When the Volcano erupted in Iceland, many travellers - stranded abroad or missing out on holidays of a life time - realised their travel insurance policies were useless.
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They heard excuse after excuse from their insurance companies. For some insurers, volcano explosions weren't on the list of natural disasters they covered. For others, the fact it was a government decision to close the airspace meant that it was excused too. So how do you choose the right insurance?
One couple left asking that question are Tom and Rosanna Sutherland. They booked a family holiday in Turkey costing almost £1,400. They also took out a policy with Elect Travel - part of White Horse Insurance.
They opted to for the Essential package, which as far as Tom was concerned, gave them all the cover they needed for their trip. Apparently, he was wrong.
Just days before their flight, Rosanna's aunt Shirley died. She lived with the couple and they were her carers, so she was more than an aunt to them. While the Sutherlands attempted to sort out the funeral, they also tried to postpone their holiday. Only then did they find out they weren't covered.
Elect Travel told the couple to refer to the terms and conditions of their policy, which stated that 'Aunt' didn't fall under their definition of a close relative. Tom tried to explain the circumstances, that Shirley was more than just an aunt to them but it made no difference. For Rosanna, the fact the company didn't try to assess their situation at all was the most disappointing thing: "To be just fobbed off, it's just not right." she said.
Had the Sutherlands chosen to get their travel cover from a different insurer, they may have fared better. Some companies do recognise 'Aunt' as a close relative.
Ultimately, different companies have different rules. And whilst you can have a look at the small print, examine the policy documents and take an educated guess, what happens when something comes completely out of the blue?
In the case of June and Frederick Williams, they had booked a holiday to Cape Verde and had travel insurance with Saga.
Yet tragically, June's brother John suddenly died of a heart attack following an infection. John's death was totally unexpected and a real shock to June.
Following this event, June felt there was no way they could go holiday. She just assumed that the insurance they had with Saga would cover them without any problems.
However, Saga refused to cover the couple because John's leg had been amputated 12 years earlier. As he'd recently experienced some pain in that area, Saga argued it was a pre-existing condition relating to his death.
According to June, she had a statement from the hospital that John regularly attended for 40 years stating there was "never any trace of any infection or any untoward condition".
The Williams insisted that they wouldn't have pre-booked a holiday knowing that someone in their family was terminally ill. Once again, a couple had chosen the wrong insurer - a different company might have had a different view.
Aside from personal tragedies, unforeseen events can happen, such as the recent volcanic eruption or riots in Thailand. Isn't that what travel insurance is there for?
According to travel industry expert, Alan Bowden, insurance should be for the unexpected:
"Normally if something happened that wasn't clearly identified when you took out the policy you will be protected. But undoubtedly there's an awful lot of small print."
For Alan, it's key for consumers to check out any points in their policy that don't make sense to them, so they can clarify them before it's too late.
David and Wendy Emerson discovered the limitations of their policy too late.
In February, they arrived with their three children at the airport, ready for a flight to Thessalonika, only to find it had been cancelled due to a Greek air traffic controllers' strike.
David immediately got in touch with White Horse Insurance. They told him that the family should have known about the strike and that they wouldn't process the claim. However, the Emersons had only found out about the strike the night before they were due to fly.
While a general strike had been announced in Greece before the Emersons bought their insurance, the strike hadn't - at that point - included air traffic controllers.
David wasn't happy: "What is the point in having insurance if it's not to cover the things you don't foresee?"
Luckily, David's airline has since reimbursed him for the flights but he's still waiting for over £800 from his insurers, for the rest of the holiday.
Meanwhile, others are waiting on their insurance companies too - the apparent victims of ever-increasing excuses and small print.
Alan Bowden sums it up: "When you get a company that has tiny print you ask why? The smaller the print the less intention they have of you reading it. Therefore I'd like to see policies that are blindingly clear."
"It should be in simple English terms. I looked at one policy, there were 21,000 words in the policy. Nobody - not even a lawyer - is going to look through a policy like that."
Company Responses:
White Horse Insurance
"We were sorry to hear about Mr Sutherland's loss and our sympathy is with him and his family. Unfortunately, Mr Sutherland's travel insurance policy did not cover him for cancellation in the event of the death of his aunt, and this was clearly specified in the terms and conditions. When buying travel insurance, it is important to check your policy carefully within 14 days of purchase, especially if you have specific requirements."
Saga Insurance
"We have completed a thorough review of this case alongside First Assist, who are the providers and administrators of Saga's Travel Insurance.
"Firstly we would like to express our condolences to Mrs Williams on the death of her brother and would like to express our apologies for the additional distress caused by the handling of this claim.
"There was some confusion between First Assist and Mr Bain's GP regarding his medical history, which appeared to suggest that there was a link between the medication Mr Bain had received for a long standing medical complaint and the cause of his death. On reviewing the file First Assist is satisfied that this is not the case and has overturned the decision.
"Roger Ramsden, the CEO of Saga Services has called Mr & Mrs Williams personally to explain that we will be paying the claim and to apologise for the way in which the claim was handled. Mr & Mrs Williams have agreed that the claim is now settled to their satisfaction.
"Saga takes pride in doing things properly and good customer service is central to this. We have reviewed the claims procedures in place for Saga Travel Insurance and First Assist is retraining staff to remind them of the procedures they need to follow when making a decision on a claim. The individual involved in this case has had special retraining to ensure that this will not happen again in future."
Drakefield Insurance (responding on behalf of White Horse Insurance)
"I'm pleased to tell you that following negotiation with Thomas Cook regarding Mr Emerson's concerns his claim will now be settled in full.
"In relation to how informed our customers should be about world events that might affect their holiday, the underwriters of all travel insurance policies do apply exclusions to cover depending on the circumstances. For example, a common exclusion is that claims for delay caused by strike or industrial action will not be met, if such action had already been notified at the time the policy was purchased and this is explained in the policy terms and conditions.
"In this case we agree that, although the threat of the strike by Greek air traffic controllers was in the public domain, no official announcement of their actions had been made at the time Mr Emerson bought his policy. As a result, his claim will now be met. We are also pursuing a review with Thomas Cook on behalf of any other of our customers who might be in the same position."
Small print, big travel insurance questions...
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
They heard excuse after excuse from their insurance companies. For some insurers, volcano explosions weren't on the list of natural disasters they covered. For others, the fact it was a government decision to close the airspace meant that it was excused too. So how do you choose the right insurance?
One couple left asking that question are Tom and Rosanna Sutherland. They booked a family holiday in Turkey costing almost £1,400. They also took out a policy with Elect Travel - part of White Horse Insurance.
They opted to for the Essential package, which as far as Tom was concerned, gave them all the cover they needed for their trip. Apparently, he was wrong.
Just days before their flight, Rosanna's aunt Shirley died. She lived with the couple and they were her carers, so she was more than an aunt to them. While the Sutherlands attempted to sort out the funeral, they also tried to postpone their holiday. Only then did they find out they weren't covered.
Elect Travel told the couple to refer to the terms and conditions of their policy, which stated that 'Aunt' didn't fall under their definition of a close relative. Tom tried to explain the circumstances, that Shirley was more than just an aunt to them but it made no difference. For Rosanna, the fact the company didn't try to assess their situation at all was the most disappointing thing: "To be just fobbed off, it's just not right." she said.
Had the Sutherlands chosen to get their travel cover from a different insurer, they may have fared better. Some companies do recognise 'Aunt' as a close relative.
Ultimately, different companies have different rules. And whilst you can have a look at the small print, examine the policy documents and take an educated guess, what happens when something comes completely out of the blue?
In the case of June and Frederick Williams, they had booked a holiday to Cape Verde and had travel insurance with Saga.
Yet tragically, June's brother John suddenly died of a heart attack following an infection. John's death was totally unexpected and a real shock to June.
Following this event, June felt there was no way they could go holiday. She just assumed that the insurance they had with Saga would cover them without any problems.
However, Saga refused to cover the couple because John's leg had been amputated 12 years earlier. As he'd recently experienced some pain in that area, Saga argued it was a pre-existing condition relating to his death.
According to June, she had a statement from the hospital that John regularly attended for 40 years stating there was "never any trace of any infection or any untoward condition".
The Williams insisted that they wouldn't have pre-booked a holiday knowing that someone in their family was terminally ill. Once again, a couple had chosen the wrong insurer - a different company might have had a different view.
Aside from personal tragedies, unforeseen events can happen, such as the recent volcanic eruption or riots in Thailand. Isn't that what travel insurance is there for?
According to travel industry expert, Alan Bowden, insurance should be for the unexpected:
"Normally if something happened that wasn't clearly identified when you took out the policy you will be protected. But undoubtedly there's an awful lot of small print."
For Alan, it's key for consumers to check out any points in their policy that don't make sense to them, so they can clarify them before it's too late.
David and Wendy Emerson discovered the limitations of their policy too late.
In February, they arrived with their three children at the airport, ready for a flight to Thessalonika, only to find it had been cancelled due to a Greek air traffic controllers' strike.
David immediately got in touch with White Horse Insurance. They told him that the family should have known about the strike and that they wouldn't process the claim. However, the Emersons had only found out about the strike the night before they were due to fly.
While a general strike had been announced in Greece before the Emersons bought their insurance, the strike hadn't - at that point - included air traffic controllers.
David wasn't happy: "What is the point in having insurance if it's not to cover the things you don't foresee?"
Luckily, David's airline has since reimbursed him for the flights but he's still waiting for over £800 from his insurers, for the rest of the holiday.
Meanwhile, others are waiting on their insurance companies too - the apparent victims of ever-increasing excuses and small print.
Alan Bowden sums it up: "When you get a company that has tiny print you ask why? The smaller the print the less intention they have of you reading it. Therefore I'd like to see policies that are blindingly clear."
"It should be in simple English terms. I looked at one policy, there were 21,000 words in the policy. Nobody - not even a lawyer - is going to look through a policy like that."
Company Responses:
White Horse Insurance
"We were sorry to hear about Mr Sutherland's loss and our sympathy is with him and his family. Unfortunately, Mr Sutherland's travel insurance policy did not cover him for cancellation in the event of the death of his aunt, and this was clearly specified in the terms and conditions. When buying travel insurance, it is important to check your policy carefully within 14 days of purchase, especially if you have specific requirements."
Saga Insurance
"We have completed a thorough review of this case alongside First Assist, who are the providers and administrators of Saga's Travel Insurance.
"Firstly we would like to express our condolences to Mrs Williams on the death of her brother and would like to express our apologies for the additional distress caused by the handling of this claim.
"There was some confusion between First Assist and Mr Bain's GP regarding his medical history, which appeared to suggest that there was a link between the medication Mr Bain had received for a long standing medical complaint and the cause of his death. On reviewing the file First Assist is satisfied that this is not the case and has overturned the decision.
"Roger Ramsden, the CEO of Saga Services has called Mr & Mrs Williams personally to explain that we will be paying the claim and to apologise for the way in which the claim was handled. Mr & Mrs Williams have agreed that the claim is now settled to their satisfaction.
"Saga takes pride in doing things properly and good customer service is central to this. We have reviewed the claims procedures in place for Saga Travel Insurance and First Assist is retraining staff to remind them of the procedures they need to follow when making a decision on a claim. The individual involved in this case has had special retraining to ensure that this will not happen again in future."
Drakefield Insurance (responding on behalf of White Horse Insurance)
"I'm pleased to tell you that following negotiation with Thomas Cook regarding Mr Emerson's concerns his claim will now be settled in full.
"In relation to how informed our customers should be about world events that might affect their holiday, the underwriters of all travel insurance policies do apply exclusions to cover depending on the circumstances. For example, a common exclusion is that claims for delay caused by strike or industrial action will not be met, if such action had already been notified at the time the policy was purchased and this is explained in the policy terms and conditions.
"In this case we agree that, although the threat of the strike by Greek air traffic controllers was in the public domain, no official announcement of their actions had been made at the time Mr Emerson bought his policy. As a result, his claim will now be met. We are also pursuing a review with Thomas Cook on behalf of any other of our customers who might be in the same position."
Small print, big travel insurance questions...