CEGA Group Reviews 171

Our experience with Admiral and their assistance company Cega during my mother’s medical repatriation was devastating.

My mother was on holiday, went into hospital and tragically got diagnosed with advanced stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Despite the medical assistance team being aware of her condition, they failed to provide Emirates with the necessary medical information and did not complete the required medical clearance paperwork before her return flight to the UK.

As a result, my mother was checked in, boarded the aircraft, seated on the plane, and then removed from the flight because the airline had not been properly informed about her medical condition. It was humiliating, distressing, and completely unacceptable for someone so seriously ill.

Admiral and CEGA later admitted in writing that, Critcial medical information was not passed to the airline,
required medical clearance was not completed, and the option of arranging a medical escort, despite being requested, was not properly explored.

Because of these failures, we were stranded in Australia for an additional five days before alternative arrangements were made. This caused major emotional strain on our family during an already traumatic time.

Most painfully, my mother sadly passed away only 10 days after finally returning home to the UK. Those additional days lost abroad mattered enormously to us and can never be replaced.

While the company upheld our complaint and apologised, the compensation they offered was pathetic and an insult during this already difficult time.

I would strongly urge anyone relying on travel insurance and in the event of emergency medical assistance services to carefully consider our experience.

Genuinely a nightmare to deal with. Got a neck injury on holiday, was forwarded to these corporate ghouls by Admiral. Hours and hours on the phone, half a day wasted while on holiday, and even now weeks after I got home they won't fulfil my claim until a GP assures them I had no preexisting conditions that might've caused the injury. So now I have to take time out of work to see a doctor, just in case I lied about having some kind of weak neck, or what?? Just a horrible, horrible process.

CEGA were amazing from start to finish to repatriate my sister from her European holiday. The process was quick and easy and I would especially like to thank Tim and Pauline for getting my sister back to the UK so quickly.

I have had the stressful and expensive misfortune to have to deal with CEGA Assistance on behalf of my insurer, Admiral. I have had to sort accommodation for my wife whilst I lay in ICU, I have missed flights, I had to sort accommodation as they dropped the ball and had to organise my own medical reviews whilst still away. After 23 days, they still have not secured my safe journey home. The worst customer experience I have ever encountered.

Total let down useless UK Company
We were handed over to these after my wife had an accident
in Switzerland by Insure and Go Ireland

No Assistance whatsoever just Forms to fill out
Insure and Go handed us over to these Clowns
I am Complaining to the Financial Regulator in Ireland Accident
occurred on 19th Mar Stay away from Insure and Go Paul Minus 20 Rating

Utterly unreliable in the case of emergency or urgent support.

I submitted a cancellation claim on December 28, 2025, following an urgent family medical emergency. I provided all the requested documentation on January 2, 2026 — booking confirmations, cancellation evidence, medical records, and everything they asked for. Their auto-reply promised contact within five working days.

It has now been over seven weeks. Despite two follow-up emails (21 January and 4 February), I have not received a single substantive response. No acknowledgement, no update, no claims handler assigned — nothing.

I have now filed a formal complaint and will be escalating to the Financial Ombudsman Service and Lloyd's if this is not resolved promptly.

If you are considering CEGA Group or Canopius Crispin Speers for travel insurance, be aware that submitting a legitimate, well-documented claim does not guarantee it will even be looked at.

Total sh**t show. Check that your insurers do NOT use Cega Medical assistance.
Step Mum ( Insured with Admiral) sustained #Pelvis & # wrist following a trip on uneven surface whilst in Tenerife.
Whole management from beginning to end was chaotic and negligent of their duty of care.
11 DIFFERENT 'case managers ' in 14 days. 9hrs spent on phone to said 'case managers' to action the previous 'case managers' out standing tasks to do with the case.
Fawlty Towers management of repatriation meant that the Medical Team were sent to hospital in Tenerife North for their patient ( she was in the South!!!!) . The plane was on the tarmac from from 6.30am - scheduled to depart @ 09.10hrs . We departed at 3pm. The patient 76yr old with # pelvis was stuck on a trolley bed for total of 18 hours before getting into a UK hospital bed.
Purposely waited 24hrs to see if any of the 11 case managers had ANY compassion to enquire regarding the welbeing of their client after a totally and absolutely shambolic management of repatriation of an elderly vulnerable woman . NOTHING. Cega you should be ashamed of yourselves

Useless service and refused claim for operation abroad as 'should have sought a second opinion'. They approved claim for incidental expenses but not the medical costs so either the claim is valid or not!
How am I supposed to get second opinion when I'm in a Greek Hospital?
They are the worst face of Nationwide and Aviva who need to drop them from handling claims immediately!
Latest Update - Finally got paid in full after Aviva/Nationwide instructed this company to settle the claim in full after my complaints. This company shame Aviva's good name!

This is a horrid company.

STAY AWAY FROM THEM.

THEIR INSURANCE IS WORTHLESS.

I am sitting in a Japanese hospital right now, after surgery, and arguing with the company to which Nationwide subcontracts their travel insurance. They are called CEGA. They have completely strung me up in paperwork asking for incredibly complicated documentation which they expect me to crawl out of my bed to get. The last set would cost about twice the cost of the surgery itself with no guarantee that they would cover the cost. Dealing with them is like dealing with an online scammer who constantly asks for one more thing and promises a service later. Their thing is repatriation, basically buying you a ticket home. I was advised against flying. Now they are asking for CT scans, X-rays, blood tests basically second guessing the surgeon without examining me. I have paid for Flexplus for fifteen years. This is my first and last medical claim. I will be closing my account when I get home!

I have to say I don't recognise the same company from their current Trustpilot score. My sister broke her leg while travelling in the Middle East - although she desperately wanted to fly home for treatment it was clear that an airline could never consider her fit to fly. CEGA arranged for an operation in an excellent nearby hospital and got her home as quickly as possible. I dealt with numerous CEGA staff through their emergency call line - Harry, Jay, Luna, Katie and Francesca (sorry if I have missed others!) - all were very extremely helpful, admittedly often not able to make promises that needed input from medical staff or airlines. I found their internal notes always seemed up to date - they always had all the background data and records of every call. Of course you never want to have to deal with an emergency medical issue but if I had to again then I would have no hesitation in recommending CEGA - thank you and well done.

My wife and I were on holiday in Fuerteventura arriving on the 30th November 2024, on December 1st I had fall of around 4m through a gap in a privet at the resort we were staying at. I had split my head open and found out later on that I had fractured my back and damaged my shoulder

My wife contacted CEGA on the 2nd of December to let them know what had happened and that we had already been to a clinic the day before to have my head stapled, we at this stage did not know my back had been fractured but told them there was a problem. The doctor at the hotel said give it a few days and see if the pain settles down, the pain got worse the doctor said I needed an X-ray on my back but the nearest hospital was 80 miles away we asked CEGA if they could arrange an ambulance to take me there and they refused, fortunately the doctor at the hotel made a call and an ambulance came to take me to hospital.

My wife was in constant touch with CEGA speaking to a different case manger each time having to explain my circumstances, and telling them what we had been told by the hospital that my back was fractured, CEGA still refused to help I asked the doctor at the hospital for a certificate to fly which he refused due to the nature of my injury. We informed CEGA of this as we were due to fly home 2 days later.

CEGA then asked if we could stay at the hotel for a couple of days which we had to pay as we could not fly home on the Saturday without a fit to fly, the doctor at the hotel also refused to issue a fit to fly.

CEGA contacted us to say they would move us on the Monday to another hotel nearer to the airport as we were 80 miles away, which they would pay for for a couple of days also they had found a private hospital which would give me a full body scan. We finally got to the private hospital they took my passport and a doctor saw me and said no need for a body scan we will put you in a brace and he would issue a fit to fly. They forced us to stay overnight which we tried to leave but they kept my passport so we had to stay. The following day they cleaned the wound on my head and we waited hours for the man to come to fit the brace. Then thanks to CEGA the man said that’s 330 euros we had to pay for this ourselves totally outrageous once the doctor came he issued my fit to fly got my passport and we were so glad to get out of this private flea pit they sent me too. We left the hospital abandoned no transport nothing we had to ask a local if he could get a taxi for us which he did

CEGA did not ask how we were getting to the airport if we needed help when we arrived home nothing.

We did put a complaint into CEGA explaining everything and a lot more besides which I have not mentioned. They did not answer any of the questions we put to them but did offer £300 as a gesture of good will which we refused. so we complained to Admiral who we took the policy out with and they said it’s nothing to do with them and referred us back to CEGA. We have now passed this on to the ombudsman.

To be clear AVOID. AVOID AVOID AVOID they are a complete joke and should be banned from trading asap

Worse customer service, never kept updated what’s going on. Kept me waiting with me in a cast from toe to hip. Was told that I was getting picked up and appointment at 4pm, never turned up, was told another 45 minutes then told later that transport isn’t turning up. This company got mixed up with the transport and now all this for noting, I had to go up many steps and wait. I wouldn’t use this insurance at all, stay away from this, they don’t care.

Prompt assistance, easy to reclaim medical cost within couple of days in bank

I spoke with James Foster. I was on holiday and broke my arm. He was exceptional. He has empathy and he was professional but took time to listen. He also called me later in the day to make sure I was ok and to tell me who was dealing with my claim as he was off the next day!

I’m shocked and deeply disappointed by the way CEGA Group (on behalf of Aviva) has handled my travel insurance claim. They’ve had me running back and forth to the hospital twice, each time telling me the claim was approved — only to then fail to follow through on their end. Despite repeated assurances, they did not take the necessary action, leaving me completely stranded while abroad.

This kind of negligence completely defeats the purpose of having travel insurance. I purchased it for peace of mind in case of an emergency, yet when I needed support the most, CEGA was nowhere to be found. Their communication is disjointed, their process is chaotic, and their handling of my situation was not only unprofessional but genuinely harmful.

Travelling is stressful enough when medical issues arise — but CEGA added an extra layer of stress and confusion that no traveller should ever have to endure. I would never use them again and strongly urge others to steer clear.

Amazing travel insurance. So helpful . Ended up in a private hospital in majorica with my daughter. Had to pay €500 deposit upfront and at the end of discharge, they wanted €3000, which is didn't have. So CEGA took over and paid the inpatient cost of €3000. They spoke on my behalf. Updated me regularly via phone and email. The private hospital will refund me my €500 back into my account. Would highly recommend going with CEGA when travelling abroad.

I am in the process of taking this to the Ombudsman so cannot go into too much details. My wife had a serious ski accident and they were useless. In the end I had to use my 35 years experience in insurance to get them organised and get us home. Stuck overseas for close to a month.

They have a virtual monopoly with insurers hence service is just poor. So check who handles the claim.

Borderline theft from Cega.

I had to claim on lost valuables from a recent holiday. Whilst they agreed to settle my claim, they are depreciating my valuable by an astonishing 10% per year!!! The valuable in question is a pair of sunglasses, however, the amount they are calculating wear and tear is as if it was a car!

My policy does mention a wear and tear deduction however, there is NO mention of how much. Cega have seen fit to pluck a figure out of thin air, without discussing or negotiating it.

I have complained and requested them to reduce the % to 0.25%, just like their calculation, I can also suggest a ridiculous amount.

I have also copied in their CEO and Barclays Executive colleagues as my policy is through them.

My next step will be to go to the Ombudsman unless they come forward and open dialogue to agree an acceptable amount.