Pricewatch queries: A cautionary tale about the limits of travel insurance

A reader called Karen got in touch, sending an email that should serve as a reminder to check the terms and conditions of your travel insurance policy. “Families are not covered if they cancel travel plans if a close relative is sick or dying,” Karen’s mail starts.

Surely not, we thought. Then she explained. “We had to cancel a three-night trip to Iceland as my mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, was taken very ill at the end of March. We cancelled the trip, thinking that we were covered with our multitrip travel insurance policy.”

Her mother was admitted to a hospice, “but has since rallied and is home again, thank God. My problem is not that they are not covering the cost of the cancelled trip per se, but that if, God forbid, my mother had died or got really ill during the holiday, they would not have covered the cost of the return flight home.”

She looked into the terms and conditions of her policy and found cancellation was not covered for “any medical condition for which a close relative or travelling companion has received a terminal prognosis. Any medical condition for which a close relative or travelling companion is receiving or on a waiting list or has the knowledge of the need for surgery, treatment, or investigation at a hospital, clinic or nursing home. Any medical condition which a close relative or a travelling companion is aware of but for which they have not had a diagnosis.”

Karen asked the travel insurance provider would she have been covered if one of her children had a bad flu and she had to cancel. The answer was yes.

“If my mother had passed away while we were on holiday and we had to return quickly the answer was no. I wasn’t aware of this – perhaps you could highlight this?”

She says her mother has “been really sick for the last four or five years. Our family is no different to any other family with elderly relatives, but life goes on and kids need to go on holidays with their parents. The only point I am trying to make is that I always thought that because I had multitrip insurance, that I could always come home to Mam at the drop at a hat, which always made these short breaks doable. I’m gutted to learn that you are never covered if somebody close to you fits into any of the categories above.”

The cracked windscreen that never was

A reader contacted us about an issue she has with a car-rental company in South Africa.

“Myself and my boyfriend rented a car there in November 2014. When we returned the car, an employee found that there were scratches on the left driver-side hubcap. We apologised for this and my credit card was debited by about €12 to pay for the hubcap.”

Since she arrived home, nearly two years ago, she has received three registered letters, invoices and threats of legal action for the price of a cracked windscreen.

“We did not return the vehicle with a cracked windscreen. This was never pointed out in the inspection. On leaving the car-hire company, we asked for a copy of the post-inspection sheet. So on the inspection sheet I have stated that we marked the hubcap and that was it. Can you give me any advice?”

We would imagine that the document signed by an employee stating that, apart from the hubcap scratches, the car was in good condition, would trump any subsequent claims made by the company. We would also imagine that it is unlikely our reader will be extradited to South Africa and pursued through the courts there, so we would suggest she forget about it.

Price point

Linda spotted a bargain on the Argos website, but all was not as it seemed. “They have a reduction on a vacuum cleaner at the minute. The price is €34.99, down from €187,” she writes. “I reserved this and now I see that a lot of people are saying that this is an error. Do they have to honour it or can they just cancel it?”

If a product has been mispriced and the retailer spots the mistake before money changes hands, they are perfectly within their rights to change the price or refuse to sell it at the lower price. In law the price on the shelf – or on a website – is viewed as an “invitation to treat”; the retailer is asking you to offer that price for their product. If you do, the retailer can accept it or not.