Insurance not paying out, they said we have to claim from our bank?

ilovesavin

We have annual travel insurance with White Horse and we were due to go away in the Easter holidays, obviously we couldn’t go so we put in a claim for the accommodation and they’re refusing to pay out and stating we have to claim under section 75 with our bank.
1- we paid on a debit card.
2- this is the reason we have holiday insurance.

Does anyone have any advice please?
Thank you.

jaybeetoo

Was the accommodation in the UK?

If you paid by debit card you can ask your bank to do a charge back.

Does your insurance policy cover UK accommodation only (some don’t)?

What does the accommodation say about a refund?

ilovesavin

jaybeetoo said:

Was the accommodation in the UK?

If you paid by debit card you can ask your bank to do a charge back.

Does your insurance policy cover UK accommodation only (some don’t)?

What does the accommodation say about a refund?

Booked in the UK for accom in Switzerland through Booking dot com without the refund protection so that’s lost. The bank say if I have insurance I should claim through them, thr insurance company are saying I must claim from my bank under Section 75...

Westin

I am not sure that the travel insurer is giving you correct advice.  If the hotel was operating and either you no longer wished to travel, or could not travel there, I don’t see how they can say you would have a S75 claim with your credit card provider against booking.com or the hotel. They were presumably still able to offer the stay.

Did perhaps they frame their response saying that your insurance cover did not provide cover and that perhaps others recovery options (like contacting your bank) should be explored? 

Have you contacted booking.com to see if the hotelier/they are offering a credit voucher for future use.  Perhaps no obligation to do so on a non-refundable rate but from others I understand some goodwill gestures are being made.

sheramber

Did you cancel the holiday or were your flights cancelled?
Was the hotel still operating so your accommodation was available- even if you could not get there.?
Th answer to these questions may help establish what claim you have and from whom

ilovesavin

sheramber said:

Did you cancel the holiday or were your flights cancelled?
Was the hotel still operating so your accommodation was available- even if you could not get there.?
Th answer to these questions may help establish what claim you have and from whom

Flights and accom were both cancelled due to lockdown 

Westin

Questions remain unanswered. Not sure why you are not giving full information.  The better the information provided the better the answers.

daveyjp

Refund protection doesn't come into it.

If the provider can't provide what you booked you are due a full refund,  if they refuse you go through your bank.

sheramber

ilovesavin said:

sheramber said:

Did you cancel the holiday or were your flights cancelled?
Was the hotel still operating so your accommodation was available- even if you could not get there.?
Th answer to these questions may help establish what claim you have and from whom

Flights and accom were both cancelled due to lockdown 

But who cancelled them? Who notified you that they were cancelled?

Nick_C

As a general principle, Insurance is a means of last resort.  IF you have a valid S75 claim, or can claim a chargeback, you should always use that rather than insurance.