Seasonal Strike Action could hit the Uncovered Hardest
By Simon Read
Tens of thousands of yuletide travellers face an anxious few weeks as they wait to hear whether a proposed British Airways strike will hit their Christmas travel plans. Many may end up with cancelled or delayed flights - but those without adequate travel insurance could face a massive fight to get their cash back, if at all.
British Airways staff are voting on strike action with the results due to be revealed on December 14. Strike action could follow soon after, and the timing looks set to have maximum negative impact on anyone planning a winter or Christmas break.
And with the Association of British Travel Agents revealing that some three million Britons travelled abroad last Christmas, the number of insurance claims for flight cancellations could rocket from an average 20,000 a month to many more.
The strike issue revolves around new working conditions and cutbacks that the union Unite is fighting. British Airways has cut the number of cabin crew staff on long-haul flights from 15 to 14 and has proposed a two-year pay freeze for staff.
How the strike may affect you
Whether or not you support the proposed action, if you’re planning to fly towards the end of December the strike could prove massively inconvenient as well as costly.
For starters, if you don’t have an annual travel policy – or didn’t arrange cover around the time of booking flights – then you won’t be able to claim for the cost of rearranging flights, for a cancelled holiday, or even for days lost from your holiday because of delayed or cancelled flights.
Even those who think they’re sitting pretty because they have got cover, need to check the small print on their policies. Some firms may not pay out for industrial action. Others may have restrictions on how long delays have to be before they will meet claims.
It rams home the importance of arranging adequate insurance in plenty of time. Those without decent cover will have to rely on British Airways’ compensation handouts, which may not be overly generous.
Even if the airline does agree a compensation package it could take weeks or months to get your cash back as you may be required to complete a range of red-tape hurdles. It’s likely the airline would offer fed-up passengers the chance to rebook their flight to the same destination at some time in the future.
For the many people who have had holidays ruined, that offer would be useless – in which case BA would be forced to stump up for a full refund – eventually. However, with the right insurance, you can make a claim as soon as your holiday plans are disrupted, which could leave you time to arrange a replacement last-minute trip.
Check your travel insurance policy
It’s important to check your cover details but, in general, you should be able to make a claim under the ‘Travel Delay and Holiday Abandonment’ section. However, this will only apply to people who bought the insurance before the industrial action was announced and they checked in for the flight as normal.
As long as you’ve fulfilled the conditions, then after a delay of 24 hours you should be able to abandon your holiday and make a claim.
Don’t try and be clever and arrange cover now as it simply won’t be valid against the proposed strike action as it’s an event that’s already known about. In any event, if you take more than one trip a year then getting an annual policy could work out as better value, particularly if you are part of a family.
Buying an annual policy also saves the hassle of buying separate insurance policies for every trip. Shop around for the best deals, but do make sure that you get the cover that you need, rather than simply splashing out on the cheapest deal.
Further Reading:
Winter sports insurance – best buys
Swine flu – update 30th October 2009
Don’t get caught out by airline charging tactics
Travel insurance jargon buster
Know your policy – extra goodies in your travel insurance
Save £££s on annual multi-trip or single trip cover
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