Emirates flight and insurance claim

TheNichols2608

We had our return flight from Australia cancelled by Emirates. We were given no option for a return flight and told that we had to take a travel voucher. We didn’t want this but were given it anyway. We then had to book a one way flight home through Qatar airways which cost us £1863. I have put a claim into my travel insurance for the cost of the Qatar flights, as it seems we are getting the £1043 back from Emirates at some point. The insurance company are saying
Although your circumstance is covered, the purpose of an indemnity insurance policy is to place you in the same financial position as you were in before the incident (flight cancellation) occurred. We’re unable to cover the full amount paid for your additional flight booking because you’ve already been refunded for your original flight. This means if we were to reimburse the full amount for the additional flight, you would’ve travelled home for free, which is not the intention of your insurance, as it’s not placing you in the same financial position as before the incident occurred.

For the reasons stated above, I’m confident we’ve made the correct decision to deduct the flight refund from your claim.

I believe that this is wrong but they are adamant it’s not. Any help would be great fully appreciated.

Caz3121

Statement looks correct - why would you expect to be flown home for free - refund from Emirates and insurance for full cost of the Qatar flight?

TheNichols2608

I’m still out of pocket. I paid for something with emirates that I never got and then had to pay extra for flights home. Them taking the £1000 off the cost of my flights still leaves me that £1000 out of pocket.

eskbanker

TheNichols2608 said:

I’m still out of pocket. I paid for something with emirates that I never got and then had to pay extra for flights home. Them taking the £1000 off the cost of my flights still leaves me that £1000 out of pocket.

But you said you're getting that back from Emirates, so you'll be all square then:

TheNichols2608 said:

it seems we are getting the £1043 back from Emirates at some point

TheNichols2608

Sorry I don’t think I’ve made myself super clear. We paid £2400+ for the emirates flights. The vouchers they are giving us are £1043. We paid £1863 for the Qatar flights. The insurance are taking the £1043 away from the £1863 and only giving us £820 back therefore leaving us over £1000 out of pocket. 

eskbanker

Was the £2400+ the value associated with the homeward leg only or was that the full return cost, i.e. where does the £1043 figure come from?

TheNichols2608

The £1043 is the return leg of the flight only. The £2400+ was the total cost of the emirates flights.

Nebulous2

I’m in a similar position, but haven’t had a voucher or offer of any sort for the cancelled flight. As I see it the £2400 would have been for return flights. You used the outward leg and Emirates have valued the return flight at £1043, which you didn’t get, so they have refunded you that by voucher. 

The insurance company are responsible for extra costs to get home, but have deducted the £1043 you have received. Your argument, if you have one, is with the airline to refund you in cash, rather than by voucher. 

eskbanker

So you'd originally paid £2400 for return flights, but ended up paying £2400 + £1863 in total (while being flown in both directions as intended), so being refunded a total of £1863 (£1043 from Emirates and £820 from insurer) puts you back to where you should be.

TheNichols2608

So where does the extra £1k go from the Qatar flights or am I just being stupid and not understanding?

eskbanker

TheNichols2608 said:

So where does the extra £1k go from the Qatar flights or am I just being stupid and not understanding?

You're getting it back from Emirates, in voucher form unless you get them to refund in cash instead (as they should).