Glasgow Airport Closure - Does Travel Insurance Cover This?

Vexillus

On 5 December, Glasgow Airport was closed for about six hours because of a security incident. I arrived at about 7am. Passengers were not allowed into the terminal and were evacuated to the car park. In the meantime, I was told that my flight to Berlin had taken off. I was checked in and had only hand baggage, but could not get to the gate because of the incident. I asked my airline to cancel my outgoing flight and requested a refund, as there were no further direct Glasgow-Berlin flights until later that week. In the meantime, I booked flights from Glasgow to London and then on to Berlin for the following day. I lost one night's accommodation in my hotel, as I had made a no-cancellation booking. I had taken out insurance with the airline, and already had additional travel insurance with the Post Office. Both the airline and the Post Office have told me that my insurance does not cover what happened. Is this correct? Did everyone who missed that Glasgow-Berlin flight because of the airport closure have to rebook at their own expense? And, for future reference, is there any type of travel insurance that covers incidents where it is impossible to get into the airport for a flight? Many thanks for any advice you may have. 

TELLIT01

I would ask both insurers for a written explanation for the reason the insurance doesn't cover it.  Until you have that there's not much you can do to dispute it.

eskbanker

Vexillus said:

Both the airline and the Post Office have told me that my insurance does not cover what happened. Is this correct?

You'd need to check the policy terms for each.

Vexillus said:

is there any type of travel insurance that covers incidents where it is impossible to get into the airport for a flight?

It's possible to buy missed flight insurance - I haven't researched it in any detail but would expect it to include cover for this sort of scenario....

DullGreyGuy

TELLIT01 said:

I would ask both insurers for a written explanation for the reason the insurance doesn't cover it.  Until you have that there's not much you can do to dispute it.

Mass market insurance works the other way around... its only covered if an insured peril/cause triggers it. Missed departure can be an insured event but it has to be for a reason listed in the policy. Looking at a random Aviva policy they cover:

• delay/cancellation of scheduled public transport or connecting flight
• RTC or breakdown of your vehicle

Missed departure to security incidents, long queues in the airport etc are not covered.