British Airways in travel insurance row over IT outage

BA passengers attempting to claim compensation for their bank holiday travel disruption face further chaos as the airline battles with insurance companies over who is liable to pick up the bill. In the aftermath of the computer systems outage, which affected 75,000 passengers worldwide, the airline promised to compensate customers who had incurred “disruption expenses” including the cost of hotels, meals and phone calls. This is on top of the EU compensation worth up to E600 per passenger for delayed or cancelled flights. However, BA customers attempting to claim for non-flight related expenses online are being told to claim on their travel insurance in the first instance. This has prompted fury from consumer campaigners, who say this could leave them out of pocket if they have an excess on their policy. Before they can enter any details of their claim, BA’s online compensation form asks customers if they had travel insurance for the disrupted journey. If the passenger answers Yes, BA then asks if they have claimed, or intend to make a claim, on their travel insurance. If the passenger answers No, the BA website prompts: “You should make a claim with your travel insurer in the first instance. If you have expenses that either you were not successful in claiming or which are not covered by your policy, you may claim for only these expenses in the form below.” BA’s website does not make it clear if the airline will refund the cost of any excess on passengers’ travel insurance policies.<br/>