Travel Insurance refusing to payout

tomtontom

We have made the following assumptions in order to provide a quotation:You and anyone named on the policy are permanent residents of, and are travelling from and returning to, the United Kingdom.

Please note quotes are only available for residents of the UK and for trips which start from the UK.

Then when you click through to the Great Cover page:

Important... To buy this insurance you must be a UK resident and be purchasing this insurance before you travel.

It seems very clear to me.

George_Michael

squirrelsey wrote: »

So I decided to visit the GreatCover site and check that this is the case. It is true that if you purchase travel insurance direct through the GreatCover website you have to tick the checkbox described above. However, I came to the GreatCover site via Confused.com. Coming via this route there is no checkbox to tick that covers the need to be in the UK when taking out the policy.

There might not be a box to tick to state that you are in the UK, but there is a box where you have to put in the start date of you holiday. As it's impossible to back date this box it can only be the case that you must have put an incorrect date in. (ie, the date on which you wanted the policy to run from and not the date that your holiday started).
In effect, this had the same effect as ticking a box to state that you were still in the UK.

squirrelsey

@tomTonTom Please re read my post. I was directed to the GreatCover website via Confused.com. Coming this way the tick box is not displayed.

I came to the GreatCover site via Confused.com. Coming via this route there is no checkbox to tick that covers the need to be in the UK when taking out the policy.

Twisted_Spirit

George_Michael wrote: »

There might not be a box to tick to state that you are in the UK, but there is a box where you have to put in the start date of you holiday. As it's impossible to back date this box it can only be the case that you must have put an incorrect date in. (ie, the date on which you wanted the policy to run from and not the date that your holiday started).
In effect, this had the same effect as ticking a box to state that you were still in the UK.

Or the date his original policy was due to run out.

squirrelsey

@George Michael I think have have misunderstood my circumstances.

I was already abroad and had Travel Insurance from a different provided. I decided to extend my stay and bought a new policy from GreatCover. My existing cover had not run out yet when I purchased the GreatCover policy... hence the date was in the future.

George_Michael

squirrelsey wrote: »

My existing cover had not run out yet when I purchased the GreatCover policy... hence the date was in the future.

That doesn't matter. The date you enter in the box is clearly stated to be the date on which your holiday starts and not the date on which you want cover to start.

@tomTonTom Please re read my post. I was directed to the GreatCover website via Confused.com. Coming this way the tick box is not displayed.

The tick box isn't provided but the terms and conditions are still there, one of which is the one shown by tom..

Important... To buy this insurance you must be a UK resident and be purchasing this insurance before you travel.

tomtontom

squirrelsey wrote: »

@tomTonTom Please re read my post. I was directed to the GreatCover website via Confused.com. Coming this way the tick box is not displayed.

I have quoted directly from the page confused.com takes you to. There is not a tick box, but the above noted text is very clear.

vaio

squirrelsey wrote: »

Hi guys,

I know I’ve not updated here for a while, so I thought I would update everyone with the latest developments.

I followed the advice from vaio above and wrote a letter to the insurer GreatCover. My argument focused on the requirement to being in the UK not being made prominent enough.

Unfortunately GreatCover rejected my claim stating the following "you had to tick a box to confirm you had not already departed on your trip in order to proceed with this policy and you would not have been able to take the policy out without ticking the box”. They also stated this is there final decision.

So I decided to visit the GreatCover site and check that this is the case. It is true that if you purchase travel insurance direct through the GreatCover website you have to tick the checkbox described above. However, I came to the GreatCover site via Confused.com. Coming via this route there is no checkbox to tick that covers the need to be in the UK when taking out the policy.

As GreatCover have said their decision is final, my only option now is to complain to the financial ombudsman. Having come this far, I think it’s worth a shot! Thanks everybody for the help so far!

Good luck with the FOS.........

If I were you I'd repeat the buying process and take screen prints of each stage

marliepanda

vaio wrote: »

Good luck with the FOS.........

If I were you I'd repeat the buying process and take screen prints of each stage

Like people have above, pointing out where the OP lied on their application and did not read the T&C.

squirrelsey

vaio wrote: »

Good luck with the FOS.........

If I were you I'd repeat the buying process and take screen prints of each stage

Thanks, fingers crossed!

marliepanda wrote: »

Like people have above, pointing out where the OP lied on their application and did not read the T&C.

Just to clarify, I did not purposefully lie on my application.