Halifax Rewards Travel Insurance

pancake_2

I get free travel insurance with my bank account. I had reason to claim recently and was refused. Due to the weather in December last year we were refused boarding on our flight from Glasgow to Schipol because our onward flight to Orlando was cancelled due to the weather and the thousands of people stranded in Schipol. We eventually flew from Glasgow two days later!! The Glasgow - Schipol flight in December was delayed for 1 hour, allowing only passengers travelling to Schipol with no connecting flights to travel, so according to Halifax I am not entitled to any delay insurance. What a con. Anyone else had this hassle?

lisyloo

Firstly I would ask them to explain to you with which sections of your policy exclude your claim.
If you claim is excluded then you probably don't have a leg to stand on.
However if they can't explain it then put your complaint in writing and follow their formal complaints procedure. I would personally spend 74p sending the letter recorded delivery to ensure it arrives.
You can often get a totally different result when you deal with the "customer services" department, but do make sure you follow the official procedure so that it's recognised as a formal complaint and dealt with by the correct people in the correct timescales.

Personally I think it sounds unfair, but I can't comment on your policy wording.
Your flight wasn't actually delayed significantly, it's just you weren't allowed on it. I don't know whether you are covered for that scenario.

katecheshire

Similar situation - my daughter has booked a flight to Thailand, departing in 2 weeks. She has travel insurance through her Co-op bank account, underwritten by AXA. Her final destination was Koh Tao which is now unreachable due to flooding - no transport, restrictions to food and water supplies etc. Axa are saying she is not covered for this under the Co-op policy BUT if she does travel to the area - currently against Foreign Office advice - her insurance would be invalid anyway. Within the general AXA policy there is a provision for this scenario but it's not included in the Co-op one. No option to select this cover but it is not mentioned in the exclusions. AXA have said they would look at it if she sends a letter.

What this shows is that these 'benefits' from bank accounts are not necessarily a benefit and may even disadvantage you unless you look at the complete policy wording in fine detail; you might assume you were covered because it doesn't say you're not - but you're not, so the policy is no use.