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19 May 2012 | Sign In
DVT, Ryanair and insurance rip-offs
Falling ill just before you fly can prove both difficult and expensive.
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Kayte Platts Wednesday 20 October 2010 |
We all look forward to that trip away but what happens when issues of health prevent you from flying off to your destination? As one of our readers recently discovered, making an insurance claim can be an expensive and rather inconvenient prospect.
The retired couple had to cancel their Ryanair flight to Spain this summer when one of them developed Deep Vein Thrombosis three days before they were due to go.
They attempted to claim the £340.00 cost of their fares from their insurance with the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The couple first had to pay £15 for a doctor’s letter and an incredible £34 for a Ryanair letter confirming they did not take outgoing and ingoing flights. Ryanair climed this because there were two separate bookings. They then had to pay the first £50.00 of the claim, bringing the total cost up to £149.00
This was a genuine claim and the couple found it tough being put through these ‘hoops’. This was on top of their very real heath worries.
A Royal Bank of Scotland insurance representative confimed to flights.co.uk that they were only following standard industry practice and did not pay for letters needed in support of the claim. They went on to say that they also do not cover credit card fees but do pay for other fees and charges including baggage and checkin fees.
How do Ryanair justify charging so much for a letter? They say that their fares are generally cheaper than most! Surely, even a budget airline can generate a computerised letter from their booking system for a lot less than £34?
| Comments | Post a comment |
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Dominic Shepard 27 October 2010, 02:14PM | |
How awful for this couple to have to go through all of this. It must have been frightening enough coping with DVT let alone all the stress incurred trying to claim back what is rightfully theirs. | |
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Matt, Bromley, Kent 16 November 2010, 02:12PM | |
The thought of anything similar happening makes you wonder if its worth flying aboud and especially having to fight back to get what is rightfully yours. | |
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I really do hate this rip-off mentality. It starts with "we can save you 30% on your insurance". Well, if you take out 30% of the cover then that is not unsurprising. | |
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Christine 17 February 2012, 11:54AM | |
I to have a terrible experience with trying to claim from my Ryanair insurance. | |
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Kitty 10 March 2012, 04:52PM | |
Never, never again a Ryanair travel-insurance! | |
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