Insurers Refuse to Splash Cash After Ash

Now that recriminations are starting over whether the week-long shutdown of European skies because of the volcanic ash cloud was actually necessary, previously stranded passengers are arriving home and finding that their insurers are unwilling to pay compensation.

In a week that famously saw Ryanair claim that the airline would only reimburse the cost of the flight ticket (which can be as little as €4) and then reverse its position a day later, the chaos that enveloped European travel was astonishing.

Most travellers were well looked after during their enforced exiles abroad and the tour operators and airlines received much praise from their passengers, although, for example, EasyJet’s announcement that only scanned documents will be acceptable as evidence for claims caused some misgivings. On the plus side, the airline is already offering discounts on future flights to the passengers affected by the ash cloud.

However, on return to the UK, travellers affected have started looking at their travel insurance policies (and, for the self-employed, business interruption policies) and found that they have no cover for the many incidentals which are inevitably necessary in such instances, or for loss of business profits, because their policies exclude ‘acts of God’ or losses which occur as a result of Government action.

For example, a traveller who needed to get back from Berlin and thus took a refund on his return flight rather than rescheduling it took the following route home:
Berlin-Brussels (train) – overnight in a hotel
Brussels-Ostend (train)
Ostend-Calais (coach)
Calais-Dover (ferry)
Dover-home (train).

The total cost was in excess of £600, but he now finds that he is entitled to no compensation because his travel insurance excludes liability for disruption resulting from government action.

Insurance policies of all types are often less comprehensive than their buyers think. Take advice if you think you may be leaving significant risks uncovered or your policy terms are unclear to you. To see your rights as an airline passenger, click here for the 'volcanic ash information pack'.