Ticket protection insurance

[Emeralds]

This question came up while I was reading and replying on another post. 

 

Is ticket protection/refund insurance transferable? Eg if you buy a ticket for a ballet and bought ticket protection insurance offered during online booking, and you resell your ticket to another forum member, can you resell the insurance for that ticket as well? 

 

I don't use or buy ticket protection insurance myself. But I understand that the insurance is for that person who bought the ticket and any guests he or she is buying for, ie if they died, got hospitalised or were in a flood and couldn't go to the performance, they (and presumably their next of kin in cases of death) could get a refund from the insurer after showing proof.

 

I didn't think it would work if someone else bought and used your ticket, unless the original purchaser could convince the insurers that this person or people [who had bought the ticket or tickets] was/were in the same party of friends/associates attending together. 

 

I don't buy the insurance so it's not something I have ever looked into. 

 

Any experiences with claiming ticket protection insurance or the rules regarding transferability (if at all) of such insurance that members,  moderators and administrators are aware of? 

[Rob S]

Have you checked the terms and conditions on the website of the relevant ticket seller? Some may be more accommodating than others.

[Emeralds]

Thanks, @Rob S, it was just a general question about all the sellers and whether one should buy it and what happens if forum members resell.

 

RB and any companies performing at ROH (eg in Linbury Theatre) are the easiest and most customer friendly in that you don't need such insurance at all, we can now just return it with a click (no explanation required), and it's good that we pay £4 if we want the convenience of returning, not that you pay it in case you might end up returning. The other theatres regularly used by ENB, BRB and most other visiting companies are fine too (Coliseum, SWT, RAH) and their process is quite straightforward, and I don't feel they require insurance either.

 

It's only an issue when someone asks me whether to buy the insurance and whether to pay for it on a ticket that someone resells to them. 

[Sim]

As far as re-selling tickets on the forum is concerned, we only allow them to be sold at face value (or less) of the ticket.  Insurance is optional and is personal to the original buyer, so even if re-sold taking the premium into account (and thus higher than face value), I am not sure that a venue would honour the insurance had it been sold on to a secondary purchaser. 

[Rob S]

I haven't had to think about ticket insurance in a while and was only offered some last week when I booked my Lana Del Rey Wembley ticket, I declined it but looking at the terms of use for the insurance for Ticketmaster (who I booked through) it seems that while tickets can often be transferred to someone it's clear the ticket insurance can't.  

[Emeralds]

The insurance conditions are often so particular (and bizarrely specific) eg in order to claim for being absent due to illness, you have to be seen by a GP and get a letter from him/her- hospital admission or treatment by paramedics apparently are both not convincing enough.

 

And with regards long distance travel which many of us do to attend performances, the insurance I've been offered (it's been mentioned in a different context on a different thread) say rail strikes or cancellations (eg due to signalling equipment not working) don't count! The terns and conditions look so impossible that I just steer clear of it. 

 

Thank you @Sim and @Rob S. 

Edited December 3, 2024 by Emeralds

[LinMM]

Oh dear! I just bought ticket insurance for the first time when booking Nutcracker at the Coli! I thought in case was ill or there was a sudden snowstorm etc Or ..Heaven forbid…I fall over and break something just before the show like last year!!!   It looks like I might have wasted money then. It was quite expensive! 
It’s all so easy with ROH but looks like the Coli won’t be as accommodating. I should have thought it through a bit more carefully. 

[Emeralds]

On 03/12/2024 at 19:54, LinMM said:

Oh dear! I just bought ticket insurance for the first time when booking Nutcracker at the Coli! I thought in case was ill or there was a sudden snowstorm etc Or ..Heaven forbid…I fall over and break something just before the show like last year!!!   It looks like I might have wasted money then. It was quite expensive! 
It’s all so easy with ROH but looks like the Coli won’t be as accommodating. I should have thought it through a bit more carefully. 

I've not found the Coliseum necessary for such ticket insurance as they will do exchanges like RB/ROH do, as long as you give them notice (I think it's 2 days but have a look at the website) and obviously the run of performances can't be finished/last day as there will be nothing to change to. Not transferable to ENO. The Coli box office did exchanges for me due to flooding, rail strikes and illness before (but I did give 72 hours notice). They just exchange it for a later date with a ticket/s of the same value and I paid a £3 charge (in 2015) then later this rose to £3.50. Hopefully you will stay safe and healthy, to be well to attend Nutcracker and Giselle, LinMM, as that would be better than a refund!

[alison]

On 03/12/2024 at 18:49, Emeralds said:

The insurance conditions are often so particular (and bizarrely specific) eg in order to claim for being absent due to illness, you have to be seen by a GP and get a letter from him/her- hospital admission or treatment by paramedics apparently are both not convincing enough.

 

Ha ha.  Imagine taking up your overworked GP's time just so you can put in an insurance claim for a ticket   IF you manage to get through the booking system and get an appointment, anyway.  And then there are the travel conditions: the last policy I saw allowed for breakdown of your private vehicle, but absolutely nothing about public transport.  So I never buy those ones, although I have bought others.