Travel Insurance Woes & Tips

The only time I have claimed is when someone nicked my skis at Geneva airport...the handling people were quite helpful and i had no problems and that was with the insurance from my bank account (RBS Royalties gold)

I have also had very good experience with my home insurers (Ecclesiastical) and car insurer (Tesco). The former handled a home claim for £000s completely through emails and scanned documents. After being sideswiped by a truck on the M25, Tesco even managed to get my excess back from the Amsterdam-based insurer of a Belgian truck driven by a Latvian pulling a Dutch trailer! Hence the frustration with the AA and their subsidiary Drakefield, who are the complete opposite end of the customer service scale.

Hello everyone. Well, here we are again, and would you believe that the AA and Drakefield, their partner claims management company are still refusing to pay out? We're now approaching six months since I made my original claim.

If any of you are considering renewing your insurance and going with The AA, or are with the AA and are up for renewal, then my advice is to consider my case before you go ahead.

Thank you for posting your experience. I am currently looking at taking out an annual policy including ski cover and will avoid the AA. Am I allowed to mention Martin Lewis? I found some helpful information on his site but I still feel lost when trying to work out whats best. We always used to use a broker but he has retired.

So eight months later, this has now finally come to a close.

My home contents insurer, Ecclesiastical - who would strongly recommend to anyone - have sent me a big cheque to replace my stolen Canon digital SLR and lens, as new. I reckon they've only needed about 2-3 weeks to handle this.

The remaining 27 weeks is down to the AA and their claims handler Drakefield Insurance Services. I reckon the AA still owe me upwards of £400 but I just can't be bothered. What they paid out was close to 10% of what the house contents insurer paid, but took them around fifteen time longer to process.

I suggest that you bear my experience in mind when you come to renew or take out your travel insurance.