Ozangel,
Despite purchasing and signing in November, the agent failed to lodge the insurance policy until the first week of January - and failed to tell my work colleague that the policy had changed since his purchase.
I hope your mate has a copy of the insurance contract that he was sold- the one with insolvency insurance cover as an inclusion
. If he has this then he should be fine. If Flight Center is acting as a broker for travel insurance then a policy contract must still be honoured regardless that they failed to submit documentation*.
In the event that there are further problems, get him in contact with the Insurance Industry Ombudsman. Best of luck to your mate, I hate to hear of unethical practices like this
*( I faced a very similar situation some years ago when NRMA tried to worm their way out of paying for hail damage to my Merc 230TE- The insurer came out with every trick in the book to sleaze out of their contractual obligation. I was doubtful regarding the ombudsman, but they actually have teeth and can get things sorted pretty quickly).