Missed Departure Travel Insurance

Have you ever missed a flight? There are few things more stressful, and this frustration is only worsened when it's matters outside of your control that cause you to miss your departure.

Claiming for a missed flight

There are two factors to consider when claiming for a missed flight. Firstly, that you missed your flight because of one of the reasons covered by the policy and secondly, being able to supply supporting evidence to prove this.

Supporting evidence

Examples of good supporting evidence

• Photographic evidence - If you are involved in a road accident, take pictures of the scene, including indications of weather conditions and any relevant road warning signs. If you missed the flight due to public transport delays, be sure to get pictures of the display board times and any notices of delayed services as proof.
• Eye witness accounts - It's a smart move to get the contact details of others involved in the incident - testimonies from eye witnesses can do a lot to strengthen a claim.
• Documentation - travel tickets, route itineraries and receipts all make valid evidence, so it's wise to hang onto these.

How to get delay verification

The most important piece of evidence you can get is some form of verification confirming the road incident or delayed service. This type of evidence is usually quite straightforward to obtain, even some time after the event. Here's how you can go about getting verification of a road incident or delayed service:

Delayed public transport service

While some aspects of the process may differ slightly depending on the transport provider, the country and the region in which you were travelling, the basic method of getting confirmation for a delayed service remains largely the same.

The first thing to do is to check the website of the transport provider for a delay verification form. Some transport providers have a page dedicated to dealing with delay verification requests, with a form you can fill out online.

Granted, not all transport providers have such an obvious way of obtaining delay verification. If this is the case, you shouldn't be put off from pursuing your confirmation - it's just a simple matter of e-mailing the customer relations department.

Here are a few simple things you can bear in mind when sending an e-mail request for delay verification:

• Make it clear that all you want is confirmation of the delay.
• Be very specific about the date and time of the event, together with any relevant details as to why the service was delayed.
• Where applicable, provide a link to a news item or delay incident report.

Usually, if you make it clear that you aren't trying to get compensation, transport providers will be cooperative in giving you delay verification.

Road incidents and traffic delays

If you missed your flight because of a road incident, getting proof of the event is similar to the steps listed above. The Department of Transport and the Highway Agency keep a record of all motorway related incidents, so contacting these bodies is a surefire way to getting delay verification.

Alternatively, if it was your vehicle that was directly involved in the incident, you can also get confirmation of the event by contacting the breakdown service that dealt with the situation.