Watchdog: Airlines may be breaking law over online insurance charges

CONSUMER champions last night claimed airlines could be breaking the law by billing passengers automatically for travel insurance as they book flights.

Passengers buying flights online are billed between €9 and €14.80 for single-trip travel insurance unless they specifically opt out while booking.

The Consumers’ Association of Ireland said consumers could end up buying cover they do not need.

“Consumers should have the option of buying travel insurance but they should be able to opt into the product rather than having to opt out, as is the case now,” said chairman James Doorley.

“Unless consumers expressly opt out when booking a flight they may well be buying a product they do not need. This may also be leading people to believe that they must have insurance to fly.”

Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Aer Arann and BMIbaby all automatically bill their customers for travel insurance, which covers the duration of their trip.

Policies cover passengers against the cancellation and delays of flights, for lost baggage as well as emergency medical cover abroad. The association said airlines were selling policies to pay out for flight delays and lost baggage when passengers were covered by consumer law for such problems.

“Consumers need to study these policies as some of them may cover events such as flight delays for which airlines may be required to compensate consumers under law anyway,” said Mr Doorley.

“We would also be concerned that airlines are trying to avoid meeting their statutory obligations to consumers by aggressively selling insurance.”

The policies cost as much as €14.80 but only last for one trip, yet consumers can get cover for a whole year for €36 from a traditional travel insurer.

Airline policies offer between €30,000 and €5 million medical expenses as well as fringe benefits but annual policies on the high street offer €6.4m of medical cover as well as improved cover for other risks.

Consumers who book their flights too quickly have also complained that they did not notice they could opt out of buying an airline’s insurance. Passengers have managed to get back their money as European law states consumers can cancel insurance policies within 14 days and get a refund.

“We will be raising this matter with the National Consumer Agency to determine the legality of this practice,” said Mr Doorley.

Ryanair said 95% of its customers opted out.

“We recommend passengers avail of travel insurance and that’s why it’s an ‘opt-out’ offer,” said spokeswoman Lorna Farren.