Direct Line shenanigans

Nebulous2

I was stranded in New Zealand in March and have been fighting since then to recover my money. I thought I was on the last lap, but I’ve just been knocked back by Direct Line for the last £1000. Annoyed is an understatement for how I’m feeling just now. 

Rounded figures, but close enough: - Original return flights cost £2000. Received an email from lastminute.com, saying that my return flights were cancelled and they’ve been pretty much uncontactable since then. New flights home cost £4000. Direct Line took months, but eventually paid £2000 as an interim payment, deducting the full cost of my original flights on the basis that they couldn’t tell how much each leg cost. Barclaycard were hopeless, and took 4 months to give a temporary credit for £1000 against my chargeback claim. Eventually after a complaint they agreed that the temporary credit would not be clawed back, and it was now permanent. 

That seemed like enough to go back to Direct Line for the final £1000. I had retrieved 50% of the original flight cost from Barclaycard. The flight out was on a Saturday, while the return which was cancelled was mid-week which is generally cheaper. Direct Line have just called me to say my payment has been rejected, pending evidence I’ve tried to contact Lastminute.com recently and also talking to their legal team for help with a claim against Lastminute.com. I’ve logged a complaint with Directline but can’t believe it. I thought after the last 5 months and all I’ve done to mitigate the claim this was the end, but instead I find myself at the start of a new battle. 

[Deleted User]

Hard to follow Nebulous2 but I know you are well up on all procedures and have helped a lot of others so taking your word for it.
From where I stand it looks like you were reimbursed the £1000 for the return flight (as you say the total cost of return flights was £2,000?)     If you had to take a new flight home and had to pay an extra £4,000 then I would have thought this would have to be an insurance claim?   Not sure if I am understanding this all correctly?

Nebulous2

Sorry - if it was hard to follow. Maybe I just wanted to vent! I spent £2000 on initial flights and a further £4000 simply to get home, for two of us. That meant I needed to reclaim a total of £4000. My insurer (Direct Line) paid £2000 as an interim payment, but held back a further £2000 pending a settlement from lastminute.com or my credit card.

After a lengthy process, including a complaint to Barclaycard they did a chargeback for the full amount I paid on my credit card and refunded me £1000. I expected Direct Line to be happy with that. Their argument in withholding the full cost of the original flights was that they said there was no guarantee the flights return flight would be 50% of the total cost. They had told me previously that weekend flights are usually more expensive than midweek ones. As I flew out on a Saturday and was due to fly home on a Wednesday it is possible I have recovered more than I was due from Lastminute.com.

My insurer now wants me to pursue lastminute.com for more money and go to their legal advice line for advice on how to do that.

MrsMo

Hi Nebulous2. I have also had problems with making a claim from DirectLine and it sounds like a similar tales; refuse to pay, insist you claim from elsewhere, offer to help sue the other party to get your money back. I challenged each knock back and also complained about time taken and poor claim handling. Check out the Financial Ombudsman Service as you can take up a complaint against DirectLine with them. Good luck and prepare for the long haul - no pun intended!

Nebulous2

MrsMo said:

Hi Nebulous2. I have also had problems with making a claim from DirectLine and it sounds like a similar tales; refuse to pay, insist you claim from elsewhere, offer to help sue the other party to get your money back. I challenged each knock back and also complained about time taken and poor claim handling. Check out the Financial Ombudsman Service as you can take up a complaint against DirectLine with them. Good luck and prepare for the long haul - no pun intended!

Thanks Mrs Mo. They were reasonably good with my interim claim, if a little slow. After almost 6 months, I thought I was almost finished, so quite devastated to have to start again. I thought I had done well in getting a chargeback to offset their costs. I'm not giving up after all this time.