Not upheld: Travel / life insurance claim disputes complaint against Europ Assistance SA

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W claimed on his travel insurance after being unable to travel from place V to resort Z due to a train suspension caused by severe snowfall lasting over 48 hours. He had prepaid accommodation at Z and incurred alternative travel and accommodation costs. EA paid the alternative expenses but refused to cover the £450.80 in unrecovered hotel costs, arguing that trip abandonment cover did not apply because Mr W's trip had already commenced when he left the UK. The ombudsman upheld EA's decision, finding that the policy clearly limits abandonment cover to situations where the policyholder does not go on their trip outside the UK due to insured reasons, and Mr W had already commenced his trip when the disruption occurred.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The policy clearly provides abandonment cover only when a delay of more than 12 hours on the outward leg means the policyholder 'no longer want(s) to go on' their trip outside the UK. Mr W had already left the UK and commenced his trip when the adverse weather disrupted his travel plans, so he was no longer covered for abandonment. The policy wording is not ambiguous - it explicitly covers abandonment before the trip commences, not during it. The IPID reinforces this by highlighting 'Abandonment after first leg of a trip' as an exclusion. The referenced Ombudsman decision had different circumstances and does not support Mr W's position.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website