Benenden Travel Insurance

Coronavirus update

The unprecedented disruption that coronavirus is causing across the travel industry means that we have had to take a difficult decision and temporarily pause new travel insurance sales.

This is a decision that we have made reluctantly, but due to a significant increase in new policies over the last month, we want to ensure that all of our existing travel insurance customers receive the service that they expect from Benenden Travel Insurance.
There are no changes for our existing Travel Insurance customers. All existing policies will still be valid, annual renewals will continue to be offered, and our contact centres remain open.

As the World Health Organisation has now classified the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a worldwide Pandemic this has become a ‘known event’ for many insurers. In line with the policy terms conditions, Benenden Travel Insurance has categorised the Coronavirus (COVID-19) as a “Known Event” from 13th March 2020.

Coronavirus related claims will be considered for any element of travel booked before 13th March, subject to the policy conditions and Foreign and Commonwealth Office guidance. Any element of your trip booked on or after this date will not qualify for coronavirus related claims.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and we hope to be able to help new travellers again very soon.

If you are an existing customer we have put together some helpful information about the coronavirus for you.

Comprehensive travel insurance

Our travel insurance offers three levels that include the core essentials, extra reassurance and optional add-ons for different types of holidays.
Our annual multi-trip policy is convenient if you travel frequently and could save you money compared to multiple single trip policies.

The following is a summary of cover only and the policy is subject to terms, conditions, limits and exclusions.
Please refer to the applicable sections of our policy wording

Your handy guide to choosing the right travel cover for your needs – whatever your age or medical condition:

• Save time and money

  If you have several trips planned, taking out annual cover could save you time and money.

• Make sure you declare any pre-existing medical conditions

  We can consider cover for medical conditions on our Silver and Gold level policies.

• Arrange your travel insurance as soon as possible

  Buying it early could help protect you against financial risks such as cancellation.

• Don’t choose a policy based on price alone

  Make sure you consider the features to ensure they meet your needs. We offer three levels of cover.

• Don’t forget to select winter sports as an option

  If you’re going skiing or snowboarding, make sure you have additional cover for winter sports activities. Cover can include piste closure or avalanche cover. Our annual multi-trip policies include this at no extra cost. Call 0800 414 8301 to get your quote.

• Carry your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) card if you’re travelling in the European Union

  If your medical costs are reduced from presenting your EHIC when receiving medical treatment within the EU, you may be able to save on your excess fees. The policy excess applicable under section B (Medical and other expenses) will be waived. Find out more about the EHIC card with our handy factsheet. 

• Check out other reciprocal agreements with countries outside the EU

  If you're travelling further afield, there are similar reciprocal agreements in place with countries and territories outside of the European Economic Area visit the NHS website for more information. Read more about the destinations we cover.

Visit the people and places you love - don’t let age or a pre-existing medical condition stop you

At Benenden Health, we understand how difficult it can be to find comprehensive travel insurance especially when you have a medical condition, or if you’re over a certain age. That’s why, we’ve made sure that as a member, you can access travel insurance with no upper age limit, and which considers pre-existing medical conditions. What’s more, if you are travelling with your children, it’s good to know that we cover dependent children under 18 years of age for free, so you can take the whole family with you.

• Pre-existing conditions considered on our Silver and Gold policies
• Cover for all ages
• Dependent children are covered free. We cover up to 3 children per insured adult, up to a maximum of 6, under the age of 18 for free.

What is a pre-existing medical condition?

Any disease, illness or injury which:

• You have received medication, advice or treatment; or
• You have experienced symptoms whether the condition has been diagnosed or not

What am I covered for if I have a pre-existing medical condition?

Pre-existing medical conditions are considered in our Silver and Gold policies. Depending on the policy level you choose, below is a summary of what you could be covered for. For the full list, please read the policy wording.

How do I get insurance for my pre-existing medical condition?

Our travel insurance considers pre-existing medical conditions on our Silver and Gold policies. You can get your personalised travel insurance quote online by using the ‘Get my quote’ button below or when you call one of our travel insurance specialists on 0800 414 8301. To get a current or pre-existing medical condition considered for cover, you will need to declare these during the quote process.

When do I declare my pre-existing medical condition?

You can declare your pre-existing medical condition when you get your travel insurance quote. You will be guided through the discreet medical screening process so we can provide you with a quote that suits your travel needs.

Useful telephone numbers

Making a complaint

At Benenden Travel Insurance we do everything we can to make sure that you receive a high standard of service.

If you’re not satisfied with the service you receive for sales or claims issues, such as how sales staff dealt with your call please write to us using the information below.

 Quick links

• How to claim

• If you have a medical emergency whilst you're on holiday

• If you need to make a claim

• Useful phone numbers

• The claims process

How to claim

If something’s gone wrong and you need medical assistance whilst overseas, or you need to make a claim when you return, don’t worry. Benenden Travel Insurance gives you access to a specialist Assistance Team who can help you whilst you are overseas, if you, or any person insured on your travel policy has a medical problem on holiday.

For all other types of claim you might need to make, Travel Claims Services provide claims handling services on behalf of MAPFRE, the underwriter of Benenden Travel Insurance.

If you have a medical emergency whilst you're on holiday

Your Benenden Travel Insurance policy gives you access to 24/7 medical assistance if you, or any person insured on your travel policy is ill or injured whilst on holiday. If you have a medical problem overseas, it is best to contact the Assistance Team as soon as possible – the 24/7 emergency service is provided 365 days a year.

24/7 medical assistance line +44 (0) 1904 427155 from abroad / 0800 4148306 from the UK. Lines are open 24 hours.

The Assistance Team can:

• Provide emergency medical assistance

• Assess the validity of your claim

For full details of what to do in the event of a medical emergency, please see your policy terms and conditions.
Contact the Assistance Team on: +44 (0) 1904 427155 from abroad or 0800 4148306 from the UK, with the following information:

• Your policy number

• Your location

• Medical information

• Your travel plans - the date you left and the date you’re due to come back

In an emergency medical situation

If you are in an emergency situation, you should make use of the local emergency services and contact the Assistance Team as soon after that as possible; a delay in notifying hospital admittance may reduce the cover we can offer, or it may invalidate the cover. This should be within 24 hours if you’re admitted to hospital or, admitted into hospital and it is likely you will remain in hospital for more than 24 hours

The Assistance Team will usually issue a medical release form and ask you to sign and return it – this gives consent for them to obtain medical information from your treating doctor and, if necessary, from your GP in the UK. It’s best to complete and return this form as quickly as possible to prevent any delay. This will be handled according to where you are in the world and will be discussed with you when you contact them.

The Assistance Team will remain in regular contact with you during your period of treatment. Having one main point of contact – the patient or, if that’s not possible a travelling companion or a relative, helps keep things simple.

You can contact the Assistance Team at any point but it’s worth noting in the policy terms and conditions where costs incurred to call them are covered by your policy.

After medical treatment

After medical treatment, most people are able to continue with their holiday. Sometimes, it may be necessary for arrangements to be made to bring you back home. If you can’t return home as planned, due to medical reasons, your policy will automatically extend to cover you and one other person until you are deemed medically fit to return home.

The Assistance Team, in conjunction with your treating doctor, will determine when and how you’re fit to travel and will make the necessary arrangements. Usually, it is possible to return home by commercial airline, sometimes with a medical escort or in an upgraded seat. Occasionally, an air ambulance may be required. If it is deemed necessary for hospital admission in the UK, the Assistance Team will arrange it, before you return home.

Back in the UK

Once you’re safely back in the UK, the Assistance Team’s role is concluded. If you need to make a claim for any expenses incurred that are covered by the policy, you can contact Travel Claims Services who administer claims on behalf of Benenden Travel Insurance, who will advise you as to whether your claim will be covered or not subject to the terms and conditions of your policy and how to proceed with the making the claim.

Please see your policy terms and conditions for full details of what to do in the event of a medical emergency.

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If you need to make a claim

Claims for Benenden Travel Insurance are handled by Travel Claims Services, who provide claims handling services on behalf of MAPFRE, our travel insurance underwriter.

They aim to make claiming simple – visit https://www.travelclaimsservices.com/Claims to download and complete the claim form which is most relevant to the claim you wish to make. Please note that claims must be registered within 31 days of your trip ending.

Important Notice

Until further notice, please do not send any claims forms or supporting documentation by post to our address as the office is now operating with minimal staff due to government guidelines during the Coronavirus emergency.

We are still able to accept and process documentation sent by email to enquiries@travelclaimsservices.com and will endeavour to resume our normal service as soon as possible.

With this in mind, there is no need to send original documentation to us at this present time, where you are able to email it, although please do retain it as we may ask you to provide this at a later date.
If you have no other alternative than to send documentation by post, please bear with us as this may not be acknowledged or processed for some time.

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Useful telephone numbers

Customer Services - 0800 414 8302
Lines open 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday and Bank Holidays

Speak to our claims team – 0800 414 8303
9am - 5pm Monday to Friday

24/7 Medical Assistance Line – 0800 414 8306 or (+44) 1904 427 155 from overseas
Lines open 24 hours

The claims process

How to make a claim

• Claim is initiated by completing a claim form and returning it by email; or if you have any questions and choose to speak to the claims team first, a claim form will be sent out within one working day. Once received, complete and return the claim form, with the required supporting documents, to Travel Claims Services.

• Your claim will be added to the claims system and an acknowledgement letter sent – so you know it’s been received.

• New claims are allocated to a claims handler to review. After this review it’s possible that your claim may be settled or declined. This will depend on the documents received, the circumstances and the cover provided by your policy.

• If the initial review shows that further information is needed, you’ll be contacted to request this. This is to ensure that an informed decision can be made in relation to your claim, and, where eligible, reclaim the costs from any other relevant sources (such as other insurance policies that would cover the incident, or a third party who may have caused the incident the claim is based on). This helps to protect your renewal premiums and the overall cost of Benenden Travel Insurance policies.

• Upon receipt of additional documents, the claims handlers will review your claim in line with the policy terms and conditions. If you’re covered, a settlement proposal will be prepared in line with the cover provided by your policy. If a claim is found not to be covered by your policy, a full explanation as to why it’s been declined will be provided.

• If settled, to ensure accuracy and fairness, the claim will be reviewed by authorisers and a settlement letter will then be issued to you.

• Your claim should be released within one working day of the settlement being authorised and a cheque will be issued.

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Quick links:

Important Documents Policy Wording 
Important Documents Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) 

About Benenden Travel Insurance

Who regulates us?

Benenden Travel Insurance is distributed by Benenden Wellbeing Limited, an insurance intermediary, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Register number 593286). Registered in England and Wales (Company No 8271017). Benenden Wellbeing Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Benenden Healthcare Society Limited. Registered Office of both: Holgate Park Drive, York, YO26 4GG. You can find us on the Financial Services Register at www.fca.org.uk/register or you can call them on 0800 111 6768. Benenden Health is a trading name of The Benenden Healthcare Society Limited.

About our service

Benenden Wellbeing Limited distributes the product on behalf of the insurer. You will not receive advice or a recommendation from us. This means that you need to make your own decision as to the suitability of the product for your circumstances.

About the product

Benenden Wellbeing Limited only offers travel insurance from a single insurer, MAPFRE Asistencia. Insure & Go, a wholly owned subsidiary of MAPFRE Asistencia, arrange and administer the policy.

What you will have to pay us for our service

Benenden do not charge you any fees in relation to your travel insurance.

What we receive

MAPFRE Asistencia pays Benenden Wellbeing Limited a percentage commission from the total premium to sell the product on their behalf.

Making a complaint

If you think that we haven’t given you the service you expected, we’d like you to let us know so that we can try to put things right. If you’re not happy you should contact our Customer Relations team, using the address shown in your documentation. If they can’t resolve your complaint they’ll let you have written confirmation of our final response so you can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman if you’d like to do so. This won’t affect your right to take legal action.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

This service is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) – further information can be found in the policy documentation.

Important documents to read

For claims, please go to our how to claim section

Coronavirus update

The unprecedented disruption that coronavirus is causing across the travel industry means that we have had to take a difficult decision and temporarily pause new travel insurance sales.

This is a decision that we have made reluctantly, but due to a significant increase in new policies over the last month, we want to ensure that all of our existing travel insurance customers receive the service that they expect from Benenden Travel Insurance.
There are no changes for our existing Travel Insurance customers. All existing policies will still be valid, annual renewals will continue to be offered, and our contact centres remain open.

As the World Health Organisation has now classified the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a worldwide Pandemic this has become a ‘known event’ for many insurers. In line with the policy terms conditions, Benenden Travel Insurance has categorised the Coronavirus (COVID-19) as a “Known Event” from 13th March 2020.

Coronavirus related claims will be considered for any element of travel booked before 13th March, subject to the policy conditions and Foreign and Commonwealth Office guidance. Any element of your trip booked on or after this date will not qualify for coronavirus related claims.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and we hope to be able to help new travellers again very soon.

If you are an existing customer we have put together some helpful information about the coronavirus for you.