Virgin travel insurance asking me to try sec 75

anticlaus105

EDIT: Please see page 2. We are not going and TI have asked me to try sec 75.


We (family of 4) are due to travel to Lanzarote 5th Aug. It was booked 30th Nov 2019. I have fully paid and checked in for the Easyjset flights. I have paid the first night of the hotel with the rest due on arrival. My Virgin travel insurance was taken out late August 2019. Currently the flights are still running and I believe the hotel is open, but of course this could change.

I phoned Virgin to see where we stand now FCO says only essential travel and if we would be covered if we travelled. The adviser said it is up to us to decide what classes as essential. If we decide it is essential then we are still covered. I pushed him on this point asking so if I decided it's "essential" for our mental health are we covered and again he reiterated we choose what essential is. I asked would they try to wriggle out of it should a claim arise saying we travelled against FCO advice and he said no as the customer decides what essential is.

Am I being advised correctly? Would be covered (our cover includes Covid) if we decided to go? I get the impression they would rather people travelled than claim, so are letting customers decide to travel if they wish. I just hope they don't want their cake and eat it so they will also refuse claims for anyone who does travel rather than claim.

Alan_Bowen

I am afraid I think what was being said is complete nonsense, and this could come back to bite you. Essential travel means travelling because it is essential, death or serious illness of a relative, house on fire, not because you are desperate for a holiday. Otherwise, everyone would try it, and the FCO advice would become meaningless. I would strongly advise you phone again, take the name of the person you are speaking to, and read the policy and see if essential travel is defined. If you don't and things go wrong, the first thing they will say was you knew the advice was not to travel

[Deleted User]

anticlaus105 said:

I get the impression they would rather people travelled than claim, so are letting customers decide to travel if they wish. 

Undoubtedly.  No insurance company would prefer to pay out claims than not.

If you want to go and can go, then go.

If you prefer not to, then you could make a claim on your policy that it is non essential travel and therefore goes against FOS advice, assuming that is covered by your policy.

[Deleted User]

anticlaus105 said:

We (family of 4) are due to travel to Lanzarote 5th Aug. It was booked 30th Nov 2019. I have fully paid and checked in for the Easyjset flights. I have paid the first night of the hotel with the rest due on arrival. My Virgin travel insurance was taken out late August 2019. Currently the flights are still running and I believe the hotel is open, but of course this could change.

I phoned Virgin to see where we stand now FCO says only essential travel and if we would be covered if we travelled. The adviser said it is up to us to decide what classes as essential. If we decide it is essential then we are still covered. I pushed him on this point asking so if I decided it's "essential" for our mental health are we covered and again he reiterated we choose what essential is. I asked would they try to wriggle out of it should a claim arise saying we travelled against FCO advice and he said no as the customer decides what essential is.

Am I being advised correctly? Would be covered (our cover includes Covid) if we decided to go? I get the impression they would rather people travelled than claim, so are letting customers decide to travel if they wish. I just hope they don't want their cake and eat it so they will also refuse claims for anyone who does travel rather than claim.

 I doubt very much you will have a successful claim by saying it was essential to your mental health. Essential travel is to care for relatives, sort out your home there, medical treatment in a hospital there etc. 

anticlaus105

Thanks all. The mental health thing was just something I came up as an example as other than that it's just a holiday, which I know is not essential. He was being particularly vague and non committal. I'm 50:50 on going as Lanzarote is currently seen as fairly safe, so if the insurance is valid and the flight and hotel are still on then I would be tempted to go, assuming nothing changes. Of course if the travel insurance is off then it's a no. I do have recording of the call thanks to a nifty smartphone app. I will have a read of my policy documents later.

Mickey666

Why not ask Virgin insurance to confirm their answer in writing?

anticlaus105

I will call them again tomorrow to clarify. It doesn't help with the government now talking about air bridges to the canaries. I would hate to cancel and then find out we would have been able to go. There are even suggestions the quarantine requirement may be lifted.

It appears I am covered though, so would I have to cancel before initiating a to claim?

Sections of insurance

A - Cancelling and cutting short your holiday

9. You cannot commence travel to your intended destination due to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice for your destination/location changing to as a minimum ‘all but essential travel’ after the purchase of your policy or after the booking of any individual trip, whichever is the latter. This also applies to where such FCO advice changes are announced after you have commenced your trip/holiday.

lisyloo

I would certainly want it in writing.
i don’t think you can decide on what essential means.
examples of essential are:
1) close family member dying (This wouldn’t Necessarily need a family of 4)
2) Contractually tied into a house move (Again wouldn’t include kids)

3) Urgent healthcare (again doesn’t need everyone - max 1 career)

a family holiday would not be considered essential travel 

do you get any money back if you cancel?
your insurance would expect you to mitigate losses so I would speak to them for advice on when you can/should cancel. I would want an email or transcript of what action they are authorised and as a minimum a name, time and date (recordings can be checked). Ideally I’d want that sort of authorisation in writing (email is fine).

anticlaus105

Easyjet have now emailed offering a change of flight or a voucher. I have no reason to take either as have no idea when or even if we will travel abroad again. I tried test booking the same flight and the flight times have changed significantly, despite me not being notified of this. It's a good job I always book car park from 12am to 12am and hadn't yet booked a transfer. I also notice the price is now half what I paid, so I guess people must be cancelling. Not that it matters. If no refund from Easy then cancel and claim it is (of course I will call both first).

Thrugelmir

anticlaus105 said:

He was being particularly vague and non committal.

Insurance companies will consider each claim made on it's own merits. Not their responsibility to advise customers if they should travel or not. Essential travel will be subject to the prevailing rules at the time (both internal and external). Impossible to constantly cover every eventuality in a highly fluid situation. 
Have you consulted a suitably qualified medical professional to assess the state of your mental health and what the best course of treatment would be. Hardly a question for a random call centre operative who has better things to do with their time one would imagine. 

sheramber

You are speaking to someone in a call centre, not the underwriter who will assess the claim and decide if it is valid.