Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | January 30, 2012

World First Travel Insurance review: 9 out 10 for December 2011!

It doesn’t matter what kind of business it is – the people best placed to comment on the service are the people who use it: the customers. That’s why each month we ask every new policyholder for feedback. Then we share it. Here’s a selection of December’s customer comments and suggestions together with a response from our Managing Partner. It’s your chance to find out more about who we are, the way we work and our plans for the future.

Whenever a customer buys a new policy with us, we ask them to rate their overall experience of our service out of 10 – 10 being the best. Feedback was received from almost 100 people for the month of December.  The average rating was just above nine out of 10.

We also encourage our customers to give us their comments on our service and ask if they think there’s anything we could do better. Here’s a selection of the comments and a response to each from World First Managing Partner, Martin Rothwell.

Martin Rothwell: We do not expect to see any letters or medical records but we do ask all customers to make a warranty about their pre-existing conditions and to confirm they are not travelling against the advice of their Doctor. In the event of a claim we would ask for a claim form to be completed by your Doctor. If the claim is fo

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | January 10, 2012

Brits conned by travel insurance ‘get out’ clauses? You’re safe with us.

Some travel insurance companies are in the news for all the wrong reasons. A number of British policyholders are furious with their insurance providers and have complained about being cheated by medical ‘get out’ clauses.

Knowing exactly where you stand with a travel insurance policy can be tricky enough, without media reports of customer complaints and suspected wrongdoing. So here’s a quick explanation of the disagreement as well as clear guidance on where you stand when you get cover with World First Travel Insurance.

What’s the fuss about?

Travel insurance policyholders have been complaining about insurers changing the terms of policies, after they have been sold.

Basically, some insurers are walking away from customers whose personal conditions change between purchasing their policy and going away on holiday (if they are diagnosed with a medical condition, for instance). It’s argued that some insurers use ‘ongoing medical warranties’ or ‘change of risk clauses’ as a get out if they no longer wish to insure the customer. This despite the fact that a customer cannot get a refund from their insurer on a policy if they wish to cancel it after the 14 day grace period.
It’s an issue that has not escaped consumer watchdogs

In a recent travel insurance survey, consumer group Which? found that nearly a

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | December 09, 2011

And the grand total is…

As well as the cake sale, we held a dress down day for the office staff. Although, as you can see from the photo below, our Managing Partner Martin Rothwell’s interpretation of the words ‘dress down’ turned out to be bananas. Literally.

Find out more about what we got up to here.

Related posts:

  1. Raising flour to raise cash for Children In Need Thursday 17th November
  2. Introducing the World First Travel Insurance review
  3. Were on the move!
  4. Dont try to fool your insurer you may regret it
  5. Confused.com? Ash, strikes and travel insurance

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | November 24, 2011

Taxman targets holiday home owners

Own a property abroad? Then get your tax affairs in order.

A team of HM Revenue and Customs inspectors is targeting overseas holiday home owners to see if they are correctly declaring rental income or gains from holiday homes abroad. Using sophisticated ‘data mining’ technology, a new 200-strong unit has been set up to identify those in the 50% tax bracket who earn more than £150,000 a year – and own property overseas.

The team will be scrutinising third-party information (advertisements placed on holiday letting websites?) and comparing this against what has been declared on the owner’s tax returns. Any discrepancies in declared income and where on paper owners appear to have insufficient means to have purchased the property, will be investigated.

Should overseas property owners be worried?

It seems that this new unit will focus on the highest earners (paying the top 50% tax rate) but could be rolled out to target all holiday homes abroad.

Letting a holiday home is high maintenance and many owners struggle to make a profit, many make a loss, so what’s left to tax? Those who let their foreign property and declare income received have nothing to fear, but be prepared to provide evidence if you have received no income from the property. Check your

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No Comments » Tags: Holiday Home, Holiday Home Owners, Home Owners, Owners
Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | November 14, 2011

World First Wander. The world of graffiti and Street Art

Greetings travelling friends! It’s been a busy week here at World First. The phone have been ringing off the hook and we’ve all be in our corners organising this year’s secret Santa and reading The World First Travel Insurance Review

As many of our regular readers will know I am a keen photographer. I am also a fan of graffiti, although these days lots of people prefer to call it street art. Perhaps it makes it seem more upmarket!

When I lived in London I could often be found in the Leake Street tunnels photographing the graffiti there. You had to be quick because the pieces changed daily.

Cape Town in South Africa was another prime location for street art. In some parts of the city I had to make a few  hit and run ‘Kodak attacks’. It wasn’t sensible to be there for long. Fortunately, my then wife was from Cape Town and every time I heard her say something about a part of town being dangerous I knew there were photos to be taken. It went like this: see art, stop car, out of car, shoot, in car, gone !

Street art has come a long way – in fact some of it is now big business so I thought I would have a look at some recent blog posts from around the globe. Most are travel based so if you are heading off and want to get the lowdown on the local street art then read on..

I am going to start off close to home with one of my favourite photographers, The UK is home to some of the best street art and and Vivecas photographs of Phlegm prove it. Check out

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | November 09, 2011

10 Ways to Save Money on Your Home Insurance

Here are 10 top tips to help you lower your home insurance premium. Keep your house protected without paying outrageous home insurance premiums.

With the everyday cost of living going up and a continually bleak economic situation, everyone is trying to save money at the moment. One of the biggest monthly costs the average person faces is utility bills, and for homeowners, this includes home insurance.

If you own a property, then you will need to cover it with home insurance or property insurance, and this can cost a lot. However, there are many ways in which you can quickly and easily lower your home insurance premium. Check out these 10 tips for saving money on your home insurance.

  1. Install a burglar alarm. It is obvious and simple, yet many homes do not have any kind of alarm security. You will find that by simply installing a burglar alarm, your home insurance and contents insurance premiums will both go down. Whats more, the one-off cost of installation is definitely covered by the long-term savings.
  2. Get other insurance as well. If you need car insurance, contents insurance, holiday home insurance or pet insurance, why not get them all with the same provider as your home insurance? By getting them all with the same company, you are more than likely to get a reduced rate or a big discount.
  3. Shop around. Dont just stick to the same provider youve always used.

Read more…

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | November 04, 2011

IPO’s Over: So Now Should You Invest in Groupon?

Rake the leaves. Watch No. 1-ranked LSU play No. 2 Alabama in college football. Do anything this weekend to catch your breath from Groupon’s IPO release on Thursday and its first day of trading Friday.

Then think. Think if you really want to take the plunge on Groupon (GRPN) when the market opens on Monday. Think if you can stomach buying shares in a Wall Street rookie that has lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the last three years.

It was easy to get caught up in the Groupon hoopla this week. Many did. The deal-packager sold 35 million shares at $20 a pop to amass $700 million in Thursday’s IPO. Shares climbed in regular trading Friday to $31.14, before settling at a still-impressive $26.11 at the closing bell.

As you take your hard-earned 48 hours to decompress, offers a few expert opinions on whether to place your hard-earned money in Groupon. Think them over. Think over.

One prominent broker who asked not to be identified told us Friday he wouldn’t touch the stock with a 10-foot pole. “There’s way too much volatility in this market right now to be playing with a social media IPO,” he said. “Let it calm down for the next few days. It’s not Facebook. It’s just not there.”

The broker predicted the stock would sink back to its $20 IPO price within 90 days — perhaps something to think about over several weekends.

In a swipe at Groupon boss Andrew Mason, the broker added, “There’s a lot of other cheaper stocks. Read more…

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | October 24, 2011

Earthquake in Lorca Spain

Residents of Lorca in the Murcia region of Southern Spain are today surveying the damage after two earthquakes struck in quick succession. There are reports that at least eight people have died and another 167 are injured.

The magnitude-5.2 tremor toppled several buildings in the historic city of Lorca, crushing cars under tonnes of rubble.

Wednesday evening’s 2nd earthquake came about two hours after a 4.4-magnitude tremor. The quake could be felt as far away as the Spanish capital Madrid, and is Spain’s worst earthquake for 50 years.

Our thoughts go out to everyone affected.

It is thought the damage was concentrated around the town of Lorca, which lies in one of the most active seismic zones of the Iberian peninsula. If you are concerned that your Spanish holiday home could be damaged, call your Spanish property insurance company who will advise on the next steps.

Don’t enter any building in an attempt to survey possible damage unless it is safe to do so.

Although this year has seen several devastating earthquakes, those that cause significant damage in Europe are rare. However, you should ensure that your holiday home policy covers earthquake damage, especially if your apartment is insured via a community block policy.

Also check the earthquake excess on your policy, as on some policies it can be a percentage of the buildings sum insured, totalling thousands.

If you need any further advice please call Schofields.

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