I'm in the USA right now, visiting my daughter and needed to extend my stay by a couple of months more . Unfortunately, my travel insurer won't extend the trip extn upgrade I have currently in place as I'm already travelling, so I went into panic mode as being here without medical cover is unthinkable.
Thank goodness for Big Cat!
They were able to provide me with cover to take over in October when my current provider's expires.
Yes it's costing me a lot more than if I'd had it all in place before I left the UK, but small price to pay for peace of mind.
I only saw two other choices online, one wouldn't cover me as I'm over 65(I'm 67)even though I'm fit and have no medical issues and the other was quoting £1,500 more.
Thanks again Big Cat 👌
Date of experience : September 02, 2024
22 reviews An hour agoHelpful people. Insurance that does what it claims to do, while others are somewhat obscure.
Date of experience : September 09, 2024
20 reviews 6 hours agoHad been difficult to find insurance for under 18 but Big Cat was excellent and sorted out very quickly
Date of experience : August 05, 2024
4 days agoIn trying to add USA to my daughters existing backpacker insurance with Tesco insurance it became very complicated and ended in a complaint having to be made after they tried to increase the premium quoted the previous week by over £200. the explanation was they use daily pricing. However when they had given my daughter the price they said they would email her to confirm some questions with in 48 hrs, when they did this and she answered the questions hey presto the price had gone up when i called to pay! Nobody could explain whether she had been told the price could change or the fact that she had no opportunity to pay the original quote until she had answered the questions. I work for a major insurer who pride themselves on customer service and win numerous awards for it. I could not believe the situation. It was escalated to a manager who could not resolve it but had to refer and would come back to me with in 24 to 48 hours.in view of this experience i decided to look at alternatives. i Have now found it is not easy to arrange cover when you are already away but Big Cat did a fantastic job including a very simple medical screening for a pre existing medical condition. well done and thank you
Date of experience : September 06, 2024
5 days agoWhen insurance can be so complicated, especially where motorcycles are involved, arranging this policy was refreshingly easy! Thanks to Mad or Nomad for the tip!!
Date of experience : September 05, 2024
3 days agoGreat service
Quick and easy no pressure selling
Medical screening great price ..
now let’s see what happens if and when I need to claim ..
that’s where then proof in the pudding is
Date of experience : September 05, 2024
Aug 30, 2024fantastic. very knowledgeable and personable staff. very quick answer to phone calls. no robots or call centres in exotic locations. very good price from sensible people. would defiantly recommend.
Date of experience : August 30, 2024
Aug 29, 2024Very easy to book, I’ve asked a few times for further assistance and the staff has always been helpful. This is my go to travel insurance every time I go abroad and specially when I’m involved in sports activities that require insurance. Thank you!
Date of experience : August 22, 2024
Sep 2, 2024Really easy and simple process, and immediate confirmation, with all files sent over email straight away!
Date of experience : September 01, 2024
Aug 22, 2024Due to a combination of factors, I found myself in a weird grey area where no travel insurance company would cover me for one reason or another. Thankfully I found Big Cat, who have a very reliable customer service team who were able to answer all my questions and assure me I would receive the appropriate amount of cover, and for a decent price too. Their medical screening service allows you to declare any pre-existing conditions and choose whether to pay extra to cover them, or to exclude them from your policy. This has been a godsend. I am very happy with my experience so far.
Date of experience : August 15, 2024
12 reviews Aug 19, 2024Had been looking for a while for insurance my son’s 6 month trip to the US. Had a few initial questions which were answered promptly by email so went ahead and purchased the policy. Had further questions a few days later and spoke with Chris over the telephone, he was very helpful and understood my concerns. Everything was sorted and emailed through straight away. Very pleased, thank you!
Date of experience : August 12, 2024
Aug 7, 2024Couldn’t recommend enough. I went on a four month backpacking trip of South-East Asia and spent ages choosing an insurance provider that covers backpacking. Big cat was a reasonable price, and for just £20 extra I paid to have no excess on my claims.
I had to claim once for a hospital visit due to food poisoning and was paid back within 10 days and no excess. Definitely will use again in future!
Date of experience : April 19, 2024
18 hours agoQuality experience, helped with any questions.
Would highly recommend!
Date of experience : September 08, 2024
10 reviews Aug 18, 2024Very easy application process. Policy documents received immediately. On checking them I found I had made a mistake. On ringing them, the matter was immediately sorted out. So far, I am very impressed.
Date of experience : August 16, 2024
Aug 26, 2024Very helpful and patient staff who clearly went through the whole process with me so I was sure what quote I was getting.
Date of experience : August 20, 2024
Aug 28, 2024An easy site to navigate, plus you offer more for backpackers than other sites do.
Date of experience : August 27, 2024
Jul 23, 2024Took a Big Cat policy out to go travelling last year. Had, unfortunately, to make two claims - both were paid out in line with the policy (although processing time was a tad long). Just had renewal quote now, which was very competitive, so will be staying with Big Cat for the foreseeable future.
Can recommend this company.
Date of experience : July 23, 2024
Aug 30, 2024Easy to use, activities well listed, summary handy, good price.
Date of experience : August 22, 2024
Updated 6 days agoBUYER BEWARE: Big Cat Travel Insurance employs a separate company, “CSA / Gallagher Basset”, to process its insurance claims. That company has a 96% 1 star rating. Their reviews can be seen here on trust pilot by searching for "Gallagher Bassett". Some highlights of other customers' comments about them include “Shocking Customer Service”, “Scam”, “Incompetent”, “Regulator should shut them down” and “Absolutely Dire”. Many of those reviews allege unethical conduct. My personal experience reinforces and validates these views but I am far from the only one - there are literally over one hundred negative reviews of Big Cat’s claims processing partner on TrustPilot and I wish I had read those reviews before purchasing a Big Cat policy.
Big Cat is extremely proactive about responding to negative reviews and will take all possible steps to remove negative reviews posted under the Big Cat company name or publicly dismiss the negative experience their customers have had. As a result, customers are not getting the true picture when reading reviews of Big Cat Travel Insurance unless they also read the reviews of CSA / Gallagher Basset. Big Cat cannot absolve themselves of responsibility for the poor service quality provided by their partner and should be held accountable for their conduct.
Although the Big Cat Travel insurance policy might appear to provide good features (at a premium price) and is easy to purchase online the claims process is dreadful as evidenced by hundreds of other reviews of CSA / Gallagher Bassett on this site. Buyers should inform themselves of the extremely poor claims process provided by Big Cat Travel by reading the reviews of their claims processing partner. In my opinion, buyers are extremely unlikely to have a successfully pleasant experience if they need to make a claim under a Big Cat policy and I deeply regret purchasing one of their policies.
Response to Big Cat reply:
In this case, Big Cat’s reply fails to mention that their request cannot be legally complied with and would be in violation of the medical practice code of ethics in the country where the incident occurred. It is completely unreasonable to expect someone to break the law in order to have a successful claim. Of course, encouraging others to commit a crime is, in itself, also a crime…
I feel Big Cat behaves unethically in requiring information that cannot legally or ethically be provided. Big Cat want to stick to their rule book regardless of the wider context and legality of their requests. Clearly, this one is going to run for awhile….
Sadly, this is yet more evidence (if it was needed) of Big Cat’s cavalier approach to ethics, the law and customer service. Buyer beware!
Reply to Big Cats reply to my reply:
I have provided separately the statues of law which confirm why Big Cats request would require illegal conduct in order to comply. I’ve also provided the American Medical Association”s code of ethics. Have you bothered to read them? When I spoke to your colleague yesterday he admitted he had not even read the content of the so-called medical certificate that had been requested.
Suffice to say that within hours of writing to the consumer champions at all the main newspapers and cc’ing the Public Relations departments of Big Cat, CSA and Allianz I had contact from your partner. Seems they’ve reopened the claim and are being more cooperative.
It really shouldn’t take this much effort to get decent customer service. Why not just listen, and really take the time to understand the issue from the beginning instead of immediately becoming defensive and trying to get the review removed?
Date of experience : July 08, 2024
Reply from Big Cat Travel Insurance
Updated 6 days ago
Many thanks for your recent review and we are sorry to hear that you have not had a positive claims experience so far.
Big Cat Travel Insurance welcomes all feedback, both positive and negative. We do make a concerted effort to respond to negative feedback specifically to show that we take negative reviews very seriously.
Furthermore, our responses can provide wider context to a situation which can often be missed by the reviewer. In this case, your review does not mention that the reason your claim has been declined thus far is due to not being able to provide a key piece of information that is required to validate the claim.
The terms and conditions of any travel insurance policy, including the Big Cat policy, will require the insured person to provide certain documentation in support of any potential claim. If the insured person is unable to provide the required supporting documentation to help substantiate their claim, then Insurers will universally reserve the right to limit or decline settlement of any potential claim.
In response to PH's updated review:
Big Cat strongly disagrees with the version of events outlined above. Your review implies that in order to provide the required supporting documentation in order to validate your claim that it would require a doctor to commit a crime, this is factually incorrect. Medical facilities share special category information with Insurance companies all around the globe on a daily basis where there is a contractual or legitimate requirement to do so.
The Big Cat travel insurance policy coverage under the Curtailment section extends to include the sudden and unforeseen death of a non-travelling close relative. In addition, the cover under the Big Cat travel insurance policy is one of the widest and most extensive on the market, as the intended scope of cover includes trip curtailment due to the sudden and unforeseen death of a non-travelling relative specifically relating to a known or pre-existing medical condition. Most travel insurance policies will only cover curtailment due to the death of a non-travelling close relative relating to new medical conditions only diagnosed after the time the travel insurance policy was purchased. In the event of such a claim, the Insurers will require written evidence from the patient’s doctor that the ‘non-travelling relative’ section of the policy has been complied with:
‘Non Travelling Relative - You may have a close relative with a medical condition who is not travelling with you. In some cases, if their state of health deteriorates greatly, you may want to cancel or curtail your trip. Subject to all the other terms and conditions, such claims are covered if the close relative's doctor is prepared to state that at the date you bought this policy, he/she would have seen no substantial likelihood of his/her patient’s condition deteriorating to such a degree that this would become necessary. If the doctor will not confirm this, your claim is not covered.’
In the absence of said information, there is absolutely no way to verify if the claim meets the conditions of the policy. No Insurer would pay the claim without first being satisfied that it meets the terms and conditions of the policy.
Ultimately, the fact that a doctor in the USA is failing cooperate with you and provide you with a simple document that is requested by Insurers around the globe to verify claims of this nature, does not in any way, shape, or form mean that Big Cat has somehow committed a crime.
