PS Just saw Adonis being interviewed on BBC News 24 - why does he always seem uncomfortable when being asked anything more complicated than "what time is it?"

Perhaps 'Help for Heroes' could use that as a tag line.

Nice to hear the Wokka mates out and about at low level just before midnight,
welcome back.:ok:

Course, yer all now a noisy pain in the butt again, rather than a possible way home for Kev and Chardonny Feckwit.
As a member of same, I'd agree. For Christ sake at least the Illegals show some initiative to get across the Channel, rather than just sit there bleating and waiting for hand outs/rides etc.

The DT carries a bit about a 31-yr old teacher, made an arduous and hazardous journey all the way from Malaga to be rescued by the RN only to be denied boarding. So he wandered over the the ferry terminal and bought a ticket home.:confused:

The Mrs and I were due to fly back to UK from Jordan with grandson on 16 April after hols with parents in Saudi. Been stuck here since then. Can't get back into Saudi because of visa burocracy. Insurance company abandoned us saying they won't pay anything in connection with the volcano, presumably because it was an act of God. Airline only interested in making money by demanding we upgrade to get back this month. Getting any advice or info in the middle east without paying a fortune in international phone charges is a non starter.
Now due to fly back on 26th, rather poorer and pretty pissed off, so please don't be too hard on us Joe Publics.

Just spoke with my insurers.

Their underwriter is not using the AOG clause. Claims however are excluded as the event was not an adverse weather condition, although you could argue that point given that it was the weather pattern that conveyed the ash to the UK.

The second get out of jail clause however is that my insurers only cover outbound journey delay and not homebound so there would be no cover for additional costs of accommodation and subsistence, so the bottom line is enjoy your unexpected break.

Originally posted by Pontious Navigator:
I had a similar problem with my travel insurance a couple of years ago when the Channel Tunnel was closed following a fire. My family and I had been pre-booked on Eurostar but all train services were suspended so we had to make our own way from Paris to Calais for a surface crossing to Dover. This journey meant we missed our booked connections and had to purchase new tickets to complete our journey home. My travel insurers rejected my claim out-of-hand, quoting various caveats, clauses and sub-sections of their policy. I refused to accept their rejection and referred my claim to the Financial Ombudsman who found in my favour and directed the insurance company to pay an assessed award (which actually turned out to be more than my original claim). The Financial Ombudsman based their decision on the policy clauses relating to "Delayed Departures" rather than Cancellations - the implication being for that clause to apply, the Channel Tunnel would have had to have been permanently closed.

My advice to anyone who's insurance claim is rejected is get the insurance company to issue a "Final Refusal of Claim" in writing and then refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman - it worked for me!!

Slightly off topic - Eurostar/SNCF staff in France were brilliant and very helpful...then we encountered the UK Border Agency staff at Calais......:mad: