Annual Travel Insurance - claiming cancellation after expiry?

[cubegame]

Hello all. I've posted on a few forums to see if anyone has similar experiences to us or can offer any help.

 

My partner and I had a holiday to the USA booked (flight, car hire, kennels, parking and one night's hotel) from the 18th September.

 

We had an annual insurance policy which expired on the 13th August. I was intending to replace this with a more competitive policy. However, on the 12th August my partner sustained a serious sprain to her ankle and is still unable to walk.

 

With the injury in mind I phoned the insurer we were with to ask if we would be covered if we did renew. I was told that we would not be covered for an existing injury at the time of renewal and would have to find specific insurance elsewhere. At this time we were not really concerned about the forthcoming holiday as it was 5 weeks away and the A&E department advised she would be walking within 1 to 2 weeks. With that in mind, I bought another policy on the 17th August.

 

Unfortunately, now it is apparent that our holiday is under threat. She still has not been able to walk and is now in an aircast after being reassessed by an orthopedic consultant. She has been advised to elevate her leg at all time while not walking and hence could be declared medically unfit to travel as the flight would not be practical.

 

Obviously our new policy does not cover us for any cancellation but I was wondering if the old policy (now expired) would do. The terms seem to suggest otherwise but I wondered if anyone has some specific experience of a similar event.

[unclebulgaria67]

Would have thought the old policy would cover the cancellation, as the injury occured during the old policies contract period. If it is not covered, can you post the exact policy terms and conditions that are being used to disallow the claim.

 

The claim event is the date the injury is sustained, so as long as you have proof of visiting a GP or hospital on the 12th August, you should be ok. If she did not visit the GP or Hospital until after 12th August, she would not be covered.

[cubegame]

She did visit the A&E department of our local hospital on the 12th August and was seen then, so a record of this should exist.

 

I have attached the T&Cs of the policy in PDF form. It mentions under the heading "Cancellation" on page 3 that the outbound and inward travel have to take place during the policy duration.......

OUL_PW_170709.pdf

[unclebulgaria67]

I see. Yes I think you are correct. The Insurers will stick to the policy wording and they won't allow the claim.

 

If you need claim because you can't travel, I think you are going to have to make a complaint, using the Insurers complaints process and then pass your complaint to the FOS. The FOS could view the policy terms as being unfair, in that if you booked your trip before the renewal date and the injury occured just before the renewal date, you would only ever be covered, if you maintained Insurance with the same company.

 

In have just looked at the Direct Line policy and they appear to cover cancellation provided the reason for cancellation occurs before the renewal date. If you are going to go forward with a complaint, do a bit of research to see how other companies deal with this. The reason for doing this, is to evidence that the policy terms provided by OUL are unfair.

 

As a by the way. If you ever take out Insurance in the future, stay clear of companies that are registered in Gibraltar. I think Great Lakes who underwrite the policy are a US company, that is registered in Gibraltar for their UK business.

[cubegame]

Thanks for the comments. It's pretty much as I thought.

 

Going down the claiming and complaining route is quite a high risk strategy at the end of the day because by the time of resolution the costs of the holiday will be lost. Whereas we can move it for a not-unsubstantial but nevertheless affordable fee.......

 

I shall probably avoid buying this kind of insurance in the future and stick to single trip solutions.

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes I think you are wise to re-arrange the trip. If you complained the FOS could take a very long time to deal with any claim.

 

If you look for Insurance in the future, don't touch many of the companies that come up on the comparison sites. A cheap premium can only mean cheap cover. As you have found out, it is what the policy actually covers when you need to claim, that really matters.

[cubegame]

As an additional question....if I did rearrange I think I would likely incur costs of around £500 to £600 all in. Would it be worth claiming for this on the policy and then going down the complaint route? That way there would be nothing to lose......

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes you could give it a try. The difficulty is that you won't know whether your partners doctor will advise against travel until nearer the time. If you rearrange your trip before you got this advice in writing, it could be put down as disinclination to travel with a cast on the ankle/leg, rather then something medical. Disinclination to travel for any reason, would not be covered by any Insurance.

 

What I would suggest that you do is speak to the old Insurers customer relations team that handles claims complaints. Advise them of the situation and see what they say. This cannot be a situation that they have not encountered before. They must realise that the policy terms could be seen as unfair and that people will refer their claims compliants to the FOS.

 

The point is that if the medical situation would normally have been covered by the cancellation terms of the policy, the bit about the trips onward and return becomes a mute point. If the trip cannot take place due to something i.e accident or onset of illness that occured during the contract period, this must be covered. They cannot insert a term requiring the renewal of the policy as a necessity to enable the fulfillment of a contractural term, from a previous contract period.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

She did visit the A&E department of our local hospital on the 12th August and was seen then, so a record of this should exist.

 

I have attached the T&Cs of the policy in PDF form. It mentions under the heading "Cancellation" on page 3 that the outbound and inward travel have to take place during the policy duration.......

 

I think you may be misreading this. Cancellation cover finishes when you start your outbound journey. What you are referring to relates to the other sections.

 

But I think it is more likely to be an issue that cancellation did not take place during the policy period.

 

It's quite poorly worded as I cannot see how it treats people who have annual policies who book a holiday that overlaps two policy years - other than badly!

[unclebulgaria67]

Bernie

 

The way I was reading this, is that it is the date of the 'event' that is seen as the proximate cause that causes the cancellation, this is relevant here. The accident occured before the renewal date and if this accident causes the cancellation, then the policy should provide over.

 

I think the point you are making, is the need for cancellation might not occur until after the renewal date, at the point when the doctor declares that they are not fit to travel. This would be contrary to how Insurance normally works. It is the date of the 'proximate cause' that is relevant.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

I'm not sure we know that. I understand proximate cause. There appears to have been a deterioration in the injured party's condition. This could be something new in the "chain of events". I cannot even see that there has been medical advice to cancel yet.

 

The central point I am making is that if cancellation is necessary a claim should be made under this policy and that I think that if it is denied because outbound and return travel are not during the period of insurance then that is challengable.

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes agreed. It would help their cause if they had a doctors note confirming that the original injury was the reason for the advice not to travel and not a deterioration to the original injury. This would be good to get, if they had to cancel the trip, but this is all just theory as the doctor may say that they are fit to travel.

 

I can see the Insurers arguing the toss if a claim is made and they might have to go the distance including referral to the FOS if necessary. Some Insurers will pay out to avoid the FOS, due to the case fee they have to pay.