RSS Feed
Delicious
Yahoo
Facebook
Digg.com
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Flight Cancellation and Travel Insurance - Did You Know…
A customer recently had a bad experience when he arrived at the airport to discover his budget flight had been cancelled due to fog. What he didn’t know - and most travellers don’t know - is that although EU-based airlines are required (under EU laws) to put you on an alternate flight or offer some form of compensation – they are not obliged to do so if ‘extraordinary circumstances’ apply. This particular airline decided not to because the cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances (fog). We don’t have all the details of what happened from there, but the passenger was not compensated and turned in frustration to his travel insurance. He was unsuccessful and consequently very unhappy.
The customer (quite understandably) tried in vain to argue that travel insurance should provide compensation because the cancellation was the same thing as an ‘indefinite delay’ or that the delay had been more than 24 hours so should be viewed as ‘abandonment’. However, a flight that is cancelled is never going to take off, no matter which way you look at it – so it is not merely delayed. Although travel insurance does cover delays of certain periods of time, a claim for abandonment would not normally qualify until a delay of 24 hours or more had elapsed. Under travel insurance, cancellation, delay and abandonment are treated separately, but each policy should be examined for the exact terms.
If you don’t believe it, check the airline’s Terms and Conditions for flight cancellation when next booking a flight. There is an EU Regulation (No. 261/2004). Look for No.3 under Article 5. What it basically says is that the airline is not obliged to pay compensation if it can prove that the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided despite all reasonable measures being taken. Those extraordinary circumstances include (but not limited to) problems such as: weather conditions, civil unrest, air traffic control problems and unexpected flight safety issues.
There are rumours of airlines using extraordinary circumstances to get out of paying compensation for events other than those for which it was intended, such as staffing or other technical problems. In a recent landmark court ruling the passengers won their case because an investigation revealed that the technical problem had been detected the day before the flight was cancelled.
So, where do you turn if this happens to you? Maybe your credit card company would provide compensation - if the amount was more than £100. Other than that, although we do not endorse any, there are companies online which specialise in investigating claims against airlines. They operate on a no-win-no-fee basis, so it is probably worth trying if all else fails and you believe you may have a case.
We won’t abandon your legitimate claims - so obtain a quote for cheap Travel insurance here.
March 1st, 2009 at 2:20 am
Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?
October 8th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
The European Passenger Rights states that fog can be a siuation where an extraordinary circumstance may occur and even if all reasonable measures were applied the cancellation could not be avoided.The onus is to avoid the cancellation whereas a dealay up to 5 hours is acceptable before the airline must offer a refund of the remaining ticket value and if applicable a return flight to the starting point.In a recent EC cort ruling against Alitalia resulted in the following definition of reasonable measures:
The Court states that, since not all extraordinary circumstances confer exemption, the onus is on the party seeking to rely on them to establish that, even if it had deployed all its resources in terms of staff or equipment and the financial means at its disposal, it would clearly not have been able – unless it had made intolerable sacrifices in the light of the capacities of its undertaking at the relevant time – to prevent the extraordinary circumstances with which it was confronted from leading to the cancellation of the flight.
Note the air carrier must prove its case.