UK Travel insurance with Missed Event cover?

db_york

I'm going to London for a few days to take in some shows. I'll be booking trains and hotels. 

Is there some insurance out there that would let me reclaim all of these expenses in the event of becoming ill, jury service etc?

Most travel insurance I've looked at doesn't seem to cover pre-booked events; and missed event insurance is very expensive and only available at time of booking.

I've had to cancel similar trips before because of illness, and ended up losing out on hotel costs and selling theatre tickets for a fraction of what I paid. 

At risk of sidetracking the replies: isn't it odd that missed event insurance isn't available as a standalone thing, like rental car excess insurance?  Rental companies push that as part of their deals, but it's usually far cheaper to buy it separately. Similarly, missed event insurance is pushed by Ticketmaster etc at very high prices, but there's no option to buy it elsewhere. 

DullGreyGuy

Some cover "prepaid excersions" (eg Staysure) for which a theatre booking may fall under the definition of.

As to the sidetrack, Its the same as anything, someone has to have the business idea that it could fly and know how to attract customers cheaply enough that you can make a profit from the commission the insurer gives you (most of these ancillary products are sold by intermediaries not direct insurers). Maybe no one has come up with an idea of how you find people that are going to be buying theatre tickets at the right price? Maybe someone has and they failed?

There are hundreds of failed small intermediaries that most people never got to know of... knew one setup to be a one stop shop for all landlord who have a portfolio of 1-5 properties so they didn't need a letting agent. They were offering various insurances, tenant vetting, rent collection, contracts, maintenance packages, listings on Right Move etc... it was sold at least three times, the middle time for £1. Looking at the domain now, it's now owned by a letting agent!

Maybe ticket agents can get better rates as they can facilitate the resale of the ticket for claims notified in advance thus reducing the insurers losses and either reducing rates or increasing profit shares

db_york

From Staysure: "unfortunately we do not cover for any theatre, football or concert tickets"

This can't be such an unusual requirement surely?

user1977

I suspect one concern is that it may be open to fraud - you can prove you were ill, but how do you prove nobody used your tickets?

DullGreyGuy

user1977 said:

I suspect one concern is that it may be open to fraud - you can prove you were ill, but how do you prove nobody used your ticket?

how do you prove someone didnt use your excursion tickets and yet they are covered?

user1977

DullGreyGuy said:

user1977 said:

I suspect one concern is that it may be open to fraud - you can prove you were ill, but how do you prove nobody used your ticket?

how do you prove someone didnt use your excursion tickets and yet they are covered?

Because they're more likely to be tied in to a specific traveller, and have less of a market for being sold on than e.g. tickets to a concert?

Also I suspect there's a limit to how much people would be prepared (if anything) to pay for such insurance on top of an event ticket, whereas it's more of an expected supplement when booking a holiday.

Just some poorly-educated guesswork on my part though!

longwayfromkansas

You could try and see if an event insurance company like www.ventoinsurance.com would do specific event insurance?