My partner and I travelled to the south of France in December to spend Christmas with my father-in-law. We were taking our newborn twins to meet him for the first time. When we arrived at his flat in Perpignan, he didn’t answer the door. We had to break a window to gain entry, whereupon we discovered his dead body. It was a gruesome experience involving the fire brigade, police, coroner and lots of bureaucracy.
The funeral was scheduled for 28 December, the same date that I had been due to travel from Paris to London and back on Eurostar to collect my son. I sought to cancel my £389 Eurostar tickets, via the booking agent Trainline, but was told that they were non-refundable. I therefore had to buy new tickets to make the trip two days later. My travel insurance provider, Churchill, has also refused to refund me as my trip was extended by two days rather than curtailed.
This is inhumane. What good is travel insurance if it doesn’t cover unexpected deaths in the family?
KH, London
Your ordeal is beyond imagining. I am so very sorry. Many airlines consider reimbursing non-refundable tickets on compassionate grounds, so, while Eurostar’s standard ticket policy is unambiguous, it’s disappointing it doesn’t make exceptions. And your situation was truly exceptional. That’s why you hit a brick wall with your insurance claim.
A feeling heart may beat behind the customer service scripts, but it’s smothered by the small print. Your policy terms state that you can claim costs of up to £5,000 if you have to cancel a trip. You did have to cancel your return trip and it was that cost you were claiming. But, in the insurance mindset, it doesn’t count as a curtailment, because you had already embarked on your travels.
If your father-in-law had died in the UK while you were in France, or just before you travelled, you would have been covered. Churchill tells me that extensions aren’t specified in its policies; nor are they explicitly excluded. The scientific term is a “grey area” and it seems that particular greyness envelops most travel insurance policies.
In my view, your case accorded with the spirit of the policy, if not the print. According to the Association of British Insurers, terms and conditions can’t include every eventuality and cover for extensions to trips, as opposed to curtailments, are uncommon, but it expects members to handle sensitive claims empathetically and consider whether a goodwill payment may be appropriate.
Churchill did decide a goodwill payment would be appropriate, but only after I had mentioned a forthcoming write-up. It says: “We would like to express our deepest sympathies. While this particular situation is not covered by the terms of our policy, we recognise it is a tragic turn of events and contacted the customer to confirm we would accept her claim given the sad circumstances.”
It’s munificence was not needed, however, as Eurostar, too, had felt a pricking of conscience when I got in touch. It has agreed to refund the unused tickets.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always our number one priority,” it says. “As our services were booked through a third party, we did not have the context or a direct line of contact with the customer. Due to the exceptional circumstances, we have been able to work out a solution with Trainline to provide the customer with a refund of the fees. We have since been in touch with our condolences.”
Email your.problems@observer.co.uk. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions
