Was there anything in your paperwork mentioning this fee? Which travel agent was it?

Normally if you booked a holiday with a travel agent and took out their insurance you would pay a deposit plus the cost of the travel insurance which of course you would not get back if you cancelled.

However, in this instance the insurance was 'free'. Even if they have to charge you for the insurance £150 seems quite steep if there were only 2 of you.

I'm not sure when you cancelled the holiday but if it was some considerable time before you were due to travel then I would argue the case that they were probably able to re-sell the holiday anyway and still make their commission.

Pippa

Because we cancelled before and they (the travel agent) did not make their commission, there is now a charge for the insurance ?

You'll most probably find that holiday insurance is valid from the time you purchase it until you return from the holiday. This cover eventualities during your holiday as well as the unfortunate circumstance you found yourself in having to cancel the holiday prior to departure.

For that reason I would go back to the travel agent and inform them that they would have had their commission when the insurance was taken out, e.g. at the time of booking.

(this is of course assuming that there was no disclaimer signed and the travel agent claiming the reason for this fee not having been paid commission on the insurance)

Mark

Check your small print on your insurance form which you should have been sent with all your confirmation blurb.

So far as insurance goes as far as I see it you are insured from the moment you take out that insurance. Whether that insurance has been provided 'free' by the travel agent makes no difference. The only thing I would look at is if this 'free' insurance was not actually taken out at the time you made the booking. I can't see that happening as you paid your deposit, which was the only payment to be made.

You wouldn't have had their insurance had it not been free and regardless of that £150 is way over the top.

I would go back to them and state the facts regarding holiday insurance, that you take it out at time of booking precisely so that you are covered for things like this so you can get your money back if you have to cancel.

This looks like one for the trading standards office if you don't have any luck, but I certainly wouldn't pay it.

Good luck.

Like SandC says, you need to check out the terms and conditions of the unsurance and booking contract. there really is no such thing as 'free' insurance - in practice it just means that it has been costed into the basic price of the holiday and I've been able to negotiate a further discount on the basis that I have an annual policy and don't need the 'free' insurance.

It might be the case that small print says that the insurance is only 'free' if you actually proceed with and pay in full for the holiday and that you will be liable for the premium if you cancel before the balance is paid. If that is the case you might be better off paying the £150 pounds (which I agree is expensive if you have no existing pre-conditions etc) if that is the only way to get back your deposit which I assume was in the region of £400 or more going by your original post.

Travel Agents are currently exempt from FSA regs regarding the sales of insurance, but this may change in the future.

The small print will explain the terms and conditions. The rights and wrongs of the situation will not be relevant. You were (or should have been given ) the opportunity to read all the terms and conditions before accepting them and query anything you didn't understand.

It's similar to low cost deposits of say £1. If you cancel the holiday before the balance is paid the full deposit has to be paid.

Just a thought, you could ring up said travel agent and pretend to be making general enquiries about making a booking. If they are running this free insurance with all bookings, try and find out what the cost of insurance would be if it weren't free. Just tell them you have already purchased yearly insurance and you were wondering with a view to them reducing the holiday price accordingly. I'm sure if you ask they'll just say 'normally we charge X per person for a fortnight in Europe'.

It's worth trying to find out to argue their justification for £150, which is extortionate.

Dear All,

Thank you for your swift replies. I will definetely use the tactic proposed by SandC. Miracle upon miracle, the insurance company has just sent a check through for our deposit, less the excess on the policy....fantastic news. However we have had another letter from the travel agents demanding the £150 amount for the so called "free insurance".
I did not make it clear that the insurance covered my wife, two children and me. Also the insurance company at the time of taking out the free insurance wanted to know about pre-existing conditions, which my wife had at the time. I have studied the fine print and as always it is open to interpretation and seems very vague.The reason for the cancellation was due to a life threatening, chronic new condition which my wife now suffers from.
The Travel agent is a small, local, independent one we have been using for 8 years now and have always been very helpful and friendly. However we have never had to claim before.
I was also thinking of writing to ABTA.

Thank you all once again.

There are several points to consider here.

1 - Rhombus does not say what age they are or pre existing medical conditions. That could have a dramatic effect on the insurance cost.

2 - It is not the first time that this sort of complaint has arisen. What no one has yet considered is exactly what the insurance covers. For example does it give cover for cancellation due to ill health, or is it just insurance cover from airport out to airport back? - In other words does it just give cover whilst you are on holiday?

You do need to read the T&Cs as this will explain exactly what is or is not covered.

I doubt ringing as SandC suggests will really help, they can rightly say that these offers do change.

It should however be a warning to all when booking holidays. You do not always get what you think you have. Beware special offers is so often the case.

fwh

I was just suggesting that to find out how much insurance actually costs for the family for a fortnight, £150 sounds a lot, but then often insurance from a travel agent is pricey compared to shopping around.

It does sound like they make this offer on the same basis as a low deposit, ie. you only have to pay £5 but if you have to cancel the full deposit must be paid. How they expect to get away with this I have no idea, because the insurance has been bought and paid for and you have claimed on it.

T&Cs should say something about this because it is a big thing. I think you have a good case not to pay it personally.

because the insurance has been bought and paid for and you have claimed on it

Good point SandC.

It seems that the only way the Travel Agent is likely to get the £150 is to take a court action against Rhombus assuming that Rhombus is not prepared to pay.

As fwh says, it will all depend upon the T & C's and I'd guess that unless specifically stated that a payment will be needed in the event of a cancellation claim the "free" insurance will be exactly that - FREE.

We got family insurance cover thru' Esure for 5 of us for £36 this year so £150 is extortionate!

Personally I'd tell them to go and whistle - free insurance is FREE not £150

We have 'free' insurance with our travel agent.

It was one of the things we were interested in because we were unsure of my husbands work at time of booking last year.

We could of claimed if we needed to cancel the holiday due to redundancy so I guess the policy started at time of booking.

Good Luck

HI,
Just guessing here but do you think thant £150 could be the excess you have to pay, as they are giving you free insurance they have given you a low premium which generaly means the excess is normally higher, when i shop around for insurance it tends to be the lowest i pay the more the excess. unfortunately

Is this a "FREE" insurance that was given to you by the actual travel agent or by the tour operator. could it be that it was given by the travel agent to encourage you to book via them and not one that was given by the tour operator. the agent would subsidise it from their commission which they now didnt get because unfortunately you had to cancel. still doesnt make it right and i would still tell them they could whistle for it unless of course it forms part of the terms and conditions that you would be liable for it in the event of cancellation in which case an amount should of been quoted somewhere surely but it would make more sense that they were trying to get the money back from you.

if this is the case sounds to me like they have made a up when offering their "free" insurance and are now trying it on. maybe ask them where it says in their terms and conditions that you would have to pay in the event of cancellation.

lyn

jotwenty he has had his deposit refunded less the excess already so the £150 is nothing to do with the excess.

Plus the TA is stating that you must pay this because they have lost their commission, well their commission is most certainly not £150. What has actually happened is they have lost their commission on the holiday, as the insurance has already been bought as you have successfully claimed on it. You have cancelled your holiday so their normal commission on the sale of holiday has been lost and they are trying to claw something back because in these circumstances they lose a small amount of money rather than lose nothing.

They are cheeky buggers if you ask me, and I would tell them in writing that they will lose a lot more when you take your business elsewhere over this petty issue towards a customer they have had for the past 8 years.

hello rhombus,
i know how you feel, we had to pay nearly £400 for free insurance when we cancelled our trip to the usa. i wasnt bothered about the deposit but was told i couldnt cancel untill i had paid the free deposit.
i canceled due to personnel resons not medical and didnt make any claims on it but still had to pay

that is one travel agent i WONT be using again never ever.
this year i have booked with first choice and it states clearly that if frr insurance is given and you cancel your holiday you have to pay (i think) £25/30 for short haul and £50 for long haul.
i think free insurance should be free or make it very clear how much has to be paid if you cancel.

good luck.

There is much speculation for what some consider, an exhorbitant charge.

We have no correct information as to what this charge is for. In my first post I asked if there was any particular conditions that could have inflated the figure. For example did this just apply to two people or were there a group of people on the booking, which could be a reason for such a high figure? Did the ages or pre medical conditions play a part?

As this question has arisen in the past then it would be nice if Rhombus could ask for a breakdown of this charge and post accordingly.

I would prefer to see more facts, and less speculation and expressions of disgust.

If someone makes a booking and signs the documents without reading the T&Cs ( no matter how unfair ) then it is little good complaining after the event.

fwh

Maybe I am being a bit dense here but here goes anyway.

I can understand the insurance premium having to be paid if you claim on your insurance before you travel but surely if you have not claimed anything and subsequently cancel the said holiday it has cost the insurance company nothing?

Am I barking up the wrong tree here?

Bizzilady