MY SON WAS TOO SICK TO FLY... CAN I GET A REFUND?

QMy son was extremely ill and was unable to fly as booked with Ryanair on April 6 of this year. I contacted Ryanair’s care centre on April 5, after which I modified the outbound flight. He was discharged on April 7. The modification of the flight cost me €427 in total. I have also uploaded an ‘unfit-totravel’ letter and also a letter confirming his discharge date as documentary evidence. However, I have been refused a refund. What can I do?

ARyanair’s website states: ‘In the event of… serious illness… the reservations of the affected customer and anyone travelling on the same booking reference may, at our discretion, be refunded… we can also offer to change flight dates and we will waive any restriction or fee once suitable documentary evidence is sent to us before the date of travel.’

I contacted the airline on your behalf and it basically said the same thing.

So the problem is that a full refund is ‘at the discretion’ of Ryanair, which is not noted for generosity. However, note that the second part of Ryanair’s online statement says ‘we will waive any restriction’, which may not get it off the hook so easily. You could take a claim with the Small Claims Court. An application can be compoleted online at courts.ie for a cost of €25.

It seems that whether Ryanair actually provides refunds in these cases depends on what it regards as a serious illness. You are not alone in having difficulty getting a refund. Another passenger, whose 90-year-old mother became ill when flying into Ireland, had a similar experience to you. She wrote into our UK sister newspaper’s website Thisismoney. co.uk to complain that the airline refused her a refund. It didn’t regard as serious a chest infection in a 90-year-old woman, although a doctor had told her not to fly.

Ryanair refunds on the basis of serious illness are not entirely a myth, though, as another reader wrote in to say it was the only airline out of three to provide refunds when his wife was diagnosed with lung cancer and couldn’t fly.

Aer Lingus promises on its website only to refund the cost of tickets in the event of a bereavement but it is understood it may offer refunds over serious illness cancellations on a case-by-case basis.

QIs holiday insurance worth having? And should I go for annual cover?

AI’m always suspicious about lowvalue insurance. It’s likely that the premium you pay will be gobbled up in profits, administration and marketing costs rather than providing real value. And, as you say, your health insurance provides cover when abroad. There are also annoying excesses.

However, having said all that, the cost is low, if you are savvy. And it does provide some valuable cover in the event of cancellation or curtailment of your holiday, for example. It’s also definitely worthwhile for winter sports holidays where injuries are common.

Annual plans can prove to be great value if you travel more than two times a year. But look closely at the terms and conditions as well to make sure that you get a good deal.

The most basic cover may be appropriate if you’re going off on a single cheap holiday.

But you might want to upgrade to a premier package if you’re jetting off to the Maldives for a month, to make sure that you’re fully covered.

Here are some examples of what holiday cover can cost:

Multitrip.com provides basic cover from €10.79 for a one-week trip to Europe, or €17.77 per year. Its premier package costs from €29.99 per year. Two years’ cover can be had for €31.99.

Coverforyou.ie quotes single-trip cover from €6 and multi-trip annual cover from €25.99. Winter sports cover is quoted from €10.99.

The AA also has annual multi-trip cover from €24.99 and special deals for members.

Blue Insurance offers annual cover from €23.95.

All of these quotes are based on trips to Europe with private health insurance in place.