Cancelled flight and Insurance wont pay

Nickmar

I am wondering if you can help.

On the 8th Feb my wife and I were due to fly from Tahiti (French Polynesia) to Auckland on Air New Zealand NZ043 scheduled 2.00am. As we checked in we were notified that the flight would be delayed by an hour. After waiting around they started to board the plane however after the first few passengers boarded the airline stopped boarding more passengers. After about 30 mins the airline made an announcement there was a problem with the brakes and they were going to try and fix the issue prior to boarding anymore passengers. After about an hour the airline decided they were going to start boarding the rest of the passengers as the plane had air conditioning and would be more comfortable for the passengers. Over the next 4-5 hours of sitting on the plane we were given regular updates being told that they were hoping to get the planes brakes fixed and we would be on our way. At around 7am we were finally given notice that the problem couldn’t be fixed and the flight would be cancelled. We were then reprocessed through the airport and put up in a hotel and allowed a 2 minute phone call which I was eventually charged for.

As a result of the cancellation we missed our flights back to Europe with another airline made on another booking. As a result I decided to book flights from Tahiti back to Paris which all went well.

However my problems are this; Air New Zealand after 2 phone calls and two emails eventually refunded me for the flights, however they refusing to pay me the compensation for delayed flights over 4 hours and a distance greater than 3500km. Each time they have come back their reasons and each has been different. I have had to call several times further in order to be told their reasons but each time I have managed to get the reasons it is not from the department that makes the decision. They have promised to phone back regarding the issue and don’t ever call. I have emailed them 4 times to which they say they will respond.

What can I do?

Am I entitled to compensation as French Polynesia is an overseas territory?

What is the legislation?

After making a claim to my insurer Sainsburys they have said that they wont pay even though when I called I specifically asked if I would be covered for this flight being cancelled and missing the following flights. So not only have I asked specifically about this instance and bought it because of it, they are now saying they wont pay.



Kind regards,


Nick

Manxman_in_exile

Re the insurance aspect, what do the T&Cs of your policy say?


Like you, I would ask specific questions of the provider as to what is and is not covered before purchase, but I make sure to double-check the documentation when it comes through for exclusions.


There is another recent thread where somebody was flying from Malta to London, then to the States (not a connecting flight I think), and then had problems with flights in the States before returning to Malta via London. Their "global" travel insurance only covered the flights between Malta and London, not the flights in the States (which I think were considered part of the holiday - apologies if I'm wrong).


Could your situation be similar?


(Like many posters I was surprised by this, but other posters said you needed specialist "backpacking" insurance for this scenario. Apologies again if I've got the wrong end of the stick!)


EDIT: it was here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6001988/travel-insurance-that-doesnt-cover-all-flights&highlight=malta+insurance

Justice13075

Air New zealand airline are not covered by EC261/2004 (only on a flight from the Eu) So you are not due compensation under that legislation.