Episode 6 Rip Off Britain

We asked you who has left you feeling ripped off

when it comes to your holidays.

And you came back with a catalogue of travel disasters.

It was a nightmare. That particular day was a nightmare.

First impressions when we walked in was,

"What have we booked? What have we paid for?"

It was...it was disgusting.

So, whether it's a deliberate rip-off, a simple mistake,

or a catch in the small print, we'll find out why you're out of pocket

and what you can do about it.

Your stories, your money.

This is Rip-Off Britain.

Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain from the sunny island of Lanzarote.

Now, on this series we're investigating stories

that you've sent us about holidays and travel.

And today, although we're looking into a real mix of situations,

they all have a common theme -

there's something about each and every one of them

that feels especially unfair.

And in one case in particular, the effect is truly shocking.

It involved a tremendous amount of grief and stress.

Although, as you will see,

there does at last appear to be hope on the horizon.

But all the people that we'll be hearing from

would say that through no fault of their own,

they've ended up in situations

where the odds have been unreasonably stacked against them,

whether that's because of who they are or even where they live.

And though that's sometimes left them out of pocket,

we'll have the advice that you need to make sure

that the same thing doesn't happen to you.

Coming up...

The couple left living in their garage

after their dream home in the sun was suddenly demolished.

It was like somebody hitting you over the head with a hammer.

You know, everything you'd sort of worked for all your life

within ten seconds is going to be taken away.

And could your holiday be cheaper if you book it from abroad?

I can't possibly see a genuine reason

why a product should cost £1,600 more in one country to another.

It's estimated that over two million Brits moved abroad

during the property boom in the early 2000s.

And whilst chasing the dream of a place in the sun

was plain sailing for many,

I'm afraid it was quite the opposite for others.

Unfamiliar planning laws, unscrupulous developers,

or even corrupt local officials, could turn those dreams into dust.

And what's more, because the people we're about to hear from

poured everything they had into their properties abroad,

they have been left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket.

And, in one case, with absolutely nothing to show for it.

Beautiful scenery, great beaches and lively resorts,

so it's easy to see why Bulgaria became such a prime spot

for anyone investing in property abroad.

And the rock-bottom property prices around 2005

were what drew in people like Phil Newport.

It's been advertised as the next big thing in property investment.

It seemed like a good choice to me.

Phil fell in love with an off-plan luxury development

called the Golden Pearl.

Located on the Black Sea coastline

near the picturesque Strandzha National Park.

The type of property I was looking at

was, like, a one-bedroom apartment on the coast, which it was.

All the brochures looked superb.

It looked like a quality development.

Big kick. Wow!

Phil extended his mortgage at home in the UK

to cover the £43,000 cost of the apartment

and went looking for a Bulgarian solicitor

to help with the purchase.

But the London-based sales agent he was buying through

persuaded him that he didn't really need legal help.

I was told by the agent that it really wasn't worth doing.

He'd already sold numerous properties on that development

who had used solicitors, who said the contracts were superb,

so I decided not to do it at that time.

Over the next few months,

Phil made two payments totalling more than £20,000,

almost half of the cost of his new apartment.

But in the summer of 2005,

he discovered that building work had slowed down considerably.

I was a bit shocked at that stage

to see that it wasn't anywhere near as advanced as I expected.

Phil was told there was a dispute

over the legality of building on this particular site

and construction had stopped whilst it was resolved.

And the agent was always saying, "Oh, this is typical Bulgaria,

"building works are always behind schedule." And stuff like that.

As the planning dispute raged,

work stopped, started, and then stopped again.

Until finally in 2007,

Phil discovered that the building permit had been withdrawn completely.

I found the whole thing really quite frustrating.

I had a lot of sleepless nights.

You know, it's a lot of money that's been invested.

And it was quite a struggle at the time.

In the years that followed, Phil and dozens of other investors

tried in vain to get their money back.

But when the company he'd bought from was dissolved,

he just knew that there was little chance of that happening for him.

Then in April 2012, the bulldozers moved in

and demolished the Golden Pearl apartments.

It was absolutely gutting.

We thought, "That's it, we've lost our money."

I'd remortgaged the house,

I was going to be paying this money back on my mortgage

for a number of years to come.

And, you know, I was really sickened by the whole thing.

Sadly, Phil's story isn't unique,

thousands of people who bought homes in the sun

in the property boom of the early 2000s

came to regret it after discovering the hard way

that oversees planning laws can be very, very different to those at home.

And that was particularly true in the country that more Brits chose for their sunshine escape than any other,

in other words, Spain.

There the planning laws are often confusing

and at that time were very regularly ignored by profit-hungry developers.

In the region of Andalusia alone, it's estimated that 300,000 homes

were built without planning permission and local authorities

sought to clamp down on it

by demolishing any buildings constructed illegally.

But even when all the planning laws had been followed to the letter,

there have still been cases where Spanish authorities

have demanded that properties be pulled down.

In 2002, Len and Helen Prior

bought some land in the Andalusian town of Vera,

where they built their dream retirement villa.

They called it Tranquilidad,

which is really Spanish for "tranquillity".

It was three-bedroomed, two-bathroomed.

You know, it was just everything we wanted.

The family came out twice a year,

friends came out to visit, it was just fantastic.

When we caught up with Len,

he was on a rare visit to the UK to see his daughter, Susie,

who was a regular visitor to the villa with her family.

-Hi!

-Hiya!

The villa was gorgeous.

The kids literally were in the pool from the minute they got up in morning till they came in...

eventually came in at night-time.

Erm, it was...it was just an ideal holiday, really.

Len and Helen's retirement in the sun was pretty much perfect

until two years after the house was finished.

The couple then received a letter from the town hall

with some devastating news.

They were told that the planning permissions

they'd secured before their house was built

had been revoked by the regional government of Andalusia,

and, as a result, the house had to be demolished.

It was like somebody hitting you over the head with a hammer.

You know, everything you'd sort of worked for all your life

within ten seconds is going to be taken away.

Convinced that the house was legal

and that all the necessary rules had been followed to the letter,

the couple applied to have the demolition stopped.

But while their legal case was still rumbling on,

Len and Helen woke up one morning and noticed that something was wrong.

I went downstairs, turned the tap on, there was no water.

Put the electric on, no electric.

And I looked out the window

and there was police and lorries and JCBs everywhere.

And then we thought, "This is it,

"they're definitely going to knock it down."

The Priors were given just a matter of hours

to get all their belongings out of the house

before it would be demolished.

But in the midst of the chaos, things suddenly got even more serious,

and what happened next was all captured on camera.

I just collapsed.

I'd never had that happen to me in me life.

The ambulance came, took me away to the hospital,

and they told me under no circumstances

am I allowed to go back to the house.

Cos they said, "It'd probably be fatal if you did."

Back at the house, the bulldozers

began tearing the Prior's dream retirement villa to pieces.

All that was left was the garage and the swimming pool.

Nothing seems real, you're sort of walking around in a daze

for sort of 20 minutes before it actually hits you.

Seven years later, Len and Helen

still can't quite believe what happened,

and they've no clearer idea why their house was destroyed.

There was about five different reasons that they gave.

We've never actually found out

the real reason why it was knocked down.

And with their dream villa demolished,

their only option has been to convert its garage into living quarters.

We're using farm water to wash up, to wash in, to shower in.

Our electric comes from a friend of ours and we've got a generator.

It's not...ideal, not for two old age pensioners anyway.

And it's from their garage

that they're fighting to get compensation from Vera Council

for the hundreds of thousands of euros that they've lost.

In recent years, they've been edging slowly closer

to what they hope will be a victory.

Len says that in 2013, the lawyer told them

that their villa was built completely legally

and that the planning permission should never, ever have been revoked.

But that's obviously come far too late.

Shocking as Len and Helen's case is,

there are others in exactly the same position.

Indeed, so many that the Spanish authorities

have now passed new legislation to tackle the problem.

From October 2015,

people like Helen and Len whose homes are to be forcibly demolished

because planning permission was not in place or was revoked, but who bought their property in good faith,

should be entitled to compensation.

And that's something that international property lawyer Stefano Locatello

thinks is long overdue for anyone who finds themselves in the same boat.

The new legislation says that if you build your property

with the correct planning permissions and licences

and subsequently that planning permission or those licences are revoked,

then you are entitled as long as you've done that in good faith

to be paid moral damages.

The extent of moral damages we don't know yet,

it could be the full value of your property or it could be a token payment.

What's more, the new legislation says that if you are entitled to compensation in future,

these damages should be paid in full BEFORE the bulldozers move in.

It's as yet unclear whether the law will apply retrospectively

and therefore help Len and Helen.

But although Stefano thinks that in their case, the couple did everything right when building their home,

he says that not all Brits buying homes abroad have been as diligent.

Unfortunately, people when they go abroad and they're in the mood for buying,

they forget their common sense at the airport.

The concepts of international law, international property law especially,

are completely different to those we have in the United Kingdom or English law.

So you must have a lawyer who is qualified in that jurisdiction to help you.

Meanwhile, Len and Helen are still living in their converted garage

hoping that the way to get back some of what they've lost,

which they estimate, by the way, to be almost 700,000 euros,

won't take as long as their battle through the courts.

If we get compensation and we get the licence back,

do we really want a house built here or do we want to move somewhere else in Spain?

I don't think we would move from Spain.

I mean, you know, it's our home now anyway.

We may not like it, but we've all had to accept over the years

that the price you pay for holidays and flights

can go up and down according to demand.

And, of course, anyone taking their kids away in the school holidays

will know only too well just how much those costs can vary.

But would you expect to pay a different price

for a holiday based on where you live

or indeed from which country you've actually booked it?

You might, not unreasonably, feel rather hacked off to discover

that a family that lives in a different country

is able to book exactly the same holiday for a lot less.

Well, that can and does happen.

Indeed, you may have seen the outraged reports in the press

about how much extra you might sometimes have to pay

to book from the UK for Disneyland Paris.

But don't worry, because we've found a way around that one.

So listen up, because this next film really could save you some money.

Ever since June and Stephen Pedley

went on their first cruise ten years ago, they've been hooked.

We really like going on cruises

because of the variety of places that you see.

The ships themselves are just absolutely lovely.

And when we want quiet time, we can just go and sit on our balcony

and watched the sea go by.

It's just wonderful.

And in March 2014,

June and Stephen started planning their most ambitious cruise yet.

It would be the highlight of a two-month trip to Australia and New Zealand,

stopping off to see friends in Tasmania.

As a once-in-a-lifetime experience,

they wanted the cruise to be with a company they knew,

trusted and loved.

'Princess Cruises - come back new.'

Princess became my favourite

because it was the first cruise liner that I went on.

Everything was just amazing.

And when June told her Australian friends, Maxine and Shane,

that she was planning a cruise as part of their big trip down under,

the couple jumped at the chance of joining them on board.

Maxine said straightaway,

"Oh, if you're going on a New Zealand cruise, I want to go.

"I've never been on one."

She was quite excited when we were talking about it.

June found the ideal cruise,

setting sail from Melbourne in February 2015.

June and Stephen paid the £4,556 cost

and then sent all the details to Maxine and Shane.

Maxine actually managed to get the cabin right next door to us,

which we were all thrilled to bits about.

The only difference between theirs and ours

was that I booked ours here in the United Kingdom

and Maxine and Shane booked theirs in Australia.

11 months later, in January 2015,

June and Stephen flew to Australia.

They spent a few days with Maxine and Shane

before they were due to board the cruise in Melbourne.

But before they left, June caught a glimpse of Maxine and Shane's paperwork,

and she was shocked to discover that their Australian friends

had paid significantly less than they had for exactly the same cruise.

Shane was in the office printing his paperwork off

and I took my paperwork into him

so that he could print them all off together.

I just glanced at it, was a little shocked.

June and Stephen had paid £4,556 for their cruise,

but within 24 hours Maxine had booked the cabin next door

for AU5,858,

the equivalent of £2,973 at the time.

So, even allowing for the fact that both couples

booked through different travel agents

who'd most likely take their own different commission,

June and Stephen ended up paying almost £1,600 more

than their Australian friends.

I was totally stunned.

I couldn't understand, really,

why we should be charged a different price.

It was the identical product booked within 24 hours.

The cabins, identical, next door to each other.

When they got home, smarting at the difference in price,

June wrote to Princess Cruises.

I just wanted clarification.

"Please explain to me why you feel

"that British people need to pay more

"than Australian people pay for the identical product?"

That was all I was asking.

The company responded, saying that among other things,

the price was influenced by how many tickets were allotted

to each country and how big demand had been from there in the past.

But June and Stephen weren't happy with that.

They didn't really answer the questions.

I can't possibly see a genuine reason

why a product should cost £1,600 more in one country to another.

We asked Princess Cruises to explain the discrepancy in the prices

that June and Stephen and Maxine and Shane had paid.

The company reiterated that both couples

booked through travel agents rather than with Princess Cruises directly,

explaining that prices offered by agents will often...

..available throughout the booking period...

But it said it will be getting in touch

with June and Stephen to discuss their concerns.

But this particular cruise isn't the only type of holiday booking

where the cost can vary depending on the country from which it's booked.

The same is true of other cruises.

And in the summer of 2014,

the European Commission wrote to several car hire firms

to demand that they stop what it called

"discriminatory pricing practice".

However, perhaps the most widely reported example of this came in the summer of 2015,

when Disneyland Paris faced a pricing probe

by the European Commission

following accusations that UK and German customers

were being frozen out of certain price promotions.

One national newspaper claimed that people in the UK

were paying 15% more for one-day tickets.

So we thought we'd test that out.

And when we checked, it was definitely the case

that a family booking online in France

could pay significantly less than a family booking in the UK.

We compared the price of an identical midweek break at Disneyland Paris

with hotel and theme-park tickets for a family of four at the end of October.

The British website said the trip would cost...

But booking it through the French site, it would have been...

..which works out around £170 less for exactly the same break.

A midweek break in January

would be almost £35 more if booked using the UK site.

And a weekend break in February was around...

if booked from the UK.

Of the five prices we checked,

only one would have worked out cheaper if it was booked in the UK rather than in France.

It was a three-night weekend break in November,

which would have been just under...

for the whole family.

While there's nothing to stop companies having different offers in different countries,

EU laws mean that consumers should not be discriminated against

based on nationality unless there are justified reasons,

such as seasonal fluctuations in demand or different holiday periods.

Consumers should certainly search and research

exactly what options are available.

If they find competitive rates on different sites,

they can try and book. If they're blocked for any reason,

contact the company, make their complaint known,

and ask the company to justify why the pricing is different.

So we took Laura's advice.

One of our team rang the UK call centre for Disneyland Paris

and asked if we could benefit from the lower prices

that someone booking from France would get?

And, sure enough, they said, "Yes".

And they gave us the number of the French booking line.

And in the end, a long weekend break that would have cost us...

..if we'd just gone ahead and booked it on the British website,

came in a whopping...

..simply because we asked to match the French deal.

While that's a top tip to keep in mind

to make sure that you can get the best price,

you might wonder why Disneyland Paris doesn't simply offer one price right across Europe

rather than have consumers face different ones depending on where they live.

So we asked the company just that.

It said that the basic price

when booking direct with Disneyland Paris is...

And any variations are caused by local promotional offers,

which take into account factors specific to different countries,

such as dates of school holidays.

But as we found even these local promotions

can be secured from another EU country.

And the company reiterated that if you're aware of an offer running in a different market,

you should simply contact the central reservations office and request that specific booking.

But while those EU rules help level the playing field across Europe

and really can get you a better deal,

if like June and Stephen you're booking something on the other side of the world,

there isn't, unfortunately, a regulation that you can fall back on.

Which is why Stephen will be on his guard

against such price differences in the future.

-Check every detail you possibly can.

-Check every detail.

And the thing that you probably wouldn't think of doing

is to check what the price is

-from the country that you're thinking of visiting.

-That's right.

And if you've got contacts in that country,

check with them and get them to...price the same product.

-I wish we had.

-Yeah.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain.

They paid top whack for insurance on their holiday hire car,

so why after an accident was this family told

they'd have to stump up the cash to replace it?

It really is your nightmare.

That's why you take out all that insurance,

because you just don't want to get stung like that.

Now, I don't know whether you remember,

but in our holiday series last year,

we talked about how having a major illness

could still have an impact on the cost of your travel insurance

years after you'd last displayed any symptoms.

Well, since then some of you have contacted us furious that the price of holiday cover can even rise

when you may not actually have been ill

but are simply taking medication to ensure you stay in good health.

WHISTLE

The members of this sports team from Oldham in Greater Manchester

like to stay fit and healthy.

And every week they meet to practise

their own version of the beautiful game - walking football.

Less speedy, but still a great work out.

Come on, Jez, lad.

Some of them have another thing in common.

They've been prescribed statins,

a medicine that lowers cholesterol in the blood

and is proven to prevent heart attacks.

My name's Duncan. I had prostate cancer just over three years ago.

Luckily, that is cured now, but at the same time, when I had a general health check,

they put me on to statins. That's fine,

-that's keeping my cholesterol low.

-My name's James.

I am a diabetic, Type 2, which is controlled by...medication.

And it's under control.

I also take statins.

Now, while some of the team take medication for ongoing conditions

like diabetes or arthritis,

several of them also take statins,

and official medical guidelines are clear that as a result

they have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and stroke than if they didn't take them.

Even so, the statins can have an unexpected

and very unwelcome side effect on the people who take them,

not on the health but on the cost of their travel insurance.

I'm probably healthier than a lot of other people

and I think it's ridiculous, the prices they're asking.

It's a real rip-off.

You can get the insurance, but they don't half load you up

if you suffer from this or suffer from that.

It just seems too high, you know, and you've always got to pay more.

Shoot, Tim!

We all expect to pay more for insurance if we stand a greater risk

of something going wrong while we're on holiday,

but Linda Mayne from Heart UK confirms the official advice

that those people prescribed statins

are actually at a lower risk from some of the more serious health conditions.

So if you have two identical people,

one on statins and one not on statins,

the one on statins would be at much lower risk of having a heart attack

or other health problems than the person who isn't taking a statin.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence,

the official body funded by the Department of Health to monitor and prevent ill health in England,

says the evidence that people using statins have lower risk

of developing cardiovascular disease is overwhelming.

So you can see why our walking footballers and others like them

can't understand how none of that is reflected in the cost of their travel insurance.

And, indeed, why taking statins should mean they end up having to pay more.

-Hello. Hi, I'm Sarah.

-Hello, I'm Jim.

-Nice to meet you.

And you must be Duncan.

So we asked personal finance journalist Sarah Pennells

to see if she could lower these players' premiums

and save them some cash.

Sarah's kicking off with Jim,

finding out how much it would cost the 78-year-old

to get travel insurance for a two-week trip to America in April.

OK, so we know that you've got Type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, yes.

Now, Jim does have some pre-existing health conditions

and, as he's a bit older, we'd expect his premiums to be a bit higher,

as statistically that ups his risk.

Have you...had an unplanned visit to hospital

-because of your cholesterol problem in the last two years?

-No.

But how much are those statins pushing up the price?

The cheapest quote that this has come up with is £141.53.

So how does that sound to you as a quote?

Well, it's probably double...

as to what somebody who is not taking any medication.

But is he right?

Putting his other ailments to one side,

what if Jim didn't take statins?

To find out, Sarah takes those off the quote to see what difference that makes to the price.

You were actually pretty spot on,

because the cheapest quote that I can get you

for this two-week holiday in the States is now...

Well, that's not bad, is it? That's half the price.

Now, of course, Jim has no choice but to declare all his medical conditions

and any medication he's on, as not doing so would invalidate his insurance.

So whilst those statins are reducing Jim's cholesterol and lowering his blood pressure,

they're also pushing up the cost of his travel insurance

to almost double that of someone who isn't taking this medication.

Next up, Duncan. He's had the all clear from prostate cancer for three years

and he too now takes statins.

So will the insurance companies see him as a picture of health?

So, Duncan, I've just put some details into one of the comparisons, medical insurance comparisons,

and the cheapest it's come up with based on your situation is...

That seems fairly reasonable actually to me.

I'm quite surprised it's as low as that, yeah.

But what if Duncan was statin-free?

Well, when we checked on three of the main comparison sites,

that would instantly make his quote...

..even with his previous medical history.

Again, it's those medically endorsed statins

that for some reason increase the price.

And like Jim, Duncan has no choice but to swallow those extra costs along with the tablets,

because if he doesn't declare he takes them, his insurance won't be valid.

Well, that's unbelievable.

The statins I only take because it keeps my cholesterol low,

so that means I'm less of a risk than somebody who might be walking around

possibly not knowing they've got high cholesterol.

So I think it's ridiculous.

But that's not a view that the insurance industry shares.

When we contacted the Association of British Insurers

it told us that it's crucial for insurers to pay particular attention

to customers' medical history and health when calculating premiums.

It pointed out that people taking statins

do so to control or prevent a condition they would otherwise be susceptible to,

so they are more risky to insure.

And the ABI recommended that travellers with medical conditions

shop around to find the right policy

and consider using a specialist broker or insurer.

Of course, it's not just taking statins

that can bump up the cost of your policy.

A quick search online shows that if you've ever broken your leg,

even if it was years ago, you could face an 11% hike on your premium.

If you've had your appendix removed

there could be financial consequences for your travel insurance, too,

despite it being unlikely that something which has been removed can suddenly cause you more bother.

And as if suffering from migraines wasn't bad enough,

if you declare it, as of course you're obliged to when applying for a policy,

you could be charged up to 24% more.

Now, that really could bring on a headache.

If you're buying travel insurance and you've either had

a serious illness in the past or you've got a medical condition now,

make sure you go to a specialist website that deals with this market,

because they'll ask you a lot more questions about your illness

and about the medicines you're taking, but that way

you'll get a much more accurate and hopefully cheaper quote.

And, in the meantime, our footballers will keep taking their tablets

and remember the benefits that's had on their health, if not their wallets.

Our travel expert, Simon Calder,

is sharing his top tips on favourite destinations across the globe.

This time - Bangkok.

In Thailand, it pays to keep your wits about you,

especially in the capital, where tourist hot spots are fertile ground for crooks.

There's some incredibly complicated scams in Thailand

that begin with the offer of a free ride in a tuk-tuk courtesy of the tourist board

and end up with you in a gem shop buying some stones

that you're told you'll be able to sell

for a huge profit when you get home.

Of course, they turn out to be entirely worthless.

The only way to avoid it is if someone says, "My friend, have a free ride." Say no.

As well as the temples, Bangkok also has nearby beaches to explore,

but the scams can find you there, too.

The Jet Ski scam has been going on for so long

it's amazing that tourists still get caught.

Here's how it works. You rent a Jet Ski

and whiz around for half an hour.

When you take it back, the owner points out some damage.

You say, "I didn't do it," cos you didn't, but then things get heavy.

You find you're surrounded by menacing people demanding cash.

The only way to avoid problems, forego that Jet Ski ride.

But there's one great way of saving money about which Simon says you don't have to be suspicious.

Some visitors to Thailand are wary of street food,

but when I'm in Bangkok, it's the only thing I eat.

You can see it being cooked freshly in front of you,

you can see hundreds of Thai people around you also enjoying it,

so you know is going to be safe, it's going to be tasty,

and it's going to cost a fraction of what you'd pay in a proper restaurant. Excuse me.

Mmm!

Sadly, you often tell us horror stories about travel insurance,

and, in particular, about experiences where after the worst has happened,

the claim you've made has been turned down.

But this next case has to be one of the most shocking that we've ever come across.

It involves a hire car, a very nasty accident,

and a stonking bill for replacing the damaged vehicle.

Now, the family affected assumed their policy would cover them,

but, you've guessed it, the insurance company didn't agree,

or at least they didn't until after we got involved.

When Neil Lloyd, his wife Lisa and son Harry

decided to catch some late-summer sun,

they opted for the Italian island of Sicily.

We were just going for a fairly laid-back holiday,

spent a lot of time around the pool,

spent a lot of time just on our local beach.

We spent a lot of time, you know, going out to lunch.

And with total relaxation top of their agenda,

they picked a remote villa several miles from the nearest town,

meaning that hiring a car was a must.

Our villa was some three or four miles outside the town,

so really the only option was to have a hire car.

So Neil turned to a hire car website

that he'd used before called rentalcars.com.

And on there he chose a car from an Italian rental firm called Locauto Rent.

To make sure he and his family were covered for every eventuality,

Neil also took out a full-protection insurance policy at £47 extra.

I've been to Sicily before,

I know the roads are very poor over there, and so I thought I was doing the right thing

in terms of taking out that full-protection insurance.

With the car rental taken care of, the family set off

for a holiday which lived up to all of their expectations.

It was very convenient having the car, it was very convenient having all three of us able to drive it.

So if Harry wanted to shoot off somewhere on his own, he was covered and he could take the car,

or if one of us just wanted to pop to the shops that could be done.

So that's why we put all three of us on the insurance.

But at the end of the week, as Harry was driving them back to the airport,

in a split second everything changed.

We'd had a great holiday,

we're driving back and wanted to stop and get some water.

And we see a place we can buy some water

and it means crossing the carriageway through these cones and everything.

And so we make that left turn and I'm sat in the passenger seat

and I certainly didn't see the oncoming car,

and clearly Harry didn't see the oncoming car.

Unfortunately, Neil, Lisa and Harry

were all injured in the collision that followed.

Neil suffered a head injury and was airlifted to hospital,

while Harry and Lisa were taken by ambulance.

Next thing I really remember is then just being in A&E

in a very small hospital in the middle of rural Sicily.

Harry couldn't even remember we were on holiday,

he kept asking the same questions over and over and over,

and got very distressed when he saw me and my wife,

and particularly me because my shirt was covered in blood.

While the family were coming to terms with their injuries,

the Italian police were keen to interview Harry,

who was driving at the time, about what had happened.

They collected all our luggage and...

they attempted to interview Harry,

but Harry couldn't remember anything at all.

Harry's memory loss was put down to a suspected concussion

and it meant that he couldn't recall anything about the accident.

So Neil gave a statement which Harry signed.

The following day the family were well enough to leave

and they flew back to the UK.

But just over a week later,

Neil got an e-mail from Locauto Rent, the Italian car rental company.

So I just get this e-mail from Locauto, with an invoice attached with no detail on it,

saying that they want to charge me 13,572 euros.

And my immediate reaction was, "Oh, that's a mistake. It's just a typo."

But I'm afraid there was no mistake.

Neil was being charged for the cost of replacing the car.

It really is your nightmare.

That's why you take out all that insurance,

because you just don't want to get stung like that.

Neil couldn't understand why the full-protection insurance he'd taken out

wasn't going to cover the damages.

But the rental car provider Locauto Rent

and the booking website rentalcars.com

both told him that the statement he'd given police at the hospital

had been signed by his son, Harry,

who they claimed had admitted to driving negligently.

And under the terms and conditions of the policy,

that meant the insurance would not pay out.

When you've done everything you possibly could to ensure that,

you know, you are protected and then you find that you're not, it's really gutting.

And it's not only gutting, but it's a huge amount of money.

Worse still, Neil knew that he certainly hadn't given any indication

to the Italian police that his son was driving negligently.

And given that Harry himself had been suffering memory loss at the time,

Neil was horrified that any report he'd signed in that condition,

and of course written in a language that wasn't his own,

could be used as grounds for not paying out.

The police still asked him to sign a report

and that's what the insurance company is relying upon

as being proof of negligent driving, which I just think is outrageous.

Neil's view is shared by solicitor Gary Rycroft.

I would say that natural justice dictates

that you should not be bound by a form that you've completed in a foreign language

immediately after a car accident at a time when you and your family are in a state of considerable distress.

What's more, Gary understands why Neil was so shocked

to be told that his full-protection cover

wasn't quite as FULL as its name suggests.

The title of the car insurance policy they took out was full-protection policy.

Now, it seems to me that that was a misleading title,

because, in this case, it wasn't a full-protection policy at all.

For more than three weeks, Neil tried to argue his case with rentalcars.com and Locauto Rent,

but the companies refused to budge.

In the meantime, Neil got in touch with us

and after that, things suddenly changed.

'You have one new message.'

In fact, one of the companies rang Neil why we were with him

and since we've filmed with the family, Locauto Rent and rentalcars.com

have refunded the charge for the written-off car.

The Italian hire car firm stressed

that while it had agreed to the refund, it was not contractually obliged to do so.

And it maintained that the police report did prove that the accident was Harry's responsibility

and that he had violated Italian driving laws.

It then went on to claim that it was Neil and Harry's choice

whether or not to sign the report.

Meanwhile, rentalcars.com, the company which arranged the rental and provided that full-protection cover,

confirmed that the policy does have exclusions for circumstances

such as negligent driving and may be invalidated if a customer violates local driving laws while abroad.

But it did recognise that extra protection...

They went on to say that Neil's questioning of the police report

had led the company to investigate further,

ultimately leading to the charge for the written-off car being waived.

Rentalcars.com added that while in such situations

it's understandable that well-intentioned customers may want to help the police,

it's vitally important they know what exactly their signing,

pointing out it has a 24-hour helpline that can offer advice in such situations.

But the number of e-mails and letters we get about hiring a car

suggests that the whole process can be fraught with difficulties.

When you hire a car abroad, the law is different,

so when you go and collect the car, you should ask,

"Are there any particular rules that I need to know about

with regard to driving a vehicle in this country or this particular region?"

You should not be put on the spot

and asked to sign something you do not understand.

And although they're very relieved at no longer having to pay out 13,500 euros,

Neil and Harry still don't see how a policy described as full protection may not always provide that.

I'll certainly be wary about renting cars abroad in the future.

And if I'm ever in a position where I need to,

then I don't think I'll be taking out full-protection insurance.

Well, I'm quite sure all the situations we've heard about today

will be ones that you're likely to have an opinion on.

So if you want to get it right off your chest,

you can join in on our conversation on our Facebook page right now.

All you have to do is to look for us at BBC Rip-Off Britain.

And if you've had a situation

where you think you've been treated unfairly

or you've had a raw deal, then do please let us know.

Although we can't investigate all your stories,

we do read all the letters and e-mails you send us

-and we're really grateful for every single one.

-But I'm afraid that is it for today.

We will be back investigating more of your stories very soon,

but, in the meantime, we do hope

that all of your holidays this year really do go according to plan.

-But in the meantime, from all of us, bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.