Travellers who had their trips cancelled or disrupted by the chaos at Heathrow Terminal 5 could get compensation from their insurers provided the cancellation or delay was not due to terrorism, experts have advised.
MSN Money said, depending on the type of travel insurance policy, most travellers were covered by their insurers for severe delays and, sometimes, cancellations like those.
According to MSN Money’s Sarah Modlock travellers should have a look at their travel insurance documents, as they may be entitled to compensation as a result of delay or cancellation unless it was because of terrorism.
“However travel policies will not normally respond where cancellations, either by the operator or by yourself, occur due to terrorism activity, or the threat of such activity,” she said.
Since Heathrow Terminal 5 opened on Friday March 28, the fanfare that greeted its launch has been overtaken by chaos. British Airways, which is the only operator in the terminal, is blamed for failing to keep to its promise of checking-in passengers in less than 10 minutes.
But this problem was exacerbated by the collapse of a key baggage system on the opening day, which caused the delays and cancellation of more than 50 flights.
The government has berated the airline for letting down passengers and subjecting them to what it calls “an unacceptably poor travel experience,” reports said on Monday.
They quoted Aviation minister, Jim Fitzpatrick as saying that Heathrow airport’s flagship building had fallen well short of expectations and the airliner should place much greater emphasis on the needs of passengers.
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