Refund on flights that WEREN'T cancelled...

PartyBubble10

Hi I'm new here... My Ryanair flights with to Poland went ahead, I didn't go for many reasons (FCO government advice at the time, travel insurance would've been invalidated etc). My travel insurer (AXA, booked in November) is initially refusing to refund the cost because they say according to CMA Government guidelines Ryanair are in fact obligated to refund me themselves even though the flight went ahead. I contacted Ryanair first to try for a refund as required in my insurance policy but they refused a refund because the flight went ahead.

The guidelines can be found on the gov.uk site, but here is a quote 'for most consumer contracts the CMA would expect a consumer to be offered a full refund where: a consumer cancels or is prevented from receiving any services, because Government public health measures mean they are not allowed to use the services.

Have I any chance of a refund through my credit card? The CMA guidelines are slightly ambiguous and open to interpretation which doesn't help, but basically it seems that the airline, my insurer and my credit card all suspect I am in fact due a refund but none of them want to pay it so they are going to bat me around between the three of them hoping I just give up. 

Has anyone actually gotten a flight refund when the flight went ahead?

[Deleted User]

Your best, and probably only, hope is if your travel insurance covers you for FCO travel advice.

bradders1983

Given the flight went, a chargeback would rightly fail.

FCO advice is exactly that: advice. It is not a public health measure.

The_Fat_Controller

The FCO advice was just that, you weren't actually prevented from traveling as the government did not close borders, so you were allowed to use Ryanair's services.

As the old computer, @Deleted_User says, your only hope is your travel insurance provider.

[Deleted User]

Insurance does seem your only option.   As you said your insurance would have been invalidated if you travelled against FCO advice (make sure the policy says this), get back to them and ask them to proceed.   You have done as they asked and contacted Ryanair who said no.   Send any proof of this you have to your insurers.     

bagand96

A credit card chargeback or Section 75 will fail - the service was available as paid for.

The CMA statement you quote is interesting, and there's another post on the forum where an insurance company are hiding behind that statement and saying "go back to your airline, they should refund you as per CMA guidelines".  Problem is the CMA statement is just that and is their opinion, it is not government policy.  In normal circumstances this situation, with FCO travel advice and  health implications, would be an insurance claim.  I don't think that CMA statement forces airline's hands.

epm-84

bradders1983 said:

FCO advice is exactly that: advice. It is not a public health measure.

Surely that depends on the exact date.  If a Ryanair flight departed during the last week of March then it would have been illegal to leave your home to go to the airport unless it was for work purposes or medical reasons e.g. COVID-19 testing being carried out in airport car parks.  If it was a couple of weeks ago meaning the FCO advice against non-essential travel was still in place but lockdown restrictions would not have prevented you going to the airport then it's a different matter.

I thought the CMA statement applied to hotels and leisure facilities in the UK, opposed to international flights.