Cedar Tree Reviews 

Purchased a travel insurance policy online, but required to update some newly diagnosed medical conditions after visiting my GP. I contacted Cedar Tree by phone, and spoke to Mikhala (one of the agents). She was understanding, caring, helpful, and professional. The service provided was excellent, and I will happily buy again from Cedar Tree in the future.

Spencer was brilliant throughout our call. He was extremely patient and understanding. I’d say a good representation of the company

Fast efficient service, and when I had a problem it was sorted out straight away by Sofia. Thank you

I bought our holiday insurance a while ago, when we booked, but had to change our dates and destination. I called to change the details and was helped by Diexter. He changed everything very efficiently and sent new documents. All done in 5 minutes and at no extra cost.
Happy customer :)

I had to make a change to a medical declaration the day before my insurance started. I spoke to a lovely polite man, who was very helpful in assisting me with my query. The phone was answered promptly without having to go through a thousand options to get me to the right place. It did not cost me anything to amend my insurance which is for travel. It made everything stress free, and I have peace of mind that should anything happen, I am covered. Everything was explained clearly and easy to understand, it took a whole of 5 mins to amend and accept the change. Great customer service.

Susie was extremely helpful and solved all my problems for me.
Answered the phone in less than 15 seconds.
Pleasure to deal with and I will definately use them again.

Absolutely stunning customer service from Anca. Polite, informative & efficient. Wanted to add a cruise onto an already existing annual cover & it was very easy. All road great experience. Thankyou

Dexter was very informative and helpful.
Was very patient with me and made sure that I fully understood everything. I couldn’t expect anything more
Many thanks
Debbie Robertson

When I e-mailed Cedertree with a query their response was prompt, courteous and efficient.

I insured for trip but experienced issues so had to raise complaints really exhausting as they don’t resolve, very hard faced. You phone their complaint team who, say they will help, take your info, keep you on hold then say you will get a call but never do. There are many vulnerable customers who need one to one attention. But not here.
I got negligent service so had to contact my bank which they they should have contacted me to warn me of potential policy cancellation but didn’t. The issue was still with bank but I got a call from underwriter about recovery for a medical claim, I still haven’t had any update,of the payout confirmation, been asking for weeks.
I have cancelled the complaint with bank and offered to pay the premium to protect the claim still valid , but they keep fobbing me off on the phone no response to my emails.my solicitor has advised to pay them despite my complaint being valid. ,They hinted at something underhand which is awful and an outright lie.
Like either everyone else they are lying, about me contacting them ,contacted on phone several times, but they failed to note it now blame the customer ,suggests dishonesty. On their part.
They are using very intimidating , threatening tactics .
Would not recommend them ever, won’t be using this company again ever or its affiliated . It’s been months now and several complaints later they do this.
Very dishonest response inaccurate misleading .
Avoid them and take legal action as FOS is collusive
They do this to everyone it’s obvious by the negative. But honest , very consistent reviews on here they are the common denominator and wholly abuse their customers. I wish I had read the reviews before getting scammed by these vile unscrupulous people.
Very aggressive business practice corporate bullying and shambolic service, in my experience

Appalling. I have been waiting for the my money to be returned to my account and despite calling a number of times and sending endless emails, I still have not received it. When I call they ask the same questions over and over and are absolutely awful at emails, I’ve never had a response unless it’s automated or a simple one line question which after replying, they don’t get back to you anyway! Weeks back I called for an update and the person on the phone asked me question after question about if I’ve sent this form and that form and when I said yes to every single question, she said she can’t see anything wrong her end and that they’d process it. Still nothing today and called last week or the week before to follow up and guess what, STILL nothing! I honestly don’t understand what the issue is and why I have to keep chasing? Do the managers of these people not follow up or make sure they’re working and doing their jobs properly?

We had to cancel our holiday due to mother in law being diagnosed with a terminal illness. We contacted customer support to make a claim. They were helpful and advised of all the necessary documents we needed to submit, which we duly did. A week later we received an email asking for supplementary health questions regarding my MIL. We contacted customer support again and were told they were sent to us in error and ignore, instead we needed to sign another declaration and again were assured that we had submitted all the required documentation. Another week passed and we were now told that bank statements were required as further proof of payment of holiday although we had already submitted the travel company cancellation invoice which originally we were told would be sufficient. We submitted bank statements and then were told it would be a further 10 days before being reviewed again. After having spent hours during this process trying to get through to customer service at a very stressful and difficult time for the family as MIL sadly passed, we requested to speak to a manager to discuss the claim delays. We were informed that no manager was currently available but would call us within 48 hours. We received no call! We’ve phoned customer service yet again and have been informed our claim still needs to be approved and can take up to a further 10 days!!
UPDATE received another email today requesting further information from us. Phoned customer service again! and have been informed another error on their behalf as we have already submitted the requested information some 4 weeks ago. Still have not received any call back as requested. Very inefficient! WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.

Extremely Disappointing Experience – No Support When We Needed It Most

We took out a “travel insurance” policy with Cedar Tree believing it would protect our family in the event of unexpected disruption. Unfortunately, when our return flights from Sri Lanka were cancelled due to conflict in the Middle East, we received absolutely no support.

We were left stranded overseas with two small children, facing enormous stress and uncertainty. To make matters worse, because it was the weekend, there was no one available to speak to about what to do next. No emergency assistance, no guidance — nothing. We had no choice but to purchase new flights home at significant additional cost.

After returning home, Cedar Tree refused to reimburse the cost of the replacement flights. The whole experience has left us feeling that the policy was mis-sold and did not provide the protection we were led to believe it would. At a time when we were vulnerable and needed urgent assistance, they were completely absent.

I would strongly advise others to carefully review the small print before purchasing a policy here. Our experience was deeply disappointing and incredibly stressful for our family.

IN REPLY to comment::

Thank you for your quick response.

I would like to clarify that I did attempt to seek assistance at the time, however when calling the 24/7 number it was advised that it was for medical emergencies only. This left me in an extremely difficult position, as there was no practical support available despite the urgency of the situation. In the circumstances we were facing, clear and accessible guidance was crucial, and unfortunately that was not my experience.

While I appreciate that the policy has paid a small amount under the delayed arrival section, this does not begin to address the significant additional costs we incurred. The airline was unable to reroute us within an acceptable timeframe and did not provide a viable alternative, which left us with no realistic option but to purchase replacement flights ourselves at a substantially higher cost. By that point, prices had escalated considerably due to the ongoing disruption.

I understand your position regarding the airline’s responsibility. However, as a policyholder, I reasonably believed that my travel insurance would provide meaningful support in circumstances such as these particularly during a major international conflict causing widespread disruption. Instead, I have been left approximately £3,000 out of pocket despite acting responsibly and in good faith to return home safely.

I await your formal response to my complaint. I sincerely hope this matter is reviewed thoroughly, as my experience has been both financially and emotionally distressing, and far from what I understood “travel insurance” to provide

Update:

Thanks for your reply. However, I remain disappointed with this service. This rule sits uneasily with the fact that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond, recognising the significant health benefits for both parents and children. Penalising new parents for routine but temporary breastfeeding issues seems disproportionate, especially when other insurers I contacted do not apply a premium for resolved mastitis beyond six months.

I hope you might consider reviewing your approach so that new parents are not discouraged from breastfeeding or penalised for short-term health issues.

Original review:
Have been a customer for years and went to renew my policy as usual. I was shocked to find that because I had mastitis during my breastfeeding journey 8 months ago, an additional £94 was added to our policy that already cost £300. Mastitis is a very common and temporary condition that had fully resolved months ago, so it's bizarre to be penalised for it.

Because of this experience, we will not be renewing and will also be advising friends and family to look elsewhere. Punishing new mums for a common breastfeeding issue is unacceptable.

Easy to get a quote. The workmen came on time were very professional and pleasant. They did an excellent job and cleared away all the mess leaving everywhere tidy.
I would highly recommend this company.

Make sure you read their policies very carefully. Whilst you would expect travel disruption to be a core part of a travel insurance policy, Cedar Tree does not cover additional travel costs in the case of a train/flight cancellation unless you buy an 'add-on'.

Wish we'd read these reviews before purchasing. Trying to speak to a human on the phone is so difficult and then it's hard to make a meaningful claim without an absurd amount of red tape and hoops to jump through compared to other providers we've had to deal with over the years. It takes FOREVER. We will now look to cancel our annual policy as a result

I usually take an annual travel insurance based on the quotes, this has been the second time from Cedartree. I am not into gadgets etc so my main interest/focus is always on medical cover.
Earlier this month I had injured my knee (ligament tear) while holidaying on African island; this is/was my first experience of needing medical help abroad ever.
I couldn't really easily identify the what-to-do process, hence I sent the email to what turned out to be sales team :D They answered back with some helpful links (thank you!), I followed, requested a phone consultation with the doctor in UK (sort of must-do even when no point), got told to go to local clinic. Few more calls over next few days and bit of chaos as well as some lack of support and lack of right decisions; either way, I visited the local clinic twice and paid just my access fee, everything else was covered. I made it back home and claimed back for extra transport I had to use and got back answer withing their 10 days SLA, followed by the payment in full into my account well in their SLA as well.

Overall, given I take travel insurance for medical cover, positive experience. Processes could be better and friendlier given the stress one goes through in given situation and it would also be good if the first-contact responders were easily understandable.
However, it does feel weird to be writing review for Cedartree as their medical cover seems to be provided by Axa and hence the review is (mostly) for them I guess...?

Update 7 months later: I am taking 2 stars off as for the last month, I keep getting the chasing from the abroad clinic - it seems their invoice was never paid by my cover. I find that stressful and nasty - next time, someone like me might not be able to afford a medical help as clinic will not believe the cover anymore. I also feel sorry for them as they truly were very helpful :(

We have held travel insurance with Cedar Tree for 8 years and only needed to raise a claim this year. Hospitalisation was needed following a seizure mid-flight. I had never suffered a seizure before, had been well and had clearance to travel. On contacting Cedar Tree we were advised that all medical costs needed to be covered by us as the policy works on a reimbursement basis. The incident happened in Sep 25, it is now Dec 25 and despite providing receipts, medical discharge summaries, and past medical history the review of my case still has not happened.

On calling the team this morning, they say that the correct internal processes have not been triggered and will now be actioned. This has been a consistent theme: the local administrator abroad was not appointed, and the initial request for medical history were both not done at the point of the incident, with the same reason being given.

I will not be renewing, and I have today asked the Ombudsman for it's support.

I would avoid relying on Cedar Tree for medical assistance if you: do not have significant funds to cover medical costs whilst abroad, or need to rely on those funds to be reimbursed in a reasonable amount of time.

It was too good experience with this site.