UK: Consumer magazine takes agents to task over insurance sales
The nation’s travel agents have once again come under fire from the Consumers’ Association and its magazine Holiday Which, regarding the sale of travel insurance.
The magazine claims to have found “extensive” mis-selling of insurance policies and is now calling for better protection for travellers. The organisation send undercover reporters into 20 agencies owned by most of the UK’s big chains, as well as several independent agencies, and made calls to a selection of insurers and financial organisations.
The investigation found hardly any agents checked for pre-existing medical conditions, while just three in 20 explained what the policy did and did not cover.
Several agents also gave “misleading” information about their policies; examples quoted in the Daily Telegraph include agents saying the insurance “would cover you on every single occasion”, that “medical cover is unlimited” and that policies were “fully covered for everything”.
A spokesman for Holiday Which? called the results “alarming”.
