VIVA Travel Reviews 29

I saw a holiday to Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm on Secret Escapes and decided to book through them. I was given a quote of £1598.00 for two people. I was then contacted by Viva Holidays and was then told that the holiday was going to cost £1948.00 and was led to believe I was getting upgrades for the extra money. When I checked after getting all the confirmation emails I found that there was no difference in what I had been quoted for originally. I contacted Viva Holidays this morning and asked why there was a price difference. All I was told was that the price was the higher amount and that was what I had to pay with no explanation as to why they were different. I believe I was miss sold this holiday and it has cost me an extra £400.00 and there is no possibility of cancellation without forfeiting my deposit of £788.00.
Please be aware of booking with this company as they seem to be adding costs for services that were already included in the original quote from Secret Escapes. I would not use this company again. This was intended to be a special trip for my wife’s birthday so and it is to be a surprise so I can’t even tell her about it.
Do not use Viva travel if you can help it when I phoned this morning the staff I spoke to did not seem bothered in the slightest and just said”The price is the price “.

My Wife was dehydrated on holiday in Egypt had to have a drip fed in arm, sent all the relevant paperwork in. Still not heard anything keep saying its waiting to be reviewed

Very poor service . Fobbed off for 2 months regarding a 24 hour flight delay which cost us one nights accommodation and one day's car rental plus us having to travel for 5 hours on a coach to a different airport for a flight out the next day - they refused my claim because the flight was cancelled by the airline due to "operational reasons " and Viva recon that tucked away somewhere in the small print they fo not cover these instances !

Firstly I received a very competative quote and then when I had to cancel a couple of days before travel (within 14 days of booking) - I was delighted to receive a full refund within minutes of actioning the cancel policy. I was disappointed that I was not going away but this certainly helped me not to feel so bad - I will definately use them again for any future holidays - Thank you

Don't use this company . I'm still waiting for an answer that was meant to arrive Friday ...of a month to ago. After chasing because no reply to any email or acknowledgement of paperwork received . Now my claim has been open for almost 3 months and no one know anything.
I would give a 0 if I could . Definitely not using again

Do not use this company. My trip involved the death of a person who I tried to save. The service has been utterly appalling. No recognition of the paperwork being recieved. My time spent chasing up - I must have called 20 times. Last phone-call they said due to the case being a 'sensitive' matter they would call the next day - a member of the specialist team. That was over a week ago. Terrible company.

Avoid this insurance company at all costs. My mother fell and broke her wrist and arm while on holiday in Spain and the ambulance took her to the local public hospital 50 miles from where we were staying . She’s 80 years old and was very distressed. We were told that she needed an operation so I contacted VIVA and asked for her to be moved to a private hospital nearer to our hotel. The accident happened at 11am and at 2pm I was able to provide VIVA with the medical report from the hospital supporting my request. Despite VIVA telling me at 6pm that their medical team had agreed to the request, they waited until 10.10pm before telling me that the private hospital had closed at 10pm and that nothing could be done until the morning. I had emailed and rung them every hour since 6pm but they kept blaming other people for the delay. They had no intention of moving my mother. We had to leave her alone in a strange place on a busy, noisy, open ward. Fortunately the hospital staff were very kind and agreed that my mother could be released and fly home on condition that she went straight to hospital on return to the UK. This company is a disgrace and should never be allowed to be advertised on comparison websites!! I’m now wasting my time chasing them for reimbursement of travel costs incurred travelling back and forth to the hospital as well as prescription charges. The claim and supporting evidence has been submitted but apart from an automated message they do not reply and I doubt very much that we’ll get a reimbursement. Please do not buy a policy with this company because if something happens and you need support they will not help you.

AVOID - AVOID - AVOID

PLEASE - DO NOT TAKE OUT ANY TRAVEL INSURANCE WITH VIVA

Whilst away in Kos, I woke up one morning with memory loss, I did not know where I was or why I was there, I fortunately did recognise my wife, who immediately took me to the hospital. The hospital immediately done all of the tests that they were able to do including MRI scan, but the neurologist said that I needed to be immediately flown by air ambulance to Athens, where they could investigate more.
My wife was obviously having to deal with all of this awful situation as I had amnesia.
She contacted Viva, who asked many questions, they were sent the neurologist report and recommendations for me to be flown to Athens by air ambulance, but they then did nothing. She phoned them many times and they said it would be around six hours before they could respond.
I was taken to hospital around 10.00am, at approximately 2.00pm I started to remember small things, I had no idea why I was in hospital or any recollection of that morning whatsoever. The hospital had taken me to room, put me on a drip, taken blood samples, given me medication, MRI scan etc. and were wonderful.
It was an absolutely awful experience for my wife to deal with.
At 10.00pm that night, Viva had still not contacted my wife, so she phoned them again to see what was happening, they then said that they wanted a second opinion before they could confirm for me to be flown to Athens.
By this time my memory was getting better, I could remember the previous day, but absolutely nothing about that morning.
I then made the decision to discharge myself from the hospital and not bother with Viva as it was now obvious that the company VIVA IS A COMPLETE SCAM.
The neurologist report stated that I may have suffered a stroke and I needed immediate transport to Athens by air ambulance .. Viva did nothing but delay and ignore everything that my wife was trying to do for me.
I am now back at home in the UK and so grateful for what the small hospital in Kos and my wife done for me .. But I am so angry about the the way that VIVA DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help.

I hope this review goes some way into letting people know just how bad this company is ..

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE .. AVOID USING THIS COMPANY ..

One price officially sent to you by email, double the price when you arrive to pay at the agency. They will even try to convince you that those calculations don't count, even though they offer the option to pay online. What would have happened if I had paid online? Manager Olivera—an uneducated, rude woman who has no idea how to work with clients. She keeps repeating like a parrot that the mistake is not theirs or their untrained staff’s, but the system’s. As if the system isn't controlled by people. Terrible experience, avoid them at all costs.

I've just got travel insurance with this company and now wish I hadn't after reading reviews 🙃
Fortunately I'm sacking it and getting a much better one! Don't do what I did, always read reviews first! More fool me eh?

Please do not use this travel insurance company, if I could give a 0 star I wound but the minimum is 1. They will take your premium with grace but if you have to claim then forget it, because they make it impossible. They say they’re regulated by the FCA but it’s not true they are regulated in Gibraltar and you will need to call their if a problem occurs and we all know what they are up to.
They cleverly call themselves Viva hoping people will think Aviva who are excellent. So please do not use Viva for your own good.

Wanted clarification before I took out a policy. Was on hold for 35 minutes, then gave up. If they can’t answer a phone call, would I trust them with my insurance? NO!!

This company is a SCAM! Don't touch it.
I have bought travel insurance with them and had my flight cancelled. They made excuses not to accept the claim, telling me I had abandoned the trip. By their logic, I should've stayed at the airport for three days until the next flight was available so they could approve the cover.
Luckily I was not in a serious situation as otherwise my child and I would really be suffering and would be unsupported by this SCAM agency!

We rented a place in Potos, Thasos. We specifically asked to rent a place with parking space for 3 persons. When we arrived there was only public parking space 150m from our room and apartment was really small and for two persons not three. They only put one more bed, but the rest of the supplies (towels, stools, bed covers) nothing for the third person. Toilet was clogged and resident manager was not there the whole time, so you don’t have anybody to ask for something that you need and it’s normal to already be there in the room. So if we were camping we would have a lot better conditions then here.

I regret purchasing Viva Travel Insurance for my recent trip, and my experience with their service has been nothing short of frustrating. From the outset, it seemed promising with their extensive coverage claims and competitive pricing. However, when it came to delivering on their promises, they fell woefully short.

I had to file a claim after the airline lost my luggage. Following their procedures meticulously, I submitted all the required documents and expected a prompt response. Instead, I found myself in a bureaucratic nightmare.

It has been 8 weeks since I lodged my claim, and I am still waiting for a resolution. Despite numerous follow-ups via email and phone calls, I’ve received nothing but generic responses and empty reassurances that my case is "being reviewed." The lack of transparency and communication is incredibly frustrating. Each interaction with their customer service feels like I'm talking to a brick wall – they provide no concrete updates or timelines, just the same recycled lines over and over.

I am very concerned at how poorly my claim for healthcare for illness, while on holiday, is being dealt with by VIVA. I took out a Gold Policy with them.
I started my claim mid January. It’s not an easy process re the information they require ; however all this was sent to them by mid February.
I am still waiting on my claim being settled. All I get in the way of communication is when I ask for an update ; the reply is always the claim is being reviewed.
It’s beyond my understanding why a straightforward claim would take this long to be reviewed and settled.
I have made a formal complaint to them and will take the matter further with the Financial Ombudsman if necessary and through another avenue.
I would definitely not recommend using this company.

Do not buy travel insurance from this company. It takes them 2 weeks to respond to each email, the delays are disgusting. I’m still waiting for my claim from 2nd October. Totally rubbish - Avoid !!

Took their premium insurance out, to make sure we would be covered for everything! What a joke!!!! We had booked accommodation in France and booked flights with Ryanair. Our flights got cancelled the day before we was due to travel because of french air strikes. Couldn't get through to insurance because it was after 5pm so had to wait till 9am following morning to be told:- download claims form, which we did and sent it back straight away. Got a claims no. off them so thought everything was going through. After many telephone calls we got an email confirming we would be paid out, only to then get an email the following day to say they had made a mistake and we wasn't covered because it was classed as abandonment and that's only covered starting on the day you are due to depart. DO NOT BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!! We even went through there complaints system and had no joy!!!!! Read the small print!!!! It says you covered for cancellation and abandonment but when you read small print it only applies at certain times.

what a joke, total incompetent's - i upgraded to their premium policy hoping this would speed thing up in the event of a claim, what a load of rubbish took me 3 months to get £300 back and wow how many hoops we had to jump through.
Mark R

absolute scam
had to cancel our cruise, my son diagnosed with cancer, they will not pay out
most unprofessional company out there
wish I had have paid for better
gutted they are getting away with it

avoid avoid avoid
no one talks to you scam scam scam

Iwould leave no stars if i could