Travel Insurance - journey from home to the airport is covered

skray

Hi

I wish to know for overseas travel insurance, if the journey from home to the airport is typically covered.

The scenario is my flight is due to depart from London in the afternoon, and I will be travelling by first train in the morning from Leeds to London. There is in excess of 4 hours available to reach from London to Stansted which is more than sufficient if my train arrives in time.
But if I fail to reach airport in time because of train cancellation of delay if I will be reimbursed the cost of air fare.

In essence I am asking does my journey for insurance purposes commence when I leave home, or when I reach reach airport. There is no overnight stay in London.

I understand I should read the small print of the policy document - but for a guideline typically is outward journey from home to airport covered?

(In fact my employers provide insurance cover for private travel insurance as well - I do not have the detailed policy document at hand)

Thanks in advance.

Regards

TELLIT01

Many policies will cover that element but you need to check the specific policy wording.  You would probably be required to have proof of intended travel by train.  That would mean purchasing tickets in advance, and leaving plenty of slack in the travel schedule.  

Voyager2002

As already said, the specific wording makes all the difference. My father was caught out by this once: his insurance covered him against failure of his pre-booked transport to the airport. While his train (from Bristol) had been booked, he left calling the taxi company until the morning of his departure. Snow meant that the taxi could not get up the hill to his house; he and his partner therefore could not get to the railway station and so missed their flight to Malaysia; and since the taxi had not been pre-booked the insurance company declined the claim.

DullGreyGuy

Yes, it is typically covered with the normal caveats of it being pre-booked, you not having foreknowledge of problems etc. 

All policies however are governed by their terms and given the race to the bottom with customers valuing nothing more than price inevitably companies make terms tighter to reduce costs and become cheaper.

peb

I discovered some "silver" level policies did when the" bronze" ones didn't.  So yes, check carefully 

skray

I checked some random insurance policies doing google search - this element is typically called Missed Departure, however no longer applies to my case as I have changed my train ticket to travel to London the day before - hoping travelling to Stansted from Liverpool would not be an issue.

eskbanker

skray said:

I checked some random insurance policies doing google search - this element is typically called Missed Departure, however no longer applies to my case as I have changed my train ticket to travel to London the day before - hoping travelling to Stansted from Liverpool would not be an issue.

Travelling to Stansted from Liverpool would be more likely to disruption than travelling from Liverpool Street....

400ixl

If you are going as far as London the day before and staying over, then you may as well really go as far as the airport. There is a hotel on site (walkable to the departure terminal) or some within a short taxi or shuttle ride.

CKhalvashi

eskbanker said:

skray said:

I checked some random insurance policies doing google search - this element is typically called Missed Departure, however no longer applies to my case as I have changed my train ticket to travel to London the day before - hoping travelling to Stansted from Liverpool would not be an issue.

Travelling to Stansted from Liverpool would be more likely to disruption than travelling from Liverpool Street....

Interesting story on that one.

Met with a friend who came into Stansted on the flight I'd come in on the day before (from Yerevan via Vienna, self-connecting, same flight from Yerevan) and we went for breakfast on his way back to Liverpool.

He ended up with a delay that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone for the breakfast and ended up with a free train ticket to Liverpool.

Liverpool Street has very regular trains though, including a few per hour via either Bishop's Stortford or Harlow and it's generally a service that's very well run. If there are problems it's easy enough to jump on the 508/9/10 bus at Harlow and still make a connection as they run every 10 minutes.

The eventuality of trains would generally be included in missed departure cover in any event.

skray

400ixl said:

If you are going as far as London the day before and staying over, then you may as well really go as far as the airport. There is a hotel on site (walkable to the departure terminal) or some within a short taxi or shuttle ride.

I am putting up in Travelodge Romford and taking Stansted Express next morning. There is no travelodge close to Stansted. There is Hilton and Radisson at walking distance from airport but expensive. I now checked booking com now - there are quite a few good options close to the airport it seems, but I will be arriving late.