[hi_flier]

Hi everyone.

Struggling to get a clear answer from my travel insurance and wondering whether anyone here has had similar experiences.

Context: Was due to fly to the US next week on BA but can’t due to current UK FCO and US government COVID policies. I am on a non-refundable ticket so the only options I have are (1) accept future travel voucher from BA (2) cancel and claim on insurance (eligible for a claim as flights booked in 2019 pre-COVID).

Problem: My two travel insurances (both underwritten by AXA) have introduced a policy (outside of formal T&C’s) that suggests if you are offered a future travel voucher then you can’t claim on insurance. I understand you can’t do both. What I’d like to do is cancel the booking and claim on insurance but my worry is that if I do that the insurer could claim that an alternative reimbursement was made available.

I have tried multiple times to get clarification on this but they are being quite vague and evasive suggesting it “will be reviewed as part of the claims process”. Clearly I don’t want to lose any money so may default to travel voucher but just wanted to sense-check with the BT community whether anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks!

[nevereconomy]

With plenty of time on my hands, I did trawl through the AXA FAQs – they have them in a few different locations and it very much looks as though they would not pay if you had the option of a cash alternative (i.e. voucher). I think it would be quite a risk to cancel and then try it through claims – given their potential liabilities currently, I feel they would not be very flexible. If you will be travelling again in the foreseeable future. the voucher may be the safest option, but of course that has to be your decision.

[hi_flier]

Thanks nevereconomy – that’s the conclusion I’ve come to as well.

As the travel voucher is valid until April 2022 it’s highly likely I’ll be able to use it. It obviously means I’m tied to BA but that’s not such a big issue.

Appreciate you taking the time to look into this.

[FormerBA]

The vagueness is deliberate as it forces you to accept the voucher which in turn lets the insurer off the hook. Insurance is there to ensure you are not disadvantaged by an insured event.
The FCO says don’t travel and you should not therefore you should get your money back in cash!
A voucher while have a similar monetary value does not provide you with a flight from A-B as the terms and conditions state you must pay any fare difference. This means you may be disadvantaged. The voucher is also basically a loan to BA.
Claim under your insurance and if denied take to ombudsman. I assume BA have not yet cancelled

[hi_flier]

Thanks FormerBA. I ended up taking the voucher as (1) I didn’t really want the hassle of pursuing the insurance company and (2) I will hopefully be able to get across to the US next year.

In some ways I was unlucky with my flight choices. Despite the JFK route running considerably fewer flights each day (only 2 at the moment vs usual ~6-8), it’s just so happened that both outbound and return flights I chose were the ones they kept running!

It is what it is and all things considered I’ve done ok this year considering the amount of trips I’ve had to cancel. This is the only one I’ve not been able to get a cash refund for.

Here’s hoping for a better 2021 in terms of travel!

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1014233]Claim under your insurance and if denied take to ombudsman[/quote]

Dealing with the Ombudsman, will make Ryan refund department look very timely and efficient…

[Author]

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