How might insurance be able to help my business with the airport disruptions?

Airports across the country have suffered flight cancellations and disruption leading to delays and long waits at check in and security, causing problems for passengers, airports, and airlines alike. This is concerning for travellers, but there is help at hand.

Chiefly, reassurance for passengers lies in the fact that UK aviation and air transport is a regulated industry, just like insurance. This means that there are procedures in place to deal with complaints and compensation. Of course, this has both benefits and drawbacks. While the bureaucracy involved in the complaints process can take time and effort, airlines are bound to provide standardised processes for complaints and claims to ensure customers are protected.

This may not be the case for airlines domiciled in other countries but, for the UK, it’s common for airlines to adopt a standardised approach to bookings, complaints and refunds. Travel insurance can help in situations where your travel is affected, however, it is important that you have an idea of the correct order of protocols and know the range of your travel coverage. In the first instance, you should investigate claiming funds back directly from the airline.

Citizens Advice has lots of information about flight cancellations and what you as a traveller would be entitled to.

1. Contact the airline – you should contact the company operating the flight (even if it was booked via a different airline) and make sure you have all flight information to hand.
2. Write a claim – explain the issues and what you want the airline to do – i.e. refund, vouchers, etc. The Civil Aviation Authority has information about how to write claims including templates, and you should include copies (not originals) of the tickets and receipts.
3. Record correspondence – keep a log of your claim (emails, people your spoke to, times you called and from what contact number – and an outline of key information you might be reliant on) as well as the responses from the airline.

Claim compensation if your flight's delayed or cancelled - Citizens Advice

Typically, UK businesses would book through a travel agency or a booking company. These will often be very useful to help you recover funds. However, if you are facing any issues, you can inform your broker to notify insurers of possible incidents that occur in case you do later need to claim –this makes the insurers aware of the material circumstances to prepare and rate according to your claims history.

If the above fails or you have flights with companies outside of the UK, what could insurance do for you?

Insurance would step in where the monies are not recoverable, providing certain parameters are met:

• Funds are not recoverable by other means e. the airline or agency which booked the flights
• Cover for the claim is provided within your specific insurance wording

Cover could also be granted under a travel policy for other incidents depending on how wide your cover is. Some will include:

• Cancellation of an Insured Journey
• Curtailment of an Insured Journey
• Replace an Insured Person on an Insured Journey
• Rearrange to resume an Insured Journey (including missed departure – see below)
• Change the itinerary of a pre booked Insured Journey

If your flight is changed, some insurance contracts will even cover for overnight accommodation as it can be an unforeseen cost, Cover might also include:

• Charges for transport
• Charges for accommodation and sustenance
• Any other charges
• Missed departure (usually for when transfer flights/times do not operate as published)

Travel insurance policies indemnify the cover holder against the value up to the cost of the flights, therefore if alternative flights are needed the difference (if more expensive) will often not be covered by the insurers.

It’s important that your Travel, Personal Accident and Travel is extensive enough to cover you when you need it most. Insurance companies can be helpful for the unforeseen and, although insurance oftentimes doesn’t need to step in for cancellation by an airline, the additional covers for missed connections, accident and sickness can be extremely valuable.

There are good reasons to check on the level and extent of covers for travel before incurring any expenses additional to your trip. Firstly, to ensure the money is recoverable via insurance or your claim may not be paid. Secondly, to check the limits of your cover so you know the recoverable values if the claim is valid. Insurers have 24/7 helplines which can assist in the event of cancellations, and some  even have smartphone applications which can help you when abroad, even with issues such as medical advice.

Business Travel Insurance can extend to cover employees for business, and family of directors and instances of incidental travel – it’s worth considering extending cover as required if this would be of value to you and your business. Although insurance companies do consider claims cases on their own merit, it’s important that businesses have the right covers in place and all options are exhausted through the right routes before making claims.

If you would like to speak to someone about Group Business Travel, PA and Sickness, call us on 020 7543 2838.