Insurance Company wont reimburse for policy taken out that has not started

lisyloo

The fact that I wanted it to start 10 days after taking out the policy do you think I would still be covered if something happened before the start date.?

Yes you would. If you broke your leg or your Dad had a heart attack your'd be covered for cancellation costs.

its either from the point of taking out the policy or when you stated in the application

The cover starts from when you puchase it.
Clearly some things (like flight delay or baggage damage) can only happen on the day but others like death, illness and sometimes redundancy can happen beforehand.

if it is the later then i should be allowed a refund surely?

Can you explain your logic please?
Why do you think either legally or logically you should be allowed a refund?
Sorry but the "surely" part is not obvious to me.
As we've said the cover has started.

If you want to pursue it then do what mikey says in post#19.

luci

lisyloo wrote: »

Yes you would. If you broke your leg or your Dad had a heart attack your'd be covered for cancellation costs.

The cover starts from when you puchase it.
Clearly some things (like flight delay or baggage damage) can only happen on the day but others like death, illness and sometimes redundancy can happen beforehand.

Can you explain your logic please?
Why do you think either legally or logically you should be allowed a refund?
Sorry but the "surely" part is not obvious to me.
As we've said the cover has started.

If you want to pursue it then do what mikey says in post#19.

Sorry, but I disagree. If you are asked when you want the policy to start, not the date of the holiday, and you stated some date in the future, you would not be covered for anything that happened before the date the policy was due to start.

If it is a single trip policy then I can see no benefit in stating that you want the start date to be the day before the holiday as you would lose any cancellation cover up to that point. There would be no difference in premium whether the policy started 1 year or 1 day prior to the date of the holiday.

See Ombudsman ruling 36/10 HERE

I have seen these T&C's before that there is no 14 day cooling off period for travel insurance if the policy is taken out with 30 days of intended travel. However I have just read a couple of policies which don't have this clause.

lisyloo

If you are asked when you want the policy to start, not the date of the holiday

Ok this is a distinction I've not picked up on before.
Most I'm familiar with start cover from the moment your purchase the policy. Here's an example.
See 4th bullet point

http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/travel/travel-insurance/single-trip-travel-insurance

cancellation cover, beginning the moment you purchase your policy

If there are policies available that don't do this, then the OP needs to confirm the cover start date, not travel start date if they are different or it would be helpful to name the company.

luci

I checked ETA and Direct Travel and both of those allow you to chose your start date. It is not automatically from date of purchase.

Also the OP was unfortunate choosing a company with the clause that you can't cancel if travel is within 30 days of taking out the policy. Both the companies above don't have this clause, although I have seen it before.

dazza.mk

luci wrote: »

Sorry, but I disagree. If you are asked when you want the policy to start, not the date of the holiday, and you stated some date in the future, you would not be covered for anything that happened before the date the policy was due to start.

If it is a single trip policy then I can see no benefit in stating that you want the start date to be the day before the holiday as you would lose any cancellation cover up to that point. There would be no difference in premium whether the policy started 1 year or 1 day prior to the date of the holiday.

See Ombudsman ruling 36/10 HERE

I have seen these T&C's before that there is no 14 day cooling off period for travel insurance if the policy is taken out with 30 days of intended travel. However I have just read a couple of policies which don't have this clause.

I think the issue is getting confused, the ombudsman's ruling you are referring to related to an annual travel insurance policy, I would understand that in that instance you would only be insured for events that occur within the fixed (annual policy date) period of time (but there may be multiple holidays)

As opposed to the OP who purchased a single trip insurance policy, where you would be insured against all 'insurable events' in relation to the single holiday that occured within the period of time from the point of purchase.

lisyloo

Hi luci,

I think you are getting confused between single trip and annual policies.
Annual polcies have a policy start date. Single trip cover just covers one specific trip.
Here's some wording from ETA wrt single trips.

Single Trip Travel Insurance
For all sections other than cancellation, cover operates during the period of insurance as shown on your ETA customer statement from the time you leave home or place of employment at the beginning of the trip (whichever is the later) during the whole time away and until return to home or place of employment (whichever is the earlier). Cancellation cover operates from the date of booking a trip or the date of purchase of this insurance as shown on your ETA customer statement, whichever is the later, up until beginning the trip.

agrinnall

MoneyMad wrote: »

Do you have anything to contribute? if not stop commenting, you obviously have some vested interest or are just plain happy to get ripped off. OR do you work for an insurance broker? Actually don't bother replying as I can imagine what you are going to say.

Anyone with anything useful to comment ?

At the end of the day this is a forum for discussion, if i have got it wrong and should just bury my head in the sand then I hate to disappoint but i do not give in that easy.


Maybe I should stop ranting now..... :mad:

Nope, no vested interest, I don't work for an insurance broker and have never sold travel or any other sort of insurance, I just know how it works and what it covers from when you take it out. Perhaps you should take a look at the posts from x-moneypenny-x on this thread to see what can happen when you don't buy it at the time of booking a holiday.

luci

Ah, thanks. I just changed the drop down on the ETA website from Annual to Single and the option was still visible to select a date in the future. I didn't read the T&C's.

juliaf_2

We do not consider our parents to be a problem at all - but!! we are struggling to find a worldwide annual policy that will cover cancellation/cutailment in the event of something happening to any of them.
Parents are aged 81, 86, 87 & 89 - going away always feels like a gamble - companies won't cover for pre-existing i.e.my dad had a heart attack 31 years ago but we wouldn't be covered if he had another while we were away -no one has terminal diagnosis but all are on various medication - any ideas? thanks