LV Travel Insurance: What do You Need to Know?
With excellent customer and industry body reviews, LV travel insurance is ahead of the game and truly offers great cover for you. A little more pricey than most suppliers but it offers a very comprehensive level and longer periods of cover than most! Read on to find out more...
LV Travel Insurance Reviews
Overall, LV Travel Insurance receives excellent reviews, leaving its competitors trailing behind in this department. We’ve pulled together a short summary for you from a variety of sources.
- Bought by Many lists LV’s Premier policy in their Top 10 for Best Travel Insurance 2019. It cites LV’s comprehensive level of cover, among other winning factors.
- LV Travel Insurance has a Defaqto five-star rating for its Premier policy. Defaqto is an independent financial information business, recognised across the industry. Defaqto usually gives a five-star rating for a policy offering more features and benefits of a higher quality. It is not based on price. Defaqto also rates LV’s Premier travel policy as one of the most comprehensive insurance products on the market.
The following sites include reviews for LV that are company-wide and not just related to travel insurance. While they offer a good indication of company performance as a whole, bear in mind the ratings could be better (or worse) if only travel insurance was taken into account.
Website
|
Reviews
|
---|---|
Reviews.io
|
218 customers gave an average of 3.37/5 stars. One happy travel insurance customer had the following to say... “Very quick and easy to use web forms for buying travel insurance. I have existing medical conditions and usually have to jump through hoops on the phone with screening service for 10 minutes. This time with LV I only had to answer the web questions. and had cover sorted in 10 minutes, not the usual 30 or 40 minutes, and it ended up cheaper for better cover. WELL DONE LV.” - Barry
|
Reevoo
|
99% of customers said they would buy through LV again, and 92% said enquires were handled effectively. These figures were from a total of 12,953 respondents, which is an excellent sample size to receive such positive results
|
TrustPilot
|
TrustPilot has 5,878 reviews and gives LV Insurance five stars, with 75% of respondents rating it as excellent
|
LV Travel Insurance Policy Types and Details
As is common with many insurers, LV offers two main types of travel insurance:
In each single trip policy you will receive cover for: emergency medical, cancellation (due to illness, injury or death), personal liability, personal accident, legal expenses, hijack and kidnap. If you choose the Premier policy you will receive the following cover, in addition: cancellation / abandonment after delays, bankruptcy of travel provider, additional transport and accommodation costs, and delayed departure benefit.
- Single trip insurance: LV are super generous and offer you one of the longest coverage periods around. The length of time permitted will depend on factors such as age and pre-existing medical conditions. The maximum period is just over one year though! Just think how many countries you could tick off your list, or maybe a luxuriously long island getaway is more your style.
- Annual multi-trip insurance: This covers you for multiple trips throughout a year. You will receive the same cover items as with the single trip insurance. However, cruise cover is also included in all annual policies, which is a nice extra and could save you more than pennies. What’s more, anyone up to 80 can take out a policy.
You can also choose to add on winter sports cover and baggage (this is not automatically covered with LV).
There are two levels of cover available, Essential (basic cover) and Premier (comprehensive cover). Below are some of the key essentials that each policy offers.
Section of Cover
|
Essential policy maximum limit per customer
|
Premier policy maximum limit per customer
|
Excess per person
|
---|---|---|---|
Cancellation / abandonment after delays
|
|
£10,000
|
£50 (Premier)
|
Bankruptcy of travel provider
|
|
£10,000
|
|
Cancelling your trip before you travel or cutting short after you travel e.g. due to illness
|
£5,000
|
£10,000
|
£75 (Essential) £50 (Premier)
|
Personal accident
|
£25,000
|
£25,000
|
|
Emergency medical expenses (excluding UK cover)
|
£10,000,000
|
£10,000,000
|
£75 (Essential) £50 (Premier)
|
Personal liability limit
|
£2,000,000
|
£2,000,000
|
|
Legal advice and expenses (maximum £50,000 per policy)
|
£25,000
|
£25,000
|
|
LV Premier Travel Insurance
If you take out LV Premier Travel Insurance there are a number of benefits you will receive. We think these are some of the biggest wins around and want to highlight our favourites for you.
The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) offers expert travel advice and states that flight cancellation due to an exceptional circumstance doesn’t affect the basic obligations of airlines and travel companies. However, you are not entitled to additional compensation. Knowing that you are covered at a time like this with LV premier travel insurance could make all the difference!
- Remember the infamous Icelandic volcano (Eyjafjallajökull) eruption that disrupted travel across Europe, for what felt like forever? Insurers usually don’t cover natural disasters but the LV Premier policy goes above and beyond here and will cover you for delays and cancellations (after 24 hours) caused by ash clouds, plain old bad weather, and even strikes! If you’re planning a once in a lifetime holiday, like a special wedding anniversary, and have splashed out, you will thank yourself for taking out a policy that covers you and your hard-earned money.
- It will also cover you if you miss your pre-booked transport. That’s right, if you take a train to the airport and it’s delayed for any reason (e.g. snow or leaves on the tracks) and you miss your flight, you can claim up to £1,000.
Optional Extras
Want to know how you could save on your LV travel insurance? In this section about extras, we will tell you where to find a cashback offer, and what’s included in the baggage and winter sports add-on options.
Baggage
This is an optional extra with LV, so you will have to add this on if you want protection for your baggage and belongings. This will cost more but levels of cover are generous and will provide you with some of the highest single item limits available on the market. Here’s what you will get if you choose to include baggage cover:
- Baggage: Up to £3,000 cover with the Premier policy or £2,000 cover with the Essential policy. This includes your suitcases and their contents, bags, sports equipment, mobility aids and wheelchairs. The single item limit is £300 under the Essential policy and £500 with the Premier policy.
- Valuables: Up to £500 cover with the Premier policy for the likes of jewellery, watches, sunglasses, cameras or mobile phones. The Essential policy gives you £300 cover. Valuables must not be stored in suitcases and we recommend reading the full policy wording for other tips and exclusions.
- Money: £500 cover for money, including £300 for cash, as well as cover for travellers cheques, admission tickets or pre-paid passes.
The single item limit means the maximum amount you can claim on any one item. Check out this handy guide to understanding travel insurance for more top tips!
Hopefully, you never need to think about this and make a claim, but if you do, please remember to report any loss or theft to the police within 24 hours.
Winter Sports Cover
If you’re planning on hitting the slopes this season then winter sports cover is for you. Even if you started skiing before you could walk, the mountains are a beautiful but powerful force to be respected.
Perfect powder conditions can turn into an icy run on the next corner, which can lead to a fall! Or you could be blissfully walking to dinner and just slip over (this is often just embarrassing but has been known to cause injuries too).
Below, we have listed the benefits you will receive under the winter sports cover.
Winter sports cover
|
Essential policy maximum limit
|
Premier policy maximum limit
|
Excess per person
|
---|---|---|---|
Personal liability for winter sports activities
|
£2,000,000 per policy
|
£2,000,000 per policy
|
|
Personal accident as a result of a winter sports activity
|
£25,000 per person
|
£25,000 per person
|
|
Emergency medical expenses paid that resulted from doing a winter sports activity
|
£10,000,000 per person
|
£10,000,000 per person
|
£75 (Essential) £50 (Premier)
|
Cancel winter sports excursions / activities while on trip
|
£5,000
|
£10,000
|
£75 (Essential) £50 (Premier)
|
Emergency medical expenses (excluding UK cover)
|
£10,000,000
|
£10,000,000
|
£75 (Essential) £50 (Premier)
|
Cancel / cut short your trip after leaving home if this is required as a result of doing a winter sports activity
|
£5,000
|
£10,000
|
£75 (Essential) £50 (Premier)
|
It’s important to note that hired sports equipment (that’s not in use) is only covered if you have also added baggage as an optional extra.
If you choose to add winter sports cover the maximum number of days covered under the LV annual travel insurance policy will be:
- Up to 17 days on the Essential policy.
- Up to 31 days on the Premier policy.
LV Travel Insurance Prices
As we mentioned before, LV is not the cheapest on the market but aims to provide a higher level of protection. In order to compare prices, we have done a comparison for an annual policy including Europe for a 35-year-old woman with no pre-existing medical conditions. Pricing information is accurate as of July 2019.
As LV Insurance only offers two tiers of cover, we have used the average silver policy pricing to conduct our comparison. As you can see, LV’s policies are more pricey, but remember price usually isn’t the best factor to base buying an insurance policy on.
Something else to consider is the excess you would need to pay in the event of a claim. LV has some of the lowest on the market: depending on the claim and type of policy, they range from £0-£75.
Another advantage of LV travel insurance? The generously long timeframe offered for a trip (up to 366 consecutive days for a single trip, which is great for backpackers. If you are lucky enough to be going on a long trip then this drops the price per day and stops you from having to add on extra days with another insurer (if they permit it), which would increase the final price of your premium.
Where Can I Find LV Travel Insurance Discount Codes?
At the time of writing, Quidco was offering cashback on a range of LV Travel Insurance policies. You will need to join Quidco (if you haven’t already), which is a simple and fast process. They operate a two-tier membership system and you can choose between Quidco Basic or Premium at the time of signing up.
How Can I Make a Claim With LV Travel Insurance?
To make a claim with LV, you will need to call the LV Travel Insurance claims team.
When you call, we recommend having the following information ready:
- The dates and times of your travel.
- The amount that you’re claiming for.
Additional information that may be required (but can be provided later) includes:
- Details of other insurance you have that may cover the same loss, like home insurance, private medical cover and packaged bank accounts.
- Original receipts and accounts for all out of pocket expenses, bills or invoices that you’ve had to pay.
LV Travel Insurance Emergency Assistance
Sometimes, the unexpected happens. Take this story from a solo traveller in Bali, for example. Jessica was riding a bicycle back to her accommodation and was bitten by a dog. The wound was bleeding and she knew she had to get to the hospital for a rabies vaccination immediately.
Fortunately, she was able to get her first vaccination 20 minutes later. She then had four over the following month. Luckily, she had travel insurance and it covered everything (including new trousers, where the dog had torn a hole).
Hopefully, you will never need to use this, but if you need emergency assistance, please call +44 1243 621 537 at any time. If you’re in a situation like Jessica, go to the hospital first and then phone the number later. The team will advise you what to do next and provide support.
LV Travel Insurance: Complaints and Cancellations
Making a complaint to LV Travel Insurance should also be done over the phone. Lines are open at the following times:
- 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday
- 9am - 5pm Saturdays and bank holidays
- 10am - 4pm Sundays
With LV, if you cancel your policy within 14 days of receiving your documents, and your policy cover is longer than 28 days, you will receive a refund of the premium.
If you cancel your policy after the 14 day period, or your policy cover is less than 28 days, you won’t receive a refund.
You can find a list of useful LV phone numbers via our helpful LV contact page.
Data and information correct as of July 2019.
All material on this page and the selectra.co.uk website is for information purposes only and does not constitute any form of financial advice. Selectra.co.uk is not responsible for any consequences that might arise from your use of the information provided.
Other providers are available and the best deal for you will depend on your individual circumstances. Please do your own research and seek professional advice if necessary (moneyadviceservice.org.uk offers free, independent advice on all financial issues).