Essential Travel Reviews 

WARNING !!!!!!

Be very careful using this company for scuba cover you could well take out ‘Scuba Travel Insurance’ that according to the advisor does NOT cover scuba diving.

See the screen shots – it clearly states you need extra cover for 30m – 50m which is fine however if you select Sports Grades 2 which clearly states scuba diving to a maximum of 30m according to the adviser you have no scuba cover. You have to select additional cover where the only option is up to 30m unqualified which then doubles the quoted premium.

To my mind this is wholly misleading and very dangerous.

Had what I thought was a perfectly valid travel cancellation claim rejected as it was caused by a strike. They would not even refund the premium despite my son not being able to travel. I would not recommend this company if you are looking for travel insurance.

None of the things I tried to do worked. Sucked big time.

Their website doesn't work, impossible to renew travel insurance online, twenty minutes later I'm on hold, listening to Queen.. This mob is chaotic, unprofessional & I have no confidence in how they would handle any queries. The "consultant" tried to give me evasive answers to my questions - including their price - and I found them extremely hard to deal with, high pressure sales techniques, etc.

There is nothing to say its just nice insurance.

I have been with Essential for at least 5 years and have always used their Annual Worldwide Superior Insurance for me and my wife. Every year I receive an email asking me to renew my insurance offering me an excellent rate (£75.37 in April 2013). This year I did not receive my renewal email and my policy lapsed so I contacted Essential Travel at the end of April 2014 only to find that their insurance side has been taken over. The lady on the phone quoted me the same insurance at £186. No discount for loyal customer and when I queried this she told me that many people had the same problem when phoning. Obviously this company does not wish to keep its loyal customer base.

I have had nothing but bad experiences with Essential Travel / White Horse Administration for my travel insurance. I have tried to claim twice, once for a stolen bag and another time for damage to clothing and loss of a bag by tour operator. Both times they either refused to pay out, citing small print that I swear wasnt there before, or made so many deductions for wear and tear and excess that I was left with nothing - loss and damage to items totalling £600 I received £39 for... I think I have spent more on calling their premium rate numbers!! Dont be fooled by a cheap price, its not worth it. This is NOT a new for old policy, and there are excess amounts payable on each ITEM not claim. I'm just glad I never had to clsim for anything serious e.g. medical as I dread to think how they would treat this... nightmare load of paperwork too and so many hoops to jump through.
I wish I'd never bought the policy

Extremely cheap and a great amount of cover, highly recommended.

Premium phone numbers & you'll be kept waiting. I initially called the number advertised on the webpage. Told this was not the correct number & given another number. Tried this only to be told another number. Told that this was also incorrect and given the original number that I called. So back to the start. The chap I got (Grant?) was more helpful than the others. Gave me all info I needed and emailed me correct policy details. Just hope that I do not have to call the company in an emergency but Grant was helpful so opinion of company gets a few positive marks. Policy for me & my wife is expensive as we declared medical conditions.

Excellent service the booking procedure was really easy to follow

I renewed my holiday travel policy after a prompt from ET. I did not receive any confirmation of the new policy. I tried to contact the company with a negative result. I checked that payment had left my bank. It had. I tried to contact ET. Again with a negative result. I then phoned Citizens advice,then the insolvency service to see if the company was still trading. I emailed the firm & repeatedly tried to phone only to be held .for unacceptable time. i then managed to get through to an adviser who told me that somebody had miss pelt my email address. They did then email me my new policy with a promise of a hard copy through the post. This i have yet to receive.

Off to Dallas again third year running. Have Type 1 diabetes and they cover all my needs. Plus it reassures my Mum!!

Seemed to be easy to do, had previously bought annual travel insurance from them on line. There was a bit of confusion as the site stated that we did not need medical screening. As this has always been needed I proceeded to do that and was charged an additional sum. This has happened in other years, but this time the premium and the extra for an existing medical condition were lumped together and taken twice. I only realised when I got my bank statement.
My bank's advised that I phoned Essential Customer services, they did refund the duplicate payment the next day.
How good they are if a claim is made, I do not know as luckily I have not had to do so.

it was easy and cheap best site ive found

Purchased travel insurance easy to book. Fortunately did not have to make a claim so no idea how good the service would be in the event of a claim. Claiming is the proof of the quality of service ect.

This website made the mundane task of sorting insurance out very simple indeed. I selected my choices, was offered it at a great price and immediately received confirmation of my policy. Have used them before and would recommend them to anybody.

I would recommend this site to friends and family it is good value for money we use this every time we go on holiday and have never been disappointed

I found essential travel insurance ideal for my requirements short trips or longer holidays are catered for easy to arrange and good prices I would recommend this company for all your travel needs

Very simple to book, though have not travelled yet and cannot comment on their claims procedures.