Sykes Cottages insurance con/scam

adrianr

I booked a holiday cottage with Sykes Cottages and selected [yes] to their travel insurance option. This was confirmed subsequently by an email from them advising as we had insurance we need to contact their insurer direct quoting a reference number.

We planned to go with some friends and sadly one of their parents passed away a few weeks before the holiday. We phoned and they confirmed we had insurance and providing we supplied a death certificate we would be covered and would get back the £500 approx. We submitted this and they replied saying they could not locate our insurance policy, and said they had a computer error 'that month' that confirmed everybody had insurance regardless of selecting the option or not.

They have apologised and declined the refund / claim and offered £50 goodwill gesture ! I have contacted my bank as I paid on debit card who are investigating, but I am tempted to progress to the small claims court as the directors of Sykes Cottages are apologetic but refusing to refund the best part of £500. What do you think my chances are of winning ?

Wammer

If you have confirmation that they provided travel insurance then I think you have a very good chance.

Follow their complaints procedure ask for a Final Decision letter then contact the Insurance Ombudsman.

Quentin

adrianr wrote: »

....We planned to go with some friends and sadly one of their parents passed away a few weeks before the holiday.....

Was this an unexpected death, or did the parent die after a period of illness?

Irrespective of the admin problem, unless any existing condition was disclosed and covered, no insurance will pay for cancellation costs due to the death of someone on whom the trip is dependent.

rs65

adrianr wrote: »

and said they had a computer error 'that month' that confirmed everybody had insurance regardless of selecting the option or not.

You have evidence that you have cover so they will have to prove you selected 'no' therefore your proof of cover was a mistake.

Sounds like an expensive computer error for them.