September Newsletter

Welcome to our September newsletter. In this issue what can you do if Ryanair cancel your flight. Aviva enhances it's critical illness cover. Turning water into wine and Pre-Paid funeral plans.

Why is Ryanair cancelling flights and what can you do?

If you are expecting to be affected by the airline’s decision to cancel many flights over the next six weeks, arm yourself with these facts

Why is Ryanair doing this?

The official line from Ryanair’s Facebook page is that “We have messed up in the planning of pilot holidays and we’re working hard to fix that.” Ryanair has also fallen victim to pilots defecting to Norwegian, which has taken 140 staff from its Irish rival this year already.

Of the 4,500 comments on Ryanair’s Facebook page on Monday morning, the most popular was: “Publish all cancelled flights now for the next six weeks so we can make alternative arrangements and stop treating your customers like idiots.” Ryanair’s share price fell significantly – by about 3% – on Monday morning, knocking about &500m off its stock market valuation.

Is my flight cancelled?

Ryanair was informing customers at short notice about cancellations. But now it has published a full list of cancellations on its website and anyone with a reservation for a cancelled flight will be informed by email.

Ryanair has told passengers: “Your flight is operating as scheduled unless you have received a cancellation email.”

My flight has been cancelled. I need to get to my destination. What do I do?

EU rules state: “You have the right to be rerouted to your final destination shown on your ticket at the earliest opportunity under comparable transport conditions or rebooking at a later date if that is more convenient for you.”

The trouble is, the meaning of “earliest opportunity” has not been tested in courts. If Ryanair is able to put you on another of its flights later in the day to the same destination, it is almost certainly fulfilling its obligations. But if, say, you are heading to Barcelona for a long weekend on Friday, and it says it won’t get you on a flight until Sunday, then it is likely to be breaching the EU rules.

Michael O’Leary, the Ryanair chief executive, said on Monday the company would not book passengers on to rival airlines to get them to their destination on time.

If Ryanair refuses to re-route you when seats are available on, say, BA or easyJet, then you can purchase a ticket yourself and send the receipt to Ryanair and request a refund. But there is no guarantee Ryanair will pay. EasyJet, for example, argues that if it can fly you to your destination within 48 hours, then it will not allow a switch to a rival airline.

I’ve been cancelled and that’s it – I’ve not been offered a re-routing

If that is the case, then Ryanair is in breach of EU rules, and you are entitled to be reimbursed for the cost of buying another flight. As the EU website states: “If the air carrier does not offer you the choice between reimbursement and re-routing, but decides unilaterally to reimburse your original ticket, you are entitled to an additional reimbursement of the price difference with the new ticket (under comparable transport conditions).”

What compensation must Ryanair pay?

The general rule is that an airline must refund the cost of the ticket plus pay €250 (&220) compensation for flights of up to 1,500km, and €400 (&353) for flights of 1,500km to 3,500km. Ryanair does not have any routes over 3,500km.

However, if the flight is cancelled with more than two weeks’ notice, then Ryanair does not have to pay the EU compensation, and is only obliged to return the cost of the ticket.

If the flight is cancelled within seven to 14 days of the departure date, you are entitled to compensation unless Ryanair offers you re-routing that departs within two hours of the departure time.

If travellers are informed of a cancellation within seven days, the wording of the EU legislation says the €250 or €400 must be paid “unless they are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival”.

My return flight home has been cancelled. Will Ryanair pay for hotels?

It certainly should. Airlines in the EU have to offer free meals and refreshments, plus a hotel in cases where a stay is necessary. But keep all receipts, and note that alcohol is not covered. The EU rules say: “While waiting to continue your trip, you may have the right to meals and refreshments, access to communication, accommodation (if necessary) and transportation to and from the accommodation.”

My Airbnb is non-cancellable. Will Ryanair pay for that?

No. You will have to seek compensation via your travel insurance. Airlines fight any attempt to pay “consequential” losses for things such as hotel bookings and car hire. Lawyer Coby Benson of flight compensation specialists Bott & Co said: “If the flight is cancelled, there is nothing a passenger can do to recover consequential losses. So you have to try your travel insurer instead.”

Can I cancel and rebook with another airline while Ryanair is dithering around?

This would be a risky move. It’s appalling that so many passengers are in the dark about their travel plans, but if you cancel now, and the Ryanair flight does go ahead, you will not receive any refunds or compensation.

Twitter is littered with complaints from travellers devastated by the Ryanair cancellations under the #Ryanaircancellations. One bride-to-be posted about her wedding plans – with 30 flights booked for friends next week. Like thousands of others, she is furious that Ryanair has failed to publish a full list of cancelled flights.

Can I take Ryanair to court for my losses?

Good luck with that. While EU rules give passengers some compensation rights, they also allow Ryanair to domicile its business in Ireland and demand that any legal case go through the Irish courts. “Ryanair argues that the Irish courts have exclusive jurisdiction. We simply can’t issue court proceedings against them in England,” said Benson.

Affected passengers could try the Irish small claims court, or the European small claims procedure. But the latter is extremely risky; if you lose, you will have to pay Ryanair’s costs, which could be very large.

However, Ryanair is signed up to the aviation alternative dispute resolution process in the UK, at aviationadr.org.uk. This settles claims for passengers who allege they have been treated unfairly.

This homemade Prosecco kit lets you turn water into wine basically

MySecco is the world's first make-your-own single bottle of sparkling wine and it's only &20

Turning water into wine might be considered a miracle by some - but now it is a real possibility.

Better still, you'll only need 20 quid to do it.

In fact, all you do need is MySecco. MySecco claims to be the world's first make-your-own single bottle of sparkling wine kit.

Better yet it only costs &19.99 and is available from Firebox and Argos and could make the perfect Christmas gift, or you could just treat yourself after a hard week at work.

All you have to do is pour warm water and the included yeast and syrup sachets into the bottle provided then give it a swirl.

That's it.

Aviva enhances critical illness cover to provide true customer benefit

Improved definitions for three conditions to help pay more claims
Amount payable for children’s cancer diagnoses increased to &50,000

Aviva has enhanced its Life Insurance+ and Critical Illness+ products by making changes to four definitions which centre on the most common payment areas of heart conditions, strokes and cancers.

The changes have been made to improve clarity and consistency across similar conditions which we expect would lead to a greater likelihood of having a successful claim.

By improving the definition for three of the critical illness conditions covered we expect more customers with a diagnosis of the condition to meet the description under which payment would be made. These three conditions are cardiomyopathy, spinal stroke and benign spinal cord tumour¹.

As part of the changes, the spinal stroke definition has also been aligned with the stroke definition and the definition for benign spinal cord tumours has been aligned to benign brain tumours, to improve consistency.

These changes mean that for conditions such as spinal strokes, Aviva will be able to make payment at an earlier point following diagnosis²and for benign spinal cord tumour claims there is no longer a need to wait for permanent symptoms³. For cardiomyopathy the definition has now been broadened to include three measures of severity, including the insertion of a defibrillator⁴.

In recognition that cancer is the most common cause of claim for children and understanding the financial impact on a family when a child is diagnosed with cancer, Aviva has doubled the maximum benefit payable where upgraded children’s benefit has been selected. Customers with a child diagnosed with cancer will now be able to claim up to &50,000 to help them during their difficult time.

In 2016, Aviva paid 92.3% of critical illness claims. This consists of 4,268 claims over 37 separate definitions paying a total of over &311m⁵.

Mark Cracknell, Head of Protection Distribution, Aviva, said:

“We are incredibly proud that the protection products we launched last year have been so successful and that we were able to pay more than 92% of critical illness claims, but we continually look at our claims experience and customer feedback to see whether further enhancements can be made that will add real benefit to the customer. That’s exactly what we’ve done here.

“The changes we have made mean that we will be able to pay out on even more claims for some of the more common conditions. Moreover, for children’s cancer claims, which make up over half of our child critical illness claims, we will be able to give even more financial support for families when they need it most.”

References

¹Cardiomyopathy and spinal stroke are covered under the main critical illness product; benign spinal cord tumour is under the Upgraded critical illness part of the product.

²We have removed the requirement for permanent neurological deficit where instead there is definite evidence on scans of a stroke having occurred and the neurological symptoms last at least 24 hours.

3 There is no longer a need to wait for confirmation of permanent symptoms if invasive surgery or certain treatments have been performed. Surgical removal is the most commonly used treatment for this type of condition. Most are surgically removed without causing permanent neurological deficit. Macmillan

⁴Previously, a valid claim required a definite diagnosis and a certain severity threshold to have been met. The definition has now been broadened to include three measures of severity, including the insertion of a defibrillator.

⁵Figures taken from the 2016 Aviva Protection Claims Report

Don't dig deep for a pre-paid funeral plan

About 1.3 million people in the UK have purchased a funeral plan, but experts warn they could become a national scandal

About 1.3 million people in the UK have one of these plans, and it’s a rapidly growing market, with more than 200,000 sold last year. They are typically bought by older people to cover the cost of their funeral so their family doesn’t have to pick up the bill.

But this is a controversial sector. Worryingly, the organisation set up by the industry to regulate providers concedes that a “small number” of non-member firms “are behaving inappropriately”. And 10 days ago the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the official safety net for customers of financial firms that go bust, issued a warning that “individuals could lose out if their provider fails”.

Now some funeral directors and consumer groups are claiming that parts of the sector are at risk of collapsing, and that in some cases middlemen are taking hundreds of pounds out of customers’ plans. Of course, with a prepaid funeral plan the person who bought it isn’t around when it is claimed on – and in some cases grieving families are being hit with unexpected extra bills at what is already a very difficult time.

Plans tend to cost &3,000-&4,000 and are typically paid for via monthly instalments or a lump sum. What is covered varies between providers, and plans are sold in different ways – including by telephone and “in-home” sales agents – and there have been claims that some companies are using aggressive tactics.

However, many people may be unaware of the commission and administration fees charged by some providers acting as middlemen between the customer and the funeral director.

Funeral director Johanna Loveridge was astonished when a client bought a &3,420 plan, but only &2,535 went towards the funeral. “I wrote back saying, ‘Is there a mistake? Because this doesn’t seem right’ … and that’s how I found out there was an admin cost of almost &1,000,” she says.

As a funeral professional, I wouldn't let my grandmother touch one with a barge pole – they are that bad Lucy Coulbert, funeral director. The fees, together with rising costs, mean there is sometimes barely enough to pay for the plan holder’s burial. “Companies are cutting corners when it comes to people cashing their plans in, so the families aren’t getting the standard they would expect,” Loveridge says. Death is an expensive business: insurer SunLife last year said the average funeral, not including the send-off, cost &3,897, and in May the Guardian reported that typical cremation and burial fees had risen by at least 5% in a year. Consumer group Fairer Finance, in partnership with Dignity, one of the largest funeral plan providers, published a report in July that called for stronger industry regulation. “It looks like some providers could be operating a quasi-Ponzi scheme, and we may see a Farepak-style collapse in the market,” James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, told Money, referring to the Christmas hamper business that went bust in 2006 leaving 116,000 people out of pocket. “I think people could lose a very significant amount of money.” The report warned that some providers could go bust, which could leave customers without the funerals for which they had paid. It also found some companies were aggressively marketing plans to over-50s, and that most customers did not understand what they had signed up for. The report added that “most plans” leave families carrying some of the costs, and that in the worst cases they can be left paying for a significant shortfall.“We’re heading for a national scandal. I think within 24 months we are going to see something quite nasty emerging,” says funeral director Lucy Coulbert. She adds: “I believe one particular company is relying on the fact that more people will take out pre-payment plans, which will top up the pot for the people who are dying now ... So every time a generation dies, hopefully the one underneath is still going to take out a plan, which means there is still money.” Strong market growth over the past decade has propped up the system, but if uptake starts slowing this could have disastrous consequences, Coulbert adds. She claims some customers are being ripped off by the plans. “As a funeral professional I wouldn’t let my grandmother touch one with a bargepole – they’re that bad.”Loveridge adds: “You don’t need to buy a plan; you just need to talk to your family and say: ‘Look, when the time comes this is what I want to happen’. I tell people to go and get an Isa ... that will make enough money to pay for most of a funeral.”