Travel insurance claim - not lived with partner for 6 months

cogito

Am I missing something here? Isn't it usually the case that a travel policy will cover the cost of cancellation or rebooking if a travelling companion becomes too ill to travel regardless of any relationship?

dacouch

Cognito I think the OP is looking to recover the cancellation costs for him / her AND their partners costs

SandC

You didn't even realise you had travel insurance anyway so why are you complaining about not having read the policy details? It obviously wasn't an important part of your bank account - have you been on holidays since having the Co-op account thinking you were uninsured or have you always bought a single trip policy because you were unaware you were covered through the bank?

It's unfortunate that you haven't been living together for longer but you should have thought about insurance at the time of booking the trip.

schnide

I usually book travel insurance a few days before the trip. Yes, I was unaware that I was covered and have bought single trip covers elsewhere.

I then find out I am (supposedly) covered, so I phone up and ask if I am. They say yes, and I claim on it. Can you point out what I did wrong when they didn't tell me any further clauses and didn't direct me to my policy documents to check, given that they had already told me I could claim on it?

gordikin

schnide wrote: »

I usually book travel insurance a few days before the trip. Yes, I was unaware that I was covered and have bought single trip covers elsewhere.

I then find out I am (supposedly) covered, so I phone up and ask if I am. They say yes, and I claim on it. Can you point out what I did wrong when they didn't tell me any further clauses and didn't direct me to my policy documents to check, given that they had already told me I could claim on it?

Yes you were told you could claim...but did they tell you your claim would be successful? You claimed and your claim was rejected.

SandC

schnide wrote: »

I usually book travel insurance a few days before the trip. Yes, I was unaware that I was covered and have bought single trip covers elsewhere.

I then find out I am (supposedly) covered, so I phone up and ask if I am. They say yes, and I claim on it. Can you point out what I did wrong when they didn't tell me any further clauses and didn't direct me to my policy documents to check, given that they had already told me I could claim on it?

As Gordikin says, they didn't direct you to the policy documents because they told you why your claim had then been rejected - you have now found out on checking that they were well within the policy to do so.

I always book my travel insurance as soon as I book my holiday, you are then covered for eventualities that happen prior to the holiday (dependent of course on the policy).

dogbot

They told you the claim was potentialy valid given the circumstances. They didn't formally accept liability under the contract! Of course they will check the other fundamental facts of the claim, including this. If you didn't explicity say how long you have been living together, or they didn't ask, before they said whatever it is they said, then it seems perfectly reasonable to assume that your partner fitted within their definition. It doesn't.

It if YOUR responsibility to read your own policy document!

schnide

The specific conversation went, and this is verbatim according to my memory until I can get a transcription of the phone call, which was recorded:

Me: "Will I be able to get my money back on the insurance if my girlfriend has become too ill to travel because of swine flu?"

AXA: "Yes, as long as you keep the box of Tamiflu as evidence"

Can someone please explain to me where it was perfectly acceptable for AXA to have said this and for me not to expect my money back, and where it was also perfectly acceptable not to direct me to check the conditions of the policy.

Nothing you have said so far implies anything other than that AXA's word over the phone cannot be trusted without guessing at any caveats.

I asked them if I could get the money back and they said 'yes'. If the answer was not yes but 'yes as long as your definition of girlfriend meets our definition of girlfriend' (which I could even then infer myself to check the policy wording) then that's what they should have said, and I would have absolutely no right to complain.

dmg24

schnide wrote: »

The specific conversation went, and this is verbatim according to my memory until I can get a transcription of the phone call, which was recorded:

Me: "Will I be able to get my money back on the insurance if my girlfriend has become too ill to travel because of swine flu?"

AXA: "Yes, as long as you keep the box of Tamiflu as evidence"

Can someone please explain to me where it was perfectly acceptable for AXA to have said this and for me not to expect my money back, and where it was also perfectly acceptable not to direct me to check the conditions of the policy.

Nothing you have said so far implies anything other than that AXA's word over the phone cannot be trusted without guessing at any caveats.

I asked them if I could get the money back and they said 'yes'. If the answer was not yes but 'yes as long as your definition of girlfriend meets our definition of girlfriend' (which I could even then infer myself to check the policy wording) then that's what they should have said, and I would have absolutely no right to complain.

Had your gf met the definition of a partner then you would have been covered. Therefore the information that you were given was correct.

gordikin

Do you really expect them to go through all the policy exclusions with you until they hit upon the one about partners having to live together for 6 months that happens to apply to you? It's your responsibilty to read the policy document not theirs to tell you to do so.