How does my friend get home?

[Wherearemyspex]

Asking for a friend "Jane".

Jane was on a tour of northern Italy but, unfortunately, tested positive for Covid earlier in the week. She is now isolating for 10 days according to Italian rules, in a small hotel, while the rest of her tour has moved on, leaving her and another lady stranded. She is completely asymptomatic. She has been in touch with her travel company and her insurance company (thankfully has her phone and iPad with her and good internet connection) but is unsure about who is responsible for getting her home, how this is organised and what to do next.

I think her travel company have a duty of care and should organise her onward travel home, but they are saying (by email) that it is the insurance company's responsibility to make arrangements. She has asked for my advice, but I have no ideas other than to book a flight herself to a UK airport form her nearest Italian airport as soon as she is free to go, then sort out the cost etc with the insurance company afterwards.

Has anyone ever been in this situation and able to offer any advice? Thank you.

Unless the travel company provide specific cover for such cases (and I can't think of any that do - most that do the cover is if you can't depart the UK on the outward journey) it is down to her and her insurance to resolve her return.

I would think it is her responsibility to book her travel home then sort it out with the insurance company once she is home. It isn't the travel companies fault that she is unwell and cannot complete her trip with them. They don't have any responsibility for her.

Insurance company unless there is time for her to recover and take her original flight. The rep/guide may be able to do the re-booking for her, but at her/insurance cost.

She just calls the claim number on her insurance and they arrange onward travel

Insurance company really must be kept in the loop as it can be a nightmare if you have unauthorised costs to try to claim back.

They usually have an emergency 24/7 number for claims.

The pertinent piece of information that you’ve missed/left out of the post is what the insurance company have said, despite her having been in touch with them.

However, as an adult woman, I’m not sure why this seems to have produced such a conundrum, I’d have already googled all the flights myself and had one in mind for the dates when I was free from isolation, and then just liaised with my insurer about who does the booking/how I’m reimbursed.

I’m sure that the travel company would have covered these eventualities and their liability on their T’s and C’s pre-travel.

Thank you for your replies so far. It's a problem because she is a woman in her mid seventies with little technical know how when it comes to booking flights etc on line.

the insurance company have so far said that they will cover the cost of return travel, but not that they will help her to arrange it.

She has to organise it, then claim the cost back on her insurance, if she has coverage for this.

The travel company will very likely have something in their policy saying it's not their responsibility should a traveller test positive.

She needs to read her insurance policy and her booking t&c.

I'm 99% sure she will need to pay for a new return flight and claim it on her insurance.

Does she have any contact with the other woman in isolation? Can they help each other out with the booking? Travelling together?

Can you find her a flight, do the googling, etc, find the best deal and then just send her the link to Ryanair/EasyJet/whatever and walk her through what to input on each screen. Get it up on your device at the same time so that you’re able to direct her to each drop down box/section as she needs to complete it? And then run through the summary screen with her at the end to check you’ve both got all the right options selected, then she can progress to check out and you can abandon your order.

She could then liaise with the hotel about a local transfer to the airport, or a taxi if not too far.

Insurance company.

Does she have personal travel insurance ?

Can't see it being down to the travel companies though

Perhaps she has to arrange her return home, and claim it from the insurance? Thats probably what I'd do.

The travel company has no duty of care in that situation.

She needs to go through her insurance and be ready to organise her trip back to the U.K. herself.

Btw I would advise AGAINST organising things and then hoping to get money from the insurance.
Whatever she is doing she needs the approval from the insurer before doing anything if she wants her money back.

She is lucky in that she is well and has plenty of time. She needs to contact the insurance and talk to them.

Does she have a relative / friend who could book the flight for her? ( she could call to provide the necessary info). Could you book it for her with her credit card details

I think I would expect the travel company to help organise it, it's because people are nervous to travel independently that these businesses exist, afterall.

Who has she asked for help - the rep, hotel, insurance company?

What is covered by the travel company will be set out in their terms and conditions and whether her holiday is ATOL protected, etc.

If it's down to her insurance, she needs to ask them what the procedure is for arranging her travel home. They may well pre-authorise up to a specified spend for travel to the airport and flight home, but she needs to ask and see what she needs to do to get reimbursed.

She needs to get something from the travel insurance people stating that they want her to organise return travel herself and up to what value they will reimburse. Either that or the insurance company arrange it. She needs to call them back and get a definite answer on what needs to happen next and then do it.

She should have covid cover under her insurance. When she took it out, she should have checked that insurance covered repatriation costs and not just hospital costs. She needs to ring the insurance company for advice how to proceed.

You can book her flight for her. Anyone can. Just use the internet. I'm sure someone at the hotel will print off her details. Just needs a cab to the airport.

Thank you again for all the advice. Jane is currently on day 5 of a minimum 10 day isolation and still has to test negative before being allowed to leave, so it could be more than 10 days if she still tests positive after that. It will be difficult to book a flight until she knows she's in the clear, which is part of the problem. I would be happy to book on her behalf and sort it all out once she is home but don't want to invalidate her insurance of cause more problems by trying to "help".

I'll get her to have another chat with the insurance company on Monday.

What exactly is there to 'arrange', she books the flight and gets a cab to the airport

She managed to get herself there ok didnt she?

That doesn't sound completely straightforward to me. Obviously if you're used to booking flights and taxis on a regular basis it will be but for an elderly woman, whose plans have changed dramatically, in a foreign country? Its it unreasonable that she'd like a little support.

She got there as part of the package/tour, so no, she probably isn't accustomed to making her own travel arrangements.

My friend broke her leg skiing and the insurance company sorted new flights home for her, so they definitely do sometimes book them. They sorted everything- taxi to airport, flight, taxi to hospital at the other end. My friend only had to put in a claim for her medical costs, which she paid at the time.