Rock Insurance (t/a insurefor.com)

isalachi

Just wanted to share our experience with Rock Insurance.

My wife and I took out a policy with them on 4th January to cover a trip to Georgia in June. To cut a long story short, after several e-mails back and forth, they have now directed me to a clause in the Cancellation section of the policy which states we are not covered for "claims arising from prohibitive regulations by the government of any country".  In other words, if the FCO advises against travel to Georgia (whether all travel or just non-essential), we are NOT covered for cancellation.

Having paid a significant deposit on the holiday, we are obviously not happy about this and will certainly not be recommending Rock Insurance to our friends!  Any advice/comments would be welcome.  I was thinking maybe that FCO  advice does not constitute a prohibitive regulation?  But then, if the Georgian government prohibits us from entering the country, that might also come into play.

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm afraid I would infer that FCO advice and the Georgian government's restrictions are prohibitive and therefore, are covered by the definition.

You took out insurance after Covid-19 was a known event and well on its way to becoming a pandemic.  The onus was on you to read all your policy terms to understand what the policy offers and to buy a different level of cover if you are concerned by cover limitations. If that clause was there when you bought the policy, I don't see how you can blame the insurer?  You chose it and could have cancelled in the cooling-off period if you didn't like what you bought.  In my experience, people don't go round recommending insurance to friends.  People usually choose on price (did you?) and of course insurance is one of those things you hope is wasted, so you rarely get to find out how good a policy is.

I'd sit tight and see if the operator cancels the tip.  If they do, you can simply claim a refund.

isalachi

Thks for responding. Still not sure I agree FCO 'advice' can be defined as prohibitive but I acknowledge your opinion may be valid.

I actually bought the policy around Christmas with a start date of 4 Jan when my previous annual policy (different insurer) expired.  I fully accept the onus is on me to check the policy and I'm ready to take the financial hit if the travel company doesn't cancel or offer a viable alternative.  Point is....I wasn't concerned by the cover limitations when I bought the policy because, yes, Covid-19 was a known event at the time, but certainly not known to the lay populace of the UK (unless they followed Chinese scientific journals).  Nor was its pandemic potential.  Cancelling my trip due to government advice or a country closing its borders was therefore a very unlikely event and the risk factors were strongly in my favour.

Thanks again though for the input.  From your use of the word 'infer', I infer that you're in the legal profession?

Aylesbury_Duck

Sort of, but the mistaken interchangeability between infer and imply is also a pet hate of mine, so when I can use them properly, I do!

isalachi

Can appreciate that. Bit of a pedant myself