Problems with claiming travel insurance

gary the great

I bought travel insurance from blue before i went away.

I had my wallet stolen with 350quid in it, my cc cards etc

I immediately reported it to the Aussie cops and got a crike report number and a little stamped card as i reciept that i reported it. But they want a full police report - the aussie cops wouldnt give me one though. They say they dont give police reports and the police report number was all they would give me.

Now blue wont pay out cos i dont have a police report. But i could not get one from the cops, its impossible they just dont give reports out etc

So what can i do?

DubLegs

Can you find anything online that states they don't give out police reports? Though maybe a long shot or help ya!

gary the great

All i have is a load of emails from the Aussie cops with their progress in the investigation, but nothing stating what actually happened. Will have a look now online though

ted1

whats the excess on your insurance . you may only be entitled to 100 euro back

gary the great

ted1 wrote: »

whats the excess on your insurance . you may only be entitled to 100 euro back

i waived the excess, paid extra, so im entitled to the full amount.

I just sent an email to the aussie cop that dealt with me asking him to confirm in the email that they dont do police reports. Ill then print this out and send it to them.

Colonel Sanders

AFAIK under Insurance law it is not possible to enforce an insurance condition with which the claimant cannot reasonably be expected to comply. Seeing as the oz police wouldn't give out a police report this may be such a policy condition.

Must say from personal experience (and stories from others) travel insurance seems to be very hard to claim small amounts under. I had trouble getting a claim out of VHI until I wrote a VERY snotty letter and threatened them with the insurance ombudsman (they had dealt with my claim under the incorrect section of the policy and I'd been told on the phone that it didn't matter as my claim wasn't valid anyhow. It was. It most certainly wasn't excluded under the Ts & Cs of the policy).

gary the great

Colonel Sanders wrote: »

AFAIK under Insurance law it is not possible to enforce an insurance condition with which the claimant cannot reasonably be expected to comply. Seeing as the oz police wouldn't give out a police report this may be such a policy condition.

Must say from personal experience (and stories from others) travel insurance seems to be very hard to claim small amounts under. I had trouble getting a claim out of VHI until I wrote a VERY snotty letter and threatened them with the insurance ombudsman (they had dealt with my claim under the incorrect section of the policy and I'd been told on the phone that it didn't matter as my claim wasn't valid anyhow. It was. It most certainly wasn't excluded under the Ts & Cs of the policy).

After a lot or reasearch (im not dropping this), I found out that I can obtain a crime report under the FOI act - at a cost of 220 Oz dollors plus postage.About (140euro). So i rang the insurance company to tell them and they told me to get the report or they aernt paying out! I said the claim is for 250euro, how could they reasonably expect me to pay 140+ getting a report and htey just said "we need the report or we dont pay out". I have every other letter from banks confiming cancelled cards, bank statements showing the amount i withdrew a few hours before I was robbed, a crime report card, stamped and signed by the Oz cops with a crime report number plus a load of other stuff so they cant get me on anything else.

Ridiculous this is. Whats the point in having insurance if genuine cases are discarded due to burecuacy?

Barlow07

Lesson from this is Dont get insurance with BLUE. I was reading your post and it seems mad the lengths that you have to go and prove you where robbed.

Just out of interest do you still have a copy of the Terms and Conditions you received when you signed for your insurance? I think it may be cheaper to ask for legal advice if you really wanted to claim.

yellowellie

Hi Gary,
I was robbed in Oz as well a few years ago. I rang the insurance company at home at the time to get info about claiming and what I should do - can't rem the company now but it wasn't Blue and I too was told that they needed a full police report.

I said it to the Oz police at the time and they said no way should I have to get that for the insurance company, that it was the insurance company's responsibility to source this themselves. Once I had the number from the police file that was all I needed they said.

Although they weren't pleased about it, the insurance company had to accept that when I rang them back. I told them I had tried to get the report and that it was impossible so they had no choice. And I was in Oz while all this was going on.

When I came home and tried to actually make the claim, the insurance company again tried to get a report off me. I said no-can-do so they went ahead with the claim.

Unfortunately, I had to cover an excess and I lost a lot more than you - more cash, new discman, digital camera (including New Zealand photos!) and worst of all my credit card -replacement card was an absolute nightmare in Asia as it wasn't electronic and had to be swiped the old way and hardly any banks had the old equipment, I walked miles trying to find suitable banks... I digress...

Still, definitely persevere, they're just trying to fob you off. If you can't get a report, you can't get one. I definitely wouldn't go paying for the report under FOI and next time you speak to the insurance company don't mention that option cos they might not have it on record that you mentioned it.

Best of luck!

Colonel Sanders

Contact the ombudsman. My guess would be if this went as far as the small claims court that a judge would find in your favour seeing as you have gone to all reasonable lengths to satisfy what are pretty onerous policy conditions.