Isn’t This Why You Buy Insurance?
There’s been yet another temporary closing of the tunnel beneath the English Channel and it’s of particular interest to me because I was caught up in that same problem last summer.
This latest disturbance also involved a number of migrants—reports say about a hundred—but this time they actually managed to enter the tunnel itself from the French side and head off on the way to England. They got about 10 miles into the tunnel, about a third of the way to England, before the French police stopped them.
Understandably, the media focus is on the migrants and their assault on the tunnel. Certainly it’s a dramatic story and the desperation of the people to reach England, in some instances at the risk of their lives, is compelling. But almost completely overlooked and unreported are the problems confronting the literally thousands of Eurostar passengers affected by the temporary shutting down of rail traffic through the tunnels. To me, that’s also a story because the passengers are not only dealing with a major inconvenience, but in virtually every instance, they are incurring unexpected expenses that are often considerable.
In my case, because I was unable to catch another train until the following day, I had to pay for an unscheduled night in a Paris hotel. But I was also a no-show at the hotel in London where I had made a reservation many weeks earlier. My total extra cost was about $600. But what if I had been scheduled on a flight back to the U.S. that night? I sat next to three people on the train to London the following day and that was their situation. They had missed their flight back to Chicago, so the demonstration by the migrants was going to end up costing them several thousand dollars.
Weeks ago, I spoke with someone at Travel Guard, the company from whom I bought my travel insurance policy, and was told that the policy didn’t cover this kind of an event. I’m still trying to get documentation from Eurostar confirming that I was on one of the trains sent back to Paris. When it comes, I’m going to file a formal claim and will let you know what happens. I am prepared to be really pissed.
I have made such a claim as I am out £300 for my two day trip to Paris that I was never able to take. The Eurostar train I was on made it as far as Folkestone before turning back to London around 1 am on the 1st of September, they offered me 50% of my fare in refund but I am still out the other 50% and my hotel in Paris.. my train insurance has denied my claim on the basis that my train was not cancelled, did not depart late and I did not miss the train due to other travel disruption; I am so angry and I am appealing.. but do let me know how you get on with your claim..
In 2013, I purchased a Swiss rail pass for trains, ferries and cable cars. Half way through using it, I managed to drop it while rushing to photograph a steam engine on a rack railway. I searched but never found it I kept all the tickets which I was forced to purchase for the rest of my journey and sent them to my insurance company. I was overjoyed when they refunded me in NZ dollars the amount in Euro I had paid. That was due to my own carelessness. I do not want to find out what the response would be in your case but do recommend 1Cover if living in Australia and New Zealand.