"Cancellazione polizza e rimborso integrale"

Ho richiesto la cancellazione della polizza e il rimborso integrale di quanto avevo pagato in sede di stipula, tramite l'indirizzo mail del servizio clienti, in quanto non mi è stato possibile partire per il viaggio (extra UE) programmato, a causa delle disposizioni vigenti.
Ho ricevuto i soldi sulla mia carta in 5 giorni lavorativi dalla conferma di cancellazione della polizza da parte di Columbus, in anticipo (via mail mi avevano detto 10/12 giorni lavorativi) .

"Still no payout from 27th March claim"

I chose Columbus for our annual travel insurance family policy, 2 adults ,1 child as it was a competitive price and Columbus was a name I had heard of.
The service we have received has been extremely poor, we could not travel on our Easter holiday, we received a flight refund from the airline as they had at the time cancelled the flights. However the accommodation , which we booked separately was non transferable and non refundable .
We therefore submitted our insurance claim for holiday accommodation on 27th March.
We have had 2 requests for the same information and have supplied the information in triplicate but some 5 months later still await a decision from this insurer.
I phone the company but each time i get the same response , ie you claim is still being looked at .The last correspondence from them was 16th July , saying assessing our claim and will be in touch "shortly" ...we are still waiting!!
I have decided I now need to escalate my claim to the complaints department,
Even with covid delays over 5 full months have passed and still no payout.
I would definitely not recommend this company based on my current claim experiences.
Claims Ref: 256309

"Lack of communication"

Sadly I am still awaiting a refund for a trip booked for the 6th April. Whilst I understand there are backlogs due to Covid 19 I would not recommend using a company whereby, 5 months later, I am still unable to contact anyone over the telephone to discuss this or receive a prompt response to an email. Email response times have taken approximately 2 weeks and have not offered any approximate time scales for resolving this issue. Informed that if I place a complaint my claim could be delayed further.

"Appalling company"

This has to be the worst insurance company out there! My claim has been ongoing since May. We have submitted two proofs of medical reasons why we were unable to travel and the FCO advice was also not to travel to Portugal - how much more evidence do you actually need???
They do not answer phone calls or emails and their customer service advisors are unable to help in any way. They even managed to forward a confidential email to the wrong company leading the company to get in touch with me asking who I was?! What happened to GDPR??? The last time I spoke to an advisor they said my claim had been referred to the complaints team and I would have a phone call from a manager in 48 hours - that was two weeks ago and needless to say I’ve heard nothing!! I’m starting to wonder if this is a genuine company. My advice to anyone needing insurance - don’t even think about using Columbus, there are far better companies out there who know what customer service is. Columbus are an absolute disgrace.
Policy -41531043

"Avoid at all costs if you actually want a travel insurance policy that you’re covered by"

We’ve been with Columbus Direct for many years with annual worldwide multi-trip insurance as they appeared to be the best to cover the adventure sports we do and medical conditions. Always very pleasant when you phone them (somewhere in South Africa) to take out a policy but then when you try and claim (the whole purpose of insurance) it’s a whole different story.

We put the claim in mid April due to a charity we were volunteering for abroad refunding us most, but not all of the cost, after a government directive stopped the project due to Covid-19. A few months passed and then we were asked to resubmit all documents again. Then it goes quiet and 4.5 months later an email, with bits cut and pasted from their exclusions section, informs us that we’re not covered!

They have decided that the one off volunteering we were doing for not for profit charity is the same as a package holiday from a tour operator and are refusing to pay out. Go figure!

UPDATE: They have replied to our email within 24 hours apologising for the oversight and agreeing to the claim.

"Very very poor when you actually need to make a claim"

Like many other reviewers on here, I have been a customer of Columbus Direct insurance for many years but after this experience I will be not using them again and would not recommend them to anyone. You only really find out how good your insurance is when you come to claim, and anyone looking on here can see from the reviews over the past 6 months that Columbus Direct are very very poor. If Trustpilot gave a last 6 months rating, it looks like Columbus Direct would have a 1 star rating.

My claim started in mid-May after a planned trip to Switzerland got cancelled. I had booked everything separately and managed to recover my costs for my flights and the tickets for the event I was attending. I asked the hotel for a refund but was told the room rate I had booked was non-cancellable so that left me no option but to claim on my travel insurance. After starting what I thought would be a simple straightforward claim, I received an email that asked me to send lots of information by post! This was done with everything posted off by the end of May. Then nothing. I contacted them again on 29 June to check they had received everything in the post and was told that the claims handler would call me back as this was urgent. I then had an email on 1 July asking me for the same information to be sent again but by email this time. That was done on the same day, then nothing again. Chased again on 16 July and again told the claims handler would call me. I even made sure they had the correct contact details. You've guessed it, no one called me. Chased again on 17 August, to be told an urgent request would be made for the claims handler manager to call me. You've guessed it again, no one called me back. I'm still waiting as of today.

Yes, things have been difficult for many businesses in what are unprecedented times, but most firms are now back to operating a near normal level of service. Many businesses have made changes or taken steps to address any backlogs. Nothing I've seen from Columbus Direct tells me that they've done anything other than continue to delay and make it as frustrating as possible for its policy holders who dare to make a claim. I feel very let down by the incredibly poor service from this insurance company, so if you want to avoid a similar experience, simply do not use Columbus Direct.

UPDATE:
Well less than 3 hours after posting this review, I suddenly receive an email from Columbus Direct saying they are going to settle my claim. Only thing is the claims handler has for some unjustified reason decided to divide my settlement in half. I was going to be travelling alone on this trip yet Columbus Direct are reducing my claim by half for a non-existent person that I was not travelling with. At no point in this process have I been asked if I was travelling alone or with anyone. I had booked a double room, but that was simply because no single rooms were available anywhere. It also states on the booking confirmation I sent to them that the room was for single use. How can Columbus Direct think it is fair to do this, without even checking if I was travelling alone or not? Is this just further incompetence or a way of getting out of paying what is due? Probably both.

FURTHER UPDATE:
An hour after questioning the settlement amount, Columbus Direct has finally settled my claim for the correct amount although I am now waiting for the money to actually appear in my account. I can now thank Columbus Direct for doing that, but why did it take so long and why did it only happen after posting a negative review on here? It leaves you thinking Columbus Direct cares more about online reviews than it does its customers.

"Absolutely shocking company to deal…"

Absolutely shocking company to deal with, waited over 4 months for our claim to be dealt with, and it was rejected for reasons completely contradictory to the T&C's we signed up to. Furnished them with every piece of info the asked for, including our holiday providers T&C's that stated they operate a strict "no refund" policy, the exact reason people take out holiday insurance. After a 4 month wait, and the most horrendous customer service ive ever encountered, we were told we were not covered, and sent a link to a government paper, written almost 3 months after our holiday called "frustration of contract", suggesting it is down to us to recover costs. This was our first port of call including recovering all other costs, including flights, car hire etc, and it became evident, the accommodation was an "unrecoverable cost" which is clearly covered in the policy we took out. Every call is now conveniently cut off after frustrating amounts of on hold time, emails completely ignored, and no evident way of challenging, appealing or even complaining about this company and its service. I strongly recommend looking elsewhere for any form of insurance. I will be seeking legal advice on this matter as i feel completely robbed.

"Absolutely shocking service"

I, like many other Columbus customers, have been waiting over 4 months for a response to my claim, fobbed off many times when I have called up, never responds to emails.

Given up on this company and won't be using again!

Looking a proceeding with a Small Claims Court settlement.

"Shockingly slow"

Having sustained a ski injury just before lockdown I have submitted what I think is a fairly straight forward claim to Columbus. Given the current pandemic I was prepared for some delays. However it is now 5 months since I have submitted my claim. 6 weeks ago it was supposedly 'escalated'. Still nothing has happened and speaking with them today it is still being escalated. Would hate to be needing urgent care with this level of service. Have used Colombus for years but will be looking to change once the current policy ends.

"Absolutely discraceful company"

Absolutely discraceful company, this has been going on since April 4 months later i am still none the wiser to what is happenings, told everyday its been escalated if it escalates anymore it'll be into space

Sick to death of wasting my time with this company, they promise call backs which they never do

Emails are also ignored

Policy number 272959