Will not give travel tickets without proof of insurance

Z

z104

Guest
I normally dislike package holidays due to the whole cattle mart style of it but am going as I needed a break .

Budget travel- Mrs Niallers phones up to ask about tickets, Budget travel store say they will not issue tickets without proof of insurance.

I phoned up afterwards and asked if I need to have travel insurance if I buy a holiday from them . They say oh yes you have to have travel insurance, I asked why and they said incase you lose your bags or anything, very important. I said do you have to have it to issue tickets they say yes and that they won'y issue my tickets without it, I then said is it compulsory or can I sign a waiver as I've gone on holiday twice a year (booked independantly)for the last 10 years without insurance without ever needing it. yes you can do that.Just call in and sign a waiver.

Now why could they not just say that they recommend insurance but if anything happens you are on your own. ( We both have vhi so at least if anything medical is needed we are covered)

Some people will not bend over to tie their shoe lace without insurance incase they lose balance and fall over but why do they make it so hard to not have insurance. .

Very annoying. Rant over

Out of curiosity- Has anybody from AAM claimed from their holiday insurance?
 
Re: Will not give travel tickets with proof of insurance

No, but last year I was going to cancel our holiday as oh had hurt his back, rang insurance company, they said has he ever hurt his back before, I said hasn't everyone! They wouldn't cover us if we cancelled it, so he was dosed up on drugs! (prescribed) I looked after lugging the suitcases and off we went, he doesn't remember it! I don't know why I bother with insurance after that happening, but I still do.
 
Re: Will not give travel tickets with proof of insurance

Booked online with budget, had to "deselect" their insurance. No further questions on whether we had any after that.
 
Re: Will not give travel tickets with proof of insurance

Niallers said:
Budget travel- Mrs Niallers phones up to ask about tickets, Budget travel store say they will not issue tickets without proof of insurance.
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Only a matter of time before they took a more pushy stance on this. I noticed that the possibility that they may ask for proof of insurance has been in their T&Cs for some time.
 
Re: Will not give travel tickets with proof of insurance

I find travel insurance a bit of a misnomer. I had travel insurance last years for my honeymoon and a few weeks before I was due to go I had a bad leg break which meant I would be on crutches and in a cast for the duration of the trip. Therefore, I wanted to push the honeymoon back a few weeks but 'surprise surprise' I wasn't covered for a leg break before the holiday. I would only be covered if I broke my leg while on holiday.
It cost €1,800 to put the honeymoon back 6 weeks.

Also, a friend of mine got married last year in Italy. The bags got lost after the terrorist attacks in Prestwick Airport. A year on, the bags still haven't been recovered and nothing has been paid by the insurance company.

If you have ever read through a travel insurance document the text is so ambigeous it is impossible to understand.
 
Niallers said:
they won'y issue my tickets without it,
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Odd - having booked many packages over the years I have never experienced that even when we had arranged our own insurance. We just declined the travel agent's/tour operator's insurance but never had to provide evidence of having our own.
Out of curiosity- Has anybody from AAM claimed from their holiday insurance?
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Yes.

The_Banker said:
If you have ever read through a travel insurance document the text is so ambigeous it is impossible to understand.
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I've read a few and have generally found them understandable. Turgid admittedly, but understandable all the same.
 
Someone asked if anyone claimed. I did, for a holiday that I booked independently. It was an expensive one, around 5K punts. Anyway, I developed health problems and had to cancel. Insurance company paid in full very soon afterwards with no hassle. I also claimed once before when daughter was sick and we could not travel. We rebooked but insurance paid for the cancellation of the original flight.

I think insurance is a good idea, but the holiday operators' policies are overpriced. I generally go for annual insurance, which works out much cheaper.
 
Niallers said:
Out of curiosity- Has anybody from AAM claimed from their holiday insurance?
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I have annual travel insurance and have used it several times. First time I injured my wrist ligaments while on a snowboarding trip and the insurance paid all my medical expenses (a couple of thousand) minus excess of €55.

My luggage was delayed on three occassions and each time I received €120 from the insurance for a purchase of neccessities.

I was on my way to visit a relative and had to fly from Dublin via Frankfurt. My flight from Frankfurt was cancelled due to fog in a fial destination and I was put on a different flight (going to a different city in obviously a different country) the next day. Insuance paid out for delayed flight and all my additional travel expenses.

There is no way I'd go anywhere without travel insurance!

ETA: I would never buy insurance from a travel agent - way overpriced with poor cover!
 
I'd refer this to the consumers association as i'm pretty certain that they cannot insist you have travel insurance, and they certainly cannot insist that you buy the travel insurance from them.
 
I went with Budget Travel a number of times a couple of years ago. Each time I was offered their own insurance. When I told them that I had my own insurance they insisted on seeing insurance documents before they would issue me with the tickets. I had heard of other travel companies that then charged you for reading and verifying your "other" insurance (Ryanair type ploy), but I had no such complaint with Budget.

The reason that they told me that they insisted on insurance prior to travel was that if something went wrong on holidays, then the unfortunate victim would feel that they were badly treated by Budget Travel, if they did not do something to help them in their hour of need.

I can see their point. If you get mugged attacked or are involved in an accident when abroad, where you have no friends and you don't speak the language, where are you going to turn for help. Basically it's not their problem, yet people could come back from holidays badmouthing the company because they refused to do anything to help them.

I also had to get a Dr while abroad, too much sun, allergic reaction etc, Home visit by an english speaking Dr and an injection. He would not accept visa/mastercard, so I paid him in cash. He issued a receipt and I claimed back his fees, less the excess, on my return.

Personally, I wouldn't dream of going abroad without insurance, and it is a hell of a lot cheaper to get your own rather than relying on a travel agent to provide you with cover. I have an annual policy.
 
Its a little off the topic, but years ago I worked in Reservations for an airline. One day I got a call from a man who was due to fly 2 days later to the US, with his wife and 4 kids for a 4 week holiday. He wanted me to hold a row of seats for his 12 year old son, as he'd been in an accident the day before and would be in hospital until they were due to depart, and he wanted the kid to be able to lie flat for the flight. I advised him that he'd need a medical cert from a doctor certifying that the child was fit to travel, (this is a standard response for any airline the minute you mention being ill). He then told me that the doctor didn't want the child to fly, but as he'd paid out a few grand just on flights he was going to fly. I advised him to contact his insurance company, so that they could rebook for when the child was ok to travel, and he's answer 'Travel insurance is for muppets'!
I don't know if they made the flight, but I'm astonished when people don't take out insurance, most especially if visiting the US!
 
Niallers said:
Now why could they not just say that they recommend insurance but if anything happens you are on your own.
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Because the courts don't work like that. For example if someone suffers a catastrophic injury while travelling and they are uninsured, the courts are more likely to deem the tour operator liable for the costs of a compensation claim (even if they had nothing to do with the incident) than to allow the claimant to go away empty-handed. If the customer has insurance in their own right, this generally protects the tour operator against such an eventuality.

Same principle applies in many walks of life, for example (i) sub-contractors who must take out their own insurance before they can work for principal contractors on building sites, (ii)GAA clubs who allow playgroups and others to use their facilities on condition that they have their own insurance.
 
Niallers said:
I normally dislike package holidays due to the whole cattle mart style of it
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I don't really get this. I've been on plenty of package holidays. Apart from sharing (usually) a charter flight and coach transfer with other package holiday makers and (usually) staying in accommodation with some of them we were otherwise free to do our own thing (and did) so I don't really get the "cattle mart" concept. It seems to me that many (most?) people who disparage package holidays may simply be expressing snobbish attitudes.
 

Not snobish at all, just find that every package holiday I've been on you get a higher percentage of people half tanked on the chartered flight being noisy and annoying compared to scheduled non charter flights.
 
I'd second the "cattle mart" feeling on packages - in recent years it seems as though they put more rows of seating on the planes, so there's less room for passengers. I'm only 5ft 2ins, and I found the last package flight (with Direct Hols/Monarch Airlines) very hard to take - goodness knows how the 6 footers + coped!

In answer to the "have you ever claimed travel insurance" query - yes I have. I was going to the USA with a companion, and her mother took gravely ill. We had to cancel the holiday, and our respective insurance companies refunded the cost (minus a small excess).
 
I work in travel insurance (UK market) & yes there are plenty of term's and conditions attached (as all insurance), IMHO the main one being if you need cover for a specific condition you will pay more & the over the counter product will not cover that condition. e.g. I suffer from a condition that effects my back & movement, If I buy the over the counter product, that condition (or anything related) will not be covered, it is my choice if I want to pay the extra to have my pre-existing condition covered or not.

personally I have never claimed on travel insurance, most of my travel is within Europe so IMHO I don't need travel insurance I would (touch wood have never had to) use the EHIC for medical expenses occured in any EU country.http://www.ehic.ie/ when I plan on doing wintersports or travel outside Europe i use www.getcover.com (my company gives a discount, but i am not in otherways connected)
 
question. what if you are paying for your tickets using your credit-card? does your credit-card not cover you? i thought it did, perhaps i am wrong.
 
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