FORTIS NOW AGEAS Travel Insurance nightmare
| Related: | Personal Finance•Insurance•Travel Insurance |
We pay £144 a year as an UPGRADE thru Alliance & Liecester account. During our trip my wife contracted Malaria. When reported from Hong Kong by phone cost me £20 to their crony Asistance International, they took more than 15 minutes when card money run out. You would expect them to phone you back but neither SMS nor phone calll. They did not ask my contact details that AA break down service will even ask you. Totally unprofessional bunch could not find my 2 mobile numbers. I had to take my wife to hospital, then after 2 days again called a doctor in the hotel. Doctors did not know what was going on except high fever. So they asked us to go back to UK for medical treatment. AGEAS ex FORTIS INS phoned after we had re-arranged our flights all by ourselves. Further blood tests revealed Malaria a day before we curtailed our trip.
Basically you might think they will assist you but forget about it atleast this AGEAS EX FORTIS TRAVEL COVER provided is a ripoff no service at all. All We got was distress, inconvenience, extra expenditure and ruined holidays. Just keep away from them if you don't want to burn your fingers. Now I can see why they changed their name! from FORTIX TO AGEAS. Don't believe their claim that they have won all the medals, may be by clever marketing.
Responses (9)
Previous subject is TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR MEDICAL COVER
I dont trust any of them anyway.
It all seems to be provide as little service as you can for as much as you can these days.
Sadly thats why its important to read every page of their "war and peace" conditions booklets now!
I also have the Fortis insurance through the Alliance & Lecisters / Santander Account and having read the conditions they are very basic so i wouldnt rely on it for witner sports or travelling to any "dangerous" country or sports activity.
As they say you dont get anything for free nowadays and it seems all too true in this case.
Hi Park, and welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear about your dreadful experience with Fortis/Ageas. Thanks for the warning! I do hope your wife is recovering well.
We used to have an annual travel policy with FORTIS as they were one of the few companies that would cover pre-existing medical conditions and my husband has MS. As you might imagine, the premium was quite high but we happily paid it for the peace of mind it provided. After three years, during which time we had not made a claim, when it came to renewal time they refused us cover because Mr F had been in hospital for a minor surgical procedure the previous year.
Thank goodness we never had cause to make a claim - I'm sure we would have had a similar experience to yours, Park. They seem to be a company happy to take your money then leave you in the lurch when you need them.
Thats tragic Feline.
Good to know wish we could spread the word - lets create a chain email and put this company out of business - the internet has a lot of power these days!
Sadly though I think most insurance companies are unsympathetic money machines - they employ people to avoid paying out - insurance investigators they call em!
Thanks about the Ageas ex Fortis ins have replied in a irrelevent way saying (without sorry) that this (mistake) happens infrequently and as a routine I have to write or phone to solve the problem internally before I go to FSA or OMBUDSMAN. But I don't want to profit from this claim, not filed yet but if I file I am going to be out of pocket about £500 pounds. Their excuse is data protection and confidentiality that they can not refer to the 2nd contact I have specified (normal phone no of my son) in London who was in touch with us but they could not get in touch with me for they did not look for it on their system. They also did not ask us the name of the hotel or which city. If they had, instead of mobile they could have phoned us in the hotel. Now my phone bill actually is about £70 which I am sure they will query. I will be grateful and It will be helpful if someone can direct me to the other people who had problem with Ageas or Fortis travel claim, as they replied it happens infrequently. Then I can tell them that is not so. We are perfectly healthy, never had more than flue or sun burn and never been declined any insurance. Through A & L Santandar we pay £144 a year and never had a claim before this. On this claim form our GP has mentioned that we were & are healthy free of any illness and no adverse medical history or conditions. I am furious for their mistake cost me not only £500 they may not pay but our holiday was totaly ruined, caused distress and inconvenience. They simply have misled people by calling themselves Medical Assistance International claiming they will arrange and guide you if you get ill but not very ill !!
Again thanks for your response and look forward to hearing from you and others. Will it help if I take the matter to loss adjuster or claims experts ?
Hi Park,
Sorry to hear this problem is going badly for you. I don't think it will help at all for you to attempt to take your complaint to a loss/adjuster or claims expert.
Ageas are correct in that you will have to deal in the first instance with Ageas/Fortis themselves. I would suggest you put your complaint/claim in writing (with as much detail as you can) and send it to Ageas, with a copy to their Managing Director.
Here is a link to Ageas's complaint procedure with the relevant details and addresses, including the contact details of Mark Cliff, the Managing Director of Ageas...
http://www.ageas.co.uk/contact-us/how-to-complain/
If you're not happy with the response you get from Aegeas after trying to resolve it directly with them, then you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, or other regulators etc. Here is a link to Consumer Direct, a Government funded organisation which explains these procedures and how to go about them...
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/making-complaint/dealing-with-disputes/
I wouldn't bother trying to find other people who have had complaints against Ageas, just go through Ageas in the first instance, then the other dispute procedures, as advised by Consumer Direct, if necessary.
Be as clear and calm as you can with Ageas, and above all be persistent! If they realise that you're not going to go away without being suitably compensated, and that you intend to take it further if they themselves don't resolve it for you, I think you will get the result you're looking for, and deserve.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
By the way, it will also help if you keep a note of all dealings you have (and have had already) with Ageas. Note the dates and names of those you spoke to by phone or letter. Keep a copy of all correspondence between you and them, and take notes during phone calls.
Just the standard way to try and fob you off - all insurance companies will do the same thing to see if you give up.
Trick is not to give up - give them as much hassle as possible.
Check Citizens advice and legal aid if you qualify.
Hopefully once they see you are seriou sand it will cost them more to go to court they will payout - that is exactly the premise they are applying to you in tyhe hope you will go away!
Thanks for the comments. Ins co asked me to phone but I do not phone instead replied by post under cert of posting. I keep all copies.
I had 2 mob phone contacts in this joint travel ins policy. They phoned secondary not primary, they could not get through to me in China. They did not phone my primary mobile (left it with my son in UK) that I update to divert to local phone whereever I am. It was updated to phone me in my hotel room phone. They claim its third party and under the data protection act they will not call that number. But had they phoned it would have diverted after so many rings if my son did not reply. Our son was in constant touch with us.
I have replied them today accusing them they are misled and looking for excuses. They replied that it was oversight that they did not SMS me, but my network did with their number unknown to me without any ID or name, so It was an unsolicited call normally you do not reply from abraod.
It was their duty to reschedule our flights, hotel rather than me running around doing this in another country whose english is very difficult to follow that is if you find someone who does. Ins co simply gave me too much stress and distress, inconvenience and expense. So far I have not filed my claim of medical expenses etc.
I like to hear from more people who had similar experience. Thanks.
Hi Park,
I can see that you're worried and distressed by this whole problem, but I really think the best way to deal with it is through Ageas's complaints procedure in the first instance, then take it to the Financial Ombudsman etc if you're not happy with the response, as outlined in my (longer) comment above.
If you bought something from a shop and it was faulty, you would ask the shop to deal with the problem, rather than try to find other people who'd also bought a faulty one.
If you feel you need more help to deal with this problem, you could phone your local Citizens Advice Bureau who will guide and advise you.
Thanks. Thats what exactly I am doing. We have detailed the problem, had couple of replies from them. Its ongoing. When we can not arrive at a settlement we will goto Ombudsman.
That's brilliant, Park, it sounds from what you've said that you've got a good case. The Ombudsman will only step in if you reach a point where Aegeas and you cannot agree and things get 'stuck'. Hopefully, it won't get that far. Good luck and don't give up!
Thanks for all those who have commented and replied through this and other forums and newspaper offering to publish this as a news.
I have not filed my claim yet but They have sent me £172 cheque but I had to pay over one thousand pounds. They want me to file the claim, which is being filed, including the compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused. Instead of them arranging for an ambulance assistance we had to walk to look for a taxi. I had to upgrade my hotel room for the 2nd bed. It looks like they want to hang on to the confidentiality clause as an excuse, as per an NHS expert on this subject told me. But that is my phone number they did not call even though it is commonly listed in both profiles of the ins policy. All the times they did not talk to my wife having malaria but dealing with me as a joint policy holder. WE will exhaust all the procedures Ombudsman etc then take them to court. I have taken legal advice from 2 lawers and been told that I have a strong case even for NO WIN NO FEE. Basically I don't pay anything even if we loose, the claim will include the legal expenses by the lawers if they win, will be paid by the ins co. Aparently the directors are from the previously known ins co FORTIS who have changed their name to avoid the previous claims. Through another forum I have come to know 2 other claimants who took them to court and won the case. I am not in hurry and going to write to the daily newspapers, forums and journals. I am even thinking about hiring an investigator who have indicated they can go into the areas to investigate & expose them. But I do not want to expose any people like their directors and their past in the companies but am determined not to get this kind of distress from these people where I have been an honest contributor and a good customer. I want to mention that here I am not vouching for the micky mouse marketing companies and lawers who exploit no injury to file a false claim. Here I am going through this as matter of principle even if it cost me. I don't deceive anybody and hate to be taken for a ride.
Well done, Park. You have overcome your worry and distress to take on this corporate pig of a company. If there were more people like you in the world it would be a better place.
I wish you the best of luck.
Well done, Park.
Good for you, Park! I agree with Feline, if we refuse to give up and fight these insurance companies back like you're doing, they will have to start dealing with us fairly and honestly. I wish you all the best in your fight to win this.
Forget contacting their complaints department, they don't even acknowledge the complaints.
VISIT THE OFFICIAL OMBUDSMAN COMPLAINTS DATA .ORG and see how AGEAS have hundreds of recorded complaints this year (2011) They must be proud on leading the field !!!
THEY FAILED IN EVERY WAY TO PROGRESS MY COMPLAINT AND IN FACT WERE DECEPTIVE AND UN PROFESSIONAL.
M&S sell AGEAS policies ( commission obviously ) they are fully aware of AGEAS history ( If not, they need to buck up )
M&S sell the policy then drop the policyholder..... they hide behind the insurance companies name.
Despite recommending, selling and promoting this company M&S car insurance simply 'bat' everything to AGEAS ( No scruples there then !! )
BUT THEN ASK..... Knowing all of the above, why do major companies such as Marks and Spencer SUPPORT AND SPONSOR such appalling companies ? Hopefully the expression lie down with dogs and get fleas will prove true.
They changed their name from FORTIS to Ageas but obviously kept their bad habits and staff ( remember they are a bank after all- hence the name change )
Thanks very informative.
They should get their butts kicked.
Time to contruct an Anti-Ageas chain letter...
You wouldnt believe how the internet can ruin a company just through one email!!!
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