Travel insurance claim rejected

chopkins

I'm looking for advice about whether what I've been told by my insurer is correct and my claim is not valid.

My girlfriend fell off a bike on holidays and had to go to hospital and have a plaster cast on her ankle and was on crutches for 4 days. This happened on Tuesday 31st August in Estonia and we were meant to be leaving the hotel on Wednesday 1st September to go to a hotel in Lithuania. However the doctor at the hosptial said she should stay off her feet for 3 - 4 days so we cancelled the hotel in Lithuania which we had already paid for and paid for an extra 3 nights at the hotel we were at in Estonia.

I've contacted my insurer and they say we have no valid claim as the "Cancellation" section of my policy means cancelling the whole holiday before leaving not cancelling hotels whilst we are already on the trip, however after reading the policy I cannot find anywhere it states this, just what it says below:

1. Cancellation
For travel, accommodation, car hire and excursions paid or contracted to be paid by you in
respect of your own trip (prior to any occurrence


Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed with this, do I have a valid claim or not?

Thanks in advance

dmg24

Did you not contact your insurer at the time of the accident?

chopkins

Yes i did, they had a 24hr emergency line i called and they said i could claim for cancelling the hotels and having to pay for additional nights when i got home. However after some more investigation this policy i bought using the MoneySavingExpert website is underwritten by an Irish insurance company called White Horse Insurance, although the emergency medical assistance contact number i called went through to the Axa travel insurance department even though I purchased the policy from 24DRTravel.

Is this common practice with travel insurance policies?

lisyloo

Cancellation does mean cancelling the holiday.
This might be a question of sematics with a junior call center person.
There are usually section for cancellation/curtailment/re-arrangement.
Just because you don't fall under the cancellation section doesn't mean you can't claim, but it might be under another name e.g. re-arrangement.

they said i could claim for cancelling the hotels and having to pay for additional nights when i got home

Did you get the name of the person you spoke to or the date/time.
I certainly would get these details in future if they are authorising expense.
Dates & times raise the possibility of listening to recorded conversations as many call centers record calls.

I suspect this is just a bit of confusion.
You might not be able to claim under the cancellation section so you might be using the wrong words for the simple brain of the call center person.
Tell them your claim was authorised before you went ahead and give them any details you have on that e.g. the date.
When you call don't say you want to claim for "cancellation" as that will just confuse some people as you are referring to a specific section of the policy, but do tell them the expense was authorised.

lisyloo

Is this common practice with travel insurance policies?

There is usually a broker and an underwriter involved.
Underwriters take the risks. Brokers sell to the the public.

chopkins

thanks for the reply, i didnt take the persons name but from investigating this policy it seems like it wouldn't have mattered as the emergency number i called was run by AXA and the underwriter I'm now claiming from is called White Horse Insurance. I've gone through the policy and there's a section called cancellation and curtailment but no mention anywhere in the policy of re-arrangment. The person i spoke to earlier told me as it was related to an injury then it would fall under the Medical expenses section of the policy but there isn't a mention in there of being convered for this scenario.

Any other suggestions? Is it worth me calling the AXA line i called on holiday and explain and ask for them to send recordings to this other White Horse company?

Shimrod

In my experience, travel insurance companies will do their best to avoid paying for claims. I've had to claim in the past for damaged camera equipment, and written letters on behalf of friends twice for injury related claims.

As a starting point I would write back (do everything in writing) and ask them to clearly point out the section of the policy that says the cancellation section of the policy only applies if cancellation happens before the trip starts. If you came home earlier than your planned holiday end date then you would have a claim for curtailment. It's possibly complicated by the fact that you stayed on in Estonia for the extra time instead. You should be claiming for the additional costs incurred there through the medical expenses section of the policy (which should contain a phrase something like "reasonable additional transportation and accommodation costs incurred by you and any one of your travelling companions, as a result of you receiving medical advice". If you can post a link to a copy of your policy online that might help people advise.

chopkins

thanks for all the replies, from some additional research on this forum i think written letters are definately the way to go. As for the additional cost bit this is what it says in the medical section: Reasonable additional transportation and accommodation costs incurred by you and any one of your travelling companions, as a result of you receiving medical advice from the
doctor in attendance and the Insurer’s medical advisors that your originally planned
return journey to the United Kingdom is impossible due to medical reasons.

I'm actually not allowed to post a direct link to the policy as I'm a new user to this forum and it's blocking me from doing so, but here's a modifed link moneysupermarket.com/travelinsurance/policy/24DR_DXS_PW_200710.pdf