Call for travel insurers to be 'fair'

TRAVEL INSURERS who look for receipts from customers for all holiday claims have been told that they are “unreasonable” by the financial regulator.

The regulator has urged insurers to take a “fair and balanced view” when deciding if receipts are needed.

Many customers only discover proof of purchase is needed when they are actually making a claim, Mary O’Dea, consumer director at the financial regulator, said yesterday.

A small number of insurers look for receipts for all items, while others only look for proof of purchase for claims over a certain value (usually €100), the regulator found in its review of the travel insurance industry.

Requests for proof are especially unreasonable where low- value items or non-recent purchases are being claimed, the regulator said. Most insurers will accept a claim if a receipt is not available but they may look for proof of loss like a police report.

“We are urging travel insurers to make the claims processes abundantly clear,” Ms O’Dea said.

Insurers have been asked to develop a stand-alone information sheet for customers explaining how to make a claim.

The number of people buying travel insurance has “increased greatly in recent years”, Ms O’Dea said, urging travellers to “look beyond the price and check what cover is offered”.

Concerns about the claims process and the receipt requirement prompted the review.

The regulator had a “a fair enough point” regarding items of low value, the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) said yesterday.

“In practice, insurers look for supporting documentation for higher-valuation items, not for minor items of clothing,” Michael Horan, manager of non-life insurance at the IIF, said yesterday.

However, with more valuable items like jewellery insurers “need some kind of detail to support the amount being claimed . . . this could include a credit card bill,” he said.

“However, insurers have a duty to policy holders to fight fraud and keep premiums and claims costs to a minimum,” Mr Horan said.

The regulator’s findings were welcomed by the Irish Travel Agents Association. “Travel agents sell policies which they believe are best, and do try and have a sense of what is good and fair cover,” said Simon Nugent, chief executive of the ITAA.