At the end of last year I bought five tickets to see Abba Voyage in London on 5 January from Ticketmaster. At the checkout it offered “missed event insurance” through Allianz Assistance. On reading that it covered ill health, including Covid, I paid £3.83 a ticket.
Unfortunately, I tested positive for Covid just before Christmas, and my friend (whose birthday treat the outing was for) got it on 25 December. Her condition got worse, and she was prescribed antibiotics for a respiratory infection. In the end, neither of us were well enough to travel, and cancellation was the only option.
I have spent hours trying to make a claim online (the chatbot merely gives you a phone number, which never gets answered) but hit a brick wall when I got to the point where you upload the supporting documents, as they ask for “proof of cancellation”.
Ticketmaster does not allow you to cancel tickets: you can offer them for resale, or not turn up and lose your money. This is not something it, or Allianz, tells you when they sell the policy.
The tickets cost £384. Have I lost all my money?
JB, by email
Trying to claim on this policy was a frustrating rigmarole, and Allianz has apologised and refunded your money.
It says: “We apologise that JB wasn’t able to make the claim for her missed event. For proof of cancellation, we ask customers to share a screenshot of the e-ticket QR code, as well as supporting documents, to demonstrate why they weren’t able to attend. However, we take on board JB’s feedback and will look to see if we can make the online claim journey clearer.”
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions
