Insurers are split on repaying the value of loyalty points and airmiles, but persistence can pay off Anne Hopkins writes Last April, I booked a holiday in Palma, Mallorca, through British Airways, using Avios points to pay for the flights, and points and cash for the hotel. On May 24, 10 days before our departure, my husband was taken into hospital for emergency surgery. I telephoned BA’s Executive Club to cancel the trip and was told that, if I sent medical evidence, the flights would be put on hold for a year and I could apply for a hotel refund. It took three months to find that the hotel booking would not be refunded and there has been no response as to whether BA will re-credit the 132,600 Avios points used in part payment. We initiated a claim with our travel insurer, Nationwide, for the cash sum of £620. This had to be done online; hard for those who are not computer literate. Nationwide has refused to accept my email correspondence with BA as proof of the sum involved, and its claims handler says better, more detailed paperwork is needed. Our paperwork from BA is sparse, though we do have an Atol certificate stating that the amount paid towards the hotel is £620. Surely this is sufficient? Gill Charlton replies I can see why Nationwide wanted more information, as the BA cancellation letter simply says: “Your booking is cancelled” and gives the amount paid, but doesn’t say what for. Although Nationwide’s terms and conditions did not mention cover for lost Avios points, I thought it worth putting in a claim for these, too. Frustrated by the BA Executive Club answering machine, Mrs Hopkins tried its sales team. Thank you to Tyrone Lovell on that team for taking up her case and obtaining better cancellation paperwork. Nationwide paid out £620 in October plus £100 in compensation for failing to read the earlier paperwork properly. It said it might repay the Avios points, but BA needed to assign them a value. Just before Christmas, after great persistence, Mrs Hopkins received a further £721.43 for the lost Avios points plus another £200 as compensation for Nationwide’s unresponsive behaviour. Insurers are split on the issue of repaying the value of loyalty, reward and air miles when a trip is cancelled. LV, AXA, Columbus Direct and Royal Bank of Scotland are among those covering Avios points. Staysure, M&S, Saga and InsureandGo are among those that do not.