Post by OnLineGenie on Feb 16, 2008 14:34:56 GMT
In July 2006 my family and I lost our holiday in Canada when our flight from Manchester to Gatwick was cancelled at short notice.
The insurance company refused to pay because they said only our international flight was covered. The wording on the policy said the flight that took off from "the international departure point" was covered.
I pointed out to them that, under the Carriage by Air Act 2002, my two flights count as a single journey. My international departure point was, therefore, Manchester. There was nothing in the policy to say that the insurance company's definition of an international journey was different from that provided in English law.
It appears to me that insurance companies have it covered both ways. If my flight from Gatwick to Vancouver had been cancelled instead would the insurance company have claimed that my international journey started at Manchester?
I took the insurance company to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I won, and now I want to help other people to win. Unfortunately, the ombudsman's decision was not based on my interpretation of the Carriage by Air Act, so I did not manage to create a legal precedent. That's why I have started a Downing Street epetition.
In my letter to the Financial Ombudsman Service I stated that my two flights were, under English law, a single journey. An insurance policy that only covers one flight of a two flight journey is an unfair contract under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.
If you agree with me:
1. visit petitions.pm.gov.uk/carriagebyair and add your name to the petition
2. tell everyone in your address book (UK residents only)
3. if you have a website add one of the following texts to it:
<a href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/carriagebyair"><img src="http://www.onlinegenie.net/images/unfair1.gif" alt="Unfair Square Logo" width=213 height=213 border=0></a>
<a href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/carriagebyair"><img src="http://www.onlinegenie.net/images/unfair2.gif" alt="Unfair Oblong Logo" width=585 height=71 border=0></a>
where the first link uses a square logo and the second an oblong. If you want to see what the logos look like, visit www.onlinegenie.net/unfair.html
Thank you all in advance for your support.
The insurance company refused to pay because they said only our international flight was covered. The wording on the policy said the flight that took off from "the international departure point" was covered.
I pointed out to them that, under the Carriage by Air Act 2002, my two flights count as a single journey. My international departure point was, therefore, Manchester. There was nothing in the policy to say that the insurance company's definition of an international journey was different from that provided in English law.
It appears to me that insurance companies have it covered both ways. If my flight from Gatwick to Vancouver had been cancelled instead would the insurance company have claimed that my international journey started at Manchester?
I took the insurance company to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I won, and now I want to help other people to win. Unfortunately, the ombudsman's decision was not based on my interpretation of the Carriage by Air Act, so I did not manage to create a legal precedent. That's why I have started a Downing Street epetition.
In my letter to the Financial Ombudsman Service I stated that my two flights were, under English law, a single journey. An insurance policy that only covers one flight of a two flight journey is an unfair contract under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.
If you agree with me:
1. visit petitions.pm.gov.uk/carriagebyair and add your name to the petition
2. tell everyone in your address book (UK residents only)
3. if you have a website add one of the following texts to it:
<a href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/carriagebyair"><img src="http://www.onlinegenie.net/images/unfair1.gif" alt="Unfair Square Logo" width=213 height=213 border=0></a>
<a href="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/carriagebyair"><img src="http://www.onlinegenie.net/images/unfair2.gif" alt="Unfair Oblong Logo" width=585 height=71 border=0></a>
where the first link uses a square logo and the second an oblong. If you want to see what the logos look like, visit www.onlinegenie.net/unfair.html
Thank you all in advance for your support.