Covid forced us to axe our honeymoon, then Axa vetoed the claim
WE HAD to cancel our Kenyan honeymoon due to Covid-19. The safari camp is keeping our $1,400 (£1,142 at the time) deposit, so we claimed against our Axa travel insurance to get this back. But Axa has rejected the claim, even though it reassured me I was covered before we cancelled.
It says this is because it was a package holiday, which simply isn’t the case. We booked our international flights and the camp independently. The flights have been refunded by Emirates and Qatar Airways.
We complained and a senior member of the team called to say that, after reviewing the case, they still deemed it to be a package holiday.
This seems to be because we paid for the camp and the transfers from Nairobi airport to the savannah landing strip on the same invoice. How else are we meant to get there? Axa has paid £75 compensation.
WRIGGLE, wriggle, squirm, squirm. Is there nothing insurance companies won’t do in order to avoid paying a travel claim?
It’s not enough that you have lost your honeymoon, Axa chose to render its travel insurance worthless, too.
In its statement, the firm blames the pressures of the pandemic. But this really won’t wash because your case was supposedly reviewed by a senior team member.
Your invoice shows you booked your accommodation and internal flights to the camp through the safari company in Nairobi. Any sensible person would agree that this is not a package holiday, but one element of a large, independently assembled trip. Yet Axa stuck by this absurd contention.
After my i ntervention, Axa promptly contacted you to say it would pay the claim after all.
Here’s its statement in full: ‘We are very sorry for the confusion caused with this claim and have now settled it in full.
‘During the first national lockdown, our travel teams received five times as many calls as usual, which put pressure on our efforts to resolve often complex claims.
‘That being said, we appreciate our service fell short, which is why we are also offering £100 in compensation.’
MY MOTHER, 88, has been trying to pay for her over-75s TV licence, but the name and address on it do not match.
I emailed TV Licensing on October 4, but did not receive a response. I phoned ten days later and was told the address had been altered and was now matched to my mother’s name.
Someone from the over-75s section of the organisation said he could not take payment over the phone until my mother had received some forms, but these have not arrived. When I tried to pay online, it said her details are not recognised.
She is still getting letters saying she is breaking the law.
P. W., Cumbria.
DEALING with this type of incompetence can be exasperating. Anyone who often assists an older relative will sympathise with your plight. It seems an ‘administrative error’ led to the licence being cancelled, which was why you could not pay for it online.
A new licence has now been set up. Your mother will be able to join the 75+ plan to pay in smaller instalments from June 2021, when the licence expires.
A spokesman says: ‘ We are sorry for the inconvenience and concern caused while trying to set up a licence for Mrs W.’
I MOVED a year ago and ported a Nationwide mortgage from a previous property. I also added a top-up mortgage to this.
On December 2, 2019, my old mortgage monthly payment of £942.85 came out of my account — a mistake, I think.
Then on December 12, the two mortgage payments for the new house came out — £762.17 and £1,049.05. The £1,049.05 payment bounced as I hadn’t planned to leave that much in my account that month.
Nationwide didn’t notify me of the bounced payment, and it wasn’t until autumn this year, when my credit report suggested I had missed a payment, that I phoned the building society.
Now my credit rating is taking a bashing. I’m happy to pay if I owe anything.
G. B., Sutton, London.
NATIONWIDE did indeed take a payment on December 2, but then refunded £1,007.88 on December 12 — this included an overpayment from your redemption.
But there was still not enough in your account to cover both new mortgage payments on December 13. This led to arrears of £ 1,049.05 on one account. Nationwide sent a statement in January which highlighted this.
on April 3 you were granted a three-month payment holiday. Nationwide wrote on July 3 showing what your new monthly payment would be when this ended, and noting the arrears.
In August, Nationwide attempted to phone you on four consecutive days, after it wrote saying it needed to discuss your account.
You finally called on october 21, and on November 11 made the payment to bring your account up to date. Nationwide hasn’t done anything wrong. However, in view of your previous good payment history, it has updated your credit file as a gesture of goodwill.
Can I suggest in future you take a little more time to read financial statements and letters?