Travel Insurance with cancelled flights

ChristyTh

Hi,  am interested to get opinions on a current issue with my travel insurance, if anyone has faced similar.  I have travel insurance booked to cover a coming vacation, which was due to start on Sunday 30th July.  BA has cancelled my flights,  rebooking me to 5 days later, Friday 4th August.  This means I've missed the first 5 days of holiday, including 5 nights accomodation which i'd booked and is now within a 14 day window so i cant cancel and have been charged for.  I spoke to my insurance provider (Cover4U/Axa), about recouping the cost of the 5 nights accomodation, they tell me that in the small print, cover does not start until i begin the trip, and as the flights were cancelled before the trip started, i am not covered and they will not pay for the lost accomodation:
"Cover in case you need to cancel your trip starts from the day you purchase a policy. The remaining cover starts when you start your trip and ends when you return to your home.". 
Seems a very biased reading of the small print, and suggests that unless a trip is entirely cancelled, you are not covered....  which is the major point of insurance in my mind..

Has anyone else had experience of this?

Many thanks

DullGreyGuy

Did you buy the fights and accommodation together or separately? 

Have you spoken to the accommodation? You'll need to anyway as if you are a no show on day 1 they'd normally cancel the whole booking but sometimes companies can be more forgiving than their terms require them to be.

If BA would move the return leg 5 days back to keep the same duration would you be interested in that?
Have you looked for other flights that maintain your travel dates?

Westin

Have you looked for other outbound flight options?   
Where are you going and from which airport?

ChristyTh

DullGreyGuy said:

Did you buy the fights and accommodation together or separately? 

Have you spoken to the accommodation? You'll need to anyway as if you are a no show on day 1 they'd normally cancel the whole booking but sometimes companies can be more forgiving than their terms require them to be.

If BA would move the return leg 5 days back to keep the same duration would you be interested in that?
Have you looked for other flights that maintain your travel dates?

Trying with the hotel. The issue I have is with the rather onerous terms of the insurance 

bagand96

Might be a bit late now as it seems you're committed to the replacement flight with BA.

As @Westin says did you look at other outbound flights, even on other airlines/airports?  You could have declined BA's unsuitable rebooking and arranged your own, and claimed that cost back from BA.