Channel tunnel travel insurance claim left us in dark

My family was affected by the closure of the Channel tunnel last December following heavy snowfall as we were due to travel to France in our car on the Eurotunnel service. You may remember a Eurostar train became stuck in the tunnel, and all services were suspended. We managed to arrange an alternative ferry crossing from Ramsgate to Ostend and thus incurred additional costs for this and for an extra night of accommodation before and after the ferry crossing. We have approached our travel insurer, Swiftcover, to recover the additional costs, a total of £172. In two letters, the underwriters have informed us that we are not eligible for any reimbursement because we had not checked in for our crossing on the tunnel. We have pointed out it was impossible to check in because there was a giant queue on the M20, and you couldn't get near the terminal, which was closed in any event. We think the insurer is being unreasonable. What do you think? MP, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear In short we agree and, after we asked it to reconsider, so did the insurer. Direct Group Insurance, which underwrites the travel policies on behalf of Swiftcover, was the company that initially declined your claim. You had quite reasonably claimed for a night at a very modest hotel you were forced to spend in Kent, and the extra costs you incurred as a result of taking the ferry. This totals £91 which, having looked at your claim again, the insurer will now pay. However, it has refused to pay for your food (£15), arguing you would always have had to eat anyway, or for any of the hotel bill for the night you were forced to spend on the other side of the Channel, even though the tunnel closure meant you and your young child had been up since 3am. It has not paid you anything for the delay, because your ferry departed within 24 hours of your original booking . Had you got a later ferry it would have paid out £400, in theory. Small wonder that a growing number of people are now starting to wonder whether it's worth buying travel insurance. We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at [email protected] or write to Bachelor & Brignall, Money, The Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number.