A reader writes
Two weeks ago we were scheduled to go to Namibia for a fly drive holiday. We were on our way to Heathrow when my wife had her passport stolen from her bag at Oxford Circus. We had to abandon our holiday as she would not have been able to board the flight. We had only just left the house and travelled 4 stops on the Victoria Line. The whole experience was pretty traumatic. We naturally thought that we would be covered by our travel insurance. We reported the issue to Aviva straightaway, but it has rejected our claim on grounds that we had started our holiday and so cancellation cover does not apply. The policy appears to extend cover in circumstances where a passport is lost or stolen in the seven days before travel. However, their policy states that the holiday commences the moment you leave home, so you cannot cancel after you have stepped out of the front door. I am not sure if this is an industry wide standard.
I am going to make a complaint to my bank as the insurance is a benefit I get through one of their premium accounts. The policy terms appear to have changed in the past 12 months and I think there would have been no issue previously. Do you have any advice to help my claim?
Martyn responds
As someone who obsessively checks his passport on the way to the airport, this letter struck a chord with me. But sadly, it’s highly unlikely this claim would succeed.
Travel insurance covers a vast range of potential scenarios – from lost luggage to natural disasters – which is why policies can be so lengthy and convoluted. The amount of money you can claim for depends on policy limits, the situation that has led to the claim and what the policy does (and doesn’t) cover.
Travel insurers will generally pay for costs that arise if you lose your passport while on holiday. This may include; replacing emergency travel documents, accommodation, the cost of making calls and flights.
However, if your passport is lost or stolen in the run up to the holiday, you are usually only able to claim for the cost of replacing the passport, not the curtailment (to use the official term) of the holiday. Some policies may not even cover you for this.
I’ve searched in vain for a travel policy that might pay out for a curtailed holiday as a result of a lost or stolen passport before travel. But never say never! There are a huge variety of travel insurance policies out there. I’d have to say thought that this is highly unlikely based on my research.
I do understand why people might think that a claim made under these circumstances would succeed, but it’s important to bear in mind that travel insurance doesn’t cover you for everything that could go wrong with your trip – even if it’s not your fault. For example, one of the more common disputes involves not being able to get to the airport on time as a result of traffic problems or cancelled trains. This situation is out of your hands, but it is unlikely to be covered by your travel insurance policy either.
Passports are the only completely essential item required for a foreign holiday. If you lose your passport at the airport, it doesn’t matter how awful the situation is. You will not be allowed to fly because you will not be granted entry in to any other country. Nor will you be to travel if your passport is nearing its expiry date, or is damaged. The moral of the tale is: keep your passport close to you at all times. If you lose it, you can’t travel.
It’s unlikely that annual changes to a travel insurance contract would have made a difference in this case. However, if you were unaware of the T&Cs around lost or stolen passports, you can sometimes argue that it should have been brought to your attention.
However, while it’s possible to make a complaint that ‘key facts’ in the contract were not made clear – and sometimes receive compensation from the insurer or through making a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman – this is unlikely to help in this case. That’s because the insurer can argue that had you been aware of the clause, it Still wouldn’t have made a difference to the incident: the theft of the passport.
If reading this article is suddenly giving you the chills as you try to remember where you put your passport or what the expiry date actually is, there are options available to you.
The Passport Office has two ‘emergency’ options for panicking travellers. The fast-track service costs £178 and takes one week. The premium service costs £222 and takes one day. The usual charge for a passport is £94.50 for an online or £107 if you post in a paper form.
However, I wouldn’t relax too much. You’ll need to report your passport lost or stolen. Then you’ll need to book an appointment (this takes two days to confirm for the premium service and one day for the fast-track service. At peak times (i.e. now) these timescales may be longer. You’ll also need to have all of your supporting documents and photographs – no smiles, no background, the rules are something to behold – to hand. I once witnessed a couple have a meltdown in the London office, when a document error meant their passport could not be processed, ending their holiday dreams.