Nationwide insurance not quite what it seems

[TerryYa]

Originally Posted by Tiggers Pal

Ours was booked direct with the villa owner so we don’t have the automatic payment concern. In that instance though would you have protection via your cc? We will contact our villa owner soon to see what their thoughts are and if they’d be willing to delay the date the balance is due. They don’t have to but hopefully it is something they’ll consider.

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I think that is the best thing to do. Most people/companies seem to be acting fairly reasonably through all of this.

Not sure how useful credit card will be as surely they'll just say that the villa owner provided you with the villa as agreed and you were unwilling or unable to take advantage of it

[Guest]

Another message from Nationwide they definitely won’t cover a rearranged flight or holiday for CV medical issues if you have to pay more as it’s got more expensive

Your travel insurance with your FlexPlus or FlexAccount will not cover you for trips in the UK or abroad booked on or after 18 March, now that the risks of coronavirus are known. This also applies to any new upgrades you may be purchasing for trips booked before 18 March 2020.

As the additional payment after 18/03/2020 will be seen as an upgrade to your flight this will invalidate the cover even if the company are giving you the exact same flight as before.

[BruTamUK]

Originally Posted by dotb

Another message from Nationwide they definitely won’t cover a rearranged flight or holiday for CV medical issues if you have to pay more as it’s got more expensive

Your travel insurance with your FlexPlus or FlexAccount will not cover you for trips in the UK or abroad booked on or after 18 March, now that the risks of coronavirus are known. This also applies to any new upgrades you may be purchasing for trips booked before 18 March 2020.

As the additional payment after 18/03/2020 will be seen as an upgrade to your flight this will invalidate the cover even if the company are giving you the exact same flight as before.

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Is an additional payment a balance payment OR a payment for additional things added to the original booking eg room upgrade?

[Guest]

Originally Posted by BruTamUK

Is an additional payment a balance payment OR a payment for additional things added to the original booking eg room upgrade?

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As far as the cancellation cover goes the balance payments wouldn’t be covered according to the post earlier.

For medical issues relating to CV You need to check with them really but it’s not an upgrade so I would have thought you should be ok. But then I thought just rearranging the travel dates would be ok and I was wrong on that one

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by BruTamUK

Is an additional payment a balance payment OR a payment for additional things added to the original booking eg room upgrade?

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Seems really unfair as if we don’t pay balance, we can’t claim the balance back. But now if we pay the balance in good faith as our holiday isn’t cancelled yet, then it is cancelled the insurance won’t pay more than the deposit. Stuffed whatever we do then 😡

[Moorlandman]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Seems really unfair as if we don’t pay balance, we can’t claim the balance back. But now if we pay the balance in good faith as our holiday isn’t cancelled yet, then it is cancelled the insurance won’t pay more than the deposit. Stuffed whatever we do then 😡

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Just need to negotiate with the villa owner that you will pay nearer the time. I’m sure they will be flexible under the circumstances

[steve30]

I know it’s not nationwide but this is what NatWest say which seems more reasonable for balances. I can’t believe you aren’t covered if you pay a balance more than 28 days before. Remember it’s what the situation is within 28 days of your trip which is the only criteria you can cancel under. Which you won’t know when you pay balances.


Here’s what NatWest say:

I have currently only paid the deposit for my holiday. What can I claim if I cancel?

You can claim for the cost of any lost deposits as long as the FCO is advising against travel to your destination, as long as the advice wasn’t in place when you booked the trip or purchased your insurance, and your trip is due to start in the next 28 days.

If your trip isn’t due to start in the next 28 days then there is no cover for cancellation and you should decide if you want to make any balance payments due for your trip, you will only be able to claim cancellation if FCO advice against travel is in place within 28 days before your trip is due to start.

Valid cancellation claims will cover the amount you have paid for the trip, less any refunds you have received and the policy excess.

For any trip, you must first seek a refund from your trip provider

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by steve30

I know it’s not nationwide but this is what NatWest say which seems more reasonable for balances. I can’t believe you aren’t covered if you pay a balance more than 28 days before. Remember it’s what the situation is within 28 days of your trip which is the only criteria you can cancel under. Which you won’t know when you pay balances.


Here’s what NatWest say:

I have currently only paid the deposit for my holiday. What can I claim if I cancel?

You can claim for the cost of any lost deposits as long as the FCO is advising against travel to your destination, as long as the advice wasn’t in place when you booked the trip or purchased your insurance, and your trip is due to start in the next 28 days.

If your trip isn’t due to start in the next 28 days then there is no cover for cancellation and you should decide if you want to make any balance payments due for your trip, you will only be able to claim cancellation if FCO advice against travel is in place within 28 days before your trip is due to start.

Valid cancellation claims will cover the amount you have paid for the trip, less any refunds you have received and the policy excess.

For any trip, you must first seek a refund from your trip provider

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That’s how I feel it should be. You can’t possibly know if the current restrictions will be in place when the trip is due to take place so the balance needs paying in the hope that there are no restrictions. Then if there are restrictions when you travel, the insurance should pay in full if the travel company refuse to refund.

Nationwide’s FAQ actually say if you book the holiday before the 16? March then you are covered for Coronavirus related trip cancellations, it makes no mention of only up to the value of the deposit.

Edited to add: very close scrutiny to the wording, shows that

If your trip is not due to start in the next 28 days, we cannot cover your claim if you cancel. You’ll need to think about whether you want to pay any more towards your trip. You can only claim for cancellation if the FCO advise against travel within 28 days of the start of your trip.

So, therefore not covered unless the FCO guidelines were introduced within 28 days before travel irrespective of when the balance is paid.

[TerryYa]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

That’s how I feel it should be. You can’t possibly know if the current restrictions will be in place when the trip is due to take place so the balance needs paying in the hope that there are no restrictions. Then if there are restrictions when you travel, the insurance should pay in full if the travel company refuse to refund.

Nationwide’s FAQ actually say if you book the holiday before the 16? March then you are covered for Coronavirus related trip cancellations, it makes no mention of only up to the value of the deposit.

Edited to add: very close scrutiny to the wording, shows that

If your trip is not due to start in the next 28 days, we cannot cover your claim if you cancel. You’ll need to think about whether you want to pay any more towards your trip. You can only claim for cancellation if the FCO advise against travel within 28 days of the start of your trip.

So, therefore not covered unless the FCO guidelines were introduced within 28 days before travel irrespective of when the balance is paid.

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I'm reading that as you can only cancel if the FCO are advising against travel and it's within 28 days of your departure not that the advice has to start within 28 days of departure.

ie. I can claim for my holiday departing on the 28th July any time from the 1st July providing the don't travel advice is still in place.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by TerryYa

I'm reading that as you can only cancel if the FCO are advising against travel and it's within 28 days of your departure not that the advice has to start within 28 days of departure.

ie. I can claim for my holiday departing on the 28th July any time from the 1st July providing the don't travel advice is still in place.

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Ah I see, that would be fine then. I don’t know if they try to make it complicated or I’m just dumb (probably the latter 😂 ) but it’s certainly confusing me