Travel Insurance through an RBS packaged bank account

Kn76

Recently my husband and I were looking forward to a special trip to Thailand to celebrate my 50th birthday.  My husband was working offshore and should have been home 5 days before our flight.  Due to adverse weather conditions all helicopter flights were cancelled and he didn't arrive home until the day after our flight.  Our only option was to cancel our whole holiday as we were advised that if he didn't turn up for the outward bound flight then his return flight would automatically be cancelled and to be honest I didn't want to travel to Thailand on my own anyway.

We have always thought we were covered for everything by our travel insurance that we've had for years and years through our RBS Platinum account and we submitted a claim, including a letter from his employer confirming that there hadn't been any flights for 5 days.  We have since had our claim rejected by Allianz because our reason for cancelling does not meet their criteria and therefore we will not get any financial compensation from them.  To say we are gutted is an understatement, bad enough to miss out on our special holiday but to have also lost our money is a kick in the teeth.  

I had paid our holiday deposit on my credit card so we may be able to try and claim that back but the rest I was paying throughout the year in instalments via my debit card.

What is the point in these packaged bank accounts?  We have been paying for it all these years, never claimed for anything but always thought we could if we needed to.

silvercar

Getting to the starting point is rarely covered. I think, if anything, the claim would be on the travel insurance that covered the helicopter flight that was delayed by 5 days as that was the cause of the problem. Though I accept that work insurance may not cover such events.

Isthisforreal99

As with all insurance policies the devil will be in the detail. What specific policy wording did they reject on?

No point in trying to claim on credit card as there has been no breach of contract by the holiday provider.

Ayr_Rage

A standalone or annual insurance policy would not be treating the circumstances any differently to your policy via your RBS account.

You would normally be covered for any failures in transportation when leaving from your home address at the commencement of your trip.

Failing to get home on time from work is not an event covered by travel insurance.

As above, seeing as all the elements of the holiday were still available then you have no claim against any card provider.

MyRealNameToo

Kn76 said:

Recently my husband and I were looking forward to a special trip to Thailand to celebrate my 50th birthday.  My husband was working offshore and should have been home 5 days before our flight.  Due to adverse weather conditions all helicopter flights were cancelled and he didn't arrive home until the day after our flight.  Our only option was to cancel our whole holiday as we were advised that if he didn't turn up for the outward bound flight then his return flight would automatically be cancelled and to be honest I didn't want to travel to Thailand on my own anyway.

We have always thought we were covered for everything by our travel insurance that we've had for years and years through our RBS Platinum account and we submitted a claim, including a letter from his employer confirming that there hadn't been any flights for 5 days.  We have since had our claim rejected by Allianz because our reason for cancelling does not meet their criteria and therefore we will not get any financial compensation from them.  To say we are gutted is an understatement, bad enough to miss out on our special holiday but to have also lost our money is a kick in the teeth.  

I had paid our holiday deposit on my credit card so we may be able to try and claim that back but the rest I was paying throughout the year in instalments via my debit card.

What is the point in these packaged bank accounts?  We have been paying for it all these years, never claimed for anything but always thought we could if we needed to.

S75 only covers you for breach of contract so unless you can show what the holiday company did wrong there is no claim on the credit card. Assuming it's a package holiday that could add extra issues. 

Most insurance is written on an insured perils basis, ie it will only cover your loss if it was caused by certain defined criteria and provides no cover if the cause is something else. 

silvercar said:

Getting to the starting point is rarely covered. I think, if anything, the claim would be on the travel insurance that covered the helicopter flight that was delayed by 5 days as that was the cause of the problem. Though I accept that work insurance may not cover such events.

Getting to the start point is a normal coverage on almost all travel policies however it is typically limited to the cancellation of public transport (eg all trains cancelled due to broken track) or you being involved in an RTA. There will normally be a secondary requirement that you left with appropriate time so if a single train is cancelled and they run every 5 minutes you may still have the claim declined as a 5 minute delay shouldn't be the difference between making and not making your flight. 

The problem the OP will have is that a helicopter isnt public transport. 

To the OP - on the day of the flights when it became clear they weren't going to be able to get back in time what did you do? Did you speak to your travel agent, airline or tour operator? At times these folks can be surprisingly understanding and may move dates etc. Still may result in you losing a day or such but thats much better than losing the whole holiday. 

sheramber

Could you have paid for new flights rather than losing the cost of the holiday? 

eskbanker

Kn76 said:

Our only option was to cancel our whole holiday as we were advised that if he didn't turn up for the outward bound flight then his return flight would automatically be cancelled and to be honest I didn't want to travel to Thailand on my own anyway.

Was the holiday booked as a package, or did you buy flights and accommodation from separate providers yourselves?  It is true that no-shows on first flights will normally have subsequent legs cancelled by the airline, but there may have been scope to negotiate in exceptional circumstances, and if it was a package deal then the provider should have offered some sort of assistance to change plans rather than simply cancelling them, e.g. taking later outbound flights (at an additional cost of course) but continuing with the rest of the trip as planned, although if you were convinced that cancellation was the only option, in the mistaken belief that you were covered by travel insurance, then I can see why this conversation perhaps didn't happen.

MyRealNameToo

sheramber said:

Could you have paid for new flights rather than losing the cost of the holiday? 

It depends on a lot of factors... if everything was independent bookings then yes, if it was a return flight and an independent hotel then the return leg would typically be canceled by the no show on the outward leg but sometimes things can be done. Hotel and/or tour operator may cancel the whole booking if you are a no show but again if you tell the hotel you will miss the first night but be there for the second on most won't and some may even move the booking. 

We "missed" a flight when the Mrs managed to forget her passport having last minute changed which handbag she was taking. I was very surprised that VS' call centre allowed us to simply move our flight at no cost, it was an airmiles booking so fairly flexible but it was more or less the time of takeoff by the time I spoke to them so its not as if they could have resold the seat. 

Proactive communication is the main thing though. Making assumptions can be dangerous. Remember years ago some paper was offering cheap day returns to France but nothing on longer trips so people bought two, one for their way out which they didnt use the return on and then another at the end of the holiday where they intended only to use the return leg. When they got to the ferry terminal they found out their return had been cancelled as they were a no show in the morning for the boat over to France. 

Kn76

eskbanker said:

Kn76 said:

Our only option was to cancel our whole holiday as we were advised that if he didn't turn up for the outward bound flight then his return flight would automatically be cancelled and to be honest I didn't want to travel to Thailand on my own anyway.

Was the holiday booked as a package, or did you buy flights and accommodation from separate providers yourselves?  It is true that no-shows on first flights will normally have subsequent legs cancelled by the airline, but there may have been scope to negotiate in exceptional circumstances, and if it was a package deal then the provider should have offered some sort of assistance to change plans rather than simply cancelling them, e.g. taking later outbound flights (at an additional cost of course) but continuing with the rest of the trip as planned, although if you were convinced that cancellation was the only option, in the mistaken belief that you were covered by travel insurance, then I can see why this conversation perhaps didn't happen.

It was a package holiday and I was advised that only thing we could do was to cancel everything and claim on travel insurance.  Or in hindsight I could have travelled alone and my husband paid an extra flight and joined later but we had no idea when he was going to get home and therefore I didn't want to be in Thailand on my own.

eskbanker

Kn76 said:

eskbanker said:

Kn76 said:

Our only option was to cancel our whole holiday as we were advised that if he didn't turn up for the outward bound flight then his return flight would automatically be cancelled and to be honest I didn't want to travel to Thailand on my own anyway.

Was the holiday booked as a package, or did you buy flights and accommodation from separate providers yourselves?  It is true that no-shows on first flights will normally have subsequent legs cancelled by the airline, but there may have been scope to negotiate in exceptional circumstances, and if it was a package deal then the provider should have offered some sort of assistance to change plans rather than simply cancelling them, e.g. taking later outbound flights (at an additional cost of course) but continuing with the rest of the trip as planned, although if you were convinced that cancellation was the only option, in the mistaken belief that you were covered by travel insurance, then I can see why this conversation perhaps didn't happen.

It was a package holiday and I was advised that only thing we could do was to cancel everything and claim on travel insurance.  Or in hindsight I could have travelled alone and my husband paid an extra flight and joined later but we had no idea when he was going to get home and therefore I didn't want to be in Thailand on my own.

You might be able to construct a case against the package provider if, for example, you'd made it clear that you'd have preferred to adjust dates rather than cancel and they refused to countenance any amendment, but it would be something of a long shot.