Isobel pictured on crutches with Glastonbury ticket inset

FESTIVAL FAIL

Injured music fan refused £300 Glastonbury ticket refund despite paying for insurance

Gaby Koppel

Published: 12:35, 26 Jun 2019
Updated: 17:08, 27 Jun 2019

INSTEAD of rocking up to Glastonbury today, student Isobel Ridler is stuck at home nursing a sore knee as she recovers from painful surgery.

The London based student was buzzing when she managed to bag a ticket to Britain’s top festival in October last year, securing one of 200,000 tickets up for grabs.

Isobel Ridler was refused her £300 Glastonbury ticket refund despite buying insurance after knee surgery left her on crutchesCredit: Isobel Ridler

But in April she tore the cartilage in her knee when she twisted it and needed emergency surgery to fix the injury two weeks later.

Isobel, who has to wear a leg brace and use crutches for at least six weeks, knew getting around the enormous festival site and sleeping on the floor would be impossible.

Thankfully she had paid £5.70 extra for “refund protection” when booking her £300 Glastonbury ticket and thought she’d at least get her money back.

“I felt this wave of disappointment and sadness. I was gutted,” she told The Sun.

The student only got a refund after The Sun stepped inCredit: Isobel Ridler

“But I thought at least I’ve got insurance cover so I won’t lose the money too.”

It wasn’t until she tried to claim her refund that she was refused.

Isobel added: “It was total shock and disbelief really, I was devastated yet again.”

Glastonbury Festival tickets are personalised to include the name of the holder and are strictly non-transferable in order to prevent touts from re-selling them at inflated prices.

This year tickets could be returned for a full refund until May 3.

After that date people can make a claim on their policy if unable to attend.

But in the small print of the TicketPlan contract recommended by the festival it says that any injury or illness that happens before 3 May is considered a “pre-existing medical condition”, and not eligible for compensation.

Isobel had originally hurt her knee on 29 April – so in theory she could have simply refunded her ticket at that time - but it was another fortnight before she realised just how serious the damage was and by then she’d missed the May 3 deadline.

She tried to appeal the decision but it wasn’t until The Sun got in touch that TicketPlan had a sudden change of heart and refunded Isobel’s ticket within a few hours.

She said: “I am so grateful to The Sun for helping me get a refund, I feel justice has been done – but what about other people like me who don’t have somebody standing up for them?”

Isobel says she was gutted when an operation on her leg meant she had to give up her ticketCredit: Isobel Ridler

The contract has been slammed by consumer expert Martyn James, of complaints website Resolver.

He said: “To say this contract is unfair is something of an understatement.

“The contract misrepresents the term ‘pre-existing’ in an insurance sense. Having an injury after the contract is signed is not ‘pre-existing’.

“This kind of cover is totally unnecessary and monetises something that should (and used to) be free.”

Graham Berg, from TicketPlan, told The Sun: “We administer many thousands of refund applications each year and thankfully receive very few complaints.

“We also constantly review our systems and procedures in order to ensure that any decisions are fair and consistent.

“Glastonbury offers a (no questions) refund facility up to midnight on May 3 2019, which is why the TicketPlan service excludes any circumstances/applications that may arise prior to this cut-off date.

“TicketPlan steps in to provide a refund facility (under specific circumstances) between the cut off date and the date of the event. This has worked well for many years.”

The Sun has contacted Glastonbury Festival and SeeTickets, which sold the Glastonbury tickets, for a comment and we'll update this story if we get one.