Unsure what to claim on insurance - I'm stuck in Colombia!

sbnufc

So I arrived in Colombia in January. Coronavirus hit, and then hit even harder. My return flight for March 26 was cancelled by the airline (Avianca). The airline since issued me with a voucher (for which they cannot tell me the value, but that's another story).  All international travel is suspended here, as of now until August 31, but I would not be at all surprised to see it extended. The "quarantine" here has been extended about 78 times, after all.
I booked travel insurance before my trip, which included flight cancellation.  As my ticket was a return and I have successfully used one of the 2 flights, I'm confused as to how much I should claim on insurance. Do I claim the whole ticket? Half of the ticket? I asked Avianca how much each separate flight cost, but again, they couldn't give me an answer.  To make matters worse, I asked for a quote to reschedule my return flight for the end of January 2021 (a random date, when I assume this might have blown over). I was quoted €2796.20 even with my "voucher" applied.  Yes, nearly three thousand euros, for an economy ticket, one way, Colombia to London!!  Obviously, I cannot afford that. Not even close. So, now I'm thinking "wait, do I claim €2796 on my insurance?"  The airline state "change your flight for free" on their website. Yeah, it looks like it! They also went into administration because of Coronavirus, but vowed to "keep on flying".

Any help would be much appreciated, I have no experience at all with insurance claims, and I'm struggling

Thank you!

koalakoala

You really need to be guided by your insurance company.

Westin

The claim would typically be “to make good” so that could be cost of the new flight home.

One way tickets are often priced much, much higher than buying a cheap return ticket, even if you only use the first portion to get back to the U.K.  See if buying a return is cheaper.

I would really suggest that you read your travel insurance documents and also perhaps make contact with your travel insurer to check all Ok with your policy and what claim you can make.  Lots of insurance have time limits on the maximum amount of days you are overseas.  

peachyprice

Did you try to get on one of the  UK repatriation flights back in May?  You might find your insurance company will have expected you to try, whether you did on not may have a bearing on your ability to claim. 

sbnufc

Westin said:

The claim would typically be “to make good” so that could be cost of the new flight home.

One way tickets are often priced much, much higher than buying a cheap return ticket, even if you only use the first portion to get back to the U.K.  See if buying a return is cheaper.

I would really suggest that you read your travel insurance documents and also perhaps make contact with your travel insurer to check all Ok with your policy and what claim you can make.  Lots of insurance have time limits on the maximum amount of days you are overseas.  

Would the fact that the airline gave me the "voucher" impact on a claim? I'm afraid the insurance will think that because the airline already gave me something back, they don't need to

Voyager2002

By the sound of things the voucher has no value anyway.
I trust that you have informed your insurer of the situation: otherwise your medical cover will probably have expired by now.

bradders1983

peachyprice said:

Did you try to get on one of the  UK repatriation flights back in May?  You might find your insurance company will have expected you to try, whether you did on not may have a bearing on your ability to claim. 

^^^^this.

OP, were you aware of these and did you attempt to book on them?

Westin

sbnufc said:

Westin said:

The claim would typically be “to make good” so that could be cost of the new flight home.

One way tickets are often priced much, much higher than buying a cheap return ticket, even if you only use the first portion to get back to the U.K.  See if buying a return is cheaper.

I would really suggest that you read your travel insurance documents and also perhaps make contact with your travel insurer to check all Ok with your policy and what claim you can make.  Lots of insurance have time limits on the maximum amount of days you are overseas.  

Would the fact that the airline gave me the "voucher" impact on a claim? I'm afraid the insurance will think that because the airline already gave me something back, they don't need to

Possibly. Possibly not as you are unable to use it.

You really need to speak to your insurance company.  If you have not already told them of your situation you may find that your cover has ended.

sbnufc

peachyprice said:

Did you try to get on one of the  UK repatriation flights back in May?  You might find your insurance company will have expected you to try, whether you did on not may have a bearing on your ability to claim. 

From what contact I have had with them so far, I'm am pretty sure they know nothing about those and they don't seem bothered enough to check, but no I didn't try. The cost of those was too much for me to afford as well. I had contacted the insurance company by then, but I only recently heard back from them, many months after my initial contact.  I think even had I tried to contact them about those flights, they wouldn't have replied because they were so busy with covid claims

sbnufc

Thanks everyone, I will have my mum back in the UK give them call for me and see if they advise how to proceed. I fear if I ask them what to do, they will come to the cheapest conclusion possible for them, but we'll see!

bradders1983

sbnufc said:

peachyprice said:

Did you try to get on one of the  UK repatriation flights back in May?  You might find your insurance company will have expected you to try, whether you did on not may have a bearing on your ability to claim. 

From what contact I have had with them so far, I'm am pretty sure they know nothing about those and they don't seem bothered enough to check, but no I didn't try. The cost of those was too much for me to afford as well. I had contacted the insurance company by then, but I only recently heard back from them, many months after my initial contact.  I think even had I tried to contact them about those flights, they wouldn't have replied because they were so busy with covid claims

How much were these repat flights? I was under the impression they cost no more than a grand, surely a) you have spent more than that waiting in a foreign country for months, and b) you could have borrowed it off a family member, put it on a credit card etc?