Read more

Insurance help desk where a very helpful and friendly customer service rep opened up a claim report for me and told me exactly what documents I needed in order to process my claim online, he also emailed me the link to the online claim form. Once home we submitted our claim and it was processed within the promised 10 day processing time and the insurance company paid us the full cost of the emergency visit equal to the amount paid in foreign currency. They also sent me a settlement letter and invoice with an option of disputing the settlement within 15 days if I was not satisfied. I had a wonderful experience with Virgin Insurance and will definitely use them again in the future! :)

Do not purchase this insurance – After being delayed in nz because plane had mechanical issues which put us 24 hrs behind schedule,we missed out connecting flights,then it cost $1600 for new flights in which virgin refused to cover any cost Show details

Load of Crap, Don’t purchase, Fraud – Car broken into, the window sill was ripped of but this isn’t classified as forced entry. It happened roughly between 20.30-21.30 They claim it was out of daylight hours Because on record sunset was at 20.26 that day. Show details

This is complete fraud and worst travel insurance ever! – Requested a claim for overseas theft, and the Virgin travel insurance clearly declined without providing any valid reason. Seriously would not trust Virgin travel insurance or even recommend it to anyone. These people are just simply ripping people off in the name of travel insurance. I thought that even though I lost my luggage wroth $5k, I would… Read more

still be able to rely on Virgin travel insurance, however i was clearly wrong. Virgin travel insurance is not worth it, I would recommend using other trustworthy travel insurance.

Application process great and good coverage – Awesome application process - could do it in 2 minutes and very competitive pricing. I used the insurance for my trip to Europe because I wasn't covered under the credit card insurance. Show details

Rubbish! Will hide behind 73 pages of terms! – Do not use these people for travel insurance! they will hide behind 73 PAGES of terms and find something in those 73 pages to deny your claim and say you should have read every single one of those pages and tried to think of every possible outcome that may happen to you when travelling. used them once and will never ever use them again and would… Read more

strongly recommend no one does. if you have any family member in particular over 84 then DO NOT USE THEM

Waste of money – Had a massive nose bleed which required A&E treatment in Spain. This caused us to miss our return flights. Tried to claim the cost of extra flights to be told it wasn't covered. I used Virgin as a big name company over cheaper options. Total rubbish & a waste of money!!  Show details

Very bad – Got travel insurance for myself, partner and daughter. Had our camera stolen in Thailand, made a claim and lots of hidden fees came out. Fees of "wear and tear" "making a claim over £150". Altogether we claimed for $650AUD and had all the receipts and paperwork. We will receive a refund of $200.  Show details

AVOID THESE SCAMMERS – I had my insurance claim through Virgin who harassed me so bad & victimized I went to the Ombudsman and reported them for Bullying. Please go through a bank or your travel agent. l still am out of pocket well over $3,0000  Show details

Worst travel insurance I have ever been on! – First of all the company overcharged my account for my policy, then when I called to fix it they blamed me like it was my fault. Secondly I tried to make a claim for $120, I provided all the relevant information and they denied it. Mind you the insurance was about $470 so they still made money. The customer service people were bad, but the claims people....  Show details

Easy, great customer service and quick responses – Great value insurance. I purchased an annual gold cover. I lost my glasses on one overseas trip and the whole process for claiming was easy, quick and on the whole, a pleasant experience. I found the customer service to be consistently great. Wouldn't think twice about using them in the future.  Show details

Worst Underwriter (Allianz) And Insurer In 30 Years – Paid $100 for a duo comprehensive policy for a trip to Singapore & Hong Kong which seemed excellent value. As it was Virgin, with what I perceived as an honourable brand, entered into this contract with some good faith given their reputation. Wrong. Big mistake. The PDS seemed reasonable, skim read and the most critical component for us was… Read more

medical cover which seemed sound cover. Also contents cover was important to us as we travel with valuable camera lenses and again, the PDS (and consultant) advised we would be covered $1k per item. Outcome: a rare German camera lens RRP$1,000 only available from retailers outside Western Australia Allianz as underwriter determined "in good faith" they would pay out $300 on it - a 70% reduction on replacement cost less the $250 excess, left me with $50 to replace a lost $1,000 camera lens. The lens was purchased privately, and although I did not get a paper receipt or letter of transfer of ownership I sent them photos of the original box and the warranty card WITH MY NAME ON IT. They argued that doesn't prove I paid for it. I explained it is highly unlikely I found this box on the street, or obtained it from a store in WA given no store stocks this hard to find expensive lens.

The second lens that was lost was an inexpensive canon lens RRP$199 - they paid out $121.88 for that "applying depreciation" to the market value. When enquiring about the policy on the phone, both consultants implied "we will replace to the market value" and I don't see within the contract where they explicitly state they can apply depreciation and in what circumstances. No doubt there will be a legal loophole where they can however it is fundamentally WRONG that their sales team mislead and misrepresent. As others have mentioned, their turn around time to process is woeful. 15 working days to look at it. Then if they want further info, another 15 working days. Then, if you want to appeal their decision/make a formal complaint, another 15 working days. Then, if you aren't happy with that outcome (as the position likely will remain unchanged) you can have it reviewed by an "independent review officer" which - you guessed it- takes a further 15 working days. So you are looking at 2.5 months in time before you can escalate to the Ombudsman. Bear this in mind before entering into a contract with Virgin Money & Allianz.

The absolute worst – I was robbed in New York and had purchased a COMPREHENSIVE policy prior to my trip. I am still trying to get my claim processed 3 weeks after the incident, all i get is reason after reason why they are unable to process the claim. DO NOT PURCHASE insurance from this company. I have purchased policy's from other organisations and have claimed in… Read more

the past, all Virgin/ALLIANZ care about is finding a loophole to deny your claim. When I told them I was robbed their first reaction was to say that I may have been negligent. Horrible.

According to Allianz "Complimentary" basically means no cover. WATCH OUT – My advice is to purchase travel insurance outside of what is offered. My partner and I flew from Australia to Vegas for a conference via Fiji & LAX. When we landed at LAX there were enormous delays (over 3 hours to get out of the airport) and therefore we missed our connecting flight. The airport itself was badly staffed, there was a lot of press… Read more

about it following this day.

To purchase another ticket from LA to Vegas, cost A$650 for both of us, with Virgin mind you!

I called to make a claim (which I've done before with other paid insurances and had no problem), the Alliance rep said it wasn't a natural disaster so I was not covered at all.

Allianz said to me that because the insurance is complimentary that the level of cover is extremely low.

Long story short, don't rely on this insurance whatsoever, it's basically a scam.

did they cover me or not? – My husband is the primary card holder and asked would I be covered if I traveled without him - they said yes. When I rang and asked the same question they said I was not covered as I was not traveling with him. I have no idea what is right but I do not trust this insurer at all.  Show details

The worst travel insurance you could get – Made me feel like i was a criminal for claiming while i was in hospital for 5 days in Thailand. They will look for any possible way to get out of paying by asking you hundreds of questions and getting all your medical records from your doctor at home. I don't know how food poisoning could be a pre-existing medical condition but they tried anyway!… Read more

Then they told me they had spoken to the hospital and they would be paying the bill in full directly to them but then the hospital wouldn't let me leave without paying them in full. Save yourself the trouble and use a different company. If only i had read the other reviews before going with virgin...

Unbelievable – I made a claim after a theft. The questions the insurance asked made me feel like I was the guilty one instead of the victim. The time to process the claim is just not acceptable. I highly not recommend this company.  Show details

Useless – VIRGIN TRAVEL INSURANCE IS USELESS. Assessors actively pick thru your travel claim to not pay it. Similar to other people I had an inexpensive item stolen from nearby me but Product Disclosure says they will not pay if something is "taken without your knowledge" (i.e. stolen) or if it was unsupervised (i.e. not in your hand or shall we say… Read more

stolen).

If you want insurance to cover you for theft or loss DO NOT under any circumstances waste your money on virgin's travel insurance.

Don't ever use them – On a cruise ship I forgot my reading glasses in the men locker room. Within minutes I realized what happened I rushed back they were gone. I filed a report I submitted receipts, etc. Response was: You were negligent by leaving them behind. Read the fine print. You take your eyes of the item you are not covered.  Show details

Don't ever use!! – I went to Canada last Christmas (by myself) and managed to dislocate my patella. I had an expensive ambulance ride and trip to emergency and when I tried to get home they kept on asking for more and more information. When I had finally given them everything they asked for they told me I wasn't injured enough to fly home and that I should have… Read more

continued on with my travel. I ended up in Canada for 3 weeks before I finally gave up and got myself home. It took me another 6 months to get all of my money back for the cancelled flights, and accommodation and flights home; and I only got it back because I went to the financial ombudsman. The costs were up around $8000.

Terrible – I also would not recommend Virgin travel insurance. I was supposed to fly to America but instead ended up in emergency department, unable to fly. They made it very difficult to make a claim, kept asking for further, additional medical information meaning more trips back to the doctors at an already difficult stressful time in my life. If my… Read more

partner had not helped me with all the forms and red tape I would have just given up and not made the claim, which is what it feels like they are aiming for.

Awful service. Do not recommend – When I was traveling to America my domestic Virgin flight was delayed causing me to miss the flight to America. I had to change my flight to a day later costing me over $200 dollars. When I went to make a claim I had all my documents except confirmation of my America accommodation even though I was only claiming for costs lost for the new flight.… Read more

Virgin refused to take action until I provided the accommodation documents and made it so difficult for me to make a claim that I eventually gave up. It feels like they make it difficult and long winded to wear you down until you can't be bothered to take it further. They offered little information or help in putting together all the paperwork as well. Would not recommend this company for travel insurance.

Disgusting customer service – Called Virgin money in regards to travel insurance today at 12.30. Had several questions in regards to what is covered...the woman I spoke to was very rude and argumentative... Her advice was to go to page 20 of the PDS and read it myself, wouldn't tell me what is or isn't covered. I then attempted to talk to her about the other quote I had from… Read more

Woolworths insurance... Mid sentence she cut me off and rudely said I don't work for them.... No crap...it was a question, do I need to talk to someone else there that can answer my question.

I also asked about layovers without leaving airport during journey... She again was very rude with answer.... Needless to say I hung up on here and purchased Woolworths insurance

The Absolute Worst!! – My wife and I took Virgin Travel (Medical) Insurance to cover an extended trip to the USA. My wife fell very ill from a stomach infection. Because the infection and bacteria causing it was difficult to locate she required several visits to Emergency Medical Clinics and finally a specialty doctor. While the local people at Allianz Global Assistance… Read more

in the USA were very helpful in locating medical clinics and doctors, when it came time to submit our claim for reimbursement back in Australia, it was an entirely different matter. They are impossible to contact by phone. Required that we submit everything by email, and then kept delaying action even further by asking us to submit supporting documents that we had already supplied to them TWICE. Our total Medical claim amounted to over AUS$4000. After 3 months we eventually saw a deposit to our bank account for AUS$901! WITHOUT any letter, email or call explaining the difference. These people are just the pits... and [Name removed] should be ashamed to have the Virgin name associated with this outfit.

insurance scam – Had flight cancelled by airline provider due to engineering requirements this cost me $563 in unused accommodation costs. After spending 45min on hold with Virgin I was told that Virgin Travel insurance does not cover costs due flight cancellations due to engineering or mechanical reasons as well as a host of other reasons. Please read fine… Read more

print very carefully. They have so many exclusions that you are basically travelling uninsured.

I do recommend buying stocks in this company however!

Delayed flights, no cover – Flew Virgin, Insured Virgin, No payment for delayed flights caused by Virgin!! Virgin delayed a flight by 12 hours meaning I missed 2 connections. I incurred over $500 US rebooking fees on connection plus a night's accommodation and meals. Virgin airlines would not refund additional fees as their "Conditions of Carriage" did not cover this. … Read more

Virgin insurance (Allianz) did not cover, additional costs as they were not "due to strike, riot, hijack, civil protest, weather or natural causes"

So one Virgin company will not pay your costs if they incur them. The other part of the business (insurance) will not cover them even though the other part caused them!!!

So if you miss your planes, and it is not your fault, don't expect any cover from Virgin.

Go figure??

Misleading policy claims – Recently I took out travel insurance and had to claim for my phone, opted for nil excess and was of the understanding that in the event of a claim there would be options to either pay out the value of the item or replace the item. After the claim was processed I was told that this was THEIR option, not the customer's and the payment amount was… Read more

minus 20% depreciation on an eight month old phone! This is not enough to replace the phone.

Also, unlike many other insurance agencies they do not cover the cost of obtaining a quote for repair. Every repairer I went to charged for an insurance report because it's always covered as part of the claim!

My total loss was $1000. Their payment was $520. Would not recommend.

Misleading policy advice, inadequate payment when I thought I was fully covered.

VIrgin disappoints – I had flights delayed for 3 days (two separate events). They told me it's not worth claiming, as my claim was for $380 and I would have to pay for two excesses - totalling $400. When I needed it the most, they weren't around. I even called them before I spent any money and they didn't say anything about excess. Next time i'll use someone like… Read more

worldcare who don't charge excess on travel delay expenses. Price? Excess payable on travel delays - i.e. when you need them the most.

Awful and traumatic – In December 2013 I was traveling Thailand/Laos/Vietnam with a tour group and had taken out Virgin Travel Insurance (looked after by Allianz). Unfortunately during my trip I was hit by a drunk driver and was in hospital for 9 days unable to walk with bad head trauma. We called them straight away and explained what happened. For 7 days we… Read more

spoke to them every day, had different information provided to us by every single consultant (we spoke to 7 - new person every day).

Initially they said to us they would organize flights from Thailand and would cancel our flights from Vietnam, they also said that I would be upgraded to business class as I was unable to walk and also could not sit for long periods of time.

By day 7 (day of release) we were told by a new representative we have to fly from Vietnam and they would not upgrade me to business class, we also had to cover the flight to Vietnam personally.

We were told it was no different flying from where we were (Chaing Rai) to Melbourne (two flights and 12hrs) compared to flying via Vietnam despite there being two additional flights (four in total) and 20hrs worth of flying.

As we were provided this information the day of release we had to wait an additional two days in hospital (at personal expense) as no flights were available.

They were rude, disrespectful and non informative. None of their staff knew our policy or case and constantly had to place us on hold to look things up

Never again would I use them. Initially easy to purchase online Disrespectful, rude, unprofessional

Worst Product Virgin have lent their name to – I am an avid Virgin consumer. so when departing on my honeymoon in August of this year, after a year of saving and planning I insisted my husband look at Virgin over our usual "covermore". We had never made a claim so it was a precautionary measure really. I was horrified to have lost my 10 month old Iphone 5 16GB (I paid $799 AUD for it) in… Read more

Rome. My husband assured me that we would handle it through insurance on our return. To add to this i had an allergic reaction and had to buy an Epi Pen to stop anaphalactic shock as well as see a cruise doctor. ($140USD) Again my husband calmed me with assurance our Travel Insurance would take care of everything. Imagine my suprise today when i have received $469 from Allianz Global Assistance - (who act as the underwriter for Virgin travel insurance). Only to call and be advised. The phone has depreciated over the 10 months minus the excess of $150. i was not contacted or provided any explaination of payment, expectations or a formula for calculation for depreciation of 73%. I simply saw the amount in my bank account and made a call into call centre. I was then also explained that the medical claim incurs a further $150 excess and so was not worth pursuing.

I explained that Apple products don't depreciate and even a refurbished I phone 5 from Apple was still priced at $700. Even brwosing Ebay and other sites i am struggling to find anything Under $600. The contract term (24 months) of a similar aged phone would still owe $510.

I was met with - "we don't replace" we simply pay a depreciated value. i have asked for it to be escalated as i am not happy being out of pocket by $939 - I was told that it would be escalted and i could expect a decision in 3 - 5 working days. I would not be part of the escalation it was simply sent to a case manager who has the final say, Consultant then added "that was the payment and its all in the T & C's" Not really instilling me with much hope of recouping my losses. Add to that the cost of taking out the insurance, its all been a pretty expensive excercise. Easy online claim and set up EVERYTHING since - Lack of communication, no visible formula avialble for calculation of depreciation ; each claim carries excess. Overall poor