Columbus Direct Travel Insurance Reviews

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Columbus Direct Travel Insurance
★★☆☆☆
1.8
20.0% of users recommend this
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Latest Reviews

“Airline Failure ”

★★★☆☆

written by AnnabellaGuthrie on 03/02/2024

Columbus no longer include Airline Failure in their policies. I received my renewal documentation "Policy Changes Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance has been removed from the policy therefore there is no cover provided in tge event of an Airline financial failure" I understand that most policies do not include this as standard but Columbus did and now they don't cover at all. I don't think it's available to add on either. No longer one of the top Insurance covers. Now just like most travel policies. Shop around and find a policy with this available if it's important to you. I've had Columbus Insurance for at least 15 years because it was so inclusive but nit now. Disappointed.

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“Awful experience ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by 42Moser on 15/12/2022

Me and my partner went on holiday and took out an insurance with Columbus and unfortunately we got stuck in Greece 3 months ago as our flight was delayed then cancelled and they couldn’t give us a return flight for 3 days! When I spoke to someone from Columbus on the day they were so helpful told me I would be covered and reassured me but since then, I haven’t received an email from them since October despite me emailing pretty much every single week with all the information I have and they’ve asked for. They have caused so much stress and pretty much lied to me, I won’t EVER be using this company again

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“Disgraceful”

★☆☆☆☆

written by markmedcraft on 27/09/2022

Totally dismissed my claim, despite all requested documentation and medical reports being provided. Do not put your trust in Columbus Direct to provide your travel cover. Their Insurance cover is worthless and in the event of curtailment due to personal injury, no use at all. Avoid at all costs

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“Will try to wriggle out of every claim. appalling service”

★☆☆☆☆

written by 999guest999 on 10/07/2020

Check any positive reviews you see of this company, as they invariably talk about how easy it was to take a policy out with them, i.e. when the company is taking your money. All the negative reviews seem to relate to problems in making a claim, i.e. when it is important to get good service. In this respect, what an absolute bunch of idiots, their customer service and speed to reply is absolutely appalling, amongst the worst I have ever experienced. Been with them for many years, thinking they were a decent company, but HOW WRONG I WAS - the first time I have had cause to make a claim they have been appalling - started a cancellation claim with them in mid March and still dragging on now in mid July. Every time I communicate with them it takes them a month to respond, and only then to ask yet another impertinent question. Raised an official complaint in late May, and they cannot even adhere to their own published complaints procedure, having failed to respond or deal with it within the allotted time frame. I am about to issue a claim against them in county court - for anyone else minded to do the same, a little bit of advice: prior to issuing court papers, make sure you advise them you are billing for your own time @ £200 per hour, this will ensure you receive compensation for your time in dealing with their incompetence, and not just the value of the claim,. once they try to wriggle out of it and reduce it with excesses and excuses. Once again, appalling service, avoid them like the plague.

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“Unnecessary documents requested for paying”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Undisclosedundisclosed on 21/05/2019

Don't use them. The process to subscribe is very fast but to have your money back is tedious. Looks like they really try not to pay by requesting an enormous quantity of documents (that of course they don't state when you subscribe) and they limit to one month the claim window. They ask you to go to your doctor stating that you didn't have any issues before leaving but of course they don't tell you beforehand so your doctor is unable to effectively state your health status before the trip. They didn't provide any support with local health centers when I called them and they didn't even send me an email feedback (so I had to track the call by my call logs because of course they ask you to state the date you called). Luckily I didn't spend so much money for medical assistance during the travel so I renounced and simply wasted money with them. But if you're unlucky and you think you will have your money back, you're lost.

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“They won't do anything for you”

★☆☆☆☆

written by pvDugan478 on 08/07/2017

My flight from A to B had been delaying for almost 8 hours and then was canceled around 11pm (there was some fuel problem at the airport), so I stayed at the airport A trying to get a replaced ticket from the airline, until next morning, the queue was still horrible so that I had to booked new tickets on my own through another airline. At the same time, I already missed the connecting flight from airport B to C. Anyway, after coming back from my trip, I prepared every reference and sent to the claiming email, they kept passing the buck, so I contacted by calling, after explaining, they emailed me a claim form, I filled that form and provided all the reference again and sent them back. They emailed me back (started making excuse) and asked me to provide some other references(I had no idea why they need that). I sent back the stuff they asked, and as I expected...finally, they reject my claim (due to their "rules")! It was so wasting time!!! Even the little thing like flight delayed and cancellation they don't accept the claim, what else would they do for customers? (I bought the most expensive deal-Annual Multi-Trip Gold).

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“dont bother!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Bostong50 on 02/10/2016

Just a quick note to everyone, if you are looking to take out travel insurance then DONT USE COLUMBUS DIRECT. I have never had so much difficulty in trying to make a claim on a policy ,than what I have experienced with Columbus Direct. They make things so difficult , that in the in end I told them to SHOVE IT ! What was I claiming for???? a £15 compensation for a flight delay! God knows what it would have been like if I was claiming for £1500. So do yourselves a favour and DO NOT buy a policy from this company.

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“They are still processing a simple claim 5 months later”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Kendrav386 on 30/09/2015

I called the company the day after we were travelling Canada and we had all of our ski and snowboard gear and our savings for the end of the season stolen and we were told they would send me information through email on how to claim for this and I had to ring up a second time to receive the actual form to fill out and find out what we needed to send through to them. We were told we needed to send proof of purchase for the items and the form but were not specific that this all had to be in hard-copy so we originally scanned all of this and sent it online but after a week found out that we had to send it by mail. After doing this we called up to find out how long the claim would take to process once they received this form and all of the receipts for the gear and we were told it would be completely processed within 5 working days of being received. What a load of bull that was since it is now 5 months later and the claim is still being processed. This has completely ruined our season since I had to end my employment as a ski instructor early due to not having any equipment and could not enjoy the last month of free skiing because we could not afford to buy all new gear. My boyfriend also had to end his employment early since he was working on the mountain aswell and we were both living off those wages and could not afford to buy all new equipment. Since the end of April when we sent the claim through they have asked for more information from us 3 times, the first time was a month after we originally sent through the claim. We had to cut our holiday short since we could not afford to stay there as long as we had planned without the money we had saved and since we had to stop working early. We have also now returned to Australia and were unable to enjoy the ski season here even since we haven't received any compensation yet and again could not afford to buy all new gear especially here in Australia where everything snow related is much more expensive. So many times we have contacted them and not received any reply and I actually called them once and was told that they were supposed to call me for more information but it no one was on top of it. It has been the worst organisation of processing this claim and I am faster at replying to their emails when this is their job and I have my own job working full time.

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“Debiting my account without permission”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Pricecg13 on 13/03/2015

This company seems to operate an auto-renewal policy which I was not aware of when I took out the initial insurance in 2013. They automatically took money out of my account in march 2014 without my permission, although I did not notice this until they've done the same again this week. So They've automatically renewed my policy twice and taken two payments out of my account without my permission.

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Columbusdirect's Comment

Written on: 13/03/2015

We're sorry that you were not happy with the auto-renewal process.

We auto-renew our policies so our customers are still covered if their policy expires while they're out of the country or unable to contact us to renew their insurance. Around four weeks before we're due to auto-renew, we email our customers to let them know that their policy is due to expire and that we'll be taking payment.

We get positive feedback from our customers about our renewal process, but appreciate some people prefer to look after these matters themselves each year.

We do confirm as part of the sales process (both online and over the phone) that you will be included in an auto-renewal process and customers can come out of this at any time by contacting us.

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“absolute joke Watchdog should investigate them”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Victork309 on 13/03/2015

Cancelled our holiday as we had been involved in a 50 minute ordeal in flying and had two emergency landings almost crashing twice.We were so badly affected and traumatised my wife and I could not face flying again.They showed no compassion.Stalled our claim and will not pay out after asking us for genuine doctors certificates.DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY THEY WILL NOT PAY OUT.DISGUSTING WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.WILL NEVER EVER BOOK WITH THEM EVER AGAIN.I HOPE THEY GO BUST

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“Awful”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Megan212 on 11/03/2015

Awful customer service. Telephone sales person didn't seem to understand that I was interested in the overall level of cover, and didn't want to select a policy just on basis of level of cancellation cover. Telephone representative also had no understanding of their policy regarding declaring pre existing medical conditions, and told me that I had to declare anything within the last 12 months only and then told me I had to declare any surgery I had ever had even if I had absolutely no ongoing related problems from it. She could not see how this was conflicting advice and was extremely unhelpful. She then told me that the company have a very low threshold for pre existing medical conditions and have a very low threshold for declining cover. She then gave me an expensive alternative number to call for a 'sister' company. When I challenged her that Columbus specifically advertise that they themselves cover pre existing medical conditions on their website, she had nothing to say. Needless to say I did not bother to continue the conversation, had absolute no faith that she knew what she was talking about. Overall awful customer service and I would not trust that they would pay out if a claim was required. Avoid like the plague!!!!

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“Lack of comms,no help at all.”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Paul09876 on 02/03/2015

I have purchased travel insurance from them.One of my personal items has got damaged.I did not read small print from T and C that you can not claim for item more than price you have purchased for.However form sent to claim compensation states only how much you want to claim in total not exceeding some sum of money.I stated less but still this mistake could not be corrected as i have been told later on.They send you an email first.If you have any questions you have to wait qulite a time.I did not receive elaborated answer to my questions.Only " we can not advise with regard to this matter/case". I did send another email 2 days later asking to call me back which they never did.I had to call them again( 0870 number) to get explanations.Woman was apoligizing for not replying and not calling back.Quote" i meant to call you back and write but.....bla bla bla......" Main message to any one to stay away from this company.They will charge you but leave with no asnwers and help.

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“Constantly stalling my claim”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Sally93 on 19/11/2014

I had a trip to Morocco booked and had to cancel the day before unfortunately due to ill health. I emailed my travel insurance company (travelinsuranceweb) and advised that I would be starting a claim process very soon. A response came from Columbus Direct. Apparently, my insurance was now with them. Thanks for letting me know! They advised that they were currently updating their systems and I would receive a claim form for submission once the system was up and running. I made a doctor's appointment so I could get a medical certificate signed. 2 weeks on, I had heard nothing, and emailed as my appointment was fast approaching. They responded after the appointment had passed, and I received my claim form. I then had to wait another 10 days to see my doctor, then got the medical certificate filled in. I completed all of the necessary documentation 1 month after I had notified I would be making a claim, and posted this off to them. 1 week later, I decided to follow up and see if the claim was received. 3 days later, they advised my claim had not arrived. I told them that no, I posted it, and they responded a few days later that my claim was indeed in their system and that it would take 5-10 working days to process. Great, I thought, the claim was received, now I just need to wait for an outcome. A week later, I received a letter in the post with a section of the medical certificate included, advising I needed to fill in Questions 12-17 and post it back. I was fuming at another delay. I had filled in the whole form. I wrote and advised I had indeed filled in the entire medical certificate, and had copies to prove it. They wrote back and advised that Questions 12-17 were not complete. I responded with an email with copies of the document attached proving that YES, I had filled in Questions 12-17. Do they think I was born yesterday? Why on earth would they deny that these questions were incomplete when I even proved it with copies? The last email I had in response, was that they would pass on my feedback to the claim assessor and this would take another 5-7 working days. I am not willing to wait another 5-7 working days for what I am sure is another delay. I included the following. "My full claim has now been with yourselves for nearly a month and I am just going round in circles, despite having filled in the documentation correctly and fully. There should not have been any of these issues whatsoever." Just for a kick in the front teeth, my boyfriend has completed the same claim successfully with his travel insurance company, has already received his cheque, and had no issues whatsoever. I have been mucked around and stalled for over 2 months with mine and have done nothing but provide them with the information they require. I have yet to hear back but this company have been stalling from the start. It takes me a lot to write a review as I don't think it is the full picture, and I like to have the full picture for a more balanced outlook on the situation. However, I felt I needed to advise others before they make the same mistake. I am still waiting for my claim to be processed. Absolutely shocking and I would not recommend them to anyone at all.

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“Liars”

★☆☆☆☆

written by karenfielder on 30/10/2014

Two weeks before we were due to fly to Tunisia, my husband suffered a Stroke and was told not to fly via medical advice, by the Hospital and His GP - we had to sadly cancel our holiday - we completed all the claims forms, paid our GP £28 to complete the medical part categorically stating that my husband had not had any pre-symptoms or been treated previously for his unexpected stroke - and guess what - they said they will not pay us out - I have forwarded my case onto the FOS. Absolutley disgusting treatment!

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“Long standing customer - never been let down”

★★★★★

written by jamesthomas007 on 14/08/2014

I usually review on Trustpilot, which is where most customer reviews seem to be held for Columbus (over 400) and I guess that's the official review site they use because I remember having been invited by Trustpilot to leave my reviews there for them. However, when I came across this site (after searching on Google) I felt that I needed to defend Columbus against the negative reviews listed. It feels like this is a place where only negative reviews are posted, which isn't fair or balanced - the Trustpilot site, for example has a range of reviews from positive to negative, but the majority are positive. I've been a customer for over 10 years. My policy covers my whole family (including my son who is away at university, which I think is very useful) and the price I pay I think is very reasonable. I have always found Columbus to offer very good customer service and when I have had the misfortune to have to make a claim, on both occasions I was treated courteously and the the money was paid promptly without any worries. For that reason I would not buy my travel insurance off anyone else.

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“Terrible & Dishonest ”

★☆☆☆☆

written by BoMartin475 on 27/07/2014

When I was stranded in Tokyo and had to stay overnight in a hotel due to bad weather and missed my connection flight. Columbus failed to re-imbursed my hotel cost & connection flight fare even though I provided everythings they asked for:- flight receipts, boarding pass, pass port, letter from airline confirming the reason for the delay, stamp on my passport, hotel receipts etc... They claimed they only cover to my destination and not UK inland. I have never heard any insurance company only cover to a single journey. My journey clearly stated from UK/Tokyo/UK. It's a total con!! They even had a cheek to try to take money from my credit card account without my authorisation. Don't touch this company,. Bad bad company,

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“Rubbish customer service despite all thei website claims”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Jaxon283 on 25/07/2014

Over 17 days trying to renew my travel insurance (As they sent me a reminder by email). After twice waiting ages on an international line trying to pay them money I gave up and sent a web contact form. Automatic reply promises to contact me shortly. Despite further 5 emails to two different addresses (admin and customer services) and another 15 minute wait on the phone I have still failed to get though and not heard back from them (Shortly huh?) except they again chased me to renew by email. Another firm randomly chosen on the web answered in 5 mins and quoted half what I paid last year for a fuller cover. Nowhere on Columbus site to register a complaint or refute all the award and wonderful reviews which don't match the ones here.

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“Friendly...until you actually need them”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Munrook138 on 27/06/2014

Easy to buy and seemingly good value for money. However, once you have a claim, an archaic system kicks in. I has a seemingly simple claim. However, they kept questioning the validity of the documentation I submitted, and introducing additional forms and paragraphs. What should have been a simple claim became so painful that I dropped it. I was left with a really bad taste in my mouth and a bunch of very arrogant emails from their "claims assistance" team. My previous experience with travel insurance providers had been very good and they seemed to operate on the principle of wanting to be helpful as soon as you have provided evidence and receipts etc. However, Columbus appears to have a deliberate system to make it as hard (and costly) to obtain documentation to their exact specification, which I can only assume has the objective of at worst delaying payment, but at best making people give up. In my case they won.

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“Do not touch this company”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Shieldsup161 on 23/05/2014

We have been insured by this company for many years. Being honest citizens we reported that I had needed to be put on a low dose of blood pressure medication. The person on the end of the phone wasted my time by "screening" me gaining entirely positive answers and then saying they wouldn't insure me. Why ask questions if there was no intent of insuring? Thousands and thousands of people are medicated for blood pressure what is the big deal? The irony is that I'm less likely to be a problem now than while I was a border line unmedicated person over the last 10 years or so. I was then told that despite only renewing our policy in April I was not entitled to a refund. However as a gesture of "good will" they would make a pro rata refund! Be warned unless you are 100% you will be abandoned and they may keep your money.

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“Avoid”

★☆☆☆☆

written by lilatina1988 on 11/05/2014

After having paid around £20 every month for my income insurance for the past six months - without making a claim - I have now received an email informing me that supposedly one of their investors, "Mapfre Assistencia" has decided to withdraw and so is resulting in them no longer being able to offer this insurance! What a load of rubbish and a nice and easy way to get lots of money out of people before fobbing them off. It has been a nightmare trying to get a hold of them whenever I had a question previously but now, forget about. DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY. I'd recommend throwing your money out of your window before getting with Columbus Direct as this would be a more enjoyable way of wasting your money!

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