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Agents slammed over travel insurance sales
Consumer watchdog Which? is advising people not to buy travel insurance from travel agents because they failed to follow basic selling procedures.
Only 35% of agents asked medical questions, 19% explained what the policy covered and all failed to explain exclusions.
The findings came from mystery shopper research between January and March which included visits to four branches each of First Choice, Going Places, Thomas Cook, Thomson and 10 independent agencies. Which? also got quotes from the websites of 24 travel agents, banks and insurers.
None of the agents visited followed all three of the correct procedures that should help ensure they sell suitable policies, according to the July issue of Which? magazine. Almost two thirds (17 out of 26) failed to ask about medical histories, Most (21 out of 26) didn’t explain what polices covered and all failed to explain what was not covered.
Which? called on the government to reverse its decision to exclude travel agents from Financial Services Authority regulation for selling travel insurance.
“Don’t buy travel insurance from travel agents,” Which? said. “Not only are their policies generally pricier but we’ve found that they don’t follow basic procedures when selling policies.
“This increases your chance of buying an unsuitable policy which may not give you adequate cover. Our results echo a similar investigation we did in 2003.”
Only Marks & Spencer and Bradford & Bingley followed all the correct procedures for the sale of travel insurance, Which? found.
It concluded that buying travel insurance online was the safest option.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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