travel insurance trouble

usadave

can anyone give me some advice i was travelling on the M11 to gatwick to catch a flight to ibiza, a lorry overturned and blocked the road for 4 hours needless to say i missed my flight and had to pay £700 for more tickets, when i spoke to my insurers they said i was only covered if my vehicle was involved in the accident or if i missed my flight due to public transport breakdown which seems pretty naf to me,anyone got any thoughts on how i can claim

dmg24

What was the relevant wording used in their terms and conditions?

usadave

dmg24 wrote:

What was the relevant wording used in their terms and conditions?

all it said was something about if the public transport broke down on the way to your embarkation point nothing about missing your flight due to road closeures

Donnie

That policy wording is not unusual. If they pay out, it will be at their discretion.
Now, if you were in a car or taxi that broke down....

dmg24

Absolutely, I agree with Donnie. At the end of the day insurers will do anything to get out of a claim.

Sorry we can't give you more positive news x

MarkyMarkD

It's not "doing anything to get out of a claim". If it's in the policy wording, it's part of what you agreed to when you bought the policy.

If you don't like the terms of a deal, buy a different one in the first place!

Most insurers exclude travel delay of this nature as it's virtually impossible to prove. The insurers' attitude is that it's the customer's responsibility to leave enough time to get to the airport. I appreciate that it wasn't your fault and that a 4 hour delay isn't an amount of time you should allow for a journey, but if you don't meet the policy's definition of a valid claim event, your claim isn't valid.

Public transport breakdown is far more readily documented - you can get evidence from the transport operator - and hence easy for a claimant to prove.

The problem from an insurer's point of view is that, if they allow claims for motorway delays which can't be readily proven, people who just change their mind about travel will lie that there was a traffic jam and that they couldn't travel.

usadave

MarkyMarkD wrote:

It's not "doing anything to get out of a claim". If it's in the policy wording, it's part of what you agreed to when you bought the policy.

If you don't like the terms of a deal, buy a different one in the first place!

Most insurers exclude travel delay of this nature as it's virtually impossible to prove. The insurers' attitude is that it's the customer's responsibility to leave enough time to get to the airport. I appreciate that it wasn't your fault and that a 4 hour delay isn't an amount of time you should allow for a journey, but if you don't meet the policy's definition of a valid claim event, your claim isn't valid.

Public transport breakdown is far more readily documented - you can get evidence from the transport operator - and hence easy for a claimant to prove.

The problem from an insurer's point of view is that, if they allow claims for motorway delays which can't be readily proven, people who just change their mind about travel will lie that there was a traffic jam and that they couldn't travel.

i agree with what you say however i have written proof fron Essex police that the road was closed from 01.00 to 05.15

MarkyMarkD

Fair enough. So it's just down to you for buying insurance with a bad exclusion clause - bad luck.

Donnie

Under Missed Departure of my old policy:

What is covered;

1. breaks down

2. is involved in an accident

3. becomes unavoidably delayed.

My new policy doesn't include the third clause, but that is ok for me. Where there is a will there is a way.

This example clearly illustrates why travel insurance policy documents should be perused before purchase and not purchased on price as the only criteria.
I'm not suggesting that is what you have done.

I hope in this case, if your evidence is good enough, they make a discretionary payment.

Voyager2002

I think that most policies would be worded in such a way as not to cover this. However, since you have documentation from the police, you should push for a discretionary payment. Call-centre agents would not have the authority to help, so write (politely) to someone senior, and indicate politely that you are willing to refer the matter to the ombudsman if necessary.

A decent insurer ought to be helpful, so long as you don't have a record of lots of claims.

MarkyMarkD

Good suggestion, Voyager2002, although I wouldn't threaten the Ombudsman when you are seeking a discretionary payout, given that the claim circumstances are specifically excluded.