Travel Insurance May Not Cover Airport Strikes
With the summer season coming up, UK holidaymakers have been advised to carefully check the terms and conditions of their travel insurance policies to avoid being left out of pocket in case they are hit by strikes by airline staff.
The strikes could lead to many holidaymakers being stranded at airports or having to pay extra for hotels. The situation could be compounded by the fact that they then might not be able to claim for it under their travel insurance.
The UK’s biggest airline, British Airways, is facing a major strike by staff after it was reported it could shed up to 4,000 jobs. Because the mere possibility of a strike by staff has already been reported in the national press, some insurers have indicated that they will not pay out for cancelled holidays affected by the strike(s) since they were a “known event”. For instance, one of the UK’s biggest online insurers, Swiftcover, has stated that it would not cover anyone taking out insurance for a holiday with British Airways from now on since the threat of a strike by staff has already been reported.
While most travel insurance policies cover unexpected cancellations and flight delays, some do not cover industrial action, such as a strike by staff. Those policies that do cover industrial action first have to meet certain criteria, such as the date the policy was taken out or the type of strike, for a payout to be sanctioned by the insurer.
The cover provided by one travel insurance policy compared to another can be substantially different. It can therefore be difficult for consumers to understand what they are covered for, and perhaps most importantly, what they’re not covered for. This is why it is important for consumers to carefully check the policy details, particularly the small print, when obtaining travel insurance.
This approach by insurers to dealing with travel insurance claims may appear unfair to most consumers. However, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has indicated that it is likely to uphold any complaints from consumers in such cases, but, as suggested above, has warned consumers to read the terms of policies carefully. Over the past year the FOS received almost 2,000 complaints about travel insurance – a rise of 21% on the previous year. It noted that many of the complaints it received involved interpretation of small print in policies.
