Flight Compensation. Travel Insurance

warregui

In February I was in the Philippines on an extended trip.Every day reports came on TV about corona virus in China and South Korea. Cities were placed being put into lockdown. I was staying in Angeles City. Preparations were in hand to construct a quarantine station on the edge of the city. A man that I knew told me it would get much worse and the authorities were making plans to introduce lockdowns. I emailed my travel company and asked about changing my return flight. The money to do so was more than the cost of my original return flight. I made other arrangements and came back to the UK using four flights to keep the cost down. This was on February 14th. My return should have been the 26th March. On the 24th March I received an email stating that my flight from Manila had been cancelled. Severe lockdown measures and a curfew were introduced. I had made the right decision. If I had remained I would have been confined to a hotel for weeks, only allowed out for essential reasons. And it would have been at my own expense. To sum up, with the information available I anticipated what would happen and took the necessary steps to avoid the consequences. However, my insurance company (UK Insurance through Nationwide Building Society) refuse to accept my claim saying I should have waited until the Philippine Government announced the lockdown. Do you think MY CLAIM should be allowed?

elsien

Doesn’t make any odds what we think. What do the terms and conditions of your insurance state? 

Did you speak to your insurer prior to making your own arrangements to check what would be covered? 

TELLIT01

Unfortunately you chose to change your flight based on rumour, not fact at the time.  Although it may well have cost the insurer more had you waited for lockdown, I very much doubt you will get anything from them.