AA Travel Insurance & Globespan Insolvency

roby_kerr

Hi all

My AA Travel Insurance policy documents says ' Let the AA take the financial worry out of your holiday' and goes on to confirm that my cover included 'financial failure holiday protection'. In spite of this I have just received an email from AA Travel Insurance regarding registering a claim for payment of flights to flyglobespan. It says....

'We will not accept a claim if full or part payment was made to Flyglobespan using a Visa debit card.
You should instead approach your Issuing Bank and ask for a refund under Visa's card scheme regulations relating to charge backs.'

Any advice would be welcome. I have tried calling AA Customer Services...no help whatsoever.

roby

Quentin

robk_kerr wrote:

I have tried calling AA Customer Services...no help whatsoever.

Their emailed advice seems helpful!

Follow their advice and contact your bank for advice on how to get a refund.

The AA policy does not cover:

Any loss for which a third party is liable or which can be recovered by other legal means

roby_kerr

Thank you so much for your advice Quentin...so basically if a holiday company goes bust and I pay with a credit/debit card my 'financial failure holiday protection' pamphlet is not worth the paper it is printed on. I wonder what would be covered ...payments made with cash, postage stamps? Perhaps if I used postage stamps I would be advised to claim from the Post Office? I don't think so. The onus is now on me to pursue my bank....why did I bother to take out this policy in the first place if that is the case? This insurance company is well aware that they would not be liable for anything that is paid for with a credit/debit card. This get-out is manifestly unfair and makes a mockery of the claim

'Let the AA take the financial worry out of your holiday"

Perhaps it should read

'Let the AA take your premium and let your bank do the paying if you have to make a claim..oh and by the way pursue your bank yourself...don't bother us with it. We will contact you again next year when your premium is due. Merry Christmas'

roby

Quentin

roby_kerr wrote: »

This get-out is manifestly unfair

Whatever it is it is not unfair.

They put the conditions in their policy, and make it clear in their sales pages that the cover is for failures not covered elsewhere.

It's a standard item (ie "complimentary") in all their travel insurance, and well worth having (as you would have discovered had you paid in cash!)

roby_kerr

Quentin wrote: »

Whatever it is it is not unfair.

They put the conditions in their policy, and make it clear in their sales pages that the cover is for failures not covered elsewhere.

It's a standard item (ie "complimentary") in all their travel insurance, and well worth having (as you would have discovered had you paid in cash!)

Simply because something is hidden in the policy terms and conditions does't make it fair Qiuentin. Why not say at the top of the document 'If you use a debit/credit card to pay for anything related to this policy YOU ARE NOT COVERED. Perhaps that would be too consumer friendly and put people off buying the policy...but hang on maybe that's why they do it the way they do.
My point is that this is misleading advertising from the AA...and by the way if you can direct me to any airline that accepts cash for flight bookings in advance I would be most grateful.


roby

Quentin

You seem to be having a go at the messenger!

You brought up cash payments, not me!

I wonder what would be covered ...payments made with cash,....

They don't just "hide" this particular condition away in the policy document, as I posted it is made clear in the sales pages.

And you will have agreed to the policy ts + cs when taking out the policy.

Insurance contracts are long with lots of small print to read and understand!

(There is a separate forum for rants!)

Anihilator

I am also assuming your cover wasnt just for the flights.

Its only your fault you didnt read it.

roby_kerr

Thanks for your tuppence worth...I assume you have read the pamphlet/addendum in question... It appears that if a flight is booked using a credit/debit card and the airline subsequently becomes insolvent cover does not apply. Since it is impossible to book a flight in the UK in advance without a credit/debit card then cover is impossible and consequently the AA Travel Insurance literature is misleading. Basically a policy is being sold on the basis of cover which cannot be claimed against...these are unfair terms.
'Unfair terms' is not a new phenomenon in the financial services industry and thankfully some people have challenged this in the past and won rather than just accepting the insurance companies' litany 'You should have read the small print'
I had hoped to glean some useful info from such people rather than just getting the gospel according to the insurance companies.
Merry Christmas

Quentin

roby_kerr wrote: »

It appears that if a flight is booked using a credit/debit card and the airline subsequently becomes insolvent cover does not apply.

No, you have misunderstood.

The cover doesn't apply "if a third party is liable", as posted above (#2).

So had you used eg a maestro card, then you would have been covered.

Sorry you don't like the (sound) info you have been given, but I see you also said the (sound) help you got from the AA was "no help whatsoever", so maybe just no-one can help you today.

Maybe things won't seem so bad after you've slept on it!

dacouch

It would not apply to all debit cards as only certain debit cards eg Visa Debits provide the protection.

The AA are doing you a favour as if you did claim through them you would have to pay an excess or excesses with the visa debit I believe there is no deduction

cogito

OP - you're going to get your money back. How is this a problem?

You're lucky that you have financial failure cover as many policies don't include this. If you'd bought a different policy and hadn't paid by credit card, you really would be high and dry.