Columbus Direct Reviews 10,915

Truly awful. I have been trying to renew my annual travel insurance policy online. The Portal is not fit for purpose and kicked me out over a dozen times whilst trying to renew the policy. Phoned customer 'service' (and I use the term very, very loosely. No help whatsoever. I have given up. I have sourced a policy elsewhere at a more competitive premium, with wider cover/higher limits and the online portal works perfectly. Columbus to be avoided at all costs.

5weeks and still waiting an answer on a simple claim re bereavement cancellation. Issue appears to be with their "agent" Collisons.

Wont be buying from them again.

I have been with this company for over 10 years, never made a claim. I had a stomach problem which was quickly diagnosed by the Doctor but he wanted a scan just to confirm, although by the time the scan came through the issue had completely cleared with antibiotics. I informed the insurance company. The day before my holiday they cancelled mine and my wife's travel insurance due to outstanding result from scan Absolutely appalling, there was no, Ok we can still cover you but not for the issue you raised with us, no compassion or care, just, your policy and your wives(who had no issues) is immediately cancelled. I thought being honest was the right thing to do, appalling customer service and loyalty. Left me to struggle to get travel insurance within 2 hrs of flying or have to cancel my holiday. Ex military veteran, Makes you wonder why you bothered. Footnote: the antibiotics cleared my issue in 5 days, which was 3 weeks ago, Doctor had passed me fit to travel.

Don’t even think about getting travel insurance with these I paid for the gold service as it claimed to give full coverage of the cost of my holiday if I had to cancel. I had to cancel due to medical emergency and despite submitting all documentation within a week. I received no contact for 5 weeks and after multiple calls and emails was begrudgingly awarded less than a third of my holiday cost

Very efficient and easy to navigate.
A few questions and we were sorted, great price and options.

So called travel insurance - is non existent. Run as a scam as won’t pay out for anything and ignore you.
Better to have no insurance as you won’t get anything paid out

Absolutely terrible. I have have an annual plan with Columbus for 12/13 years. I pay for all the extras excluding golf, as I don't play and cruises. I even have added business travel. I needed ro make a claim for my wife's phone who is also on the policy, as the phone got wet and broke while on holiday with it being in the pocket of my swim shorts (so much for Samsung's being water resistant). I contacted them while abroad to explain. When we got back the phone was beyond repaid according to samsung so we had to replace it. As they don't do the S23+ anymore, we bough the next equivalent S25+. Even though I pay for additional gadget cover, i was told that the most they would payout was £299 as that is the cost of a refurbished S23+. I asked where that got that value from which I was told Amazon!. Since when is Amazon recognised as the defacto company to value refurbs or any product on!? over 50% of the stuff sold on Amazon is by everyday businesses and people. I asked for the exact link for the phone that was priced at that amount to which I was told they have one. So how did you work out that was the price as all the refurbs I could see were far higher than that price? I refused the payout as I pay for additional gadget cover but they paid it out anyway. The damage phone happened in October and they paid out mid January. After speaking to a family member that works at the FCA, I have now raised a complaint against them. Terrible service. If you read others reviews you'll find similar opinions. They treat long term customer terribly as if they are their only choice. My renewal came through today for then next annual premium. I will never be using them again! Go elsewhere, there are other insurers that are far better!

Avoid at all costs.
Having been a customer for 10+ years, on annual multi trip, a claim has been a horrendous process. During the accident their overseas team couldn't be more concerned, with daily contacts, but following a claim submission, with receipts, evidence and police reports, the claim process is taking months.
No direct contact or updates, each time I call and chase an update is promised but none received. No supervisor available to speak to.
Thoroughly poor process and won't be using them again.

I've been a customer of Columbus for many years. This year, for the first time I had to make a claim due to a travel delay and missed flights out of my control.

The claims process did require the provision of a substantial amount of supporting documentation. Nonetheless, after providing the documentation that was asked - Columbus did pay out my claim. There was a £75.00 Per person excess fee which hurt a little as the claim was only £350 or so in total. However I felt it was important to let others know that in my case, columbus did pay out within a month or so and I found them very easy to contact over the phone - contrary to many other reviews on Trustpilot.

I would recommend this insurer for travel insurance.

Avoid !! We’ve had a policy with Columbus Direct for over 30 years. They are happy to take the premium every year…no problem. I have recently had to make a claim and they don’t want to know.

They just put obstacles in the way of the claim. Their communication is terrible and if you do get to speak to someone it’s difficult to understand them. Their tactics are clearly designed to make it so difficult that people will give upon their claim.
I will continue until I get paid out but it’s not a pleasant experience.

Fantastic. I have been buying cover with Columbus for the last 8 years. Brilliant cover and their communication when needed is exactly at the standards to what I expect.

Columbus offered me the best quote and coverage for travel I could find among all insurers.

You always find out how good a company or product is, when something doesn’t go to plan or in this case, you need to make a claim. I found out, Columbus is A1. Making a claim can sometimes be such a boring and arduous task. They took all this away. Thank you Columbus. My colleagues and friends will definitely go for this product. Mine is a business annual policy with amazing cover.

Terrible! Dismissive staff, so difficult to get anyone to progress our claim. 20+ emails and countless phone calls and I still have not received our claim to date after 9 weeks of trying. They also wrongly advised that our passports were not covered even though theft of these documents is clearly outlined in the policy. They also charged us 5x lots of excess for some reason??? Would leave zero stars if I could. Avoid at ALL COSTS.

AVOID! I would give ZERO stars if possible. I was due to travel to Nepal but had to cancel the trip (as instructed by the tour operator) due to riots breaking out - leading to loss of life, curfews, and the airport being closed. Despite this being unequivocally a dangerous situation, Columbus refused to pay out saying 'they didn't cover that sort of thing.' Customer service is shocking, took well over a month to respond. And this despite me being a long-term customer. Well, not any more!

It honestly feels like the only thing this company is good at is taking your money, not providing any real service in return. They seem to look for any excuse to avoid paying out claims, no matter how clear the situation is.

Save yourself the stress and go with a company that actually values its customers — Columbus Direct
definitely isn’t one of them.

Thinking of buying travel insurance from Columbus/Collinson? Think again. They will do all they can to wriggle out of paying claims. They are the single worst insurance company I ever came across. Despicable people. I bought travel insurance. The list of inclusions on their website showed that cycling was included but mountain biking required an additional extreme sports coverage premium.
On holiday I used an ebike. I used it on the road and in pushbike mode.

It turns out their terms and conditions DO NOT match their website. Ebikes are excluded. You would only find this out after buying the policy. How is that fair? They are trying to trick their customers. As I said despicable people, despicable company.

I argued that an Ebike has two modes – pushbike and mechanical. The exclusion lists Ebikes and other mechanical bikes. So even though I was riding a pushbike, because it has the potential to be ridden mechanically they have refused my claim.

I noticed they add weasel words to every negative comment on Trustpilot.

My view – rather than spend money on an insurance policy with the Post Office and Collinson – go and burn your money or give it to charity.

If you do want to have protection from a serious event on holiday – do more research than I did. Read customer reviews and buy insurance from an ethical provider who will not try to trick customers but have a clear website that lists the coverage and exclusions and has T’s and C’s that match and employs and incentivises their staff to treat customers fairly. Collinson/Columbus is not one of those companies. Avoid their insurance.

An absolute shambles of a company. They have rejected a claim, and have not even read the information I sent. They made dates up, have gone against their own policy, and lied. I would not, in the slightest recommend these utter charlatans. My ferry in Greece was cancelled due to high winds on 19/09. They have decided to say I was informed 18/09, which is a lie, as I only received an email regards the cancellation 00:01 19/09 and then missed my flight from Athens. DO NOT USE THESE CHARLATANS.

A couple of issues at checkout but contacted customer service and issue was resolved same day. Very responsive. Thank you.

Worst Travel Insurance Experience Ever!

I strongly advise everyone to avoid Columbus Direct at all costs. My luggage and a valuable item were damaged during my trip, and despite their policy clearly stating coverage for such situations, they refused to honor their agreement.

I’ve wasted over a month of my time, sent more than 30 emails, and jumped through endless hoops providing every document and piece of evidence they demanded. The result? Excuses, delays, and total disregard for their responsibilities.

This company takes your money happily, but when you actually need their so-called “protection,” they disappear. Their customer service is appalling – slow, unhelpful, and clearly trained to stonewall rather than support.

Columbus Direct is nothing more than a scam in disguise. If you value peace of mind and honesty, do yourself a favor and stay far away. I will never use them again and will warn everyone I know to avoid this company.