The personal finance expert shared advice for people who need to claim on their insurance policy
Martin Lewis has shared an important ‘rule’ for anyone claiming on their travel insurance. As the finance expert explained on The Martin Lewis Podcast, it’s vital to answer honestly when responding to questions from your provider – including when they ask you if you have cover with another provider.
While people might not realise it, it’s crucial to disclose if you have double cover, which might occur if your workplace and bank both offer travel insurance. This is because even though you can only make one claim, the insurer you claim from might try to recover the cost from the other insurer.
Martin explained how the process works and whether people can choose which insurer they claim from during a ‘Question Time’ podcast episode. In this week’s episode, a listener with two travel policies asked Martin how to make a claim if needed.
Emailing into the show, Matt said: “I receive travel insurance as part of my HSBC bank account, but I also have travel insurance from a workplace healthcare plan. What happens if I need to make a claim? Can I choose who to claim from? Or do I need to notify both?”
He continued: “While I’ve not claimed, I want to make sure I don’t encounter any issues should I need to. I’ve used AI to compare both policy documents, and my bank policy is more comprehensive, but I don’t have the option to opt out of the company plan without declining workplace healthcare.”
In response, Martin explained that there’s no problem with having two policies, though you can’t make two claims. He explained: “You cannot profit, you can only get your cost back.
“So you couldn’t, for example, have an incident abroad and claim off both the same amount. So you’re making money on the back of it. That’s a breach. That’s the first rule.”
Martin continued: “The second rule is you can choose who to claim from, but when you’re making that claim, you must answer honestly, and it will usually ask you if you have any other insurance that may cover this.” He said you should always tell them ‘yes’.
Finally, the expert explained that you can choose which insurer to claim from, and he said he would always go for the option that gives you the best cover.
Martin added: “The insurer that you claim from may try and recover the cost from the other insurer or ask you to do so. And all of that depends on the terms of your particular travel insurance policy.
“So you should be covered, and yes it’s simpler to have one so you can answer no. But in your case, you can’t only have one because you’re getting better cover from your bank policy anyway.”
