Travel Insurance

Duranduran22

I am trying to claim on my travel insurance.  I missed my flight home from Crete because the ferry I was supposed to get from Gavdos was cancelled for 5 days after a freak accident.

They are refusing to pay because I didn't have a ticket for the ferry.  I have explained that as a foot passenger you cannot buy a ticket in advance ( I had tried to on the way out) nor can you buy a return ticket.  This makes no difference to them and seems very unfair.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do?  Is it worth taking it further?  If so who should I complain to?  I am claiming for over £600 which includes a flight, accommodation and a speed boat crossing which I eventually had to get as the ferry company kept putting back the date of the service resumption and I looked like missing my second flight.

Mark_d

You were not booked on a specific ferry so there is no evidence that taking the ferry was your intention.  In any case, following the freak incident with the ferry, why didn't you make alternative arrangements (such as speedboat) to get to Crete in time for your flight?  No doubt this is what a reasonable person would do if they'd have to pay for an alternative flight themselves.

It could be seen that you were trying to use the ferry incident as way of extending your holiday at the expense of the travel insurance company.

Duranduran22

Yes I understand that, but the fact remains that you can't book a ferry ticket as a walk on and we didn't know until the night before we were leaving what had happened.  We asked the accommodation if there was an alternative way to get back to Crete and he said he would ask about the possibility of a speedboat coming from Crete the next day but was told that the weather was too windy. They are even more affected by the weather than the ferries.

The freak accident was caused by a wave smashing the ferry against the port as it was docking.  We are not talking about Piraeus here!

DullGreyGuy

Do you have a link to the policy wording?

Ultimately both you and your insurers are bound by those terms which may state that all transport must be prebooked. If the ferry cannot be prebooked then it's not an insured peril and was potentially a bad choice of policy given the circumstances. 

NoodleDoodleMan

A very unfortunate set of circumstances, however, as said, when you make any insurance claim you need documentary evidence to support it.

Duranduran22

Yes, it is in the wording of the policy and I do understand why they won’t pay. 

I hadn’t thought about it really as I’ve never claimed on travel insurance before.  I suppose I naively thought they would believe me as I’d got a flight and accommodation booked and proof that the ferry didn’t go. It’s an Axa policy that is included with my Nationwide Bank account. 

It is, as you say, unfortunate. Still we had a lovely holiday so I’m not going to let this spoil it.  I can really  recommend both Crete and Gavdos!  😁