We put the word out, asking you to tell us about the rip-offs that
make you rage. And you didn't let us down. Shot practice, that's what
it is. There isn't a story too small or an issue that we feel we
can't take up on your behalf. do you go? Who can you rely on?
People out there believe they're being ripped off. And indeed, they
are. We ARE rip-off Britain. contacted us in your thousands.
You've written to us, emailed in and you've even stopped us in the
street. It's blatant rip-off. feel aggrieved by it. Somehow,
somebody is making a very lot of money on this. I think somebody
should take that up. Our team has travelled the length and breadth of
the UK to hear your stories. Now, it's time for us to investigate on
your behalf. This is Rip-off Hello and welcome. This is a series
that takes on the sharp practices that are giving you reason to
really gripe. Yes, and with the credit crunch continuing to bite,
really, every penny counts. So, it's never been more important to
feel that you really are getting a fair deal. But, that's not always
the case, judging by the letters that you've been sending us, which
is why we're here to investigate. Also in the programme, the small
mistakes consumers make that can cause big consequences.
Plus a holiday insurance heartbreak. And the Pet prescription charges
making some animal-lovers feel sick. The choice we were facing was, can
we really afford it financially? Or do we make that awful decision of
having to put him to sleep? As a nation, we work really hard for our
money. And here at Rip-off Britain we believe that every penny that
goes out should be a penny well spent. But you've been letting us
know that it's not always the case. But first, you may remember that on
26th November, we looked at scratchcard competitions and warned
of competitions where players have to call an expensive premium-rate
In the first six months of this year, complaints about travel
insurance companies rose by 28 %. Now, in more than half of these
cases, the Financial Ombudsman found in favour of the consumer.
But in many other instances, complaints were rejected, because
it was found that the policy holder hadn't read the insurers terms of
conditions properly. Small print clauses continually catch us out.
That's the Ascot race trip, that one. Ken's family are grieving the
loss of their husband, dad and best friend. Oh, my dad, there was
nobody like him, actually. He was generous, kind hearted, loved life,
he lived for every day. He'd give you his last penny. He was the best
dad ever. With their children grown-up, Ken and his wife, June,
spent the last few years retired and enjoying each other's company.
Their very last week together was spent on the Greek island of Kos.
Ken manned the video camera, keen to create something to remember the
trip by. We liked to, when we went abroad, not just sit around the
pool all the time, we liked to go and explore an island and see
different places. It was... We had some wonderful times. But the
holiday was cut short by a tragic turn of events. Ken died the day
before he and June were due to fly back home. The morning that he died,
he just... He went down to the baker's, got some buns, brought
them back. Got sum for Rose and Ken and all he said was, I feel a bit
chesty. A bit chesty this morning. I'm a bit chesty, June, this
morning. He said it must be the flowers. The pollen. I went in the
shower and I was only in a few seconds. And I just heard a strange
noise. I was thinking, what's that? I don't know, something just made
me turn the water off. And I just flew in and he was laid back on the
bed. And that was it. You know, with his eyes were open. But I
think he'd... No response whatsoever. Oh, they were wonderful.
They really were wonderful in the hotel. They stopped the music
around the pool. And it wasn't until later on I said, no, don't
stop it, because that's not what Ken would have wanted. June flew
home a few days later to make the necessary arrangements. She'd
expected Ken's remains to follow soon after. But the family was soon
faced with a fresh problem. He just said, I've got some bad news. He
said the underwriters have declined the insurance. And I couldn't quite
believe what I was hearing. I had to ask him to repeat what he'd said
to me. And I just recall, my mum was upstairs in the house and I
just recall going in and shouting up to my mam and saying, Mum,
they've declined the insurance. Well, that, then, my mam was
absolutely devastated. She absolutely broke her heart. She
cried solid from that point of that phone call... THEY START TO CRY.
That was hard. The family's insurers said Ken hadn't declared
all the necessary information on his online application form. What
they actually said was that he had cardiac problems that he hadn't
declared, but there was a question on the actual application that said,
have you had any heart problems, and my dad put yes. But he then
didn't, as far as I believe, it didn't bring up another box to give
a reason of what kind of heart condition, so... And if you weren't
asked that question, you can't answer it. There's nothing really
wrong with what he's filled in. You know, it's light he's done
everything right, that was wrong with him, really. I'd have probably
filled it in the same way if it was, you know, if it was me. Back at the
Rip-off Britain office, we took a look at the policy application form
for ourselves. So I'm now asked to enter my medical condition here. I
typed in heart bypass and heart operation and neither of those
terms are recognised by the website. So I found a medical dictionary and
I looked up heart-bypass and the official term is coronary artery
bypass graft, known as a CABG. So once I typed that in, I was able to
go ahead with the application. whatever the design of the online
form, the information Ken had given to his travel insurers wasn't
enough. Travel insurers are entitled to know everything about
the medical history of their policyholders, which meant Sue and
brother Paul were left to pay for the repatriation of their father to
the UK. It cost more than £3,000. When he'd said he had heart
problems, I think they should have come back to him and asked him a
bit more information, but they never... And they went through the
form and they were happy to take the money. As far as we were
concerned, we were covered. You go away with peace of mind. I mean, I
know there's lots of people that we know, that do go abroad and don't
even take insurance out. We never, ever did that. We always made sure
we were covered. My dad would be absolutely mortified to think
that... If he knew what we've had to go through, my dad would be
devastated. He would. Totally devastated. The small print should
be made into large print and not small print. But I'd certainly say
now, anybody travelling, make sure that every single detail is checked
out before you go. It's often said that in Britain
we're considered to be a nation of animal-lovers, so plenty of you
will know that it can be a very expensive business caring for a pet.
From getting all the right injections when they're young to
treating them for illnesses in their dotage. The chances are,
you'll soon find yourself on first- name terms with your local vet. But
do be careful, because while their advice is often priceless, in some
instances, the cost of their service should come with a severe
health warning. Come on, Bruce. Thank you very much. Come on, Troy.
Meet Troy. Loyal and trustworthy and always at his owner's side.
Truly a man's best friend. We've had Troy 10 years. He's very loyal,
very friendly and very protective of our daughter. We'd be lost
without him. It wouldn't be the same. He goes everywhere with us.
But when Troy's behaviour started to change, Claire became concerned
and took him to see the vet. 2005, Troy was diagnosed with
enlarged heart and arthritis, which was an absolute shock to us all.
When we took him to the vets, they told us he would have to have heart
tablets for the rest of his life and also tablets for his arthritis.
Claire was faced with paying a monthly medicine bill of £145 from
he vets and it began to have a serious impact on the health of her
finances. The choice we were facing was, can we really afford it
financially? Or do we make that awful decision of having him put to
sleep? And it was, at the time, it was extremely heartbreaking. Nobody
should have to make that choice. Because they are! They're your
family! Like many pet owners, Claire and her husband, Paul, were
buying the prescription medication directly from their vet. But the
monthly bills were becoming a real struggle and they were forced to
search for a cheaper option. Well I paid the vets for them tablets for
a whole year. And, it was just getting to the stage where
financially, towards the end, it was hard work. Because we were
thinking, oh, where is the next £145 coming from? So that's why my
husband, Paul, went on to the internet, and found an animal
pharmacy on line, and they were a lot cheaper. By going online, they
saved £41 a month. For Paul and Claire, this meant they could
afford to keep paying for his medication. I just couldn't believe
how cheaper it was, to say that it was the same medication! And as we
said, it was such relief, thinking, yes, we can afford it now. And Troy
can be part of the family again and stay with us. In order to buy pet
medication from an online pharmacy, you still need to get a
prescription from your vet. Vets won't charge you for this if you
buy the medication from them, but they'll charge a fee to write a
prescription if you want to shop around. Now, in 2005, there was a
ban on vets charging for prescriptions to encourage
competition in the market. But this came to an end in 2008 and it's
left pet owners like Claire and Paul facing increased costs. Until
last year, we weren't paying any prescription fees at all. Then all
of a sudden, now paying £20.80 for a prescription for three months. At
the end of the day, it's just paper and ink. I think it's absolutely
extortionate. Whether you're paying for medication from the vets or
online. That's enough, financially, for some people, without having to
pay that extra for prescriptions. And Claire and Paul aren't the only
ones who found the prescription fees hard to swallow. Diane
Dutton's pet cat, Fluff, fell ill last year and began needing regular
medication. The vet diagnosed an overactive thyroid gland, which
meant she would be on medication for life, it was one of those
things that's normal in older cats. We've had cats in the family, you
know, we know it comes with old age. It was something we just dealt with,
and we wanted to make her comfortable and ensure she's
getting the right treatment. Having just gone on maternity leave with
her second son, Owen, Diane was looking to make savings wherever
she could. We shopped around, we found a good online site which
didn't compromise the quality of the tablets for the cat. And they
came a whole lot cheaper than if we'd got them for the vet.
Diane's online savings were soon diminished by the cost of paying
the vet for the prescriptions. Although Fluff only had a check-up
with the vet every six months, Diane had to pay the £5.18
prescription fee every month. started asking the question, why
was I paying a monthly fee for the tablets when they only saw her
every six months. And then I asked the question, you know, could I
have a six-monthly prescription? And no, it's policy to issue them
on a monthly basis. Six prescription fees at £5.18, when
they only see the cat once was really, really... It couldn't be
justified. Other vets' policies were different, some vets were
prepared to do it for three months and I thought, if one could do it,
why couldn't another one do it? Fluff passed away at the beginning
of the year and is missed by all the family. Diane would love
another pet, but she's concerned about the costs. I think Owen would
be the one that would mostly like a cat. He loves everything cuddly and,
you know, we'd like one one day, it's just choosing the right time
and just weighing up the whole cost of having a cat. It's when they get
poorly that you get costs and reasonable costs are fine, but
things like long-term medication where you're paying a prescription
fee for no service. That's not acceptable, really.
It's thought that around half of all UK households own a pet, so
what do you need to know to ensure that yours isn't going to break the
bank? Well that the veterinary journalist Pete Webberburn has some
very valuable advice for you. Traditionally, pet owners went to
see the vet and the the vet consulted and checked the animal
over, decided what drugs were needed and then provided those
drugs. In the last five years, it's been possible for pet owners to go
to their vets, have a consultation, but then they say, instead of you
giving me the drugs, I want a prescription, I want a written and
prescription. I'm going to take that to an alternative drug
supplier. And that would generally be an online pharmacy. Online pet
pharmacies that are based in the UK have to be registered with the
appropriate authorities. As long as they are, then pet-owners can be
reasonably assured that they are doing the right job. I'd be much,
much more cautious about overseas pharmacies where issues such as
counterfeit products or the storage and delivery of the products may
not be satisfactory. All vets in the UK are obligated to issue a
written prescription when asked. The fee they charge is up to
themselves. However, all practices who are registered with the Royal
College of Veterinary Surgeons Practice Standard Scheme must have
a waiting room notice that states that they're prepared to issue
prescription and states what the fee is for that prescription. Pet
owners should be aware that long- standing chronic conditions do
change over time and that's why vets need to re-examine those
animals. Drugs that were originally appropriate may stop working, may
even start to do harm. Still to come: The pipe work policy
that drove one viewer round the bend.
And how you can use the internet to I think most of us like a little
bit of travel in our lives, but figures show that we make around 30
million trips to mainland Europe every year. And a large proportion
of those travelling will have one of these. It's known as the
European Health Insurance Card and is meant to cover you for medical
treatment whilst abroad. It replaced the old E1-11 form five
years ago. But we've had reports that since then, they've been more
than just a few hiccups along the way.
Ann and Colin Warner were really looking forward to their holiday in
Tenerife. They prepared well for the trip and made what they thought
were all the necessary checks, before jetting off. If you're only
going away for seven days, the EU card would cover you for any
emergency. I decided to try and go online to get these new EHIC cards.
I didn't think I was going to be very successful, but, I was.
European Health Insurance Card is a replacement for the old E1-11. It
basically means that you can access necessary medical treatment when
visiting the EU. With their cards in hand, the Warners assumed they
would be covered in the unlikely event of an emergency. They were
wrong. It was really going well, until the day before we came home.
On the Wednesday night, Ann started to have a bit of a dodgy tummy. I
decided I'd ring down to reception and see if I can get a doctor.
Within a few minutes, the doctor was there. Walked in, examined Ann
and then said, oh, yes, need a painkiller. You'll have to go to
hospital, I can't administer the painkiller. As they wheeled Ann out
to the ambulance, the doctor said to me, take this, and scribbled
something down on a piece of paper. Take this to the hospital. He said,
they would give you a painkiller. And you've got to give me 100 euros.
I said, what for? He said for examination. I said, but, I brought
out my EU card and said, look, we're part of the European Union,
this covers emergency. He said, no, it's not covered, I'm not part of
EU, if you like. No cover. And the payouts didn't stop there. She said,
have you got a credit card? I said, yes. 300 euros. I said, but hold on,
we're all part of the European Union. She only wants a painkiller.
300 euros?! She went, yes. I said, pay him. Pay him! So, he did. I'd
have paid any... That's all I wanted. Get rid of the pain. Why is
it that we've got this card and we can't have emergency treatment?
What Ann and Colin didn't realise was that they'd been taken to a
private hospital. The EHIC cards only cover you for medical
treatment in public hospitals. So in this case, it simply wasn't
worth the paper it was written on. I could have gone to a public
hospital but it would have meant going 90 kilometres to Santa Cruz,
I think that's what they said, or I'd the choice of getting a plane
and go to another island. According to the Travel journalist, John
Lawless, the Warners aren't the only ones to have felt this holiday
sting. He believes problems aren't just limited to private hospitals.
If the hospital is asking you for a credit card or your private travel
insurance and you need treatment, it takes a bold Brit to say, I'm
sorry, make this work. But you've got to make it work, because
otherwise you're going to be ripped off. We've got instances with
people paying several hundred Euros when in fact, they should have got
free treatment. The Department of Health has got to make sure that
more people know about this card. Europe has got to work together so
all of the hospitals know that they can't rip people off. We asked the
Department of Health to comment on the problems people have been
As for the Warners, they've been left to count the cost of an
expensive bill and a totally ruined holiday. Forget about the EU card.
Obviously, take it with you. If you can use it, OK. But make sure that
you're insured. And insured by a good company. As I think you know
by now, we really appreciate receiving your letters on Rip-off
Britain. And we've had lots from you concerning complaints about
insurance companies. Quite often, there seems to be a world of
difference between what do you think they're covering you for, and
what the reality actually is. And at times, proving what happened
when, can be almost impossible, as one of our viewers, Arthur Bates
Arthur Bates is 97. He and his wife, Mary, live together in Ripley in
Derbyshire. When it comes to their home, the Bates don't believe in
taking chances. They have a range of insurance policies to protect
their property, including one that covers their plumbing and drainage.
They have had the insurance for 11 years, but haven't needed to call
on it until recently. We were continually getting a toilet
blockage. I rang the people up and they sent a man over, released it
with a plunger. I had a paper to sign, everything was clear. A
satisfied customer? Not really, because it was the same the next
day. And the fella came again with the plunger, and so it carried on.
It carried on for days. Despite several visits, the cause of the
problem remained a bit of a mystery. Desperate to resolve it, Arthur
paid a workman to dig up the yard. He confirmed that there was a break
in the pipe outside, so Arthur contacted his insurer who agreed to
send someone round. I met him at the door and I said, now, look here,
I am 96 years of age. In the last few months I have had a hip
replacement and I have had pneumonia. I said, I can't go out.
It has been reported there's a breakage, I want you to go and tell
me if it is broken. Well, he came back and he said, yes, it is broken
and we will be round tomorrow to fix it. The workman returned with a
colleague, but what Arthur thought would be a simple job quickly
became much more complicated. Attention soon turned from the
outside pipe to Arthur's bathroom. He came in and he said, this toilet
has been moved. I said, yes, it used to be there, they extended the
pipe and put it there. He said, well, the pipe now goes under this
cabinet and that cabinet has got to come out. He said, that makes it a
house insurance job. Arthur wasn't convinced and asked the workman to
investigate further. With that he went outside again, but he wasn't
out long before he came back again. "We have got another problem now".
I said, what's that? He said, there's another breakage. With that
he said, "We're off". "The pipe has been altered in the bathroom, the
job is not insured". And with that he left me. Arthur was left with a
broken toilet and a large hole in the yard. He had no option but to
call in a plumber himself. I'm here to look at your toilet you have got
a problem with. Come in, I am very pleased to see you. It was like a
building site. The weather at the time, it was extremely muddy. It
was dangerous. Nobody could go down the side of the property at all. It
had just been dug up and left. Mud everywhere, bits of pipe everywhere
and, basically, just abandoned. plumber resolved all the pipework
issues. His bill came to £400, so Arthur got back in touch with his
insurer. They said I wasn't insured because the internal sewer pipe had
been altered, forgetting the fact that I had been insured with them
11 years and never had a complaint. It worked perfectly. It had worked
perfectly for over 20 years. house was built in accordance to
standards at the time, so it was OK at the time it was built and
standards change. You can't expect everyone to change their house as
the standards change. The drains, in my opinion, broke because of the
extreme weather and just shifts in the ground, which is just a natural
occurrence and that's what these insurances are for. That's the
whole point. It wasn't done by any malice or any misuse, so it should
have been covered and it should have been repaired. To be fair to
me and my wife, I think this insurance company should repay all
the premiums. They say it's not insured, so let them pay all the
premiums we've paid, a considerable amount of money. I am not giving up
on this. Justice is on my side. I don't think you have read that,
Mary, that is very important. have been in touch with the Bates'
insurers and they have said that they are genuinely sorry about what
has happened. Experiences like Arthur's are extremely rare. They
have agreed to cough up for the cost of the plumber and they have
given Arthur back every penny he has ever paid them in premiums.
Quite a result for Arthur and for Rip Off Britain.
If you're considering insurance to cover things like your boiler or
the plumbing in your property, what exactly do you need to know? Clare
Francis from Money Supermarket has been scrutinising on your behalf
the small print. Plumbing and drainage insurance
covers for things like burst pipes and collapsed drains, so it can be
a really useful insurance to have. Prices can vary quite significantly,
so as with all insurances, it's really important to shop around
before you buy and don't just go for the first thing you see. When
it comes to this sort of insurance, check first of all that you're not
already getting it as part of your home insurance. If you do go for
the stand alone option, for a comprehensive one you could pay up
to £100, but you could get it for as little as £30 or £40 perhaps
from your home insurance provider. If you live in a flat it won't
cover you, so it's a waste of money buying that sort of policy. So,
make sure you do read the small print. If you do need to make a
claim, ring the insurer and it would then contact a third party
plumber. So it has a list of accredited plumbers in your area
and it sends that person out to do the work for you. If you come to
make a claim and the insurer turns it down, complain firstly to the
insurer. If you're not happy with the resolution offered to you by
the insurer, you don't have to stop there. You can then take your case
to the Financial Ombudsman service and get them to look into it for
you. The battle for our hard earned cash
is well and truly on, and with every penny counting we are here to
make sure you're not being ripped off. And you've certainly been
keeping us busy! This year Rip Off Britain has
teamed up with the BBC campaign First Click. Its aim is to help the
nine million people who have never used the internet before to get
online. And we think this is an excellent idea as the internet can
be a really valuable tool for checking out your consumer rights
and comparing prices for products and services. First Click events
are being held all over the UK and we have decided to join this one in
Bolton. Now the computer mentors are here to help people who have
never used the internet before. And we are on hand with some of our
consumer experts to offer advice to those wary of shopping online.
the site asks you to give your bank details over the internet they will
have certain levels of security encryption to ensure that those
details are safe and that nobody can get them. The key things to
look for are... You see in this top browser where you get HTTP? Yes.
should have an 'S' after that 'P'. Another thing to look for is a
padlock. And it's just a little symbol like a padlock and it's
usually either in the top corner or the bottom corner of the screen. If
you see that padlock, again, you're OK. She's just showing me about
travel in England. Oh, brilliant! Oh, OK. Cheap tickets. Cheap
tickets. Good deals. Good deals. Yeah, yeah.
Things to be aware of, because you might have heard of things called
phishing scams and things like that. That is an people email you and
they pretend to be your bank or eBay or Paypal or something where
you might have given you details over. They will have a link in the
email and if you click on that link it sometimes takes you to a page
that might look exactly like the page of your bank, but it is a fake
site that's built just to hope that they will catch you. So never click
on links in emails. Always type out your bank's email address and do it
that way. Important words of wisdom which
should help this group to stay protected online. If you're
interested to find out more about using the internet maybe First
150 950 for more information. Calls Earlier we heard from Gloria about
some of the problems people have been having with insurance small
print. When it comes to travel policies most of us realise that
they rarely cover us for pre- existing conditions. What is less
well-known is that they don't just relate to people travelling, but
also to the family they are leaving behind.
Irene and Bob Jackson love going on holiday. It's a luxury they now
enjoy more as they approach retirement. We go away at various
times. Since the children have got older, we have got more freedom and
we booked a holiday to go to Turkey. It was done over the internet, so
it wasn't a package from a company as such, we booked our own flights,
our own hotel. We actually booked the travel insurance with a company
over the internet. The insurance was due to commence the actual week
before we went on holiday, which would have been round about 25th
May. But shortly after the Jacksons booked their break Irene's mother,
Annie, fell ill. It was the February. She went in just for a
few days and they couldn't find anything wrong with her so they let
her out. Within a few days they had to get her back in again and all
the problems started from there. She was already in hospital when we
booked the insurance, but at that particular point in time we were
expecting her to come out. Unfortunately, while she was in
hospital she acquired MRSA and C- difficile, which for a lady of 89
is not good, anyway. She just went down from there. She wouldn't eat.
They tried feeding her with a tube and she just had had enough. So,
you know, it wasn't very good. Sorry.
Annie died on 25th May, 2009. The Jackson's cancelled their holiday
and prepared for the funeral. Although it was too late in the day
to get a refund on the flights and accommodation, they felt confident
that their travel insurance would cover them. But it didn't. They
actually said that because of this clause which states about having
pre-existing medical conditions that we would not be covered in
this instance. We should have advised them that Irene's mum was
actually in hospital at the time. Like many of us, when Bob and Irene
took out their travel insurance policy they did not read the small
print which states: "There is no cover for any claim arising from a
pre-existing medical condition known to you prior to the
commencement of the period of insurance affecting any close
relative or travel companion who is not insured under this policy".
The Jacksons expected their policy to exclude their pre- existing
medical issues, but they didn't think it would also relate to other
family members. People of our age in lots of cases have got elderly
parents. And elderly parents, people over 80, are going to have
health problems. Travel insurance expert Mike Naylor understands how
people might miss some of the finer details of their policies. It's
entirely possible that someone wouldn't know that a member of
their family was ill. If insurers are really concerned about this or
their policies contain this exclusion, it's important that they
ask people specifically about the health of their family members.
This information is there, but it's very much hidden away in the terms
and conditions. The Jacksons appealed against the
decision, but without success. Their insurance company was
sticking to the letter of the contract. They then appealed to the
Financial Ombudsman. It eventually came back from the adjudicator
there pointing out again that they'd have to side with the travel
insurer because of this particular clause. We had the right to appeal
and this time the appeal was addressed to the actual ombudsman
who, again, came back with the same decision. Both emotionally and
financially, this has been a difficult experience for Bob and
Irene, but they are still able to offer some words of advice. I still
think it's essential that you take out travel insurance, but also to
check the small print. I know it can be tedious. There are pages and
pages and pages of small print and it's just to go through them, if
you like, with a fine tooth comb and just to see if any of those are
relevant to you at that particular time.
Well, I'm joined now to discuss all this by Nick Starling from the
Association of British Insurers, one of the directors of the
Association. Nick, complaints are on the rise about travel insurance
in particular. 55% of complaints were upheld last year by the
Financial Service Ombudsman. Why do people feel they're getting such a
raw deal? Well, I don't think people are getting a raw deal.
Millions of people buy travel insurance each year and they are
untroubled when they make their claims. When you have so many
policies out there, there are bound to be some circumstances were
people have a dispute and that's what the ombudsman's for.
upheld, as I say. That is quite a large proportion. Well, we'd all
like to see that go down. We want to have a situation were complaints
are dealt with in the companies themselves and don't have to go to
the ombudsman. We will obviously work with the ombudsman and others
to make sure that that does happen. Now, I know you don't want to
comment on particular cases, but this one of Ken Walby that we've
highlighted, this poor gentleman who died sadly of a heart attack
when abroad. It does seem so unfair because he did his absolute best to
give his insurers the information before he went on holiday. Well, it
is vital when you are buying travel insurance to declare what your
previous illness is and your health record. And when in doubt talk to
your travel insurance company. I don't know what happened in this
particular case, but sometimes it may not be clear from the
application. The key thing is to talk to them, to discuss it. If you
think the question is not clear and it wouldn't have enlisted a clear
answer, that is what the ombudsman is there for, to investigate and to
adjudicate. Does it all have to be in small print? I mean, we talk
sort of about the small print clauses, it's a sort of generic
term, but it actually is very small print and very dense. Does it have
to be so impenetrable? Well, I don't think it is impenetrable.
There is quite a lot of information they have to give out and most
insurers have to give a key facts documents, which highlights the key
things from the insurance policy, and then there's a more detailed
document. Most of the ones that I've looked at will say quite
clearly we will cover you in these circumstances and it will set them
out quite clearly. I do urge people to look through that to make sure
they understand that fully before they go. I know there's plenty to
do when you're going on holiday. You've got to make sure you've got
your passport, your ticket and so forth, but don't leave the
insurance as something for the last minute. Just think through what you
need and what you requirements are. Well, that's very, very good advice,
obviously, but I think I might be speaking for an awful lot of the
British public when I say we tend to feel that the insurance
companies want so much wiggle room. We feel you want to get out of it
if you possibly can. When insurance comes into its own, when you're
travelling and you're taken ill or you have an accident and someone
comes and helps you, that's when insurance companies deliver what's
on the tin. That's what they're there to do. They do it all the
time. They get people back in difficult circumstances and that's
what to concentrate on. Any of us who have made a claim were
something has gone wrong and the person comes to help us, they will
know the value of the product. The Jacksons' case. Now that's an
interesting one. Unfortunately her mother died in hospital when they
weren't expecting that to happen and they'd booked a holiday and
they'd booked their travel insurance. She died, they tried to
cancel the holiday and they are told, no, you're not covered, you
should have disclosed the medical history, it seems of just about
everyone, never mind only the mother. That's a very grey area,
isn't it? Obviously, you can't know the medical history of everyone
involved, but most insurance policies, most travel insurance
policies, will cover you in circumstances where next of kin or
someone close to you dies or becomes ill. Now, in those
circumstances if your holiday is dependent on that person then,
clearly, if that person is ill you need to disclose that, and policies
do tend to say that quite clearly. Well, the Jacksons do accept that
they should have disclosed that her mother was in hospital, but what if
you don't know if a relative is ill? Are you still covered? Well,
if you don't know it, you can't know it, obviously. That's the case.
It's a matter of telling the insurance company things you think
are relevant to what's going on and if you know someone is ill and your
holiday is dependent on that then you need to tell them. If someone
is in fine health and is taken ill suddenly, that's exactly what the
insurance is for and provided you look carefully as to what you are
covered for, because most insurance policies will cover death of a
close relative, you obviously need to see what that coverage is and
what the definition of relative is, etc. It depends on the sort of
cover you're buying. Well, I don't know. It seems to me that it's a
bit of a cop out by insurance companies that they are always
trying to make it difficult for you and to try and have that wriggle
room so whatever you tell them there's still a way out.
insurance companies tried to make it difficult for you they wouldn't
sell any policies. What they want to do is to make it as
straightforward and easy to buy a policy as possible, but under those
circumstances the policy covers a lot of things and you have just got
to be quite clear as to how you are buying it, think through what your
needs are, give a bit of thought to it. Don't just do it as a last
minute thing before you go. Just think about it in the same way you
think about the holiday itself. one last question, actually, which
is that with a population growing ever older... I know how difficult
it is to get travel insurance if you're over 75. You have probably
had some kind of medical condition by then. You have probably have had,
say, a heart condition. With us all getting older, are you going to
make it easier to get insurance for older people or is it going to get
ever tougher, which it seems to me it is at the moment? Well, the sad
thing is that the older you get the more likely you are to make a claim
and the more expensive that claim is likely to be. The insurance
industry reflects that. But there's a very large number of policies
available to people. Quite a lot of our member companies don't have any
age limits on their policies at all. Clearly, as you get older it's
likely that you're going to have more conditions you have to declare,
but nevertheless the availability is getting wider all the time.
it? Oh, good! As I get older I look forward to that! Thank you very
much. Thank you. Now from the stories you've shared
with us today, one thing is crystal clear. If something looks too good
to be true, the chances are it probably is. Too true. Price
comparison is arguably the consumer's most important weapon in
the battle against rip-off rates, so do always do your homework
before you hand over a single penny. And, remember, if you feel you are
not getting the deal you were expecting, don't be afraid to
question it. As a consumer you have rights! That's actually one of the