Annual Policy says no

Frey_Bentos

Hi Guys,
I have an annual travel policy for myself and my wife, it expires on 29th May 2016. We were due to travel on the 8th june on a cruise and planned on renewing our policy when the renewal came through or looking for a better deal. On the 5th may the renewal came through. very unfortunately the same day my wife suffered a collapse at work and is in hospital for 2 weeks now and is going to be in a bit longer while she learns to walk again after suffering a severe neurological collapse due to stress. We are very unlikely to travel now on the 8th june so i called the insurance company to see about cancelling and they told me that im not covered as travel is on the 8th june therfore after this policy expires and they wont allow me to renew the policy as my wife is not fit to travel so is therefore uninsurable.
It seems despite always having insurance, ive never ever claimed anything ever, the one time i really need it im given no chance to get back my money when i cant go, just because of bad timing. My policy doesnt mention that travel needs to be within the covered period when cancelling a holiday and also its a bit unfair to not let me do anything to protect myself against this loss. I always book with a credit card too, though it seems this just protects against end supplier failure.
Anything i can do?

cubegame

You should have them by the short and curlies.


Write to them again pointing out the position the financial ombudsman would be likely to take if you presented the complaint to them.


In summary, the ombudsman suggests that in your position the company should give the option of cancelling (even if not medically necessary) and meeting the costs.


The information you need is at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/49/annual-travel-insurance.htm

Frey_Bentos

Cubegame,
Thank you for your post and link, answers my question perfectly and offers a glimmer of light in my currently devastated state, I want nothing more than for her to recover and hopefully in time for our holiday, but I dont think its going to happen and if I can cancel and get compensated, we can rebook when she is fit again.

Archergirl

I would have thought as your policy is current you could claim on it. Hope your wife soon recovers.

lea2012

Very generally speaking, you can usually only buy an annual policy 30days before you want it to start anyway so you wouldn't have been able to buy from elsewhere and would have to be covered by this policy. As far as I was aware you would be covered as your cancellation date is within your policy cover dates. Sounds to me like this is a stalling tactic to make you cancel after the 29th may making you uncovered! Very cheeky of them really!

photome

Who is the policy with,doesn't sound like a great company as IMO you should be covered for cancellation

katejo

Sounds like the insurer wants to have its cake and eat it! I hope it gets resolved and that your wife gets better soon.

Keep_pedalling

An annual travel policy covers all trips you take over a 12 month period, this holiday falls out of that period so you are not covered.

I had this senario last year where my policy ran out a few days into my holiday, but as soon as
I booked the holiday, I rang the insurer and arranged to renew it as soon as it expired to maintain my cover.

Usually you will find a clause that says something like This insurance covers you for all trips booked AND taken within a 12 month period.

photome

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

An annual travel policy covers all trips you take over a 12 month period, this holiday falls out of that period so you are not covered.

I had this senario last year where my policy ran out a few days into my holiday, but as soon as
I booked the holiday, I rang the insurer and arranged to renew it as soon as it expired to maintain my cover.

Usually you will find a clause that says something like This insurance covers you for all trips booked AND taken within a 12 month period.

In that scenario if one has an annual policy and a trip is booked for 11 months ahead but a day after the policy runs out, are you saying for that 11 month period even though an annual policy is in place there is no cancellation cover?

bigadaj

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

An annual travel policy covers all trips you take over a 12 month period, this holiday falls out of that period so you are not covered.

I had this senario last year where my policy ran out a few days into my holiday, but as soon as
I booked the holiday, I rang the insurer and arranged to renew it as soon as it expired to maintain my cover.

Usually you will find a clause that says something like This insurance covers you for all trips booked AND taken within a 12 month period.

Absolute rubbish.

Keep_pedalling

bigadaj wrote: »

Absolute rubbish.

Really, take a look at the terms and conditions for the POs travel insurance.

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/dam/jcr:fc1a02af-f50c-44cb-aaba-6da1ba30a32f/travel-insurance-policy-october-2015.pdf

Page 11 of the PDF