CXL'd Air Canada flight due to Covid, Rec'd voucher from AC, Trvl Insurance won't pay out

Shropshiretom

We were due to attend a wedding in Calgary last month but the bride and groom - our hosts,  developed Covid and cancelled the reception 5 days beforehand.  We had notification from them late on the Friday night.  We were due to fly the following Tuesday morning.  Our travel insurance company, Avanti (Staysure) was closed on Saturday/Sunday and their claim line didn't accept incoming calls..  Air Canada, with whom we had booked tickets, told us we had three options.  Be a no-show and forfeit the value of the airline tickets, accept Aeroplan points or option 3 was to accept a voucher for future travel.  I just wanted my money back but I wasn't prepared to lose my £1338 completely so I accepted the credit voucher.  I sent a recorded letter to Avanti Insurance as soon as the post office opened on the Monday morning explaining that I had been forced into accepting the voucher when I really just wanted my money back.  I quoted the terms of my travel insurance which state that if the person with whom you have arranged to stay develops COVID , they will reimburse you for travel expenses.  Yesterday, 6 weeks later, Avanti has emailed me to say they have declined my claim because Air Canada have issued me with a credit voucher.  The bride and groom have since had a civil ceremony as they needed to be wed in order to take up residence in the USA for work.  A future reception in Canada is unlikely.  Are Avanti Travel Insurance right in their refusal to refund me the cost of the airline tickets?

tightauldgit

You accepted the voucher, so you haven't lost anything. You can't get your money back AND a travel voucher. Seems like the insurance company are in the right here, yes. 

Insurance is there to make good your losses, you haven't lost anything as you have the voucher to use to book flights in future

eskbanker

Not sure why AC offered you anything to be honest, unless the fares were flexible, but by accepting the voucher that does effectively invalidate an insurance claim....

Alan_Bowen

I am sorry to say you should have refused the voucher, then you would have had a loss to claim. I am surprised the policy covered a scenario where the person travelling was not the one with Covid, sounds like a good policy which won't have been cheap so I am sorry for your loss.  A week in Vancouver for a holiday in the future should make things slightly less painful

bagand96

Sorry I agree with the above. You accepted the voucher. You were not forced into it, you could have no-showed which may have meant your travel insurance claim would be valid.

If the the insurance payed out now you'd be left with a refund from your insurer and a £1338 voucher for Air Canada... 

Shropshiretom

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.  It seems I should have refused the voucher and been a no show.  I probably would have done that had I been able to speak with my insurance company and ask their advice.  However they weren't accepting incoming calls.

CKhalvashi

Shropshiretom said:

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.  It seems I should have refused the voucher and been a no show.  I probably would have done that had I been able to speak with my insurance company and ask their advice.  However they weren't accepting incoming calls.

Important to note that even then they may not have paid out as you have a duty to mitigate your losses. How Staysure would take that I don't know.

Presumably the wedding will still be going ahead, so you have a voucher for flights for the replacement dates. I'd therefore agree you are not out of pocket on this basis.

eskbanker

CKhalvashi said:
Presumably the wedding will still be going ahead, so you have a voucher for flights for the replacement dates. I'd therefore agree you are not out of pocket on this basis.

Covered in OP:

Shropshiretom said:

The bride and groom have since had a civil ceremony as they needed to be wed in order to take up residence in the USA for work.  A future reception in Canada is unlikely.

CKhalvashi

eskbanker said:

CKhalvashi said:
Presumably the wedding will still be going ahead, so you have a voucher for flights for the replacement dates. I'd therefore agree you are not out of pocket on this basis.

Covered in OP:

Shropshiretom said:

The bride and groom have since had a civil ceremony as they needed to be wed in order to take up residence in the USA for work.  A future reception in Canada is unlikely.

Thanks, I need to stop posting before the 2nd coffee in the morning

AC also operate through flights to the US and many other destinations, so this can also be an option in the future with the voucher. All is not lost.

NoodleDoodleMan

Shropshiretom said:

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.  It seems I should have refused the voucher and been a no show.  I probably would have done that had I been able to speak with my insurance company and ask their advice.  However they weren't accepting incoming calls.

I'm not clear as to why a no show would have helped you ?

Somebody can clarify please.

Shropshiretom

If I had been a no show then I would have lost the value of my ticket but because I called AC in advance of the flight and told them of my situation, they offered me 2 further alternatives.  I could have the value of the flight in Aeroplan points or I could have a credit voucher, also for the value of the flights, or I could choose to be a no show and receive nothing.  Avanti has explained that had I chosen to be a no show and forfeit the cost of the tickets, - they might have considered my claim for compensation, ie a refund!  But they felt AC had already compensated me with the credit voucher.  And yes I can use the AC voucher to fly to many places in the world but I shall have to route through Canada to get those places.