cancelling holiday due to impending redundancy

BURMESE2

Hi there

wonder if anyone can help

My OH attended a meeting on 18th June to say that his role was at risk of redundancy (him and about 6 others) from a large company with whom he has worked 37 years (he is 55 now) A horrible shock but amongst other things we were due to take a pricey holiday in August for which we do have cancellation insurance which covers redundancy. Having spoken to the travel insurance company they state that if is redundancy is voluntary then it will not be covered. On that point about whether the redundancy is voluntary and therefore comes within the definition of redundancy in the travel policy I will argue separately as I am sure the Financial Ombudsman Service would uphold a complaint in these circumstances when there is no further definition of the word redundancy in the small print of the policy other than being continuously employed by the same employer for 2 years and under the normal age of retirement. However any comments on this aspect would be very welcome.

We are due to pay another £300 to the holiday company as the final balance now which obviously we are reluctant to do. If we cancel before 7th July at least we can reclaim half the cost back. However if we cancel before we receive the formal letter making him redundant could the travel insurance company claim that we cancelled due to disinclination to travel as we had not at that stage formally been made redundant. Whatever happens we definitely won't be going on this holiday but want to mitigate all possible losses.

However the period of consultation has just started and probably will not know untiil July as to whether he has been selected. The timing is bad and need some general guidance and advice as to how to proceed by the way the holiday company is Virgin and will be ringing them this morning to find out how we stand with them.

Many thanks for bearing with me on this lengthy post and look forward to replies

mountainofdebt

My first thought is that at the moment your Oh isn't being made redundant, his position is just at risk.....I know for you that's splitting hairs but that is the way I think the insurance compnay will see it.

Having said that though I assume your OH won't have a choice as to whether he would be made redundant or is there a better package on the table for those that go voluntarily?

To be honest I think you might be better off paying the £300 (assuming its less than the amount you would lose if you cancelled before the 7th July) and perhaps actually going on the holiday.

ferf1223

I would not think that the travel insurance would pay out if someone voluntarily took redundancy....I can see their point as voluntarily opting to leave a job (i.e. quit) would normally not be cause for a claim on travel insurance. It may be that he's offered a package to take voluntary redundancy, but he is in effect resigning.

I obviously don't have your policy wording to check, but there may be a rider there somewhere with exclusions which may include voluntary redundancy.

If I read your post correctly, if you cancel before 7th July you can get 1/2 the money back from the travel company...if you know your husband is going to accept voluntary redundancy then perhaps this would be the better option.

If he would not accept voluntary redundancy, then assuming no other issues not known, the travel insurance would pay out the full amount provided the redundancy is dealt with before you travel.

So I suppose it's up to you - depends on whether he will or will not accept voluntary redundancy. If you know he will, perhaps getting 1/2 back would be better than getting nothing back if you go past 7th July?

Edited to add - I know it's a stressful time, but is there a reason you would not go on the holiday? If it's mostly paid for already?

dacouch

The policy will have a condition which states you must take reasonable precautions to prevent a claim, if you take voluntray redunancy then they will use this to and / or that the part of the policy that covers redunancy requires you to be "Made" redundant, not opt for rendancy

spiro

You say 'OH and six others', how many people in the company are in this role because as another post says it is the role not the person. If its 7 from 7000 thats one thing, if its 7 from 14 thats another. Also they can not choose who to get rid of on the basis of things like age any more. If you dont pay the other half how much will you loose? If you pay the £300 and he still has a job enjoy the holiday, if you pay the £300 and he looses his job you get all the money back. Dont pay the £300 and you loose your deposit with no money back.

matchfacts

Is your OH considering volunteering?

If he does volunteer will the redundancy letter show that? I have never known my company to show a redundancy as voluntary as it does open a can of worms in many insurance and benefits situations? Perhaps he can ask personnel if it's a question that needs answering.

jonathon

when i got made redundant a few years back the company asked for volunteers but made it clear that it would appear to be compulsary so you could claim on insurances.

Indout96

Also they can not choose who to get rid of on the basis of things like age any more

They can, they just cant say thats why they made the choice.

silverbullit

Check you car and home insurance policies to see if you have legal cover; if so, you may be able to get some employment advice for free as this is included with many policies.

SandC

I don't think you can do anything about it until it is a definite and not because he is at risk.

Do you know whether the company pays redundancy at a more generous rate than statutory? Many do and especially large companies.

Would you not consider taking the holiday anyway? 37 years of service may well equal a very good payout.

As you don't know for now I'm not sure how you can avoid paying the rest of the balance that you owe.