Rights if Gov advise not to travel?

andrew22

We've got several UK holidays/city breaks booked for this year but with them being UK I don't bother with travel insurance. If due to the coronavirus the Gov advise not to travel with in UK where do I stand with regards to payment or refunds from the companies?

MoneySeeker1

following - as I'm in similar position and I'd want to know how the cost of my extra stay there would be covered.

Undervalued

andrew22 said:

We've got several UK holidays/city breaks booked for this year but with them being UK I don't bother with travel insurance. If due to the coronavirus the Gov advise not to travel with in UK where do I stand with regards to payment or refunds from the companies?

Nowhere I would have thought unless the companies want to show goodwill.

Advice is just that, something you can take or ignore as you please. Unless special rules are introduced by the government it is no different from if your doctor "advised" you not to travel for a one off medical reason. If you had insurance, confirmation of the doctor's advice may well have given you a valid claim. However, you don't, that was your choice.

As an aside, why do so many people expect the company to "carry the can" and not the individual? It is no more their fault than yours.

andrew22

Undervalued said:

andrew22 said:

We've got several UK holidays/city breaks booked for this year but with them being UK I don't bother with travel insurance. If due to the coronavirus the Gov advise not to travel with in UK where do I stand with regards to payment or refunds from the companies?

Nowhere I would have thought unless the companies want to show goodwill.

Advice is just that, something you can take or ignore as you please. Unless special rules are introduced by the government it is no different from if your doctor "advised" you not to travel for a one off medical reason. If you had insurance, confirmation of the doctor's advice may well have given you a valid claim. However, you don't, that was your choice.

As an aside, why do so many people expect the company to "carry the can" and not the individual? It is no more their fault than yours.

Undervalued I wanted advise not an earbashing. I'm NOT trying to get out of paying just what the situation would be if we're told not to travel.

Undervalued

andrew22 said:

Undervalued said:

andrew22 said:

We've got several UK holidays/city breaks booked for this year but with them being UK I don't bother with travel insurance. If due to the coronavirus the Gov advise not to travel with in UK where do I stand with regards to payment or refunds from the companies?

Nowhere I would have thought unless the companies want to show goodwill.

Advice is just that, something you can take or ignore as you please. Unless special rules are introduced by the government it is no different from if your doctor "advised" you not to travel for a one off medical reason. If you had insurance, confirmation of the doctor's advice may well have given you a valid claim. However, you don't, that was your choice.

As an aside, why do so many people expect the company to "carry the can" and not the individual? It is no more their fault than yours.

Undervalued I wanted advise not an earbashing. I'm NOT trying to get out of paying just what the situation would be if we're told not to travel.

I have told you what I expect the situation would be, unless the government decide to introduce some special rules or emergency  laws.

Plus, this is a discussion forum where people express opinions. It is not limited to providing just the advice the OP wants to hear!

p00hsticks

andrew22 said:

I'm NOT trying to get out of paying just what the situation would be if we're told not to travel.

If you had insurance and it was a formal Government instruction not to travel then your insurance would probably cover it (although it would depend on the particular T&Cs of the insurance you'd bought).

But as you have none, then I believe you wouldn't legally be entitled to any refund and would still be expected to pay any outstanding balance, unless the company makes some good will gesture of allowing you to amend dates etc.

Potbellypig

andrew22 said:

We've got several UK holidays/city breaks booked for this year but with them being UK I don't bother with travel insurance. If due to the coronavirus the Gov advise not to travel with in UK where do I stand with regards to payment or refunds from the companies?

The answer is no-one really knows just yet. I wouldn't worry about it for now though. 

MoneySeeker1

Someone else blithely assuming that I am free to do what I please regardless (despite the facts being otherwise) has just raised the question as to how much notice people think we would all get if the Government starts slamming down travel restrictions regarding getting across the country.

That hadn't occurred to me till then and I'd just been thinking in terms of "Either the Government (tries to) restrict our freedom of movement within our own country or it doesnt". But there would be bound to be someone somewhere that knew "As from x o'clock there will be barriers preventing travel" and so the questions arise:
a. Just how many people would know that "as from x o'clock" there would be problems with restricted travel?
b. How many hours in advance of that x o'clock would those that knew be informed about it?

I'm guessing it would be beneficial to know what happened in the one country similar to our own that that has happened, ie Italy. What did the Italians do in terms of giving notice?

mr_stripey

I guess no one really knows. If it gets to the point where the government is banning travel within the UK then getting a refund on a hotel room is likely that least of anyone's problems!

Undervalued

MoneySeeker1 said:

Someone else blithely assuming that I am free to do what I please regardless (despite the facts being otherwise) has just raised the question as to how much notice people think we would all get if the Government starts slamming down travel restrictions regarding getting across the country.

That hadn't occurred to me till then and I'd just been thinking in terms of "Either the Government (tries to) restrict our freedom of movement within our own country or it doesnt". But there would be bound to be someone somewhere that knew "As from x o'clock there will be barriers preventing travel" and so the questions arise:
a. Just how many people would know that "as from x o'clock" there would be problems with restricted travel?
b. How many hours in advance of that x o'clock would those that knew be informed about it?

I'm guessing it would be beneficial to know what happened in the one country similar to our own that that has happened, ie Italy. What did the Italians do in terms of giving notice?

Unlike previous national crisis or times of war, we now live in a world of instant communication and 24 hour news. Obviously there are a relatively small number of people who live "off grid" but it must be far, far easier to get the message out than it ever has been before. It is presumably very easy for a government to get a text message sent to every mobile phone and broadcast regularly on all media.

thriftylass

I hope I solved this problem by getting travel insurance that covers me in case of a FCO recommendation not to travel. Otherwise, there won't be a refund, why would there be. It's like any other reason (act or god, illness, death) if you can't travel. Get insurance. This is an exceptional situation where we can't really expect the travel companies to pay refunds, they'd all go bust.