True Traveller Reviews

Name: True Traveller
Address: 6 Drakes Courtyard, Kilburn High Road, London, London Borough of Brent
Rating: 4.83

4.8 Rating 1,981 Reviews

98 %

of reviewers recommend True Traveller

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About True Traveller:

True Traveller - Travel Insurance designed by Travellers

When travelling overseas, the one thing you should never skimp on is your travel insurance cover, as should things go wrong you want the very best cover for you and your possessions.

At The True Traveller, we’re used to advising people on travelling all around the world, and due to feedback from our customers we’ve changed our insurance website, made it even better value and extended the range of products.

On Single Trips, we offer three Policies called True Value, Traveller and Traveller Plus. True Value is designed for travellers under 40 years of age, and is designed for last minute travellers and backpackers. The Traveller policy, our most popular, is designed for holiday makers and adventurous travellers alike, and Traveller Plus gives enhanced medical and cancellation cover.

On our Multi Trip Policies, again we offer the Traveller policy valid for unlimited trips throughout the year for durations up to 30 days, and the Traveller Plus policy which offers enhanced cover for unlimited trips lasting up to 70 days. We also have a budget True Value Policy for travellers under 40 years of age.

We’ve tried to get the prices as keen as possible on all our insurances. This means on the Single Trip and Multi-Trip you have the option to exclude Baggage Cover as this may well be covered in your Home Contents insurance; you also have the option to add-in different activity packs. The Traveller Pack covers 92 of the regular holiday activities which you will get involved in, and covers clerical/non-manual work as standard. The Adventure Pack covers a further 41 activities and is designed for the more adventurous traveller and backpacker, covering trekking to 4,600m, as well as volunteer work and manual work. The Extreme and Ultimate Packs covers all the more extreme and ultimate adventures. The Extreme covers trekking over 4,600m to any altitude, as well as Scuba Diving to 50M. The Ultimate covers Hang Gliding, Mountaineering and Polo to name just three of the Ultimate adventures!

Visit Website

Phone:

020 3822 0200

Email:

insurance@truetraveller.com

Location:

6 Drakes Courtyard,
Kilburn High Road,
London
London Borough of Brent
NW6 7JR

True Traveller 5 star review on 11th February 2023

Mr McConnell

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Extending my policy for 25 extra days every with 10% discount was 25% of the original 5.5 month policy was outrageous! For my next extended trip I will be looking for another insurer”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

Hi In common with all types of insurance, the longer the contract is, the lower the daily rate becomes. We do state this on the website. TT are one of the very few insurers who allow extension policies; most do not. True Traveller

Posted 4 months ago

“Why does it support Apple Wallet, but not Google Wallet? On Android it points to an unknown 3rd app.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 months ago

“Disappointing customer service. I took an insurance cover out online, within 24 hours I needed to cancel. I was aware of the 14 day cooling off process and was entitled to a full refund as no claims had been made within this time. I paid by debit card and yet they still decided to take an admin fee, which they had only said would occur if I had used a credit card. Not a company I will be recommeding to anyone.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 months ago

Hi there No, we apply a fee on all refunds, unless the original premium amount is less than £100. We are billed for the card acquiring service, interchange fees and authorising fees. We have managed to secure excellent rates, so no fee exceeds 0.95%, aside from American Express, as their merchant fee is higher. This is made clear when applying for cover and is shown in our FAQs. No administration fees are applied at all, and we are prohibited by FCA rules by making any profit on refund transactions. True Traveller

Posted 7 months ago

“I made a mistake while taking out the policy as I was confused. Now I would like to cancel however they will not allow me too. I have severe ADHD diagnosed so I struggle with booking things wrong and need to cancel”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 months ago

Hi This is with our Compliance Officer currently so we cannot respond here until their case has been closed. True Traveller

Posted 7 months ago

Hi The compliance case has now been closed. The customer bought their insurance to validate a work permit, where insurance is mandatory and a requirement to get the work permit. Once our compliance officer pointed that out to them, they elected to keep the insurance. True Traveller

Posted 6 months ago

“Wasn't able to help with my situation.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 months ago

Hi there Thanks for your email. We see you took our some travel insurance with us back in June, and we have heard nothing more from you. Can you let us know how we couldn't help? True Traveller

Posted 8 months ago

“We had another policy running from 05-07 February and we were faced with a medical emergency which True Traveller refused to help us with, leaving a very vulnerable family stranded in Bordeaux!”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

Hi I'm very sorry but we cannot comment on this review whatsoever, as it's being dealt with our insurers compliance and legal department. True Traveller

Posted 1 year ago

“BE WARNED!! DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY!! THEY STEAL YOUR MONEY. I HAD CANCER IN THE PAST AND THEY THEN PUT MY PREMIUM UP A GRAND FOR THE CONVENIENCE. MONEY SCAMMERS. AND YOU GET NO INSURANCE FROM THEM IF YOU EVER DECIDE TO TRY CLAIM A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT. PAID MY LIFE SAVINGS FOR PRACTICALLY NO COVER!!! PLEASE BE WARNED I BEG YOU”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

Hi We are extremely concerned about the content of this review, and will contact our customer to establish if they are ok. We do, as with all insurers, ask customers to screen for any previous medical conditions which they may have, which happened in this instance, the the customer had to pay a medical screening premium at that time, but it wasn't a "grand", or anywhere near that. She did leave a negative review at the time, some 20 months ago, and we offered her a full refund, but she replied no one else would cover her. No claims have been made by this customer at all, so we have absolutely no idea what the second part of the review is referring to. True Traveller

Posted 1 year ago

“We had two pretty straightforward medical situations over a 3-month trip. We called the insurance provider (AXA) for both and received absolutely no support and pretty appalling service in general. True Traveller themselves are completely out of the picture anyway. Made me quite anxious to think what would have happened if we had a more serious emergency and had to rely on them. Would not recommend and would not use ever again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

Hi there Being a medical case, unfortunately due to privacy regulations, we cannot comment on any specifics at all. However, there was an assistance case raised with AXA, and an ambulance was called, but the policyholder then cancelled the ambulance. We do urge all customers to read the claims procedure on our website, and we send out an email to all customers once they've started travelling urging them to read it. For minor issues, it states: If you have suffered a minor injury or have suddenly become ill just go to a local pharmacy and ask them for help. However, if you feel it’s so urgent you need to see a Doctor or go to a Clinic, just go. You do not need to get permission from us, so just go to the nearest medical facility. You can ask your hotel for this information, ask other travellers, or of course, you can just "Google" it. Although normally we don’t cover pharmacy costs, you can claim for your Doctors/Clinic fees and costs for any drugs you are prescribed. If the treatment comes to £500/€600 or less, just pay and retain all the receipts. True Traveller

Posted 1 year ago

“I spoke to a very condescending and unhelpful sales representative and then on accidentally purchasing the wrong insurance was told there was nothing they could do.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Due to Data Protection Regulations, we cannot address this review specifically. However, in general terms, if you’re abroad and need travel insurance, you may take out cover with TT. When you apply, there are very large warnings shown stating that no refunds are available. Of course, there is the 14-day cooling off policy if travel has not commenced, which is available on all travel insurance sales, but when someone is abroad and cover starts immediately, then that 14-day period doesn’t apply. It's somewhat tricky to purchase travel insurance accidentally, as you need to choose where you are, the dates, input your personal details, and then your credit card details, and then go through all the credit card company checks as well. All telephone calls with us are recorded, as is announced on the call introductions and detailed in our Privacy Policy, and this call referred to in this review has been checked by our compliance department, who reported no concerns. The True Traveller Team

Posted 2 years ago

“Zero customer orientation - wanted to shorten travel insurance cover by two days and was told there was no cooling off period and changes are impossible to make. We're in the 21st-century guys. Wake up!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Mr Hoellein Thanks for your review. As we advised you at the time you booked your insurance, and subsequently, when people take out their insurance overseas, there's no cooling-off period. This is to prevent people using the insurance documents to evidence cover to immigration authorities, employers or tour companies, and then fraudulently try to cancel their insurance down, or have used their Insurance Documents to obtain medical treatment for free. You did have to specifically agree to this condition when you took cover out. To shorten your policy by 2 days would have made no difference to the premium in any event. The True Traveller

Posted 2 years ago

“AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Beware that if you need to make a claim, you will discover that your insurance is in fact held with a disingenuous Czech company, NOT a London based insurer as it appears unless you delve deep into the fine print. They will seek any excuse in the book not to reimburse you and when you debunk their excuses, they'll pull a different excuse out of the hat. I have had an ongoing policy with Truetraveller AKA Inter Partner Assistance S.A. of the Czech Republic since 2018 and had never made a claim until a couple of weeks ago. A lump appeared on my skin in Oct 2021 which was diagnosed by a doctor as a completely harmless cyst and that no further action was necessary. Fast-forward to May 2022 and I got the presumed cyst rechecked on the 14th May and the doctor gave the same diagnosis. I decided to get the presumed cyst removed for aesthetic purposes on the 21st May and the surgeon sent it to a lab for a histology report as per standard protocol. I collected the results from the lab on the 3rd June and to my horror, I discovered that it was in fact an extremely rare type of skin cancer. I immediately contacted an oncologist (first available appointment 6th June) who sent me for an MRI the same day. When I received the results of the MRI (8th June), I returned to the oncologist and who sent me to a surgeon the same day due to the urgency of the matter. The surgeon advised operating ASAP to remove the surrounding tissue where the previous excision occurred to prevent further invasion of the cancerous cells. According to the MRI, the cells were in contact with the muscle, if the operation were not performed in time, the cancer would invade the muscle. If muscle is removed, it does not regrow, so it would leave me with permanent mobility damage. The next day (9th of June) I underwent pre-surgery standard tests to ensure that I was fit enough to recover. All was fine, so the surgeon booked the surgery for the next available opportunity (12th June). I called Truetraveller AKA Inter Partner Assistance S.A. of the Czech Republic before surgery to inform them of the costs. The agent claimed that my condition didn't constitute a medical emergency, even though diagnosis to surgery was over a period of 9 days with a medical event every single day unless the next step was dependent on results of a test. He also bizarrely stated that "it was of course necessary to perform the operation as soon as possible" but at the same time said that it wasn't "necessary and urgent care" (email attached). The agent also advised that they would cover a flight home the next day. The shortest and cheapest flight available according to Skyscanner was £1,161 and with taxi, luggage and other costs added, this amount would exceed £1,500. A free flight home and free treatment on the NHS surrounded by my family would obviously have been my preferred option. However, the doctors had instructed urgency in operating and returning home would have cost valuable time and ran a high risk of further deterioration of my health. The cost of the surgery was approximately £2,400, so I logically proceeded with next day surgery on both a health and financial basis rather than taking a £1,500 trip home to begin the pre-surgery process again and risk the condition worsening during travel. I sent Truetraveller AKA Inter Partner Assistance S.A. of the Czech Republic a solid timeline of events with supporting evidence which proved the urgency of the matter. The response I received was disgusting (email attached). Zero tact or understanding (or feigned understanding). The response looks like a copy and paste template, not even addressing me by name. The policy states a list of pre-existing conditions that don't have to be declared at policy renewal inc. acne which is essentially an accumulation of cysts and much worse conditions such as diabetes and prostate and breast cancer. They will clutch at straws to find any excuse not to pay out genuine claims. I'd hate to imagine being in a place like the USA with this joke of a company as my insurer.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi There are times, unfortunately, where claims are denied. This customer has gone into a lot of detail about his claim, but we would like to clarify a couple of points. First off, our insurer is AXA, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, and are a French company. Inter Partner Assistance is one of the Underwriting companies in the AXA Group and are based in Belgium. The assistance service we use is AXA Assistance in the Czech Republic. AXA do not have an assistance service in the UK. We do state this clearly on our FAQ’s and on the Claims pages of our website. When you buy a travel insurance policy, you must declare any pre-existing conditions you may have. In our medical screening section, which you must complete when you buy a policy, it states the following: “You must declare any pre-existing medical conditions you may have. If you fail to declare any medical conditions, this may mean any claim you may need for medical treatment abroad may not be covered.” As this customer has stated in their review, a lump appeared on their skin in October 2021 which they received medical treatment for, and then they took out a new policy in January 2022. They elected not to declare this condition, so as a result AXA turned down the claim. Had they declared the condition, then the claim would have been met. We deal with AXA on an almost daily basis, and where there is possibly some ambiguity whether a claim should be paid or not, we always veer on the side of the customer. However, in this instance, it is a very clear decline, and we can only urge people when applying for travel insurance, from any company, to always declare all your medical conditions. This customer received a formal denial of his claim from AXA after a great deal of correspondence, and we have also written to them. Our paid claims ratio is well in above the industry average, and we really don’t like having to refuse a claim. However, premiums are solely based on claims paid out, and should we pay out on each claim even when it isn’t valid, would just mean increasing the prices for everyone. The True Traveller

Posted 2 years ago

“I had a terrible experience with this company, I was in a hospital in Mexico and they sent two guarantee letters to the hospital for my insurance so I could be seen and treated. The bill was coming to over $2,500, then after I had been seen and waiting for payment to be sorted to the hospital I was told on the phone I am not covered, I had endless arguments with them from 2am in the morning (this was when I was discharged from hospital after being on a antibiotic drip for 5 hours so I was exhausted and sick) to 9am in the morning, 7 hours!!! After endless arguments and stressful phones calls for 7 hours they confirmed they had made a mistake and then paid the $2,500 bill, this still took 1.30 hours after them agreeing they had made a mistake! The stress and discomfort this insurance put me though makes my stomach turn. They wasn’t going to pay out only I wouldn’t put the phone down and wouldn’t back down! I have never experienced a more frightening time and this insurance did not do there job correctly as I was sitting the the hospital not well, uncomfortable and scared for 7 hours after I had been discharged as they had made a mistake with the insurance!!! Bare in mind this was after them sending two guarantee letters confirming I was insured and the bill would be paid!! I will be looking into this with a solicitor as I am disgusted with the way I was treated!! I was left in a hospital with only 2 people who could speak a little English getting told I can’t leave untill I pay $2,500 as my insurance is not paying out!! After the guarantees letters had been sent. This was the insurances fault and it was one of the worst and scariest experience i had been through. Would not recommend.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Hi We were informed of this case by AXA Assistance, but due to medical confidentially issues we can’t go into any specific detail. However, we can explain how things work generally. True Traveller allows customers to take out their insurance when they’re already abroad, but no claims can be made within 48 hours to avoid fraudulent claims, unless it’s a serious injury caused by an accident, verifiable by an independent witness. We’re one of the very few insurers who allow this to be done. We do highlight these facts very robustly when people take out their policy online, but even so, we do have multiple examples where people take out insurance after something has happened, and as a result those claims are denied. If conflicting information comes to light where it looks like a claim may be fraudulent, then checks must be made to ensure that cases are handled properly. At the end of the day, customers premiums pay for claims, and if we were to start paying out for claims which weren’t genuine, then everyone would have to pay more. In this instance, the claim was paid in full. The True Traveller

Posted 2 years ago

“It was a really bad experience, especially since been buying policies from True Taveller many times. Made a genuine mistake on the policy bought, rang your office immediately (within an hour). Nothing was resolved. No flexibility whatsoever. Totally unacceptable.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Ms Chan Thanks for your review, and we're very sorry you found our service unacceptable. You purchased a policy for your son, and then later phoned us up asking for the policy to be cancelled, and when asked, you said he had already left the UK. Like all travel insurance policies, the 14-day cooling off period only applies as long as travel hadn't started. Our operator did ask you if you were sure that he had left, and to email in a copy of the e-ticket to demonstrate that he was still here. We never received anything from you. We are not able to cancel policies once travel as commenced, as unfortunately we have had experience of people taking out insurance to prove evidence of insurance to tour companies, employers or immigration agencies and then fraudulently try to cancel their insurance down or have used their Insurance Documents to obtain medical treatment for free. This is made very clear as part of the application process. Had you, as asked, provided evidence that your son had not travelled, then of course we would have been able to assist. The True Traveller

Posted 3 years ago

“Escaped covering me on an FCO wording technicality. Won’t give me my premium back as cancellation insurance essentially worthless. If the government says you can only go if essential then that isn’t enough. I chose carefully at the time expecting to be covered by alas no. I won’t be renewing. Buyer beware. They will try to wriggle out over any technicality.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Hi This customer booked a holiday and it was cancelled by the airline. Under those circumstances the airline refunded their money in full. They did initially contact us about a cancellation claim, and we did point this out to them that if flights are cancelled by the airline, it is the airline who arranges the refund. Cancellation cover on travel insurance covers you not being able to travel due to illness, redundancy etc. We also asked multiple times for details of the holiday to see if we could assist with anything, but nothing was forthcoming. The last contact we had with this customer was last October when they emailed in with the following: "You have been incredibly kind and lovely when you have such a difficult job. I know it isn't you who is making this difficult. Thank you for trying so hard - I really do feel you care. " So it wasn't an escape of not covering. It was the fact there wasn't a claim at all. The True Traveller

Posted 4 years ago

“I just wanted to make the TT team aware of my very negative experience with CEGA over the past 5 days. Not only has the team been extremely unresponsive, but any information that was shared was very misleading and contradicting. It felt like each person I spoke to told me something different. After spending c.1h on the phone each day, I ended up getting a contradictory reply last night about further assessment not being covered. I feel like this could have been communicated much earlier, more clearly, and could have avoided spending loads of time on the phone. Moreover I ended up booking a return based on the information that I would be able to see a specialist in Switzerland, only to subsequently receive a message saying I was no longer covered to see a specialist. I find such misleading communication very challenging in an emotionally tough time with a lot of pain and insecurity regarding my thumb injury. I just thought I would let the TT team know as no customer of theirs should be treated in this way and have to go through such an experience. I must say that this is likely the last time I will be booking TT insurance.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Hi This customer emailed us just before he posted this review. We didn't know anything about this claim at all, as we're only advised of very large claims as they happen. We do though state on our claims page for customers to contact us immediately if they feel they're not getting the service they should. CEGA has now contacted the customer so his thumb injury can be seen by a specialist on Monday. We have asked for a full review of the case and will share that with our customer when complete. The True Traveller

Posted 4 years ago

“Inefficient, dodgy and useless I´ve been insured by True Traveller for 3 years in a row, however I have never been successfully helped or reimbursed when needed (3 times, doctor´s bills, flights cancellations...). This company is dodgy, inefficient and useless. My recommendation is that after giving them 3 opportunities to simply go and get another insurance with anyone else than True Traveller.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Hello Jorge Thanks for your reviews. You have been in contact with us in the past regarding some very small medical claims, and you have always taken out our budget True Value Policy, which does have an excess (or deductible) of £125, so when a claim is under that amount, then yes, the claim is declined. On your most recent claims with us, one again was for a very small medical issue, and the other is that your airline cancelled your flights. Our claims service has asked for you for a medical report for your medical claim, which you haven’t provided. However, it’s a small claim anyway, so we have told them just to pay it straightaway. On your most recent policy you did zero down the excess, so that part will be paid in full. If an airline cancels your flights, which obviously is happening a lot recently due to Coronavirus, this isn’t something you can claim on travel insurance for. The airline, as per their conditions of carriage, must arrange an alternate flight for you, or provide a refund. The issue currently is that some airlines are only issuing vouchers for a refund valid for two years or so, and not cash. We do cover this off on our Coronavirus FAQ’s on our website and have been assisting customers who have had problems with some airlines. Had you had asked us for assistance on this occasion, then of course we would have helped or advised you what you needed to do, just like we have done on the two occasions in the past when you asked us for help. We answer all emails within 24 hours, 365 days of the year. We’re sorry you felt compelled to write reviews on multiple channels, and that now you think badly of us. The True Traveller

Posted 4 years ago

True Traveller is rated 4.8 based on 1,981 reviews