Flight cancelled, Hotel offer voucher, insurance won’t pay

campbell_ted

Hi my flight to Bali was cancelled, I had bought a non-refundable deal from a Bali Hotel. Hotel have offered a voucher to be used within the next two years but I would far prefer a full refund. 

I had an annual multi-trip insurance policy, which I amended in February to explicitly cover FCO travel disruption. 

I have tried to claim the hotel cost back on my Insurance policy however the insurance company have declined the claim on the basis that the hotel has offered a voucher or an alternate date and I can only claim back non-recoverable costs. 

Surely a voucher is not the same as actual cost / cash in hand. The hotel could easily go bust, we could be made redundant etc... It doesn’t seem reasonable to compare a voucher for travel which I can only now do next year for actual cash in hand. 

Can anyone help / advise best way forward please ?

thanks 

jimkelly

You bought a "non-refundable deal".

The clue is in the name.

yksi

It's not that simple when they also bought travel insurance.

Did you pay with a credit card? Because a chargeback might be your next recourse.

Caz3121

yksi said:

Did you pay with a credit card? Because a chargeback might be your next recourse.

would that not fail if the hotel was open and room was available for use?

macman

Yes it would, that route is not an option.

RobM99

My thought - the hotel is still open. The fact you can't get there isn't their fault.
AS said "non-refundable" does what it says on the tin.

The_Fat_Controller

That's a very reasonable offer from the hotel.

kingfisherblue

campbell_ted said:

Hi my flight to Bali was cancelled, I had bought a non-refundable deal from a Bali Hotel. Hotel have offered a voucher to be used within the next two years but I would far prefer a full refund. 

I had an annual multi-trip insurance policy, which I amended in February to explicitly cover FCO travel disruption. 

I have tried to claim the hotel cost back on my Insurance policy however the insurance company have declined the claim on the basis that the hotel has offered a voucher or an alternate date and I can only claim back non-recoverable costs. 

Surely a voucher is not the same as actual cost / cash in hand. The hotel could easily go bust, we could be made redundant etc... It doesn’t seem reasonable to compare a voucher for travel which I can only now do next year for actual cash in hand. 

Can anyone help / advise best way forward please ?

thanks 

The hotel didn't have to offer anything, so it's quite a generous offer. I doubt if the travel insurance company will pay out, as there has been an alternative offered.

campbell_ted

I accept its non-refundable that is exactly what it says on the tin. The point is what’s the point of taking out Insurance if it doesn’t cover the fact that you can’t get there. 

The insurance co are saying that my hotel cost is not non recoverable as they are offering a voucher - I would argue that it is non recoverable as I don’t have the cash now. A future holiday is subject to many other factors eg flight prices, redundancy, hotel going bust, Corona virus, etc... and I don’t think it’s reasonable to compare that scenario with cash in hand. 

Nebulous2

Lots of insurers are going down the same route. I don’t know if it has been tested yet. As usual, if you are unhappy with an insurance company you should complain, and then if they don’t change their mind go to the ombudsman. 

diggingdude

insurance won't pay because the hotel was presumably open and running for you to use.  You have been given a very good offer from the hotel.  consider next time when booking whether it is worth paying the exta few quick for transferable bookings etc