Delay or Cancellation?

Bradburts

I bought a TravelTime insurance, the policy schedule said Cancellation: £2000 and Delay: £750. We intended a fly drive holiday and so thought some delay insurance wise. I thought that I was covered for £750 if there was a delay. The EasyJet flight was cancelled 30 minutes before departure because of 'crew issues'. EasyJet booked & paid for a replacement flight completed 27 hours latter. EasyJet have compensated us for our overnight Gatwick hotel and food. A very simple, quick and painless process. We had additional expenses and losses. We were doing a fly drive and so missed some hotels. We also had to book another hotel on landing as we arrived late and so could not reach our day 2 hotel. EasyJet will not pay for compensation once we reach 'destination'. I suppose 'destination' is a fluid concept when on a fly drive. We did not claim from EasyJet for the lost and additional oversea accommodation but instead claimed from TT. TravelTime refused our claim under Section C (of the policy document small print) Travel Delay of the policy 'If your or a travelling companion’s trip is delayed for one of the covered reasons listed below'. TT refused as they say reason 1 says '1. A travel carrier delay (this does not include a travel carrier’s cancellation prior to your departure date).' TT underlined the part contained within () i.e. invoke the qualification of departure date. Where do I stand? (1) I would say that the flight cancellation was announced on the day of (intended) departure. If TT mean actual final departure date then it seems strange to penalise those travelling a few hours before midnight and even stranger to refuse a claim based on delay because of the length of that delay? (2) I would also say that the small print contract conditions are unfair. The headline is 'Delay £750'. We were delayed! I find it hard to see how TravelTime will cover any delay. Any thoughts welcome!

eskbanker

Bradburts said:

I would say that the flight cancellation was announced on the day of (intended) departure. If TT mean actual final departure date then it seems strange to penalise those travelling a few hours before midnight and even stranger to refuse a claim based on delay because of the length of that delay?

If the Ts & Cs being referred to are those at https://www.traveltimeinsurance.co.uk/productdocuments/TravelTime Allianz V2.pdf then 'departure date' is a defined term, i.e. "the date on which you are originally scheduled to begin your travel, as shown on your travel itinerary" (page 7), so I'd agree that this isn't intended to exclude cancellations on the day.

Bradburts

Thanks. Yes, this does appear to be the T&Cs document and defines 'departure date' as you say. I am therefore covered using the plain reading of Covered Reason 1 'A travel carrier delay'. The exclusion contained in () simply does not apply. I have complained to TravelTime and must wait 8 weeks for their reply.
Our plane arrived late and we were unable to get to our destination hotel. The holiday was a fly drive and the hotel on that day was 150 miles away. Instead we booked a room close to the airport. I would say that we were still delayed until we caught up with the fly drive which we did the day after and can claim for the airport hotel. I cannot find anything for or against this view however. Any thoughts?

eskbanker

I'm not convinced that the extra night's hotel at your destination is reimbursable under the terms of section C though - it does cover additional expenses incurred 'while and where you are delayed' (for accommodation, etc), so they might argue that expenses incurred later on aren't in scope, even though caused by the delayed departure?

Bradburts

Thanks. "they might argue", I think we can be pretty sure that they will given how TravelTime have behaved so far! 
"I'm not convinced that the extra night's hotel at your destination" - I suppose it depends where you believe the "destination" is. We have "Trip" insurance, not "Flight" insurance. In my mind the "destination" is not the airport but the hotel 150 miles away. It was too late to take public transport and a taxi would have cost more than the airport B&B. So we were still delayed until we were able to re-join at our itinerary's next stop, 150 miles away. Using this argument I could even claim for overnight food and the food next day until we reached our hotel. I have not but if they keep messing me around... 
It is helpful to talk this points through though!

eskbanker

Bradburts said:

"I'm not convinced that the extra night's hotel at your destination" - I suppose it depends where you believe the "destination" is. We have "Trip" insurance, not "Flight" insurance. In my mind the "destination" is not the airport but the hotel 150 miles away. It was too late to take public transport and a taxi would have cost more than the airport B&B. So we were still delayed until we were able to re-join at our itinerary's next stop, 150 miles away. Using this argument I could even claim for overnight food and the food next day until we reached our hotel. I have not but if they keep messing me around... 

Just to clarify, I wasn't using the word 'destination' in as literal a sense as you are, so perhaps should have said that "I'm not convinced that the extra night's hotel at your destination somewhere other than where the delay occurred is reimbursable under the terms of section C", as the point I was making related to the insurer's carefully-worded specification of relevant costs incurred 'while and where you are delayed'.

If your outward flight was delayed by 27 hours then I'd have thought the obvious interpretation is that there can be reimbursement of qualifying costs between scheduled and actual time of departure, rather than others later on, but that's not to say that an argument that it extends further may not work - however, to take things to their logical conclusion, you could have been a day behind schedule throughout your trip, but expecting them to stump up for all accommodation would be optimistic!

Just to check, I take it this wasn't a package booking, but flights, accommodation and car hire all booked separately?

Bradburts

Thanks. This was not a package booking, instead a private self organised trip. I understand that if a package booking then I would have additional rights.
Please accept that whilst I want my costs reimbursed then failing I would want the clever TravelTime contract T&Cs properly explained, to show clearly what TravelTime actually promise and especially if very little. I note that TravelTime and IMG are connected.
In that spirit I will continue.
We can look at T&Cs (which most of us do not) and/or we can look at likely scenarios. The likely scenario is that the plane gets delayed. On a fly drive that means that we loose pre-bookings and then must pay for additional accommodation whilst we 'catch up'.
Another way to think about this is the scenario of a flight then a train/bus then a ferry to some glorious paradise. Suppose the plane is delayed, the train does not run at night, the ferry every other day. One buying 'Travel Delay' insurance might assume that they are still 'while and where you are delayed' until arriving at paradise.
If not then I will happily publish the correction; TravelTime insurance - useless for Fly Drives etc. The first step is for TravelTime to tell me that. Next I can repeat.
I believe that 'while and where you are delayed' includes all points until I reach my itinerary accommodation.
I think that a very reasonable interpretation, "destination" is "paradise", not an airport lounge
Thanks you for all your help, it is useful to discuss, to work through possible objections before they happen.

eskbanker

Bradburts said:

We can look at T&Cs (which most of us do not) and/or we can look at likely scenarios. The likely scenario is that the plane gets delayed. On a fly drive that means that we loose pre-bookings and then must pay for additional accommodation whilst we 'catch up'.

Personally I think it would be prudent to focus on the Ts & Cs rather than approaching this from the perspective of what sort of cover you'd like to have (or think you bought) for your particular type of holiday.  In other words, despite your protestation that "We have "Trip" insurance, not "Flight" insurance", what you actually have is a generic policy that covers exactly the scenarios defined in the documentation, no more and no less - clearly these aren't entirely unambiguous so there may be room for some debate about interpretation, so it'll be interesting to see what they come back with!

bagand96

Just to check, sorry if I've missed it, you state easyJet have compensated you for overnight accommodation and food at Gatwick... have you also claimed the fixed cancellation compensation under EC261? This should be payable if the flight was cancelled for crewing reasons. 

Bradburts

"compensation under EC261" - Thanks, I will look into that. The compensation does not cover anything after the flight though. The EasyJet website said that when I claimed for Gatwick hotel.

Bradburts

@eskbanker
I agree, T&Cs certainly are an enabler. If the T&Cs are explicit, as they are regarding reason 1 and lost hotels, then that makes life simpler (although TravelTime still throw up barriers). My point with likely scenarios is one of my expectations at point of purchase and if so to the extent that UTCA 1977 might apply? I will certainly update all on the outcome when it finally happens!