Truly awful. I have been trying to renew my annual travel insurance policy online. The Portal is not fit for purpose and kicked me out over a dozen times whilst trying to renew the policy. Phoned cust... See more
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5weeks and still waiting an answer on a simple claim re bereavement cancellation. Issue appears to be with their "agent" Collisons. Wont be buying from them again.
I've been a customer of Columbus for many years. This year, for the first time I had to make a claim due to a travel delay and missed flights out of my control. The claims process did require th... See more
Communication quite poor. Any queries while overseas must be made to a UK phone number. There is no option to make contact through WhatsApp or email, despite the info pack saying email is an option.... See more
Company replied
Company details
- #66 of 66 best companies in Travel Insurance Company
- #222 of 223 best companies in Insurance agency
Information provided by various external sources
Columbus is one of the UK's leading Travel Insurance providers. Established in 1988, we were the first company to sell travel insurance direct to the consumer, cutting out the middle man and saving our customers up to 60% in the process. Over 20 years on we have covered over 15 million travellers all around the world. We put our customers first and have won multiple awards for our cover and customer service including the ITIJ Travel Insurance Intermediary of the year award and also the Best Travel Insurance Provider from the Personal Finance Awards.
Why choose Columbus Direct?
Written by the company
- Great value travel insurance
- Columbus provides great value travel insurance and award winning customer service. With single trip cover starting at just £2.69 and annual policies from £22.
- Flexible cover
- With 3 levels of cover to choose from; Bronze, Silver or Gold - you are bound to find a policy to suit your needs.
- Excellent Benefits
- Columbus policies offer a wide range of benefits including up to £15 million emergency medical expenses, 24hr English speaking assistance service, cancellation cover up to £5,000, cover for lost, stolen or damaged baggage up to £2,500. Plus kids go free on all family annual policies.
14 day money back guarantee
Not happy with your policy? It's not a problem with our money back guarantee...
If, having examined your policy documentation, you decide the insurance does not meet your needs, you can cancel the insurance within 14 days from the date you receive the policy documentation, and we will refund the premium provided you have not taken a trip to which the insurance applies, and you have not made a claim.
Contact info
Cutlers Exchange, 123 Houndsditch, EC3A 7BU , London
- 0800 068 0060
- customer.service@columbusdirect.com
- www.columbusdirect.com
2.3
Poor
11k reviews
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Avoid for annual multi cover
Airline A cancelled the flight. Rebooked myself with different Airline B. Airline A has already admitted that they compensate for cancelled flight. Claimed Columbus for the new flights with Airline B. Columbus trying not to pay basis ‘you need to provide reason of cancellation from Airline A’. This is absurd because no airline will provide specific reason, unless it something they are insured against themselves. So, will be moving away from Columbus and will check new insurance which actually is adequate cover annually.
20 May 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Hi Danny. Sorry to hear that your experience with us has not been to your satisfaction.
It is normal for travel insurance policies to only provide cover for cancelled flights for specific reasons. Therefore, to validate a claim, it is necessary to get confirmation of that reason. The EU261 passenger rights mean that airlines do have to give a reason for delays or cancellations as this will determine whether they have to reimburse you just for the delay/cancellation or compensate you as well. This is the type of evidence that most travel insurers would require for a claim to be covered.
We would be sorry to lose you as a customer, but we would always recommend that people buy the cover that is right for them and meets their needs. Travel insurance providers, including us, try to give our customers as much information about the product as possible and are available to answer any questions about the policies if asked about the cover.
Appalling customer service
Appalling customer service. Went on holiday 3 months ago and ended up in hospital and since then I have been repeatedly asked for the same information that I have sent already (in some cases already sent documents twice and am still been asked to send again as they are saying I haven’t sent the info yet). Still not processed my claim and it’s been over 2 and a half months since first contact, no talk of payments yet.
Would recommend going elsewhere as these lot are not worth the hassle, I know making insurance claims can be a lengthy process but this is truly taking the mick (for lack of better words).
26 July 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Thank you for taking the time to raise your concerns.
We've asked Trustpilot to reach out to you to get details that would help us locate this case so it can be investigated, and hopefully resolved for you.
Beware
I thought that using a specialist travel insurance company was a good thing. I had a text to say that our flights to Catania were cancelled due to the fire in the airport. I contacted the tour operator and also Columbus for advice as to where we stand and what we should do so that we do the right thing. First I called the claims line and I was sent a text with a link to the website to make a claim and they hung up the call. I then called the number for customer services. They told me I wasn't covered for the fire and to contact the claims team. When I explained that I had and they hung up before I could speak to a person they were equally unhelpful. So far as I can see, I have paid for a high level policy that doesn't cover me for cancelled flights through no fault of my own. The airline will refund the flights but I will still have to pay for the hotel.
20 July 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.
We are very sorry that you did not receive the assistance required when contacting us. We appreciate this would have been a frustrating time for you and the lack of clear guidance and explanation from us would have been disappointing.
Following your posting of this review, we have arranged for our claims team to reach out to you to apologise and also to see what assistance can be provided. We understand that you've now had confirmation that you'll receive all of your money back from the travel provider.
Given your experience, we have logged a complaint on your behalf. Our team will investigate the matter and contact you directly with the findings.
Good experience and quick resolving an…
Good experience and quick resolving an issue on my booking. Excellent and quick reply. Appreciate
15 July 2023
Unprompted review
first time using this company and will…
first time using this company and will certainly be the last. Paid extra for a Gold single trip package with no excess, Flight was cancelled and we ended up having to spend a day flying to a UK mainland airport from Jersey, hanging around the airport all day until we were put on another flight to Belfast late at night, phoned to make a claim for the cancelled flight and have been told that because we were delayed less than 12 hours we are not entitled to any compensation, I would have thought a 10 hour delay was long enough to warrant compensation.
11 July 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Thank you for taking the time to give feedback. We're sorry to hear of the difficulties you had on your return journey home, and appreciate that this must have been a very frustrating time for you.
Travel insurance provides a wide range of cover, but does come with terms and conditions that allow the product to be sensibly priced. The biggest risk faced by customers when travelling is incurring thousands of pounds of medical treatment costs. If we provide cover for all of the risks faced by customers, the cost of travel insurance could become a barrier for some people to get the cover they really need.
Whilst we only pay travel delay compensation after 12 hours, this is common on travel insurance policies, although some do pay compensation after as little as 4 hours of delay. Even if the delay duration was shorter, the actual compensation payment made to you would have been low as it's purpose is just to help to contribute towards costs at the airport whilst you wait for a flight.
We recognise that you are unhappy with this aspect of the cover so we have registered a complaint on your behalf. This will be reviewed and you will be contacted directly.
Good until you need them
Been with Columbus for years , thought they had a good reputation but the one time I have had to make a claim they have tried to wriggle out of it using small print. Just another company happy to take your money but not willing to come up with the goods when it counts
UPDATE
Following my review, Columbus got in touch and have now resolved the issue
4 July 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Hi Martin. We're sorry to hear that you did not have the expected experience when you needed to use the policy.
We understand that our claims team have now been in touch with you to resolve the issue that you had.
Cannot believe the government are…
Cannot believe the government are allowing this company to continue selling travel insurance.they are part of the Collinsonsgroup and will go to extreme lengths to avoid paying claims.
26 February 2023
Unprompted review
Rubbish I ask for help as policy documents I haven't…
Rubbish I ask for help as I haven't received my documents all I get is check your inbox junk folder. I get their emails but not email with documents!
Shambles
8 June 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
We're really sorry to hear that you had difficulties receiving your documentation. We are aware that we occasionally have issues with webmail services blocking our operational emails despite the hard work of our IT team to ensure that these are not considered to be junk/spam.
We understand that after raising further concerns about the documents not being received, our customer service team sent these to you in a different way and that these have now been received.
Great insurers - provide you don't make a claim (REVISED)
In March 2023 I filed a claim and waited for the "within 5 days" response. I waited a month. I then filled in several request forms and spoke to staff via the internet Chat feature. Got the same automated email response telling me to await contact within 5 days or to phone customer support or use the Chat feature. I tried the phone which advised me to use the Chat feature or wait to speak to a staff member. I tried twice - waiting on line over 30 minutes. No one answered. It's now May and I'm still waiting for human contact.
UPDATE: Following my review, Columbus made contact with me and processed my claim ASAP. Evidently it was a one-off system error and not indicative of their usual performance. The lesson learned is to complain early if performance is poor.
25 May 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Thank you for your comments, we are disappointed with the service you have had. We understand that our claims team have now been in touch to agree settlement of the claim.
We have looked into what happened here. When the claim was set up online, our system failed to create the task which would have put the case in the queue for assessment. This did not come to light until you contacted us and we had determined your claim had been affected by this system error.
There were some issues at that time which have been fixed, but we apologise that you were impacted by this and it was not recognised sooner that your claim had not been managed.
Do not buy via a cashback website.
Do not buy via a cashback website.
Columbus will keep you waiting for months and then deny the cashback.
Cheaper non-cashback deals are available elsewhere.
- and make out that they are trying to address an issue, when in reality, they have done nothing.
21 April 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
We work closely with our cashback partners to ensure they get appropriate commission which is then used to reimburse customers in line with the cashback offer. All sales correctly identified as being via a cashback site will receive cash back. We cannot take responsibility if there has been an issue with the link from the cashback site.
We have asked you for details of the policy so that we can do further investigation and explain why the sale has not been linked to a cashback site.
Great service
Claim settled within 5 days for theft of my bag. Timothy my claims handler kept me informed throughout the process. Would absolutely use this silver cover again.
12 May 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Thanks for the review John.
We appreciate you had concerns initially around the timescales expected for claim handling. We are very grateful that you were open to working with the claims handling team, and Timothy in particular, to help get this resolved in a timely manner.
We buy annual holiday insurance and…
We buy annual holiday insurance and this year decided to use Columbus Direct. I accidently fell out of a rubber dinghy near the beach and lost my new prescription glasses. Columbus Direct have requested the most bizarre list of documents and been so slow to respond, that it I can only conclude that they will do anything to avoid paying a claim. This kind of behaviour is what gives insurance a bad name. Shame on you Columbus Direct.
15 February 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Thanks for sharing your experience Barry.
From our records it looks like we sent you a standard claim form which would be designed for all types of baggage losses/thefts, so it is likely that there was some questions asked that may not have been relevant to your circumstances. When we tried to call you to follow up on the claim you asked us to manage the matter with your partner which I believe we have now done and settlement has been agreed.
We're sorry that the claim did not go as smoothly as you would have liked but hopefully this has now been resolved to your satisfaction.
Very impressed
I recently took out travel insurance for a trip that involved a lot of “excursions”. As this is going to be a large part of my trip, Columbus (at no extra cost) agreed to remove the limit on excursions and cover up to the full cancellation amount. They were quick to respond via Twitter and even endorsed the policy documents to indicate what had been agreed. Very pleased with the service received.
13 April 2023
Unprompted review
Always excellent customer service and…
Always excellent customer service and fast response.
13 April 2023
Unprompted review
Incompetent and deceitful …
Three years and still no resolution please avoid this company and report your experience they should be investigated.
31 March 2022
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
We are very sorry to hear of your experience. Our aim is to provide an excellent service to customers but this is clearly not what you have received here.
We have reached out to you via Trustpilot so that we can investigate this matter and try to correct the problem. Please do come back to us with information so that we can try to resolve this for you.
Avoid like the plague
We have always purchased insurance from this company and never needed to make a claim until late last year. They refused to pay £50 despite countless back and forth comms with them and clear evidence. They stall and delay and delay until you give up.
The insanity of this company that they have lost loyal customers because they refuse to pay £50 blows my mind. Disgraceful company that does not care for its customers. Never use them.
31 October 2022
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
We are very sorry to hear of your experience. Our aim is to provide an excellent service to customers but this is clearly not what you have received here.
We have reached out to you via Trustpilot so that we can investigate this matter and try to correct the problem. Please do come back to us with information so that we can try to resolve this for you.
Bought Columbus Direct travel insurance…
Bought Columbus Direct travel insurance on Saturday 18th March 2023, promised documents within minutes, Sunday nothing, Monday nothing. Tuesday, today contacted Columbus Direct via their website Bot. Over approx an hour, three times they said they have emailed my documents ... not a sausage. So after an hour or so I told their Bot I am cancelling my policy ... within a minute I received a cancelling email .... WHY and what was that all about?
21 March 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
We're very sorry to hear that you had this poor experience.
If you were using a webmail account such as Hotmail then your policy documents may have been sent to your spam/junk folder. We are constantly working to try to avoid this but because of the policy attachments, this can sometimes be diverted. We do have a live chat function on the website where you would be talking to an agent, not a bot. We would hope that they would have suggested checking your spam folder and if still no joy, suggesting we try a different email address. If this didn't happen, we apologise. We understand why you would have asked for the policy to be cancelled after not receiving your policy documents. As you were talking to an agent, when you requested this, it would have been appropriate for them to take immediate action and it sounds like this email came through, which is what we would have expected with the other emails.
We've asked you for details so that we can investigate what actually happened here to see if we could have done anything differently.
Waste of time and money
I paid over £110 for their silver policy. The online claim process was a farce. I made a 'denied boarding' claim, but the company decided to treat it as a 'missed departure' (when it wasn't.) Suffice to say they turned my claim down. I then tried to make a claim for my subsequent missed flight connections, only for Columbus to wriggle out of paying anything. It seems that they'll only reimburse you if your flights are to Lilliput on the 30th of February in the year 3000!
27 February 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
We're sorry to learn that you have not had a positive outcome to your claim. Following your review and our request for information, we have tried on numerous occasions to reach out to further explain our position but have been unable to speak to you.
Whilst we understand your disappointment with the decision on your claim, our view is that your circumstances would not have been covered by most, if not all, travel insurance policies. The ultimate cause of why you were unable to board the flight is commonly excluded from travel insurance. As you had booked through an agent that had full access to your information, there may be a strong case for you to pursue this with them.
We do accept that the claims experience you had could have been better and have shared your feedback with our online claims team.
Terrible experience to submit a claim!
Terrible experience to even submit a claim. The website is terrible and the claim form keeps failing. I'm unable to submit my claim after trying 5 times on the website.
I have even tried to save midway and then login and it says I have nothing in progress either.
I call the UK number and just sit on hold with no one answering.
13 February 2023
Unprompted review
Poor Claim handling too slow
5 weeks since my accident on holiday and still nothing.
Every time I phone to follow up on my claim I am cut off or told my claim handler is not available and will call me back. They never call back.
There is never a supervisor available the are always in a meeting.
I am now told my claim has been put back in the queue and will be reassigned another claim handler.
Columbus Direct is not even based in the UK, this is a call centre in South Africa.
Its not what I thought I was buying. Very disappointing.
23 January 2023
Unprompted review
Reply from Columbus Direct
Hi Sophie. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We are sorry to hear that you have not had the level of service that you would expect so far.
We have shared your comments with our claims team and have asked them to work with you to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
Columbus Direct are a UK based company and part of a wider group, Colliinson, who are also based in the UK but with offices around the world, including in Cape Town. The Columbus claims handling team operate from there but work closely with the UK team.
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