The following information is intended as a helpful guide to your policy cover, but this does not include the full terms and conditions. These can be found in your policy document: Click here to view our policy documents

Missed or Delayed Departures - what do you need to know

Understanding your policy documents when purchasing travel insurance can seem like a daunting task. For many of us, it can feel like we’re jetting away on holiday without actually knowing what our travel insurance policy covers.

We always encourage you as our customers to read and re-read your policy documents to give you peace of mind when travelling that your travel insurance could cover you if something unexpected happens.

So, to help make understanding those policy documents that little bit easier, we’ve been taking a look at a very common type of claim – Missed or Delayed Departures.

What are Missed or Delayed Departures?

To understand how Missed or Delayed Departure cover works and therefore when to make a claim, it’s important to understand what these terms mean. You can find a full list of all our key terms in the Glossary of our policy documents but we’ve included a brief version in the dropdown below:

Glossary of terms

Departure Point

We class a departure point as:

The airport, international train station or port where:

the outward journey of your trip begins;
your return journey back home begins; and
any connecting transport during your outward or return journey leaves from.

Excess

The deduction we will make from the full amount we would otherwise pay under this policy. The excess applies to each insured person, for each section, and for each incident leading to a claim. For example, a couple who both have personal possessions stolen from their bag, and who both have to pay medical expenses during the same trip, will have a total of four excesses deducted. Two of these will be for the two claims under section 5 (Personal possessions) and two will be for the two claims under section 2 (Emergency medical and associated expenses).

Home

The place you usually live in the UK, the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney and Herm only) or the Isle of Man.

Trip

A trip that takes place during the period of insurance which begins when you leave home and ends when you get back home or to a hospital or nursing home in your home country, whichever is earlier.

For annual multi-trip cover

You will only be covered if you’re aged 65 or under on the date your policy starts.
The trip must be for no longer than 31 days. There is absolutely no cover for trips which are longer than 31 days.
Trips within your home country must be for at least two nights and:
Have pre-booked transport or accommodation; and
Be more than 25 miles from your home (unless they involve a sea crossing).
Adults insured on the same policy may travel independently. Children aged 17 or under may only travel independently if travelling with at least one adult aged 18 or over and with the full knowledge and consent of an insured parent or guardian.

For single-trip cover:

You will only be covered if you’re aged 80 or under at the date your policy was issued.
Any other trip which begins after you return home is not covered.
No part of a trip which is booked to last longer than 180 days is covered.
You will only be covered for taking part in winter-sports activities if the extra premium has been paid and this is shown in your insurance confirmation email.

For backpacker cover:

You will only be covered if you’re aged 50 or under at the date your policy was issued.
Any other trip which begins after you return home is not covered.
No part of a trip which is booked to last longer than 365 days is covered.
You will only be covered for taking part in winter-sports activities if the extra premium has been paid and this is shown in your insurance confirmation email.

What is covered?

Missed Departures

Our travel insurance policies cover the cost of extra accommodation and transport which you have to pay to get to your destination or back home if you do not get to the departure point by the time shown in your travel itinerary because:

Public transport (including scheduled flights) does not run to its timetable; or
The vehicle you’re travelling in has an accident or breaks down.

Delayed Departures

Our travel insurance policies will pay compensation if the transport you’re booked on is delayed by 12 hours or more at its departure point from the time shown in your travel plan because of:

A serious fire, storm or flood damage at the departure point;
Industrial action;
Bad weather;
Mechanical breakdown of the transport; or
A mechanical or structural fault in the vehicle.

What's not covered?

Although we hope our policies work well for as many customers as possible, there are some circumstances when we can’t cover you. This includes:

Missed Departure – what’s not covered?

Any claim where you did not:
Get a letter from the public transport provider (if appropriate) confirming that the service did not run on time;
Get confirmation of the delay from the company or authority who went to the accident or breakdown (if appropriate) affecting the vehicle you were travelling in; or
Allow enough time in your travel plans for delays which could reasonably be expected.
Any delay caused by a riot, civil commotion, strike or industrial action which began or was announced before you took on this policy or booked your trip (whichever is later).
Public transport not running on time because of a riot, civil commotion, strike or industrial action which began or was announced before you left home, or if you could reasonably have made other travel arrangements.

Delayed Departure - what's not covered?

Anything caused by you not checking in at the departure point when you should have done.
Missed connections.
Compensation, unless you get a letter from the airline, railway company or shipping line giving the
Any delay caused by a riot, civil commotion, strike or industrial action which began or was announced before you took out this policy or booked your trip (whichever is later).
An aircraft, cross-channel train or sea vessel you were booked to travel on being temporarily or permanently withdrawn from service by the carrier or on the recommendation or order of any government, civil aviation authority, port authority, rail authority or other similar authority in any country.

If you abandon the trip – what’s not covered?

The excess shown in the schedule.
More than the lowest market value of equivalent accommodation, transport charges and other travel expenses, if paid for them using frequent-flyer points, Avios, loyalty-card points, vouchers or another similar scheme.

Conditions for making a claim

When making a claim, there are conditions you need to be aware of before you start the process. In doing so, you ensure your claim is accurate and all the relevant documentation is provided.

Remember these conditions are specific to Missed Departure and Delayed Departure sections of cover, but there are general conditions (page 19 and 20) and claim conditions (page 21) found in the policy documents which also apply. To view all of our policy documents please click here.

Missed Departures (Section 8 of your policy documents)

You must give us a detailed account of the circumstances causing you to miss your departure, together with supporting evidence from the public transport provider or the breakdown company or other authority attending the private vehicle you were travelling in.

Delayed Departures (Section 9 of your policy documents)

You must provide written confirmation from the airline, rail company, shipping line or handing agent of the scheduled and actual departure times, and why the departure was delayed.

More information

Our aim with this blog post is, as always to educate as best we can so our customers have all the answers they might need when choosing their insurance, working on a claim or checking on the details before travelling. If you still have questions about delayed or missed departures, then please do get in touch or check our links below:

View our policy documents

Read our FAQs