Passport loss before holiday - travel insurance claim possible?

jaburgan

Here's the story: earlier this week I booked a late flight from the UK to Malta (Ryanair) for myself and my wife which departed this morning - without us!

The problem is that the afternoon after I booked my wife told me she had turned the place upside down but could not find her passport anywhere. She's normally very careful, so this was quite a shock. We have racked our brains and tried to work out where/when it could have disappeared. We know she used it 3 weeks ago when we returned to the UK from another journey, so it must have been lost en route home (combination of taxi/coach) or possibly it is still here under a floorboard (highly unlikely now).

We have waited till today to claim as we hoped beyond hope that it would turn up. The option of getting a last minute travel document from Newport was not an option in this case as my wife is a German national and it will take 5/6 weeks to get a new passport from the Embassy in London.

So the question now is whether we can claim anything back on this £430 debacle! We have annual travel insurance with Swiftcover, which does mention cancellation/curtailment, but does not specify this particular instance. So our thinking is to report the loss now to the police and the coach company (National Express) as well as the Embassy so that it is logged. Obviously we will be fairly vague about the place/time of the loss, although it'd most likely on the day of return to the UK 3 weeks ago.

One problem in this case is the tricky definition of when the loss happened and the requirement that this should be reported within 24 hours

Any concrete advice out there? Anyone successfully claimed for a passport document loss preventing travel?

And yes, we know: always check your documents as soon as you return home and keep them in a safe place...

Thanks!

joerugby

I was under the impresion that a german national could fly within the EU with her identity card

jaburgan

Indeed. The problem is that a German national who resides outside the country is not issued with new ID card (Personalausweis) once it expires and therefore only has a passport.

Alan_Bowen

Most insurance policies cover loss during the holiday not before it begins and therefore you would have no claim under your travel policy but many household policies may cover at least the cost of replacing the passport, if not the cost of the holiday. Only by reading your policy and then calling the insurance claims department will you find the definitive answer.

jaburgan

Thanks Alan, I hadn't thought of that, will check it out - also with Swiftcover, as it happens.