Nationwide Flexplus Travel Insurance doesn't cover costs following flight cancellation

keypads

My Air Malta flight to Malta was cancelled by the airline yesterday, due to Storm Ciara.  Air Malta couldn't reschedule until 2 days later, therefore I had to cancel my trip.  Air Malta refunded flight costs, but I had already booked 3 nights hotel in Malta which can't be refunded.  I have Nationwide flexplus travel insurance, so phoned them to make a claim.  It seems that costs associated with cancellation of a flight by an airline due to bad weather are not covered by the flexplus travel insurance.  If the flight was first delayed and then cancelled, then it seems the costs would be covered!  Most travel insurance that I've come across do cover costs following cancellation of a flight by the airline, so I'm surprised that Nationawide flexplus travel insurance doesn't cover this.  Does anyone have any similar experience?  This seems like a good reason to buy a standalone policy and not rely on the Nationawide policy. 

Shedman

Could it be argued that if the flight didn't take off at the time stated on your ticket it was in effect delayed and as they couldn't provide an alternative within 12 hours then this is a claim under the Abandoned Departure clauses?   It does seem somewhat of an unfair contract if they will cover for cancellation of a flight after a delay and no alternative within 12 hours but don't treat a cancellation under these circumstances as similar.

As I'm with Nationwide I'm interested in the responses from the insurance gurus.

sal_III

Seems like a case for a formal complaint to Nationwide (or the underlying insurance company) and if that fails to the Ombudsman.

I can't see outright cancellation being listed explicitly in the non-payment section and it makes no sense to pay for a delayed, then cancelled flight, but not for outright cancellation.

Penelopa.Pitstop

I read today T&C as preparing for similar scenario this weekend and there's no where in policy anything about simple flight cancellation. There's only mention about delay and cancellation after that. Looks like I may have to rethink having Nationwide account and buy policy somewhere else.

keypads

Nationwide have dismissed our complaint, claiming that its terms and conditions are clear.  In their letter, Nationwide state: "as the Airline cancelled the flight, you aren't covered on the insurance, but if the flight was delayed and then cancelled they (the insurance company) may have been able to cover you for that".  It's Storm Dennis today.  Anyone with a flight cancelled by the airline because of the weather (and not previously delayed) will not be covered by Nationwide Flexplus Insurance.  I'm not sure if many Flexplus customers would know this.

Trying_to_be_good

I suspect you'd need to claim from the airline, this is the cover info for the regular Flex account cover, point 6 says you're not insured if it's considered to be a failure of the transport operator:
We won’t pay for:
...
6. Any claim for Abandoned Departure due to the failure of your transport operator or their agents

Penelopa.Pitstop

But airline doesn't pay any compensation in case of weather disruption, since it's not their fault.
I did some research after my previous post, and couldn't find insurance policy that actually pays for flight cancellation. Even if there was adverse weather disruption, it usually had such conditions, that it wouldn't apply to simple scenario of cancelled flight and then claiming for lost hotel costs, etc.

Unless of course there's such policy, and I just didn't find it.

lisyloo

Trying_to_be_good said:

I suspect you'd need to claim from the airline, this is the cover info for the regular Flex account cover, point 6 says you're not insured if it's considered to be a failure of the transport operator:
We won’t pay for:
...
6. Any claim for Abandoned Departure due to the failure of your transport operator or their agents

Bad weather is not a failure of the operator.

keypads

In their letter dismissing the claim, Nationwide also identified "6. Any claim for Abandoned Departure due to the failure of your transport operator or their agents" as a reason for dismissing the claim.  However cancellation of a flight because of bad weather is not failure of a transport operator (as lisyloo notes) at least not according to the CAA or ATOL.  We'll have to see what the ombudsman says.

paullaura18a

We booked our flights and hotels parking etc separately to save money and  we are out of pocket to the tune of £1650
We are having trouble with Nationwide travel insurance too, our was flight to Lanzarote on Saturday the 22nd of February, we flew out from luton then diverted to malaga due to the sandstorm then back to luton where they announced the flight was cancelled, we had to come home so and had to wait until Monday morning to ring the the insurance claims department as they are not open weekends (good to know) 
Anyway they said a cancellation of flight is not a reason to pay out.
But the operator did say that they would hold my information on file and if others got in touch about the sandstorm they would reconsider the claim! if that fails try debit/credit charge back?
I would like to know if any insurance company covers cancellations as we have a flight to Italy and Ibiza in the summer again all booked separately, be interested to know what KEYPADS outcome with the ombudsman is. 

paullaura18a

Found this from London Victoria, would this been a better insurance cover?
Premier cover.
Section J: Cancellation (abandonment) cover if your transport is delayed for more than 24 hours or cancelled – this section only applies if you have a Premier policy The main purpose of this section is to provide cover for costs you have paid if your transport is delayed for more than 24 hours or cancelled and not rearranged for more than 24 hours and you decide not to continue with your trip. What is covered We’ll pay up to £10,000 for your part of personal accommodation, transport charges and other trip expenses which you have paid or agreed to pay for, but have not used, in the following circumstances: n if your pre-booked transport is delayed for more than 24 hours and you decide to cancel your trip n if your pre-booked transport is cancelled by the transport provider and you are unable to find alternative transport travelling less than 24 hours after the original scheduled departure time, and you decide to cancel your trip. Evidence of reasonable attempts to find alternative transport will be required n if you’re not allowed to board your pre-booked transport for reasons outside of your control, and no suitable alternative is provided that is scheduled to depart within 24 hours of your original departure time, and you decide to cancel your trip n if you’re unable to travel for more than 24 hours after your original scheduled departure time because your transport is cancelled or delayed, but you continue with your trip, we’ll pay your unused accommodation costs. This will be calculated on the full cost of the accommodation divided by the number of days you were scheduled to stay and payment made for each full 24 hour period lost If you’re unable to travel as planned for more than 24 hours from your original scheduled departure time because your transport is cancelled or delayed and you wish to continue your trip, additional transport and/or accommodation costs may be covered under Section K. What is not covered The purpose of this part of the section is to make it clear if there are any restrictions to what is covered. If a situation occurs that is not mentioned under the ‘what is covered’ section it is automatically not covered. However, if you’re unsure if cover may apply, please call the claims line on 0800 707 6967. 1 We won’t pay the first £50 of your claim if you have a Premier policy. This applies to each insured person. 2 We won’t cover claims that are in any way related to a circumstance that you knew about before you purchased this insurance or before you booked a trip. 3 We won’t pay more than the lowest cost for equivalent tickets if your booking was paid for using any type of loyalty scheme, for instance an airline mileage reward scheme or loyalty card scheme. 4 We won’t pay the cost of any management fees, maintenance costs or exchange fees if you booked using a holiday points scheme, timeshare or other similar arrangement.