Airline payouts are hard to get
MY WIFE and I had a nightmare journey that took 48 hours instead of the scheduled 16 (“Airlines take fright”, last week). We, along with our two cats, were booked to fly from Dublin to Frankfurt on July 16, with an onward flight to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic that evening. The flight from Dublin was delayed. When we arrived in Frankfurt, the plane sat on the tarmac before a bus finally arrived. When we got to the gate, it was too late for our connecting flight.
The airline staff rebooked us onto a flight the next morning to New York with a connection to Santo Domingo. They assured us that we would not have to pay extra for the transport of our cats. We then had to wait seven hours at the New York airport. Finally we arrived in Santo Domingo, only to find that two of our bags had been sent on the flight we had missed — an appalling breach of security — and that the third had not been put on the flight we had actually boarded. That bag arrived another 24 hours later.
I wrote to the airline in July, and apart from a meaningless email have received no proper reply. If you try to retrieve information on its website, you are presented with a form in German. I speak some German, enough to get us out of trouble at Frankfurt airport, but not to fill in this ridiculous form. There is no English equivalent that I can find.
BS Belfast
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MY FLIGHT from Palma to Liverpool last September was delayed by nearly four hours. The delay meant I was charged an additional £60 for parking at Liverpool airport, as our actual return date was a day later than expected. I filled in an online form to claim back the money but the airline said the delay was “due to an unexpected technical fault”.
I contacted the airline again and sent hard copies of parking receipts but its reply was: “Under EU regulation 261/2004, we are not liable to refund any car parking expenses, and we are therefore not in a position to accede to your request.”
I still feel angry that the delay left me no choice but to fork out £60 in the early hours of the morning to get my car out of Liverpool airport.
Name withheld
IN APRIL 2010, my wife’s return flight from New York was delayed for a week as a result of the ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcano. Her attempts to obtain compensation for the delay and accommodation costs were repeatedly rebuffed. In the end, she put her claim in the hands of a lawyer, who obtained a full refund. In addition, the airline was required to pay her lawyer’s fees.
DS Freiburg, Germany
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I WOULD like to share some good practice with you. My son and four of his friends were delayed by more than 15 hours when returning from Crete to Glasgow because of an aircraft technical fault. The airline, Thomas Cook, issued a letter on the plane to every passenger, accepting fault and confirming compensation under EU 261, with instructions on how to get in contact with it. Within two weeks, they each received €400 (£285) compensation.
Four weeks after their return, their travel insurance claim was accepted and they received a further £25 each. If the lads go back to Crete, I would expect them to book with the airline again.
NH Houston, Renfrewshire
How to defeat ‘rip-off’ insurers
YOUR article “Scandal of the insurers that ‘rip off’ the elderly” came the week after I renewed the house and contents policy for my 93-year-old mother. I was concerned to see her insurer had quoted £312 for cover of just £96,500 buildings and £25,400 contents while a comparison site quoted about £100 for standard cover of £1m buildings and £50,000 contents.
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My mother was upset at the thought of being disloyal to her insurer, which she has been with since the Second World War. However, the comparison site also gave a quote from her insurer of £157 — about half its renewal offer to her, and for £500,000 buildings and £50,000 contents.
After a few online adjustments I took out a new policy for her through the website with the same provider for £178, which included a greatly reduced “excess”, £50,000 of legal cover, an increased amount of valuables, accidental cover and a year’s emergency home repair cover.
AR Sheffield
CONGRATULATIONS on your article last week, which showed how insurers are using a wholly dishonest system for managing house insurance premiums. The elderly, the unwell and those who lack the ability to complain get ripped off and pay for the discounts given to others. This is all done in a concealed way and “justified” by spurious arguments about costs and risk.
I am 72 and my premium for buildings-only insurance went up by 20% each year for three years, but I did not spot the first two increases because I was undergoing treatment for cancer and my mind was fully occupied with that. When I telephoned to query the third increase, the insurer told me that it was due to rising costs and an assessment of risk factors.
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I pointed out that inflation was low and I had made no claims or changes to the policy. I challenged the company to admit that all premiums in my area were being increased by 20% — or to explain why my rise was above average. I was then offered a 15% reduction as a “loyal customer”.
The fact that my objection resulted in a discount being offered within a few minutes makes it clear that there is a “true” premium that remains hidden to those who do not complain. For all I know, there is a second level of reduction available to those who persevere.
CD Aldbury, Hertfordshire
Free protection for your data
FURTHER to last week’s article about data security, the Land Registry provides an excellent free service called Property Alert, which notifies you if anyone tries to change anything relating to your registered property (“Data thieves are lurking, so don’t leave a chink in your online armour”).
It is simple to sign up for the service online. I inadvertently tested it recently when arranging to transfer a property into joint names with my wife. A Property Alert email arrived the next morning.
TE Bruton, Somerset