FBOTY#2003 RESULT!!!!!

In UK yes, but invested in Romania or the Baltic states, for instance, it
would stand a fair chance of adding to a chaps retirement fund.

 

From what I can pick up, there's a lot of price rising going on if the
locals know they're selling to an outsider.
Afaik, it's still possible to pick up some very nice cheap places in
Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, etc, if you take your time and
really have a look around on the ground.

One does, of course, always run the risk of being resented by locals
both as an outsider and as one who has priced locals out of a house.

 

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 13:21:28 +0000, Andy Bonwick

Exactly, hence my reply to TOG about people getting private medical
cover. He's fucked for life with this one as its an existing injury.

I'm not knocking Entwisi as he's done what he thinks is best. We know
little about his situation but I see no reason for that to prevent us
having a say. )

<AOL>

 

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 13:46:35 -0000, "Scraggy"

Certainly not something I'd look at but if it's a possibility then why
not. Property management in this country is bad enough for my liking.

 

Are you sure? I think I'd sooner invest money in a property over here
and then rent it out to bring in a semi-regular income as well as the
property increasing in value.

Obviously the amount mentioned in the original post wouldn't buy you
much in the way of property here but it might be enough for a deposit
on a buy to rent mortgage.

I'd still blow the money double quick because you can never have too
many fast motorbikes and foreign holidays.

 

I couldn't agree more - as I found out, when you're ill you want treatment
fast - my medical bills for last year's viral episode are approaching
£11,000, which to their credit, CWSA paid without a twitch, unlike Columbus
travel insurance who it would appear are a bunch of swerving thieving gits,
are refusing to pay out £400 on unused tickets as I was too ill to travel.

I'm learning some important lessons about this travel insurance malarky and
will report back when the argument has ended one way or another as it may
well prove very useful to others.

 

In case anyone thinks I'm slagging people then I'm not. I agree with
your comment above.

 

Shan't. What are going to do now?

 

Pick on someone sensitive?

 

Wassup?

 

Well for one thing, those Irish cunts have not refunded the VAT they
said they would.

 

Have you claimed the airport tax back?

Were they charter tickets?

Does your insurance company have the air tickets?

 

It was all done through CIE Tours. We completed 3 different sets of
paperwork. One was paid cash at the airport and the other two were
supposed to be sent via post. Those never arrived.

 

I believe naming a roundabout is the traditional next step.

 

You need to establish which type of tickets you should have received.
There are three main types.

E-tickets - these tickets are basically a receipt with a reference
number. Ask your travel agent to re-issue them which they can do free
of charge (to them).

Scheduled flight tickets - you have paid tax for these tickets.

Charter flight tickets - these are worthless.

You can tell what kind of flight tickets you would have had by looking
at the flight number. Scheduled flights start with two letters then
some numbers (BA 247, NZ 1, UL 2439...) Charter flights start with
three letters then some numbers (TCX 1234, FCA 47...) E-tickets are
only available on scheduled routes. E-tickets are cheaper than
Scheduled for the agent to issue so most IATA firms issue these now.
If you have unused E-tickets or Scheduled flight tickets you (your
insurance company) will be able to claim the airport tax back. If
they are charter tickets no tax refund can be claimed.

If your insurance company are sticking for the tickets then they may
believe that you travelled on your tickets and are trying to claim
fraudulently. As part of your insurance claim they will also claim
the tax back on the tickets (without telling you) to help offset their
costs. This is normal practice.

I think the question you need to ask is the following: Why don't you
have those two flight tickets? If they were posted to you please ask
your travel agent the date they sent the tickets and ask your post
office to do a trace on them. They won't find them, but it makes you
look serious and you have a contact there.

A more likely scenario will be that you told your travel agent that
you weren't going and they CANCELLED the tickets before they were
issued which cost them nothing or a percentage cost, but you have paid
for them in full and they've classed them as pure profit. They should
fill out an IATA TRA (Ticket Re-issue Authority) form and give that to
their ticketing agent (internal or external) so that you can have a
copy of both of the tickets, or at least a ticket receipt that you can
give to your insurance company. This will piss them off but it seems
perfectly reasonable that your travel agent should help you get proof
that the "lost" tickets actually existed and were actually a live
booking. If they are unwilling or cannot provide proof that the
tickets ever existed then it's likely they'll start fobbing you off or
bluffing and mentioning cancellation fees and their booking
conditions. You just need proof that the tickets existed - they are
your travel AGENT after all.

If you booked accommodation through them then it's also worth noting
that any company worth their salt will have a contract with the hotel
agent that means they can cancel their reservation with them at any
time up until 24 hours before departure without any fee whatsoever.
This means that if you called up a few days before you were going and
cancelled they would still have charged you the full rate for the
hotel and pocketed everything or just lost the money for the first
night (a no show). This is what you have travel insurance for.

I would suggest asking your insurance company what kind of proof they
need so they can refund your missing tickets. It's in their interest
not to pay out but in my experience most are happy to pay out if you
try to help them out.

Was the holiday/tour Curtailed or Cancelled? Curtailed = You opened
your front door to start your journey, perhaps took a few steps out,
then decided against it and went back in. Cancelled = You didn't open
your front door or attempt to make a trip to the airport.

Some holiday firms "self-insure" against Cancellations (did you get
the insurance from the same travel agent?) but they'll use an
insurance comapny for anything after you've shut your front door.

If you give me a bit more to go on I should be able to advise you a
bit further.

 

<snip info from someone who looks like they know wots wot>

My travel insurance [1] is renewed by direct debit on 12th September.

In May I book 4 cheapish tickets for the family to Barcelona with BA for end
of October costing £400 ex tax.

Mid August I feel a bit moby, end of August early part September I get a
rash, mid-end September I think I'm literally on my last legs. At the point
of the insurance renewal I was just feeling a bit shite and just assumed
whatecver it was would bugger off from whence it came. It never occured to
me that I wouldn't be going to Barcelona and therefore I feel I had nothing
to declare.

Columbus have refused to pay up for tickets as they say I was ill before
hand, didn't declare it to them on renewal, therefore up yours. They took
great delight in pointing out, that as I first felt ill before the renewal,
didn't notify them before the old policy expired and then declare it to them
(so they could presumably exclude it in the new policy), I wasn't covered. I
have been totally honest with them and think they are takibng the piss.

So it seems the moral of the story is:-

1: If you're annual insurance is running out between the time you book and
you travel, if you feel even remotely ill, put them immdeiately on notice
*before* your insurance runs out.
2: Don't use Columbus

[1] Provided through SWMBO's company [2], who won't be renewing.
[2] She's the MD - they employ 14 people who travel.

 

When you renew your policy your insurance comapny will wish to know
the following:

Are you on any ongoing medication (what's it for?)
Are you on any hospital waiting list?
Have you ever had any illness or condition in the past that may be a
material fact (Did you have a heart attack 8 years ago but there's
nothing wrong with you now?)

Have you had treatment from a doctor in the last twelve months for a
serious illness? (Ask them what they define a reportable illness is.
A cold? Falling over and hurting your finger? Hang over? Headaches?
Sleeplessness? High blood pressure/cholesterol? Cancer? Where does
'serious' start?)

I think you need to look at your contract with the insurance company
and see what they would have liked you to have done.

The general rule is if you've got annual insurance and you book a
holiday as soon as you suspect that you may not be able to travel you
should contact your GP and ask him if you're fit to travel. If you
are then great - tell your insurance company. They may ask for a
certificate ("I certify that so and so is fit to travel on such and
such a date, signed...") from your GP stating that you're fit to
travel.

Were you suffering from any specific or diagnosed illness when the
insurance was renewed? Feeling a bit 'ugh' isn't specific and you
could just be having a bad week. When did you seek consultation with
your GP relating to the rash? Before your old insurance ran out? If
you did then you are in the wrong for not telling your insurance
company.

The only way I think you can 'win' out of this would be to see your
doctor and explain the situation to him. Ask if he is willing to
write you a letter retrospectively saying that on the date that you
booked the tickets you were indeed fit to travel. He doesn't need to
fib, just date it as today and say "in March thingy was fine and
there's no reason he couldn't travel." I wonder if your insurance
underwriters would be willing to accept this as proof? Ask 'em. If a
doctor's certificate saying you were fit to travel isn't proof enough
then that might be unfair, but they could still be in the right with
the renewal date thing.

If you don't get any joy then please ask them for a copy of their Set
Complaints Procedure for insurance claims and ask them if they work
under the Association of British Insurers (ABI) code of conduct and
ask if they're compliant with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) -
they must reply to your enquiry relating to an insurance complaint
under FSA regulations within 24 hours and if they cannot then the
query becomes 'reportable' to the FSA who need to know why the query
hasn't been sorted. None of this paragraph may change anything, but
it will let them know you are serious, especially if you have a note
from your GP saying you WERE fit to travel when you paid for the air
tickets.

Don't tell them that you knew you were ill for ages and then go and
renew your insurance without telling them about this and don't book a
holiday without medical advice and then just leave it.

Well, obviously.

No underwriter likes to pay out.

 

No, mate; it's the VAT on all the shite the missus bought while we were
there.

 

It was the subject of a program on the box quite recently. Admittedly the
investment sum was £100k giving an estimated return of ca £250-80k over 10
years. Well worth a little research IMO. There are few enough emerging
markets in easy hop distance of UK these days.

And Ding.

 

When you renew your policy your insurance comapny will wish to know

At the time of renewal I was *really* looking forward to going - it never
occured to me I might be on my last legs (they thought I possibly had
cancer) and that I may not be able to travel.

Noted - I'll ask him.

TBH I just felt off colour, so could see absolutely no reason as to declare
it

All part of the game I suppose.

Anyway, *TYVM* for this, all duly noted and the sport shall commence. Either
way it's going to cost them a lot more than than the original claim in lost
business and administration time.