Companies on Trustpilot can’t offer incentives or pay to hide any reviews.
2.3
28 reviews
Complaint now with Ombudsman after bad handling of claim under Staysure policy underwritten my Great Lakes and managed (badly) by Davies Group. Lots of delays and haven’t been fully reimbursed medical expenses curtailment etc. Staysure brand comes recommended but awful service when you need to claim!
Date of experience: June 05, 2025
I submitted a fully supported claim related to my hospitalisation whilst on holiday in Tenerife October 1924 for which the hospital charged me almost £5,000.
After numerous emails to CSAL, delays and procrastinations relating to the non settlement, I made a formal complaint which was upheld on 24th Jan.
STILL NO RECOMPENSE! Disgraceful
Date of experience: October 18, 2024
I have my two cats insured with Great Lakes, Insurance UK, through their UK agent, Petsure. The cost of the policy, for 2023-24, was £438.94. I’ve just received the renewal figure for 2024-25 & they now want to charge £849.30. An increase of 93%, despite not claiming in this, or any previous pet insurance policy, my cats having not pre-existing conditions & them both being only 6 years old. Petsure couldn’t or wouldn’t explain the massive increase & said I could reduce my cover, if I wanted to save money. Needless to say, Petsure & Great Lakes Insurance, will not have my custom, in the future.
Date of experience: February 21, 2025
Someone who is insured with this company crashed into me 3 weeks ago after multiple times contacting them no one answers your calls or emails you back. Don’t know what kind of company this is that doesn’t respond to claims
Date of experience: November 04, 2024
Im the terd party and i try to call and discuss how they will repair my van ,but nowone answer the phone 30min lost of my pretty time.
Date of experience: May 01, 2024
My husband and I booked travel insurance through Avanti for a trip to New Zealand. We did not know anything about Great Lakes nor had we read any negative/positive reviews about Avanti or Great Lakes prior to booking the insurance. We chose the deluxe package and assumed it meant every possibility would be covered but how wrong we were. Our first flight was delayed, which meant we missed connecting flights and eventually arrived in New Zealand a day late, which meant we missed a day of our holiday and had to pay additional transport costs from the airport to our hotel destination. Our travel agent said we should be able to claim for the missed hotel costs and the additional travel costs so a claim was sent to Avanti but it was declined by Great Lakes, the underwriters. We complained to them but they continued to say those costs were not covered under our policy, despite it being Deluxe. We have even gone through the Ombudsman who has also said the policy does not cover us for the missed hotel room in NZ and the additional transport costs, so basically, having a deluxe insurance policy with Great Lakes was of no benefit whatsoever and we will never use them nor Avanti again. Having a Policy of 50 pages long but none of it covering the situation we found ourselves in makes us wonder what is the point of having travel insurance. Our warning to other holiday makers...do not book your travel insurance with Avanti or Great Lakes - they are happy to take your money but not happy to return some when you put in a claim and their policies are just words on paper, words that mean nothing.
Date of experience: September 09, 2023
John Lewis now contract Great Lakes for their home and contents insurance.
They just increased my policy by 45% over the previous Sun Alliance...
Beware !!
No wonder JL are a failing company....45% increase. ...no claim or change after some 25 years of NO claim..
Inertia selling..
And their call centre run by HOOD is an appalling noise box full of smart answers.....if you can hear them...
Date of experience: November 13, 2023
Following a complaint upheld by the Ombudsman I am still waiting for compensation of £100 they were ordered to pay due to their poor customer service. My claim with them(via Avanti policy) was 18 months ago - the time it took for them to pay me for a cancelled flight. I was told the money had been put in my account on 18th August and would be cleared by 30th August - guess what - nothing! Don’t put your business with this company.
Date of experience: August 30, 2023
Do not, under any circumstances, buy insurance underwritten by these fraudsters - they will take your money and refuse to pay out on claims despite valid medical certification. The reasons they offer you will take months to come through and will be a combination of lies and disingenuous semantic twisting. Avoid at all costs.
Date of experience: June 06, 2023
My personal opinion is not to use this company or trust them to provide adequate cover when you need it the most.
a) poor telephone service on the day when the claimant needed hospitalisation;
b) non-payment of hospital bills (and that's the private hospital telling me that); and
c) moving the patient at the earliest opportunity to a free hospital no matter the distance.
Yes it is in their terms and conditions, they can move you to a hospital that does not charge, so what is the point of their insurance, and what if you need urgent treatment but a hospital 80 miles away can provide it for free.
Be wary.
Date of experience: March 06, 2022
Shocking company trading under the umbrella of Royal Mail could not contact them despite many attempts for a claim had to revert to involving the Ombudsman now waiting for my claim to be assessed another deafening silence don’t use
Date of experience: September 24, 2022
Previously, I would have said Great Lakes was a good and understanding company to have a student loan with, but not anymore. I sign in to double check my pay-off time frame, and my loans are in forbearance. I never said this was ok. I never filled out any papers. I was under the impression all the payments were being paid auto-pay from my bank account. Nope, that was not true, I check the bank and there are the payments still waiting. This will affect my credit score. What gives you the authority to sign people up in a new payment schedule with out verbal verification? I am no happy at all about this. My trust is completely shattered with your company.
Date of experience: June 16, 2020
More worried about $25 than there costumers
Date of experience: September 07, 2019
I took out several parent plus loans to support my children's education and they are now being serviced by Great Lakes. I have no problem paying the loans back, however I do not understand how they can get away with not supporting refinancing of these types of loans to include joint owners like many other finance companies provide. I am trying to help my children build up a credit report and this type of program would be most beneficial. Very frustrating.
Date of experience: May 03, 2018
so i took out a loan unknowingly with greatlakes it kind of just happened. I couldnt finish school but i decided to pay off my loans until i could start again come to find out the payments i made were probably not registered. Then they said i qualified to be on the pay as you earn and then i get a call from the department of education loan services asking why my payments are "Delinquent". Wait a second they said i had to pay zero until next year and the woman quickly helped me rectify my problem. when i called great lakes they said i didnt have anything to worry about. then why is my account delinquent. Lesson learned never mess with great lakes
Date of experience: September 04, 2015
Claim your profile to access Trustpilot’s free business tools and connect with customers.
Get free accountAnyone can write a Trustpilot review. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and they’ll be displayed as long as an account is active.
Companies can ask for reviews via automatic invitations. Labeled Verified, they’re about genuine experiences.
Learn more about other kinds of reviews.
We use dedicated people and clever technology to safeguard our platform. Find out how we combat fake reviews.
Learn about Trustpilot’s review process.
Here are 8 tips for writing great reviews.
Verification can help ensure real people are writing the reviews you read on Trustpilot.
Offering incentives for reviews or asking for them selectively can bias the TrustScore, which goes against our guidelines.
