Travel insurance claim for AirBnB we can't now use?

pinkteapot

I think I know the answer, but it's MSE so I'm gonna ask anyway. 

We live in Cumbria (Tier 2). We have an AirBnB booked 24-27 December in Essex (a Tier 2 part of Essex). The government hasn't now made it illegal for us to travel, but they have "advised" everyone to "stay local" (defined as your village/town/part of a city). AirBnB won't refund because the accommodation is allowed to be open (fair enough). Have we got grounds for a travel insurance claim?

Our insurance is with HSBC - came packaged with our current account. When we booked this accommodation over the summer we web-chatted with HSBC and asked if the accommodation cost would be insured if government guidelines meant we couldn't travel, and they said yes. We have a copy of that chat. 

However, with it being 'advice' only, I'm not sure how far we'll get... Worth a try at least - any tips for how to put it?

(Yes, we know we should have booked accommodation with a more flexible cancellation policy in light of Covid - if we have to suck up the loss we will). 

TELLIT01

Hopefully you know the answer is "Only your insurer can answer the question".  Just tell your insurer the situation, I'm not sure what else you would do.  Elaborating or fabricating a situation to 'improve' your chances of a refund is a bad idea as it is basically insurance fraud to do so.

davidmcn

pinkteapot said:

we web-chatted with HSBC and asked if the accommodation cost would be insured if government guidelines meant we couldn't travel, and they said yes. We have a copy of that chat.

And what does the policy actually say about it?

Ditzy_Mitzy

Whilst both origin and destination are in Tier Two, I don't think it's possible for you to get to Colchester, Uttlesford or Tendring from Cumbria without passing through a Tier Three or Four area.  The guidance states that you should not travel to a higher tier area than the one you are in and, by extension, says that you should not travel through such an area to get to an equivalent one.  It's possibly worth making such a case to the insurer: whilst you could stay in Essex, you can't get to Essex so the booking is useless.  

pinkteapot

TELLIT01 said:

Hopefully you know the answer is "Only your insurer can answer the question".  Just tell your insurer the situation, I'm not sure what else you would do.  Elaborating or fabricating a situation to 'improve' your chances of a refund is a bad idea as it is basically insurance fraud to do so.

Thanks all! And sorry - to clarify - I would absolutely never lie/stretch the truth to an insurer. Was only asking for any tips on how to express it or magic insurance words to use. 

Well - it was well worth the phone call as they're paying out for the accommodation cost, so we've only lost the insurance excess (£100 instead of £450). 

p00hsticks

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

 The guidance states that you should not travel to a higher tier area than the one you are in and, by extension, says that you should not travel through such an area to get to an equivalent one.

Actually, it doesn't. Although the advice is to stay local wherever possible, the Tier 2 guidance specifically says with regard to travel that 'You can travel through a Tier 3 area as a part of a longer journey'.

See

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-2-high-alert?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae#travelling-out-of-a-tier-2-area