Sainsburys Travel Insurance Review

The Sainsburys policy defines children as those under the age of 16 or under 23 if in full time education.

There is no upper age limit on single trip policies.

Annual travel policies are available to anyone between the ages of 16 and 80.

Extended trip policies are only available to those aged between 16 and 40.

A single trip policy can be taken out for a maximum of only 59 days.

Annual travel policies are for an unlimited number of trips. The silver and gold policies cover individual trips up to 62 days and the Platinum policy up to 92 days.

Extended trip for those that plan to see a bit more of the world and need a policy covering trips between 60 and 365 days.

Winter sports can be included on all three types of policies, single trips and extended trips for the duration of the policy and annual travel policies for up to 24 days, provided you are under the age of 65.

The following activities are covered under the winter sport section of the policy, skiing and snowboarding, off-piste skiing and snowboarding, provided you are accompanied by a qualified  guide or instructor, cross country skiing on recognised routes and with a guide, ski racing arranged by ski schools, sledging.

Note the policy specifically excludes bobsleighing, heli skiing, ice hockey, luging, skeletons, ski acrobatics or jumping.

A policy can be taken out by just a single person, or a couple who are married/partners (including same sex couples) who have lived together for more than six months

A family policy consisting of one or two adults, and up to six children (who must be accompanied by an insured adult when travelling), can also be taken out under a single or annual trip policy.

The application and carrying of an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) is strongly recommended when travelling to the European Union.

Use of your EHIC to reduce medical expense claims will result in the waiver of the policy excess.

If you require medical treatment in Australia or New Zealand, you must enrol with a local medicare office, to take advantage of reciprocal agreements that are in place between those countries and the UK.

The policy lists a modest 49 activities covered as standard, a further 14 that you can also take part in, but which exclude claims for Personal Accident and Liability.

A further 19 sports and past times can be added subject to payment of an additional premium. Note that some of these also exclude personal accident and liability cover.

The policy helpfully provides a list of activities and pursuits, that are specifically excluded. We recommend reading the policy carefully to make sure you are fully covered for the correct sporting activity.

The Sainsbury policy excludes claims, where you have drunk too much alcohol, and it is reasonable foreseeable that such consumption could result in a serious impairment of your faculties and/or judgment, resulting in a claim.

Sainsburys do not expect you to avoid alcohol on trips, but will not cover any claim arising because you have drunk so much that your judgement is seriously affected and you need to make a claim as a result.

Scheduled airline failure, is automatically included on all three policies. The Gold and Platinum cover is extended to include failure of any end supplier.

The policy excludes pre existing medical conditions as standard, however any condition can be quoted for by completing the online medical questionnaire, during the quotation process.

Please note that psychiatric disorders, depression, anxiety, stress or phobias, are excluded and cannot be included.

Claims where you have failed to take recommended vaccines, inoculations or medication prior to your trip are also excluded.

Any claim arising from pregnancy or childbirth, is not covered if the expected date of delivery is less than 12 weeks (16 weeks for a multiple birth) after the end of the trip.

The Sainsbury travel policy includes cover for manual work, at ground level, provided there is no machinery involved. You are also covered for any bar and restaurant work.

Claims will be considered on a new for old basis for items less than two years old.

For personal baggage claims proof of purchase (original receipts, valuations or credit/debit card statements will be required to support any claim. If you cannot provide this information, Sainsbury's may not be able to pay your claim.

War and Terrorism are excluded except for claims relating to personal accident and medical expenses.

Automatically covered under both the Gold and Platinum policy.

Sainsbury policies are only available to persons resident in the UK and registered with a GP

All three levels provide some cover for gadgets as standard. The Silver policy covers items up to £500 in total with a single article limit of £500. The Gold and Platinum policy up to £750 with a single article limit of £750. All covered against Accidental or Malicious Damage, Theft or Loss.

This can be extended subject to payment of an additional premium to £1,000, £2,000 or £3,000 respectively. The policy also covers unauthorised usage. Please ensure that you have a valid proof of purchase. Read the policy wording for full details.

Cruise Insurance is available as an option on all three levels of cover, but only for SINGLE TRIP policies.

The policy covers increased baggage, single article and valuable limits, compensation for a missed port, due to bad weather or a timetable restriction, compensation for cabin confinement and unused excursions due to a medical condition as confirmed by the ship's medical officer.

Sainsbury's Travel Insurance appear on two comparison websites MoneySupermarket. com and ComparetheMarket.com. You will find the same levels of cover on both sites.

The comparison site policies are called Essential, Standard and Premier. Please be aware that the levels of cover on these policies are significantly lower when compared to the Silver, Gold and Platinum policies, available direct on Sainsbury's own website.

To give you an example the excess on the Essential, Standard and Premier policies are £150, £95 and £70, compared to Silver, Gold and Platinum which are £100, £50 and £Nil.

The Sainsbury's Travel Policy is nicely laid out. The clear table of contents, allows you to scroll through the document and easily find the relevant section. The policy provides a handy table of benefits, for you to compare cover.

It is well written and helpful. Although quite long at 112 pages, there are a lot of additional sections of cover and optional benefits to deal with, so its likely that you won't need to read through it all, as some sections will not be relevant to you (unless you are taking every option available)

I have checked on several websites regarding customers experience with Sainsbury's Travel Insurance. Trust Pilot only give them a four out of ten rating, but delving deeper, it appears that Trust Pilot combine all areas of Banking, Finance and Insurance together and reading through the very latest reviews for travel insurance, they were all complimentary.

The Review centre website does just deal with travel insurance. The Sainsbury's rating is 1.4 out of 5 on 26 reviews. After some research, the 25 of the 26 reviews were pre September 2017.  Sainsbury's changed their administrators and underwriters in 2018, so I can only assume this change has been to improve their service.

The Gold and Platinum policies provide excellent levels of cover and deserve their five star rating. As well as the core cover, these policies include End Supplier, Scheduled Airline, disruption and gadget cover as standard, combined with a low excess.

Let's hope the change in administrator and Insurer backs up a great policy with great service. We would love to hear your opinion, you can leave your own review here.