holiday company demanding full payment

katejo

duchy wrote: »

Really ?

The odds of someone having an annual policy when they don't understand a simple tour operator contract so are likely very infrequent travellers are somewhat low don't you think ?

Instead of instantly telling someone they must be wrong (it reads like you may have made the annual policy mistake yourself) it sometimes pays to consider all possibilities. Perhaps with twenty years experience of working in the travel industry I'm more used to taking that approach though !!

No I have not made that mistake myself but have just read about other cases like the one featured in Guardian Money .

mcc100

Policy start date

For single trip policies, from the date you buy your policy, you'll have cancellation cover regardless of whether the policy has started. Therefore, it's important to buy your travel insurance as early in advance as possible, as soon as you have your trip booked.
Annual policies cover you for 12 months from the start date. Therefore, if you buy an annual policy today to start next month and there's a problem, you won't be covered.


The above is from the website through whom I booked my travel insurance. It appears to be quite clear as to how each type of policy works.

katejo

peachyprice wrote: »

So wouldn't you then claim in the unexpired policy?

Bottom line is if you're not covered from the time you part with money it's down to your own mistake, not any fault of the insurance company and the majority of people do seem to get it right. I guess it's an expensive lesson to learn for those who don't.

Why claim in the unexpired policy ? As long as you renew with the same insurer and want the same type of policy (world, Europe etc. ) why pay for another year when the first year has not expired ?

interstellaflyer

malkie76 wrote: »

Debt collectors would probably seize goods first. If she has a car they could take that as payment.

Absolute rubbish, debt collectors have no more power to demand money or take goods than you or me, only court appointed bailiffs have this power and they would only do so if you failed to pay a CCJ, even then, their first course of action would be to set up a repayment plan.

peachyprice

katejo wrote: »

Why claim in the unexpired policy ? As long as you renew with the same insurer and want the same type of policy (world, Europe etc. ) why pay for another year when the first year has not expired ?

Yes, that's what I thought too, that remark was in response to Luci's comment of:

luci wrote: »

T
Where people have come unstuck is taking out Annual insurance with a start date in the future and not at the time the travel was booked. With an Annual policy you can specify when you want it to start as you may already have a policy in place which has not yet expired.

If you already have an annual policy in place I can't see how you would come unstuck if you take out another policy to start when the old one expires.

duchy

As the OP hasn't responded it appears this isn't an insurance issue - however it is quite concerning how many people don't seem to understand how travel insurance works.

malkie76

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Absolute rubbish, debt collectors have no more power to demand money or take goods than you or me, only court appointed bailiffs have this power and they would only do so if you failed to pay a CCJ, even then, their first course of action would be to set up a repayment plan.

Obviously.

I just cut the middle steps out.

Ultimately what I've posted is correct.

dzug1

peachyprice wrote: »

If you already have an annual policy in place I can't see how you would come unstuck if you take out another policy to start when the old one expires.

There is always the possibility that a pre-existing condition is discovered which prevents you renewing the policy

But normally there wouldn't be a problem

luci

peachyprice wrote: »

So wouldn't you then claim in the unexpired policy?

I appear to have worded that badly as what I meant has been misunderstood. I was trying to explain how and why it is possible to specify the start date of an annual policy and gave having one which is due to expire as an example.

katejo wrote: »

Why claim in the unexpired policy ? As long as you renew with the same insurer and want the same type of policy (world, Europe etc. ) why pay for another year when the first year has not expired ?

You would need to check the specific policy as many of them are not continuous cover. Each year's annual policy stands alone and its not a continuation of the existing policy. Direct Travel are one company I know of who work like this as PEMCs have to be declared every year and are not carried forward from one policy to a new one.

There was a topic here last year or the year before. A guy had booked a very expensive honeymoon to travel in August. He took out an annual policy around June, but asked for the start date to be 1st August as he thought that was a nice round date. Around 30th July he broke his leg. As the insurance hadn't started when he had his accident he wasn't covering and lost the cost of the honeymoon.

Apologies that I wasn't clear in my original post.

katejo

luci wrote: »

I appear to have worded that badly as what I meant has been misunderstood. I was trying to explain how and why it is possible to specify the start date of an annual policy and gave having one which is due to expire as an example.



You would need to check the specific policy as many of them are not continuous cover. Each year's annual policy stands alone and its not a continuation of the existing policy. Direct Travel are one company I know of who work like this as PEMCs have to be declared every year and are not carried forward from one policy to a new one.

There was a topic here last year or the year before. A guy had booked a very expensive honeymoon to travel in August. He took out an annual policy around June, but asked for the start date to be 1st August as he thought that was a nice round date. Around 30th July he broke his leg. As the insurance hadn't started when he had his accident he wasn't covering and lost the cost of the honeymoon.

Apologies that I wasn't clear in my original post.

But would he have been covered if he had had an annual policy due to expire on July 31 (to be replaced by the new one on Aug 1st ) ?

My current annual is valid until feb 2014 . If I now wanted to book a trip for next march , would I have to pay again now for a new annual policy? If I were to develop a serious illness in jan 2014 , would the insurer refuse to refund for a holiday due to take place in March ?