Insurance Help

[gpullan]

Hi All,

I need some help. Scenario is as follows:

- Booked and paid for flights in February for travel 27th October and 10th November.[msnsmile]

- Found out we're expecting a baby due on or around 1st December.

- Virgin Atlantic accept you for travel up to 36 weeks pregnant if all is ok with pregnancy. (Will be 37 weeks for the return flight)

- Not been to doctors yet as we just found out over the weekend.

We're thinking of taking out an annual travel insurance policy to cover a change in flights to before 36 weeks as we are not covered for canellation with the Virgin flights we booked.

Is this possible?

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated!! Even other ways round it other than losing £3000 on flights!!

Thanks in advance

[blott]

Congratulations on your news.

Insurance companies speculate that the thing you're insuring against hasn't/doesn't happen and of which you're unaware at the time of taking out the insurance (unless you've declared it and they have agreed cover) so I don't quite see how you can get cover for something that already has happened?

You'd need to declare the pregnancy (as with any other medical condition) when taking out the policy and arrange specific cover for that otherwise any subsequent claim would be dismissed.

We advise our guests to always, always take out comprehensive insurance before they book any part of a trip abroad.

Plus... if Virgin accept passengers up to 36 weeks, how will your partner/wife return home if she'll be 37 weeks at the time of her return journey?

[gpullan]

We are working on the basis that if we had booked the flights and insurance say last week then we genuinely wouldn't have been aware of the pregnancy but it would have still been there so would they not have had to cover us once we found out??

Exactly blott, my wife would not be able to fly home at 37 weeks which is why we need to change our flights to earlier in the year so that we can still go.

Thanks for the congratulations, it doesn't feel that way at the moment, more shock than anything!!

[msmiff]

It's a long shot, but your best advice is probably to contact Virgin as soon as possible, explain the situation & see if they will oblige!
Guess it depends on the sympathy of who you contact, but we've got flights moved on a previous occasion.
Agree with Blott that insurance won't help....

[gpullan]

So did Virgin change your flights without charge??

If they do then that would be the best solution, it's just that it says on the e-ticket that the flights are non flexible!

Cheers

[steph_goodrum]

Congratulations on your unexpected news. Unfortunately as Blott says if you don't have insurance now then it's too late to get it for a known event.
Your best bet is asking Virgin if there is any way they will change the flights, but even so unless you booked insurance at the time of booking the flights, that could stil prove a problem unless it is within the next few months as anywhere near due date they are going to be reluctant because it is very expensive should the baby happen to arrive in the US.

Unfortunately your situation may serve as a reminder to people to make sure insurance is in place either before booking or as soon as you know there is a significant loss if you are unable to proceed with the booking. The other option might be to ask them if they will allow you to defer the flights until say March next year (they only book up to 330 days in advance) and take baby with you.

Regarding if you had booked flights last week then I think you'll find the wording is something like "if you could not have been reasonably expected to know when booking the insurance", of course with pregnancy it's difficult because some people go through and don't know until they are about to deliver so everyone is different.

A phone call to Virgin should clarify it but would double check on the insurance side as well before you book it in case they say for example they will cover you to 24 weeks or some such other date, so you know where you stand.

[clairemca]

Hi Garry,

Congratulations!!

I wanted to get a refund on my Virgin tickets but when I phoned up they told me they were refundable, but they did tell me I could change the date and destination if I was going to use the tickets in the next year. You would have to pay the difference if the tickets were dearer. I would gave them a ring and see what they say.

Claire

[Neatfeat]

We had Virgin e-tickets that were non-refundable/no changes accepted and they changed our flight dates at no cost after a situation arose. I think it depends who you get on the other end of the line but we were told they can be changed at a cost of £50 per ticket.

[wrpac00]

Congrats.

Even if you had booked your insurance weeks ago you would still have had to tell them about the pregnancy. Any and all things have to be notified to them up to the date of travel and would be deemed and pre-existing.

[lafifille]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by wrpac00
Congrats.

Even if you had booked your insurance weeks ago you would still have had to tell them about the pregnancy. Any and all things have to be notified to them up to the date of travel and would be deemed and pre-existing.
[/quote]

I think he meant that if he had booked an insurance [u]before</u> she became pregnant it might have helped. But I'm not sure pregnancy would be taken into account, as it is something you can "avoid" nowadays, and when you read the small prints they always seem to find an excuse not to pay your money back anyway.

I would take my chances with VA and be very flexible about any solution they'd be ready to offer. Ask for a manager if the person you talk to doesn't seem ready to help. But I've called them a couple of times and they've been very nice, even though my problems were not as bad as yours.

Congratulations anyway, when the shock wears off (and you've found a solution to this problem) you'll be thrilled I'm sure [clap].