Am i being fobbed off? Insurance claim

[Lilza123]

Hi all

Basically, I went on a college trip and we bought some champagne at a cave in France. We were all going to store the alcohol in our rooms but the driver of the bus told us to "store the champagne in the secure area under the bus that only he has access to."
When the cupboard was unloaded, having been opened for no one the whole trip, a number of us had champagne missing. I tried to claim with the insurance company of Rover European (the company running the trip) and was given this reply.

Thank you for your recent correspondence. Please note that having reviewed the file, we have been advised that the Champagne bottles were left in secure storage throughout the duration of the journey. On reaching the destination the secure storage was unlocked & passengers collected the bottles. We also note that on exiting the coach many of the bottles were placed outside, on the floor by students discovering that they had collected the wrong bottles. During this time there were many people passing by & due to the fact that the bottles did not go missing whilst under our insured's control, we are unable to see how our insured should be held responsible.

Surely they were under his control?

I just want to know where i stand with this.

[des8]

Re: Am i being fobbed off? Insurance claim

Hi and welcome to LegalBEAGLES

I would be arguing that the champagne had gone missing whilst under the insured's control.

It had been put into their secure storage and it went missing when they gave it to, or it was taken by, the wrong people. Once that had happened it was no longer there for you, even though the insured had taken it into their custody for safe keeping. If the insured gave it away or allowed it to be taken they had broken their specific arrangement with you to keep it safe and are liable for its loss.
The fact that persons put it down outside the coach, AFTER having collected/been given it, is of no import.
Once they allowed the wrong persons to have possession of it, it was out of their control and no longer secure.
Good luck.