The ash may have gone – but there’s still a cloud hanging around!
Posted by Jacqui | Posted in travel news | Posted on 30-04-2010-05-2008
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The cloud I refer to is not however left over ash from the volcano, rather it’s the ‘cloud’ hanging over travelers who are not being compensated properly! AA Insurance has now done an about face on it’s promise to compensate passengers who bought their travel insurance through them. Blaming their underwriters AA Insurance says that as passengers were not covered for such things as volcanic eruptions they have no obligation to pay compensation.
How about that, insured but not insured it seems, people who trusted the AA to provide their travel insurance must feel doubly betrayed, especially if they were one of the many who found their airline less than helpful!
We always recommend that people buy good travel insurance, now it seems we have to qualify that further and say, check out the ‘Act of God’ clause and check that volcanic eruptions are also covered!!
Flybe are now offering a stand alone insurance to cover volcanic ash, available on bookings made between April 28 and May 10 for travel up to October 30. The cost of the insurance is 6.99 Sterling per return flights and will cover expenses like hotels and car hire if you have to cancel these due to volcanic ash. Perhaps customers should start to vote with their wallets and try and affect what cover is given by insurance companies?
One thing is certain, this event has shown precisely why you need GOOD Travel Insurance, check all details and take with you any telephone numbers or contact details that you may need in order to make a claim. In the UK if you can’t get any satisfaction it’s always worth reporting insurance companies to the Ombudsman and/or local Trading Standards offices.
If you still get nowhere, try organizing other customers into a pressure group, persistence is usually the best policy because in the end insurance companies don’t want the bad publicity!