A recent ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main has clarified the scope of coverage for travel cancellation insurance, stating that insurers are not obligated to cover additional expenses incurred when a passenger misses a flight due to road closures. The court’s decision, released on Wednesday, hinged on the claimant’s failure to incorporate a sufficient buffer for unforeseen delays.
The case involved a woman who departed Kiel at 4:00 AM in the summer of 2023, renting a vehicle to reach Hamburg Airport for a flight to Hawaii scheduled for 6:45 AM. A traffic accident resulted in a two-hour closure of a section of the route, causing the passenger to arrive at the airport at 6:30 AM and miss her flight. She subsequently sought approximately €9,000 in reimbursement from her travel insurance provider to cover the resulting additional costs.
The court determined that postponing the start of her journey was not deemed “unavoidable” according to the terms of her insurance contract. Judges reasoned that a minimal safety margin of just 15 minutes would have likely been enough to traverse the accident location prior to the incident occurring. Following a preliminary ruling from the court, the claimant ultimately withdrew her appeal. The judgment underscores the importance of travelers accounting for potential delays when planning travel itineraries and suggests that a reasonable allowance for unexpected events is expected.