Travel insurance refusing claim - help!

GMLM · 20 May 2020 at 2:54PM

We booked flights to the USA and accommodation for 2 weeks at the end of June/start July, and got a single trip family travel insurance policy in January to cover us. The flights have now been cancelled and the travel agent has offered us a refund subject to a £50pp fee. We're a family of 4, so for the flights we're out of pocket by £200. On top of this, the hotel is refusing to refund us. So I then contacted the travel insurance company - Explorer/TIFGroup who are saying we have no valid claim. They have quoted the cancellation section in the insurance policy, which applies in cases where cancellation of the trip is "necessary and unavoidable" for a number of health/personal reasons. In my opinion, this part of the policy is concerned with when cancellation is instigated by the traveller, as opposed to cases when the flights are cancelled by the airline, therefore I'm not convinced they are correct to refuse my claim under this section. I have gone back to them disputing their rejection of the claim, and have suggested either a claim through the Catastrophe section - which covers infectious diseases - or a general claim given the FCO guidance not to travel to the USA just now (the policy is unclear on this). I feel like the insurance company is trying to get away with not paying out. Having read the T&Cs thoroughly, I also feel like they have failed in their duty to provide clear guidance on this kind of situation when the cancellation is outwith the control of the traveller, or when there is new FCO guidance against travel to certain destinations. Does anyone have any experience or advice they can offer?

Life__Goes__On · 20 May 2020 at 3:19PM

Was flights & accommodation booked with the same travel agent at the same time? or booked independently of each other? and who with?

GMLM · 20 May 2020 at 4:30PM

The flights were booked through a travel agent so I understand they have to take an admin fee of £50pp (I managed to negotiate it down from £75pp). The accommodation was booked on Booking.com. We went for the non-refundable option as we thought our travel insurance would cover us in the event of any issues.

Life__Goes__On · 20 May 2020 at 4:47PM

Beware of the fees, as some travel agents have been wrongly charging them.
I have also seen what I think is insurance companies wrongly rejecting claims.
It's much harder on here with insurance companies as the policies vary so much.
I do not understand the insurance company refusing a claim then advising you to claim under a different area.
You should only have to make one claim, and that should cover the whole policy.
I would certainly raise a complaint bout this, and if they still refuse to pay take your case to the Ombudsman (this is free for you but costs the insurance company)

GMLM · 20 May 2020 at 5:39PM

Life__Goes__On said:

Beware of the fees, as some travel agents have been wrongly charging them.
I have also seen what I think is insurance companies wrongly rejecting claims.
It's much harder on here with insurance companies as the policies vary so much.
I do not understand the insurance company refusing a claim then advising you to claim under a different area.
You should only have to make one claim, and that should cover the whole policy.
I would certainly raise a complaint bout this, and if they still refuse to pay take your case to the Ombudsman (this is free for you but costs the insurance company)

Thanks, I'll look into the travel agent fees.
Under the insurance policy there are T&Cs for different areas you can claim under, eg Cancellation, Curtailment, Catastrophe. The insurance co asked me for the circumstances of our case, then quoted the wording from the Cancellation part and they told me I couldn't claim anything under the policy. The airline (not us!) has cancelled the flights and as a result we can't stay in the accommodation we had booked. The accommodation is not technically cancelled yet, but we can't do anything with it as we can't get new flights due to FCO advice being not to fly to the USA. I'm trying to figure out if/how the insurance policy would cover us for the accommodation costs and I *think* (hope!) it may be covered within another part of the policy somewhere, eg the Catastrophe part.
I'll be raising a complaint for sure, and also doing a s75 claim with the credit card. I think it's really poor service from the insurance company - they are picking and choosing bits of the policy to quote to me and trying to rid themselves of any responsibility!

Life__Goes__On · 20 May 2020 at 6:24PM

I agree a complaint is in order.
Who is your TA (if you don't mind me asking) getting to know the dodgy ones from this forum.

GMLM · 20 May 2020 at 6:52PM

Life__Goes__On said:

I agree a complaint is in order.
Who is your TA (if you don't mind me asking) getting to know the dodgy ones from this forum.

The Travel Agent is Carlton Leisure. Since my original post I have spoken to BA (who our flights were with) and they have advised that the travel agent should not be charging us for a refund, as the cancellation was made by the airline. So off I go back to the travel agent to see what the next step is and if they will give a full refund.

Life__Goes__On · 20 May 2020 at 7:34PM

I believe fees are allowed if booked via a TA if in their T&Cs and are "fair"
I had a look and Admin fee are listed,but (can't be sure if it wasn't added lately) no set amount (looks like they try it on and charge what they like.)
If you haven't had a refund from Carlton Leisure yet, you could go back to them saying unless you get a full refund, then you will Chargeback the amount on your card ( this costs them) as that will be quicker and a full refund.
(you could that anyway if you wanted)

GMLM · 20 May 2020 at 8:16PM

I think I'm out with the timeframe for a chargeback but I can maybe try the s75 claim on the credit card. I've also just read on Which that ultimately it is the airline's responsibility to issue passenger refunds in relation to cancelled flights - but apparently lots of people are having difficulty and getting passed from pillar to post. It would seem I'm one of them!

Life__Goes__On · 20 May 2020 at 8:22PM

You shouldn't be out of time with a Chargeback, as if there is a problem the clock starts from when the problem occurred.
(so either date of cancelled flight, or when you first found out it was cancelled (i'm not sure which))

digannio · 20 May 2020 at 10:11PM

Tifgroup are a dreadful travel insurance company who have a reputation for refusing claims as a matter of course and making customers jump through hoops. If they reject your appeal, which they will, just very carefully and methodically go through the T and Cs and construct your case showing why you have been treated unfairly and bung it into the Financial Ombudsman to take a look at. The good news is that a lot of customers are successful in complaints being upheld against tifgroup because they treat people so unfairly in the way they conduct their business.