travel insurance. is natwest's gold account benefit any good

[redcrx]

Im looking at getting insurance for a couple of trips we have planned (family holiday, partners fishing trip to france and other short breaks)

I have the natwest travel insurance as part of my gold account package, ive called them and they will cover the family and ive declared my mild asthma (at no extra premium)

But im wondering if the cover is ok or if anyone has anything to say about it?
The green flag car breakdown cover was awful, recovery within 10 miles only, so i dont even use that now, i use my own seperate cover.

[kira000]

I dont know the details of NATWests insurance, but generally speaking, the bank freebie insurances are pretty limited - low amounts and lots and lots of exclusions. Most experts on insurance recommend buying insurance to top up, and only relying on your freebie in emergencies of you have forgotten to buy some and something happens.
Usually the banks have extras that you can pay for to bump up the cover- but that just proves to me that it is a con to get more money out of you!

The only way to be sure is to get a copy of the insurance conditions and details.

[redcrx]

i cant really see many exclusions, nothing blindingly obvious anyway. It covers repatriation to the UK (which is a must) and will even cover my partner on his solo holiday.

Its very difficult finding the right cover unless you read the terms for every quote you get as all the companies are so different with what they will cover.

[dzug]

Well the freebie I have (with a different bank) is very good both in terms of cover and in claims experience.

The experts that recommend topping up are usually talking about an entirely different product - personal accident cover which comes free if buying travel products with some cards. The point is that that is NOT travel insurance, even if it's loosely referred to as such.

[redcrx]

personal accident cover is just where you get lump sum payments for injuries ON TOP OF the medical expenses (from standard insurance) isnt it?

in which case i have accident cover on personal insurances already.

can i ask what sort of claims you had to make on yours?

[kira000]

The main thing you need to look at, is the amounts of cover available. I.e. it may say repatriation but then give a figure of �10,000, which could be woefully inadequate if you have anything serious- �30,000+ is not unknown for a repat. Likewise, things like your cover in case of serious accident, injury or death abroad. A good policy could give upto �2m for treatment and subsequent benefits.
On the lower scale, you could find cancellation and curtailment expenses of only �500 which may well not cover the cost of your trip. For expample. Mine gives me �1200 per person.

Look at the amounts, then compare them against a good independant product.