Travel Insurance won't cover Dubai Flooding Delays due to Operational Reasons

dazzyryan

Hi everyone,

I was one of the many passengers stranded in Dubai airport during the days following the flooding. Overall, my journey was delayed a total of 24 hours - after hearing other people's experiences, I realise I was one of the lucky ones with such a 'short' delay.

I have a travel insurance policy with Zurich through the Monzo Premium package. I have made a claim for the delays supplying a certificate from Emirates detailing the specifics of my delay. The certificate states that my 'Flight was delayed due to operational reasons'.

My claim with Zurich (via Qover) has been denied as they do not cover delays due to 'operational reasons'. I do note however, that they will cover delays due to 'Adverse weather conditions'. It is quite clear that the operational problems at Dubai Airport was a result of adverse weather conditions (i.e. flooding!) and is the root cause of my delays. How may I argue this common sense with my travel insurer? And if they refuse to cooperate, how should I escalate this issue?

Thanks for reading!

eskbanker

dazzyryan said:

I was one of the many passengers stranded in Dubai airport during the days following the flooding. Overall, my journey was delayed a total of 24 hours - after hearing other people's experiences, I realise I was one of the lucky ones with such a 'short' delay.

How long was it between the flooding and the scheduled departure date?

To be honest, I can see the argument that 'adverse weather conditions' would apply to flights directly affected by storms, ice, etc, but not to knock-on delays days later as a result of aircraft and crews being out of position and so on, so despite 'operational reasons' being a fairly meaningless expression, the fact that this is what the airline cited is likely to compromise your ability to claim a different cause.

However, no harm in trying - your insurer will have a published complaints policy and you'd then have the option of escalation to the Financial Ombudsman Service....

dazzyryan

eskbanker said:

dazzyryan said:

I was one of the many passengers stranded in Dubai airport during the days following the flooding. Overall, my journey was delayed a total of 24 hours - after hearing other people's experiences, I realise I was one of the lucky ones with such a 'short' delay.

How long was it between the flooding and the scheduled departure date?

To be honest, I can see the argument that 'adverse weather conditions' would apply to flights directly affected by storms, ice, etc, but not to knock-on delays days later as a result of aircraft and crews being out of position and so on, so despite 'operational reasons' being a fairly meaningless expression, the fact that this is what the airline cited is likely to compromise your ability to claim a different cause.

However, no harm in trying - your insurer will have a published complaints policy and you'd then have the option of escalation to the Financial Ombudsman Service....

According to wikipedia the flooding began on 16th April. My delayed flight was scheduled for 17th April but actually occured on 18th.

It looks like the insurer is taking advantage of this technicallity.

dazzyryan

I'm reaching out to the airline to see if the cause of delay can be elaborated on to discuss its relation to flooding. I'm doubtful that they will cooperate however. So far Emirates have been dragging their heels in responding to any queries - it took a full 30 days to receive the certificate of delay from the airline and even then it has lots of errors (incorrect dates, flight numbers etc).