Not upheld: Travel / life insurance claim disputes complaint against Astrenska Insurance Limited trading as Collinson Insurance

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C purchased a travel insurance policy with trip disruption cover and claimed for unused accommodation costs after his flight was cancelled due to conflict-related travel disruption. Astrenska declined the claim citing the policy's exclusion for claims arising from war and war-like activities. The ombudsman found the claim fell squarely within this explicit exclusion, which was clearly presented in the policy terms, and that travel disruption was reasonably foreseeable given Mr C purchased the policy after conflict had commenced in the region and FCDO travel warnings had been issued. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the claim fell squarely within the policy's explicit exclusion for war and war-like activities. The policy terms clearly set out this exclusion in a table under 'What is not covered' and the ombudsman was not persuaded the wording was unclear or presented unfairly. Additionally, the ombudsman found it was reasonably foreseeable that Mr C could encounter travel disruption given he purchased the policy after conflict had commenced in the region and after FCDO warnings had been issued, making this an insurable risk rather than an unforeseen circumstance.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website