'I wasn't given a flight refund despite paying nearly £200 for cancellation cover'
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Dear Which?,
I recently purchased three flights from the online travel agent Opodo.
When I made my booking, I paid £196 for Opodo's 'cancel for any reason guarantee'.
This stated that in the event of needing to cancel I'd get my money back minus a 20% excess, regardless of the reason for the cancellation.
When my husband fell ill, I phoned Opodo to cancel all three flights, but only one was refunded immediately.
Seven months and eight phone calls later, I still haven't had a refund, despite Opodo's terms stating refunds are typically made within 10 working days.
Can you help?
Martina Rohr, London
Put to rights
Tali Ramsey, consumer rights expert at Which?, says:
Insurance policies and guarantees are meant to provide peace of mind, so it's disappointing to hear you've had so many problems making a claim.
If you need to cancel a flight, it's best to contact the airline in the first instance to discuss your options. If you go on to make an insurance claim and it's rejected, follow the insurer's complaints procedure to request a review. The insurer will then have eight weeks to respond.
If you're still unhappy with the outcome, you'll need to ask for a letter of deadlock and escalate the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman for adjudication.
Thankfully in this case, it didn't come to that. When we contacted Opodo, it said it originally asked Martina to speak to the airlines operating her flights to try and get a full refund, rather than the refund minus a 20% excess that she would be eligible for under the guarantee.
Opodo admitted failings in dealing with Martina's case and gave her a full refund. It said: 'We accept that we made a mistake in not requesting a refund as quickly as we should have done.
'For that reason, we are happy to reimburse the customer for our service and product fees, which are usually non-refundable, and return the amounts not refunded by the airlines under their policies as a gesture of goodwill. We hope this provides a positive resolution for our customer.'
Need to know
- Read our guide on travel insurance.
- Understand your rights in the event of a flight cancellation or delay.
- Download our letter to request compensation for cancelled flights.
Get in touch. If you need help with a consumer rights problem, email us at yourstory@which.co.uk
Please be aware that we cannot help with, or respond to every email that we receive. The inbox is monitored periodically during office hours, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
