BA will not refund my spouse for flight residence from Australia that it axed when Iran battle started: SALLY SORTS IT
My wife travelled to Australia recently to help nurse her dad, who was recovering from an operation for bladder cancer.
The flights were booked before the war started in the Middle East.
The flight out on March 19 was fine as it was via Singapore, but my wife was concerned about the return leg on March 30, which was due to go via Doha, Qatar.
She contacted British Airways numerous times before leaving the UK to check. Each time she was reassured the flight was going ahead.
If it didn’t, BA said not to worry: ‘We’ll get you home.’ This seemed to be the mantra from everyone we spoke to at the airline.
On arrival in Australia, my wife contacted BA again.
Denied: BA refused to refund a customer whose £1,522 return flight from Australia was cancelled after the Iran war broke out
An adviser explained that the return flight was cancelled and said they could swap her to the next available flight out of Brisbane, which was April 30 – a whole month after she was supposed to come home.
This was no use, as she had work and childcare commitments.
My wife made other arrangements, but now BA will only refund her £56 on a flight that cost £1,522 return. This is totally unfair. Can you help?
S.C., Enfield
Sally Hamilton replies: YOU explained to me how horrified you were when BA said your wife might have to wait a month before she could get back from Australia.
I can fully understand the worry you felt, on top of your concern for her sick father.
Fortunately, his operation was a success, but having your wife stuck in Oz would have turned your delicately balanced family arrangements back in the UK upside down. Your wife was preparing to come back to a busy work schedule.
You also have a carefully planned childcare regime, which means she must be at home when you are working in the evenings.
Your wife put this conundrum to BA, which pronounced it would be able to get her home on April 6 instead, with a different airline, if she was prepared to get herself to Sydney from Brisbane to board the flight. She accepted this offer initially but quickly decided a week’s delay was too long.
Your wife took matters into her own hands and purchased a ticket from the Flight Centre agency in Brisbane, paying £1,236 for a Fiji Airways ticket for March 30, the date she was originally booked to return with BA.
She informed the airline of her plan and requested reimbursement for the unused portion of her original ticket.
Once back at home, it came as a shock that this amounted to a measly £56. You got nowhere trying to get a fairer deal.
It’s true that airlines are facing challenging times due to the hostilities in the Middle East, but I felt BA could have done more to find an alternative flight that would get your wife home sooner – especially as she had located a ticket herself quite easily.
A couple of days after I asked BA to investigate, you told me your wife had received an email full of apologies.
A customer service agent told her the airline had ‘looked into what happened, and it’s clear we could have worked together better to keep you up to date.
This is a serious concern for us, as we always aim to give you all the information you need as quickly and accurately as possible’. BA also paid your wife £1,236, the cost of the replacement flight.
You and your wife were over the moon. You thanked me for my help after feeling ‘unheard’ by BA over your complaint.
A spokesman for the airline said: ‘We’re sorry for our customer’s experience and we’ve been in touch to help make things right.’
Insurer won’t pay out for broken golf clubs
In January, while I was sitting at home, a vehicle crashed into my car on the drive and demolished my porch and part of my garage wall before careering over the front lawn and writing off my neighbour’s car.
The driver and his girlfriend escaped uninjured. Their car was insured by Admiral, which says it will meet the main bills.
However, my expensive golf clubs and other kit in the boot of my car were destroyed and will cost £5,763 to replace.
I claimed on my personal possessions cover under my home insurance with Policy Expert, but it will only pay a maximum of £4,000 for goods damaged away from home and there is an excess of £450.
I don’t think it is fair I should lose £2,200 or so for something that wasn’t my fault. Can you help?
E.B., Birmingham
Sally Hamilton replies: What a shock to have a speeding car hurtle through your property, leaving devastation in its wake.
Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the consequences linger. The claim for certain elements was agreed in February, but repair work had yet to begin when you contacted me last month.
Your home insurer Policy Expert told you it will reclaim the excesses involved on your behalf, once liability for the incident has been fully admitted by the third party.
This includes the £450 excess applied for the golf equipment claim. But you were told you would need to seek payment yourself from the third party’s insurer for the additional shortfall of £1,313 on the replacement value.
Had you had legal expenses cover (also known as family legal protection) as part of your policy, this could be used to reclaim the shortfall and the insurer would have fought the claim on your behalf. But you don’t, and were left to your own devices.
I thought you had been through enough stress, so I asked Policy Expert if there was more it could do to assist in recouping this loss.
After some consideration, it agreed that it would make an exception and present your uninsured loss for the kit to Admiral, as part of its recovery process once responsibility had been confirmed.
A Policy Expert spokesman says: ‘We’re very sorry to hear about the distress this incident has caused.
‘The claim has been handled in line with the cover selected under the policy, including the full limit for personal possessions and additional damage to contents.
‘While some items fall outside of these limits, we want to do what we can to help and, as a gesture of goodwill, will present these additional costs to the third-party insurer on her behalf as part of our ongoing recovery process.’
An Admiral spokesman says: ‘Once we receive a substantiated outlay from the relevant insurer or recovery agent, we will, of course, consider it in line with the facts of the incident and the applicable legal and policy position.’
Your kit claim may take some time to reach a final conclusion, but given you have evidence of the cost of replacing your damaged equipment, I am hopeful you will end up level par.
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] ¿ include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
