Every week, we get an expert to answer your financial problems or consumer disputes. Today, reader Anthony Worthington asks…
“My terminally-ill sister-in-law passed away days before one final trip to Scotland with my wife. One of her last wishes was for my wife to go on the trip with me instead, so I paid £120 to change her name on the ticket to mine. But when I applied for a refund, the airline told me this isn’t covered in their bereavement policy. I believe this is wrong – what can I do?”
It’s hard not to sympathise with Anthony’s predicament here.
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His wife Debra had planned to fly to Edinburgh from Gatwick with her sister Tania on 11 April. As it started to dawn on Tania that she wouldn’t make it, she wanted Anthony to take her place.
She died on 21 March.
So, Anthony did what any brother-in-law would have done – respect one of her dying wishes.
Paying £120 to change the name on the plane ticket wasn’t an issue for Anthony, but he had expected this outlay to be covered for one specific reason.
“If I got anything back, I would donate it to the Royal Legion, as Tania sold poppies every year,” he told us.
“This isn’t about the money.”
So here’s what the dispute hinged on…
What easyJet’s policy says
“If the booker or a passenger on the booking is deceased, we can offer a full or partial refund to the original method of payment,” the airline’s website states.
Digging into the terms and conditions, section 5.3.2 has this to say:
“If you need to cancel due to a family bereavement: please contact our Customer Services Team as soon as you can. Our team will review your case and if your circumstances qualify we may, in our discretion, offer you a refund, fee waiver to change your flight or flight voucher towards the value of a subsequent flight, to be used within twelve months. You may be asked to provide proof of these special circumstances.”
Notice there is no mention here of changing names – more on this shortly.
Anthony went ahead and changed the name for £60 per flight, amounting to £120. He then requested a refund via the website.
Three days later, he got a response – seen by the Money team – telling him: “Regrettably, I must inform you that the name change fee is not covered under our bereavement policy. Therefore, we are unable to process a refund for this fee.”
Conflicting accounts
That’s when Anthony reached out to us, and, naturally, we approached easyJet to find out more.
The airline said it advised Anthony of two options: a refund on the flight or a voucher for the full value of the booking.
These are set out on easyJet’s website – as we outlined above – but these weren’t options Anthony was ever likely to choose, given Tania’s wish.
Moreover, Anthony insists he was not informed of these options.
So we went back to easyJet.
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What did easyJet say?
The airline maintains it explained to Anthony what his options were.
“We understand that our customers’ plans may change due to bereavement and so we strive to make the process as easy as possible during this difficult time,” it said.
“We offer the option to request a refund or voucher for the full value of the booking, which would allow them to rebook the same or different flight with different passengers if they still wished to travel.
“We advised Mr Worthington of these options when he contacted us explaining that a name change fee would not be refundable, and provided a link to request a refund or voucher.”
But there was, ultimately, good news for Anthony.
“However, on this occasion we have refunded the change fee as a gesture of goodwill,” the airline added.
Anthony was, of course, happy with that “amazing news”, but he did have one final thought.
“I did take them to task, though, when they said the refund was as a gesture of goodwill, which suggested a mistake or misunderstanding on my part,” he said.
“I Googled easyJet bereavement, and it clearly says easyJet will try and assist to make whatever changes are needed in the case of bereavement.”
On the airline’s website here, it does state this: “In the unfortunate event that you’re cancelling or have missed your flight because of bereavement, we’ll do our best to help you with cancelling or making any necessary changes to your flight.”
Hopefully, this at least gave Anthony, Debra and their family more space to grieve.
This feature is not intended as financial advice – the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:
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- Or email moneyblog@sky.uk with the subject line “Money Problem”
