Saga Insurance Coronavirus update
This Saga Insurance page highlights the areas that we can be more flexible about during the COVID-19 outbreak and will be updated as circumstances change and issues arise, so please check here regularly. This information is general and contains as much detail as possible, but it doesn’t replace the overall terms and conditions of your policy.
Saga Insurance Coronavirus update
All our phone teams have settled in brilliantly working from home and, other than the occasional sound of family life in the background, we don’t think you’ll notice any change to our usual attentive service. We now have over 3,000 Saga colleagues working from home so, if you want or need to call us about any aspect of your insurance, go right ahead.
If you’re worried or concerned about covering the cost of your insurance due to the current situation, please give us a call and we will help by reassessing your risk profile, the cover-level and payment option you've selected or reviewing the option of a payment deferral. COVID-19 restrictions are affecting small, but important aspects of your cover, and every situation is different.
Things you can do online
You may be able to do things and get the answers you need quickly and easily online.
- Renew online – If your car or home insurance policy is due for renewal and you want to continue your cover as usual, you can renew your insurance online. It is safe and your personal information and payment details are secure. You can find your renewal documents and details how to renew at MySaga – simply log in with your email address and password. If there are changes to your details or you want to get a different level of cover, please call us. Don’t forget, if you opted for auto-renewal when you took out your policy and the cover still meets your needs, you don’t need to do anything!
- MySaga – With an online MySaga account you can look at your renewal notifications, past quotes, current policy documents and more. Not set up an account? It’s easy.
- Web-chat – You can message one of the team directly. Go to the relevant webpage for car, home, travel or other types of insurance to start chatting or take a look at the FAQs page.
Keeping in touch by email
Documents that we usually send out by post may get delayed or even postponed, depending on staffing levels at print and dispatch services. If you have an email address, please let us know and we can email you to keep in touch. You can update your contact details here. You might also want to change your marketing preferences so you can keep in the loop with any news about our other products and services. You can also view any important documents we might have sent you online by logging into your MySaga account. If you don’t have one already, you can set up an account here.
Supporting our staff and others
As well as helping our customers as much as we can, we want to be there for our local community too. Unfortunately, some of our colleagues have been furloughed on full pay. Because we know just how keen they are to help, we’ve set up the Saga Community Ambassadors programme – look out for more about this soon. Through this, we can match available colleagues with volunteering opportunities close to home. Plus, communities near our docked cruise ships have received food donations, and we’ve expressed our willingness for the NHS to use our ships in any way that will help.
Not going out? Join the club!
Grab a coffee and head over to our online gathering at the Not Going Out Club where everyone’s welcome. Here’s Julie Peasgood to tell you all about it. There are also regular updates on our Facebook page – and you don’t need to have a Facebook account to take a peek! There’s so much going on, from weekly podcasts (with Joanna Lumley, Giles Brandreth and Elaine Paige so far) to articles that can help with day-to-day life. Plus, your favourite celebrities are popping in all the time with quiz questions and to have a chat, so come on over any time.
More information
Are you using your own car for volunteering, helping to deliver goods or helping people get about?
If you’re using your car to support friends, family or neighbours affected by COVID-19, such as delivering groceries or medication, this has always been covered as standard under social, domestic and pleasure use (as long as you're not making a profit from it). Saga Car Insurance already covers use for voluntary work as standard if you’re working unpaid for a UK-registered voluntary or charity organisation. In addition, if you’ve become an NHS Volunteer Responder, your car will be covered for Community Response, Patient Transport and NHS Transport volunteering.
Has your work pattern changed?
If you only have cover for social, domestic and pleasure use or you are a named driver, you are usually not covered for commuting (going to a single place of work). However, if you now need to commute by car to work as a direct result of COVID-19, you are now covered, and you don’t have to let us know. If you are a key worker and you now have to travel to more than one place of work because of the COVID-19 outbreak, you are automatically covered for business use driving to multiple workplaces without the need to inform us. If, as a result of COVID-19, you exceed your yearly estimated mileage, that’s OK. Similarly, if you’ve been furloughed or are now temporarily not working, there’s no need to tell us of this change at the moment. If any of these changes continue once the COVID-19 emergency has ended, please let us know.
Have you missed your MOT?
If you’ve been unable to get your car tested because you are self-isolating or your garage has closed, then the MOT can be delayed until it is safe to go ahead. The Department of Transport has suspended the requirement to have a valid MOT vehicle test certificate from 30 March 2020 for 6 months so long as you keep your car in a roadworthy condition.
Do you have Saga Breakdown Assistance?
If your vehicle breaks down, assistance is still available 24/7. Our provider, the RAC, has special measures in place to ensure everyone is as safe from infection as possible, such as cleaning surfaces they touch. With many garages closed, they’ll do their best to get you going – they currently fix 9 out 10 vehicles at the roadside.
How we are helping customers facing financial difficulty
If you're experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19 we have some options we can explore that may help you during this difficult time, such as:
- Reassessing your risk profile which may result in a premium reduction
- Reassessing your demands and needs to ensure your product is still suitable
- Reviewing payment plans available
- Payment deferrals
If you do need support, please call us on 0800 302 9735 and we will help you find the best solution for you.
Working from home?
If you’re now doing your office-based job at home because of the latest advice, you don’t need to tell us, and your cover will still be valid. Your work at home needs to be of a clerical nature, with stock worth less than £5,000 and have no other staff or business visitors. If that’s not the case for you, please give us a call, and we’ll make sure you’re fully covered.
Does any aspect of your cover depend on a regular boiler or alarm service, such as Saga Home Emergency?
We understand that this is not possible at the moment, so as long as it’s done when it is safe to do so, your cover is still valid.
Will your home be unoccupied for more than 60 days?
If you’re away from home unable to return due to COVID-19 restrictions, your cover will still apply.
There’s a great article at the Not Going Out Club webpage all about you and your home insurance..
How we are helping customers facing financial difficulty
If you're experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19 we have some options we can explore that may help you during this difficult time, such as:
- Reassessing your risk profile which may result in a premium reduction
- Reassessing your demands and needs to ensure your product is still suitable
- Reviewing payment plans available
- Payment deferrals
If you do need support, please call us on 0800 068 3410 and we will help you find the best solution for you.
The Saga Travel Insurance team is available to help, so please call them on 0800 056 9200 for advice about your cover or any support you may need.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is the best place to go for the latest advice about travel.
Our travel insurance policies now include cover for cancellation or abandonment if you, a close relative or anyone you are planning to travel with or stay with receives in writing a positive test result for COVID-19 within 14 days of your trip commencing. We also offer emergency medical and repatriation cover if you contract COVID-19 while on your trip.
Any other claims relating to coronavirus (COVID-19) are not covered.
Please note if you travel to a country to which the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised against all but essential travel, or if you travel against the advice of a UK doctor, you will have no cover under this policy.
How we are helping customers facing financial difficulty
If you're experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19 we have some options we can explore that may help you during this difficult time, such as:
- Reassessing your risk profile which may result in a premium reduction
- Reassessing your demands and needs to ensure your product is still suitable
- Reviewing payment plans available
- Payment deferrals
If you do need support, please call us on 0800 056 9200 and we will help you find the best solution for you.
Many private hospitals have cancelled non-urgent treatment to help support the NHS. In these exceptional circumstances, we have introduced extra services and benefits to customers while non-urgent treatment is suspended:
Increased NHS cash benefit
This benefit is usually paid for each night spent in an NHS hospital when eligible treatment was not performed privately. This benefit is now available to you if you are admitted to hospital due to COVID-19. We have increased the amount by £100, so Saga HealthPlan Super customers can claim £250, and all other policyholders will receive £200, for each night up to 20 nights.
Clinical Support Centre
You can now speak to a team of leading specialists and practitioners by phone or video from the safety of your home. The Clinical Support Centre team can provide advice without you having to go and get a referral from your GP first. Importantly, there is no excess or charge to pay for using the service. Simply call the Saga Claims Personal Advisory Team, and they will guide you through the process.
We will be contacting all Saga Health Insurance customers soon with full details of these policy additions and modifications.
Our promise to you
We will take action to ensure that we do not make an any exceptional profits that could ultimately arise from COVID-19. Once the actual impact is more certain, Saga will act to appropriately compensate customers who have seen their treatment delayed or had services affected by the crisis. We will keep you updated on an ongoing basis and the approach taken will be independently audited to ensure fairness.
If you are currently claiming and have any queries, please contact our Claims Personal Advisory Team on 0800 027 1331. If you need to make a new claim in the current circumstances, don’t hesitate to call our Claims Personal Advisory team on the number above, and we’ll do all we can to help.
Important information for current claimants
If you have a current claim in progress and are due to have treatment, please contact your hospital as soon as possible if they have not already been in touch.
As a Saga Health Insurance customer, you have many services you can use from home without having to make a claim:
- The Saga GP Service – this offers phone appointments with a GP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all policyholders. There’s no excess or extra fee to pay, and of course, you don’t have to step a foot outside. If the GP needs to prescribe medication, they can get it dispensed and sent to your home (private prescription costs apply). If the GP recommends further investigation, they can also arrange open referrals.
- The Working Body Service has a team of physiotherapists who can advise about muscle, joint and bone pain (not available with Saga HealthPlan Support).
- Stronger Minds has trained counsellors you can talk to who offer help and treatment for anxiety, stress or other mental health concerns (not available with Saga HealthPlan Support).
You’ll find the contact numbers for these services in your Policy Book. If you have any concerns about your policy or cover during this time, or in the future, please call the Saga Health Insurance customer service team on 0800 056 9273. They are available and happy to help..
How we are helping customers facing financial difficulty
If you're experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19 we have some options we can explore that may help you during this difficult time, such as:
- Reassessing your risk profile which may result in a premium reduction
- Reassessing your demands and needs to ensure your product is still suitable
- Reviewing payment plans available
- Payment deferrals
If you do need support, please call us on 0800 056 9273 and we will help you find the best solution for you.
Pet insurance
For up-to-date advice on maintaining the welfare of your pets during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic visit www.gov.uk
How we are helping customers facing financial difficulty
If you're experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19 we have some options we can explore that may help you during this difficult time, such as:
- Reassessing your risk profile which may result in a premium reduction
- Reassessing your demands and needs to ensure your product is still suitable
- Reviewing payment plans available
- Payment deferrals
If you do need support, please call us and we will help you find the best solution for you.
Pet insurance - 0800 096 6666
Boat insurance - 0800 904 7796
Motorhome insurance - 0800 904 7763
Caravan insurance - 0800 904 7488