PCR test refunds not covered under travel insurance

Grooverider

Hi

 

We were supposed to be flying to Cyprus (Paphos) at 7:20am on the 5th November. As per requirements we paid for and had PCR tests carried out at a private clinic in Fulham (£300 for 2 of us). On Wednesday we all learnt that we wouldn’t be able to fly to Cyprus as the travel ban came into effect at 00:01 on the 5th November.

Our tour operator (On The Beach) has refunded the hotel and transfer costs and informed us that we will get the airline refund when they receive it back from Easyjet. I have contacted Barclays Travel Insurance to reclaim non-refundable losses :- overnight stay at a hotel near Gatwick airport and also the cost of our PCR tests. Barclays informed me that they were unsure if the PCR tests would be covered as we had actually had the tests done so the service had been provided and they were awaiting a decision from the underwriters as to whether they would cover PCR tests. I have heard back from Barclays and they are not covering PCR tests and cited that they were in essence the same as vaccinations and do not offer cover for those.

 

I am unsure as to where we stand with this now. £300 is a lot to lose and we would not have paid for PCR tests had we not required them to travel to Cyprus. It’s the Cypriot government that is requiring the PCR tests to enter and as such I would have said it is more like a VISA as it is a legal requirement to enter their country. I’m sure many other travellers will be in this same scenario and losing hundreds of pounds due to PCR testing costs not being recoverable. I honestly don’t know who if anyone is responsible for reimbursing travellers for these losses. Perhaps this is something Martin Lewis could look into and challenge the government on as it is the UK government that has imposed this travel ban so perhaps they should be compensating us for uninsured losses?

eskbanker

Grooverider said:

It’s the Cypriot government that is requiring the PCR tests to enter and as such I would have said it is more like a VISA as it is a legal requirement to enter their country.

Hypothetical I know but would your insurer have reimbursed the cost of visas if you'd been banned from travelling?

Grooverider

eskbanker said:

Grooverider said:

It’s the Cypriot government that is requiring the PCR tests to enter and as such I would have said it is more like a VISA as it is a legal requirement to enter their country.

Hypothetical I know but would your insurer have reimbursed the cost of visas if you'd been banned from travelling?

Yes they would refund visa costs. The tricky thing here is that if you didn't fly then the visa is unused so they refund for something that you didn't use. With the PCR test we had to use it but then we were unable to use the resulting negative certificate as the UK banned travel. 

epm-84

There are some countries, outside of Europe, which require mandatory vaccines prior to entry.  Perhaps look at whether their worldwide policy covers mentions any inclusions relating to them, regardless of whether or not you have worldwide cover, as it's likely the insurer's underwriters will have a similar stance.

Mandatory PCR tests being introduced can cause all sorts of problems, sometimes the requirement is introduced at short notice and for those who don't live near London it can be impossible to get one before the scheduled departure date.  The issue in your case will likely be you received the PCR test, so it's a bit like buying things for a trip abroad that you have no use for if you don't go on it e.g. international adapters or factor 50 suncream but still having received the items.

I would also say On The Beach's claim regarding refunds is wrong.  They should refund everything you paid to them in the time frame cited in their T&Cs, it's not your problem if your refund is due before they get the flight refund from Easyjet.

Grooverider

epm-84 said:

There are some countries, outside of Europe, which require mandatory vaccines prior to entry.  Perhaps look at whether their worldwide policy covers mentions any inclusions relating to them, regardless of whether or not you have worldwide cover, as it's likely the insurer's underwriters will have a similar stance.

Mandatory PCR tests being introduced can cause all sorts of problems, sometimes the requirement is introduced at short notice and for those who don't live near London it can be impossible to get one before the scheduled departure date.  The issue in your case will likely be you received the PCR test, so it's a bit like buying things for a trip abroad that you have no use for if you don't go on it e.g. international adapters or factor 50 suncream but still having received the items.

I would also say On The Beach's claim regarding refunds is wrong.  They should refund everything you paid to them in the time frame cited in their T&Cs, it's not your problem if your refund is due before they get the flight refund from Easyjet.

You are correct in the fact that you cannot claim back for vaccinations but this is clearly not a vaccination, we were not protected against anything and there is no vaccine/treatment for COVID19 so I find it hard to believe they can classify it in the same way. 
With regards to saying its a bit like buying suncream etc it isnt, there is no legal requirement for chargers, travel adapters, suncream etc and those can be purchased while on holiday. 
Ironically if we had contracted COVID19 prior to departing, tested positive at the airport or whilst on holiday then the insurance would cover it. 

Grooverider

On The Beach should refund all monies within 2 weeks by law but this is not normal times and as such I'm not going to worry about a little delay so that OTB can refund with Easyjets money rather than their own. I would hate to be part of the cause of OTB going bankrupt as they are a very good travel company under normal circumstances 

bradders1983

Grooverider said:

On The Beach should refund all monies within 2 weeks by law but this is not normal times and as such I'm not going to worry about a little delay so that OTB can refund with Easyjets money rather than their own. I would hate to be part of the cause of OTB going bankrupt as they are a very good travel company under normal circumstances 

Ha, you haven't been around here for long have you? 

epm-84

Grooverider said:

epm-84 said:

There are some countries, outside of Europe, which require mandatory vaccines prior to entry.  Perhaps look at whether their worldwide policy covers mentions any inclusions relating to them, regardless of whether or not you have worldwide cover, as it's likely the insurer's underwriters will have a similar stance.

Mandatory PCR tests being introduced can cause all sorts of problems, sometimes the requirement is introduced at short notice and for those who don't live near London it can be impossible to get one before the scheduled departure date.  The issue in your case will likely be you received the PCR test, so it's a bit like buying things for a trip abroad that you have no use for if you don't go on it e.g. international adapters or factor 50 suncream but still having received the items.

I would also say On The Beach's claim regarding refunds is wrong.  They should refund everything you paid to them in the time frame cited in their T&Cs, it's not your problem if your refund is due before they get the flight refund from Easyjet.

You are correct in the fact that you cannot claim back for vaccinations but this is clearly not a vaccination, we were not protected against anything and there is no vaccine/treatment for COVID19 so I find it hard to believe they can classify it in the same way. 
With regards to saying its a bit like buying suncream etc it isnt, there is no legal requirement for chargers, travel adapters, suncream etc and those can be purchased while on holiday. 
Ironically if we had contracted COVID19 prior to departing, tested positive at the airport or whilst on holiday then the insurance would cover it. 

Yes but what I'm getting at is you purchased something and received what you purchased (a private COVID test) but it turns out you didn't need the COVID test and you can't get a refund now as you've already received the service.  If you're going to some exotic country and need a vaccine before entry against some tropical disease that isn't present in the UK then it's pointless having it if you don't actually go as even if you go in the future, it might not be done recently enough to meet the requirements, which is why I think it's similar.  The insurer could even argue there's a benefit to you knowing you were negative of COVID, given it's circulating in the UK currently.

If you booked the Cyprus holiday since March they could also argue that you knew there would be a risk of a second lockdown either in the UK or in Cyprus and that it could be announced at short notice.

There may not be a legal requirement to take a plug adapter in to the country but as you have to fill out an online form within 48 hours of your expected arrival time back in the UK, then it's a bit hard to fulfill that legal requirement if the battery is dead on the only Internet capable device you have!  As I found out once being in a hot country can cause the phone battery's to decharge much more rapidly then it would in the UK (it was a Samsung phone that I had at the time.)

Grooverider

bradders1983 said:

Grooverider said:

On The Beach should refund all monies within 2 weeks by law but this is not normal times and as such I'm not going to worry about a little delay so that OTB can refund with Easyjets money rather than their own. I would hate to be part of the cause of OTB going bankrupt as they are a very good travel company under normal circumstances 

Ha, you haven't been around here for long have you? 

I've been using OTB for long enough to know they have always been a really good company to use from personal experience. Obviously the Pandemic situation has caused quite a few issues but I'm sensible enough to make allowances for that. I will be booking through them again in the future too. 

bradders1983

Grooverider said:

bradders1983 said:

Grooverider said:

On The Beach should refund all monies within 2 weeks by law but this is not normal times and as such I'm not going to worry about a little delay so that OTB can refund with Easyjets money rather than their own. I would hate to be part of the cause of OTB going bankrupt as they are a very good travel company under normal circumstances 

Ha, you haven't been around here for long have you? 

I've been using OTB for long enough to know they have always been a really good company to use from personal experience. Obviously the Pandemic situation has caused quite a few issues but I'm sensible enough to make allowances for that. I will be booking through them again in the future too. 

Over the last 7 months, of all the threads that have popped up, they have consistently cropped up as one of the worst to deal with all of this. But thats up to you, personally if you are booking a package holiday you should at least do it with a company that actually runs its own airline, rather than one that uses Ryanair and/or Easyjet a lot, which brings with it its own issues.

Grooverider

epm-84 said:

Grooverider said:

epm-84 said:

There are some countries, outside of Europe, which require mandatory vaccines prior to entry.  Perhaps look at whether their worldwide policy covers mentions any inclusions relating to them, regardless of whether or not you have worldwide cover, as it's likely the insurer's underwriters will have a similar stance.

Mandatory PCR tests being introduced can cause all sorts of problems, sometimes the requirement is introduced at short notice and for those who don't live near London it can be impossible to get one before the scheduled departure date.  The issue in your case will likely be you received the PCR test, so it's a bit like buying things for a trip abroad that you have no use for if you don't go on it e.g. international adapters or factor 50 suncream but still having received the items.

I would also say On The Beach's claim regarding refunds is wrong.  They should refund everything you paid to them in the time frame cited in their T&Cs, it's not your problem if your refund is due before they get the flight refund from Easyjet.

You are correct in the fact that you cannot claim back for vaccinations but this is clearly not a vaccination, we were not protected against anything and there is no vaccine/treatment for COVID19 so I find it hard to believe they can classify it in the same way. 
With regards to saying its a bit like buying suncream etc it isnt, there is no legal requirement for chargers, travel adapters, suncream etc and those can be purchased while on holiday. 
Ironically if we had contracted COVID19 prior to departing, tested positive at the airport or whilst on holiday then the insurance would cover it. 

Yes but what I'm getting at is you purchased something and received what you purchased (a private COVID test) but it turns out you didn't need the COVID test and you can't get a refund now as you've already received the service.  If you're going to some exotic country and need a vaccine before entry against some tropical disease that isn't present in the UK then it's pointless having it if you don't actually go as even if you go in the future, it might not be done recently enough to meet the requirements, which is why I think it's similar.  The insurer could even argue there's a benefit to you knowing you were negative of COVID, given it's circulating in the UK currently.

If you booked the Cyprus holiday since March they could also argue that you knew there would be a risk of a second lockdown either in the UK or in Cyprus and that it could be announced at short notice.

There may not be a legal requirement to take a plug adapter in to the country but as you have to fill out an online form within 48 hours of your expected arrival time back in the UK, then it's a bit hard to fulfill that legal requirement if the battery is dead on the only Internet capable device you have!  As I found out once being in a hot country can cause the phone battery's to decharge much more rapidly then it would in the UK (it was a Samsung phone that I had at the time.)

There is actually no benefit to knowing you have tested negative for COVID19 it does not show immunity, just that you dont have it at the time the test was taken. it merely says you havent shown any symptoms in the last week. a vaccine provides you with immunity for an amount of time. 
The holiday was booked when we came out of lockdown and there would be no argument for future predictions, the insurance cover is based on restrictions at the time of booking. My travel insurance is an annual policy and actually includes covid cover. 
Your last point about adapters doesnt really prove anything. You can buy an adapter in the destination country, you could use the hotels internet pc's etc. you cannot arrive at a destination and then get your PCR test done, it has to be carried out before you travel. Ours was carried out on the monday before the government banned flying. We had to get the test done as we couldn't fly without it if the government had implemented the rules after our plane left. If that had happened and we didn't have the PCR test results we would have forfeited our holiday and not got anything back. The tests have to be paid up front as well so was all paid for before there was any talk of a lockdown at all. In fact had one of the 4 people in the secret meeting not leaked the potential government plans at the weekend we would have been none the wiser until tuesday/wednesday when the official announcement was due. Our outbound plane physically left the airport on time on the thursday and the hotel was still open as well. It's only the government ruling that stopped us from going. I suspect the blame lies with the UK government for compensation but I'm pretty sure that would require a class action suit to stand any chance there.