Columbus Direct Reviews 10,915

Really efficient and responsive. Dealt with my query immediately even though it was Saturday evening. Well done Columbus customer service.

When we did our policy we made an error on one name. I dealt with Tando and Raushan and they were AMAZING. They could not have been more helpful, professional and friendly. Long time since I have experienced such amazing service.

Policy N 501/450899

I had quite a frustrating experience getting the insurance quote and applying a discount.

The staff wasn't aware of how the corporate discount works which led to a few long clarification calls with the customer support team and eventually the burden was on me to provide the evidences and proofs of the corporate policies.

Which normally wouldn't be a huge problem - I knew they could process the refund later once the confusion is resolved but... :
1. The customer support team was adamant that I was wrong, despite my having two previous policies with them. I think they spent more time convincing me I was wrong instead of investigating the issue properly.
2. Sometimes it was hard to be aligned with the customer support team. For example, when I asked for a gesture of goodwill they told me "the promo discount is already a gesture of goodwill"... And then I was told I did not qualify for the promo code... So in their view, a promo code I don't qualify for is a gesture of goodwill? And that is just one example of a few.

Overall what led me to rate my experience as 3 stars is that I wondered how much trouble one would have to go through should they need to make a claim and meet such customer support agents

Quick to take your money - but claims are met with delay and obfuscation, keep changing the information they require just to delay processing the claim. Delays in replying to emails.
Don't bother ringing them 40+ minutes no answer. Promised call back, "We'll call you back as soon as possible" don't hold you breath, still waiting after 2 hours.
Don't touch them.
BTY Trustpilot's scoring system inflates their rating because 0 is not an option.

A very prompt reply to my emailed question. Thank you to Carlo.

Travel Insurance Claim - Ref: 587757

Ive just been told that "Your policy doesn't provide cover if you didn't seek the advice of a medical professional which confirms the necessity to cancel the trip."

Myself and my family were due to travel on Sunday 07/01/2024. My son and myself both fell ill that week and so on the Friday went to see our local surgery where we were both diagnosed with flu like symptoms. I was given a sick note to use should the need arise - which I duly attached to my claim.

We were still hoping to travel on the Sunday but unfortunately we did not recover in time for our trip.

The doctors surgery is closed on a Sunday, so we were unable to see a GP and anyway I assumed the sick note from the Friday would cover this.

Columbus Direct appear to be trying to trip me up on a vague technicality.

So, Im now having to try to sort all this out, myself with flu, whilst looking after a sick 11 year old boy.

Really great for travel insurance flight was delayed and got offered a lounge! Really easy and pleasing to use

Have had very poor service..travel insurance claim still not resolved after 10 months......communication is poor....emails are met with the sorry for the delay but all our claim handlers are busy. ie they do not employ enough claims handlers for their business. This is a shame because my medical recovery was handled very well.

I have been a customer of Columbus Direct for many years and have bought my travel insurance from them for nearly twenty years.
Yesterday I received an email from them letting me know that my policy was due to expire at the end of this month and that my new premium would be an increase of 250% on my current charge.
I have never claimed against my policy.
I queried this and was told (in a cut and paste email)that I am now in a different age group and that this justified the huge increase in the cost of the policy.
I know that age is a determining factor in calculating the cost of a policy but I cannot fathom how Columbus can justify such a massive increase.
A second email to them asking how their pricing system works was ignored and they sent me an email telling me that they were happy to have been able to resolve my issue.
I have, of course, cancelled renewal of my policy and have found several reputable companies who offer the same terms and conditions for about half the price that they quoted.

Needed to make a claim for not travelling due to Covid positive.
Spoke with customer service adviser who rudely told me that our policy had expired after 10 years of auto-renewal because 1. The card had expired and 2. it didn't go through. They say they sent an email. We did not receive it. So now we are insurance-less and out of pocket!
Explained why would we cancel after 10 years. Woman repeatedly just said we sent you an email even tho the claims team said regardless to process the claim!!!
RUBBISH! Happy to take money for all the years and now conveniently its expired!!!

I lost my passport 3 days before travel. The Passport Office was unable to help me. Columbus told me today that losing my passport was not grounds for reimbursement. I lost £800 that I couldn't afford to lose. I will not be using the company again. I waited a month for someone to contact me and then was told I was sent an email on August 18, but I never saw it. Thanks.

I was one of many affected by the hurriedly re-arranged flights from Sicily in July. I thought my policy covered curtailment for what the travel company described as an emergency. It did not. I assumed that cover for curtailment meant curtailment for all emergencies. Unfortunately it does not. I accept the onus is on the customer to read the policy conditions carefully, though for an issue as fundamental as the issue of curtailment, I think the onus should be on the insurers to make absolutely clear that curtailment emergencies are only those relating to personal accident or ill health.

My flight had got cancelled due to the airline having a supply issue. The flight was due out late evening and there was no more flights that evening. I was travelling with 3 children by myself and had to rebook my own flights the next day. I made a claim to Columbus Direct and provided the information requested only to be told that the reason of the airline not having a plane was not covered in the policy and was therefore not due any compensation!! Utterly disgraceful and disappointed. Will not be using them again.

I had travel insurance from Columbus Direct over the years for multiple trips including backpacking, single trip, annual cover. I have never had any problem with claim submission or to contact them- even when abroad and requested to call me back. They were so kind that even when contacted on one occasion, they advised me to attend hospital and they followed this up with a courtesy email few days after to check on me. Each time I followed my policy therefore I had no nasty suprises. I am giving a 5 star review as this year unfortunately I had to use my insurance for reimbursement of medical cost when in Bolivia which grew quickly following surgery. I claimed everything back and all costs were reimbursed after providing all documentation. The claim process was okay, lasted few weeks.

All seems fine until you actually try to submit a claim. Mine was a minor claim to do with delayed baggage. All claims first go into an AI that automatically declines claims in the first instance. Then you need to submit a request for the claim to be reviewed. The claim handlers are Collinson, who use untrained customer representatives who have no idea how to handle complex claims. Mine was not even a large value claim, just a minor amount - I shudder to think how large value or emergency claims would be handled!

I then asked for a complaint to be raised about the claim handling. I further called Columbus Direct and asked for my travel insurance to be cancelled. There was no complaint placed or follow-up, I heard absolutely nothing back about my complaint. This was highly unethical since I clearly asked for a complaint regarding claim handling to be handled by the complaints department. I did receive a response to say that my travel insurance had been cancelled. And then, the next month, I received an automatic renewal notice for my travel insurance! I can only say that this company is highly unethical, stay away from them at all costs. When I wrote to say that my complaint had not been handled, and that furthermore I had already cancelled my travel insurance - why had I received a notice for automatic renewal? I just received a form response to say it would not be renewed, and nothing more.

Insurance needs far better handling. Untrained call centres and AIs to reject all claims by default are not the way to go. Shame on you, Columbus Direct.

Appalling. Took out silver cover with cancellation cover up to £3000. Our flights were cancelled due to a fire at Catania airport. Apparently we weren’t covered for this type of cancellation, so they make sure they don’t pay out due to the small print. What’s the point in insurance if it doesn’t cover you when needed?? We ended up having to travel to a different airport for a flight home 2 days later, all in a heatwave with children. Travel insurance that doesn’t cover you really adds to the stress in these situations!! WILL NOT BE USING AGAIN. AVOID!!!!

Excellent service
Thank you

I went down with Covid19 four days before flying out to Rhodes. My wife tested positive 2 days later. We decided that we should not travel following advice from our doctor. We notified Columbus Direct despite both feeling terribly unwell and were advised to collect evidence from the airline and hotel which we did.
Columbus direct then spent the next two months asking for information which we sent them and then repeating the requests.
Two and a half months later they refused our claim. This was on the basis that we should have forwarded the Lateral Flow Tests to the NHS Services using one of their lateral flow test kits in order for them to send you an acknowledgement letter confirming the positive test result.
This service which had been provided by the NHS had ceased 6 days before our flight and was no longer available. You might have thought a holiday insurance company would have known this.
We had phoned our doctor when we first tested positive and were advised that people with Covid19 should not attend face to face consultation unless requiring emergency treatment. We had a e-consult with our doctor and also sent daily pictures of our lateral flow test results from the day first detected up to the day we were both tested negative. Our doctor provided a letter to Columbus Direct to this effect.
We also offered Columbus Direct copies of all the Lateral Flow Tests to prove that we were ill over the period of our flights and the start of the holiday.
Columbus Direct did not want to see these.
On the 29th of June Columbus Direct again reviewed our case and refused it.
I felt that we had done enough to prove our case and that Columbus Direct had not understood the changes in NHS testing facilities or the fact that NHS surgeries would not provide face to face consultations.
On 30th June we raised a claim with the Small Claims Court with all the details of our claim and correspondence. This was due for Columbus Direct to reply by the 2nd August after they requested more time.
On the 24th July Columbus Direct accepted our claim WITHOUT PREJUDICE and offered to pay the claim and associated costs.
Three and a half months of worry and hard work to make the case for the court. Columbus Direct paying not only the full claim but also the Court and associated costs.
Was it worth it - what do you think?
Will I ever use Columbus Direct again - what do you think?

It is better to trust independent reviews before purchasing an insurance, which I ignored. Luckily nothing bad happened, but this was a very unpleasant experience. After purchasing a single trip insurance, which listed all travellers, one transaction, I was put through to register our flights. In case of a flight delay key to a lounge is issued. A note somewhere during the registration process stated that there could be up to four people accepted to the lounge. Not to mention that the message came at night and waked me up. I started getting worried about the flight.
We showed this key to the lounge receptionist, after queuing for a while, who informed us that this was not treated as a booking, the lounge was fully booked and the only option was their waiting list (30-40 min.). Other people with the same keys hearing this answer left.
We were patient. Finally we were invited to the lounge where we joined another queue. Lounge receptionist this time stated that only one person was assigned to this key. They saw it happening before. They were not interested that it was the same policy nor number of people listed in the insurance. We tried to contact the insurance company by phone, by online chat, however it was weekend and both were not available. Since we had already spent so much time and efforts. We were exhausted and hungry to look for another place we paid for other members. The company apologised for this unpleasant experience and refused to refund the cost. They explained by emails that everyone had to be added and that you would get keys for each person and not a key. By the time we got to the lounge we did not have time to enjoy the lunch. The lounge is nothing expected, very OVERPRICED with little food variety of spiced food provided and cheap alcohol.

I put in a claim for a flight missed due to unforseen delayed ferrie. Because i booked myslef on another flight within 12 hours of my missed flight they would not cover the flight change cost..... this makes no sense and is not in my ploicy. so Basically, you just don't cover flights?