Insurance claim help for Holiday to Lanzarote (on FCDO advice)

ico99

Good morning,

I hope this post sits in the correct forum!? 

I am after some advice re a travel claim.

in a nutshell:

A week in Lanzarote for 2 x adults and 2 children. 

Booked in Nov 2019 via Onthebeach, including flights through Ryanair and accommodation direct through Onthebeach.

FCDO advice at the time of both outbound and inbound flights from ema was essential travel only.

Due to this a full refund was issued by Onthebeach for our accommodation. We were advised to speak to Ryanair re the flights.

This resulted in Ryanair advising us to either pay the admin fees to change the flights (near on £600) or to not turn up for the flights and to later obtain a no show letter.

We ran this past our travel insurance who advised us that we will be covered for a refund on flights due to the FDCO advice. 

So all documentation was sent to the insurance company and we received a letter saying claim was successful. However we have just had a call informing us that this was a mistake and that the claim has been unsuccessful as the flights were booked as a package through Onthebeach.

can anyone suggest how I escalate this matter and with whom ?


many thanks 

ico99

To clarify, the holiday was for Oct 2020 when FCDO advice was essential travel only. 

Thanks 

nilanteh

Your insurance company is correct. If you bought a package you are due your refund in full from on the beach if it was them that cancelled. You need to check if you have an atol certificate from them and what it says but if you do then you need to go back to on the beach. They should not be directing you to Ryanair or your insurance. If they cancelled the holiday they are the ones who should refund 

CKhalvashi

Were these booked on one contract and protected by ATOL?

If yes, OTB are responsible for the flight element, and as you are not Ryanair's customer, Ryanair can't deal with you.

ico99

Thanks for the quick replies.

To confirm, our flights were not cancelled and we chose not to travel on the advice of the FCDO re essential travel only.

This was relayed to our travel insurance prior to the holiday and we were advised a claim could be made on this basis.

Onthebeach claim that they can only refund our accommodation and not our flight !? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Hasbeen

"To confirm, our flights were not cancelled and we chose not to travel on the advice of the FCDO re essential travel only."


So it was not forbidden to travel to Lanzarote?
Oh dear.

Perhaps if you google "disinclination to travel" then come back with any questions.

CKhalvashi

Hasbeen said:

"To confirm, our flights were not cancelled and we chose not to travel on the advice of the FCDO re essential travel only."


So it was not forbidden to travel to Lanzarote?
Oh dear.

Perhaps if you google "disinclination to travel" then come back with any questions.

Sorry, but no. In the case of flight only, yes, but in the case of a package, definitely not.

It's industry practice for agencies to refund packages in the event of FCO advice advising against travel. OTB have continuously and deliberately ignored industry practice, going as far to leave the industry association so as to skirt their duties to their customers.

As far as the law goes, the EU regulations (which are fully applicable to the UK) are as follows: The traveller can cancel the trip without penalty if there are “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the package, or which significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination” (Article 12(2) of the Package Travel Directive).

‘Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’ means a situation beyond the control of the party who invokes such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Significant risks to human health, such as the outbreak of a serious disease like the COVID-19 at the travel destination or its immediate vicinity usually qualify as such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

This would leave several questions that need to be answered, including what restrictions were present in Lanzarote at the time of the trip and at the time of cancellation. The fact that the British government has recommended against all but essential travel to Lanzarote at the time of the OP's trip would definitely fit into the second part.

The fact that OTB have refunded the accommodation would suggest that there were restrictions present that would affect the performance of the package, however the fact that OTB have left ABTA likely won't help the OP, and may make this an issue that they need to take up with their card provider/bank. The limit for this will be 120 days from the date of cancellation by OP in the case of a chargeback.

ico99

Again many thanks for the reply's.

ico99

CKhalvashi said:

Hasbeen said:

"To confirm, our flights were not cancelled and we chose not to travel on the advice of the FCDO re essential travel only."


So it was not forbidden to travel to Lanzarote?
Oh dear.

Perhaps if you google "disinclination to travel" then come back with any questions.

Sorry, but no. In the case of flight only, yes, but in the case of a package, definitely not.

It's industry practice for agencies to refund packages in the event of FCO advice advising against travel. OTB have continuously and deliberately ignored industry practice, going as far to leave the industry association so as to skirt their duties to their customers.

As far as the law goes, the EU regulations (which are fully applicable to the UK) are as follows: The traveller can cancel the trip without penalty if there are “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the package, or which significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination” (Article 12(2) of the Package Travel Directive).

‘Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’ means a situation beyond the control of the party who invokes such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Significant risks to human health, such as the outbreak of a serious disease like the COVID-19 at the travel destination or its immediate vicinity usually qualify as such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

This would leave several questions that need to be answered, including what restrictions were present in Lanzarote at the time of the trip and at the time of cancellation. The fact that the British government has recommended against all but essential travel to Lanzarote at the time of the OP's trip would definitely fit into the second part.

The fact that OTB have refunded the accommodation would suggest that there were restrictions present that would affect the performance of the package, however the fact that OTB have left ABTA likely won't help the OP, and may make this an issue that they need to take up with their card provider/bank. The limit for this will be 120 days from the date of cancellation by OP in the case of a chargeback.

Thank you for the very detailed reply. Are you suggesting I contact my credit card company for a charge back? if so I did this before trying our insurance, and they were having none of it 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thanks again 

CKhalvashi

ico99 said:

CKhalvashi said:

Hasbeen said:

"To confirm, our flights were not cancelled and we chose not to travel on the advice of the FCDO re essential travel only."


So it was not forbidden to travel to Lanzarote?
Oh dear.

Perhaps if you google "disinclination to travel" then come back with any questions.

Sorry, but no. In the case of flight only, yes, but in the case of a package, definitely not.

It's industry practice for agencies to refund packages in the event of FCO advice advising against travel. OTB have continuously and deliberately ignored industry practice, going as far to leave the industry association so as to skirt their duties to their customers.

As far as the law goes, the EU regulations (which are fully applicable to the UK) are as follows: The traveller can cancel the trip without penalty if there are “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the package, or which significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination” (Article 12(2) of the Package Travel Directive).

‘Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’ means a situation beyond the control of the party who invokes such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Significant risks to human health, such as the outbreak of a serious disease like the COVID-19 at the travel destination or its immediate vicinity usually qualify as such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

This would leave several questions that need to be answered, including what restrictions were present in Lanzarote at the time of the trip and at the time of cancellation. The fact that the British government has recommended against all but essential travel to Lanzarote at the time of the OP's trip would definitely fit into the second part.

The fact that OTB have refunded the accommodation would suggest that there were restrictions present that would affect the performance of the package, however the fact that OTB have left ABTA likely won't help the OP, and may make this an issue that they need to take up with their card provider/bank. The limit for this will be 120 days from the date of cancellation by OP in the case of a chargeback.

Thank you for the very detailed reply. Are you suggesting I contact my credit card company for a charge back? if so I did this before trying our insurance, and they were having none of it 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thanks again 

I'd argue that you need to take the matter up with OTB one more time before doing so, however you need to take the 120 day limit into account if it was a debit card. If a Credit Card, you'll be looking at Section 75 and a much longer time limit.

For more information (I actually copied the 2 paragraphs from this link), the full legislation and how it applies in the eyes of the EU are here. Before you contact anyone, it may be worth having a quick read, making notes of paragraph 3 and 4 above and anything else in the link that may help you.

If you have any further problems or problems, please don't hesitate to get back to us, and we will be able to advise.

ico99

CKhalvashi said:

ico99 said:

CKhalvashi said:

Hasbeen said:

"To confirm, our flights were not cancelled and we chose not to travel on the advice of the FCDO re essential travel only."


So it was not forbidden to travel to Lanzarote?
Oh dear.

Perhaps if you google "disinclination to travel" then come back with any questions.

Sorry, but no. In the case of flight only, yes, but in the case of a package, definitely not.

It's industry practice for agencies to refund packages in the event of FCO advice advising against travel. OTB have continuously and deliberately ignored industry practice, going as far to leave the industry association so as to skirt their duties to their customers.

As far as the law goes, the EU regulations (which are fully applicable to the UK) are as follows: The traveller can cancel the trip without penalty if there are “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the package, or which significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination” (Article 12(2) of the Package Travel Directive).

‘Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’ means a situation beyond the control of the party who invokes such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Significant risks to human health, such as the outbreak of a serious disease like the COVID-19 at the travel destination or its immediate vicinity usually qualify as such unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

This would leave several questions that need to be answered, including what restrictions were present in Lanzarote at the time of the trip and at the time of cancellation. The fact that the British government has recommended against all but essential travel to Lanzarote at the time of the OP's trip would definitely fit into the second part.

The fact that OTB have refunded the accommodation would suggest that there were restrictions present that would affect the performance of the package, however the fact that OTB have left ABTA likely won't help the OP, and may make this an issue that they need to take up with their card provider/bank. The limit for this will be 120 days from the date of cancellation by OP in the case of a chargeback.

Thank you for the very detailed reply. Are you suggesting I contact my credit card company for a charge back? if so I did this before trying our insurance, and they were having none of it 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thanks again 

I'd argue that you need to take the matter up with OTB one more time before doing so, however you need to take the 120 day limit into account if it was a debit card. If a Credit Card, you'll be looking at Section 75 and a much longer time limit.

For more information (I actually copied the 2 paragraphs from this link), the full legislation and how it applies in the eyes of the EU are here. Before you contact anyone, it may be worth having a quick read, making notes of paragraph 3 and 4 above and anything else in the link that may help you.

If you have any further problems or problems, please don't hesitate to get back to us, and we will be able to advise.

Thanks so much, much appreciated. I will go through this tonight. 👍🏼