Ticketmaster Insurance Rejected

oooLJB

Hi.
Some months ago, my mum asked me to purchase tickets for her to see a band that she liked. She is disabled and has to use a wheelchair if required to stand for long periods of time. She asked me to get a ticket to accompany her for help on the night etc.
Due to covid still being around and a potential issue, we purchased insurance in the event we couldn’t go.
The event took place on the 11/12/2021. A week beforehand, I was sent an email saying that we had to be double vaccinated to attend. 

I have had one and currently awaiting my second. My mother cannot have the vaccine due to one of her illnesses being allergic reactions. 

I emailed the insurance company the same day to say we couldn’t attend because of the vaccine issue and obviously Omicron has decided to do it’s thing as well. I assumed that the insurance would cover us.
The event came and went. On 13/12/21 they emailed me to say that my claim was rejected as they don’t cover lack of vaccination even though it was required to attend.
I’m aware that this probably is our own fault and it’s most likely buried in the T&C’s somewhere, but I’m more annoyed that they took so long to reply that we couldn’t even sell the tickets on in time and they waited until after the event. 

Have we got to just put this down to experience or is there anything I can do to recoup some of my mums money? 

Thanks.

Diamandis

What was the exact wording on the email? You should have been able to provide a negative test, no?

HeinzVarieties

oooLJB said:

Hi.
Some months ago, my mum asked me to purchase tickets for her to see a band that she liked. She is disabled and has to use a wheelchair if required to stand for long periods of time. She asked me to get a ticket to accompany her for help on the night etc.
Due to covid still being around and a potential issue, we purchased insurance in the event we couldn’t go.
The event took place on the 11/12/2021. A week beforehand, I was sent an email saying that we had to be double vaccinated to attend. 

I have had one and currently awaiting my second. My mother cannot have the vaccine due to one of her illnesses being allergic reactions. 

I emailed the insurance company the same day to say we couldn’t attend because of the vaccine issue and obviously Omicron has decided to do it’s thing as well. I assumed that the insurance would cover us.
The event came and went. On 13/12/21 they emailed me to say that my claim was rejected as they don’t cover lack of vaccination even though it was required to attend.
I’m aware that this probably is our own fault and it’s most likely buried in the T&C’s somewhere, but I’m more annoyed that they took so long to reply that we couldn’t even sell the tickets on in time and they waited until after the event. 

Have we got to just put this down to experience or is there anything I can do to recoup some of my mums money? 

Thanks.

It's very unlikely that vaccination was an absolute requirement.  Those with medical exemptions would have almost certainly been exempt from this requirement.  Did you chase this up with the venue or just assume "no vaccine no entry and my insurance will cover me"?

Sandtree

First of all is this an insurance policy or their optional extra "Refund Promise"?  The first is issued by Axa and gives you rights to complain to the Financial Ombudsman if you are unhappy whereas the second is not legally insurance, its done by Ticketmaster themselves and doesnt give FOS rights.

Either way, both cover explicit reasons for being unable to attend (sickness, vehicle breakdown, jury service etc) and so to have cover you'd need to see if unable to meet vacination requirements is in the list.

jon81uk

I expect you didn't have to be double vaccinated, you just have to present the NHS domestic covid pass, which can be obtained by reporting a negative lateral flow test and gives a pass valid for 48 hours.