Expedia cancellation - Bereavement

PondDipper29

My spouse does not fly and after not flying myself for 30+ years, a New York package was booked in July 2019 for a Feb 2020 break.  I was due to go with our children.  Spouse died Jan 2020 so Expedia contacted immediately, death certificate sent and cancellation of package confirmed in Jan.  Advised only flight to be refunded, but I note from this forum as ATOL certificate states package & both flight/hotel covered I should receive refund for both (thank you).

No refund has been received - and this was well before Covid situation.  Following formal complaint message (Twitter) Expedia advised they were waiting for death certificate.  I sent copies of Jan correspondence confirming documents sent/acknowledged.  Their only contact now is to keep requesting the death certificate and I’m finding this distressing.  No bereavement support, face to face contact with family due to Covid, etc.
I requested formal complaint process and they have ignored my request.  Does anyone know what this is?  Or, do I just contact ATOL, or my credit card company and ask for a refund.
Thank you.

bradders1983

Surely you would be much easier going through the travel insurance route, you did book insurance didnt you?

heatherw_01

Sorry for your loss.

This is something you should go through travel insurance for.

photome

 Sorry for your loss it must be painful that  they keep asking for death certificate.

But is there a reason you didn’t go through your travel insurance, I don’t think Expedia are under any obligation to refund you

Westin

This is not a matter for ATOL.  This is a scheme for financial protection in case of insolvency of the travel provider.

This would be a travel insurance claim on items where you have been unable to recover costs from Expedia.

mattyprice4004

I think you’re going to be disappointed, as noted above Expedia don’t have any need to offer you a refund regardless of reason. 

Sorry for your loss, but I would go through insurance for this. 

PondDipper29

Thank you everyone.  I do have full, comprehensive insurance.  BA confirmed immediately that they would refund flights and I did request amount remaining so I could contact insurance company.  I was since advised to take a different route.  To be honest, I’m still trying to come to terms with all that has happened due to circumstances and like most,  my year isn’t getting any better.

TELLIT01

I can understand how difficult things are for you but your flights will have been refunded because that's what BA terms and conditions dictated.  It's nothing to do with ABTA or having an ATOL licence.  If the hotel was booked on the basis of full payment required they are not obliged to refund, although some may in certain circumstances.  You do need to take this up with your travel insurance.

Who advised taking 'a different route' and what did they advise you to do instead?

PondDipper29

Thanks Tellit01.  A friend advised I should go to ATOL as the refund from BA hasn’t been passed on to me.  As mentioned, this was my first flight in a long time and things are different now  

lisyloo

Sorry for your loss.

Do you have a family member or friend who can help you with admin? (I realise things are Harder with COVID).

Expedia or ATOL are the wrong routes.

Make a claim via your travel insurance, it should be relatively straightforward but bear in mind that everything is much slower at the moment due to COVID.

photome

is there a length of time that the  insurance company should be notified within, given that the holiday was feb this year